Spells, magic items, and questing galore! What other fanciful tales were being constructed in Chaucer’s time? This week, we host special guest Roger Ladd and discuss Chaucer’s contemporary, John Gower – and the fanciful works he produced. Join us as we explore a witchy, alternative version of Jason and Medea, as well as a mortality tale turned on its head.

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Citations & References:

• Gower, John. Confessio Amantis. Edited by Russell A. Peck, Latin translated by Andrew Galloway, Medieval Institute Publications, 2013. Middle English Text Series.
• Gower, John. The Lover’s Confession: a Translation of John Gower’s Confessio Amantis. Edited and translated by Brian Gastle and Catherine Carter, Latin translated by Andrew Galloway, Medieval Institute Publication, 2023. TEAMS Varia Series.
• The Gower Project. https://www.gowerproject.com/.
• Holsinger, Bruce. A Burnable Book. William Morrow, 2014.
• International John Gower Society. https://johngower.org/.
• Ladd, Roger. Antimercantilism in Late Medieval English Literature. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. The New Middle Ages.
• “List of Subjects and Tales in Confessio Amantis”. Wikipedia, 5 September 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_subjects_and_tales_in_Confessio_Amantis.
• McSheffrey, Shannon. Marriage, Sex, and Civic Culture in Late Medieval London. U Pennsylvania P, 2006.

In this episode, Mac and Zoe discuss how medieval peasantry worked, the complexities of the system, what sort of peasants there were, and how world builders, writers, and game masters can both accurately represent and adapt the village system in their medieval fantasy worlds and TTRPGs.

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Citations

• Gies, Frances & Joseph. Life in a Medieval Village. Harper & Row, 1990.
• Bennett, Judith M. Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England. Oxford UP, 1999.
• Graeber, David. Debt: The First 5,000 Years. Melville House, 2011.
• “Medieval Settlements.” Historic England. A great PDF introduction. Link .
• Ellis, Penny. “Medieval Thoralby.” Thoralby Through Time. Link .
• Ray, T.J. “Manorial Language.” T.J. Ray: The Eclectic Eccentric. Link .
• Ray, T.J. “Feudal Language.” T.J. Ray: The Eclectic Eccentric. Link .
• The Middle English Compendium. (Note: this site often goes down.) Link .

Terminology & Spelling:

• ale-taster
• bailiff
• beadle
• cellarer
• claviger
• hayward
• majordomo
• messor
• reeve
• seneschal
• serjant
• steward
• woodward

How many versions of one tale can we tell? In this episode, we’re diving back into Eric & Enide, and Mac has found two more versions of this classic chivalric romance. We discuss how various cultural differences affect the manner in which these adaptations are written, and explore how we can use cultural difference in worldbuilding.

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Citations & References:

• Check out our blog post with the names listed out here .
• Blaisdell, Foster W., and Marianne E. Kalinke, translators. Erex Saga and Ívens Saga. U Nebraska Press, 1977.
• Chrétien de Troyes. “Erec and Enide.” The Complete Romances of Chrétien de Troyes, translated by David Staines, Indiana UP, 1993, pp. 1-86.
• Davies, Sioned, translator. The Mabinogion. Oxford UP, 2007. Oxford World’s Classics.
• Gantz, Jeffrey, translator. The Mabinogion. Dorset Press, 1976.
• Guest, Charlotte, translator. The Mabinogion. 1877. J. M. Dent & Sons, 1906. Everyman’s Library.
• Hartmann von Aue. Erec. Translated by Michael Resler, U Pennsylvania Press, 2004.
• Hartmann von Aue. Erec. Translated by Thomas L. Keller, Garland Publishing, 1987. Garland Library of Medieval Literature (Series B) 12.
• Thomson, Robert L., editor. Ystorya Gereint uab Erbin. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, School of Celtic Studies / Dundalgan Press, 1997. Medieval and Modern Welsh Series 10.

Terminology & Spelling for Reference:

• abatis
• brunet
• Hartmann von Aue
• umbo
• vespereide

In this episode, Mac and Zoe discuss how medieval peasantry worked, the complexities of the system, unexpected laws, rights, and privileges, and how world builders, writers, and game masters can both accurately represent and adapt the village system in their medieval fantasy worlds and TTRPGs.

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Get your copy of Marginal Worlds, a deck of 50 magic items pulled directly from medieval manuscripts, built for any TTRPG system he¡re!

