Human Circus: Journeys in the Medieval World

A Medieval Haunting in the Annales Fuldenses Oct 30, 2024

The Annales Fuldenses, or Annals of Fulda, is a source for 9th-century events in Carolingian lands: the incursions of the Northmen, fighting among the royal relatives, and omens in the sky. It also contains the story of an unfortunate village, an even more unfortunate villager, and the evil spirit that haunted both.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on BlueSky @a-devon.bsky.social, Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Source:

The Annals of Fulda: Ninth-Century Histories, Volume II. Translated and annotated by Timothy Reuter. Manchester University Press, 1992.

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Medieval Lives 9: John Crabbe Oct 28, 2024

The story of a 14th-century Flemish pirate, merchant, and adventurer, a man who took prizes at sea and took whatever side he needed to on land, crossing paths with various counts and kings as he went.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on BlueSky @a-devon.bsky.social, Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Barrell, Andrew D. M. Medieval Scotland. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Cushway, Graham. Edward III and the War at Sea: The English Navy, 1327-1377. Boydell Press, 2011.
Holinshed, Raphael. Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, Volume 5. J. Johnson, et. al. 1808.
Lucas, Henry S. “John Crabbe: Flemish Pirate, Merchant, and Adventurer.” Speculum 20, no. 3 (1945): 334–50.
Rose, Susan. Medieval Naval Warfare, 1000-1500. Routledge, 2003.
Wilson, Ben. Empire of the Deep: The Rise and Fall of the British Navy. Orion, 2013.
The Anonimalle Chronicle 1307 to 1334. Edited by Wendy R. Childs and John Taylor. Cambridge University Press, 2013.

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Pedro Tafur 7: Losing Teeth, Losing Swords Oct 11, 2024

Our 15th-century Spanish traveller goes home, mixing with the imperial elite along the way.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on BlueSky @a-devon.bsky.social, Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Source:

Pero Tafur: Travels and Adventures (1435-1439), translated and edited with an introduction by Malcolm Letts. Harper & brothers, 1926.

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Pedro Tafur 6: In the Baths and at the Fairs Oct 02, 2024

Our 15th-century traveller returns to Venice and goes overland into central and western Europe, making friends and catching up with some old ones along the way. He'll heal at the thermal baths, and there's talk of Bruges, Antwerp, medieval trade and textiles, and the fairs.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on BlueSky @a-devon.bsky.social, Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Pero Tafur: Travels and Adventures (1435-1439), translated and edited with an introduction by Malcolm Letts. Harper & brothers, 1926.
Abu-Lughod, Janet L. Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250-1350.University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019.

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Pedro Tafur 5: Doomed Empires and Slavery on the Black Sea Sep 04, 2024

Pedro Tafur ventures out from Constantinople to visit a sultan, an emperor, and the centre of the Black Sea slave trade.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on BlueSky @a-devon.bsky.social, Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Pero Tafur: Travels and Adventures (1435-1439), translated and edited with an introduction by Malcolm Letts. Harper & brothers, 1926.
Barker, Hannah. That Most Precious Merchandise: The Mediterranean Trade in Black Sea Slaves, 1260-1500. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019.
Gregory, Timothy E. A History of Byzantium. John Wiley & Sons, 2010.

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Pedro Tafur 4: Cyprus, Chios, and Constantinople Jul 27, 2024

Our 15th-century traveller dodges catastrophe on the Mediterranean and drops in on late-imperial Constantinople, where there's plenty of seafood and the roots of Pedro's family tree.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on BlueSky @a-devon.bsky.social, Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Pero Tafur: Travels and Adventures (1435-1439), translated and edited with an introduction by Malcolm Letts. Harper & brothers, 1926.
Gregory, Timothy E. A History of Byzantium. John Wiley & Sons, 2010.
Byron, Robert & Rice, David Talbot. The Birth of Western Painting. Routledge, 2013.

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Pedro Tafur 3: From Cyprus to Cairo Jul 02, 2024

As our Castilian traveller makes his roundabout way toward Mt Sinai, he finds ill-health but lots of help on Cyprus, while around Cairo he's struck by the street food and crocodiles.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on BlueSky @a-devon.bsky.social, Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Pero Tafur: Travels and Adventures (1435-1439), translated and edited with an introduction by Malcolm Letts. Harper & brothers, 1926.
Excerpta Cypria: Materials for a History of Cyprus, edited by Claude Delaval Cobham. Cambridge University Press, 1908.

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Pedro Tafur 2: Busy Days in the Holy Land Jun 21, 2024

The journey of our 15th-century Castilian traveller continues, as Pedro Tafur leaves Venice and makes his way to Jerusalem, where there will be no shortage of things for him to see and do.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on BlueSky @a-devon.bsky.social, Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Pero Tafur: Travels and Adventures (1435-1439), translated and edited with an introduction by Malcolm Letts. Harper & brothers, 1926.
Antrim, Zayde. “Jerusalem in the Ayyubid and Mamluk Periods.” Routledge Handbook on Jerusalem, edited by Suleiman Mourad, Bedross Der Matossian, and Naomi Koltun-Fromm, 102-109. New York: Routledge, 2018.
Dalrymple, William. In Xanadu: A Quest. HarperCollins, 1990.
Little, Donald P. “Mujīr Al-Dīn al-ʿUlaymī’s Vision of Jerusalem in the Ninth/Fifteenth Century.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 115, no. 2 (1995): 237–47.
Norwich, John Julius. A History of Venice. Penguin, 2003.

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Pedro Tafur 1: The Mediterranean Tour May 27, 2024

Pedro Tafur, a 15th-century Castilian, makes his way around Spain and Italy with lengthy stops in Genoa, Venice, and Rome, and generally has a pretty pleasant holiday.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on BlueSky @a-devon.bsky.social, Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Pero Tafur: Travels and Adventures (1435-1439), translated and edited with an introduction by Malcolm Letts. Harper & brothers, 1926.
Abu-Lughod, Janet L. Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250-1350. Oxford University Press, 1989.
Verità, Marco, Laura Speranza, Simone Porcinai, and Daniele Angellotto. “The Sacro Catino in Genoa: Analytical and Technological Investigations of a Unique Glass Vessel.” Journal of Glass Studies 60 (2018): 115–28.

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Medieval Lives 8: Giovanni Fontana May 01, 2024

Giovanni Fontana was a 15th-century Italian engineer and inventor. His designs included everything from systems for retrieving sunken ships and automating the defence of fortifications to measuring time and producing music. He created locks, clocks, and magic lanterns.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on BlueSky @a-devon.bsky.social, Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Fontana, Giovanni. Bellicorum instrumentorum liber cum figuris... Digitized at https://codicon.digitale-sammlungen.de/inventiconCod.icon.%20242.html
Gilbert, Bennett. “The Dreams of an Inventor in 1420,” Public Domain Review.2018. https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-dreams-of-an-inventor-in-1420/
Grafton, Anthony. “The Devil as Automaton: Giovanni Fontana and the Meanings of a Fifteenth-Century Machine,” in Genesis Redux: Essays in the History and Philosophy of Artificial Life, edited by Jessica Riskin. University of Chicago Press, 2007.
Grafton, Anthony. Magic and Technology in Early Modern Europe. Smithsonian Institution Libraries, 2005.
Grafton, Anthony. Magus: The Art of Magic from Faustus to Agrippa. Harvard University Press, 2023.
Rossi, Cesare and Russo, Flavio. Ancient Engineers' Inventions: Precursors of the Present. Springer, 2016.
Sparavigna, A.C. “Giovanni de la Fontana, Engineer and Magician.” Cornell University Library, 2013.

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The Fire at Louvain Apr 28, 2024

In the late-summer of 1914, a city burns and its university library with it. Unusually for this podcast, the story takes us into WWI, but there are medieval connections to the story of Louvain (Leuven) and what happened when the German army came to town.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on BlueSky @a-devon.bsky.social, Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Bazydlo, Angela. “Manuscript lost in WWI fire turns up in Clark Archives.” https://clarknow.clarku.edu/2021/08/30/manuscript-lost-in-wwi-fire-turns-up-in-clark-archives/
Battles, Matthew. Library: An Unquiet History. W. W. Norton & Company, 2011.
Battles, Matthew. “Knowledge on Fire.” The American Scholar 72, no. 3 (2003): 35–51.
Bouwman, André. “Book burning in Louvain, 1914.” https://www.leidenspecialcollectionsblog.nl/articles/book-burning-in-louvain-1914
Delannoy, Paul. “The Library at the University of Louvain,” The Nineteenth Century, Vol. LXXVII - No. 59, p. 1061 May 1915.
Derez, Mark. “The Flames of Louvain: a Library as a Cultural Icon and a Political Vehicle,” What do we lose when we lose a library? Proceedings of the conference held at the KU Leuven 9-11 September 2015.
Gusejnova, Dina. “Librarians as Agents of German Foreign Policy and the Cultural Consequences of the First World War.” The Historical Journal 66, no. 4 (2023): 864–86.
Kipling, Rudyard. “In Aid of Recruiting.” https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/readers-guide/rg_speeches_29.htm
Kramer, Alan. Dynamic of Destruction: Culture and Mass Killing in the First World War. Oxford University Press, 2008.
Matin, A. Michael. “‘The Hun is at the Gate!’: Historicizing Kipling's Militaristic Rhetoric, From the Imperial Periphery to the National Center: Part Two: The French, Russian, and German Threats to Great Britain.” Studies in the Novel 31, no. 4 (1999): 432–70. http://www.jstor.org/stable/29533357.
Ovenden, Richard. Burning the Books. Harvard University Press, 2020.
Ovenden, Richard. “One of Europe’s Great Libraries Didn’t Stand a Chance… In Either of the World Wars.” https://lithub.com/one-of-europes-great-libraries-didnt-stand-a-chance-in-either-of-the-world-wars/

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Fernao Mendes Pinto 10: Lisbon at Last Mar 26, 2024

The Fernao Mendes Pinto story reaches its conclusion, and he finally reaches Portugal once more.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on BlueSky @a-devon.bsky.social, Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

The Travels of Mendes Pinto, edited and translated by Rebecca D. Catz. University of Chicago Press, 1989.
Hart, Thomas R. “Style and Substance in the Peregrination.” Portuguese Studies 2 (1986).
Hart, Thomas R. “True or False: Problems of the ‘Peregrination.’” Portuguese Studies 13 (1997).
Rubiés, Joan Pau. “Real and Imaginary Dialogues in the Jesuit Mission of Sixteenth-Century Japan.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 55, no. 2/3 (2012).
Rubiés, Joan Pau. “The Oriental Voices of Mendes Pinto, or the Traveller as Ethnologist in Portuguese India.” Portuguese Studies 10 (1994).
Spence, Jonathan D. The Chan's Great Continent: China in Western Minds. W. W. Norton & Company, 1999.

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Fernao Mendes Pinto 9: With Francis Xavier in Japan Mar 13, 2024

The story of Fernao Mendes Pinto intersects with that of the Jesuit saint, Francis Xavier, and takes him back to Japan.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on BlueSky @a-devon.bsky.social, Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

The Travels of Mendes Pinto, edited and translated by Rebecca D. Catz. University of Chicago Press, 1989.
App, Urs. “St. Francis Xavier’s Discovery of Japanese Buddhism: A Chapter in the European Discovery of Buddhism (Part 1: Before the Arrival in Japan, 1547-1549).” The Eastern Buddhist 30, no. 1 (1997).
Rubiés, Joan Pau. “Real and Imaginary Dialogues in the Jesuit Mission of Sixteenth-Century Japan.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 55, no. 2/3 (2012).
Willis, Clive. “Captain Jorge Álvares and Father Luís Fróis S.J.: Two Early Portuguese Descriptions of Japan and the Japanese.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 22, no. 2 (2012).

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Fernao Mendes Pinto 8: First in Japan Feb 26, 2024

The first Europeans wash up on Japanese shores, bringing the musket as they do so, and Pinto would have you believe that he is with them.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on BlueSky @a-devon.bsky.social, Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

The Travels of Mendes Pinto, edited and translated by Rebecca D. Catz. University of Chicago Press, 1989.
Cooper, Michael. The Southern Barbarians: The First Europeans in Japan. Kodansha, 1971.
Lidin, Olof G. Tanegashima: The Arrival of Europe in Japan. Routledge, 2003.
Perrin, Noel. Giving Up the Gun: Japan's Reversion to the Sword, 1543-1879. David R. Godine, 1979.

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Fernao Mendes Pinto 7: A Traveller's Guide to Ming China Feb 02, 2024

Pinto's story continues, and the Portuguese traveller makes his way across China as a prisoner, describing some its towns, cities, and countryside as he goes. His China, which he may not have actually visited himself, is dotted with the remnants of previous Portuguese actions, an envoy's gravestone and the remnants of failed embassies.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

The Travels of Mendes Pinto, edited and translated by Rebecca D. Catz. University of Chicago Press, 1989.
Hart, Thomas R. “Style and Substance in the Peregrination.” Portuguese Studies 2 (1986): 49–55.
Hart, Thomas R. “True or False: Problems of the ‘Peregrination.’” Portuguese Studies 13 (1997): 35–42.
Rubiés, Joan-Pau. "The Oriental Voices of Mendes Pinto, or the Traveller as Ethnologist in Portuguese India." Portuguese Studies 10 (1994): 24–43.

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Fernao Mendes Pinto 6: Grave Robbery and Leeches Jan 17, 2024

Our Portuguese adventurer resumes his piratical ways and runs into trouble on the coast of China. He and de Faria find silver in abundance, but also shipwreck, poverty, and leeches.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

The Travels of Mendes Pinto, edited and translated by Rebecca D. Catz. University of Chicago Press, 1989.
Hart, Thomas R. “Style and Substance in the Peregrination.” Portuguese Studies 2 (1986): 49–55.
Hart, Thomas R. “True or False: Problems of the ‘Peregrination.’” Portuguese Studies 13 (1997): 35–42.
Rubiés, Joan-Pau. "The Oriental Voices of Mendes Pinto, or the Traveller as Ethnologist in Portuguese India." Portuguese Studies 10 (1994): 24–43.

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The Medieval Winter and Other Seasons Since Jan 02, 2024

Not a Christmas episode, but a winter one: winter in various Old English sources and winter now. Happy New Year and thanks for listening!

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Clare, John. Major Works. Oxford University Press, 2004.
Gopnik, Adam. Winter: Five Windows on the Season. House of Anansi, 2011.
Hostetter, Aaron K. Translation of "Andreas" - https://oldenglishpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/andreas/
Hostetter, Aaron K. Translation of "The Menologium" - https://oldenglishpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/the-menologium/
McKennitt, Loreena. To Drive the Cold Winter Away. Quinlan Road, 1987.
Parker, Eleanor. Winters in the World: A Journey Through the Anglo-Saxon Year. Reaktion Books, 2022.

