The Piratical Victual Brothers, North and Baltic Seas, 1393-1440
Guys. Guys. There’s a lot we can learn from history, but one of the most important is: when you’re fighting an enemy and you hire someone to help, there’s a good chance the folks you hired will decide it’s better money to turn on you.
This week’s topic is a case in point: the Hanseatic League and the Victual Brothers. In 1392, the Victual Brothers were hired to run a blockade, sneaking supplies to an ally of the Hanseatic League, but it wasn’t long before the sketchy sailors figured out it was more profitable to attack the Hanseatic League’s trading ships.
Whoops.
In this episode, as per usual, one of us (Anne) lays out the actual facts of the case while the other (Michelle) relates a tangentially-related rabbit hole or two. Queen Margaret of Denmark shows up, as does Albert of Mecklenburg, as well as the Victual Brothers’ adventures in the North Sea once they were (finally) chased out of Danish/German waters (facts). Medieval ships and their cargo capacities make an appearance, and for bonus points there’s modern pirate plays in Germany inspired by the life (but mostly the legends) of Klaus Stortebeker, one of the captains of the Victual Brothers (interesting sidebars).
SOURCES
Meier, Dirk. Seafarers, Merchants, and Pirates in the Middle Ages. Translated Angus McGeoch. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2009.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victual_Brothers
https://www.hanse.org/en/hanse-historic/famous-persons/victual-brothers/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_St%C3%B6rtebeker
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%B6rtebeker_Festival
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremen_cog
https://www.dsm.museum/en/exhibition/exhibitions/bremen-cog
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
Mabel de Bellême is Murdered, Bures, Normandy 1079
In 1079, Mabel de Belleme was beheaded by men who sneaked into her castle. Normally, one would have some sympathy for a person killed in her own bed after a nice bath. Which goes to show the importance of contextualization. Murder? Or the entirely predictable and unsurprisingly end of a person who made it her life’s mission to acquire as much of other people’s land as possible?
In this episode, we discuss the killing of Mabel de Belleme and what led up to someone being angry enough with her to resort to such violence. Between them, she and her husband, Roger Montgomery, held a great deal of land in Normandy, as well as (after the Norman Conquest) in England. Mabel carried on her father’s feud with another family, leading to an attempted assassination that accidentally took out instead her husband’s youngest brother (although on her second attempt, Mabel hit her target.) The Hamlet-y feel is apropos; Mabel leaves considerable mayhem, not to mention bodies, in her wake. The Bellemes come down in history as prototypically awful. But are they really so much worse than the rest of the Normans?
We also discuss Orderic Vitalis, whose Historia Ecclesiastica is the main source for information about Mabel. This is Orderic’s third appearance in TCM episode, so it seems time to look at him more closely.
SOURCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabel_de_Bell%C3%AAme
https://www.normandythenandnow.com/murder-of-a-monster-mabel-de-belleme/
http://strangeco.blogspot.com/2019/06/mabel-de-bellemes-real-life-game-of.html
Chibnall, Marjorie. The World of Orderic Vitalis: Norman Monks and Norman Knights. Rochester, NY: The Boydell Press, 1984.
Rozier, Charles C. et al. Orderic Vitalis: Life, Works, and Interpretations. Rochester, NY: The Boydell Press, 2016.
White, Geoffrey H. “The First House of Belleme.” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. Volume 22 (1940): 67-69. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3678582?seq=1
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
Thomas Malory Goes to Prison for Treason, London 1468
In 1999, P.J.C Field definitely argued that Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel was the Thomas Malory, author of Le Morte Darthur, to the dismay and consternation of many. Because court records discovered in 1928 suggest Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel was a scoundrel. As Christina Hardyment puts it:
It revealed that Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel had been accused of an appalling catalogue of crimes. He had, it was said, ambushed the Duke of Buckingham with intent to murder, broken out of jail, made a violent and destructive raid on the Abbey of Coombe, extorted valuables from local villagers and rustled three hundred sheep from a neighbor’s estate. Worst of all, he had committed rape not once, but twice.
Unsurprisingly, fans and scholars of Le Morte Darthur have struggled ever since with the apparent paradox. How could the author of the definitive retelling of King Arthur and his chivalric knights be a criminal?
In this episode, we consider the accusations against Thomas Malory, the context in which they were made, and fangirl (okay maybe just me) about Le Morte Darthur.
SOURCES
https://www.ancient.eu/Thomas_Malory/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Malory
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Malory
Cooper, Helen. Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte Darthur The Winchester Manuscript. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1998.
Field, P.J.C. The Life and Times of Sir Thomas Malory. Boydell and Brewer, 1999.
Hardyment, Christina. Malory: The Knight Who Became King Arthur’s Chronicler. New York: Harper Collins, 2005.
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
The Theft of the Book of Kells, Kells 1006
In 1006, the Book of Kells was stolen. The Annals of Ulster tell us “The great Gospel of Columkille, the chief relic of the western world, was wickedly stolen during the night from the western sacristy of the great stone church of Cennanus [Kells] on account of its wrought shrine.”
Thankfully, as the chronicle continues, “That Gospel was found after twenty nights and two months with its gold stolen from it, buried in the ground.”
Take a moment and try to imagine that the Book of Kells had never been found. Doesn’t a shiver run down your back?
