Ask a Medievalist

Episode 97: Non-Roman Calendars

25 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis When is Hanukkah this year? When is Lupercalia, or Easter, or Midsummer’s Eve? When is your birthday? Figuring out when big events happen i...

Episode 96: Pope Joan

27 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Starting in the middle ages, a rumor spread of a female pope, elected because of her incredible learning, who went undiscovered until she gave...

Episode 95: Sur le Pontife d’Avignon

24 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Avignon! A city where there is a bridge, and a song about the bridge. And, once, the pope lived there. Why? Let’s talk about this weird cent...

Episode 94: Popes and Antipopes

27 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Let’s talk about a few good antipopes. What’s that about, anyway? If they meet, do they both annihilate? How do they sometimes switch pla...

Episode 93: Take Me Down to Vatican City

11 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis When did the conclave system get started and why? Following on the heels (uh, vaguely) of our emergency popecast, Em and Dr. Jesse discuss hi...

Episode 92: Emergency Popecast

30 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Pope Francis, beloved of medievalists, died on April 21, 2025, so we’re here with all you might care to know about the forthcoming conclave...

Episode 91: The Field Where I Grow My Ducks

20 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Em and Jesse are back with more medieval meme review. Join us as we discuss martyrdom, marginalia, The Seventh Seal, and the Bayeux Tapestry. ...

Episode 90: Ask a Memevalist

04 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Memes. Love or hate them, they’re hard to escape. Let’s do a medieval meme review. Notes 1/ Sorry for the weird sound at the beginning. F...

Episode 89: The Three Hares on the Silk Road

22 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Trade goods weren’t the only things that moved along the Silk Road. Join Em and Jesse as they trace the history of an interesting artistic ...

Episode 88: The Peasants Are (Still) Revolting

23 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis In a first for Ask a Medievalist, Em sits down with Sebastian Nothwell to discuss his approach to writing historical/historical fantasy novel...

Episode 87: Resistance Is (Not) Futile

14 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis “Times are tough, but they could be worse” is the eternal message of our show. This time, we’re talking about persecution and rebellion...

Episode 86: Too Many Ramayanas

27 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Summary The Ramayana is not the oldest story in the world, but it’s definitely in the running. Composed starting in the 700s BCE, it has been carrie...

Rebroadcast: Episode 29: D’you Like Dags?

20 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In memory of Wrigley Njus-Kirk, The Best Puppy (May 28, 2009–November 18, 2024), we’re reposting our episode on dogs this week! You can check out ...

Episode 85: It’s (not the) End of the World as We Know It

01 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis One time, Em got drunk and started texting Jesse about the bronze age collapse. This is the result. Notes 1/ Em studied abroad in Tianjin, Ch...

Episode 84: Trans-Saharan Trade

22 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis We talked about trade moving across Asia and into Europe, but what about trade going North–South? Like the Silk Road, there was a lot of Tr...

Old Silk Road, Take Me Home

20 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis The Silk Road spanned four thousand years and lasted for centuries–it’s hard to think of anything comparable in scale. From the second ce...

Episode 82: Morebinogion

31 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Join Em and Dr. Jesse as they talk about the last two branches of the Mabinogi. Em’s books can all be found here: https://www.amazon.com/gp...

Episode 81: Angel of the Morning

16 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Did you see a headless (possibly satanic) angel rising from the stage during the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics, or Winged Victory? O...

Episode 80: Emergency Olympics Episode

01 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Last week, the 2024 Summer Olympics started in Paris with an opening ceremony that featured nods to several musicals, a heavy metal band name...

Episode 79: Branching Out

12 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis The Mabinogi: what’s it actually about, when you get down to it? Join Em and Jesse as they discuss the first two branches, in which Pwyll m...

Episode 78: Ma-Ma-Ma-Mabinogi

03 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Paul: Look, it’s a school of whales. Ringo: They look a little bit old for school. Paul: University then. Ringo: University of Wales. (From...

Episode 77: Carnival and Lent

08 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Here comes the parade, want some beads? Okay, so carnival is a prelude to Lent, which is an extremely solemn time in Catholic tradition. So wh...

Episode 76: Pipe Dreams

10 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis If you’re one of those people who thinks about the Roman Empire a lot because aqueducts are really cool, you’re going to love this. Join ...

Episode 75: Plumb as in Full of Lead

10 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Summary After a brief discussion of how people brushed their teeth, we move on to the question of where the water they used came from. And yeah, Rome ...

Episode 74: Bath House (in the Middle of the Street)

15 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Summary When Em was a kid, she was told that knights in shining armor didn’t bathe, that Elizabeth I had bathed only three times in her life, and va...