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Fernao Mendes Pinto 5: Revenge and a Little Piracy Too Dec 19, 2023

Pinto and his colleagues embark on a quest for revenge against a certain pirate, and in the process indulge in quite a bit of piracy themselves along the coasts of Champa and Hainan. Ships are seized, silks are stolen, and brains are squeezed out.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Source:

The Travels of Mendes Pinto, edited and translated by Rebecca D. Catz. University of Chicago Press, 1989.

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Fernao Mendes Pinto 4: The Aceh Sultanate and Further Suffering at Sea Nov 29, 2023

Fernao Mendes Pinto recovers from shipwreck and captivity, neither his first nor his last, and returns to the story of the Aceh Sultanate.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

The Travels of Mendes Pinto, edited and translated by Rebecca D. Catz. University of Chicago Press, 1989.
Aceh Sultanate: State, Society, Religion and Trade (2 vols.): The Dutch Sources, 1636-1661, edited by Takeshi Ito. Brill, 2015.
Göksoy, İsmail Hakkı. "Ottoman-Aceh relations as documented in Turkish sources," in Mapping the Acehnese Past, edited by R. Michael Feener, Patrick Daly, and Anthony Reed. Brill, 2011.
Pinto, Paulo Jorge De Sousa. The Portuguese and the Straits of Melaka, 1575-1619: Power, Trade and Diplomacy. NUS Press, 2012.

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Medieval Halloween: Signs in the Sky, Strange Children, etc Oct 31, 2023

From William of Newburgh's 12th-century chronicle, "History of English Affairs," these stories aren't really about Halloween, but they do feel a little Halloween-ish. There's no Michael Myers, zombies, or vampires, but there are strange portents in the sky, toads locked in stone, faerie banquets, green children, and a good number of demons.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

3 Things:

Sources:

The Church Historians of England, translated by Joseph Stevenson. Seeley's, 1856.
Watkins, C.S.. History and the Supernatural in Medieval England. Cambridge University Press, 2007.

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Fernao Mendes Pinto 3: Melaka and the Embarrassed Envoy Oct 22, 2023

The story of the 16th-century Portuguese traveller, writer, soldier, envoy, and so much more, takes us to Malaysia, to the city of Malacca (Melaka), and to diplomatic missions among nearby rulers.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

The Travels of Mendes Pinto, edited and translated by Rebecca D. Catz. University of Chicago Press, 1989.
The Commentaries of the Great Afonso Dalboquerque, Second Viceroy of India, translated by Walter de Gray Birch. Hakluyt, 1875.
Boxer, C.R. The Portuguese Seaborne Empire 1415-1825. Carcanet, 1991.
Diffie, Bailey Wallys. Foundations of the Portuguese Empire, 1415-1580. University of Minnesota Press, 1977.
Newitt, Malyn. A History of Portuguese Overseas Expansion 1400–1668. Routledge, 2004.
Paine, Lincoln. The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World. Knopf Doubleday, 2015.

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Fernao Mendes Pinto 2: The Red Sea and the Siege of Diu Aug 04, 2023

Pinto visits the "Land of Prester John," faces trouble on the Red Sea, and brushes up against the 1538 Siege of Diu. He takes part in combat along the Indian coast, grumbles as to his lot in life, and is whisked about by boat to Massawa, Mokha, Qeshm, Chaul, Goa, Honnavar, and Diu, before heading further east.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

The Travels of Mendes Pinto, edited and translated by Rebecca D. Catz. University of Chicago Press, 1989.
Casale, Giancarlo. The Ottoman Age of Exploration. Oxford University Press, 2010.
Pearson, N.M. The Portuguese in India. Cambridge University Press, 2006.

3 Things:

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Fernao Mendes Pinto 1: From Lisbon, Poverty, and Pirates Jul 01, 2023

Fernão Mendes Pinto, respected by many of his contemporaries for the expertise knowledge which he'd gained through his travels, absolutely synonymous for others with lies and exaggerations.

From humble beginnings and vaguely unfortunate events in his early life, Pinto would find a place for himself in the 16th-century world of colonial Portugal, would write himself into it if necessary.

He was, he said, “13 times a prisoner and 17 a slave.” As Rebecca Catz writes, he served as a “soldier, merchant, pirate, ambassador, missionary, doctor—the list is not complete.” He ran afoul of pirates, was shipwrecked, and robbed royal tombs. The characters in his story included a saint, an Indonesian ruler, the mother of Prester John, a Japanese lord, and someone who may or may not have been the Dalai Lama. He claimed to be among the very first Europeans to set foot in Japan, but then he claimed to be a lot of things.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

3 Things:

Sources:

The Travels of Mendes Pinto, edited and translated by Rebecca D. Catz. University of Chicago Press, 1989.
The Portuguese in West Africa, 1415–1670: A Documentary History, edited by Malyn Newitt. Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Pearson, N.M. The Portuguese in India. Cambridge University Press, 2006.

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Medieval Lives 7: Long Distance Relationships May 19, 2023

With all the medieval travel featured on the podcast—the trips across the Mediterranean, the Asian Steppe, and the Indian Ocean—of course we focus on the travellers themselves, the people actually making those trips, but whether they were merchants, envoys, or otherwise, they often left people behind, family that they were separated from for years at a time.

This episode is about those separations, the difficulties they caused, and what people did (or did not do) about them. We start with a letter from a merchant in Palermo, Sicily, move to one from an India trader in Aden, and finish with a pair of Rabbinic responses regarding a married couple in Egypt.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

3 Things:

Sources:

Goitein, S.D. Letters of Medieval Jewish Traders. Princeton University Press, 1973.
Hofmeester, Karin. “Jewish Ethics and Women’s Work in the Late Medieval and Early Modern Arab-Islamic World.” International Review of Social History 56 (2011): 141–64.
Melammed, Reneé Levine. “He Said, She Said: A Woman Teacher in Twelfth-Century Cairo.” AJS Review 22, no. 1 (1997): 19–35.

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The Cairo Geniza May 02, 2023

Today’s episode is not the story of an individual but rather of a collected body of sacred and secular writings, or rather bodies of writings. It’s a story of scripture, court records, correspondence, literature, scholarly studies, and more, of human life as it has left its echoes in writing.

This is the story of the Cairo Geniza, an incredible collection of historical documents, from medieval manuscripts to modern divorces. It's about how that collection, brought from the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat, Egypt, has reached us, and some of the figures involved.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

3 Things:

Sources:

Goitein, S. D. A Mediterranean Society, Volume III: The Family. University of California Press, 1978.
Hoffman, Adina & Cole, Peter. Sacred Trash: The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza. Shocken Books, 2011.
Jefferson, Rebecca. The Cairo Genizah and the Age of Discovery in Egypt: The History and Provenance of a Jewish Archive. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2022.
Jefferson, Rebecca. "Deconstructing ‘the Cairo Genizah’: A Fresh Look at Genizah Manuscript Discoveries in Cairo before 1897." The Jewish Quarterly Review 108, no. 4 (2018): 422–48.
Lewis, Agnes Smith. Eastern Pilgrims: The Travels of Three Ladies. Hurst and Blackett, 1870.
Outhwaite, Ben. "A Hoard of Hebrew MSS," Limn issue 6, The Total Archive.
Reif, Stefan. A Jewish Archive from Old Cairo: The History of Cambridge University's Genizah Collection. Routledge, 2013.
Princeton Geniza Project. https://geniza.princeton.edu/en/

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Medieval Lives 6: Wuhsha the Broker Apr 26, 2023

Today's episode takes us to medieval Egypt, to old Cairo in the 11th and 12th century, to Fustat, to the Fatimid Caliphate during the period of the First Crusade, and to the life of a medieval woman named Wuhsha al-dallala who stands out in her time for strength, independence, and wild financial success (through lending and investment in trading ventures, including one to Gujarat, India). Her history comes to us through the fragments of the Cairo Geniza, in legal documents, and in a will.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Abramson, Henry. "Wuhsha the Broker Jewish Women in the Medieval Economy." December 6th, 2012, lecture.
Frenkel, Miriam. "Charity in Jewish Society of the Medieval Mediterranean World." In Charity and Giving in Monotheistic Religions, edited by Miriam Frenkel & Yaacov Lev. Walter de Gruyter, 2009.
Goitein, S. D. A Mediterranean Society, Volume III: The Family. University of California Press, 1978.
Goitein, S. D. “A Jewish Business Woman of the Eleventh Century.” The Jewish Quarterly Review 57 (1967): 225–42.
Goitein, S. D. & Friedman, Mordechai Akiva. India Traders of the Middle Ages: Documents from the Cairo Geniza. Brill, 2008.
Hoffman, Adina & Cole, Peter. Sacred Trash: The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza. Knopf, 2011.
Zinger, Oded. Women, gender and law: Marital disputes according to documents of the Cairo Geniza. Princeton University, 2014.

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Brutus of Troy Mar 30, 2023

The story of the legendary first kings of the Britons, complete with prophecy, a divine appearance, and a number of origin myths behind the names of Tours, Cornwall, New Troy, and Britain itself.

For this episode, we go to Geoffrey of Monmouth's chronicles for Britain's mythical Trojan origins, following Brutus of Troy as he receives visions from the goddess Diana and voyages to an Albion still inhabited by giants.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Armitage, David. The Ideological Origins of the British Empire. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Geoffrey of Monmouth. History of the Kings of Britain, translated by Aaron Thompson. In parentheses Publications Medieval Latin Series, 1999.
Gillingham, John. The English in the Twelfth Century: Imperialism, National Identity, and Political Values. Boydell Press, 2000.
Jeffs, Amy. Storyland: A New Mythology of Britain. riverrun,2021.
Lavezzo, Kathy. Imagining a Medieval English Nation. University of Minnesota Press, 2004.
Spence, John. Reimagining History in Anglo-Norman Prose Chronicles. York Medieval Press, 2013.
Valerie I. J. Flint. “The Historia Regum Britanniae of Geoffrey of Monmouth: Parody and Its Purpose. A Suggestion.” Speculum 54, no. 3 (1979): 447–68.

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Holinshed: The Scottish Source Mar 01, 2023

Today we step outside the usual medieval travel subject matter on the podcast for a look into William Shakespeare's historical source for the story of Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and of course, King of Scotland, or at least of Alba.

That story takes us to a 16th-century man named Reginald Wolfe, to Holinshed's Chronicles, and to the 11th-century doings of some familiar figures, of Duncan, Banquo, Macduff, Malcolm, and the rest. There are some familiar scenes, such as at Dunsinane Castle, but there are also unfamiliar elements like the murder of King Duffe, from which Shakespeare did a little borrowing.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Holinshed, Raphael. Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland. J. Johnson, et al., 1808.
The Oxford Handbook of Holinshed's Chronicles, edited by Felicity Heal, Ian W. Archer, & Paulina Kewes. Oxford University Press, 2013.
McLuskie, Kathleen. Macbeth. Northcote House, 2009.
Patterson, Annabel. Reading Holinshed's Chronicles. University of Chicago Press, 1994.
Plomer, Henry Robert. A Short History of English Printing, 1476-1898. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., 1900.
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth, edited by Sandra Clark & Pamela Mason. Bloomsbury, 2015.

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The Saga of Grettir the Strong 7: The Romance of Thorstein and Spes Feb 24, 2023

This is the final episode of a narrative series on the Icelandic saga of a famed outlaw. The Grettir Saga concludes without Grettir the Strong. His half-brother Thorstein finds freedom and romance in Constantinople before the story takes one last turn, a religious one that will take us to Norway and then Rome.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Grettir's Saga, translated by Jesse Byock. Oxford University Press, 2009.
Grettir's Saga, translated by Denton Fox and Hermann Palsson. University of Toronto Press, 1974.

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The Saga of Grettir the Strong 6: Revenge in Constantinople Feb 20, 2023

This is the sixth episode of a narrative series on the Icelandic saga of a famed outlaw. Grettir the Strong's half-brother goes looking for revenge, and his killer goes to join the Varangian Guard. The journey takes us from Iceland to Norway, and on to Constantinople.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Grettir's Saga, translated by Jesse Byock. Oxford University Press, 2009.
Grettir's Saga, translated by Denton Fox and Hermann Palsson. University of Toronto Press, 1974.
Collingwood, W.G. A Pilgrimage to the Saga-Steads of Iceland. W. Holmes, 1899.

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The Saga of Grettir the Strong 5: To Live and Die on Drangey Jan 29, 2023

This is the fifth episode of a narrative series on the Icelandic saga of a famed outlaw. Grettir the Strong, his little brother, and their reluctant helper face a new threat on Drangey. His story comes to a conclusion but not his saga.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Grettir's Saga, translated by Jesse Byock. Oxford University Press, 2009.
Grettir's Saga, translated by Denton Fox and Hermann Palsson. University of Toronto Press, 1974.

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The Saga of Grettir the Strong 4: The Brothers Asmundarson Jan 20, 2023

This is the fourth episode of a narrative series on the Icelandic saga of a famed outlaw. Grettir the Strong and his brother look for refuge on the island of Drangey in northern Iceland, but they aren't the only ones who are interested in the island.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Grettir's Saga, translated by Jesse Byock. Oxford University Press, 2009.
Grettir's Saga, translated by Denton Fox and Hermann Palsson. University of Toronto Press, 1974.
Ljungqvist, Fredrik Charpentier. "Rape in the Icelandic Sagas: An Insight in the Perceptions about Sexual Assaults on Women in the Old Norse World," in Journal of Family History, 40(4), 431–447.
Tweedie, Ethel Brilliana. A Girl's Ride in Iceland. Horace Cox, 1895.

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The Saga of Grettir the Strong 3: A Lonely Exile Jan 02, 2023

This is the third episode of a narrative series on the Icelandic saga of a famed outlaw. Grettir wanders Iceland, never able to stay in one place for too long. He is cursed to fear the dark and wish for company because of it, even as that company wishes him dead.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Grettir's Saga, translated by Jesse Byock. Oxford University Press, 2009.
Pavey, Sophie. "Outlawed but Not Alone: Friendships Out of Bounds in Grettir’s Saga," UBC Arts One, Prof. Miranda Burgess Seminar, 2021.

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The Saga of Grettir the Strong 2: Foul Luck and Feuding Dec 01, 2022

This is the second episode of a narrative series on the Icelandic saga of a famed outlaw. Grettir the Strong's story continues. Following his fight with the undead draugr, he feels the effects of Glamr's curse as his luck turns against him and he is outlawed once more.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Grettir's Saga, translated by Jesse Byock. Oxford University Press, 2009.
Grettir's Saga, translated by Denton Fox and Hermann Palsson. University of Toronto Press, 1974.
Three Icelandic Outlaw Sagas, translated by George Johnston and Anthony Faulkes. Everyman, 2001.

