'tis but a scratch: fact and fiction about the Middle Ages
Talking about popular conceptions of the Middle Ages and their historical realities. Join Richard Abels to learn about Vikings, knights and chivalry, movies set in the Middle Ages, and much more about the medieval world.
Podcasting since 2022 • 56 episodes
'tis but a scratch: fact and fiction about the Middle Ages
Latest Episodes
From Bishop of Rome to the Papal Monarchy: the early centuries
In this first episode of a three part series, my favorite cohost Ellen and I survey the development of the papacy over its first seven centuries. I have to confess that along the way I got somewhat off topic talking about the Roman persecution ...
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Season 3
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Episode 56
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1:23:28
El Cid, From History to Legend
In this episode I interview Professor Nora Berend of the University of Cambridge about her new book El Cid; The Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Mercenary (Pegasus Books, 2025). We discuss how the historical Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, a ru...
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Season 3
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Episode 55
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1:03:34
Tne Norman Conquest (with Dr. Jennifer Paxton), part 2
This is the second of our two part series on the Norman Conquest. In it Jenny and I discuss the military challenges faced by King Harold Godwinson and Duke William of Normandy and the battles of Fulford Gate and Stamford Bridge, before turning ...
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Season 3
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Episode 54
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1:01:42
The Norman Conquest, part one: From Cnut to the Death of Edward the Confessor
This is the first half of a two part series on the Norman Conquest of England. My cohost for both parts is a veteran of this podcast, Dr. Jennifer Paxton of the Catholic University of America. Jenny is one of the very best historians of Anglo-N...
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Season 3
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Episode 53
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1:06:52
Fall of the Roman Republic, part 3: From Octavian to Augustus
Yes, I know that Octavian IS Augustus, but this episode is about how Gaius Octavius became Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus, and in doing so replaced the old Roman Republic with a military autocracy masquerading as a republic. This is the concl...
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Season 3
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Episode 52
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48:32