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Citations & References:

• Gies, Frances & Joseph. Life in a Medieval Village. Harper & Row, 1990.
• “Medieval Settlements.” Historic England. A great PDF introduction. Link .
• Ellis, Penny. “Medieval Thoralby.” Thoralby Through Time. Link .
• Hilton, Rodney. Bond Men Made Free. The Viking Press, 1973.
• Ray, T.J. “Manorial Language.” T.J. Ray: The Eclectic Eccentric. Link .
• Ray, T.J. “Feudal Language.” T.J. Ray: The Eclectic Eccentric. Link .
• The Middle English Compendium. (Note: this site often goes down.) Link .

Terminology:

• cottager
• cotter
• demesne
• Dunbar’s Number
• famuli
• franklin
• freeman
• hamsoke
• hayward
• huckster
• merchet
• peasant
• pheasant
• reeve
• serf
• smallholder
• sokeman
• tenant farmer
• villein
• virgate
• week work

In this episode, Mac & Zoe debunk medieval love advice and discuss common misconceptions around medieval love and marriage. Reading the philosophical dialogue of Sidrak and Bokkus as an advice column, can we really say whether attitudes toward romance have changed that much, centuries later?

Content Warning: discussions of medieval and modern misogyny and sexual explicitness

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Citations & References:

• Clapp, James E., et al. Lawtalk: The Unknown Stories Behind Familiar Legal Expressions. Yale UP, 2011.
• Gibson, Marian. Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials. Scribner, 2024.
• Kelly, Henry Ansgar. “‘Rule of Thumb’ and the Folklaw of the Husband’s Stick.” Journal of Legal Education, vol. 44, no. 3, 1994, pp. 341–65.
• Mason, Rebecca. “Violence Against Wives in Medieval and Early Modern Scotland.” 10 April 2022. Link .
• O’Conner, Patricia, and Stewart Kellerman. Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language. Random House, 2009.

In this episode, Mac & Zoe host Sandra Hindman and Jacky Yao from Les Enluminures to discuss the craft and trade of manuscript illumination and creation in the Middle Ages, as well as the influence and popularity of the courtly romance Roman de la Rose.

Point of correction: Sandra is not currently serving as chair of art history at Northwestern, but was previously.

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Get your copy of Marginal Worlds, a deck of 50 magic items pulled directly from medieval manuscripts, built for any TTRPG system here!

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Citations & References:

• Les Enluminures

website

• Jacky Yao, Embodied Encounters with Roman de la Rose Manuscripts lecture (

Youtube

)

• Read the Roman de la Rose

here

or

here

• Les Enluminures, Video on the Sidrak and Bokkus manuscript (

Dropbox

)

Terminology & Spelling for Reference:

• autograph

• biocodicology

• ekphrasis

• Ge’ez

• Guillaume de Lorris

• Jean de Meun

• Jeanne Montbaston

• missal

• Ormulum

• palimpsest

This episode, Zoe and Mac begin a new series diving into life in medieval villages. This guide for world builders, writers, and game masters will introduce you to how life in medieval villages operated, from terminology to geography, laws and customs, and daily life -- and how to build one for your TTRPG or story.

Join our discord community!

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Get your copy of Marginal Worlds, a deck of 50 magic items pulled directly from medieval manuscripts, built for any TTRPG system he¡re!

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Citations & References:

• Gies, Frances & Joseph. Life in a Medieval Village. Harper & Row, 1990.

• “Medieval Settlements.” Historic England. A great PDF introduction.

Link

.

• Ellis, Penny. “Medieval Thoralby.” Thoralby Through Time.

Link

.

• Ray, T.J. “Manorial Language.” T.J. Ray: The Eclectic Eccentric.

Link

.

• Ray, T.J. “Feudal Language.” T.J. Ray: The Eclectic Eccentric.

Link

.

• The Middle English Compendium. (Note: this site often goes down.)

Link

.

Terminology:

• abada

• æðeling

• champion country

• cottage

• croft

• dovecote

• furlong

• green

• longhouse

• meadow

• pinfold / punfold

• sheepfold

• solar

• toft

• villein

• virgate

• wattle & daub

This week, we adapt three more medieval "morality" tales from the Gesta Romanorum, adapting them into unique puzzles, adventures, and scenarios for your tabletop campaign. Would YOUR party help you hide a body?

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Get your copy of Marginal Worlds, a deck of 50 magic items pulled directly from medieval manuscripts, built for any TTRPG system he¡re!

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Citations & References:

• Swan, Charles, translator. Gesta Romanorum: or, Entertaining Moral Stories. Edited by Wynnard Hooper, Dover Publications, 1959.

• N.B.: the “woman from Tumblr” briefly & obscurely referred to in the end segment is rabies educator @raccoonmilf, if anyone was wondering.