Episode 73: I’m a Ramblin’ Man

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Are you travelling for Thanksgiving? Believe it or not, “travel” as a thing is not a modern creation. In the middle ages, people visited ...

Episode 72: Does It Belong in a Museum?

10 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis We’ve all seen that scene in Indiana Jones where he’s clutching an artifact and shouting, “It belongs in a museum!” But nowadays in 2...

Episode 71: Fashion (Turn to the Left)

26 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Em and Jesse talk about Italian sumptuary laws, which unlike the British ones, were more aimed at women. Then they talk about fashion “dos”...

Episode 70: White After Labor Day

25 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Just in time for Paris Fashion Week, join Em and Jesse for an exciting discussion of sumptuary laws and the medieval origins of prohibitions ...

Episode 69: Virgil Was Here

03 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis What got written illicitly on the walls back before 79 CE? It turns out a lot of stuff! Join Em and Jesse as they discuss the graffiti of Pom...

Episode 68: Bat Country (Drugs, pt 2)

28 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Let’s talk about psychedelics in ritual practice. From Hunter S. Thompson’s pilgrimage across the desert to the human sacrifices of the In...

Episode 67: Dionysus and Drugs, part 1

07 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis In honor of the publication of Em’s debut novel, Dionysus in Wisconsin, Em and Jesse talk about Dionysus (the god), and then about drug use...

Episode 66: Medievally Bootylicious (obscenity part 2)

27 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Are butts the most medieval of body parts? From the Wild Man to Chaucer to good old Michelangelo, let’s pontificate about the posterior. Do...

Episode 65: I Know It When I See It

02 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Summary A long time ago, people were pure at heart. Of course, sex happened occasionally, but no one took off their clothes for it–that would be gau...

Episode 64: Fight Knights

13 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

1/ EB White was a rather nice, shy guy who wrote for the New Yorker and hid from his admirers. TH White was a weirdo who lived on the edge of the wood...

Episode 63: The Knight in Tarnished Armor

26 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Early on, a friend of the podcast asked if we were going to cover chivalry. Because really, when you think of the Middle Ages, this is it, rig...

Episode 62: Tapestries Not by Carole King

10 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Summary The other day, I asked a friend, “Hey, what do normal people put on their walls?” The answer…is tapestries. Cold, stony castle? Tapestri...

Episode 61: Snowpeople

27 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Summary It’s wintertime in the Northern hemisphere! Snow is, of course, eternal, but did you ever wonder how far back the tradition of making snowpe...

Episode 60: The Green Knight

28 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Once upon a time there was a guy named Gawain, and someone made a movie about him! And he got to be played by Dev Patel, which is pretty grea...

Episode 59: The Real MedEELval Times

14 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Famous eels: 1/ “Those are the shrieking eels. You don’t believe me? Just wait. They always grow louder when they’re about to feed on h...

Episode 58: Long Live the Queen

26 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Summary A lot of stuff about Richards II and III for a podcast that’s supposed to be about queens. Also Mathildas, Boudica, and why Black Panther is...

Episode 57: Dancing Queens (pt 1)

05 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis As a memorial to Elizabeth II, Em and Jesse discuss famous queens throughout history and mostly in the UK, including drag queens, the borough...

Episode 56: THE BEOWULFENING

20 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Bro! You knew it was coming! Grab your replica Sutton Hoo helmet and get ready, it’s Beowulf o’clock. Annotations 1/ Spoiler alert: it wa...

Episode 55: In the Summertime, When the Weather is Medieval

02 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Summertime, and the living is Medieval. But really, what was summer like in the Middle Ages? We talk about the Medieval Climate Anomaly, the (...

Episode: 54: More England, More Normans

22 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Part two of the run up to the arrival of Queen Matilda and that other guy…what was his name…William the Conqueror. Yeah. Him. Includes Da...

Episode #53: England Before the Norman Invasion

05 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis As good students of history, you already know that all-important date in British history: 1066, aka the Norman Invasion. But what happened in...

Episode 52: Heut’ kommt die Jesse zu Oberammergau

24 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis What do you get when you combine Monty Python, Mel Brooks, and the Passion of Christ? I don’t know, but it’s been going on for 390 years ...

Episode 51: The Relic (not the 1997 Creature Feature set in the Field Museum in Chicago)

22 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Ever see an Indiana Jones movie? For more on relic theft, see Patrick J. Geary’s Furta Sacra: Thefts of Relics in the Central Middle Ages. A...

