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Medieval History
Medieval History May 27, 2023

Stories Between Christianity and Islam

Saints, Memory, and Cultural Exchange in Late Antiquity and Beyond

Reyhan Durmaz

Hosted by Zalman Newfield
In Stories between Christianity and Islam: Saints, Memory, and Cultural Exchange in Late Antiquity and Beyond (University of California Press, 2022), Reyhan Durmaz offers an original and nuanced understanding of …

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Interviews with scholars of medieval history about their new books.

Medieval History May 23, 2023

Rome and the Invention of the Papacy

The Liber Pontificalis

Rosamond McKitterick

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
The remarkable, and permanently influential, papal history known as the Liber pontificalis shaped perceptions and the memory of Rome, the popes, and the many-layered past of both city and papacy …
East Asian Studies May 22, 2023

The Precious Summary

A History of the Mongols from Chinggis Khan to the Qing Dynasty

Sagang Sechen. Translated by Johan Elverskog.

Hosted by Sarah Bramao-Ramos
Buddhist cosmological history of the universe, history of Chinggis Khan, history of China, and history of the Mongols — The Precious Summary, written in 1662 by Sagang Sechen, is many …
Library Science May 16, 2023

Holy Digital Grail

A Medieval Book on the Internet

Michelle R. Warren

Hosted by Jen Hoyer
Medieval books that survive today have been through a lot: singed by fire, mottled by mold, eaten by insects, annotated by readers, cut into fragments, or damaged through well-intentioned preservation …
Jewish Studies May 11, 2023

Living with the Law

Gender and Community Among the Jews of Medieval Egypt

Oded Zinger

Hosted by Drora Arussy
Living with the Law: Gender and Community Among the Jews of Medieval Egypt (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023) explores the marital disputes of Jews in medieval Islamic Egypt (1000-1250), relating medieval gossip …
Medieval History May 10, 2023

Authorship, Worldview, and Identity in Medieval Europe

Christian Raffensperger

Hosted by Erika Monahan
What did medieval authors know about their world? Were they parochial and focused on just their monastery, town, or kingdom? Or were they aware of the broader, medieval Europe that …
Economic and Business History May 5, 2023

Power and Progress

Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity

Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson

Hosted by Javier Mejia
Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity (PublicAffairs, 2023) is a groundbreaking work by bestselling authors Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, in which they challenge conventional wisdom about …
British Studies May 2, 2023

A Mighty Fleet and the King's Power

The Isle of Man, AD 400 To 1265

Tim Clarkson

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Situated in the middle of the Irish Sea, the Isle of Man is like a stepping-stone between the lands that surround it. In medieval times, it played an important role …
Archaeology April 27, 2023

Gods of Thunder

How Climate Change, Travel, and Spirituality Reshaped Precolonial America

Timothy R. Pauketat

Hosted by Sarah Newman
Timothy R. Pauketat’s Gods of Thunder: How Climate Change, Travel, and Spirituality Reshaped Precolonial America (Oxford UP, 2023) is a sweeping account of what happened when Indigenous peoples of Medieval North and …
Disability Studies April 22, 2023

Disabled Clerics in the Late Middle Ages

Un/Suitable for Divine Service?

Ninon Dubourg

Hosted by Shu Wan
Today I talked to Ninon Dubourg about her new book Disabled Clerics in the Late Middle Ages: Un/Suitable for Divine Service? (Amsterdam UP, 2023). The petitions received and the letters sent by …
Medieval History April 10, 2023

A Female Apostle in Medieval Italy

The Life of Clare of Rimini

Jacques Dalarun, Valerio Cappozzo, and Sean L. Field

Hosted by Jana Byars
A Female Apostle in Medieval Italy: The Life of Clare of Rimini (U Pennsylvania Press, 2022) centers on a fascinating woman, Clare of Rimini (c. 1260 to c. 1324–29), whose story …
Medieval History April 6, 2023

Friendship in the Merovingian Kingdoms

Venantius Fortunatus and His Contemporaries

Hope Williard

Hosted by Jana Byars
Hope Williard's book Friendship in the Merovingian Kingdoms: Venantius Fortunatus and His Contemporaries (Arc Humanities Press, 2022) explores how one early medieval poet survived and thrived amidst the political turbulence of sixth …
General History April 5, 2023

Trans Historical

Gender Plurality Before the Modern

Greta LaFleur, Masha Raskolnikov, and Anna Klosowska

Hosted by Jana Byars
Greta LaFleur, Masha Raskolnikov, and Anna Klosowska's edited volume Transhistorical: Gender Plurality Before the Modern (Cornell University Press, 2021)  explores the plurality of gender experiences that flourished before the modern era, from …
Medieval History April 2, 2023

Wolves in Beowulf and Other Old English Texts

Elizabeth Marshall

Hosted by Latoya Johnson
Two perceptions about wolves are inherited from ancient and medieval European lupine motifs: the superstition that the wolf could steal a person's speech, and the perceived contiguous natures of wolves …
Irish Studies March 29, 2023

Dindshenchas Érenn

Marie-Luise Theuerkauf

Hosted by Danica Ramsey-Brimberg
The purpose of the present volume, Dindshenchas Érenn (U College Cork, 2022), is to provide an accessible overview and entry into the complex literary creation known as Dindshenchas Érenn ‘History of …
Medieval History March 27, 2023

The Fantasy of the Middle Ages

An Epic Journey through Imaginary Medieval Worlds

Larisa Grollemond and Bryan C. Keene

Hosted by Evan Zarkadas
This abundantly illustrated book is an illuminating exploration of the impact of medieval imagery on three hundred years of visual culture. From the soaring castles of Sleeping Beauty to the …
Buddhist Studies March 25, 2023

Toward a New Image of Paramartha

Yogacara and Tathagatagarbha Buddhism Revisited

Ching Keng

Hosted by Jessica Zu
Today I talked to Ching Keng about his book Toward a New Image of Paramartha: Yogacara and Tathagatagarbha Buddhism Revisited (Bloomsbury, 2022). Yogacara and Tathagatagarbha are often regarded as antagonistic Indian Buddhist …
Irish Studies March 24, 2023

Animals and Sacred Bodies in Early Medieval Ireland

Religion and Urbanism at Clonmacnoise

John Soderberg

Hosted by Danica Ramsey-Brimberg
Clonmacnoise was among the busiest, most economically complex, and intensely sacred places in early medieval Ireland. In Animals and Sacred Bodies in Early Medieval Ireland: Religion and Urbanism at Clonmacnoise (Lexington …
General History March 21, 2023

Christendom

The Triumph of a Religion, AD 300-1300

Peter Heather

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
In the fourth century AD, a new faith grew out of Palestine, overwhelming the paganism of Rome and resoundingly defeating a host of other rival belief systems. Almost a thousand …
Catholic Studies March 21, 2023

Bede the Theologian

History, Rhetoric, and Spirituality

John P. Bequette

Hosted by Jackson Reinhardt
Revered by contemporaries and posterity for both his sanctity and his scholarship, Bede (672-735) is a pivotal figure in the history of the Church. Known primarily as an historian for …