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The Saga of Grettir the Strong 1: Exile, Outlawry, and the Undead Nov 01, 2022

This is the first episode of a narrative series on the Icelandic saga of a famed outlaw. The Saga of Grettir the Strong opens with his grandfather leaving King Harald's Norway for Iceland. We follow its portrayal of Grettir's troubled childhood and his tests of strength against boulders, men, bears, and (for some Halloween appropriate listening) draugr, the undead of the burial mound.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Grettir's Saga, translated by Jesse Byock. Oxford University Press, 2009.
Grettir's Saga, translated by Denton Fox and Hermann Palsson. University of Toronto Press, 1974.
Three Icelandic Outlaw Sagas, translated by George Johnston and Anthony Faulkes. Everyman, 2001.

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Medieval Lives 5: The Consorts of the Caliphs Oct 07, 2022

Tāj al-Dīn ‘Alī ibn Anjab ibn al-Sā’ī was born in the last years of the 12th century and lived until the last quarter of the 13th. He was a prolific writer who grew up Abbasid Baghdad and saw it fall to the Mongol invasion of Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan.

His solitary work that survives in its entirety is Consorts of the Caliphs: Women and the Court of Baghdad. In that book, he reaches all the way back to Hammādah bint ‘Īsā, who was married to al-Mansūr the Abbasid dynastic founder and died in 780, and all the way up to Shāhān, a contemporary of his and the concubine of al-Mustansir who died in 1242. He fills its pages with the women of the Abbasid caliphal court, women who appear there as wives, concubines, poets, and more. This episode is about some of those medieval women.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Ibn al-Sā'ī. Consorts of the Caliphs: Women and the Court of Baghdad, edited by Shawkat M. Toorawa.New York University Press, 2015.
Caswell, F.M. The Slave Girls of Baghdad: The Qiyan in the Early Abbasid Era. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011.

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Medieval Lives 4: Chen Cheng, his Travels, and his Troubles at Work Sep 16, 2022

A standalone episode on medieval diplomacy, on the travels, career, and narrative of a 14th and 15th century Ming Dynasty diplomat and administrator, and on the history around him. Chen Cheng would suffer professional setbacks outside of his control, as the the Jianwen Emperor would be replaced by the Yongle Emperor, and he would make the overland journey from China to see Shah Rukh, the son of Timur (Tamerlane), in Timurid Herat.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Hecker, Felicia J. “A Fifteenth-Century Chinese Diplomat in Herat.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 3, no. 1 (1993): 85–98.
Rossabi, Morris. “Two Ming Envoys to Inner Asia.” T’oung Pao 62, no. 1/3 (1976): 1–34.

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Ghiyath al-Din Naqqash 2: AM Feasting & Other Diplomatic Concerns Sep 01, 2022

A story of medieval travel and diplomacy, the 15th-century story of Ghiyath al-Din and the other Timurid envoys, and their visit to Yongle's Beijing on behalf of Timur's son Shah Rukh.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

"Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking," in A Century of Princes: Sources on Timurid History and Art, selected and translated by W. M. Thackston. Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, 1989.
Ford, Graeme. "The Uses of Persian in Imperial China: The Translation Practices of the Great Ming," in The Persianate World, edited by Nile Green. University of California Press, 2019.
Hecker, Felicia J. “A Fifteenth-Century Chinese Diplomat in Herat,” in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 3, no. 1 (1993): 85–98.
Lipman, Jonathan N. Familiar Strangers: A History of Muslims in Northwest China. University of Washington Press, 2011.
Park, Hyunhee. Mapping the Chinese and Islamic Worlds: Cross-Cultural Exchange in Pre-Modern Asia. Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Rossabi, Morris. A History of China. Wiley, 2013.
Rossabi, Morris. "Two Ming Envoys to Inner Asia," in T’oung Pao 62, no. 1/3 (1976): 1–34.
Tsai, Shih-shan Henry. Perpetual Happiness. University of Washington Press, 2011.

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Ghiyath al-Dīn Naqqash 1: A Timurid Painter in Ming China Aug 17, 2022

In the early 15th century, Shah Rukh, the son of Timur, sent an embassy east to the target of his father's last military campaign, Ming China. Making that journey from Timurid Herat to the home of the Yongle Emperor (with stops along the way at Samarkand, Tashkent, Hami, Ganzhou, and finally Khanbaliq) was a chronicler and painter named Ghiyāth al-Dīn. His story is one of medieval diplomacy and travel.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

"Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking," in A Century of Princes: Sources on Timurid History and Art, selected and translated by W. M. Thackston. Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, 1989.
Ford, Graeme. "The Uses of Persian in Imperial China: The Translation Practices of the Great Ming," in The Persianate World, edited by Nile Green. University of California Press, 2019.
Lipman, Jonathan N. Familiar Strangers A History of Muslims in Northwest China. University of Washington Press, 2011.
Park, Hyunhee. Mapping the Chinese and Islamic Worlds: Cross-Cultural Exchange in Pre-Modern Asia. Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Rossabi, Morris. A History of China. Wiley, 2013.
Rossabi, Morris. "Two Ming Envoys to Inner Asia," in T’oung Pao 62, no. 1/3 (1976): 1–34.
Tsai, Shih-shan Henry. Perpetual Happiness. University of Washington Press, 2011.

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Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi 5: The Year 598 Jul 29, 2022

Another year of drought, another of famine, and even more disasters pile on for the early-13th-century Egyptians. We also see Abd al-Latif make a surprising 20th-century appearance.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Abd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī. A Physician on the Nile: A Description of Egypt and Journal of the Famine Years. NYU Press, 2021.
Barber, Malcolm. The Crusader States. Yale University Press, 2012.
Ellis, Richard. Imagining Atlantis. Knopf, 2012.
Modern, John. Neuromatic: Or, A Particular History of Religion and the Brain. University of Chicago Press, 2021.

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Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi 4: Consuming the Present Jul 01, 2022

What happens when the river fails to rise? In 597 (1200), Abd al-Latif found famine, crime, and cannibalism.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Abd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī. A Physician on the Nile: A Description of Egypt and Journal of the Famine Years. NYU Press, 2021.
Lev, Yaacov. Administration of Justice in Medieval Egypt: From the 7th to the 12th Century. Edinburgh University Press, 2020.
Lewicka, Paulina B. Food and Foodways of Medieval Cairenes: Aspects of Life in an Islamic Metropolis of the Eastern Mediterranean. Brill, 2011.
Traveling Through Egypt: From 450 B.C. to the Twentieth Century, edited by Deborah Manley & Sahar Abdel-Hakim. American University in Cairo Press, 2008.

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Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi 3: Harvesting the Past May 23, 2022

Like many people ever since, and even now, Abd al-Latif was fascinated by Egypt's ancient sites and structures, the pyramids and the Sphinx. He was fascinated, but also disgusted with how their stones and contents had been treated as his contemporaries looked to them less with wonder, more with greed.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Abd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī. A Physician on the Nile: A Description of Egypt and Journal of the Famine Years. NYU Press, 2021.
Bonadeo, Cecilia Martini. ʿAbd Al-Laṭīf Al-Baġdādī’s Philosophical Journey From Aristotle’s Metaphysics to the ‘Metaphysical Science’. Brill, 2013.
Ibn Abi Usaybi'a. A Literary History of Medicine. Edited by E. Savage-Smith, S. Swain, and G.J. van Gelder. Leiden, 2020.
Joosse, Peter. The Physician as a Rebellious Intellectual. Peter Lang, 2014.

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Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi 2: On Egyptian Flora and Fauna Apr 28, 2022

We continue the Abd al-Latif series and dig into his observations on Egypt.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Abd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī. A Physician on the Nile: A Description of Egypt and Journal of the Famine Years. NYU Press, 2021.
Bonadeo, Cecilia Martini. ʿAbd Al-Laṭīf Al-Baġdādī’s Philosophical Journey From Aristotle’s Metaphysics to the ‘Metaphysical Science’. Brill, 2013.
Ibn Abi Usaybi'a. A Literary History of Medicine. Edited by E. Savage-Smith, S. Swain, and G.J. van Gelder. Leiden, 2020.
Joosse, Peter. The Physician as a Rebellious Intellectual. Peter Lang, 2014.

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Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi 1: Scholars, Sultans & Money Apr 04, 2022

Born in the 12th century, Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi travelled the Ayyubid world in search of students, mentors, and patrons. His curiosity stands out, and does his impatience with scholars who, as he saw it, wasted their time with alchemy or other unimportant topics.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī. A Physician on the Nile: A Description of Egypt and Journal of the Famine Years. NYU Press, 2021.
Bonadeo, Cecilia Martini. ʿAbd Al-Laṭīf Al-Baġdādī’s Philosophical Journey From Aristotle’s Metaphysics to the ‘Metaphysical Science’. Brill, 2013.
Ibn Abi Usaybi'a. A Literary History of Medicine. Edited by E. Savage-Smith, S. Swain, and G.J. van Gelder. Leiden, 2020.

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Medieval Lives 3: An Anonymous Journey to Mecca Mar 19, 2022

Today's episode centres on an anonymous 16th-century account of the Hajj that first appeared in English in a 1599 Hakluyt publication.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Hakluyt, Richard. The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques & Discoveries of the English Nation. James MacLehose and Sons, 1904.
One Thousand Roads to Mecca: Ten Centuries of Travelers Writing about the Muslim Pilgrimage, edited by Michael Wolfe. Grove Atlantic, 2015.
The Hajj: Pilgrimage in Islam. edited by Eric Tagliacozzo & Shawkat M. Toorawa. Cambridge University Press, 2016.
Peters, F.E. The Hajj: The Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Places. Princeton University Press, 2021.

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Prester John 10: The End is not the End Feb 23, 2022

It's the end of the Prester John story, or at least the end for now. The priest-king pops up in Tibet and dives into the world of fiction and comics, and the Dalai Lama makes an appearance.

The History of Sport podcast which I mention can be found here and on all the other usual podcast platforms.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Prester John: The Legend and its Sources, compiled and translated by Keagan Brewer. Taylor & Francis, 2019.
Ames, Richard. The Jacobite Conventicle. R. Stafford, 1692.
Rachewiltz, Igor de. Prester John and Europe's Discovery of East Asia. Australian National University Press, 1972.
Salvadore, Matteo. The African Prester John and the Birth of Ethiopian-European Relations, 1402-1555. Taylor & Francis, 2016.
Shakespeare, William. Much Ado about Nothing. Penguin, 2005.

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The History of Sport - Baseball & The Little Pretty Pocket Book Feb 08, 2022

This is a preview of my new/other podcast. It has its own podcast feed, so I won't be bombarding you with other episodes on this feed, but I'm putting this one here in case anyone is interested. You can find more on Apple Podcasts and all the usual other platforms. Back soon with the next Human Circus episode!

Today's episode is about a piece of baseball history, very early baseball history. It's about an 18th-century children's book, about a nationalistic effort to claim ownership over baseball, and about a mining engineer's nostalgic memories of the game's early days. It's about Albert Spalding, the Spalding of so much sports equipment, Abner Graves, the mining engineer in question, and the Civil War general, Abner Doubleday. It's about John Newbery, the man for whom the Newbery Medal for American children's literature is named.

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Prester John 9: The End Part One Feb 01, 2022

What happens to a mythical priest-king when you get too close to him? Does he just disappear?

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Prester John: The Legend and its Sources, compiled and translated by Keagan Brewer. Taylor & Francis, 2019.
Ray, John. A Collection of Curious Travels & Voyages. 1693.
Salvadore, Matteo. The African Prester John and the Birth of Ethiopian-European Relations, 1402-1555. Taylor & Francis, 2016.

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Prester John 8: Ambassador Mateus and his Many Doubters Jan 17, 2022

In the early years of the 16th-century, Ethiopia's regent, Eleni, sent an ambassador to Portugal to propose an alliance. She sent a man named Mateus. Unfortunately for Mateus, almost nobody believed him.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Prester John: The Legend and its Sources, compiled and translated by Keagan Brewer. Taylor & Francis, 2019.
The Commentaries of the Great Afonso Dalboquerque, Second Viceroy of India. Hakluyt Society, 1875.
Alvares, Francisco. Narrative of the Portuguese embassy to Abyssinia during the years 1520-1527. Hakluyt Society, 1881.
Baldridge, Cates. Prisoners of Prester John: The Portuguese Mission to Ethiopia in Search of the Mythical King, 1520-1526. McFarland, 2012.
Diffie, Bailey Wallys & Winius, George Davison. Foundations of the Portuguese Empire, 1415-1580. University of Minnesota Press, 1977.
Eliav-Feldon, Miriam. Renaissance Impostors and Proofs of Identity. Palgrave-Macmillan, 2012.
Knobler, Adam. Mythology and Diplomacy in the Age of Exploration. Brill, 2016.
Krebs, Verena. Medieval Ethiopian Kingship, Craft, and Diplomacy with Latin Europe. Springer International, 2021.
Rogers, Francis Millet. The Quest for Eastern Christians: Travels and Rumor in the Age of Discovery. University of Minnesota Press, 1962.
Salvadore, Matteo. The African Prester John and the Birth of Ethiopian-European Relations, 1402-1555. Taylor & Francis, 2016.

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Prester John 7: The Way from Lisbon Dec 28, 2021

I finished this episode before Christmas and uploaded it to Patreon, only to completely forget to upload it anywhere else. So if you're wondering why I'm on here talking (very unnecessarily!) about how I won't have another episode out before Christmas, etc., that's why!

That aside, this episode is not any kind of a Christmas special anyways. It's the continuation of my Prester John story, on the trip to Prester John's Ethiopia, and on the Portuguese crown's pursuit of the priest-king and how that story was connected to the developing ones of exploration and colonialism.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco Da Gama, 1497-1499, translated by Ernst Georg Ravenstein. The Hakluyt Society, 1898
Prester John: The Legend and its Sources, compiled and translated by Keagan Brewer. Taylor & Francis, 2019.
Ferreira, Susannah. The Crown, the Court and the Casa Da Índia Political Centralization in Portugal 1479-1521. Brill, 2015.
Knobler, Adam. Mythology and Diplomacy in the Age of Exploration. Brill, 2016.
Krebs, Verena. Medieval Ethiopian Kingship, Craft, and Diplomacy with Latin Europe. Springer International, 2021.
Krebs, Verena. "Re-examining Foresti's Supplementum Chronicarum and the 'Ethiopian' embassy to Europe of 1306," in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Volume 82, Issue 3 (October 2019) .
Kurt, Andrew. "The search for Prester John, a projected crusade and the eroding prestige of Ethiopian kings, c .1200 – c .1540," in Journal of Medieval History, 39.3 (September 2013).
Salvadore, Matteo. The African Prester John and the Birth of Ethiopian-European Relations, 1402-1555. Taylor & Francis, 2016.
Salvadore, Matteo. "The Ethiopian Age of Exploration: Prester John's Discovery of Europe, 1306-1458," in Journal of World History, Vol. 21, No. 4 (December 2010).

