Partying in the Middle Ages (and Party-Crashing)
Are you looking for fun and excitement? A medieval book gives you all the best secrets for how to get into parties, even…
The Gift of Narrative in Medieval England
This book places medieval narratives in dialogue with theories and practices of gift and gift exchange.
Did people in the Middle Ages take baths?
It was said that the Middle Ages was ‘one thousand years without a bath.’ However, a closer look shows that baths and bathing were actually quite common in the Middle Ages, but in a different way than one might expect.
Medieval Insults
If you are looking for ways to hurl insults at your enemies, then the medieval world has some interesting examples for you.
New Medieval Books: Inked
This is a sad tale of how the government of the Song Dynasty created and maintained a military force using the lower-class populations of medieval China. Millions of Chinese people were subjected to this system, which included tattooing.
How to Make a Monster
Ideas about monstrosity were fundamental to ancient and medieval debates about the nature of humanity, and the rhetoric of monstrosity was widely used to dehumanize certain groups in medieval Europe.
Chivalry and Courtesy with Danièle Cybulskie
This week on The Medieval Podcast, guest host Peter Konieczny interviews Danièle about her new book Chivalry and Courtesy: Medieval Manners for a Modern World.
Privacy in the Middle Ages
Is privacy is a relatively new idea?
A Medieval Dream
A pregnant woman in medieval London dreams of a log of wood and a slab of marble. What does it mean?
Medieval letter about ‘Voluntary enslavement’ discovered by historian
Could ever a person want to become a slave? A remarkable letter written over a thousand years ago reveals how a group of ten men were seriously considering doing just that, as they hoped to escape terrible prison conditions.
Gallows with Kenneth Duggan
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Kenneth Duggan about capital crime in medieval England, how the community was involved in the justice system, and some of the unexpected events that might happen at a gallows.
The Beheaded Banker of Barcelona
Was a medieval banker in Catalonia executed for going bankrupt?
The earliest use of the F-word
An English historian has come across the word ‘fuck’ in a court case dating to the year 1310, making it the earliest known reference to the swear word.
Medieval Advice from a Mother to a Son
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle catches us up on what’s been happening lately, and reads some advice written by Dhuoda, a Carolingian woman, for her teenaged son.
A Medieval Peace Movement: The Bianchi of 1399
Sick and tired of war and violence, many people throughout Italy left their homes and cities to march for peace in the year 1399.
Medieval Advice for Parents
A look at two Middle English texts that deal with advice: How the Goode Wife Taught Hyr Doughter and How the Goode Man Taught Hys Sone.
New Medieval Books: Records of Medieval Newmarket
This book offers translations of various court and manorial records from Newmarket, a small town in southeastern England.
Love and Marriage: Medieval Style
I think the most widespread impression of medieval marriage is that of a cold, loveless, and practical union, made simply for the purpose of transferring real estate.
The remarkable world of hospitals, orphanages, and leprosaria, with Tim Miller
A conversation with Timothy Miller about philanthropic institutions in Constantinople, especially hospitals, orphanages, and leprosaria.
10 Types of Bad Friends: A Medieval Guide
What kind of friend are you? A 13th-century writer looks at friendship, including ten types of friends you should stay away from!
The Differences between Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages
The big differences were in the clothes you wear, the food you ate, and the kind of pet you liked.
New Medieval Books: The Fabric of the City: A Social History of Cloth Manufacture in Medieval Ypres
This is a very interesting book if you want to know more about how business and trade worked in the Middle Ages. It covers a full range of individuals and groups involved in this industry, from the owners to the workers, including some case studies.
Running Naked in the Streets: Repression of Adultery in the Later Middle Ages
Adultery was a serious crime in the Middle Ages, where marriage was sacred, indissoluble, and monogamous.
The Kidnapping of Baby Bonafilla: Jewish guardianship, conversion, and mixed families in the aftermath of 1391 in Girona
In early 1417, the Jewish guardians of Bonafilla, the daughter of Nacim Roven, kidnapped the young toddler to prevent her conversa mother and stepfather from converting the child