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Bonus Ep 83 - The Decameron 2: First Day

patrons, here is your second bonus episode for March 2025 and your second in our book club series on Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron. we're back and we're talking Day One. as you know, 10 young men and women have fled the Black Death in Florence for a nearby villa where they will tell stories to pass the time. Pampinea is made the queen for the day and she decrees that there is no set topic o we get a host of stories about bad priests, good Jews, Saladin, horny old men, and more! we cover ...

Ep 212 - March Mailbag: More Lady Knights

patrons, here is your ad-free episode of the week, it's a mail bag so we answer questions from a bunch of you, including: Finnut, LucaJH, Astronaut Pants, Pearl River Flow, LOAF, Noe, A weeb in Spain is a sangriaboo, dogspotter, gafsey, Katriana, and dog god.

folks, it's time for us to catch up on some more patron questions with another mailbag! we cover a whole host of topics including our favorite mad king and scheming vizier combos, fascist representations of the Middle Ages, whether...

Ep 211 - Mail time!

patrons, here's your ad-free regular episode for the week. we answer a whole bunch of questions from Gafsey, Ollie Cant, Jas, Rolf, dogspotter, Horatio Hex, I Would Whack 500 Moles, loaf, Mayday, fruchtbase, Evelyn, and KR Wilson

folks, we are behind on our patron questions and so we're making it up starting today. we answer questions on everything from Medieval children's toys, pregnancy tropes, what the HRE would've looked like with sustained hegemony over Italy, the least worst ruler...

Bonus Ep 82 - American Hell

patrons, here's your first bonus for March 2025. Ep 2 of the Decameron book club series out next week.

folks, what the hell is going on in America? we can't say for sure but we do have some ideas. Eleanor recently returned to England from a visit to the states, so she has a good perspective on how things have changed a bit while Luke attempts to parse the numerous contradictory positions of the US government and what it all means. come on, folks, let's all get together and have a big ca...

Mystery Plays (feat The World of All Possible Worlds)

patrons, it's late but here's your ad-free regular episode for the week, no question since we have guests but we will get back on the questions next time with a mailbag.

folks, we love the weird side of Medieval life and one of the weirdest was the mystery play. these were living tableaux depictions of biblical stories that became huge, elaborate stage productions, which were performed during mass before the popes got mad and forbade the clergy from participating, at which point they be...

Ep 209 - Constantinople 5: The Fall

patrons, here's your ad-free regular episode for the week.

folks, we've made it 209 episodes into the show and we still haven't done one on the end of the Middle Ages, well that stops now. we conclude out series on Constantinople with The Fall. and this one really lives up to the name, unlike the Western Roman Empire. we say goodbye to Constantinople, the Eastern Roman Empire, the Theodosian Walls, and all the rest as the Ottomans wash it away in a tide of gunpowder, olive oil, and so m...

Bonus Ep 81 - The Decameron 1: Intro

patrons, this is your second bonus episode of February 2025 and the first in our book club series on Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron (1380).

the Book Club series is back and we're here to introduce you to the Italian peninsula in 1348 or, as they might have called it: the end of the fucking world. the Black Death hit the densely-populated boot like a nuke, killing millions in just a few months. why are we talking about something so depressing and that we've already cove...

Ep 209 - Constantinople 4: ...and there's DECLINE

patrons, here's your ad-free regular episode for the week. we answered questions from dogspotter and loaf. the first episode of our book club series on The Decameron drops Friday.

folks, we continue the series on Constantinople with the real decline hours. last week, we started looking at the long, slow decline of the Queen of Cities and the Byzantine Empire but that pales in comparison to the final 400 years. after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, it's all downhill as the...

Bonus Ep 80 - Castlevania Nocturne 2

patrons, here is your first bonus episode for February 2025. folks, we're back with a review of season 2 of Netflix's Castlevania Nocturne, which premiered earlier this year. after our review of season 1, we decided to come back for more and it was the right choice. season 2 outdoes the first in every way with better fights, better pacing, and the introduction of your totally sincere, ultra-woke boyfriend. while others may be de-emphasizing diversity these days, Nocturne embraces it and turns...

Ep 207 - Constantinople 3: There's Decline...

patrons, here is your ad free version of this week's regular episode, we answer questions from Quixotic and Kipple Snacks in this one.

folks, we're back after a brief hiatus, and back into our series on Constantinople. this time, we take a look at the beginning of the decline of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire, which started in 567 after Justinian I's death. but, as civilizational declines go, it wasn't so bad for the first 500 years or so. however, the myriad factors that would...