The Book of Kells is arguably the most famous book in the world. Trinity College of Dublin’s website calls the Book of Kells “Ireland’s greatest cultural treasure.” Each year, half a million visitors come (when there’s not a pandemic) to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells.
The Vikings did an awful lot of raiding in Ireland in the 9 and 10th centuries, and they often get blamed for stealing the Book of Kells. But we are happy to report that in this particular case, they are probably not the guilty parties.
In this episode, we discuss the theft of the Book of Kells in 1006, how much (or little) we know about its rediscovery, the oddness of a book being a major tourist attraction, and another book, lost in a bog and not found again until 2006, which gives us an idea of what might have happened if the Book of Kells had not been recovered soon after its theft.
SOURCES AND INTERESTING LINKS
The Book of Kells: 48 Pages and Details in Color from the Manuscript in Trinity College, Dublin. Selected and introduced by Peter Brown. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1980.
The Faddan More Psalter: Discovery, Conservation, and Investigation. Anthony Read. National Museum of Ireland. 2011.
The Book of Kells: The Work of Angels? DLT Entertainment. Documentary. DVD. 2000.
https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/collections/ks65hc20t?locale=en
https://www.facsimilefinder.com/facsimiles/book-of-kells-facsimile
https://ireland-calling.com/when-the-priceless-book-of-kells-was-discarded-under-a-sod/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_of_Kellshttps://www.tcd.ie/visitors/book-of-kells/
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
Special Episode! Peter Konieczny from Medievalists.net Explains Con Artists in Medieval London
Our first episode with a guest! In today’s episode, TCM welcomes Peter Konieczny of Medievalists.net to discuss his research on con-men in fourteenth-century London.
Medievalists.net (https://www.medievalists.net/) is the preeminent site on the web for all things medieval. Among other things, they have podcasts, which since you’re here, might be of interest (https://www.medievalists.net/category/podcast/).
Join us as we discuss cheating bakers, sneaky ale snatchers, royal imposters, and other sundry manner of con artists Peter encountered in the archives of medieval London!
USEFUL LINKS
https://www.medievalists.net/category/podcast/
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
The Murder of Thomas Becket, Canterbury 1170
For the holiday season we’re covering the murder of Thomas Becket, because what’s more festive than a gory killing? On December 29, 1170, four knights committed the ghastly and ill-advised crime of murdering the Archbishop of Canterbury during the Christmas season inside the cathedral.
It turned out to be, as a modern play puts it, ‘the worst career choice in history.’
In this episode, we discuss what led four knights to think killing the Archbishop of Canterbury was a good idea. We examine the origin of Becket’s conflict with King Henry II, and why they could not come to a compromise, despite years of negotiation.
Did Henry II actually say, “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?” We have the answer.
We also consider Becket’s afterlife as a saint and the subject of drama. Unfortunately, no medieval plays about Becket survive, although we know from records that they existed. Becket’s shrine is gone too, thanks to Henry VIII, who had it utterly destroyed, along with Becket’s bones, and for good measure had him declared a traitor more than three hundred years after his death. We do have later plays, though, as we discuss. Alfred Lord Tennyson! Henry Irving! T.S. Eliot! Richard Burton! Peter O’Toole! After a virtual post-Reformation blackout of Becket, starting in the late 19th c his story has come to the attention of some high-power poets and playwrights.
SOURCES
Davidson, Clifford. The Saint Play in Medieval Europe. Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 1986.
Guy, John. Thomas Becket: Warrior, Priest, Rebel. New York: Random House, 2012.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Becket
http://thebecketstory.org.uk/theme/plays-and-pageants
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Nights_in_Knaresborough
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Thomas-Becket/
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
Albigensian Crusade, Languedoc 1209-1229
After half a century of more-or-less peaceful co-existence of Catharism alongside mainstream Catholic belief in the south of France, in 1208 Pope Innocent III called for a crusade to stamp out the heresy.
Thus began one of the most infamous episodes in medieval history, the conflict in which the notorious “Kill them all, God will know his own” order was reportedly issued.
Crimes are thick on the ground in this generation-spanning campaign. The initial declaration of crusade, which very quickly became a land grab by northern lords. The treatment of captured cities (the sack of Beziers was egregious even by medieval standards). The burning of hundreds of Cathars. The suspiciously convenient deaths of noble prisoners. The brutal suppression of Occitan culture.
In this episode, we discuss the Albigensian Crusade, why and how it happened when it did, and how its effects reverberated even after the conflict (finally) ended.
SOURCES
McGlynn, Sean. Kill Them All: Cathars and Carnage in the Albigensian Crusade. Gloustershire: The History Press, 2015.
The Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade: A Sourcebook. Ed Catherine LeGlu, Rebecca Rist, and Claire Taylor. New York: Routledge, 2014.
Sumption, Jonathan. The Albigensian Crusade. New edition. New York: Faber and Faber, 2000.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albigensian_Crusade
https://www.cathar.info/cathar_wars.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharism
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
The People’s Crusade, France and Germany, 1096
Between May and July of 1096, the Jewish population of cities along the Rhineland were attacked by a jumble of people on their way to the holy land as part of the First Crusade.
How does massacring Jews in Germany help take back Jerusalem from the Muslims? We’re confused too.
