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
Infernal covenants, black sabbaths and missing infants; dark deeds are afoot in the forests of medieval Europe... or are they?
It's a Halloween Spooktacular! When the Devil transforms Joe Mason into an angry amphibian, Olivia and Aran must venture deep into the woods* to find a witch who can restore his humanity. But first, they have to figure out what medieval people actually believed about witches. Spoiler alert: it's not what you think! Along the way, we'll meet magical detectives, pious necromancers, and a lot of people who need to stop laundering their sexual hangups as academia.
Also discussed: caked-up frogs, the historical accuracy of Warhammer 40,000, and which Better Call Saul character is most like the Devil.
JOIN THE WEIRD MEDIEVAL GUYS DISCORD TODAY: https://discord.gg/ZwHz5JDKky
*The events of this podcast are legally distinct from any and all seasonal miniseries' produced for Cartoon Network.
Olivia and Aran are back with another zinger as they begin to start to somewhat unpack some of the absolutely insane customs and beliefs that made up the Norse pagan world view!
Check out Snorri Sturlson's Prose Edda here:https://sacred-texts.com/neu/pre/index.htm
And join the official WMG discord here: https://discord.gg/ZwHz5JDKky
The music used in this episode is from Ísmús, an online Icelandic song and culture archive. The intro song, Óðinn gramur ása reið, can be found here: https://www.ismus.is/tjodfraedi/hljodrit/1031872
Subsequent musical segments are from Alþingisrímur: Nú skal byrja braginn á, which can be found here:https://ismus.is/tjodfraedi/hljodrit/1000209
In the mid-12th century, a mysterious letter was circulating the courts of Christian Europe. Its supposed author was Prester John, a powerful, immortal Christian king who purported to rule a fantastical empire in India.
Prester John was never real. But who wrote the letter and why? And why did Europeans spend centuries searching for him despite abundant evidence that the whole story was nonsense?
To answer these questions, Olivia and Aran will set out on a globe-trotting adventure, from the yurt-strewn steppe of Central Asia, to Italy’s city-republics, the highlands of East Africa, and even further afield. Along the way they’ll meet befuddled Ethiopian diplomats, fearsome warrior-khans, and maybe even the real Prester John himself…
Also discussed: Olivia’s love of big cans, the things you learn at Unitarian Universalist Sunday school, and why we can’t have cat-sized elephant friends.
Further reading:
The Letter of Prester John: http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/presterjohn.html
Devin DeWeese, "The Influence of the Mongols on the Religious Consciousness of Thirteenth-century Europe." https://www.jstor.org/stable/43193054
Matteo Salvatore, "The Ethiopian Age of Exploration: Prester John's Discovery of Europe, 1306-1458." https://www.jstor.org/stable/41060852
Marianne O'Doherty, "Imperial Fantasies: Imagining Christian empire in three fourteenth-century versions of the Book of John Mandeville." https://www.jstor.org/stable/26396423?read-now=1&seq=3#page_scan_tab_contents
Karl F. Helliner, "Prester John's Letter: a Medieval Utopia." https://www.jstor.org/stable/1086970?read-now=1&seq=10#page_scan_tab_contents
Samantha Kelly: "Ewosṭateans at the Council of Florence (1441): Diplomatic Implications between Ethiopia, Europe, Jerusalem and Cairo." https://journals.openedition.org/afriques/1858#:~:text=The%20Council%20of%20Florence%20must,vociferous%20opponents%2C%20the%20Coptic%20patriarchs.
Unfortunately, Aran and Olivia are still recovering from one heck of a summer! Regular WMG pod episodes will resume in two weeks' time. In the interim, please enjoy another dump of outtakes that we have pieced together in order to give you all a glimpse into the depths of your two hosts' sick, twisted minds.....
Several weeks after Joan of Arc led the battle to lift the siege at Orleans, she was already famous across Europe. However, it was perhaps how her story ended that cemented her status as a hero of worldwide and eternal renown.
Our series on the Hundred Years' War concludes here, with a final episode about Joan of Arc's capture, trial, fate, and legacy....
As we continue our series on the Hundred Years' War, Armagnac cause has never seemed so hopeless. An Englishman sits on the French throne, the Scottish army has been crushed, and now the Armagnac stronghold of Orléans is about to fall.
That is, until the emergence of the most unlikely hero: a charismatic peasant girl, who claims to speak to angels.
In this episode, we chart the rise of Joan of Arc, from a normal working-class life in north-west France, to the self-appointed saviour of the nation.
For more information on what we discuss in this episode:
Music used in this episode:
Our series on the Hundred Years' War continues with a deep dive into the events of the conflict and the consequences of a century of violence and death across Europe. Join Olivia and Aran as they discuss how the Black Death, rapid military and social developments, and a million succession crises almost brought France to the brink of defeat by the English. Until, somewhere in northeastern France, in a sleepy village called Domrémy, a young woman begins to have visions....
Join us in two weeks' time as we continue the series by giving you a proper introduction to Joan of Arc and her exploits! Until then, enjoy the show.
For more on some of what we discuss, check out:
Music used in this episode:
https://archive.org/details/ld-100-en-retrouvant-le-moyen-age-charles-ravier/LD+100%E2%80%A2f1.wav
And be sure to join the official WMG Discord server!!
A new, three-part epic kicks off in this episode of Weird Medieval Guys, covering the Hundred Years War, the apocalyptic conflict which forged the modern nations of England, France and Scotland.
In this episode, Olivia and Aran chart the prelude to the conflict: the Scottish Wars of Independence. After the unexpected, heirless death of King Alexander III, Scotland is plunged into a crisis that threatens to turn into a full-scale civil war. But machinations in Paris and London will transform this dynastic feud into the spark that will set all of western Europe ablaze...
If all that isn't enough for you, we've also got a magic stone, a disembodied heart, and a kingdom saved by an army of prostitutes. Never say we do nothing for you.
The European football championships have kicked off, so it's time to talk sports! Join Olivia and Aran as they crack open a cold one or several and take a look at the long history of football in Europe, as well as the almost-as-long history of football hooliganism. In doing so, we will try to understand why there have been so many attempts to ban the sport....that is to say, why every attempt to do so has failed!
For more on some of what we discuss, check out:
It's time to get continental because on this episode of the Weird Medieval Guys podcast, we're heading to the Holy Roman Empire! When Voltaire famously said that the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire, he probably didn't think that his words would haunt history classrooms and conversations centuries in the future. Unfortunately they did, and so we are left to deal with the legacy of this smarmy soundbite. Join Olivia and Aran as they unpack what on earth this crazy, crazy thing really was and try to deliver a verdict on whether Voltaire was right.
For more on some of what we discuss, please check out:
And be sure to join the official WMG Discord server!!
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