Stay ConnectedLeaving no stone unturned in our quest for the weirdest stories, guys, and art from the Middle Ages.
The Weird Medieval Guys podcast is brought to you by Olivia, the creator of internet sensation Weird Medieval Guys, and Aran, a historian and fellow weird guy connoisseur.
Copyright: © Olivia Swarthout and Aran Prince-Tappé 2023
Taggart voice There's been a murder!
Medieval life was full of murders! People were getting knifed all the time mate. But who was responsible for sorting the guilty from the innocent? What do God and intimate social knowledge have to do with it? And is this all a thinly-veiled excuse for Aran to do his incredible Poirot impression?
For more information, see the University of Cambridge's Medieval Murder Maps:
Join the official WMG Discord server!! https://discord.gg/6GzvXdWX23
We've got a lovely two-parter lined up for you guys and it's all about the history of the English language during the Middle Ages! Join us as we follow English from its humble origins as a collection of Germanic dialects spoken by a bunch of illiterate, trousers-wearing mudmen from in 400AD to a real language spoken by relatively normal people who have things like books and kings and their own country, a quirky little place called "England."
For more on some of what we discuss, check out:
Join the official WMG Discord server!! https://discord.gg/6GzvXdWX23
Yarrrrrrrr!!!!!! Where's me BOOTY?!
We all love stories about pirates, whether they're plundering Treasure Islands, fighting an octopus man, or stealing Tom Hanks' job. But did you know that the Middle Ages had pirates? They did! And they were just as swashbuckling, mercenary and unhinged as their later successors.
Set sail with Olivia and Aran on the good ship Podcasting, as they set out to find the secret of medieval piracy! Along the way, they'll meet a vengeful MILF, a queerbaiting sorcerer, and hundreds of venomous snakes.
Further reading:
The Anatomy of Medieval Piracy: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.1163/j.ctv4cbhhw.7.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3A595730f17b4d474b00163f8ee44c264c&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&initiator=search-results&acceptTC=1
Identity in the Medieval Mediterranean World of Merchants and Pirates https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/mediterraneanstu.20.2.0129?read-now=1&seq=13#page_scan_tab_contents
The Romance of Eustace the Monk
Gather round, rockhounds! It's time to journey even further into the past than usual by taking a look at fossils through medieval eyes. Did dragon myths come from dinosaur bones? Did cyclops myths come from elephant bones? Can rocks be Jewish? All these questions and more, answered.....
For more on some of what we discuss, check out:
Join the official WMG Discord server!! https://discord.gg/6GzvXdWX23
Happy New Year to all our Weird Medieval Guys podcast listeners and welcome back to our annual Q&A session! We solicited questions about history and the podcast from our Discord community and answered as many as we could for you. Listen on to hear about why we do silly voices, whether medieval people played drinking games, and more!
Join our Discord server to be part of a wonderful community of weird medieval enthusiasts and for the chance to submit questions next year!
The days have been getting shorter, the nights longer and the wind bitter-er. Even as the winter solstice draws near, the coming months of cold and darkness make spring seem still an eternity away. Making it through winter is never easy, so how did people in the Middle Ages get by? Join Olivia and Aran as they look into how people not only survived but thrived the whole medieval winter through.
For more on some of what we discuss, check out:
Join the official WMG Discord server!! https://discord.gg/6GzvXdWX23
Music used in this episode is a public domain recording of the medieval French Christmas carol "Nowell, nowell Dieu vous garde," available here: https://archive.org/details/lp_nowel-nowel-english-medieval-carols-and_richard-hickox-member-of-the-richard-hicko/disc1/02.07.+Nowell%2C+nowell+Dieu+vous+garde+(Carol).mp3
This week, we're getting in our medieval spaceship and travelling through the medieval cosmos to find out just what medieval people thought about all of that space. We'll discuss some correct ideas they had, plenty of incorrect ones, and also how to use medieval astrology to make sure your medieval horse is in peak physical condition.
For more on some of what we discuss, check out:
Make sure to join the Weird Medieval Guys official Discord server! https://discord.gg/ZwHz5JDKky
Here's a rhetorical question: do you love your pet? Of course you do, but did you know that medieval people did too? The only difference is, these pets had jobs!
In this episode, Olivia and Aran delve into the wacky world of medieval cats and dogs, to explore what contemporary people wrote about them. Spoiler alert: they thought they were cool little guys.
Also discussed: the official WMG dogs Bonnie and Bizzy; whether medieval hunting is like football, and if they had Mormons in late-antique Arabia.
Further Reading:
Carole Rawcliffe, "Town Tykes and Butchers Hounds" https://www.jstor.org/stable/26630015?read-now=1&seq=18#page_scan_tab_contents
Peter Konieczny, "Why cats were hated in medieval Europe" https://www.medievalists.net/2023/05/cats-hated-medieval-europe/#:%7E:text=Cats%20in%20medieval%20Europe%20mostly,this%20view%20of%20felines%20emerged
Edward, Duke of York, "The Master of Game": https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43452/43452-h/43452-h.htm
Some lady called "'Olivia Swarthout' (never heard of her): "Medieval Muslims loved their cats so much" https://weirdmedievalguys.substack.com/p/medieval-muslims-were-so-much-nicer
The Laws of Hywel Dda: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Laws_of_Howel_the_Good
Join the official Weird Medieval Guys Discord: https://discord.gg/ZwHz5JDKky
Oh my god the Weird Medieval Guys Podcast™ has gone cottagecore!
You know what clothes are, you love wearing clothes. But someone has to make them, and in the Middle Ages, they didn't have industrial-scale fast fashion sweatshops. So who made them then? Well, sit back and enjoy as Olivia spins a yarn about the medieval textile industry. It's got everything you want in a Weird Medieval Guys Podcast™ episode: gender! industrial relations! dismemberment! Ewe won't want to miss this one...
Don’t forget to join the Weird Medieval Guys discord server!
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