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Prester John 6: The Ethiopian Prester John Nov 24, 2021

This is the first of two episodes on the next jump in the Prester John narrative, as the story pivots to Ethiopia and as Ethiopian envoys and pilgrims travel in 15th-century Italy and Spain.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Prester John: The Legend and its Sources, compiled and translated by Keagan Brewer. Taylor & Francis, 2019.
Knobler, Adam. Mythology and Diplomacy in the Age of Exploration. Brill, 2016.
Krebs, Verena. Medieval Ethiopian Kingship, Craft, and Diplomacy with Latin Europe. Springer International, 2021.
Krebs, Verena. "Re-examining Foresti's Supplementum Chronicarum and the 'Ethiopian' embassy to Europe of 1306," in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Volume 82, Issue 3 (October 2019) .
Kurt, Andrew. "The search for Prester John, a projected crusade and the eroding prestige of Ethiopian kings, c .1200 – c .1540," in Journal of Medieval History, 39.3 (September 2013).
Salvadore, Matteo. The African Prester John and the Birth of Ethiopian-European Relations, 1402-1555. Taylor & Francis, 2016.
Salvadore, Matteo. "The Ethiopian Age of Exploration: Prester John's Discovery of Europe, 1306-1458," in Journal of World History, Vol. 21, No. 4 (December 2010).

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Medieval Halloween: Lamias, Devils, and Disembodied Hands Oct 31, 2021

Medieval stories of the paranormal, for Halloween or any time really. Featuring invisible devils, water sprites, and helpful hands.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Gesta Romanorum, translated by Charles Swan. George Bell & Sons, 1905.
Joynes, Andrew. Medieval Ghost Stories: An Anthology of Miracles, Marvels and Prodigies. Boydell, 2006.

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Prester John 5: The Mongol Priest-King Oct 18, 2021

The Mongols, their conquests, and the travellers who went to see them were all going to necessitate some changes to the Prester John narrative. This episode is all about those changes.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Prester John: The Legend and its Sources, compiled and translated by Keagan Brewer. Taylor & Francis, 2019.
Sir John Mandeville: The Book of Marvels and Travels, translated by Anthony Bale. Oxford University Press, 2012.
Aigle, Denise. The Mongol Empire Between Myth and Reality. Brill, 2014.
Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the West: 1221-1410. Routledge, 2018.
Rachewiltz, Igor de. Prester John and Europe's Discovery of East Asia. Australian National University Press, 1972.

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Prester John 4: Waiting for David Sep 17, 2021

After their success at Damietta, the participants in the Fifth Crusade decide what to do next, and they wait for a certain someone...

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Prester John: The Legend and its Sources, compiled and translated by Keagan Brewer. Taylor & Francis, 2019.
Crusade and Christendom: Annotated Documents in Translation from Innocent III to the Fall of Acre, 1187-1291. Edited by Jessalynn Bird, et al. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013.
The Fifth Crusade in Context: The Crusading Movement in the Early Thirteenth Century. Edited by E.J. Mylod, et al. Routledge, 2016.
Brownworth, Lars. In Distant Lands: A Short History of the Crusades. Crux Publishing Ltd, 2017.
Cassidy-Welch, Megan. War and Memory at the Time of the Fifth Crusade. Penn State University Press, 2019.
Madden, Thomas F. The New Concise History of the Crusades. Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.
Powell, James M. Anatomy of a Crusade, 1213-1221. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986.
Powell, James M. Innocent III: Vicar of Christ Or Lord of the World? Catholic University of America Press, 1994.

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Prester John 3: The Fifth Crusade Sep 01, 2021

The crusaders make their way first to Acre and then to Damietta. Perhaps someone would be along to help them soon?

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Prester John: The Legend and its Sources, compiled and translated by Keagan Brewer. Taylor & Francis, 2019.
Crusade and Christendom: Annotated Documents in Translation from Innocent III to the Fall of Acre, 1187-1291. Edited by Jessalynn Bird, et al. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013.
The Fifth Crusade in Context: The Crusading Movement in the Early Thirteenth Century. Edited by E.J. Mylod, et al. Routledge, 2016.
Brownworth, Lars. In Distant Lands: A Short History of the Crusades. Crux Publishing Ltd, 2017.
Cassidy-Welch, Megan. War and Memory at the Time of the Fifth Crusade. Penn State University Press, 2019.
Madden, Thomas F. The New Concise History of the Crusades. Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.
Powell, James M. Anatomy of a Crusade, 1213-1221. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986.
Powell, James M. Innocent III: Vicar of Christ Or Lord of the World? Catholic University of America Press, 1994.

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Prester John 2.5: Papal Correspondence Aug 13, 2021

A shorter episode, on a letter from Pope Alexander III to Prester John.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.

Sources:

Prester John: The Legend and its Sources, compiled and translated by Keagan Brewer. Taylor & Francis, 2019.
Pope Alexander III (1159–81): The Art of Survival. Taylor & Francis, 2016.
Rachewiltz, Igor de. Papal Envoys to the Great Khans. Stanford University Press, 1971.

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Prester John 2: Where From and What For Jul 22, 2021

On the many fantastic additions to the Letter of Prester John (Dragons! Strange Bakeries! Etc!), and on the theories around it.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Prester John: The Legend and its Sources, compiled and translated by Keagan Brewer. Taylor & Francis, 2019.
Nowell, Charles E. "The Historical Prester John." Speculum 28, no. 3 (1953).
Romm, James S. The Edges of the Earth in Ancient Thought Geography, Exploration, and Fiction. Princeton University Press, 2019.
Wang, I-Chun. "Alexander the Great, Prester John, Strabo of Amasia, and Wonders of the East." CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 14.5 (2012).

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Prester John 1: The Letter Jun 07, 2021

The legend in its early forms: the arrival in Rome of a patriarch from the east, the chronicles of Otto of Freising, and that famous "letter."

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Otto of Freising, Chronicon, ed. G.H. Pertz, MGH SSRG (Hanover: Hahn, 1867), VII, 33, (pp. 334-35), translated by James Brundage, The Crusades: A Documentary History, (Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University Press, 1962). Accessed at Fordham University Internet Medieval Sourcebook.
Prester John: The Legend and its Sources, compiled and translated by Keagan Brewer. Taylor & Francis, 2019.
Baring-Gould, Sabine. Curious Myths of the Middle Ages. Roberts Brothers, 1867.
Heng, Geraldine. The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press, 2018.

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Medieval Lives 2: Ramon Llull May 06, 2021

Ramon Llull sat down one night to write a love song, but instead he experienced a religious vision that would totally change the direction of his life.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Doctor Illuminatus: A Ramon Llull Reader, edited by Anthony Bonner. Princeton University Press, 1993.
Other Middle Ages: Witnesses at the Margins of Medieval Society, edited by Michael Goodich. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998.

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Abd-al-Razzāq Samarqandī 3: To Home, to Herat Apr 16, 2021

The Timurid ambassador's time in India comes to an end, and he heads for home.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

India in the Fifteenth Century: Being a Collection of Narratives of Voyages to India. Edited by Richard Henry Major. Hakluyt Society, 1857.
Alam, Muzaffar and Subrahmanyam, Sanjay. Indo-Persian Travels in the Age of Discoveries, 1400–1800. Cambridge University Press, 2007.

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Abd-al-Razzāq Samarqandī 2: City of Victory Mar 24, 2021

Shah Rukh's ambassador to the Indian city of Qaliqut arrives at the heart of the Vijayanagara Empire, finding much to admire but also war, a usurper, and uncertainties about his own status. We visit Hampi, the centre of that late-medieval power, and we talk about elephants.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

India in the Fifteenth Century: Being a Collection of Narratives of Voyages to India. Edited by Richard Henry Major. Hakluyt Society, 1857.
Alam, Muzaffar and Subrahmanyam, Sanjay. Indo-Persian Travels in the Age of Discoveries, 1400–1800. Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Caine, William Sproston. Picturesque India: A Handbook for European Travellers. G. Routledge, 1891.
Prange, Sebastian R. Monsoon Islam: Trade and Faith on the Medieval Malabar Coast. Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Ray, Aniruddha. "The Rise and Fall of Vijayanagar – an Alternative Hypothesis to "Hindu Nationalism" Thesis," in Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 64, 2003.
Sewell, Robert. A Forgotten Empire: Vijayanagar. Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1900.

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Abd-al-Razzāq Samarqandī 1: The Unwilling Envoy Mar 02, 2021

It's 1442, and Shah Rukh, the son of Timur, is sending an ambassador for Qaliqut / Kozhikode on the Indian coast. That ambassador, Abd-al-Razzāq, sails from Hormuz and experiences delays, sickness, death, and disappointment. Making matters worse, he never actually wanted to go.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

India in the Fifteenth Century: Being a Collection of Narratives of Voyages to India. Edited by Richard Henry Major. Hakluyt Society, 1857.
Alam, Muzaffar and Subrahmanyam, Sanjay. Indo-Persian Travels in the Age of Discoveries, 1400–1800. Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Prange, Sebastian R. Monsoon Islam: Trade and Faith on the Medieval Malabar Coast. Cambridge University Press, 2018.

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Medieval Lives 1: al-Ghazāl Feb 20, 2021

This is a story about Abū Zakariyyāʾ Yaḥyā ibn Ḥakam al-Bakrī al-Jayyānī, known also as al-Ghazāl (the Gazelle). It's the story of a 9th century poet on an embassy from the Emirate of Córdoba to a Viking ruler.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Allen, W.E.D. "The Poet and the Spae-Wife: An Attempt to Reconstruct Al-Ghazal’s Embassy to the Vikings," Saga Book, Vol. 15, No. 3 (1960).
Hermes, Nizar F. The [European] Other in Medieval Arabic Literature and Culture: Ninth-Twelfth Century AD. Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
Pons-Sanchez, Sara M. "Whom did al-Ghazal meet? An Exchange of Embassies Between the Arabs From al-Andalus and the Vikings," Saga Book, Vol. 28 (2004).
"A Hispano-Muslim Embassy to the Vikings in 845: An Account of al-Ghazal’s Journey to the North" at ballandalus.wordpress.com.

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Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo 6: There and Back Again Feb 08, 2021

The Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo story reaches its conclusion, and so does that of Timur aka Tamerlane.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Narrative of the embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the court of Timour at Samarcand, A.D. 1403-6, translated by Clements R. Markham. Hakluyt Society, 1859.
Embassy to Tamerlane: 1403-1406, translated by Guy le Strange. Routledge, 2005.
Ahmad ibn 'Arabshah. Tamerlane or Timur the Great Amir, translated by J. H. Sanders. Luzac & Co., 1936.
Manz, Beatrice Forbes. The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane. Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Manz, Beatrice Forbes. Power, Politics and Religion in Timurid Iran. Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Marozzi, Justin. Islamic Empires: Fifteen Cities that Define a Civilization. Penguin, 2019.
Rubiés, Joan-Pau. "Late Medieval Ambassadors And The Practice Of Cross-Cultural Encounters 1250–1450," in The ‘Book’ of Travels: Genre, Ethnology, and Pilgrimage, 1250-1700, edited by Palmira Brummett.

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Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo 5: A Season of Feasting at Samarkand Jan 24, 2021

Our travellers from early 15th century Spain arrive at the outskirts of Samarkand and meet with their host Timur.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Narrative of the embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the court of Timour at Samarcand, A.D. 1403-6, translated by Clements R. Markham. Hakluyt Society, 1859.
Embassy to Tamerlane: 1403-1406, translated by Guy le Strange. Routledge, 2005.
Manz, Beatrice Forbes. The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane. Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Manz, Beatrice Forbes. Power, Politics and Religion in Timurid Iran. Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Rubiés, Joan-Pau. "Late Medieval Ambassadors And The Practice Of Cross-Cultural Encounters 1250–1450," in The ‘Book’ of Travels: Genre, Ethnology, and Pilgrimage, 1250-1700, edited by Palmira Brummett.

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Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo 4: Sickness & Heat, Melons & Meat Dec 23, 2020

Clavijo and his Castilian fellow travellers continue the journey toward Timur, cutting across northern Iran and dealing with sickness and heat. On the upside, there will be melons and a great deal of wine. There will also be visit with Timur's potentially problematic son.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Narrative of the embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the court of Timour at Samarcand, A.D. 1403-6, translated by Clements R. Markham. Hakluyt Society, 1859.
Embassy to Tamerlane: 1403-1406, translated by Guy le Strange. Routledge, 2005.
Manz, Beatrice Forbes. The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane. Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Manz, Beatrice Forbes. Power, Politics and Religion in Timurid Iran. Cambridge University Press, 2007.

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Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo 3: Of the Water and the Mountains Dec 02, 2020

In search of Timur, the Castilian ambassadors leave Constantinople and travel east over the Black Sea and into the mountains beyond.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Narrative of the embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the court of Timour at Samarcand, A.D. 1403-6, translated by Clements R. Markham. Hakluyt Society, 1859.
Embassy to Tamerlane: 1403-1406, translated by Guy le Strange. Routledge, 2005.
King, Charles. The Black Sea: A History. Oxford University Press, 2005.
Manz, Beatrice Forbes. The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane. Cambridge University Press, 1999.

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Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo 2: Sacred Objects in the Imperial City Nov 17, 2020

In their journey to see Timur, Clavijo and the other envoys stop in at Constantinople where we visit artifacts and sacred objects.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Narrative of the embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the court of Timour at Samarcand, A.D. 1403-6, translated by Clements R. Markham. Hakluyt Society, 1859.
Embassy to Tamerlane: 1403-1406, translated by Guy le Strange. Routledge, 2005.
Lee, A.D. From Rome to Byzantium AD 363 to 565. Edinburgh University Press, 2013.
Majesca, George P. Russian Travelers to Constantinople in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. Dumbarton Oaks, 1984.
Manz, Beatrice Forbes. The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane. Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Necipoğlu, Nevra. Byzantium Between the Ottomans and the Latins: Politics and Society in the Late Empire. Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Norwich, John Julius. The Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean. Knopf Doubleday Publishing, 2007.
Norwich, John Julius. A History of Venice. Penguin, 2003.
Stephenson, Paul. The Serpent Column: A Cultural Biography. Oxford University Press, 2016.
Zarinebaf, Fariba. Mediterranean Encounters: Trade and Pluralism in Early Modern Galata. University of California Press, 2018.

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Halloween Mini Episode: The Trouble at Froda Oct 29, 2020

It's a quick break from the Clavijo storyline for some Halloween material. Specifically, this is a story from the Icelandic Eyrbyggja, the Saga of the People of Eyri. In it, a stranger comes to Froda, blood rains down, and the dead rise up.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Gisli Sursson's Saga and the Saga of the People of Eyri, translated by Judy Quinn & Martin S. Regal. Penguin, 2003.
Joynes, Andrew. Medieval Ghost Stories: An Anthology of Miracles, Marvels, and Prodigies. Boydell, 2006.

