Medieval Beginnings
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville
04 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For the final episode of Medieval Beginnings, Mary and Irina look at by far the most popular text (in its time) of all that have featured in the seri...
The Digby Mary Magdalene Play
04 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For sheer scale and spectacle, surely few plays of any period can match The Digby Play of Mary Magdalene. Boasting at least fifty speaking parts, wit...
Middle English Lyrics
04 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
From the first recorded instance of the word ‘fart’ in English, to nuanced vignettes of sexual power dynamics, the numerous Middle English lyrics ...
Chaucer's 'Troilus and Criseyde'
04 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Chaucer’s 14th century tale of ‘double sorrow’, Troilus and Criseyde, set during the siege of Troy, is the subject of Irina and Mary’s ninth e...
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
04 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Irina and Mary jump to the 14th century for an introspective Arthurian romance about a knight trying to live up to his perfect reputation. The mysteri...
Havelok the Dane
04 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Irina and Mary continue their run of Romances with the Middle English Havelok the Dane, a double Cinderella story of sex, fishing and surprisingly gra...
Le Roman de Silence
04 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For the sixth episode in their Medieval Beginnings series, Mary and Irina go full Romance with one of the most elaborate and surprising narrative poem...
The Lais of Marie de France
04 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If a Middle Ages full of castles, jousts, hawking, illicit love affairs and playful singing in the meadows is what you’re looking for, then look no ...
The Ancrene Wisse
04 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In their fourth episode, Mary and Irina climb inside a tiny cell to explore the Ancrene Wisse, a guidebook written in the early 13th century, original...
Bede's Life of Cuthbert
04 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the third episode of Medieval Beginnings, Mary and Irina explore the much-chronicled life of St Cuthbert, as told by the most famous writer of the...
Letters and Laments
04 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In episode two of Medieval Beginnings, Mary and Irina turn the pages of the Exeter Book, a remarkable 10th century manuscript containing numerous poem...
Beowulf
04 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Wellesley and Irina Dumitrescu start their Medieval Beginnings series with Beowulf, a tale of monsters and heroes that is also a complex collect...
Introducing Medieval Beginnings
01 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Wellesley and Irina Dumitrescu introduce their strange and wonderful voyage through the literary landscape of the Middle Ages, and talk about wha...