Why the Early Middle Ages Matter

How did a widowed mother transform loss, politics and misogyny into one of the most accomplished literary careers in medieval history?From the Parisian court to contemporaneously telling the story of Joan of Arc, Christine de Pizan was Europe’s first professional woman writer and ...  Show more

Did Constantinople’s fall in 1453 end the Byzantine Empire as neatly as we think?Dr. Eleanor Janega and Dr. Laura Bolick unpack the Empire's dramatic final years and reveal a story far more complex than simple decline. Through the lives of Isidore of Kiev and Bessarion, they expl ...  Show more

From medieval d*ck pics to sex with monks, how did people in medieval times think about sex and sexuality?

It was a period that spanned roughly 1,000 years and even though views on sex were largely shaped by the dominant Christian faith, whether this filtered down to ...

How do you begin to look for examples of lesbians in the medieval period?

Even though it was deeply frowned upon by the powers that be, the clues are very much there... if you know where to look.

What examples do we have? How did the male-run church respond ...

Warning: this episode contains explicit language.Medieval people weren’t prudish—far from it. Dan is joined by medieval historian Dr Eleanor Janega to explore sex, marriage, and desire in the Middle Ages. They delve into the beliefs around sodomy as “non-procreative sex”; pilgrim ...  Show more

Boring History For Sleep | How People Got High in the Middle Ages is a slow, relaxing storytelling experience designed to help you unwind while learning unusual and fascinating facts about medieval life. In this episode, we explore the strange substances, bizarre rituals, and sur ...  Show more