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Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo 1: Byzantine Entanglements Oct 23, 2020

In 1403, Henry III of Castile sent ambassadors to Timur (Tamerlane), among them a man named Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo. In this episode, we cover the context and depart from port near Cadiz, travel the length of the Mediterranean, and visit Lesbos where we spend time with the ruling family and their involvements in Byzantine imperial politics.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Narrative of the embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the court of Timour at Samarcand, A.D. 1403-6, translated by Clements R. Markham. Hakluyt Society, 1859.
Embassy to Tamerlane: 1403-1406, translated by Guy le Strange. Routledge, 2005.
Manz, Beatrice Forbes. The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane. Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Necipoğlu, Nevra. Byzantium Between the Ottomans and the Latins: Politics and Society in the Late Empire. Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Rubiés, Joan-Pau. "Late Medieval Ambassadors and the Practice of Cross Cultural Encounters" 1250-1450," in The 'Book' of Travels: Genre, Ethnology, and Pilgrimage, 1250-1700, edited by Palmira Johnson Brummett. BRILL, 2009.
Wright, Christopher. The Gattilusio Lordships and the Aegean World 1355-1462. BRILL, 2014.

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Ibn Fadlan 4: Communal Hygiene and the Viking Funeral Sep 19, 2020

In the conclusion the Ahmad ibn Fadlan series, ibn Fadlan encounters the Rusiyyah, recounts the famous Viking funeral, and is disgusted by a communal wash basin. I also talk about the text itself.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Ahmad ibn Fadlan. Mission to the Volga, translated by James E. Montgomery. New York University Press, 2017.
Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North, translated and with an introduction by Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone. Penguin, 2012.
Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, edited by Josef W. Meri. Routledge, 2005.
Bukharaev, Ravil. Islam in Russia: The Four Seasons. Routledge, 2014.
Frye, R.N. and Blake, R.P. "Notes on the Risala of Ibn Fadlan," in The Turks in the Early Islamic World, edited by C. Edmund Bosworth. Routledge, 2017.
Hansen, Valerie. The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World and Globalization Began. Simon and Schuster, 2020.
Korpela, Jukka Jari. Slaves from the North: Finns and Karelians in the East European Slave Trade, 900 - 1600. BRILL, 2018.
Kratchkovsky, I.Y. Among Arabic Manuscripts: Memories of Libraries and Men. BRILL, 2016.
Mako, Gerald. The Islamization of the Volga Bulghars: A Question Reconsidered. Harrassowitz Verlag, 2011.
Montgomery, James E. "Ibn Fadlan’s ‘Mission to the Volga’: An Extraordinary Narrative by a Not-so-extraordinary Writer," an interview with ArabLit.
Peacock, A.C.S. The Great Seljuk Empire. Edinburgh University Press, 2015.
Romano, John F. Medieval Travel and Travelers: A Reader. University of Toronto Press, 2020.
Vernadsky, George. Kievan Russia. Yale University Press, 1973.
Wladyslaw, Duczko. Viking Rus: Studies on the Presence of Scandinavians in Eastern Europe. BRILL, 2004.
Wilson, Joe. Black Banner and White Nights: The 10th-Century Travel Account of Ibn Fadlan. James Madison University, 2014.

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Ibn Fadlan 3: Bulgar Discomforts & Jinn Warfare Aug 29, 2020

Our 10th century traveller, Ahmad ibn Fadlan, settles in among the Bulgars, develops a distaste for their fish-oil based food, and is terrified by events in the sky.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Ahmad ibn Fadlan. Mission to the Volga, translated by James E. Montgomery. New York University Press, 2017.
Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North, translated and with an introduction by Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone. Penguin, 2012.
Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, edited by Josef W. Meri. Routledge, 2005.
Bukharaev, Ravil. Islam in Russia: The Four Seasons. Routledge, 2014.
Hansen, Valerie. The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World and Globalization Began. Simon and Schuster, 2020.
Korpela, Jukka Jari. Slaves from the North: Finns and Karelians in the East European Slave Trade, 900 - 1600. BRILL, 2018.
Mako, Gerald. The Islamization of the Volga Bulghars: A Question Reconsidered. Harrassowitz Verlag, 2011.
Romano, John F. Medieval Travel and Travelers: A Reader. University of Toronto Press, 2020.
Vernadsky, George. Kievan Russia. Yale University Press, 1973.
Wilson, Joe. Black Banner and White Nights: The 10th-Century Travel Account of Ibn Fadlan. James Madison University, 2014.

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Ibn Fadlan 2: A Letter from the Caliph Aug 13, 2020

Ahmad ibn Fadlan carries on to his cash-poor appointment with the Volga Bulgars. There's talk of funerals, cultural differences, and threats of death. 10th century diplomacy could be hard.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Ahmad ibn Fadlan. Mission to the Volga, translated by James E. Montgomery. New York University Press, 2017.
Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North, translated and with an introduction by Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone. Penguin, 2012.
Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, edited by Josef W. Meri. Routledge, 2005.
Bukharaev, Ravil. Islam in Russia: The Four Seasons. Routledge, 2014.
Curta, Florin. Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1250. Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Hansen, Valerie. The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World and Globalization Began. Simon and Schuster, 2020.
Le Strange, Guy. The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate: Mesopotamia, Persia, and Central Asia from the Moslem Conquest to the Time of Timur. Cosimo Classics, 2010.
Romano, John F. Medieval Travel and Travelers: A Reader. University of Toronto Press, 2020.
Vernadsky, George. Kievan Russia. Yale University Press, 1973.

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Ibn Fadlan 1: From Baghdad with Very Cold Beards Jul 21, 2020

Ahmad ibn Fadlan travels from early 10th century Baghdad on a diplomatic mission to the Volga Bulgars. There is a Viking funeral in his future, along with unfamiliar cultures and extremely cold weather. It's not The 13th Warrior, which it loosely inspired, but it is a good story.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Ahmad ibn Fadlan. Mission to the Volga, translated by James E. Montgomery. New York University Press, 2017.
Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North, translated and with an introduction by Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone. Penguin, 2012.
Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, edited by Josef W. Meri. Routledge, 2005.
Bukharaev, Ravil. Islam in Russia: The Four Seasons. Routledge, 2014.
Le Strange, Guy. The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate: Mesopotamia, Persia, and Central Asia from the Moslem Conquest to the Time of Timur. Cosimo Classics, 2010.
Romano, John F. Medieval Travel and Travelers: A Reader. University of Toronto Press, 2020.

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Eustace the Black Monk Jun 24, 2020

This is the story of a monk, a sorcerer, a pirate, a woodland outlaw, and a master of disguise. His name is Eustace.

The book I mention at the start of the episode is Desmond Cole's The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power. His recent podcast appearance can be found here.

The other podcast I mention is Sandy and Nora Talk Politics.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Burgess, Glyn S. Two Medieval Outlaws: Eustace the Monk and Fouke Fitz Waryn. D.S. Brewer, 1997.
Davis, Alex. Imagining Inheritance from Chaucer to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, 2020.
Ohlgren, Thomas H. Medieval Outlaws: Twelve Tales in Modern English Translation. Parlor Press, 2005.
Seal, Graham. Outlaw Heroes in Myth and History. Anthem Press, 2011.

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Brancacci's Mission 2: Already Dismissed May 21, 2020

The conclusion of the Felice Brancacci story. Our ambassador from Florence deals with the Mamluk sultan in Cairo, with sickness, and with a shortage of funds, and he comes home to commission some memorable art at the Brancacci Chapel.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Florence's Embassy to the Sultan of Egypt, translated by Mahnaz Yousefzadeh. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.
Ashtor, Eliyahu. Levant Trade in the Middle Ages. Princeton University Press, 2014.
Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. Practising Diplomacy in the Mamluk Sultanate: Gifts and Material Culture in the Medieval Islamic World. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014
Goldthwaite, Richard A. The Economy of Renaissance Florence. JHU Press, 2009.
Najemy, John M. A History of Florence, 1200-1575. John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
Shulman, Ken. Anatomy of a Restoration: the Brancacci Chapel. Walker, 1991.

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Brancacci's Mission 1: From Florence to Cairo May 01, 2020

In 1422, Felice Brancacci set out from Florence to establish trading relations with Mamluk Egypt, and to advocate for his city's currency. This is that story, part one of two.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Florence's Embassy to the Sultan of Egypt, translated by Mahnaz Yousefzadeh. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.
Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. Practising Diplomacy in the Mamluk Sultanate: Gifts and Material Culture in the Medieval Islamic World. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014.
Goldthwaite, Richard A. The Economy of Renaissance Florence. JHU Press, 2009.
Najemy, John M. A History of Florence, 1200-1575. John Wiley & Sons, 2008.

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Sir John Mandeville 5: Mongols, Mountains, and Myths Apr 11, 2020

Finishing up with Mandeville's travels, we visit the palace of the Mongol khan, the fortress paradise of the Old Man of the Mountain, and a land that never sees the sun.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Sir John Mandeville: The Book of Marvels and Travels, translated by Anthony Bale. Oxford University Press, 2012.
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, translated by Charles Moseley. Penguin, 2005.
The Book of John Mandeville, edited by Tamarah Kohanski and C. David Benson. Medieval Institute Publications, 2007.
Friedman, John Block. The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and Thought. Syracuse University Press, 2000.
Higgins, Iain Macleod. Writing East: The "Travels" of Sir John Mandeville. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997.
Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the West: 1221-1410. Routledge, 2018.
Metlitzki, Dorothee. The Matter of Araby in Medieval England. Yale University Press, 2005.
Tzanaki, Rosemary. Mandeville's Medieval Audiences: A Study on the Reception of the Book of Sir John Mandeville (1371-1550). Taylor & Francis, 2017.
Verner, Lisa. The Epistemology of the Monstrous in the Middle Ages. Routledge, 2005.

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Sir John Mandeville 4: Of India and Medieval Monsters Mar 11, 2020

Mandeville goes east into Greater India, and we go with him, following, as he follows the path of Odoric of Pordenone, into India, into the sea and its islands, and into a discussion of medieval hybrids and monsters, and what they mean. We'll find Amazons, the hand of St. Thomas, and people with neither noses nor eyes.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Sir John Mandeville: The Book of Marvels and Travels, translated by Anthony Bale. Oxford University Press, 2012.
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, translated by Charles Moseley. Penguin, 2005.
Cathay and the Way Thither Vol. II. Hakluyt Society, 1913.
Andyshak, Sarah Catherine. Figural and Discursive Depictions of the Other in the Travels of Sir John Mandeville. Florida State University Libraries, 2009.
Friedman, John Block. The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and Thought. Syracuse University Press, 2000.
Greenblatt, Stephen. Marvellous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World. University of Chicago Press, 1991.
Higgins, Iain Macleod. Writing East: The "Travels" of Sir John Mandeville. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997.
Patterson, Robert. Mandeville's Intolerance: The Contest for Souls and Sacred Sites in The Travels of Sir John Mandeville. Washington University in St. Louis, 2009.
Schildgen, Brenda Deen. Dante and the Orient. University of Illinois Press, 2002.
Tzanaki, Rosemary. Mandeville's Medieval Audiences: A Study on the Reception of the Book of Sir John Mandeville (1371-1550). Taylor & Francis, 2017.
Verner, Lisa. The Epistemology of the Monstrous in the Middle Ages. Routledge, 2005.

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Sir John Mandeville 3: Mamluk Egypt Feb 22, 2020

Our traveller reaches Egypt. He writes of wondrous gardens of balsam, of the pyramids and their purpose, of the recent history of the sultanate, and of the Mamluk Sultan's views of Latin Christian life.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Sir John Mandeville: The Book of Marvels and Travels, translated by Anthony Bale. Oxford University Press, 2012.
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, translated by Charles Moseley. Penguin, 2005.
Cobb, Paul M. The Race for Paradise: An Islamic History of the Crusades. Oxford University Press, 2016.
Friedman, John Block. The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and Thought. Syracuse University Press, 2000.
Greenblatt, Stephen. Marvellous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World. University of Chicago Press, 1991.
Higgins, Iain Macleod. Writing East: The "Travels" of Sir John Mandeville. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997.
Legassie, Shayne. The Medieval Invention of Travel. University of Chicago Press, 2017.
Lindsay, James E. Daily Life in the Medieval Islamic World. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005.
Milwright, Marcus. "The Balsam of Maṭariyya: An Exploration of a Medieval Panacea," in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Vol. 66, No. 2 (2003).
Routledge Revivals: Trade, Travel and Exploration in the Middle Ages (2000): An Encyclopedia. Edited by John Block Friedman & Kristen Mossler Figg. Taylor & Francis, 2017.
Semeonis, Symon. The Journey of Symon Semeonis from Ireland to the Holy Land. The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1960.
Tzanaki, Rosemary. Mandeville's Medieval Audiences: A Study on the Reception of the Book of Sir John Mandeville (1371-1550). Taylor & Francis, 2017.

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Sir John Mandeville 2: In and Around Jerusalem Jan 25, 2020

It's part two of the Mandeville series, and our journey reaches the Jerusalem of a 14th-century pilgrim. We'll spend some time there, getting to know the place and its surroundings, and its treatment in the Mandeville text.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Sir John Mandeville: The Book of Marvels and Travels, translated by Anthony Bale. Oxford University Press, 2012.
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, translated by Charles Moseley. Penguin, 2005.
Greenblatt, Stephen. Marvellous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World. University of Chicago Press, 1991.
Higgins, Iain Macleod. Writing East: The "Travels" of Sir John Mandeville. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997.
Janin, Hunt. Four Paths to Jerusalem: Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Secular Pilgrimages, 1000 BCE to 2001 CE. McFarland, 2006
Moore, Kathryn Blair. The Architecture of the Christian Holy Land: Reception from Late Antiquity through the Renaissance. Cambridge University Press, 2017.
Pringle, Denys. The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: Volume 3, The City of Jerusalem: A Corpus. Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Routledge Handbook on Jerusalem. Edited by Suleiman A. Mourad, Naomi Koltun-Fromm, and Bedross Der Matossian. Routledge, 2018.
Routledge Revivals: Trade, Travel and Exploration in the Middle Ages (2000): An Encyclopedia. Edited by John Block Friedman & Kristen Mossler Figg. Taylor & Francis, 2017.
Tzanaki, Rosemary. Mandeville's Medieval Audiences: A Study on the Reception of the Book of Sir John Mandeville (1371-1550). Taylor & Francis, 2017.

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Sir John Mandeville 1: To the Holy Land Dec 28, 2019

Sir John Mandeville, a 14th-century figure who travelled/maybe travelled/almost definitely didn't travel from England to Jerusalem and its holy places, to the court of the sultan in Egypt, to the realms of the Mongol khan, and to the long sought lands of Prester John. With this episode, we start the journey.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Sir John Mandeville: The Book of Marvels and Travels, translated by Anthony Bale. Oxford University Press, 2012.
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, translated by Charles Moseley. Penguin, 2005.
Clark, James G. A Monastic Renaissance at St Albans: Thomas Walsingham and his Circle c.1350-1440. Clarendon Press, 2004.
Greenblatt, Stephen. Marvellous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World. University of Chicago Press, 1991.
Higgins, Iain Macleod. Writing East: The "Travels" of Sir John Mandeville. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997.
Tzanaki, Rosemary. Mandeville's Medieval Audiences: A Study on the Reception of the Book of Sir John Mandeville (1371-1550). Taylor & Francis, 2017.

