The Medieval Podcast

The medieval period is well known for several large-scale and horrific persecutions, especially ones based on religious grounds. One of these is a succession of expulsions of the Jews from one kingdom after another. Persecutions like these don’t just come out the blue. So, if we’re going to understand them – and hopefully prevent them – we have to dig deep into the cultural ideas and purported justifications that they spring from. This week, Danièle speaks with Rowan Dorin about what usury is, how changing ideas of sin and foreignness shaped Europe, and how mass expulsion went from unthinkable to acceptable in the late 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

Have you ever wanted to put a curse on someone? How about ask a river goddess for some healing? Or maybe speak a charm that’ll make your life better? If so, today’s episode is for you. This week, Danièle speaks with Brigid Ehrmantraut about Celtic magic, druidic haircuts, and what Celtic curses have to do with The Lord of the Rings.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

Just in time for his feast day on May 16, we’re looking at St. Brendan, an Irish saint whose holy encounters included island-sized whales, lava-slinging smiths, and rodents of unusual size. This week, Danièle speaks with Gordon Barthos about St. Brendan’s epic odyssey, his long-standing popularity, and just some of his incredible adventures.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 medieval world, people interacted with Biblical history and the adventures of their favourite saints in all sorts of ways – including through plays. One of the most beloved saints – Mary Magdalene – is the main character in an English play that has it all: raging tyrants, perilous sea voyages, angelic interventions, at least three resurrections, and perhaps most thrilling of all, a woman preaching. This week, Danièle speaks with Joanne Findon about the incredible medieval story of what happened to Mary Magdalene after the resurrection, how even the most holy figures were brought to the stage, and why thi play may have been rescued from destruction.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

The English queens of the fifteenth century have had a serious popularity boost in the last twenty years, thanks to novels and TV series showing the glamour and drama of their lives. Queenship could have serious advantages – fame and fortune included. But eventually, you do have to pay the piper. This week, Danièle speaks with Michele Seah about where these powerful ladies got their cash, what they spent it on, and why it’s not that easy being queen.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

This week, Danièle celebrates ten years of The Five-Minute Medievalist by sharing some of the life lessons she's learned since the book came out - and some of the lessons that she just keeps on having to learn.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

It’s always a great moment when you’re watching a play or a movie, and suddenly one of your favourite songs appears to heighten the mood. All of a sudden, you’re even more deeply emotionally invested in the lives of the characters, and what’s going to happen next. Believe or not, the hit music of the Middle Ages also appeared for some of the very same reasons in medieval romance. This week, Danièle speaks with Nigel Bryant and Matthew P. Thomson about how these romances integrate music, why villains don’t always get a song, and the incredible culture of medieval top hits.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

We’ve all been there: suddenly face-to-face with our ugliest selves, wrestling with pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice, gluttony, or lust. AKA the Seven Deadly Sins. In the Middle Ages, Christian thinkers divided moral missteps into these seven familiar categories, allowing them to ponder the many ways humanity can fall into sin – as well as how to get out of it. This week, Danièle speaks with Peter Jones about how people grappled with the Seven Deadly Sins in the Middle Ages, some pretty fun confessions, and how the medieval perspective might just help us better navigate the modern world.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

There are some very entrenched cultural ideas about the plague these days, involving big, beaky masks, and agonized people flagellating themselves in the street. But the way people thought about and treated plague changed over time, as the disease revisited populations regularly over the course of centuries. And just like our imaginings of plague today can tell us a lot about how we see the medieval world, so the changing way people wrote about plague can tell us a whole lot of interesting stuff about medieval and early modern culture. This week, Danièle speaks with Lori Jones about the evolution of the plague tract, who was considered qualified to write about plague, and some surprising ways religion fits – or doesn’t fit – into the picture.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

Last week, we talked about a woman whose work was to support her husband’s dreams of conquest – and her son’s dreams of rebellion. But what about the medieval women whose work was a little more ordinary? What was the 9-5 like for the women who kept households, shops, and towns running? And how did that work differ from place to place? This week, Danièle speaks with Nena Vandeweerdt about women's work inside and outside of guild structures, how it was regulated, and how opportunities changed for women across time and space.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