In November of 1095, Urban II called for a concerted effort to retake Jerusalem. It’d only been 400 years since the city was conquered, so the situation was urgent. (Yes, I AM having trouble keeping the snark under control this time). Urban had hoped for a group of trained knights to volunteer. He did get some of those but before the pros got organized (they were scheduled to leave in August), a ramshackle collection of peasants led by some random noble psychos (I’m looking at you, Emicho of Leiningen) decided to kick off their walk to the holy land with massacres of Jews.
We’ve only been doing this for a year and this is our second episode of anti-Semite mass murder.
In this episode, we look at the People’s Crusade of 1096, why Urban II decided to launch the First Crusade, and how a motley group decided to rampage through the Rhineland targeting Jewish citizens.
SOURCES
Asbridge, Thomas. The First Crusade: A New History. The Roots of Conflict Between Christianity and Islam. Oxford. Oxford University Press, 2004.
Cohen, Jeremy. Sanctifying the Name of God: Jewish Martyrs and Jewish Memories of the First Crusade. Jewish Culture and Contexts series. Philadelphia. The University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhineland_massacres
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Crusade
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_the_Hermit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emicho
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
The Sicilian Vespers, Sicily, Easter 1282
On Easter Monday, March 30, 1282, at the Church of the Holy Spirit outside Palermo, an uprising began, targeting the French, current lords of Sicily. By the time it was over, thousands of French men, women, and children had been killed.
We have questions. What were so many French doing in Sicily? Why did the Sicilians hate them so much? Why why why did the French end up running Sicily? Why sparked the uprising? Was this massacre really the origin story of the Mafia? Who is Steven Runciman and why did he write the only full-length study of the Sicilian Vespers? What does all this have to do with how the Middle Ages got their name?
In this episode, we do our best to answer these questions (and more!). George Orwell gets involved. (Seriously.)
SOURCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Vespers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_Bruni
http://illadvised.blogspot.com/2008/04/book-leonardo-bruni-history-of.html
http://johnshaplin.blogspot.com/2016/11/sicilian-vespers-by-steven-runciman.html
https://historipediaofficial.wikia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Vespers#cite_note-Runciman.2C_p._115-8
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
27. Halloween Episode: Arche the Miller and his Drunken Buddies Pretend to be Ghosts, Cambridgeshire, England 1592
For our Halloween episode, we discuss what’s lurking at the intersection of the spooky and the criminal in the Middle Ages.
In 1592, Arche the Miller of Cambridgeshire was hauled into the church court on charges of drunkenness and not going to church, both of which were crimes against church law (welcome to the ‘Elizabethan police state’, as Anne will explain). Arche despised his neighbor. The neighbor’s wife died. Which leads to a very interesting record of Arche being dragged into church court for getting extra drunk, going to the despised neighbor’s house with some buddies (who, one assumes, had also been drinking) and pretending to be the dead wife’s ghost (the night of the wife’s funeral, which seems extra rude).
Fine. Technically, this incident is not medieval. But it’s way too funny to pass up, so here we are.
We also discuss the first European ghost story surviving in written form, a passage in Orderic Vitalis’ Historia Ecclesiastica. A priest named Walkelin, in January of 1091, is coming home late and encounters a ghastly procession. From their appearances, he can guess what bad behaviors they committed in life. Indeed, he recognizes some of them. Shades of Dante (see what I did there?) two hundred years before Dante, and of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Last we turn our attention to cruentation (and learn a new word—kudos to you if you already know what this is), the belief that a murdered body will bleed in the presence of its killer. Many of us have encountered cruentation as a trope in literature but it had a presence in medieval legal proceedings as well. Although never formally recorded as evidence recognized by law, the belief was so strong that bier-right (confronting a suspect with the body) was often allowed, and continued well after the Middle Ages was over—into the 19th century, in some places. Just imagine that episode of Perry Mason or Law and Order.
SOURCES
https://www.ancient.eu/article/1404/ghosts-in-the-middle-ages/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1033446/pdf/medhist00156-0094.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruentation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orderic_Vitalis
de Ceglia, Francesco Paolo. “Saving the Phenomenon: Why Corpses Bled in the Presence of Their Murderer in Early Modern Science.” In The Body of Evidence: Corpses and Proof in Early Modern European Medicine. Ed. Francesco Paolo de Ceglia. Leiden: Brill, 2020. 23-52.
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
Robert the Bruce Kills John Comyn, Dumfries, Scotland 1306
On February 10, 1306, John Comyn and Robert the Bruce met at Greyfriars church at Dumfries. Only Robert left alive. Six weeks later, he was crowned king of Scotland.
In this episode, we do our level best to cover this event, about which solid facts are thin on the ground. Was this a murder? Self-defense? Mutual provocation?
Unsurprisingly, Scottish sources tend to portray Robert the Bruce’s actions as justified, whereas English sources describe Comyn’s death as cold-blooded murder. Of course, English sources also claim Robert the Bruce died of leprosy, which we absolutely do know is not true (archeology for the win!).
What is well known is why John Comyn and Robert the Bruce disliked each other enough to lead to bloodshed. After the death of King Alexander III, leaving only his young granddaughter as heir, and then the death of the little girl herself, the lords of Scotland invited King Edward I of England to help them settle who should be king. In retrospect, this decision was questionable, given Edward’s belief that whatever he touched belonged to him now, but we swear it made sense at the time. The Comyns backed John Balliol. The Bruces backed themselves. Edward picked John Balliol. But the power vacuum returned when John Balliol was captured at the Battle of Dunbar in 1296. Ten years of jockeying for position later, John Comyn gets dead at Greyfriars.
