Templar Banking: How to go from Donated Rags to Vast Riches
While the Crusades gave the Templars a stage to project their might, their true source of power lay within a revolutionary new financial system: the Templar Bank.
The Knights Templar and Historical Revisionism in the Modern Era
As early as the nineteenth century, many political extremists have modelled themselves upon the Templars. Today, both the US and UK are home to groups that imitate these medieval knights, pledging to fight a ‘new crusade’ against multiculturalism, ‘cultural Marxism’, or a ‘New World Order’.
The Protector of Mount Athos
The Moldavian rulers, and in particular Prince Stephen III (r. 1457–1504), took an increasingly active interest in the monastic communities on the Holy Mountain.
The Life and Liturgy of Saint Birgitta of Sweden
When studying the relationship between women, music, and the medieval church, one of the most influential and prominent figures is Birgitta of Sweden.
How the Mount Athos monasteries prospered for centuries
Mount Athos—the peninsula in Greece that is home to one of the oldest Eastern Christian monastic communities—has received support from an array of patrons over the course of its long history
The Rise, Fall and Rediscovery of Lenton Priory
Natasha Hodgson explores the dramatic backdrop of religious turmoil, treason and insurrection which lead to the priory’s destruction during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Miracle Stories
It’s medieval storytime! This week, Danièle reads from Caesarius of Heisterbach’s Dialogue on Miracles, including the story of a sinful student, and the woman who took the baby Jesus hostage, as well as a few other fun tales from this thirteenth-century book for monastic novices.
Forgeries in the Middle Ages with Levi Roach
Over the past few years, the world has regularly been abuzz with claims of forgery and fake news. At some points in the Middle Ages, forgery was disturbingly common, often committed by the people we might least expect. This week, Danièle speaks with Dr. Levi Roach about medieval forgery, and how to spot it.
‘Remarkable women’: Female patronage of religious institutions, 1300-1550
This conference seeks to explore the ways in which women patronised and interacted with monasteries and religious houses during the late Middle Ages, how they commissioned devotional and commemorative art for monastic settings, and the ways in which these donations were received and understood by their intended audiences.
The monastic experience, with Alice-Mary Talbot
A conversation with Alice-Mary Talbot on the experience of communal monastic life in Byzantium, ranging from its organization and rules to its religious goals, engagement with society, and differences between monasteries for men and women.
From Politics to Monastic Houses and What They Did With All That Land, with Victoria Hodgson
Kate Buchanan is joined by Victoria Hodgson to discuss Victoria’s journey to studying medieval Scottish monastic houses and their lands. Victoria Hodgson specializes…
Medieval African monastery reconstructed virtually
How did medieval monasteries in Africa look? A new project from the University of Warsaw has been able to digitally reconstruct a monastery from Nubia.
The Monks of Bury St Edmunds
What was life really like within a medieval monastery? This week on The Medieval Podcast Danièle is joined by Peter Konieczny to take a look at the Chronicle of the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds. Written by Jocelin of Brakelond at the turn of the thirteenth century, it’s a surprising story of money, power and gossip within the abbey.
New book tells the story of Celtic Christianity’s centre of learning
1,500 years ago, the Welsh town of Llanilltud Fawr was regarded as the cradle of Celtic Christianity. The story of its monastery has now been told in a new book published last month.
Medieval Monks: A Beginner’s Guide
Can you tell your Benedictines from your Franciscans and Dominicans? This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle gives a brief overview of the the backstory of some of the major monastic traditions, and how you can tell them apart.
Like Father, Like Illegitimate Son: Henry II and William Longespée on Monastic Patronage
Henry II now enjoys a reputation as a committed and reasonably prolific founder and serial patroniser of monasteries. He was also engaged in another widespread, not to mention potentially politically advantageous aristocratic activity – the siring of illegitimate children.
How the nuns of San Zaccaria succeeded in 12th century Venice
“These women find their fulfillment not individually, in the prayer and silence expected from those who have retreated to within the walls of a cloister, but in the project shared and collectively pursued to increase the prestige and influence of their monastic community.”
Anchorites: Life in Spiritual Self-Isolation
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle talks about anchorites, men and women who enclosed themselves for life to contemplate their religious beliefs. She also explores some of the work of Julian of Norwich, perhaps the most famous anchorite of the Middle Ages.
Beguines with Tanya Stabler Miller
Often, people think of the women of medieval Europe as either wives or nuns: women whose lives and property were under the control of someone else. But what tends to be forgotten is that for some women there was a third option: to become a beguine. This week, Danièle speaks with Dr. Tanya Stabler Miller about who the beguines were, and what medieval society thought of them.
Siblings and the Sexes within the Medieval Religious Life
Contact between the sexes within the religious life presented a perennial source of anxiety for medieval churchmen.
The Christmas relics that came to medieval England
If you wanted to see the manger where Jesus Christ was born, or the finger bones of Saint Nicholas (the original Santa Claus), you could have done so at an English abbey in the 15th century.
The Lost Women of Prémontré: Finding and Following the Footsteps of Medieval Women
In the mid-12th century, the chronicler Herman of Tournai wrote that there were more than 10,000 Premonstratensian sisters spread across northern France.
The Occupation of Gotland by the Teutonic Knights, 1398-1408
In 1398, the Teutonic Order occupied the island of Gotland and its city, Visby. The knights held the island for ten years.
Project to discover who came to Mount Athos in the Middle Ages
Zachary Chitwood of Mainz University will set up a comprehensive database that will include the inhabitants and visitors of Athos over a period of 700 years.