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The Book of the Wonders of India Nov 16, 2019

Today's topic is the Kitāb ʻajāyib Al-Hind, or the Book of the Wonders of India, a 10th-century collection of wonders covering east Africa all the way to what might have been Japan. It's something of a sequel to the Abu Zayd episode. I mentioned there that the compiler avoided including the fanciful fables of the sea that sailors were so fond of spreading. This text, on the other hand, is full of them.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

The Book of the Marvels of India, translated by Peter Quennell. George Routledge And Sons, 1928.
Freeman-Grenville, G.S.P. "Some Thoughts on Buzurg ibn Shahriyar al-Ramhormuzi: 'The Book of the Wonders of India.'" Paideuma, vol. 28, 1982, pp. 63–70.
Manteghi, Haila. Alexander the Great in the Persian Tradition: History, Myth and Legend in Medieval Iran. I.B Tauris, 2018.
Ogden, Jack. Diamonds: An Early History of the King of Gems. Yale University Press, 2018.
Prioreschi, Plinio. A History of Medicine: Medieval Medicine. Horatius Press, 1996.

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Halloween Mini Episode: The Stories of Walter Map Oct 31, 2019

It's Halloween, and here are some medieval stories appropriate to the season. This mini episode is about the stories of Walter Map, particularly those ones featuring demons, faeries, and the prisoners of the Wild Hunt.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Joynes, Andrew. Medieval Ghost Stories. Boydell, 2006.
Map, Walter. De Nugis Curialium, translated by Frederick Tupper & Marburry Bladen Ogle. Chatto & Windus, 1924.
Schwieterman, Patrick Joseph. Fairies, Kingship, and the British Past in Walter Map's De Nugis Curialium and Sir Orfeo. UC Berkeley Electronic These and Dissertations, 2010.
Smith, Joshua Byron. Walter Map and the Matter of Britain. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017.

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Abu Zayd and the Ways East Oct 25, 2019

The Accounts of China and India, covering the trade between the Persian Gulf and points east in the 9th and 10th centuries, and the writings of Abu Zayd al-Sirafi. There are cultural customs, trading routes, and the calamitous events of the late 9th-century that shattered that trade and the Tang Dynasty.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Accounts of China and India, translated by Tim Mackintosh-Smith. New York University Press, 2017.
Howard, Michael C. Transnationalism in Ancient and Medieval Societies: The Role of Cross-Border Trade and Travel. McFarland, 2014.
Krahl, Regina. Shipwrecked: Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds. Smithsonian Institution, 2010.
Park, Hyunhee. Mapping the Chinese and Islamic Worlds: Cross-Cultural Exchange in Pre-Modern Asia. Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Schafer, Edward H. The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T'ang Exotics. Pickle Partners Publishing, 2016.

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Salah ad-Din 6: The Ayyubids Sep 28, 2019

This episode is a what-came-after for the Salah ad-Din series, covering the decades beyond the dynastic founder's death. This is the Ayyubid Sultanate, the legacy of Salah ad-Din, a run through decades of civil war and crusades, culminating in the rise of the Mamluks.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Abulafia, David. Frederick II: A Medieval Emperor. Oxford University Press, 1992
Afaf Lutfi al-Sayyid Marsot. A History of Egypt: From the Arab Conquest to the Present. Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Humphreys, R. Stephen. From Saladin to the Mongols. State University of New York Press, 1977.
Lyons, Malcolm Cameron & Jackson, D.E.P. Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War. Cambridge University Press, 1982.

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Salah ad-Din 5: The End of the End Aug 15, 2019

This is the end of the Salah ad-Din series, featuring the arrival of Richard the Lionheart and Philip II at Acre, the Battle of Arsuf, and the Treaty of Jaffa.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

Sources:Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi, edited by William Stubbs. Longmans, 1864. Translated by James Brundage, The Crusades: A Documentary History. Marquette University Press, 1962.De Expugatione Terrae Sanctae per Saladinum, edited by Joseph Stevenson. Longmans, 1875. Translated by James Brundage, The Crusades: A Documentary History. Marquette University Press, 1962.Cobb, Paul, M. The Race for Paradise: An Islamic History of the Crusades. Oxford University Press, 2016. Edbury, Peter W. The Conquest of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade: Sources in Translation, 1st Edition. Routledge, 2017.Gabrieli, Francesco. Arab Historians of the Crusades. University of California Press, 1978.Lyons, Malcolm Cameron & Jackson, D.E.P. Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War. Cambridge University Press, 1982.Man, John. Saladin: The Life, the Legend, and the Islamic Empire. Bantam Press, 2015.Terrell, Katherine H. Richard Coeur de Lion. Broadview Press, 2019.

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Salah ad-Din 4: The Beginning of the End Jul 28, 2019

This is the end of my Salah ad-Din series, part one. As I mention in the episode, I was aiming to wrap things up here, even aiming to do so with an extra-long episode, but there's just too much left to do that. So, this is the end, part one. In this episode, we follow the Salah ad-Din story after the Battle of Hattin and up to the arrival of King Richard the Lionheart at Acre.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:

Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi, edited by William Stubbs. Longmans, 1864. Translated by James Brundage, The Crusades: A Documentary History. Marquette University Press, 1962.De Expugatione Terrae Sanctae per Saladinum, edited by Joseph Stevenson. Longmans, 1875. Translated by James Brundage, The Crusades: A Documentary History. Marquette University Press, 1962.Christie, Niall. "Fighting women in the crusading period through Muslim eyes: Transgressing expectations and facing realities?" in Crusading and Masculinities. Routledge, 2019.Cobb, Paul, M. The Race for Paradise: An Islamic History of the Crusades. Oxford University Press, 2016.Edbury, Peter W. The Conquest of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade: Sources in Translation, 1st Edition. Routledge, 2017.Gabrieli, Francesco. Arab Historians of the Crusades. University of California Press, 1978.Lyons, Malcolm Cameron & Jackson, D.E.P. Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War. Cambridge University Press, 1982.Man, John. Saladin: The Life, the Legend, and the Islamic Empire. Bantam Press, 2015.

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Salah ad-Din 3: The Horns of Hattin Jul 01, 2019

Salah ad-Din (Saladin) enters Aleppo, struggles with Reynald de Chatillon, and faces the armies of Guy de Lusignan at the Horns of Hattin.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:Cobb, Paul, M. The Race for Paradise: An Islamic History of the Crusades. Oxford University Press, 2016. Lēv, Yaacov. Saladin in Egypt. Brill, 1999.Lyons, Malcolm Cameron & Jackson, D.E.P. Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War. Cambridge University Press, 1982.Mallet, Alex. "A Trip Down the Red Sea with Reynald of Chatillon,"Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Vol. 18, No. 2 (Apr., 2008).Man, John. Saladin: The Life, the Legend, and the Islamic Empire. Bantam Press, 2015.

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Salah ad-Din 2: A Syrian Election Jun 19, 2019

The story of Salah ad-Din's expansion from Egypt back into Syria, his brushes with Rashid ad-Din Sinan's Assassins, his constant lobbying of the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad, his struggles with the Zengid remnants and with a cast of enemies among the crusader states including Baldwin the Leper, Reynold de Chatillon, Raymond of Tripoli, and King Amalric of Jerusalem.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:Cobb, Paul, M. The Race for Paradise: An Islamic History of the Crusades. Oxford University Press, 2016.Lēv, Yaacov. Saladin in Egypt. Brill, 1999.Lyons, Malcolm Cameron & Jackson, D.E.P. Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War. Cambridge University Press, 1982.Man, John. Saladin: The Life, the Legend, and the Islamic Empire. Bantam Press, 2015.Mirza, Nasseh Ahmad. Syrian Ismailism: The Ever Living Line of the Imamate, AD 1100-1260. Psychology Press, 1997. Waterson, James. The Ismaili Assassins: A History of Medieval Murder. Frontline Books, 2008.

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Salah ad-Din 1: The City Victorious May 25, 2019

Salah ad-Din/Saladin part one, from birth into banishment to ruler of 12th-century Egypt. This is the story of the rise of the Ayyubid founder.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:Hiestand, Rudolf. "The Papacy and the Second Crusade," in The Second Crusade: Scope and Consequences, edited by Jonathan Phillips & Martin Hoch. Manchester University Press, 2001. Lēv, Yaacov. Saladin in Egypt. Brill, 1999.Lyons, Malcolm Cameron & Jackson, D.E.P. Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War. Cambridge University Press, 1982.Maalouf, Amin. The Crusades through Arab Eyes. Saqi, 2012.Man, John. Saladin: The Sultan who Vanquished the Crusaders and Built an Islamic Empire. Hachette Books, 2016.Phillips, Jonathan. The Second Crusade: Extending the Frontiers of Christendom. Yale University Press, 2008.

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The Sons of Maimon 3: From Moses to Moses Apr 28, 2019

After David had died, Moses/Maimonides still had a lot of life left to live, so this episode is about that life in Ayyubid Egypt.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:Ben-Sasson, Menahem. "Maimonides in Egypt: The First Stage," in Maimonidean Studies: vol. 1, edited by Arthur Hyman. Yeshiva University Press, 1991.Bareket, Elinoar. Fustat on the Nile: The Jewish Elite in Medieval Egypt. Brill, 1999.Davidson, Herbert, A. Moses Maimonides: The Man and His Works. Oxford University Press, 2004.Goitein, S.D. A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza, Vol. IV: Daily Life. University of California Press, 2000.Halbertal, Moshe. Maimonides: Life and Thought, translated by Joel Linsider. Princeton University Press, 2014.Koros, Sarah. "Maimonides' Influence on Modern Judaic Thought and Practice," in Forbes & Fifth. Volume 10, Spring 2007.Kraemer, Joel L. Maimonides: The Life and World of One of Civilization's Greatest Minds. Doubleday, 2010.Rudavsky, T.M. Maimonides. John Wiley & Sons, 2009.

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The Sons of Maimon 2: What's Done is Gone Apr 08, 2019

Moses and David ben Maimon make their home in Fatimid - soon to be Ayyubid - Egypt, where the Nile and caravan routes linked the Mediterranean ports to the Red Sea and the crossing to the coast of India, a crossing David would attempt to make.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, translated by Marcus Nathan Adler. Philipp Feldheim, inc.Judaism in Practice: From the Middle Ages Through the Early Modern Period, edited by Lawrence Fine. Princeton University Press, 2001.Abu-Lughod, Janet L. Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250-1350. Oxford University Press, 1989.Bareket, Elinoar. Fustat on the Nile: The Jewish Elite in Medieval Egypt. Brill, 1999.Cooper, John. The Medieval Nile: Route, Navigation, and Landscape in Islamic Egypt. The American University in Cairo Press, 2014.Bramoullé, David. "The Fatimids and the Red Sea (969-1171)," in Navigated Spaces, Connected Places. Archaeopress, 2012.Davidson, Herbert, A. Moses Maimonides: The Man and His Works. Oxford University Press, 2004.Goitein, S.D. A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza, Vol. IV: Daily Life. University of California Press, 2000.Goitein, S.D. & Friedman, Mordechai A. India Traders of the Middle Ages: Documents from the Cairo Geniza. Brill, 2007.Halbertal, Moshe. Maimonidies: Life and Thought, translated by Joel Linsider. Princeton University Press, 2014.Jacoby, David. "The Economic Function of the Crusader States of the Levant: a New Approach," in Medieval Trade in the Eastern Mediterranean and Beyond. Routledge, 2018. Kraemer, Joel L. Maimonides: The Life and World of One of Civilization's Greatest Minds. Doubleday, 2010.Margariti, Roxani Eleni. Aden and the Indian Ocean Trade: 150 Years in the Life of a Medieval Arabian Port. University of North Carolina Press, 2007.Peacock, Andrew & Peacock, David. "The Enigma of 'Aydhab: a Medieval Islamic Port on the Red Sea Coast," in The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 2008. Udovitch, Abraham L. "Medieval Alexandria: Some Evidence from the Cairo Genizah Documents," in Alexandria and Alexandrianism: Papers Delivered at a Symposium Organized by The J. Paul Getty Museum and The Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities and Held at the Museum, April 22–25, 1993. Getty Publications, 1996.

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The Sons of Maimon 1: Exile Mar 19, 2019

This is my first episode on Maimonides/Moses and his little brother David, on their exile from their homeland in Al-Andalus, and on their winding way to Egypt, which would be their long-term home.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, translated by Marcus Nathan Adler. Philipp Feldheim, inc.Judaism in Practice: From the Middle Ages Through the Early Modern Period, edited by Lawrence Fine. Princeton University Press, 2001.Davidson, Herbert, A. Moses Maimonides: The Man and His Works. Oxford University Press, 2004.Fromherz, Allen J. The Almohads: The Rise of an Islamic Empire. I.B. Tuaris, 2012.Jacobs, Martin. Reorienting the East: Jewish Travelers to the Medieval Muslim World. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014.Kennedy, Hugh. Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al-Andalus. Routledge, 2014. Kraemer, Joel L. Maimonides: The Life and World of One of Civilization's Greatest Minds. Doubleday, 2010.

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Rabban Bar Sauma 4: Ilkhanid End Times Feb 22, 2019

The conclusion of the Rabban Bar Sauma series. It's Bar Sauma's return to the Ilkhanate and the results of his journey. It's the end of the line for him and his friend the catholicus, and it's the changes that were going on in the Ilkhanate and how they affected the Church of the East and our main characters.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:The Monks of Kublai Khan, translated by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge. The Religious Tract Society, 1928.Aigle, Denise. The Mongol Empire between Myth and Reality: Studies in Anthropological History. Brill, 2014.Grousset, René. Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia. Rutgers University Press, 1988. Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the Islamic World. Yale University Press, 2017.Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the West: 1221-1410. Pearson Longman, 2005.Kolbas, Judith. The Mongols in Iran: Chingiz Khan to Uljaytu 1220–1309. Routledge, 2006. Lambton, Ann K. S. Continuity and Change in Medieval Persia. SUNY Press, 1988.Rossabi, Morris. Voyager from Xanadu: Rabban Sauma and the First Journey from China to the West. Kodansha International, 1992.