We lay out the (complex) political background and context for John Comyn’s death, and also dip into the two recent films about Robert the Bruce (released 2019 and 2020).
SOURCES
Barrow, G.W.S. Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1965.
Penman, Michael. Robert the Bruce: King of the Scots. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014.
Young, Alan. Robert the Bruce’s Rivals: The Comyns, 1212-1314. East Linton: Tuckwell Press, 1997.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Comyn_III_of_Badenoch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Balliol
https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/c/johniiicomyn.html
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-robert-bruce-scotlands-outlaw-king-180970756/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_the_Bruce_(film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaw_King
https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/try-again
http://www.poetry-archive.com/b/bruce_and_the_spider.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaw_King
http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/bruce_16.html
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/robert-the-bruces-heart
https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/as/warsofindependence/info.shtml?loc=melrose
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
The Viking Raid on Lindisfarne, Northumbria 793
On June 8, 793, the monastery of Lindisfarne was attacked by Vikings. They stole treasures (although, thankfully, they missed the Lindisfarne Gospels), killed some monks but took others captive.
The attack on Lindisfarne was not the first Viking assault in England, and certainly not in the rest of Europe. Recent archeological work has demonstrated violent incursions by Scandinavians at least half a century earlier (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salme_ships). But the assault of the revered, famous Holy Island of Lindisfarne threw the western world into confusion and panic. Not coincidentally, it is the first Viking attack well-attested to in contemporary letters and chronicles, and it is usually pointed to as the beginning of the Viking Age.
In the episode, we discuss the attack on Lindisfarne. We also provide context about Vikings in general, the Celtic church, and Anglo-Saxon England, and pretty much anything else that sprang to mind.*
[*Sometimes they sprang to mind erroneously. I said Sister Frevisse but I meant Sister Fidelma. Peter Tremayne’s Sister Fidelma series is set in 7th century Ireland; Margaret Frazer’s Sister Frevisse series is set in 14th c England. Mea culpa, yinz guys.]
SOURCES (Non-fiction)
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/lindisfarne-priory/History/viking-raid/
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/lindisfarne-priory/History/
https://www.historyextra.com/period/viking/guide-viking-raid-lindisfarne-what-happened-when/
http://tafl.cyningstan.com/posts/1660/twelve-hnefatafl-games-for-your-mobile-phone
https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/27239/20200909/viking-chess-lincolnshire.htm
Adam, David. The Holy Island of Lindisfarne. New York: Morehouse Books, 2009.
Allitt, Peter. “Episode 4: Anglo-Saxon and Viking Britain.” In The Great Tours: England, Scotland, and Wales. The Great Courses. 2018.
Price, Neil. Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings.
Shippey, Tom. Laughing Shall I Die: Lives and Deaths of the Great Vikings. London: Reakton Books, 2018.
Selected Fiction
Cornwell, Bernard. The Last Kingdom series and its television adaptation.
Preston, John. The Dig. New York: Penguin, 2016.
Ross, L.J. Holy Island. Kindle Unlimited, 2014.
Treeve, Michelle. Eadfrith, Scribe of Lindisfarne. Tempe, Arizona: Bagwyn Books, 2014.
Tremayne, Peter. Sister Fidelma mystery series.
Vikings. The History Channel. 2013-present.
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
Philip IV Slaughters the French Knights Templar, Paris, 1310
In the morning of Friday, October 13, 1307, Philip IV of France staged a highly-organized arrest of the Templars in France, secret until the moment soldiers knocked on the door. Although the Order answered to the Pope, not a secular ruler, the king claimed his actions were justified by the horrific and heretical deeds he had just learned the Templars had committed, so heinous he was forced to take immediate action.
In the end, fifty-four Templars were burned at the stake (1312), followed by the Grand Master James de Molay and Geoffrey de Charney, Preceptor of Normandy (1314). Pope Clement disbanded and suppressed the Order (1312), transferring its property to the Hospitallers and pensioning off its former members into other monasteries.
So…what, if anything, were the Templars’ crimes?
In this episode, we investigate why the Templars were arrested, the knights executed, and the Order suppressed. What were they accused of? Were they guilty? And why in the centuries since their obliteration have the Templars become a locus for conspiracy theories?
SOURCES
Barber, Malcolm. The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
—. The Trial of the Templars. Second Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Newman, Sharan. The Real History Behind the Templars. New York: Penguin, 2007.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Barber
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharan_Newman
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
The Sheer Dreadfulness of Hugh Despenser the Younger, November 1326, Hereford England
For five years, Hugh Despenser was the most powerful man in England. Unfortunately, he was not the sort of man to wield power wisely or benevolently. We called this episode “The Crimes of Hugh Despenser” because there are far too many to narrow it down. Extortion? Check. Intimidation? Check. Theft? Check. Blackmail? Check. Assault? Check. Murder? Check. Piracy? Check.
If there had been railroad tracks in early fourteenth century England, Hugh Despenser would have tied someone to them.
