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MDT Ep. 71: Concerning Stained Glass and Notre Dame
As the recovery process begins after the April 15th fire the consumed the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, we reflect on the event, we learn how to make stained glass from a 12th-century artisan, and we hear about the architectural gl
MDT Ep. 70: Concerning a Coastal Conflict and Two Visions of the Virgin
This episode, we return to an old favorite, the Lanercost Chronicle, to hear how Charles of Valois stoked violence between Normandy and the merchants of the Cinque Ports, as well as witnessing the Virgin Mary acting as a celestial attorney.
MDT Ep. 69: The Confession of St. Patrick (Part 2)
We conclude St. Patrick's Confessio this episode, taking a look at Patrick's education and literary style, as well as the cultural context of missionary activity in the 5th century. We also are left wondering if that money was just resting
MDT Ep. 68: The Confession of St. Patrick (Part 1)
This March, we're going back to one of the earliest surviving St. Patrick texts, his own autobiographical Confessio. This episode we'll hear the first half, which covers Patrick's abduction from the coast of 5th-century Britain into slavery
MDT Ep. 67: Concerning a Maiden Seduced by an Incubus, or A Dunwich Horror
For Valentine's Day, we have a tale not so much of love, but of supernatural seduction. This is the story of a chaste young woman of the town of Dunwich stalked by a devil, as reported in The Life and Miracles of St. William of Norwich by T
MDT Ep. 66: Concerning a Man Consumed by Mice and Other Plagues
We kick our 2019 with a return to narrative history, hearing about a terrible way to die and how not to profit off the deaths of others during a plague from William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum Anglorum, and we also look all the way back to
Feed Update Announcement
Listeners! This weekend (Feb. 9-10) I'll be updating many of the descriptions and tags on old episodes in our podcast RSS feed. There is a possibility that some podcast manager apps (especially iTunes) will interpret these changes as a whol
MDT Ep. 65: Concerning Pawns and Politics
In this final episode in our holiday chess series, we finish off the last pages in William Caxton's The Game and Playe of the Chess, looking at the pawn and the importance of the common people to the realm, and we consider the how to explai
MDT Ep. 64: Concerning the Bishop, Knight, and Rook
This fourth installment of our holiday chess series finishes off the back rank of pieces: the bishop (or alphyn), the knight, and the rook. We also explore a long-standing Wikipedia beef over rook terminology, and recommend a modern board g
MDT Ep. 63: Concerning the Moves of the Chess King and Queen
In the third episode of our holiday series of excerpts from William Caxton's The Game and Playe of the Chesse, we learn about how the king and queen move, which was a bit different in the 15th century than it is today. We also consider the
MDT Ep. 62: Concerning the Design of the Chessboard
In this second installment of our holiday series of excerpts from William Caxton's The Game and Playe of the Chesse, we hear about the layout of the chessboard and what it represents. We also look at some of the games that chess replaced in
MDT Ep. 61: Concerning the Invention of Chess
We kick off a holiday miniseries of chess lore from William Caxton's The Game and the Playe of the Chesse with one version of how chess was invented. We then some historical corrections to this account and also hear one of the earliest writ
MDT Ep. 60: Concerning How the Dead Man Glámr Terrorized Thorhallstead
For our 4th anniversary, we celebrate Halloween with one of the great tales of the unquiet dead from the Icelandic sagas -- namely, Grettis saga and the story of Grettir's fight with the revenant Glámr. We also recommend three good horror m
MDT Ep. 59: Concerning Children Miraculously Saved from Fatal Accidents
This episode we hear three tales from a miracle catalogue compiled in the hopes of winning official sainthood for King Henry VI, whose reputation needed all the help it could get after the events of his reign. We also take a look at the sta
MDT Ep. 58: Concerning the Life and Many Disentombments of Odoric of Pordenone
Previously, we heard Odoric (or Odoricus) of Pordenone (or Friuli) describe his travels as a Franciscan missionary to the Far East. This episode, we get an attempt by a later chronicler to craft a saint's life for the traveler, using surpri
MDT Ep. 57: Concerning Dive-Doppers, Paper Money, and a Half-Way House for Souls
At last we reach the coast of China with Friar Odoricus in the final episode of our medieval travelers series. We also take a look at the Renaissance exploration advocate and scholar, Richard Hakluyt, whose name adorns the learned Society t
MDT Ep. 56: Concerning a Junk Voyage Interrupted
In our third travelers episode, we catch up with the explorer and diplomat Ibn Battuta, as he narrowly avoids disaster in Southern India, though his entourage is not so lucky. We also get some of the first written descriptions of the people
MDT Ep. 55: Concerning Good Wine, Bad Ships, and Baked Soldiers
In the second installment of our medieval travelers series, we follow Marco Polo into the deserts of Iran and learn about the hazards of the road, including a lethal wind.
