Category: Podcast

Features Podcast

The Eagle and the Hart with Helen Castor – The Medieval Podcast, Episode 260

Richard II came to the throne as a young child, only to lose it to his cousin Henry IV in 1399. But why did Henry take such drastic action? And what became of the teenage boy who stood up to a crowd of angry peasants and held his own? This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Helen Castor about these rival cousins, the events that shaped them, and how an anointed king could lose his hollow crown.

Features Podcast

Medieval Falconry with Yannis Hadjinicolaou

In the Middle Ages, falconry was one of the most popular pastimes across the known world. More than just a pleasant diversion in the countryside, it was a way to show status, education, sophistication, and leadership. This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Yannis Hadjinicolaou about why falconry was so widely beloved, and such a popular metaphor for both love and power.

Features Podcast

Forging a Kingdom in the 11th century with Simon Doubleday – The Medieval Podcast, Episode 256

In the eleventh-century, Iberia was in the process of evolving networks of tiny villages into the powerful kingdoms we recognize from the end of the medieval period – sometimes by any means necessary. This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Simon Doubleday about the ways in which Queen Sancha and King Fernando I shaped northern Spain and Portugal.

Features Podcast

Hunting Fake History with Jo Hedwig Teeuwisse – The Medieval Podcast, Episode 253

Ever come across a really amazing historical fact on the internet or in school, and tell it to all your friends, only to find out that it actually isn’t true? This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Jo Hedwig Teeuwisse (aka the Fake History Hunter) about things that never happened, what it’s like to hunt fake history, and what really grinds her gears.

Features Podcast

Medieval Beards and Baldness with Joseph McAlhany

If we need proof of how wonderful both baldness and beards are, we need only to cast our eyes back to the Middle Ages, where people were writing rhetorical arguments, alliterative poetry, and even learned sermons on the virtues of masculine hair. This week, Danièle speaks with Joseph McAlhany about these hilarious medieval texts, why people wrote them, and how seriously we’re supposed to take them.

Podcast

Dioskouros of Alexandria, Or the Making of a Church Villain, with Volker Menze

A conversation with Volker Menze about the fifth-century patriarch Dioskouros of Alexandria, what we really know about him, and why he was demonized in the western traditions. A close reading of the Council Acts suggests a different picture: a bishop who thought he was doing right by the established creed and following the directives of the emperor suddenly found himself in the hot seat.

Features Podcast

Divining the Future with Jo Edge

Not knowing the future is an intensely uncomfortable experience, which is why humans invented a clever system to predict the future through numbers, called onomancy. This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Jo Edge about how onomancy works, who used it, and how it fit in with medieval theology.