The author of the only full-length biography of Despenser does her best for him, but the closest she can come up with for redeeming features is that he can read, he was brave, and he did not abandon Edward when their precarious reign finally collapsed. Those are all commendable, I guess, but aren’t much to balance against using every opportunity to expand power, land, and wealth (including one spectacularly petty incident in which he forced London merchants to pay full price for spoiled wine. Waaaat? He was the second-richest man in the country—did he really need to cheat a handful of merchants?). In this episode, we consider the many and varied crimes committed by Hugh Despenser over the course of his five years as Edward II’s chamberlain (Five years! That’s not a lot of time for all the horrible things he did. Maybe we can add ‘indefatigable’ to his list of potential good points? If you’re tireless in doing bad things, does that count as a good thing? Hmmm…)
This episode is a companion piece to the previous one about the murder of Edward II. Despenser’s atrocities needed their own episode. Despenser is often conflated with Edward’s better known favorite, Piers Gaveston, but as we discuss, Despenser is an entirely different and ultimately much more destructive figure.
SOURCES
Warner, Kathryn. Hugh Despenser the Younger and Edward II: Downfall of a King’s Favourite. Pen & Sword Books, 2018.M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Despenser_the_Younger
https://www.reading.ac.uk/archaeology/research/Projects/arch-ML-hugh-despenser.aspx
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
The Murder of Edward II, Berkeley Castle, England 1327
On September 24, 1326, England was invaded by its own queen. Isabella had been sent by Edward II to negotiate peace between him and her brother Charles, king of France. Instead, Isabella aligned herself with a group of disaffected English nobles living on the continent and gathered an army. Edward II was forced to abdicate and was imprisoned. On September 21, 1327, he was murdered.
What led to the dissolution of Edward and Isabella’s twenty-year marriage, a rift so complete she decided invasion was her best option? In this episode, we consider the missteps, misjudgments, and questionable decisions of Edward II’s reign that resulted in rebellion and murder. (But he liked plays and paid his minstrels well, so he has that going for him.) We also discuss how Edward and Isabella come down to us. It turns out that an awful lot of what ‘everyone knows’ about them is exaggerated or outright fabricated, so tune in for another round of Dreadful Lies Everyone was Taught.
SOURCES
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-II-king-of-England
Marlowe, Christopher. Doctor Faustus and Other Plays. Ed David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen. World Classics. Oxford University Press, 1995.
Warner, Kathryn. Edward II: The Unconventional King. Amberley Publishing, 2014.
–. Isabella of France: The Rebel Queen. Amberley Publishing, 2016.
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
The Murder of Marguerite Porete, Paris, France 1310
On June 1, 1310, Marguerite Porete was murdered, burned at the stake as a relapsed heretic. What was her crime? Writing a book.
What had she written to warrant such treatment? Questioning the Virgin Birth? Denying the Resurrection?
Nope.
Porete was a mystic, likely a beguine, raised in a well-to-do, possibly noble, family (we know this from the level of education and literacy evident in her book.) Her book, The Mirror of Simple Souls, discusses how we can progress in our relationship with God until our souls are ‘annihilated’, that is, always present with God and thus unable to make choices that are not good choices.
Her case is the “first known instance of an inquisitorial procedure ending with the burning of both a book and the accused author” (Field). We are also told that “Marguerite has been described as ‘the only medieval woman, and possibly the only author of either sex, who died solely for a written text’” (Field).
In this episode we consider the circumstances that lead to Marguerite’s trial, as well as that of Guiard, her self-proclaimed protector and the Angel of Philadelphia (also a self-claimed status. Shocking, I know). We also discuss the survival of her book despite William of Paris’ orders and best efforts, and the 1946 rediscovery of her authorship.
SOURCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_Porete
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beguines_and_Beghards
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_of_Paris_(inquisitor)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mirror_of_Simple_Souls
Field, Sean. The Beguine, the Angel, and the Inquisitor: The Trials of Marguerite Porete and Guiard of Cressonessart. University of Notre Dame Press, 2012.
Porete, Marguerite. The Mirror of Simple Souls. Translated by Edmund Colledge, OSA., J.C. Marler, and Judith Grant. The Medieval Institute: Notre Dame Texts in Medieval Culture Volume 6. University of Notre Dame Press, 1999 reprinted 2010.
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
The Abergavenny Massacre, Wales, Christmas 1175
Christmas, 1175. William de Braose, 4th lord of Bramber, invites Seisyll ap Dyfnwal to his holding at Abergavenny castle. Supposedly, this celebration at the holy season was meant to settle their differences over the death of William’s brother-in-law Henry Fitzmiles, who had been killed while fighting Seisyll’s forces in the 1160s.
The plan worked splendidly. Everyone had a great time. The food was superb. They drank hot cider while watching the snow softly fall. William and Seisyll shook hands, beginning years of friendship.
LOL.
As I’m sure you’ve guessed, that’s not what happened.
Well, one part was true. The plan did work splendidly. William’s real plan was to slaughter Seisyll, his son, and all his men, as well as sending retainers to Seisyll’s home to kill his wife and younger son.
It’s not for nothing that Gerald of Wales alludes to but refuses to tell in detail the story of this Christmas Day massacre, nor that William de Braose is said to be “quite possibly the cruelest and most hated of all the great Norman Marcher Lords” (http://www.castlewales.com/abergav.html).
SOURCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abergavenny_Castle
http://www.castlewales.com/gerald.html
http://www.abergavennymuseum.co.uk/index.php?lang=EN;navId=3
http://www.castlesfortsbattles.co.uk/south_wales/abergavenny_castle.html
http://www.castlewales.com/abergav.html
http://codlinsandcream.blogspot.com/2008/10/william-de-braose-and-massacre-at.html
Thorpe, Lewis. Gerald of Wales: The Journey through Wales and The Description of Wales. Penguin, 2004.
