'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.
Episodes
47 episodes
Crusaders and Settlers in the Holy Land: Who Went and Why
In this episode I talk with the distinguished historian of the crusades Dr. Steven Tibble about the motivations of crusaders and of those Europeans who settled in the Crusader states of Outremer. Steve is the author of five books dealing with t...
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Season 3
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Episode 47
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1:04:50
The Battle That Destroyed the Military Forces of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: Hattin (1187)
On 3-4 July 1187 the Sultan of Egypt and Syria Saladin enjoyed the greatest military victory of his career. The Battle of Hattin, a two-day battle fought along the road leading to the town of Tiberias and, on the following day, on the Horns of ...
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Season 3
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Episode 46
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1:06:45
Norway's highest-grossing film: Liv Ullmann's Kristin Lavransdatter (1995)
Yes, Kristin Lavransdatter is the highest-grossing Norwegian film of all time. That isn't as impressive as it might sound, as the movie only brought in $3.7 million in box office receipts, but virtually all of that came from domestic s...
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Season 3
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Episode 45
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23:55
Medieval Adultery in the Movies (with Kat Tracey)
This is the final episode--sort of*--of a multi-part series about medieval adultery in literature, history, and popular culture. My co-host Professor Larissa 'Kat' Tracey and I review how adultery has been dealt with in movies about the Middle ...
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Season 3
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Episode 44
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1:09:30
Medieval Adultery in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Opera and Literature (with Kat Tracey)
This is the third of a multi-episode series in which I chat with Dr. Larissa ‘Kat’ Tracey about literary representations of medieval adultery and its reality. In this episode Kat and I survey and discuss the major nineteenth- and twentieth-cent...
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Season 3
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Episode 43
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1:21:07
Medieval adultery, part 2 (with Kat Tracy): Tristan and Iseult and a late twelfth-century "National Enquirer" story
This is the second of a three part series with my very special co-host, Dr. Larissa 'Kat' Tracy, about adultery in the Middle Ages. In the previous episode, Kat and I talked about the Lancelot and Guinevere story. In this episode, we tackle the...
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Season 3
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Episode 42
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1:08:57
Jerusalem in the Twelfth Century (with Dr. John Hosler)
In this episode, my very special guest Dr. John Hosler draws upon the research he undertook for his book Jerusalem Falls: Seven Centuries of War and Peace<...
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Season 3
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Episode 41
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1:03:25
St. Thomas Becket, 2: the Martyrdom
In this episode my co-host Dr. Jennifer Paxton and I explain the principles and personal grievances that led to the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket and the significance of that event for Church-State relations in medieval England. We also talk a...
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Season 3
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Episode 40
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1:08:57
Medieval Adultery (with Kat Tracy), part 1: Lancelot and Guinevere
This is the first of a three part series about adultery in the Middle Ages. My co-host for both is Dr. Larissa 'Kat' Tracy. Last month Kat and I talked about my favorite medieval romance, Chretien de Troyes' late twelfth-century French po...
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Season 3
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Episode 39
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1:11:23
St. Thomas Becket, part 1: King Henry II and his Chancellor, Thomas Becket
This is the first of two episodes on the career, historical context, and "afterlife" of England's most famous--and controversial--saint and martyr, St. Thomas Becket. My co-host for both is a veteran of this podcast, Dr. Jennifer Paxton of the ...
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Season 3
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Episode 38
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1:08:55
What Was A "Crusade"?
In this episode Ellen and Richard talk about what a "crusade" was in the Middle Ages. Richard explains what modern historians mean by the term "crusade"--and why there is so little agreement. He also offers a response to a question posed by Nic...
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Season 3
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Episode 37
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48:38
Crusading Warfare in the East, 1099-1187
My guest for this episode is Dr. Nicholas Morton, whom you may remember from our first episode about the Mongols. Today Nick and I will be talking about crusading warfare, in particular, about the military activities and challenges faced by the...
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Season 3
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Episode 36
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1:09:14
Medieval Romance: The Knight with the Lion
In this episode my guest host Professor Larissa 'Kat" Tracy and I discuss my favorite medieval romance, Chrétien de Troyes' late twelfth century poem, "Yvain, the Knight with the Lion." We place the poem within its historical context--th...
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Season 3
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Episode 35
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1:39:17
The Mongol Conquest of Baghdad (1258)
Last May, I spoke with Professor Nicholas Morton about the Mongols and their impact upon the medieval Near East. This episode digs deeper into that subject, focusing on the Mongol conquest and destruction of Baghdad in February of 1258.&n...
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Season 3
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Episode 34
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1:07:42
Beowulf (2): translations, adaptations, and movies!
In this episode, the second of a two part series, Dr. Chrissy Senecal and I continue our discussion of the Old English epic poem Beowulf. In it we talk about the challenges of translation and look at literary and cinematic adapta...
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Season 2
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Episode 33
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1:20:24
Beowulf
This is the first of a two-part series on the most famous monster story in pre-modern literature, the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf. My co-host for both is Dr. Christine Senecal of Shippensburg University. In this episode Chrissy and I...
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Season 2
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Episode 32
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52:42
Hanukkah and Christmas in the Middle Ages, and the Puritan War on Christmas
This is a revised--and a lot longer--version of our twenty-first episode ("Some thoughts about Hanukkah by a (secular) Jewish medieval historian"). That episode was just what the title said, some thoughts about the role of Hanukkah ...
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Season 2
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Episode 31
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46:47
The Medievalists' "F-Word": Feudalism
“Feudalism” was once accepted by academic and popular historians alike as a defining, if not the defining, feature of medieval society. For military historians, the High Middle Ages, the period from around 1050 to 1300, was once the Ag...
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Season 2
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Episode 30
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46:12
Alfred the Great, Part 3: A Chat with Professor Ryan Lavelle
In our third and final episode of the series, Richard talks with Professor Ryan Lavelle of the University of Winchester in the U.K. about Alfred the Great. Dr. Lavelle is a leading expert on Anglo-Saxon and Viking warfare. He is also the histor...
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Season 2
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Episode 29
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43:42
Alfred the Great, Part 2: A Chat with Professor Barbara Yorke
This is the second of a three part series about King Alfred of Wessex (reigned 871-899), the only English king to be called "the Great." In this episode Ellen and I chat with Dr. Barbara Yorke, Professor Emeritus at the University of Winchester...
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Season 2
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Episode 28
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44:45
King Alfred: was he really all that 'great'?
After a hiatus we are back with the long promised episode about King Alfred of Wessex (871-899), the only English king to be called "the great." In this episode, Richard gives an overview of Alfred's reign and accomplishments and explains why t...
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Season 2
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Episode 27
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1:07:43
Mongols
In this episode I interview my special guest Dr. Nicholas Morton, author of The Mongol Storm (Basic Books, 2022), about the Mongols and their invasion of and impact upon the thirteenth-century Near East. Our discussion covers who and w...
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Season 2
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Episode 26
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1:11:06
Robin Hood in Movies and Television
This is the second half of a two-part series about the legendary medieval outlaw Robin Hood. In the first episode, my co-host Dr. Jennifer Paxton and I discussed the evidence for a historical basis for the legend. In this one, we look at how Ro...
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Season 2
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Episode 25
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1:35:01