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Rabban Bar Sauma 3: Barbazoma, Tartarus, Orientalis Feb 03, 2019

This is Rabban Bar Sauma part 3 of 4, the story of the Mongol envoy's diplomatic efforts in Paris, Bordeaux, and Rome, his experience as a pilgrim to the sites and saints of Italy and France, and his attempts to improve the Ilkhanid cause against the Mamluks.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:The Monks of Kublai Khan, translated by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge. The Religious Tract Society, 1928.Epstein, Steven. Genoa and the Genoese, 958-1528. University of North Carolina Press, 2001.Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the Islamic World. Yale University Press, 2017.Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the West: 1221-1410. Pearson Longman, 2005.Kolbas, Judith. The Mongols in Iran: Chingiz Khan to Uljaytu 1220–1309. Routledge, 2006.Lower, Michael. The Tunis Crusade of 1270: A Mediterranean History. Oxford University Press, 2018. Nicol, Donald M. Byzantium and Venice: A Study in Diplomatic and Cultural Relations. Cambridge University Press, 1992. Prestwich, Michael. Edward I. Yale University Press, 2008.Rossabi, Morris. Voyager from Xanadu: Rabban Sauma and the First Journey from China to the West. Kodansha International, 1992.

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Rabban Bar Sauma 2: Ilkhanid Infighting, Ilkhanid Envoy Jan 16, 2019

In this episode, our monkish friends attempt to navigate the violent waters of Ilkhanid Mongol politics, and Bar Sauma himself embarks on another long journey, this time heading for Rome.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:The Monks of Kublai Khan, translated by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge. The Religious Tract Society, 1928.Aigle, Denise. The Mongol Empire Between Myth and Reality: Studies in Anthropological History. Brill Academic Pub, 2014.Benjamin, Sandra. Sicily: Three Thousand Years of Human History. Steerforth Press, 2010.Grousset, René. The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia, translated by Naomi Walford. Rutgers, 2002. Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the Islamic World. Yale University Press, 2017.Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the West: 1221-1410. Pearson Longman, 2005.Kolbas, Judith. The Mongols in Iran: Chingiz Khan to Uljaytu 1220–1309. Routledge, 2006.Pfeiffer, Judith, "Reflections on a 'Double Rapprochement': Conversion to Islam among the Mongol Elite during the Early Ilkhanate," in Beyond the Legacy of Genghis Khan, edited by Linda Komaroff. Brill Academic Pub, 2006.Rose, Susan. Medieval Naval Warfare, 1000-1500. Routledge, 2002.Rossabi, Morris. Voyager from Xanadu: Rabban Sauma and the First Journey from China to the West. Kodansha International, 1992.

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Rabban Bar Sauma 1: The Monks of Kublai Khan Dec 24, 2018

First in a series on Rabban Bar Sauma, covering his life from miracle-baby through cave-bound monk and on to pilgrim, with ambassador to the cities of western Europe not far behind. This episode takes us from Yuan China to Jerusalem, or perhaps not quite that far.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources: The History of Yaballaha III Nestorian Patriarch and of his Vicar Bar Sauma Mongol Ambassador to the Frankish Courts at the End of the Thirteenth Century, translated by James A. Montgomery. Columbia University Press, 1927.The Monks of Kublai Khan, translated by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge. The Religious Tract Society, 1928.Nestorian Tablet: Eulogizing the Propagation of the Illustrious Religion in China, with a Preface, composed by a priest of the Syriac Church, 781 A.D. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/eastasia/781nestorian.asp Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the Islamic World. Yale University Press, 2017.Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the West: 1221-1410. Pearson Longman, 2005. Keevak, Michael. The Story of a Stele: China's Nestorian Monument and Its Reception in the West, 1625-1916. Hong Kong University Press, 2010.Rossabi, Morris. Khublai Khan: His Life and Times. University of California Press, 1988. Rossabi, Morris. Voyager from Xanadu: Rabban Sauma and the First Journey from China to the West. Kodansha International, 1992.

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Geoffrey's Crusade 5: Boniface, Baldwin, and the Bulgarians Nov 25, 2018

All good things must end, and even those not so good. With this episode, we bring the Fourth Crusade to something of an end. It's Baldwin and Boniface's rivalry. It's the king of the Bulgarians. It's the long spiral.

If you like what you hear, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources: Geoffrey de Villehardouin. Memoirs or Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople, translated by Frank T. Marzials. J.M. Dent, 1908.Three Old French Chronicles Of The Crusades: The History Of The Holy War; The History Of Them That Took Constantinople; The Chronicle Of Reims, translated by Edward Noble Stone. University Of Washington Publications In The Social Sciences, 1939.O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates, translated by Harry J. Magoulias. Wayne State University Press, 1984.Madden, Thomas F. Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.Madden, Thomas F. Venice: A New History. Viking, 2012.Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium: The Decline and Fall. Viking, 1995.Queller, Donald E. The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople, 1201-1204. Leicester University Press, 1978.

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Halloween Special: Medieval Ghost Stories Oct 29, 2018

A Halloween special full of medieval ghost (or revenant) stories from the 11th and 12th centuries, featuring Orderic Vitalis, Thietmar of Merseburg, William of Newburgh, and, briefly representing the 6th-century, Gregory of Tours.

If you like what you hear, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human and my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com.

Sources:

Joynes, Andrew. Medieval Ghost Stories: An Anthology of Miracles, Marvels and Prodigies. Boydell Press, 2006.
Schmitt, Jean-Claude. Ghosts in the Middle Ages: The Living and the Dead in Medieval Society. The University of Chicago Press, 1998.
Shinners, John, ed. Medieval Popular Religion, 1000-1500 (2nd Edition). Broadview Press, 2007.
Vitalis, Ordericus. The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy. Bohn, 1854. Warner, David A, ed. Ottonian Germany: The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg. Manchester University Press, 2001. Widukind of Corvey. Deeds of the Saxons. Catholic University of America Press, 2014.

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Geoffrey's Crusade 4: Simon and the Seven Thieves Oct 17, 2018

This one will be a bit of a side step in the Fourth Crusade story. This is a story of furta sacra, or sacred theft, following the fall of Constantinople, and of one theft in particular. This the story of Saint Simon and how he came to Venice.

The medieval Christmas card Kickstarter which I mentioned can be found here.

If you like what you hear, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human and my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com.

Sources: Geoffrey de Villehardouin. Memoirs or Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople, translated by Frank T. Marzials. J.M. Dent, 1908.Three Old French Chronicles Of The Crusades: The History Of The Holy War; The History Of Them That Took Constantinople; The Chronicle Of Reims, translated by Edward Noble Stone. University Of Washington Publications In The Social Sciences, 1939.O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates, translated by Harry J. Magoulias. Wayne State University Press, 1984.Madden, Thomas F. Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.Madden, Thomas F. Venice: A New History. Viking, 2012.Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium: The Decline and Fall. Viking, 1995.Perry, David M. Sacred Plunder: Venice and the Aftermath of the Fourth Crusade. Penn State Press, 2015.Perry, David M. "The Translatio Symonensis and the Seven Thieves: A Venetian Fourth Crusade Furta Sacra Narrative and the Looting of Constantinople."Queller, Donald E. The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople, 1201-1204. Leicester University Press, 1978.

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Geoffrey's Crusade 3: One Alexius After Another Sep 26, 2018

This is part three of my Fourth Crusade series. It's got emperors, fires, and first hand accounts of the taking of Constantinople. Hope you enjoy it!

My Medieval Christmas Kickstarter can be found here!

If you like what you hear, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

Sources: Geoffrey de Villehardouin. Memoirs or Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople, translated by Frank T. Marzials. J.M. Dent, 1908.Three Old French Chronicles Of The Crusades: The History Of The Holy War; The History Of Them That Took Constantinople; The Chronicle Of Reims, translated by Edward Noble Stone. University Of Washington Publications In The Social Sciences, 1939.O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates, translated by Harry J. Magoulias. Wayne State University Press, 1984.Madden, Thomas F. Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.Madden, Thomas F. Venice: A New History. Viking, 2012.Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium: The Decline and Fall. Viking, 1995.Queller, Donald E. The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople, 1201-1204. Leicester University Press, 1978.

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Geoffrey's Crusade 2: Imperial Virtues Aug 30, 2018

The Fourth Crusade continues, with the assault on Zara, a long winter in the city, and one reasonable occasion to go to Constantinople.

If you like what you hear, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

Sources:Geoffrey de Villehardouin. Memoirs or Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople, translated by Frank T. Marzials. J.M. Dent, 1908.Three Old French Chronicles Of The Crusades: The History Of The Holy War; The History Of Them That Took Constantinople; The Chronicle Of Reims, translated by Edward Noble Stone. University Of Washington Publications In The Social Sciences, 1939.O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates, translated by Harry J. Magoulias. Wayne State University Press, 1984.Madden, Thomas F. Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.Madden, Thomas F. Venice: A New History. Viking, 2012.Queller, Donald E. The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople, 1201-1204. Leicester University Press, 1978.

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Geoffrey's Crusade 1: Venetian Appointments Aug 17, 2018

Using the the chronicles of two participants in the Fourth Crusade - the one a common knight, the other a leader involved in decision making and the important work of an envoy - we follow the growth of the Fourth Crusade through the elevation of Pope Innocent III, the negotiation with the Venetians, the ruinous agreement that was the result, and all the way up to the gates of Zara.

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Marco and the Polos 7: Marco Polo Comes Home Jul 28, 2018

On this, the last episode of the Marco Polo series, Marco comes home to Venice. I touch on a bit of the history of the book (or books), The Travels of Marco Polo, and we follow Marco as he disentangles himself from the stifling embrace of Kublai Khan, encounters many things new and strange to him on the coast of India, and finds himself mixing with Ilkhan royalty.

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Marco and the Polos 6: The Grand Tour Jun 30, 2018

It's the grand tour of the world, or at least that part of it from Southeast Asia to the African coast, and you are taking it with/as Marco Polo. There will be monstrous birds, cannibals, the spice trade, and quite a lot of date wine. There'll be the beginning of the Buddha and the end of Saint Thomas. Thanks for listening!

Find me at my website, on Twitter, or on Patreon, If you like what you hear, you can buy me a coffee over here.

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Marco and the Polos 5: The Echoes of the Wind Jun 09, 2018

Marco Polo's story of "Zipangu," the secluded island kingdom, abundant with gold, and Kublai Khan's attempt to take it all, is the subject of this episode. I talk about the two Mongol invasions of Japan and how their story has reached us.

Sources:

The Travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian, translated by William Marsden, edited by Thomas Wright. George Bell & Sons, 1907.The Travels of Marco Polo: The Complete Yule-Cordier Edition, translated by Henry Yule and revised by Henri Cordier. Courier Corporation, 1993.Chase, Kenneth W. "Mongol Intentions Towards Japan in 1266: Evidence from a Mongol Letter to the Sung." Sino-Japanese Studies 9, no. 2 (1997).Conlan, Thomas D. In Little Need of Divine Intervention: Takezaki Suenaga's Scrolls of the Mongol Invasions of Japan. Cornell University (2010).Delgado, James P. Adventures of a Sea Hunter: In Search of Famous Shipwrecks. Douglas & McIntyre, 2004.Delgado, James P. Khubilai Khan's Lost Fleet: In Search of a Legendary Armaga. Douglas & McIntyre, 2008.Delgado, James P. "Relics of the Kamikaze," Archaeology. 56, no. 1 (January/February, 2003). Larner, John. Marco Polo and the Discovery of the World. Yale University Press, 1999.Mass, Jeffrey P., ed. Court and Bakufu in Japan: Essays in Kamakura History. Stanford University Press (1995).Olschki, Leonardo. Marco Polo's Asia. University of California Press, 1960.Rossabi, Morris. Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times. University of California Press, 1988.Sasaki, Randall J. The Origins of the Lost Fleet of the Mongol Empire. Texas A & M University Press, 2015.Yamada, Nakaba. Ghenko, the Mongol Invasion of Japan. London, Smith, Elder, 1916.

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Marco and the Polos 4: Did You Go to China, Marco? May 19, 2018

In this episode, I look at the question of whether Marco actually went to China (some have thought he did not at all, or only made it to the capital), and, if so, what he was doing there.

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@circus_human

Sources:The Travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian, translated by William Marsden, edited by Thomas Wright. George Bell & Sons, 1907.The Travels of Marco Polo: The Complete Yule-Cordier Edition,translated by Henry Yule and revised by Henri Cordier. Courier Corporation, 1993.Haw, Stephen G. Marco Polo's China: A Venetian in the Realm of Khubilai Khan. Routledge, 2006.Larner, John. Marco Polo and the Discovery of the World. Yale University Press, 1999.Man, John. Marco Polo: The Journey that Changed the World.HarperCollins, 2009.Olschki, Leonardo. Marco Polo's Asia. University of California Press, 1960.Rossabi, Morris. Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times. University of California Press, 1988.Vogel, Hans Ulrich. Marco Polo was in China: New Evidence from Currencies, Salts and Revenues. Brill Academic Pub, 2012.

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Marco and the Polos 3: Marco and the Great, Great Khan Apr 24, 2018

Marco Polo was a tremendous admirer of Kublai Khan and of his Genghisid legacy more generally. This episode, we explore that admiration, the character of Kublai, and the anecdote of the treacherous minister.

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Sources:

The Travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian, translated by William Marsden, edited by Thomas Wright. George Bell & Sons, 1907.Larner, John. Marco Polo and the Discovery of the World. Yale University Press, 1999.Man, John. Marco Polo: The Journey that Changed the World. HarperCollins, 2009.Olschki, Leonardo. Marco Polo's Asia. University of California Press, 1960.Rossabi, Morris. Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times. University of California Press, 1988.

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Marco and the Polos 2: Of Assassins and Other Things Apr 04, 2018

The three Polos depart for the summer palace of Kublai Khan. There'll be Assassins, baked corpses, and papal elections along the way!

Website: humancircuspodcast.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/circus_human

Email: HumanCircusPod@gmail.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/humancircuspod/

Donate to the podcast: https://ko-fi.com/A7071B1K

Sources:

- The Travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian, translated by Willam Marsden, edited by Thomas Wright. George Bell & Sons, 1907.

- The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck, translated by Peter Jackson. The Hakluyt Society, 1990.

- Cathay and the Way Thither, Being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China, Vol. III, translated and edited by Henry Yule and Henri Cordier. London, 1916.

- Ackroyd, Peter. Venice: Pure City. Chatto & Windus, 2009.

- Daftary, Farhad. The Assassin Legends. I. B. Tauris, 1994.

- Larner, John. Marco Polo and the Discovery of the World. Yale University Press, 1999.

- Madden, Thomas F. Venice: A New History. Viking, 2012.

- Olschki, Leonardo. Marco Polo's Asia. University of California Press, 1960.

- Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman. Chinese Imperial City Planning. University of Hawaii Press, 1999.

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Marco and the Polos 1: From Venice to the World Mar 10, 2018

The journey of Venice's most famous merchant and traveller begins today, but we won't see much of him in this episode. We'll look at Venice in the early 13th century and touch on the 4th crusade, Mediterranean-Asian trade, and the Pax Mongolica, before following the other Polos, Niccolo and Maffeo, east on their own little adventure. Enjoy!