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
The Murder of Sigebert, Vitry-en-Artois 575
In 575, Sigebert I, King of Austrasia, was murdered by his sister-in-law Fredegund—just one step (the feud continued into later generations) in a struggle between Sigebert and his brothers for control of their father’s kingdom, which had been divided between them as was Frankish custom. Sigebert had married Brunhild, while his brother Chilperic married her sister Galswintha. When Chilperic tired of his wife and had her murdered in order to wed his mistress Fredegund, Brunhild persuaded Sigebert to go to war with Chilperic in revenge for her sister’s death.
Of course, since Sigebert was already struggling with his brothers, hoping to wrest their parts of the kingdom from them, it was probably not a hard sell.
Not surprisingly, Fredegund saw Sigebert as a threat. Hence her assassins, who managed to kill Sigebert just as he succeeded at wresting control of Chilperic’s portion of the kingdom. Sic transit gloria mundi, I guess.
Come for Sigebert’s murder, stay for the others, as tends to following in an intergenerational bloodfeud.
SOURCES
Gregory of Tours. The History of the Franks. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/gregory-hist.asp#book4;
Hatto, A.T., translator. The Nibelungenlied. Penguin Books, 1969.
Oman, Charles. The Dark Ages: 476-918. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/61536
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigebert_I
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_of Tours
https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/gregory-tours-st
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
The Peasants’ Revolt, England 1381
In 1381, revolution came to England—for a few weeks. After years of crippling taxes, disastrous losses in the Hundred Years’ War, self-serving decisions by the boy-king Richard II’s official and unofficial regents, resentment boiled over as tax-collectors attempted to gather the third poll tax. Records were destroyed, government officials killed, London stormed, and John of Gaunt’s Savoy palace burned. In this episode, we examine why the Peasants’ Revolt happened, the crimes committed during the revolt, the physical and political results of the uprising, and its literary echoes over the years.
SOURCES
History
Barker, Juliet. 1381. Harvard University Press, 2014.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peasants%27_Revolt
https://medieval_literature.enacademic.com/463/Peasants%E2%80%99_Revolt_of_1381
https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/why-did-the-peasants-really-revolt/
Literature
Bad Quarto 2016 Production of The Life and Death of Jack Straw.
Beyond Shakespeare Audio production of The Life and Death of Jack Straw 2019: https://beyondshakespeare.org/the-life-and-death-of-jack-straw-by-anonymous/
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Nun’s Priest’s Tale. http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/nunspriest.htm
Converse, Florence. Long Will. (1903). http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42176/42176-h/42176-h.htm
Gower, John. Vox Clamatis. https://gower.lib.utsa.edu/items/show/8315
Henty, G.A. A March on London: Being a Story of Wat Tyler’s Insurrection (1898): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._A._Henty; http://www.gutenberg.org/files/7061/7061-h/7061-h.htm
The History of Wat Tyler and Jack Strawe: 18th c Chapbook: https://digital.nls.uk/chapbooks-printed-in-scotland/archive/117857639#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=23&xywh=-818%2C0%2C2770%2C2053
Langland, William. Piers Plowman. https://user.phil.hhu.de/~holteir/companion/Navigation/Authors/Langland/langland.html
The Life and Death of Jack Straw. 1593. 16th c play. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45794/45794-h/45794-h.htm#LIFE_AND_DEATH
Morris, William. A Dream of John Ball (1888). http://morrisedition.lib.uiowa.edu/dream.html
Robin Hood and the Peasants’ Revolt: https://www.historytoday.com/archive/robin-hood-peasant-hero
Southey, Robert. Wat Tyler (composed 1794, published 1817.) https://romantic-circles.org/editions/wattyler/index.html
Bonus: Contemporary Historical Fiction
Bragg, Melvin. Now is the Time. Spectre, 2015.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/01/now-is-the-time-melvyn-bragg-peasants-revolt-history
Doherty, Paul. The Great Revolt. Severn House Publishers, 2016.
Hodgetts, Colin. The Crown, the Mitre, and the Book: John Wycliffe and the Peasants’ Revolt: A Play. 2019.
Hosker, Griff. Blood on the Crown (Struggle for a Crown Book 1). Sword Books, 2018.
Ironside, J.A. Revolt (The King’s Knight, Book One). 2019.
Kitchener, Simon. This Impatient Nettle: Tales of the Peasants’ Revolt. 2018.
Rochelle, Mercedes. A King under Siege: Book One of the Plantagenet Legacy. Sergeant Press, 2019.
Zeltich, Simone. The Confession of Jack Straw. Black Heron Press, 2010.
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
The Murder of Joan of Arc, Rouen 1431
Several medieval personages remain iconic in our contemporary culture—e.g., King Arthur, Robin Hood—but of these, Joan of Arc is perhaps the most widely known figure who was unambiguously a real person. In today’s episode, we examine the ‘crime’ for which Joan was burned at the stake on May 30, 1431, and the true crime—her murder.
Why did the English want Joan dead? Why didn’t the French ransom her? How did Joan go from executed for heresy to canonized as a saint? Why did the citizens of Arras make a snow Joan in 1434? These as well as other questions are answered in this episode of TCM. We also dip briefly into Joan’s wide and deep cultural influence, which began even before her death.