They say that behind every successful man is a woman, and when it comes to one of the biggest medieval stories of personal success, that seems to have been true. Everyone’s heard of William the Conqueror, the illegitimate duke of Normandy who became king of England in 1066, but fewer people have heard the story of his powerful, indomitable queen: Mathilda of Flanders. This week, Danièle speaks with Laura L. Gathagan about Mathilda's unshakeable reign as duchess and queen, the way she embodied her power, and her role in the conquest of England.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

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

Although a lot of medieval history is murky, the whys and wherefores – not to mention the timeline – of the Hundred Years’ War are firmly nailed down. Or are they? This week, Danièle speaks with Michael Livingston about why the Hundred Years’ War should actually be called the Two Hundred Years’ War, what actually touched off the conflict, and why we should question everything.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

Since time immemorial, we've given animals names, from the sublime to the utterly ridiculous. For everyone who’s looked at a puppy or a kitten and wondered what it should be called – and then called it an embarrassingly silly nickname anyway – this episode is for you. This week, Danièle speaks with Ben Parsons about what medieval people named their pets and working animals, how we know about them, and which animals are still called by their medieval nicknames.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

In the dark forests of the Middle Ages – and the modern stories we tell about it – lurks a powerful, beautiful predator. Sometimes big and bad, sometimes a figure of admiration, the medieval wolf was such a big part of English culture, that it found its way not just into stories, but into the language itself. This week, Danièle speaks with Elizabeth Marshall about where we find wolves in medieval sources, how early English writers saw them, and how wolves both add to – and steal – language.  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

The fourteenth-century is one of the most turbulent periods in European history. Famine, war, plague, royal depositions – you name it, this century’s got it. This week, Danièle speaks with Helen Carr about how England fared in these wild times, what her take is on some famous Plantagenets, and why we need to take a fresh look at this calamitous century.You can 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

One of the difficult truths of life in the Middle Ages is that death was never far away. While the vast majority of medieval people owned far fewer possessions than we do today, they were just as concerned with making sure everything was taken care of according to their wishes before they passed. This week, Danièle speaks with Robert A. Wood about medieval wills, funerals, and some memorable bequests.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

Everyone loves a good medieval whodunit, but how did real people investigate homicides in the Middle Ages? What did they look for? And how did they decide if a person’s death was an unfortunate accident or foul play? This week, Danièle speaks with Sara Butler about forensic medicine, and how death investigation was conducted in medieval England.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

Part of the reason a lot of people figure nothing much went on during the Middle Ages is because we’ve lost a whole lot of sources telling us what actually did happen. Through malice and misfortune, medieval manuscripts have been destroyed in their thousands. So, how do we know what may have gone up in smoke? And what can we do to keep our beloved manuscripts safe? This week, Danièle speaks with Robert Bartlett about the manuscripts we’ve lost by accident and by design, and how these precious documents are being preserved today.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

On September 4, 925 – 1100 years to the day this episode is released – King Æthelstan was crowned at Kingston-upon-Thames. Æthelstan is most often talked about in the context of the famous Battle of Brunanburh, but maybe we should remember him instead as the first king of England. This week, Danièle speaks with David Woodman about Æthelstan’s life, his rule, and his attempt to unite the kingdoms of Britain.You can join Danièle's class Calamity and Change: An Introduction to the Fourteenth Century at https://medievalstudies.thinkific.com/courses/calamity-and-change - use the coupon code backtoschool to save 15% 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

When the power of an entire kingdom rests in the hands of just one man, it’s both incredibly valuable and incredibly dangerous to be that man’s bestie - and the legacies of royal favourites tend to retain the taint of contemporary snark. So, maybe it’s about time we take a second look. This week, Danièle speaks with James Ross about the life of Robert de Vere - the infamous bff of King Richard II - his impact on the kingdom, and why it’s always worth taking a second look at the facts.Use the code 'backtoschool' to save 15% off all our courses at https://medievalstudies.thinkific.com/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

