Chaucer's Wife of Bath: Medieval Feminist

How could a love song become a political weapon? How were scandals, wars and crusades turned into some of the most influential poetry ever written?The songs of the troubadours - celebrities in their day - helped define the emotional landscape of the Middle Ages and left a legacy ...  Show more

Who survives when medieval deaths are turned into Top Trumps? In this riotous made up game of Foolish Fatalities, Dr. Eleanor Janega and Matt Lewis rank the most ridiculous ends of the Middle Ages, from a latrine disaster and Henry I’s fatal fish, to a king laughing himself to de ...  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 ...

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

Drift off to sleep as we quietly uncover what sex, love, and intimacy were really like in medieval times. From marriage customs and societal expectations to private moments behind closed doors, this episode explores the unfiltered truth of romance in an age without modern comfort ...  Show more

Early Modern Italy birthed artistic giants like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, saw architectural marvels like Florence's dome and St. Peter's Basilica, and pushed scientific frontiers in astronomy. This same vibrant era was also home to Bologna's uniquely regulated sex wo ...