The Medieval Podcast

When the king is semi-divine and the pope speaks for God, himself, who is the boss of whom? It’s a question most of us don’t spend our days contemplating, but in the Middle Ages, this philosophical debate loomed large. Just who had the final say on planet Earth? And how did you prove it? This week, Danièle speaks with Patrick Nold about the case for the pope’s ultimate power, why it was so urgent in the early fourteenth century, and why an obscure Dominican friar came to the pope’s defense.This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

Much in debate in England in the fourteenth century was how – and even if – the Bible should be translated into everyday language. Enter Maud de Ros, Lady Welles, the woman responsible for the most complete surviving translation of the Bible in the Anglo-Norman language. This week, Danièle speaks with Kathryn A. Smith about the remarkable woman behind the Welles-Ros Bible, the circumstances under which it was made, and the ins and outs of translating the Bible in the Middle Ages.This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

As we wrap up the month, we have time to squeeze in one last love story. A tale packed full of potions, princesses, and even puppies, this one is right up there with Lancelot and Guinevere. It’s the story of Tristan and Isolde. This week, Danièle speaks with Thomas H. Crofts about the Middle English Sir Tristrem, how its author adapted the poem for a new audience, and the wild and wonderful story of one of medieval Europe’s favourite knights.This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

One of the best things about podcasting on all things medieval is the opportunity to learn about lesser-known places – especially when those places are full of examples of long-ago thinking on cross-cultural contact, integration, and immigration. So, today, we’re taking a trip to central Europe to learn all about Silesia. This week, Danièle speaks with Sébastien Rossignol about how this region navigated a mix of cultures and languages, its proactive immigration policies, and its own changing identity.This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

From the social media buzz we saw a couple of years ago, it seems a lot of people spend a lot of time thinking about the ancient Roman Empire and its military activities, but less time thinking about how it evolved into the Middle Ages. With the heart of the empire now in the city of Byzantium, how did the military face new challenges while holding onto its legacy? This week, Danièle speaks with Georgios Theotokis about the military culture of the Byzantine Empire, how people learned strategy and tactics, and how the Roman military machine changed over time.This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

Since the new year, we’ve heard about both the development of medieval music and what it was like to live in the cultural hotbed of fifteenth-century Florence. And now, we’re going to bring it together in a way that has only been heard by a handful of people in almost six hundred years. This week, Danièle speaks with Jonathan Berger about capturing the sounds of the past, what they can tell us, and the remarkable sound of one specific moment time.This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

Despite its vast cultural, spiritual, and material wealth, medieval Africa has too often been sidelined in the study of the Middle Ages. Or it's been peppered with asterisks to explain why its history is different, odd, or otherwise somehow “doesn't count”. Fortunately, the tide seems to be turning. But how did we get here? And how did people outside of Africa view its peoples and kingdoms during the Middle Ages? This week, Danièle speaks with D. Vance Smith about medieval European ideas of Africa, the long shadow cast by the fall of Carthage, and how Medieval Studies itself contributed to colonization.This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

One of the fun things about humans is our constant desire to engage with the supernatural, especially when it comes to getting a peek at the future. From reading bones, to tea leaves, flower petals, or online horoscopes, we can't help but look for a little bit of certainty in an uncertain world - and a little bit of magic. This week, Danièle speaks with Anne Lawrence-Mathers about medieval astrology, palm reading and the magic way to get a university education in just a fraction of the time.This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

If you’re going to be a writer, it’s best to find yourself in a place where there’s plenty to write about, and fifteenth-century Italy was definitely one of those places. For a young member of the powerful Alberti family, it was the perfect place to study everything from law, to theology, to architecture, and to write it all down to educate - and to entertain. This week, Danièle speaks with David Marsh about Leon Battista Alberti's life and writing, in and around the great figures of fifteenth-century Italy.This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

Songs have a way of making us see and feel things unlike other forms of writing, which is why so many of us treasure the words of lyricists. And when it comes to early Christianity, no songs were more treasured and influential than those of Romanos. This week, Danièle speaks with Thomas Arentzen about the life and works of Romanos the Melodist, why his work is so important to the history of Christianity, and how this legendary lyricist wrote about women.This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

