Medieval Death Trip

A Podcast Exploring the Wit and Weirdness of Medieval Texts

Concerning the Murder and Miracles of Kenelm of Mercia

Image of St. Kenelm from Bodleian Library MS Douce 368.

This episode, we go into more depth with the legend of St. Kenelm (Cynehelm) and his jealous sister Quendrida (Cwenthryth). We also learn what it means to “crab the parson.”

Today’s Text

  • “The Legend of St. Kenelm.” Translated by John Amphlett in A Short History of Clent, Parker and Co., 1890, pp. 177-193. Google Books.

References

  • Brand, John. Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain: Chiefly Illustrating the Origin of Our Vulgar and Provincial Customs, Ceremonies, and Superstitions, edited, revised, and expanded by Henry Ellis, vol 1, Henry G. Bohn, 1859. Google Books.
  • Cross, Tom Peete. “Witchcraft in North Carolina.” Studies in Philology, vol. 16, no. 3, Jul. 1919, pp. 217-287. Google Books.
  • Rollason, D. W. “The Cults of Murdered Royal Saints in Anglo-Saxon England.” Anglo-Saxon England, vol. 11, 1983, pp. 1-22. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44510759
  • Weiskott, Eric. “Saint Kenelm, Illustrated.” Erikweiskott.com, 21 Nov. 2016, ericweiskott.com/2016/11/21/saint-kenelm-illustrated/
  • Whitelock, Dorothy, editor and translator. “From the Report of the Legates to Pope Hadrian (786).” English Historical Documents: ca. 500-1042, vol. 1, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1955,pp. 770-774. Archive.org.

Image Credit: Detail of Kenelm with a bird at his ear from Bodleian Library, MS Douce 368 f. 80r (12th cent.).

Audio Credit: “6 Morceaux, Op. 85 – 3. Cavatina.” Composed by Joachim Raff, performed by Benjamin Intartaglia. Musopen. Used under CC-BY 3.0 license.

Concerning Conjoined Twins, Some Incorruptibles, and Royal Murders

Cover image from for Episode 111. Detail from the Rutland Psalter, British Library Add MS 62925 f. 72r.

We continue on from last episode’s look at the Green Children of Woolpit with a further consideration of what it meant to wonder at a marvel in the middle ages, with additional illustration of some wondrous things from William of Malmesbury.

Today’s Texts

  • Gervase of Tilbury. Otia Imperialia. Edited and translated by S.E. Banks and J.W. Binns, Clarendon Press, 2002.
  • Isidore of Seville. The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville. Translated by Stephen A. Barney, W.J. Lewis, J.A. Beach, and Oliver Berghof with Muriel Hall, Cambridge UP, 2006.
  • William of Malmesbury. Chronicle of the Kings of England. Edited by J.A. Giles, translated by John Sharpe and J.A. Giles, George Bell & Sons, 1895. Google Books.

References

  • Bynum, Caroline Walker. “Wonder.” Fragmentation and Redemption: Essays on Gender and the Human Body in Medieval Religion. Zone Books, 1992.

Audio Credits

  • “Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel.” In “22 Short Films about Springfield,” The Simpsons, season 7, episode 21, written by Richard Appel et al., 14 April 1996.
  • “The Boy Who Knew Too Much.” The Simpsons, season 5, episode 20, written by John Swartzwelder, 5 May 1994.
  • Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Directed by Mel Stuart, screenplay by Roald Dahl, Paramount Pictures, 1971.

Image Credit: Detail from the Rutland Psalter, British Library Add MS 62925 f. 72r.

Concerning the Green Children of Woolpit and Other Prodigies

This Halloween marks our 10th anniversary, and we observe it by hearing the earliest written accounts of one of the most well-known pieces of medieval weird history: the Green Children of Woolpit — and also hear the other less famous prodigies their story was originally presented alongside.

Today’s Texts:

  • Radulphi de Coggeshall. Chronicon Anglicanum. Edited by Joseph Stevenson, Longman & Co., 1875. Google Books.
  • William of Newburgh. The History of William of Newburgh. The Church Historians of England, vol. IV, part II, translated by Joseph Stevenson, Seeleys, 1856, pp. 395–670. Google Books.

References:

  • Clark, John. “The Green Children: A Cautionary Tale.” 1999. Academia.edu.
  • Clark, John. “‘Small, Vulnerable ETs”: The Green Children of Woolpit.” Science Fiction Studies, vol. 33, no. 2, July 2006, pp. 209-229. JSTOR.
  • Dutton, Paul Edward. “An Incident: The Strange Case of the Green Children.” Micro Middle Ages. Palgrave Macmillan, 2023, pp. 11-53.
  • Lunan, Duncan. “Children from the Sky.” Duncanlunan.com, 2013, https://www.duncanlunan.com/childrenfromthesky.asp
  • Yglesias, Matthew. “The Bizarre Myth that Ancient Greeks Couldn’t See Blue.” Slow Boring, 4 April 2022, www.slowboring.com/p/greeks-blue

Concerning the Miseries of the Flesh according to Pope Innocent III

Detail from a 15th century French Book of Hours, Morgan Library MS M.1080 fol. 107r.

In this episode, we explore the tradition of contemptus mundi with a text all about how horrible it is to be a human being, On the Misery of the Human Condition, written by Pope Innocent III (when he was but Cardinal Lotario di Segni).

Today’s Texts:

References:

  • Lothario Dei Segni [Pope Innocent III]. On the Misery of the Human Condition. Edited by Donald R. Howard, translated by Margaret Mary Dietz. Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1969. Archive.org.
  • Moore, John C. “Innocent III’s De Miseria Humanae Conditionis: A Speculum Curiae?” The Catholic Historical Review, vol. 67, no. 4, Oct. 1981, pp. 553-564. JSTOR.

Image: Detail from a 15th century French Book of Hours, Morgan Library MS M.1080 fol. 107r.

MDT Ep. 108: Concerning the End of the Interdict and a Vexatious Prophet

Cover image for Episode 108 featuring a detail of the prophet Nathan admonishing King David from British Library Royal MS 2 B VII, f. 58.

We continue from our last episode into the years 1212-1214 in the Melrose Chronicle, where we come to the end of the interdict, and perhaps the prophesized end of King John’s true sovereignty. Along the way, we also cover some of the more common ecclesiastical offices and check the accuracy of the chronicle’s battlefield accounting.

Today’s Texts:

  • The Chronicle of Melrose. Edited and translated by Joseph Stevenson, The Church Historians of England, vol. 4, part 1, Seeley’s, 1856, pp. 79-242. Google Books.
  • Ranulf Higden. Polychronicon. Vol. 8. Edited by Joseph Rawson Lumby, translated by John Trevisa, Longman and Co., 1882. Google Books.
  • Roger of Wendover. Flowers of History. Vol. 2. Translated by J.A. Giles, Henry G. Bohn, 1849. Google Books.

References:

Image: Detail of the prophet Nathan admonishing King David from BL Royal MS. 2 B VII f.58 (“The Queen Mary Psalter”)

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