Episodios

  • April Questions

    April Questions
    Apr 23 2025
    folks, we're back with more patron questions to answer. we are still catching up, so we dive in and discuss Medieval reclamation of pagan myths, land management practices, political pragmatism, funerary customs, regional political differences, weird English town names, and whether the Catholic Church could've successfully reformed itself enough to stave off the Reformation. check it out!

    English town names mentioned:
    • Wolfardisworthy
    • Goonhilly
    • Westward Ho!
    • Polzeath
    • Tredinnick
    • Alnwick
    • Leominster
    • Frome
    • Wymondham
    • Godmanchester
    • Meopham
    • Weston Super-Mare
    • Yeovil
    • Honiton
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    1 h y 10 m
  • Medieval Beauty Standards

    Medieval Beauty Standards
    Apr 16 2025
    folks, we have once again stumbled upon some hilariously-insane social media posts and have decided to relate them back to the Middle Ages. the main gist is this: a twitter user posted about how the Catholic Virgin Mary was an unaging smokeshow and objectively the most beautiful woman to ever live as compared to that ugly hag Protestant Virgin Mary, who is apparently a totally separate individual. She then decided to do some clarifications and here we are. since this view is quite similar to that of typical European Medieval beauty standards, we decided to make fun of these posts and then talk about why Medieval people were so weird and contradictory like this.

    https://x.com/BreeSolstad/status/1909651875856875800
    https://x.com/BreeSolstad/status/1909986247843741924
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    58 m
  • Medieval Women Anna Komnene and Julian of Norwich

    Medieval Women Anna Komnene and Julian of Norwich
    Apr 11 2025
    folks, we're back with another installment of our occasional Medieval women series where we look back at two influential women from the Middle Ages. today, we look at two who couldn't be more different in most respects: the Byzantine princess and historian, Anna Komnene, and the English anchoress, mystic, and visionary, Julian of Norwich. we talk about what made each of them influential and how they made their marks in male-dominated fields of history, politics, and religion. check it out!
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    1 h y 11 m
  • American Opinions on the Middle Ages (feat David Montgomery)

    American Opinions on the Middle Ages (feat David Montgomery)
    Apr 2 2025
    folks, we're back and it's time to talk about polling! specifically, a recent YouGov poll that asked Americans for their opinions on the European Middle Ages. and before you think the worst, the responses were quite heartening! the Dark Ages myth is now below 50% and seems to be far more popular with older generations and more Americans think about the Middle Ages on a weekly basis than they do about the Roman Empire. there's a lot more, which you can check out at the link below. but we good news is we got to ask David Montgomery, who conducted the poll, plenty of questions about what it means and what we should infer from the results. unfortunately, Dr. Eleanor had to join the recording partway through do to us working between multiple deadlines to get it done but Luke and David talk it through until then.

    poll: https://today.yougov.com/entertainment/articles/51889-violent-dark-dirty-americans-middle-ages

    David's podcast about French history after Napoleon to before WW1: www.thesiecle.com
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    1 h y 4 m
  • March Mailbag: More Lady Knights

    March Mailbag: More Lady Knights
    Mar 26 2025
    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 city life or country life was preferable, Medieval snow shoveling, manly crying, and much more! Enjoy and subscribe to the patreon to have your questions answered: patreon.com/wnsdpod
    Más Menos
    1 h y 9 m
  • Mail time!

    Mail time!
    Mar 21 2025
    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 rulers, and more!
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    1 h y 14 m
  • Mystery Plays (feat The Worst of All Possible Worlds)

    Mystery Plays (feat The Worst of All Possible Worlds)
    Mar 15 2025
    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 became secularized by the guilds. but even better, we have guests to share in this weird Medieval fun with us as we welcome Josh, Brian, and AJ from The Worst of All Possible Worlds podcast to the show. The fellas specifically asked to come on and discuss this topic due to personal involvement with mystery plays and we simply couldn't say no. it's a lot of fun!

    link to a review of the stage production mentioned: https://newyorktheater.me/2014/04/03/the-mysteries-the-flea-takes-on-the-bible-epically-irreverently/

    https://www.worstpossible.world
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    1 h y 15 m
  • Constantinople 5: The Fall

    Constantinople 5: The Fall
    Mar 5 2025
    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 many soldiers. enjoy the spectacle as we talk the Fall of Constantinople.
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    1 h y 23 m
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