Who’s the fairest of them all? And, more importantly, how did they get that way? This week, a new biography of Marilyn Monroe sends Danièle down the rabbit hole of medieval beauty, how it was achieved, and how it’s still influencing beauty standards today.This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

If there’s one thing we can say about 2025 it’s that it was certainly full of surprises. From political bridge-burning to bridge-building, to the destruction and the restoration of priceless artifacts, there was never a dull moment this year. This week, in keeping with tradition, Danièle speaks with Peter Konieczny, editor of Medievalists.net, about the good, the bad, and the ugly of 2025.This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

He’s a hero. He’s an outlaw. And it turns out he’s also Christmastime favourite. Given his many incarnations, from a foxy cartoon heartthrob, to the gruff and grizzled Hugh Jackman that previewed this week, it’s hard not to fall in love with some version or other of Robin Hood. And as we’ll find out in this episode, even jolly old Saint Nick just happens to be a fan. This week, Danièle speaks with Alexander L. Kaufman about how Robin Hood’s legend evolved over time, his transformation into a pantomime favourite, and that time Robin robbed Santa Claus himself.Support this podcast on Patreon - go to https://www.patreon.com/medievalistsThis podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

Love him or hate him, it’s hard to take one step into the medieval world without running into the larger-than-life figure of Richard the Lionheart. Rebel, crusader, prisoner, castle-builder Richard is one of the most colourful and quotable kings of the Middle Ages. This week, Danièle speaks with Heather Blurton about how Richard’s contemporaries saw him, the wild stories told about him in the later Middle Ages, and why we still just can’t get enough of this controversial king.You can support this podcast at https://www.patreon.com/medievalistsThis podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

In the last twenty years, the shadowy Assassins of the medieval Middle East have seen a serious resurgence in popularity. And yet, like so many medieval people and groups, it’s still hard to tell the legend from the reality - and that’s just the way the Assassins wanted it. This week, Danièle speaks with Steve Tibble about who the Assassins were, what tactics they used in the Middle Ages, and what this legendary order stood for.You can support this podcast on Patreon - go to https://www.patreon.com/medievalistsThis podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

It's the most wonderful time of the year: time to celebrate the best medieval books of 2025. This week, Danièle speaks with Peter Konieczny, editor of Medievalists.net, about their favourite reads this year - and she announces some exciting news about the future of The Medieval Podcast.This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

In the last century we’ve witnessed people set foot on the moon, and seen even the dark side in high-res images, and yet the moon still evokes a sense of romance and mystery, just as it did in the Middle Ages. This week, Danièle speaks with Ayoush Lazikani about what – and who – medieval people across the world believed the moon to be.Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/medievalistsThis podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

With just one word, we can evoke a world of assumptions, stereotypes, and even accusations, clearly marking the difference between who’s in and who’s out. And when it comes to legal terminology, the stakes are even higher. This week, Danièle speaks with Erin Wagner about what late medieval people meant when they used the word heresy, how the usage evolved, and how medieval people applied ideas of heresy beyond the borders of Christianity.You can support this podcast on Patreon - go to https://www.patreon.com/medievalistsThis podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

This year, we’ve spent some good quality time with early medieval queens, digging into their mysterious and spectacular lives and reigns. And when it comes to the spectacular, it’s hard to compete with the star of this week’s episode, a woman who arrived in Francia a slave, rose to become a queen, and then ascended to the heavens as a saint. This week, Danièle speaks with Isabel Moreira about Queen Balthild of Francia, her influence, and her lasting legacy.You can support this podcast on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/medievalistsThis podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

As the nights get longer and spookier, there's one thing that's guaranteed to make our hair stand on end: corpses that just won’t stay dead. Especially the ones interested in eating us. This week, Danièle speaks with John Blair about who refused to rest in peace in the Middle Ages, how medieval people attempted to keep the dead buried, and why some hauntings reached epidemic proportions.You can support this podcast on Patreon - go to https://www.patreon.com/medievalistsThis podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast