Was King Æthelred Really Unready?
Send us Fan Mail Few English kings have had a worse popular reputation than Æthelred the Unready (r.978-1016), the king who lost England (at least temporarily) to viking invaders. But does he deserve ...
21 Dec 20221h 13min
"Wicked" Medieval Women and the Monks Who Loathed Them
Send us Fan Mail In this episode Ellen and I discuss three "wicked" medieval women and the monastic authors who loathed them. We begin with the Anglo-Saxon Queen Ælfthryth, a champion of the Tenth-Ce...
7 Dec 20221h 20min
King Arthur in Literature and Popular Culture: From Sir Thomas Malory to the Present
Send us Fan Mail Today’s episode concludes our three part series about King Arthur in history, legend, and popular culture. Our jumping off point for this episode is Sir Thomas Malory’s late fifteen...
18 Okt 20221h 2min
King Arthur in History, Legend, and Popular Culture, Part 2: The Middle Ages
Send us Fan Mail In this episode Ellen and I with the help of my longtime friend and colleague Dr. Jennifer Paxton of the Catholic University of America trace the development of the Arthurian legend d...
10 Okt 202258min
King Arthur in History, Legend, and Popular Culture. Part One: Was Arthur a Real Person?
Send us Fan Mail This episode features a guest co-host, my old friend and colleague Dr. Jennifer Paxton, director of the Honors Program at The Catholic University of America and one of the best histor...
6 Sep 20221h 12min
Inquisitions, Jews, and the Formation of a Persecuting Society
Send us Fan Mail In this episode Ellen and I compare medieval Inquisitions with the Spanish Inquisition, and both with the popular conception of the Inquisition. Among other subjects, we discuss what...
14 Aug 202255min
Heresy and Crusade in Southern France: The Cathars
Send us Fan Mail In this episode Ellen and I talk about a dualist heresy that was widespread in twelfth- and thirteenth-century southern France and northern Italy. This heresy is generally known as C...
23 Juli 202258min
The Saint Brice's Day Massacre of 1002: A Case of Medieval Ethnic Cleansing?
Send us Fan Mail In this episode Ellen and I talk about one of the more puzzling events in the history of England’s Viking Wars, the St. Brice's Davy Massacre. In the year 1002, King Æthelred "the Unr...
6 Juli 202233min