Maid, hero, heretic, saint - Joan of Arc is one of the most fascinating figures of the Middle Ages. This week, Danièle speaks with Deborah McGrady about Joan’s incredible life and death, her voice, and her complex and enduring legacy.You can enrol in Danièle's online course Calamity and Change: An Introduction to the Fourteenth Century at https://medievalstudies.thinkific.com/courses/calamity-and-changeThis 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

The people of the Middle Ages were no strangers to Cupid’s arrows, and just like us, they loved a good love letter. But in a world where literacy rates were far below what they are today, who was writing their most heartfelt feelings down? And how do we know? This week, Danièle speaks with Myra Stokes and Ad Putter about where we find love letters, and the way people wrote and sent them, along with a couple of spicy – and hilarious – examples.You can enrol in Danièle's online course Calamity and Change: An Introduction to the Fourteenth Century at https://medievalstudies.thinkific.com/courses/calamity-and-changeThis 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 one of the most popular figures in all of medieval history, and his book was a bestseller for literally centuries. So what do we know about the life and times of Marco Polo? This week, Danièle speaks with Sharon Kinoshita about why Marco travelled so far, what sort of detail he wanted to share with his readers, and what was going on in the world around him.You can support this podcast on Patreon - go to https://www.patreon.com/medievalistsSign up to Calamity and Change: An Introduction to the Fourteenth Century at https://medievalstudies.thinkific.com/courses/calamity-and-change 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

This week, in celebration of Episode 300, Danièle answers your questions on everything from Hastings to hose, with a couple of surprises along the way.You can support this podcast on Patreon - go to https://www.patreon.com/medievalistsAnd join on This is History's Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/thisishistory and use the code 'glassking' to get 20% off your first month 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 asked the average person how Vikings solved their problems, they probably wouldn’t say through lawyers. And yet, early Scandinavian people were sticklers for due process. This week, Danièle speaks with Robert Lively about how a person became a Viking lawyer, what the process was for solving disputes, and how fixing bad behaviour worked in this shame-based culture.Listen to this podcast ad-free 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

Elephants were known throughout most of the medieval world, even if most people had never encountered one, themselves. In bestiaries, elephants are praised for their long memories, intelligence, and monogamy. And, of course, their ivory. This week, Danièle speaks with John Beusterien about elephants and ivory in medieval China and Spain, including how elephants were put into service, and how ivory was used and traded across the world.Listen to this podcast ad-free 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

For three medieval Iberian queens, grief - and the way they expressed it - had immense and far-reaching consequences. This week, Danièle speaks with Núria Silleras-Fernández about what grief and widowhood were "supposed" to look like, how grief and madness were thought to be intertwined with love, and how the grieving women in the famous Isabella the Catholic’s family shaped the history of Spain and Portugal.Listen to this podcast ad-free 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

There are several famous examples of mysterious medieval writing, including the so-far unbreakable Voynich Manuscript. So, what secrets were medieval people trying to hide? And why? This week, Danièle speaks with Garry Shaw about who was encrypting their manuscripts, the codes they used, and the centuries of attempts to crack the Voynich Manuscript.You can 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

There are a lot of gamechanging inventions that shifted the trajectory of the Middle Ages, but one machine managed to hit at just the right time and place to create a massive enterprise in medieval Europe, with consequences that touched the entire globe: Gutenberg's printing press. This week, Danièle speaks with Eric White about Johannes Gutenberg’s life, his early entrepreneurship, and the invention that changed the world.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

Given that the term literally means “rebirth”, the Renaissance throws some not-so-subtle shade on the period that comes before it. So, where did the idea of the Renaissance actually come from? And was it truly a golden age? This week, Danièle speaks with Ada Palmer about Petrarch, Machiavelli, atheism, and how we should look at the period formerly known as the Renaissance.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