Medieval Death Trip

A podcast exploring the wit and weirdness of medieval texts.

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

We wrap up our look at epilepsy by considering the impact of biblical interpretation on medical practice, looking at Anglo-Saxon medical texts, and concluding with an excerpt from the physician who may have been a model for Chaucer's Doctour of Phisik.
https://t.co/Vm7fvTFBtp

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

We kick off a two-part series today exploring the understanding and treatment of epilepsy in the middle ages -- though for Part 1, we're mostly looking at classical sources and learning about the Hippocratic tradition. https://t.co/r37ZLoB1EB

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

In our latest episode, we consider the genre of saints' lives and look at one example of a Welsh martyr, who died many years after her martyrdom. It's Ep. 120: "Concerning the Life and Miracles of St. Winefred."
https://t.co/8VlbBLpSjd

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

@TimHodkinson Thanks!

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

Just posted: a prelude appendix to our upcoming Ep. 120, about saints' lives. Today, for the holiday, we will be hearing some lives of St. Valentine (who might in fact be two different people).
https://t.co/LBsk8aaXe8

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

We finish off this detour into the realm of early modern fairies with the 16th-century tale of a sometimes helpful, sometimes mischievous household spirit that haunted the castle of Hudemühlen in Lower Saxony.
https://t.co/PFof9AK8Ee

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

Our Advent Calendar (on Instagram) this year takes the form of a journaling game where day by day you will construct a saint's life for a very unusual individual.

See how to play at https://t.co/FTFQItW21w and find the game on Instagram @medievaldeathtrip or search #MDTAdvent25.

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

For our Patreon patrons: a Thanksgiving treat in the form of an appendix to Ep. 118, in which we hear more from Sir Walter Scott on the link between fairy folklore and witchcraft in early modern Scotland.

https://t.co/w73s2Yz5O7

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

Finally, after unexpected delays (spelled P-N-E-U-M-O-N-I-A), our eleventh anniversary is here. Join us as we trace the folkloric history of the redcap from the 21st century back into the 12th. It's Ep. 118: "Concerning Redcaps."
https://t.co/0ijzdx0TeQ

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

As we plunge into the middle of spooky season, we take a little trip to Hell with the Venerable Bede and then get an infernal FAQ with Gregory the Great. It's Ep. 117: Concerning More 8th-Century Visions of Hell.
https://t.co/rmYjljyxAu

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

Happy Labor Day weekend -- you can't get any more relaxed than dead! Here is Ep. 116, in which we tour the afterlife with two accounts from the Venerable Bede.
https://t.co/jwSjwKg4Br

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

Our next episode (#116) is coming soon; here is its riddle to puzzle over in the meantime:

"A bristly mother gave me birth, they say, / And now above my verdant food I stay, / My name, too, is a god's, with the first sound away."

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

For our Patreon supporters, an appendix to Ep. 115 ("The Voyage of the Uí Corra" Part 2) is now available. This time, we visit another strange island on a less saintly journey, following the Red-Rose Knight to the Island of Women, from the Elizabethan book by Richard Johnson.

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

This episode, we finally enter the open ocean with the Uí Corra and their fellow pilgrims as they explore strange new lands, seek out new afterlives and new sects, and boldly go where many other saints and heroes of Irish legend have gone before.

https://t.co/mwZ2Ge6Mm1

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today we complete the project we started back in episodes 68 & 69 to present all the canonical texts written by St. Patrick with his Epistola ad Coroticum.

https://t.co/DFYUdvbhp1

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

Oh no, it's Valentine's Day, and you forgot to get any valentines to hand out! Never fear, here are some free Medieval Death Trip valentines you can use. Just follow the link below, download the PDF, print, cut, and address on the back!
https://t.co/UfTmiq4vAA

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

In our new episode, we take a deeper look at the legend of St. Kenelm, murdered prince. We also learn what it means to "crab the parson." It's Ep. 112: "Concerning the Murder & Miracles of Kenelm of Mercia."

https://t.co/uyUoCuwsOx

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

First episode of 2025 coming soon! Here is its riddle:
"She's leaving town now, and tossing cakes behind her." What is being described?

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

An appendix to Ep. 111 is now available for our Patreon supporters -- an Edwardian doctor surveying theories, ancient and modern, of unusual fetal development. https://t.co/ED04pMtVZs

[Medieval Death Trip @mdtpodcast]

We continue our discussion of marvels in the Middle Ages with another dip into William of Malmesbury. It's Ep. 111: "Concerning Conjoined Twins, Some Incorruptibles, & Royal Murders."

https://t.co/GnSFXd8MIb