Ep 206 - Patreon Ep Unlocked: Habsburg News You Can Use

patrons, as you can tell, we unlocked a bonus this week because of illness and travel, we will be back with new stuff next week. enjoy! we decided to take a look at some Holy Roman Empire and Habsburg news that has come up in the past month. first, and more seriously, we look at a study of how Holy Roman Emperors governed from the road through a practice known as itinerant rule and it can be used to trace the rise and decline of the power of the imperial office. then, we move onto the real fu...

Ep 205 - Constantinople 2: The Golden Years

patrons, here is this week's ad-free regular ep for your enjoyment, we answered questions from Ollie Cant and Evelyn in this one.

folks, we're continuing our series on Constantinople. last time we introduced the city via its geography, Constantine making it the capital of the Roman Empire, and the Theodosian Walls. this time, we get into the early Medieval history of the city, which also happens to be the real golden age for Constantinople. beginning under Emperor Justinian I, Constanti...

Bonus Ep 79 - Medieval (2022 Film) Review

patrons, here is your second bonus episode for January 2025.

folks, we do a fair amount of pop culture reviews on this show, ranging from timeless masterworks to genuine dogshit that should be locked away from human eyes. then some of them are just... baffling and Medieval is one such film. the title alone is maddening enough but what's on screen just compounds the confusion. it is at once filled with lush scenery and wide, establishing shots of the gorgeous Bohemian count...

Ep 204 - Constantinople 1: Foundations

patrons, here's your ad-free regular episode for the week, we answered questions from Dogspotter and Gaffsey

folks, we were delayed one week due to the storm of the century in the American southeast but things have thawed a bit and we're back on track just in time to start a series on the Queen of Cities, Constantinople. Eventually, it would become the crown jewel city of Medieval Europe, a hub of culture, religion, trade, defense, and more, and, briefly, the most important city in the ...

Ep 203 - Patreon Ep Unlocked: Is It Like the HRE?

patrons, here's your ad-free regular episode for the week. it's an unlock because of weather issues.

folks, the bonus is back for a new year and Luke and Eleanor have been thinking about things and stuff and it's time to ruminate on them. first, Eleanor talks about the way in which rationality and a loss of spirituality supposedly went hand-in-hand with the Enlightenment. it's really been grinding her gears and she's going to speak on it. then Luke answers a discord question from patro...

Bonus Ep 78 - Is It Like The HRE?

patrons, here is your first bonus of 2025 and your first bonus of January, enjoy!

folks, the bonus is back for a new year and Luke and Eleanor have been thinking about things and stuff and it's time to ruminate on them. first, Eleanor talks about the way in which rationality and a loss of spirituality supposedly went hand-in-hand with the Enlightenment. it's really been grinding her gears and she's going to speak on it. then Luke answers a discord question from patron, everyzig314, who ...

Ep 202 - Medieval Railways feat Gareth Dennis

patrons, here is your ad-free regular episode for the week. no questions since we had an interview.

folks, we all love trains. they're great for moving people and cargo and famously not as bad as cars but did you know that the first railways and trackways were built in the Classical and Medieval eras. that's right, despite what Victorian era propaganda would have you believe, the train didn't simply appear fully formed in the English mind in the 18th century where it was then bestowed u...

Ep 201 - Catch-up and Witchcraft

patrons, here is your ad-free regular episode for the week. we answered questions from Gaffsey and MGinyourface.

folks, so this is the new year? well, we could start with a new series or something but a lot of shit has happened the past few weeks and Eleanor and Luke haven't chatted in a while, so they take some time to catch-up on recent events, both hilarious and horrifying. then, to get back into the swing of Medieval things, we talk about an excellent new academic paper that sheds l...

Ep 200 - Year-End Mailbag 2

patrons, here's your ad-free reguar episode for this week. we answer questions from Pearl River, Kipple Snacks, Colin Keese, Mandalore the Condescending, Ollie Cant, Aperiodic, Anita Flour Thug (Rob), White Trash Historian, Benjamin Cisko, and LucaJH.

folks, it's our final episode of 2024 and our 200th regular episode of the show and to celebrate, we've got the conclusion of our year-end mailbag episodes. we answer questions about how cathedrals were cleaned in the Middle Ages, favorite...

Ep 199 - Patreon Ep Unlocked: Best of 2024

patrons, here's your ad-free episode for the week. it's an unlocked bonus episode.

folks, it's no secret that 2024 has been a bit of a bummer, to say the least. however, it's not terribly healthy to always focus on the bad, so we decided to talk about some our favorite stuff we saw, did, read, and heard this year. Luke and Eleanor each chose four things and they go back and forth discussing them, riffing, you know how it goes. feel free to play along leave some of your own favorites fro...