SOURCES
Transcripts of the First Trial of Joan of Arc, with commentary
Documents from the Second, Rehabilitation Trial
Castor, Helen. Joan of Arc: A History. Harper, 2015.
De Pizan, Christine. “The Tale of Joan of Arc.” In The Selected Writings of Christine de Pizan, translated Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinki and Kevin Brownlee, edited Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinki. Norton, 1997.
Melies, George. “Joan of Arc.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx2XjQD-7wA; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc_(1900_film)
Shakespeare, William. Henry VI, Part 1.
Southey, Robert. “Joan of Arc: An Epic Poem.” https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=dul1.ark:/13960/t8nc78s6v&view=1up&seq=17
Vanderjagt, Arjo. “The Princely Culture of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy.” In Princes and Princely Culture. Ed. Martin Gosman et al. Brill, 2003.
Warner, Marina. Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism. Oxford University Press, 2013.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc
https://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/saint-joan-of-arc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Joan_of_Arc
https://www.discoverwalks.com/blog/paris/5-best-movies-about-joan-of-arc/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_depictions_of_Joan_of_Arc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc_(1900_film)
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
Vlad Țepeș Slaughters the Transylvanian Saxons, Wallachia, 1460
Bram Stoker based Dracula on the historical ruler Vlad the Impaler. Everyone knows that.
Ahem.
If you already know that the real Vlad Dracula who earned—earned, I tell you–the horrifying moniker ‘the Impaler’ is only a tangential source for Dracula (Stoker just lifted his name), gold star for you!
If not, stick with us.
In this episode, we discuss Vlad III, ruler of Wallachia (part of Romania) off and on from 1448-1477 and how he came to be called ‘the Impaler.’ I.e., his crimes. I haven’t forgotten we’re doing a true crime podcast here. We also consider how the fifteenth-century context affects the dissemination and interpretation of his deeds. Then we talk about Dracula because it’s basically a requirement when you bring up Vlad, which is Bram Stoker’s fault.
SOURCES
Vlad the Impaler (Historical Figure)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlad_the_Impaler
https://www.livescience.com/40843-real-dracula-vlad-the-impaler.html
http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/vlad_the_impaler.html
Dracula (Fictional Vampire)
Davis, Lauren. “No, Bram Stoker Did Not Model Dracula on Vlad the Impaler.” Gizmodo. 10/21/2014. https://io9.gizmodo.com/no-bram-stoker-did-not-model-dracula-on-vlad-the-impal-1648969679
Gerard, Emily. “Transylvanian Superstitions.” In The Nineteenth Century. Vol 18. 1885.
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52165
LaFanu, Sheridan. Carmilla. 1872.
Miller, Elizabeth. A Dracula Handbook. Xlibris, 2005.
Polidori, John William. The Vampyre. 1819.
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. 1897.
Wilkinson, William. Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia with Political Observations Relative to Them. 1820. https://books.google.com/books?id=RogMAQAAMAAJ&q=dracula#v=snippet&q=dracula&f=false
Recent Adaptations
Humphreys, C.C. Vlad: The Last Confession. Sourcebooks, 2011.
Kostova, Elizabeth. The Historian. Little, Brown, and Company, 2005.
“Vlad the Impaler vs Count Dracula.” Epic Rap Battles of History. October 25, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noLKTNmmy10
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
Crimes Against The Jews, Latin Europe 1348-1349
Unfathomable disasters often lead to scapegoating. So it is, unfortunately, no surprise that the first victims of the Black Death were barely cold in their graves when persecutions began. Largely, these attacks were directed against the Jewish population. Indeed, in the first wave of the plague, 1347-1350, there are so many acts of slaughter, theft, and destruction targeting Jews, their belongings, and their property that if we devoted an episode per event, we would need years to cover them all. In this episode, we consider two massacres in detail: Erfurt and Strasbourg, 1349.
We also consider the background of how Jews were treated during Roman times and the Middle Ages, leading up to the time of the Black Death. The persecutions during the Black Death were horrific, but, tragically, they were not unprecedented. Jewish communities in Europe had been targeted repeatedly. Some civic and religious leaders participated in the crimes; others tried to protect Jewish citizens—most notably Pope Clement and Casimir II of Poland—but usually with limited success.
SOURCES
Attacks against Jews and Jewish Communities
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_persecutions_during_the_Black_Death
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3349-black-death
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/jewish/1348-jewsblackdeath.asp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strasbourg_massacre
Cohn Jr., Samuel. “Plague violence and abandonment from the Black Death to the early modern period”, Annales de démographie historique, vol. no 134, no. 2, 2017, pp. 39-61: https://www.cairn-int.info/article-E_ADH_134_0039–plague-violence-and-abandonment-from.htm
Einbinder, Susan L. After the Black Death: Plague and Commemoration Among Iberian Jews. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018.
Winkler, A. (2005). The Medieval Holocaust: The Approach of the Plague and the Destruction of
Jews in Germany, 1348-1349. Federation of East European Family History Societies, vol. XIII, 6-24: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2841&context=facpub
Black Death Generally
Benedictow, Ole J. The Black Death 1346-1353: The Complete History. Boydell, 2004.
Cantor, Norman F. In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World it Made. The Free Press, 2001.
Platt, Colin. King Death: The Black Death and its Aftermath in Late-Medieval England. University of Toronto Press, 1997.
