Episodes

  • Uncovering the Forgotten Frescoes of Medieval Bohemia
    Oct 25 2025

    The colorful and monumental 14th-century frescoes of Bohemian church interiors have received very little scholarly attention, and many remain completely unknown today. Yet the wall paintings have played major roles in the creation of national(ist) art historical narratives, and they offer a rare chance to examine how medieval frescoes operated within their original architectural contexts. In this episode, Reed O'Mara speaks with art historian Isabelle Chisholm on these frescoes’ long lives, discussing their medieval viewership and the reasons for their relative obscurity.

    For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

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    53 mins
  • Speculum Spotlight: East–West Encounters in the 14th Century: John of Marignolli and the "Tribute" Horse
    Oct 1 2025

    In this episode, MMA podcast producer Loren Cantrell chats with Nancy Wu about her article, "East–West Encounters in the Fourteenth Century: John of Marignolli and the 'Tribute' Horse" (Speculum 100:4).

    For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

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    46 mins
  • Meeting the Ministeriales
    Aug 25 2025

    In this episode, Logan Quigley (MMA team member) chats with scholar Aaron C. Pattee about the roles and realities of the medieval ministeriales—non-nobles who served in a variety of capacities within the royal palaces, the imperial estates, and the entourages of emperors, kings, and bishops during the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire.

    For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

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    42 mins
  • The Refugee Who Ran the English Church: The Life and Career of Theodore of Tarsus
    Jul 25 2025

    In this episode, Fordham University master’s student Kristian Powell is joined by his classmate Thomas Warren to discuss the life of Theodore of Tarsus. Theodore was a 7th-century intellectual refugee from Asia Minor who, through a long career as a monk in Rome, was appointed as the Archbishop of Canterbury, influencing the early Anglo-Saxon church immensely.

    For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

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    40 mins
  • Speculum Spotlight: Rethinking Grand Narratives: Mobility, Diet, & Health in a Small Corner of Early Medieval Hampshire
    Jul 1 2025

    In this episode, Robin Fleming and Sam Leggett discuss their work on an early fifth-century cemetery in the English village of Alton. Using bioarchaeological evidence from bones and teeth, they have made precise discoveries about the diets of individuals buried at Alton, their states of health, and even the ages at which they migrated from wetland ecosystems down tot he drier territory of the South Downs. Fleming and Leggett’s analysis helps to revise and refine long-held ideas about barbarian invasions and the fall of the Roman Empire.

    For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

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    29 mins
  • Queer Medievalism & the Cult of Gay Relics: The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in Australia & the USA
    Jun 25 2025

    In this episode, Michael D. Barbezat (Australian Catholic University) and Miles Pattenden (Oxford University) explore the "queer medievalism" of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in the early 1980s. They discuss the Sisters' creation of "gay relics" in San Francisco, USA and Sydney, Australia, highlighting how the Sisters drew on the intellectual traditions of medieval Christianity to repurpose remnants of destroyed urban spaces as holy relics.

    For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

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    38 mins
  • So What? Arthuriana and the Public Humanities
    May 25 2025

    In this episode, Margaret Sheble (webmaster/contributing editor for Arthuriana), Arielle McKee (Outreach Coordinator for The So What), and Brittany Claytor (Assistant Outreach Coordinator) discuss the origins and importance of the new public humanities journal The So What.

    For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

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    21 mins
  • Modern Uses of the 'Medieval': A Conversation with The Medievalist Toolkit
    May 25 2025

    In this episode, Jonathan Correa Reyes speaks with Robin Reich, Alice Grissom, and Benjamin Bertrand to discuss the work of The Medievalist Toolkit, medievalisms, some of the many ways in which the "medieval" seeps into contemporary political and public discourse, and the importance of outreach.

    For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

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    47 mins