Gone Medieval

Latest Episodes:

The Crusades and Ireland Jun 20, 2023

Show notes

Ireland has long been overlooked in the context of crusading. It has not only been largely absent from accounts of crusades and crusading, it has also not featured in histories of Ireland. A new book from Forecourts Press, titled Ireland and the Crusades, seeks to correct these omissions.

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis meets archaeologist Paul Duffy who has contributed to the book an essay titled "Curtailing Kings: Ireland, the Cathar Crusade and the cult of Simon de Montfort."

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Find out more about Paul M. Duffy’s novel, Run with the Hare, Hunt with the Hound, silver winner at the 2022 Foreword Indies Book of the Year Award in Historical Fiction.

If you’re enjoying this podcast and are looking for more fascinating Medieval content then subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here: https://insights.historyhit.com/signup-form

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Medieval Trans Saints & Sex Workers Jun 16, 2023

Show notes

In this episode of Gone Medieval for Pride Month, Matt Lewis takes a look at some transgender stories from the Middle Ages. Marinos was a 5th century monk mentioned in the trial of Joan of Arc. They shaved their head and changed into men's clothes to live in a monastery with their widowed father. Eleanor Rykener was a 14th century trans sex-worker in London, arrested for prostitution and sodomy. To discuss these and other cases that resonate with today’s discourse on gender, Matt is joined by Dr. Gabrielle Bychowski.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

If you’re enjoying this podcast and are looking for more fascinating Medieval content then subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here: https://insights.historyhit.com/signup-form

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Marco Polo Jun 13, 2023

Show notes

One of history’s great adventurers, Marco Polo’s accounts of his travels - dictated while in prison - were exceptionally widely read, introducing Europeans to the then-mysterious culture and inner workings of the Eastern world, including the wealth and great size of the Mongol Empire and China in the Yuan Dynasty.

In this edition of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis finds out more about Marco Polo and his travels from historian Laurence Bergreen, author of Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

If you’re enjoying this podcast and are looking for more fascinating Medieval content then subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here.

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The Greatest Medieval Divorce Scandal Jun 09, 2023

Show notes

In 855, the Carolingian king Lothar II was married to the aristocratic Teutberga for political reasons. But there was a third person in the relationship — Waldrada of Lotharingia. Their affair led to a prolonged and messy battle by Lothar II to secure a divorce from Teutberga, which involved Charles the Bald, Louis the German and two Popes.

On this edition of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis talks to Dr. Chris Halsted to find out more about Waldrada’s incredible story and the greatest medieval divorce scandal.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

If you’re enjoying this podcast and are looking for more fascinating Medieval content then subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here.

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Medieval Japan: Myths of the Samurai Jun 06, 2023

Show notes

Medieval Japan - especially its stories of fearless Samurai and Ninja warriors - have an enduring place in our consciousness. But how true are they?

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis talks to Joseph Robey, who has made it his mission to make the stories of Medieval Japan more well known.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

If you’re enjoying this podcast and are looking for more fascinating Medieval content then subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here.

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Origins of the Forbidden Fruit Myth Jun 02, 2023

Show notes

How did the apple become the dominant symbol of temptation and sin, when it isn’t even mentioned in the Bible story of Adam and Eve?

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis meets Professor Azzan Yadin-Israel who has pursued this mystery across art and religious history, uncovering where, when, and why the forbidden fruit became an apple. He reveals that Eden’s fruit, once thought to be a fig or a grape, first appears as an apple in 12th-century French art. But why?

Visit Professor Yadin-Israel's website database of the forbidden fruit in Western art:

http://treeofknowledgeart.com/

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

If you’re enjoying this podcast and are looking for more fascinating Medieval content then subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here.

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android or Apple store.

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Origins of Scottish Independence May 30, 2023

Show notes

For the first time in 18 years, the Declaration of Arbroath - an iconic document in the story of the struggle for Scottish independence in the 14th century - will go on public display. Dated 6 April 1320, and written by the barons and freeholders on behalf of the Kingdom of Scotland, the Declaration asks Pope John XXII to recognise Scotland's independence and to persuade Edward II of England to end hostilities against the Scots.

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis finds out more from Dr. Alice Blackwell, Dr. Alan Borthwick and Prof. Dauvit Broun.

The Declaration of Arbroath is on display from 3 June until 2 July 2023 at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh: https://www.nms.ac.uk/declaration

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

If you’re enjoying this podcast and are looking for more fascinating Medieval content then subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here.

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android or Apple store.

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Julian of Norwich: England's First Woman Writer? May 26, 2023

Show notes

The writings of Julian of Norwich are the earliest surviving English language works by a woman and the only surviving English language works by an anchoress. But her life - particularly prior to taking on her role at Saint Julian's Church in Norwich - is shrouded in mystery and it has been widely debated.

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis talks to author Claire Gilbert. Her new book I,Julian is a powerful fictional autobiography of Julian - as mother, mystic and radical.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

If you’re enjoying this podcast and are looking for more fascinating Medieval content then subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here.

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android or Apple store.

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How the Mediterranean Created Wealth May 23, 2023

Show notes

What does archaeology tell us about how regions in the Mediterranean built their wealth between the 10th and 12th centuries? How did economies grow in Egypt, Tunisia, Sicily, the Byzantine empire, Islamic Spain and Portugal, and north-central Italy? And what were their trading relationships with each other?

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis talks to Professor Chris Wickham, author of The Donkey and the Boat: Reinterpreting the Mediterranean Economy, 950-1180. Based on a completely new look at the sources, his research is forcing a rethink about how economies worked in the medieval Mediterranean.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

If you’re enjoying this podcast and are looking for more fascinating Medieval content then subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here.

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android or Apple store.

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Medieval Warfare: Deception and Trickery May 19, 2023

Show notes

Deception and trickery have always been a universal feature of warfare and the wars of the Middle Ages were no exception - from the Battle of Hastings to the “fake corpse ruse”. But how did Medieval mores justify deception during wars? Was cunning considered an admirable quality in a warrior? Was the culturally and religious "other" more deceitful than Western Europeans?

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis finds out more from Dr. James Titterton, author of Deception in Medieval Warfare: Trickery and Cunning in the Central Middle Ages.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

If you’re enjoying this podcast and are looking for more fascinating Medieval content then subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here.

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android or Apple store

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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