Zahler, Diane. The Black Death. Twenty-First Century Books, 2009.
Ziegler, Philip. The Black Death. Sutton Publishing, 1969.
Strasbourg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsace
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/strasbourg-france-jewish-history-tour
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_%C3%8Ele,_Strasbourg
Rue de Juifs (one of the main streets in the Jewish community in Strasbourg): https://www.google.com/maps/place/Rue+des+Juifs,+67000+Strasbourg,+France/@48.5834142,7.7502336,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x4796c853e695db2b:0x1d6646cdbc243939!8m2!3d48.5834142!4d7.7524223
Erfurt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erfurt_massacre_(1349)
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/erfurt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Synagogue_(Erfurt)
https://juedisches-leben.erfurt.de/jl/en/middle-ages/old_synagogue/index.html
Historical Fiction/Adaptations
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
Accusations of Witchcraft against Alice Kyteler, Kilkenny 1324
In 1324, Alice Kyteler became the first known person to be tried for witchcraft in Ireland. She fled, but her maid, Petronilla de Meath, was burned at the stake after confessing under torture. So what are we dealing with here? An innocent woman pursued by the overly-zealous Richard de Ledrede, Bishop of Ossory? A woman whose four dead husbands raised eyebrows, not to mention suspicions?
In this episode, we consider Alice Kyteler’s life before the witchcraft accusations and the reasons the Bishop of Ossory was disposed to credit the threat of witchcraft. We lay briefly the history of witchcraft in classical and early medieval times, particularly with an eye towards Christian theology and its changing approaches to witchcraft. We also give a nod towards the recent rediscovery of Alice Kyteler as evidenced by novels, songs, and art, and Kilkenny’s embrace of its infamous citizen for tourism.
PRIMARY SOURCES
Liber Primus Kilkennius
http://sources.nli.ie/Record/MS_UR_042606
[not actually accessible here—this is the record of where the manuscript is]
Contemporary Account of the Trial
https://archive.org/details/contemporarynarr00kyte/mode/2up
[available, but in Latin. Have fun]
Translation of Trial Documents
[Ordered, but hasn’t arrived—Amazon and Powells are both swamped with orders]
Holinshed: http://english.nsms.ox.ac.uk/holinshed/texts.php?text1=1577_4930
SOURCES
History
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Kyteler
https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/odnb/9780192683120.001.0001/odnb-9780192683120-e-15488
https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-important-events/alice-kyteler-0010954
Kilkenny
Literature
Boyce, Niamh. Her Kind. Penguin, 2019.
https://www.thejournal.ie/alice-kyteler-witch-kilkenny-4744665-Aug2019/
Donoghue, Emma. “Looking for Petronilla” in The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits. Mariner Books, 2003.
Hugh, Ryan. The Devil to Pay. The Lilliput Press, 2011.
Morgan, Robin. The Burning Time. Melville House, 2004.
Nolan, Claire. The Stone. YouWriteOn, 2011.
Poole, Candice Muncy. The Kyteler Witch. Self-published through Amazon, 2014.
Yeats, William Butler. References Alice in “Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen”
https://www.csun.edu/~hceng029/yeats/yeatspoems/NineteenNinete
Storytelling:
Music
Art
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/alice_kyteler
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/petronilla_de_meath
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.
The Murder of Pedro of Castile, Montiel, Spain, 1369
On March 23, 1369, Pedro, King of Castile and Leon, went to what he thought was a meeting with a retainer of his half-brother Enrique’s, a retainer whose loyalty he believed he had bought. Instead, Enrique was waiting in the tent. Enrique stabbed Pedro to death, then left his body unburied for three days to be desecrated.
But before you feel too bad for Pedro, we need to go back and consider his career. Was this the assassination of a beloved king by a jealous half-brother? Or…something else?
In this episode, we discuss the reign of Pedro and his violent end. That epithet ‘the Cruel’ might something of a spoiler. But he was also called (by other people) ‘the Just.’ Chaucer shows up, since he discusses Pedro in The Canterbury Tales. We also mention Ann Doherty’s 1818 play Peter the Cruel King of Castile and Leon: A Historical Play in Five Acts because I can’t help myself. Also Lord Alburquerque has a cameo appearance, so fun all around, except maybe for Pedro.
SOURCES
Pedro the Cruel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_of_Castile
http://elfinspell.com/MedievalMatter/Storer-PeterTheCruel/Peter-Title-Contents.html
Pedro Lopez de Ayala
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pero_L%C3%B3pez_de_Ayala
https://medieval_literature.enacademic.com/385/L%C3%B3pez_de_Ayala%2C_Pedro
Geoffrey Chaucer
The Riverside Chaucer, third edition. Ed F.N. Robinson. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1987.
Ann Doherty
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Doherty
https://romantic-circles.org/node/103426
https://books.google.com/books?id=AobgMwEACAAJ&pg=PA1&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false
https://romantic-circles.org/editions/southey_letters/Part_Six/HTML/letterEEd.26.3642.html
Credits
Many thanks to Thomas Stobierski, who wrote our music, “Calisia Carnival,” provided by Lynne Music, through NEO Sounds; and to Zencaster, for our ability to double record; and to Audacity, our sound editing software; and to Buzzsprout, for hosting the podcast, and to Bluehost, for hosting our website, and WordPress, for the website software.