Bonus Ep 77 - The Name of the Rose: Wrap-Up Mailbag

beloved patrons, this is your second bonus episode of December and your final bonus of 2024. we answer questions from Myles B, Evelyn, Jennifer, I Would Whack 500 Moles, Dogspotter, The Token Detergent Rinser (British), Jan, J F, Quixotic, Rolf, and Alison.

folks, at long last, we're finally wrapping up Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose after starting all the way back in May. it's been our longest book club series and the longest book we've read, so we thought it only fit...

Ep 198 - Year-End Mailbag 1

patrons, here is your ad-free regular episode for the week. we answer questions from the following patrons: Banner user, Cornix, Colin Keese, iceicebaby, Lazarus, Jenny, Wafer, Jonmot, I Would Whack 500 Moles, Dog God, and Gaffsey.

folks, it's the end of the year and that means we're having holiday fun and making merry but also that we're crunched for time, so we won't be starting any new series or anything like that. instead, we're diving back into the backlog of questions from our pat...

Ep 197 - On Mysticism (feat Simon Critchley)

last call for questions for our The Name of the Rose mailbag is midnight, Wednesday, December 11th, so send them in!

patrons, here is your ad-free regular episode for the week. it's an interview so there's no question.

folks, we've made no secret that we love mysticism on the show. we've talked about it on various episodes and some of our faves were mystics including Hildegard, Marguerite Porete, St. Francis, and more. so we were naturally interested when philosop...

Bonus Ep 76 - The Name of the Rose 8: Postmodern Medievalism

note: we will accept questions for our mailbag episode to wrap up The Name of the Rose until midnight, December 11, 2024. please reply here or via the DMs or on the Discord with your question if you want to be included.

patrons, we're back to put a bow on Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose once and for all. here on the Seventh Day, we finally get all the answers but they aren't anything like we imagined. Eco's final inversion of the murder-mystery tale is at ...

Ep 195 - Gladiator II Review (feat Patrick Wyman)

patrons, here's your ad-free regular episode for the week. we have an interview so there were no questions this time.

folks, Ridley Scott has just released another one of his patented, late-era slopfests and we couldn't be more ready. that's right, it's your Gladiator II review, wherein we are forced to admit that we sometimes really enjoy the slop. so we brought returning champion Patrick Wyman back on the show to use his Roman history expertise to break down this oddly-paced, mess of ...

Ep 195 - Shogun 2: Seppuku Power Hour

patrons, here's your ad-free version of this week's regular episode, we answer a question from Horatio Hex in this one. don't forget to submit questions for our The Name of the Rose wrap-up episode, the final day for submissions is December 9th.

folks, we're back with more fun with part two of our review of the 2024 Hulu series, Shogun. last time we learned that a soulful white boy in a strange land can listen and learn and even find a nice, soulful J...

Bonus Ep 75 - The Best of 2024

patrons, thank you so much for subscribing! here's your second bonus episode for November 2024.

folks, it's no secret that 2024 has been a bit of a bummer, to say the least. however, it's not terribly healthy to always focus on the bad, so we decided to talk about some our favorite stuff we saw, did, read, and heard this year. Luke and Eleanor each chose four things and they go back and forth discussing them, riffing, you know how it goes. feel free to play along leave some of your own ...

Ep 194 - Shogun 1: The First Evangelical Weeb

patrons, here is your ad-free version of this week's regular episode. we answer a question from Benjamin Cisko in this one and this episode was suggested by Benjamin Cisko and Ollie Cant. also, please don't forget to submit your The Name of the Rose questions. thanks!

folks, you asked and now you shall receive. we're here to review the 2024 Hulu series, Shogun, based on the 1975 novel by James Clavell. we talk about the first five episodes this time and then we'll talk abo...

Ep 193 - What the Folk? (feat. Russ Williams)

patrons, here is your ad-free version of this week's regular episode. no question this week because we had an interview but don't forget to submit questions for our The Name of the Rose wrap-up episode coming later in December. thanks again!

folks, you know we love great folklore, traveling, and delightful accents and we've combined all three today as we talk to Welsh author, writer, and activist, Russ Williams. Russ has recently released his first traditionally-published nove...

Bonus Ep 74 - The Name of the Rose 7: Jesus Laughed

please don't forget to post any questions you have about The Name of the Rose as we will be answering questions about it on a bonus episode in December. see the recent post for more details and submit questions in the comments here or there or on discord. thanks!

patrons, here's your first bonus episode of November 2024 and the seventh episode of our book club series on Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose. well, folks, this was going to be the last episode in the series but ther...