Website: humancircuspodcast.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/circus_human

Email: HumanCircusPod@gmail.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/humancircuspod/

Donate to the podcast: https://ko-fi.com/A7071B1K

Sources:

- The Travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian, translated by Willam Marsden, edited by Thomas Wright. George Bell & Sons, 1907.

- The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck, translated by Peter Jackson. The Hakluyt Society, 1990.

- Cathay and the Way Thither, Being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China, Vol. III, translated and edited by Henry Yule and Henri Cordier. London, 1916.

- Abu-Lughod, Janet L. Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250-1350. Oxford University Press, 1989.

- Ackroyd, Peter. Venice: Pure City. Chatto & Windus, 2009.

- Ciociltan, Virgil. The Mongols and the Black Sea Trade in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. Brill Academic, 2012.

- Larner, John. Marco Polo and the Discovery of the World. Yale University Press, 1999.

- Madden, Thomas F. Venice: A New History. Viking, 2012.

- Olschki, Leonardo. Marco Polo's Asia. University of California Press, 1960.

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To See the Mongols 7: Mongol Civil War Feb 21, 2018

It’s a busy episode. We’re catching up on the Mongol world and all that was happening away from the specific journeys of European friars. That means the rise of Hulagu and Kublai, the Mongol expansion into Persia and Syria in the west and Song China in the east, the death of Mongke Khan, and a civil war over the future of the empire. Thanks for listening everybody!

Website: humancircuspodcast.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/circus_human

Email: HumanCircusPod@gmail.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/humancircuspod/

Donate to the podcast: https://ko-fi.com/A7071B1K

Shop: www.redbubble.com/people/HumanCircus

Sources:Al-Din, Rashid. The Successors of Genghis Khan, translated by John Andrew Boyle. Columbia University Press, 1971. Asbridge, Thomas. The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land. Simon & Schuster, 2010.Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the Islamic World. Yale University Press, 2017. Lambert, Malcolm. Crusade and Jihad: Origins, History, and Aftermath. Profile Books, 2012. Kublai Khan: From Xanadu to Superpower. Bantam Press, 2006. Storm from the East: From Genghis Khan to Khubilai Khan. University of California Press, 1993. Rachewiltz, Igor de. Papal Envoys to the Great Khans. Faber & Faber, 1971. Rossabi, Morris. Khublai Khan: His Life and Times. University of California Press, 1988.

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To See the Mongols 6: The Road from Karakorum Feb 01, 2018

Friar William wraps up his affairs at the court of Mongke Khan and heads for home. Today, we cover his last audience with the khan, cross the walls of Alexander, and advise King Louis IX as to the future of the crusades. Thanks for listening!

Website: humancircuspodcast.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/circus_human

Email: HumanCircusPod@gmail.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/humancircuspod/

Donate to the podcast: https://ko-fi.com/A7071B1K

Shop: www.redbubble.com/people/HumanCircus

Sources:

* Carpini, Giovanni. The Story of the Mongols: Whom we Call the Tartars, translated by Erik Hildinger. Branden Books, 1996.

* The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck, translated by Peter Jackson. The Hakluyt Society, 1990.

* The Mongol Mission: Narratives and Letters of the Franciscan Missionaries in Mongolia and China in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries, edited by Christopher Dawson. Sheed & Ward, 1955.

* Rachewiltz, Igor de. Papal Envoys to the Great Khans. Faber & Faber, 1971.

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To See the Mongols 5: The Great Debate Jan 19, 2018

Friar William goes through stone-cracking cold, frozen toes, and the threat of demons to reach the camp of Mongke Khan. There, his interpreter causes him more problems, and he falls into the bizarre religious life of the camp before being drawn into a debate between Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians before the khan. Thanks for listening!

Website: humancircuspodcast.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/circus_human

Email: HumanCircusPod@gmail.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/humancircuspod/

Donate to the podcast: https://ko-fi.com/A7071B1K

Shop: www.redbubble.com/people/HumanCircus

Sources:

* Carpini, Giovanni. The Story of the Mongols: Whom we Call the Tartars, translated by Erik Hildinger. Branden Books, 1996.

* The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck, translated by Peter Jackson. The Hakluyt Society, 1990.

* The Mongol Mission: Narratives and Letters of the Franciscan Missionaries in Mongolia and China in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries, edited by Christopher Dawson. Sheed & Ward, 1955.

* Gladysz, Mikolaj. The Forgotten Crusaders: Poland and the Crusader Movement in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, translated by Paul Barford. Brill, 2012.

* Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the West: 1221-1410. Pearson Longman, 2005.

* Morgan, David. The Mongols. Blackwell, 1986.

* Rachewiltz, Igor de. Papal Envoys to the Great Khans. Faber & Faber, 1971.

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To See the Mongols 4: A William Leaves Town Jan 05, 2018

We go east again this episode, in the company of a friar who carried a letter to the son of Batu Khan. Was he there on behalf of King Louis IX? Was his mission more personally religious in nature? Why was he so concerned with the noses of Mongol women? All (or most) will be revealed... Thanks for listening!

Website: humancircuspodcast.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/circus_human

Email: HumanCircusPod@gmail.com

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Sources:

* Carpini, Giovanni. The Story of the Mongols: Whom we Call the Tartars, translated by Erik Hildinger. Branden Books, 1996.

* The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck, translated by Peter Jackson. The Hakluyt Society, 1990.

* The Mongol Mission: Narratives and Letters of the Franciscan Missionaries in Mongolia and China in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries, edited by Christopher Dawson. Sheed & Ward, 1955.

* Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the West: 1221-1410. Pearson Longman, 2005.

* Morgan, David. The Mongols. Blackwell, 1986.

* Rachewiltz, Igor de. Papal Envoys to the Great Khans. Faber & Faber, 1971.

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To See the Mongols 3: An Interregnum Dec 09, 2017

Today, a quick rewind into what it means to be a Mongol, some early reactions to the Mongol invasion, some King Louis IX, the death of a khan, and the question of who is to be next. Also, I horribly butcher Eljigidei's name (Sorry, Eljigidei). Thanks for listening!

Website: humancircuspodcast.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/circus_human

Email: HumanCircusPod@gmail.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/humancircuspod/

Donate to the podcast: https://ko-fi.com/A7071B1K

Shop: www.redbubble.com/people/HumanCircus

Sources:

* Carpini, Giovanni. The Story of the Mongols: Whom we Call the Tartars, translated by Erik Hildinger. Branden Books, 1996.

* Joinville, Jean. The Memoirs of the Lord of Joinville. John Murray, 1906.

* Paris, Matthew. English History. From the Year 1235 to 1273, translated by J. A. Giles. George Bell & Sons, 1889.

* The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck, translated by Peter Jackson. The Hakluyt Society, 1990.

* The Mongol Mission: Narratives and Letters of the Franciscan Missionaries in Mongolia and China in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries, edited by Christopher Dawson. Sheed & Ward, 1955.

* The Secret History of the Mongols, translated by Urgunge Onon. RoutledgeCurzon, 2001.

* Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the West: 1221-1410. Pearson Longman, 2005.

* Jackson, Peter. "Medieval Christendom's Encounter with the Alien." In Travellers, Intellectuals, and the World Beyond Medieval Europe, edited by James Muldoon, 347-369. Routledge, 2016.

* Man, John. Kublai Khan. Bantam, 2007.

* Morgan, David. The Mongols. Blackwell, 1986.

* Rachewiltz, Igor de. Papal Envoys to the Great Khans. Faber & Faber, 1971.

* Waterfield, Robin. Christians in Persia. Allen & Unwin, 1973.

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To See the Mongols 2: A New Khan Nov 16, 2017

Giovanni Carpine returns, to the podcast, and to Lyon. This episode we hear about his journey to the kurultai, the great council which raised Guyuk as the new great khan, his diplomatic dealings with Guyuk, and the news and views he brought home with him. Thanks for listening!

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To See the Mongols 1: Giovanni Carpine Goes East Nov 02, 2017

Giovanni Carpine starts off a new series and a new set of travellers in the surprisingly interconnected world of the 13th century. Over the next number of episodes, I'll be focussing on contacts between Latin Christian Europe and the Mongols, and the travellers who went one way or another in establishing those contacts. Up first, Carpine is sent east in 1245 to find the Mongols, learn everything he can about them, and deliver a letter from Pope Innocent IV. Thanks for listening!

PS. I would also like to clarify one point here (aside from some questionable pronunciation of Mongol names, I mean). Early in the episode, I say that the Mongol raiding parties reached as far west as Vienna. Actually, they went further west than that in Croatia.

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Edward Webbe: His Trials, Travels, and Job Application Sep 13, 2017

Edward Webbe was, maybe, a 16th-Century adventurer who moved in and out of captivity and other forms of trouble. His troubles took him from Elizabethan England to Muscovy, Crimea, Constantinople, Italy, and possibly to Persia and the lands of Prester John. On the way, there will be slavery, warfare, unicorns, and one man's quest for gainful employment. Thanks for listening!

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Mini Episode - P.S. Dallam Sep 01, 2017

This, as you'll see from the title and length is a little bit of an unusual episode. It's a short one that answers a request to properly wrap up the end of the Thomas Dallam series.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

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Thomas Dallam 7: A Concert for the Sultan Aug 17, 2017

Thomas Dallam's travels conclude, or at least the part of them that I'll be covering here. There will be comedic chaos on the trip up the Hellespont, awkward interactions with the local ambassador, one incredibly stressful musical performance, and the unwelcome rewards of a job well done. Hope you enjoy it!

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Thomas Dallam 6: From Algiers to the Hellespont Jul 29, 2017

The 1599 voyage continues, and Thomas Dallam draws ever closer to the Ottoman court at Constantinople. There are carrier pigeons, imprisonments, problems with presents, and adventures ashore. Thanks for listening!

Website: humancircuspodcast.com

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Thomas Dallam 5: Dallam Departs Jul 14, 2017

The journey of Thomas Dallam begins in earnest. This episode, our adventurous organ maker finally leaves London for Constantinople, encountering storms, pirates, infinite porpoises, and Algiers along the way. Thanks for Listening!

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Thomas Dallam Mini Episode 2: Esperanza Malchi and the Otttoman Harem Jun 30, 2017

We're back to Constantinople again this episode for another try at the mini-episode format. Here, I'm talking about Esperanza Malchi, a Spanish-born Jewish woman who rose to prominence in the Sultan's palace during the final years of the 16th century. She's a somewhat mysterious figure. There doesn't seem to be a lot of information out there about her (or else I would have done a longer episode), but she's a fascinating character and it gives us an avenue into the Sultanate of Women and another side of the Ottoman palace world that Thomas Dallam will soon be sailing for. Thanks for listening!

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Thomas Dallam 4: Edward Barton in Constantinople Jun 17, 2017

Edward Barton takes up residence in Constantinople, struggles with his unofficial position, navigates the death of a sultan, and eventually goes to war alongside the Ottomans against a Christian foe. And Thomas Dallam's departure creeps closer. Thanks for listening!

Website: humancircuspodcast.com

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Thomas Dallam 3: England’s First Ambassador Jun 07, 2017

Elizabethan England's engagements with the Islamic world continue in this episode, this time taking us back to Constantinople with England's first ambassador there, William Harborne. There's piracy, palace intrigue, and Harborne's steadfast distaste for French and Venetian diplomats. Enjoy!

Website: humancircuspodcast.com

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The Battle of the Three Kings: The Doomed King Sebastian May 27, 2017

The doomed King Sebastian lands in Morocco, and I take a moment from the Dallam timeline for a mini-episode. Thanks for listening!

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Thomas Dallam 2: The Anglo-Moroccan Relationship May 19, 2017

The prelude to Dallam's Ottoman adventure continues with Elizabethan England's trade and where it took them. Today, that means Morocco, and England's often forgotten 16th-century friendship with its sultans. We'll get into antagonism with Spain, Portuguese misadventure in North Africa, and the trade for sugar, saltpetre, and shot. There's a lot of interesting stuff there. Thanks for listening!

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com.

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Thomas Dallam 1: Jenkinson and the Safavid Shah Apr 19, 2017

We begin the journey of Thomas Dallam, Elizabethan organ-maker and ill-prepared ambassador to the Ottoman Sultan. This first episode, we're not actually going to get to Dallam though. We're setting the stage, introducing some of the background, and following a man named Jenkinson to Safavid Persia. Jenkinson is an interesting figure in his own right, and it's also a way to dip into the world of trade and diplomacy that Dallam was going to find himself in. Thanks for listening!

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com.

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The Travels of Johann Schiltberger 4: The Journey Home and Other Things Mar 04, 2017

This is the 4th and final episode in my little series on Johann Schiltberger. Our wandering friend has come a long way and been through a great deal, but here he is, on the edge of making it back to Bavaria. In this episode, we'll look at how things fall out after the death of Timur, we'll see where that leaves Schiltberger, and we'll trace his path towards home. There will also be time for some of the many interesting things that come up in his book but don't necessarily fit into his personal story: espionage in Alexandria, Johann's guide to the Asian Steppe, what he thinks of Armenian religion, etc. Thanks for listening!

Website: humancircuspodcast.com

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The Travels of Johann Schiltberger 3: Timur the Conqueror Feb 17, 2017

Episode 3 is here, and it follows Johann Schiltberger on his merry way, after the Battle of Angora and into the life of Timur, the limitlessly violent Turko-Mongol conqueror. There will be pyramids of heads, flaming camels, and elephants, poisoned-scimitar wielding elephants. Timur's story is actually fascinating in itself, and we'll also look at his Imperial home, Samarkand, by way of a somewhat food obsessed Castilian knight. Enjoy!

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com.

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The Travels of Johann Schiltberger 2: The Battle of Angora aka Ankara Feb 03, 2017

Today, we'll follow Johann Schiltberger's journey under Bayezid's control. There will be an escape attempt, epic battles, an epic snake battle, and some Ottoman history. I hope you like it. Thanks for listening everybody! Enjoy.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com.

Sources:

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The Travels of Johann Schiltberger 1: The Battle of Nicopolis Jan 13, 2017

We begin the travels of Johann Schiltberger, a 14th/15th century, Bavarian Marco Polo who left his home for the crusade against the Ottomans and didn't make it back for a long, long time. In the intervening 30 years, he travelled widely as a prisoner, first with the Ottoman Sultan, Bayezid, and then with Timur (aka Tamerlane) and those who succeeded him, reporting on the world and its monsters, miracles, and numerous battles.

Schiltberger lived a full life at a fascinating time in history. I'll be telling his story and discussing his times over the course of 4 episodes. With episode one, we'll take Schiltberger up to the Battle of Nicopolis and the first massive shift in his fortunes. Hope you enjoy it!

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com.

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Welcome to Human Circus Jan 10, 2017

Welcome to Human Circus: Journeys in the Medieval World

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus.

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