Episode 50: The Heretical Hussites (feat. Martin Luther)

04 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis The last of the major proto-protestant heresies we’re going to examine is the Hussites, who were led by Jan Hus. And then we’re going to ...

Episode 49: Where’s Waldensians?

10 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Let’s talk about the Waldensians, the Lollards, and some revolting peasants. Wait. Oh well–Anyway, we talk a lot about how the Pope gave ...

Episode #48: Meet the Cathars

16 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis So, say you like what Christianity has to offer generally. That Jesus kid seems like he has a good head on his shoulders. But theologically, ...

Episode 47: There’s GNO Business Like Show Business

04 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Manichaeism: The number one major world religion you’ve never heard of. In order to understand it and its prophet, Mani, we need to underst...

Episode 46: The Well-Tempered Podcast

14 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis After an unexpected late-season hiatus, we’re back with an episode on musical forms! We’ve got the earliest hymns, the maddest madrigals,...

Episode 45: Fool Me Twice

09 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Summary More on the Feast of Fools and the Kalends, with some digressions about Roman Emperor Claudius and labyrinths. Annotations For most of the Fea...

Episode 44: Upside Down and Inside Out

24 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Christmas, a season for overeating, arguing with your parents about politics, and…wearing masks? Join Em and Jesse as they talk about topsy ...

Episode 43: Our Bagpipes Go to Eleven

23 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Summary More on music! (Shoutout to episode 40/music part 1, which came out a while ago now.) We talk about dulcimers and gitterns, viols and tabors, ...

Episode 42: Candy Is Dandy

17 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Do you want some candy, little girl? Of course you do, it’s delicious. But what was candy a thousand years ago? Turns out at least some of i...

Episode 41: I’ll Get You, My Pretty

30 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Summary It’s spooky season! Witches have been around–and feared–since the Middle Ages. We discuss their history, unexpected ties to Judaism, and...

Episode 40: To Be Played at Maximum Volume

20 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Summary You may have heard someone say that music is in their bones, but is it really? Answer: Yes! (If you are a Neanderthal, anyway.) In fact, the e...

Episode 39: Où est la bibliothèque?

03 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Summary What was the one weird habit of the Ptolemys that librarians hated? What trick did early indexers use for organizing collections? And what maj...

Episode 38: Take a Look, It’s in a Book (or a scroll, or a tablet, or…)

14 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Summary “When I was in library school, we never discussed outright conquest as a method of collection development.” In which we discuss books (and...

Episode 37: Child’s Play

30 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Summary The 1560 painting “Children’s Games,” painted by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Question: What did kids do before Gameboy? Answer: Everything...

Episode 36: Sweet Child of Mine

09 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Summary So you lived through birth…now what? Despite the popular image of the Middle Ages putting children to work the instant they were capable of ...

Episode 35: The Extremely Risky Behavior Literally All of Your Ancestors Engaged In

19 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Join Em and Dr. Jesse as we play a little game we like to call, “How Early in History Could Em Have Had Children and Survive?” The answer ...

Episode #34: Gaudeamus Itigur–Universities and Academics

04 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis We’ve just spent the month of June watching innumerable students progress across the stage in their long gowns. Where does the tradition of...

Episode 33: Ooh, Crafty Lady

05 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Part two of women as artisans. Join Em and Jesse as they discuss more about the work women did in the Middle Ages, including quite a lot about...

Episode 32: You Better Work, Beeyatch

16 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Em and Jesse reminisce about libraries they have known, discuss scriptoria and book-making before the printing press, and talk about women who...

Episode 31: May Day, May Day!

24 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Summary From Groundhog Day to Hocktide to May Day to Midsummer to Mother’s Day, there are a ton of spring holidays! Join Em and Jesse as we discuss ...

Episode 30: Felis Catus Is Your Taxonomic Nomenclature

09 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Cats are tiny lions that live in your home. But how long have they lived with humans? Have they always had the position of respect they enjoy ...

Episode 29: D’You Like Dags?

26 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Dogs have long been reputed to be man’s best friend. But how long is “long”? The answer is close to 10,000 years (at least). Join Em an...

Episode 28: Food

12 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Hungry? Grab a snack and join Em and Jesse for a discussion of food in the Middle Ages–what did a well-equipped kitchen contain? What kind o...

Episode 27: Drinks

26 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Welcome to season 2! Grab your favorite potation and join Em and Jesse for a tour of the history of alcohol, from monkeys getting drunk on fer...

Episode #26: Valentine’s Day

12 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Summary “Wuv… twue wuv…will follow you fowever…” Interested in a brief history of Valentine’s Day? You’re in luck. From the question of ...

