Illegitimate children in the Middle Ages
The stories of illegitimate children in the Middle Ages are often told through the lives of famous bastards, the daughters and sons of kings and noblemen, like William the Conqueror, born of Robert I, Duke of Normandy, and his mistress Herleva. But what do we know about the illegitimate children of common people?
Body Language and the Modern Medieval Courtroom
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle reflects on medieval court cases, body language, and the ways in which both have shaped today’s modern trials – including the celebrity ones.
The experiences of Byzantine children, with Oana-Maria Cojocaru
A conversation with Oana-Maria Cojocaru about the images of Byzantine children in our sources, and the experiences that they would have had once they made it past infancy.
Peasant Kids at Work: Apprenticeship and Service in the Middle Ages
What trade should the child of a medieval peasant learn?
Old Age and Poverty in the Middle Ages
What happened to elderly individuals deprived of resources and family?
Abduction, Marriage and Consent in the Middle Ages
What did it mean to abduct your fiancé? Lucie Laumonier talks with Chanelle Delameillieure about marriage and consent in the late medieval Low Countries. We learn that consented abductions were a thing, but that they could lead to contentious outcomes!
The perils of childbirth, with Christian Laes
A conversation with Christian Laes about one of the most joyous, dangerous, and often tragic, moments of life in antiquity and the Middle Ages: childbirth.
Kissing in the Middle Ages
For medieval people, a kiss represents far more than the romantic.
Medieval Advice for Pregnant Women
The wonderful and bizarre pieces of advice offered to pregnant women by a group of medieval peasant women.
The Jacquerie Revolt with Justine Firnhaber-Baker
A decade after The Black Death, French peasants rose up suddenly against the nobility in an unprecedented and remarkably coordinated revolt. This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Dr. Justine Firnhäber-Baker about the rebellion that shocked the elites of Europe: the Jacquerie.
Who was part of the medieval family?
A look at the size, concepts and members of the family and household in the Later Middle Ages.
Holiday Gifts in the Middle Ages
Christmas in the Middle Ages looked quite different than it does today, but gifts still played a role. Read on to find out what gift-giving looked like during the holidays in the Middle Ages.
Famine in Medieval London
How climate change, supply chain issues and inflation helped to create massive food shortages and starvation in medieval London.
Why Was a Scotsman Working as a ‘Cop’ in 15th-century Bologna?
How can this be, and what does it say about both medieval policing and the movement of people in the Middle Ages?
A Rotting Cat and a Damaged Penis
Do you know what is the best weapon to attack your drinking pal outside of a tavern? A rotting cat, of course! In today’s episode, Allison Bailey, a PhD candidate in history at the University of Toronto presents her research about the intersection of gender, violence and emotions in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century France.
Social class in Byzantium, with Efi Ragia
A conversation with Efi Ragia on coming to grips with social class in Byzantium, a society without a fixed social hierarchy, at least not fixed in terms of hereditary groups. Claims to high (or low) social standing were often rhetorical and fluid. Who were “the powerful”? By what criteria could they be recognized, and how might others aspire to that position?
Crafting Communities: Masons in Medieval London
A look at how misteries, guilds and fraternities worked to create a sense of community for the masons of medieval London.
Child Freedom in the Middle Ages
Were there any intellectual arguments against having children in the Middle Ages, and were there medieval equivalents to “childfree” individuals?
You Might Be a Medieval Redneck If…
Call it hick, hayseed, or hillbilly: if you’re one of the rustici, you might be a medieval redneck.
How medieval children got their names
It is not, strictly speaking, true that every Christian in late medieval Europe had the same six names.
Minding your Manners in the Middle Ages
Did medieval parents care about manners?
The Black Death and the Great Transition
How did the Yersinia pestis pandemic that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351, and then returned five times before the end of the century, spark the transition from the feudal Middle Ages to capitalist modernity?
From Moneylending to Hell
Moneylending was serious business in the Middle Ages. You could be risking your very soul! Lucie Laumonier talks with Sama Mammadova, a PhD candidate at Harvard University, who studies the history of usury and moneylending in fourteenth and fifteenth-century Italy. How did moneylenders reconcile their business with the fear of sin?
Crowd behavior in imperial Rome and Constantinople, with Daniëlle Slootjes
As our own political world is increasingly revolving around mass protests, it is time to revisit what we know about the dynamics of crowds in imperial Roman cities, whether they acted for or against the regime of the day.