'tis but a scratch: fact and fiction about the Middle Ages
Richard Abels
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.
King Alfred: was he really all that 'great'?September 28, 2023
MongolsMay 26, 2023
Robin Hood in Movies and TelevisionApril 06, 2023
Robin Hood: OriginsMarch 23, 2023
"The Northman"February 14, 2023
Vikings!January 27, 2023
Some thoughts about Hanukkah by a (secular) Jewish medieval historianDecember 25, 2022
Was King Æthelred Really Unready?December 20, 2022
"Wicked" Medieval Women and the Monks Who Loathed ThemDecember 07, 2022
King Arthur in Literature and Popular Culture: From Sir Thomas Malory to the PresentOctober 17, 2022
King Arthur in History, Legend, and Popular Culture, Part 2: The Middle AgesOctober 09, 2022
King Arthur in History, Legend, and Popular Culture. Part One: Was Arthur a Real Person?September 06, 2022
Inquisitions, Jews, and the Formation of a Persecuting SocietyAugust 14, 2022
Heresy and Crusade in Southern France: The CatharsJuly 23, 2022
The Saint Brice's Day Massacre of 1002: A Case of Medieval Ethnic Cleansing?July 05, 2022
Sanctity, Heresy, and Superstition: Saint Francis, the Heresiarch "Peter" Waldo, and a Holy GreyhoundJune 15, 2022
A Crusader Murder Mystery: The Assassination of Conrad of Montferrat (By Real Assassins)May 26, 2022
How Saladin Took Jerusalem: Two Eyewitness Accounts and a MovieMay 12, 2022
Magna Carta, Bad King John, and an English CrusadeApril 24, 2022
An Anglo-Saxon Murder Mystery: How King Edward Became Edward the MartyrApril 02, 2022
My Favorite Medieval Epic: A Tale of Violence, Vengeance, and BetrayalMarch 31, 2022
"The finest knight in all the world, part 2: William Marshal, baron, earl, and regent of EnglandMarch 26, 2022
"The finest knight in all the world": the practical chivalry of Sir William MarshalMarch 16, 2022
Is (Medieval) Chivalry Dead?February 26, 2022
The Holy Grail: From Medieval Romance to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, by way of Nazis and The Da Vinci Code.February 15, 2022