Episode 25: Jews on Stage

31 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Jews in space? No, Jews on stage. What was the world like for Jewish actors during the Middle Ages? Well, it was a bit of a mixed bag, honest...

Episode 24: Stages in the Middle Ages

11 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Em and Jesse discuss physical performance spaces, from Greek amphitheaters to pageant carts to prosceniums, and the changes theaters have see...

Episode 23: Christmas Time Is Here, By Golly

25 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Let’s talk about possible pagan origins for everyone’s favorite late-December excuse to eat a lot of pie. In addition, Em and Jesse discu...

Episode 22: The Strong Voice of Gandersheim

13 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Em and Jesse discuss the life and plays of Hrotsvit, the strong voice of Gandersheim and the first named playwright in western Europe. Small c...

Episode 21: Watch Out for That Banana Peel

26 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary If you’ve ever pondered how “time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana,” then this episode is for you. Join Jesse and Em as th...

Episode 20: Vampires, Ghosts, and Other Things That Go Bump in the Night

01 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary We got all your vampire subtypes: sparkling, British, and thirsty for the blood of the living. We got a couple of different types of ghosts, i...

Episode 19: A Few Good Werewolves

25 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis From Bisclavret to Remus Lupin, werewolves have been portrayed in fiction for centuries–and portrayed both positively and negatively, by Je...

Episode 18: Halloween: A Not-So-Spooky History

17 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Halloween! A time of candy, Pagan ritual, sexy bus driver costumes, and syncretism. How much of this holiday has been handed down to us from t...

Episode 17: Dance Like Nobody’s Watching

11 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Synopsis Dance dramas are theatrical presentations that use dance (and sometimes words, but mostly dance) to tell a story. Em and Jesse look at dance ...

Episode 16: Much Ado About Puppets

27 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Puppets are actually a pretty medieval art form–and not just for kids. These puppets do and say things that would have been politically risk...

Episode 15: The Not-Evolution of Theatre

12 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary In which Em and Jess discuss the important theoretical contributions of Tropic Thunder and Blazing Saddles to performance studies, thereby ill...

Episode 14: Decolonization and Asia

28 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary “One night in Bangkok makes a hard man tremble.” Weird concept musicals by Abba members aside, Asia is a place that many in the West have ...

Episode 13: Decolonizing Africa

17 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary In the words of the great philosopher Toto, “I bless the RAINS down in AFRICA.” [This song plays every year at the Saturday night dance at...

Episode 12: The Americas Before Colonization

24 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Welcome to part two of our series on decolonization. This week, Em and Jesse discuss what the Middle Ages looked like in the Americas before t...

Episode 11: Decolonization: Theory and Practice

13 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary “Pulling down statues isn’t erasing history….erasing history is the fact that you live on land stolen from a people you can’t name.”...

Episode 10: Icons and Iconography

04 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary In which we discuss iconography (the study of icons), primarily so we can talk about the protests relating to/attempting to tear down the Robe...

Episode 9: Heretics and Saints

19 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary If heretics go directly to hell, and saints go directly to heaven, what happens if you burn as a heretic someone who later turns out to be a s...

Episode 8: Hell and Damnation

09 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Come with us into Hell. We’ll accompany Dante and Virgil as they pass through the nine circles and out into purgatory and heaven. On the way...

Episode 7: Love and Hell

30 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary What is the purpose of sin, and why is it allowed? Why does Hell exist? When people go to Hell, do they stay there forever, and is there any w...

Episode 6: Mysticism and Motherhood

23 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary From the feast of Corpus Christi to the mystical marriage between St. Catherine of Siena and Jesus Himself, Em and Jesse dive into the world o...

Episode 5: Hermits and Anchoresses

14 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Em and Jesse begin a journey into the world of Medieval mysticism with a discussion of hermits and anchorites/anchoresses. With some interesti...

Episode 4: Passover and Easter, pt. 2

07 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Em and Jesse continue their discussion of Passover and Easter, including the Venerable Bede’s take on Easter’s pagan origins, blood libel,...

Episode 3: Passover and Easter, part 1

30 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary Em and Jesse retell the story of Passover, and then discuss the story of the crucifixion in the New Testament and how the two dovetail. In the...

Episode 2: Plague

23 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“Death and famine stalk the land like two great stalking things.” — Blackadder Summary It’s the Black Death, the original plague! Em and Jesse...

Episode 1: An Introduction to the Middle Ages

16 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Summary: Em and Jesse discuss the inspiration behind the podcast and try to answer a few questions: What are the Middle Ages? How are they different f...