MDT Ep. 54: Concerning Quicksand, Crusaders, and a Journey Underground
We kick off a miniseries of texts from medieval travelers by continuing with Gerald of Wales as he sets out to tour Wales with Archbishop Baldwin, collecting stories from the region and getting involved in a few escapades of his own.
MDT Ep. 53: Concerning Sucking Up to Patrons
We're back for some late summer episodes with a look at how medieval authors cozied up to potential patrons, with a specific look at Gerald of Wales. Coincidentally, we also announce our Patreon campaign! You can support us at www.patreon.c
MDT Ep. 52: Concerning St. Patrick and the Magicians
It's a special Saint Patrick's Day episode, in which we hear about the contests between the saint and some Irish magicians, as related in Muirchu's 7th-century Life of St. Patrick.
MDT Ep. 51: Concerning Fire and Fury in the Palace – Part 2
This episode we continue with Walter Map's De nugis curialium and learn that politics really is hell.
MDT Ep. 50: Concerning Fire and Fury in the Palace - Part 1
This episode we dive into Walter Map's De nugis curialium for a satirical lesson in administrative chaos, choler, and corruption, and also how generally terrible we are.
MDT Ep. 49: Concerning a Medieval Marley's Ghost
This Christmas Eve episode, we take a look a medieval forebear of the Ghost of Jacob Marley, as well as a role-model from ancient Rome.
MDT Ep. 48: Concerning the Sharp Wit, Unorthodox Wisdom, & Brutal Death of John the Scot
This episode as school breaks for the holidays, we look at one account of the life of translator, philosopher, and part-time court comedian John Scotus Eriugena, who allegedly met a rather bad end at the hands of disgruntled students.
MDT Ep. 47: Concerning Ragnarok
This episode we tap into the Ragnarok zeitgeist and go back to the medieval Norse sources: Snorri Sturluson's Gylfaginning and the apocalyptic poem Völuspá.
MDT Ep. 46: Concerning the Giant of Mont St. Michel
This Halloween marks our third anniversary, and we ring in our fourth year with two versions of King Arthur's famous battle with the man-eating giant of Mont St. Michel.
MDT Ep. 45: Concerning Magnus Barefoot vs. Ireland
This episode we (that is, I) wax autobiographical as we look at our first saga text, an account of the death of King Magnus Barefoot during his attempted conquest of Ireland in 1103. Also, there are some thoughts on the idea of the progress
MDT Ep. 44: Concerning Turnover of the Kings of Man
This episode we crack open the Chronicle of Man and the Sudreys to look at the Isle of Man and the rise of the royal house of King Orry, Godred Crovan, and King Magnus Barefoot of Norway is warned in a dream to leave Norway and never return
MDT Ep. 43: Concerning the Resurrection of Cannibals
Today we plunge into some hard-core scholasticism, as we hear Thomas Aquinas wrestle with the thorny question: "If all dead bodies are resurrected at the Last Judgment, what happens to the bodies of cannibals, whose bodies are made up of th
