Medieval Death Trip

A Podcast Exploring the Wit and Weirdness of Medieval Texts

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MDT Episode 29: Back to School with Eberhard’s Laborintus

Detail from BL Stowe MS 17, f. 109rIn this episode, we celebrate the start of a new school year with a return to Eberhard the German’s Laborintus and learn more about the trials and tribulations of teaching medieval schoolchildren.

This episode’s text:

  • Eberhard the German. “The Laborintus of Eberhard: Rendered into English with Introduction and Notes.” Trans. Evelyn Carson. Diss. Cornell University, 1930.

References:

  • Universities in the Middle Ages. Hilde de Ridder-Symoens, editor. 1992. A History of the University in Europe, vol. 1, Cambridge UP, 1992-. Especially Chapter 7: “Student Education, Student Life” by Rainer Christoph Schwinges, pp. 195-243.

Image: Schoolroom of apes. Detail from BL Stowe MS 17, f. 109r.

MDT Episode 28: Concerning the Terrible Crimes of Philip de Bella Arbore

Detail from of French bible. Moulins BM, MS 0001 f. 316On this episode, we’re back with Thomas of Monmouth’s The Life and Miracles of St. William of Norwich to hear a tale of fire, fratricide, and fetters.

Today’s Text:

  • The Life and Miracles of St. William of Norwich, written by Thomas of Monmouth and translated by Augustus Jessopp and M.R. James. London: Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1896. [Available on Google Books.]

Credits:

  • This episode features original music by Chris Lane and a modified version of a recording by John Sayles.

Image:

Detail from of French bible, ca. 1200. Moulins BM, MS 0001 f. 316.

MDT Episode 27: Concerning Another Take on the Love of Edgar and Aelfthryth

On this episode, get a different version of the story of Edgar’s love for the married Aelfthryth, this time in a blending of history with courtly romance from Gaimar’s L’Estoire des Engleis.

Today’s Text:

  • Gaimar. Gaimar. In The Church Historians of England. Vol. 2, Part 2. Ed. and Trans. Joseph Stevenson. London: Seeleys, 1854. [Available through Google Books.]
  • William of Malmesbury. Chronicle of the Kings of England. Ed. J.A. Giles. Trans. John Sharpe and J.A. Giles. London: George Bell & Sons, 1895. [Available at Google Books.]
  • Bartholomaeus Anglicus. De proprietatibus rerum. Ed. Robert Steele. Trans. John Trevisa. At The Medieval Bestiary.

References:

  • Gransden, Antonia. Historical Writing in England. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1974.
  • Bell, A. “Gaimar and the Edgar-Ælfðryð Story.” Modern Language Review 21.3 (July 1926): 278-287.
  • Bell, Alexander. “Gaimar as Pioneer.” Romania 97 (1976): 462-80.
  • Press, A.R. “The Precocious Courtesy of Geoffrey Gaimar.” Court and Poet. Ed. Glyn S. Burgess. Liverpool: Francis Cairns, 1981. 267-276.

 

Image: Museum Meermanno, MMW, 10 B 25, Folio 37r (via The Medieval Bestiary)

Museum Meermanno, MMW, 10 B 25, Folio 37r

MDT Episode 26: Concerning the Problematic Passions of King Edgar

Oxford Magdalen MS lat. 172On this episode, we take one more step backwards in history from last time and look at some scandalous behavior from King Edgar the Peaceful as described by William of Malmesbury.

Today’s Text:

  • William of Malmesbury. Chronicle of the Kings of England. Ed. J.A. Giles. Trans. John Sharpe and J.A. Giles. London: George Bell & Sons, 1895. (Available at Google Books.
  • The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Trans. E.E.C. Gomme. London: George Bell and Sons, 1909. [Available through Google Books.]
  • Herodotus. The Histories. Trans. Aubrey de Sélincourt. Rev. by John M. Marincola. New York: Penguin, 1972.

References:

  • Gransden, Antonia. Historical Writing in England. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1974.

Image: Manuscript leaf of William of Malmebury’s traveling copy of his Gesta Pontificum Anglorum in his own hand. (Oxford Magdalen MS lat. 172.)

 

MDT Episode 25: Concerning the Deaths of Edgar and Edward in Triptych

On this episode, we look at one moment in history from three different sources — the deaths of King Edgar and his short-reigned heir, Edward the Martyr. Stay tuned to the very end for the new riddle!

Today’s Texts:

  • The Melrose Chronicle. In The Church Historians of England. Vol. IV, Part I. Ed. and Trans. Joseph Stevenson. London: Seeley’s, 1856. 347-384. [Available through Google Books.]
  • The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Trans. E.E.C. Gomme. London: George Bell and Sons, 1909. [Available through Google Books.]
  • William of Malmesbury. Chronicle of the Kings of England. Ed. J.A. Giles. Trans. John Sharpe and J.A. Giles. London: George Bell & Sons, 1895. [Available through Google Books].

Image: The Murder of Edward the Martyr, from British Library MS Royal 2 B VII, f.245.

BL Royal 2 B VII, f.245 (Death of Edward the Martyr)

MDT Episode 24: How Edward Put His Mother to the Ordeal

It’s our (shortly after) Mother’s Day episode, in which we learn from Edward the Confessor how not to treat one’s mother and investigate a connection between The Song of Roland and radioactive wastelands.

Cambridge UL MS EE 3.59 f. 4vToday’s Text:

  • Annals of the Church of Winchester. In The Church Historians of England. Vol. IV, Part I. Ed. and Trans. Joseph Stevenson. London: Seeley’s, 1856. 347-384. (Available at Google Books.)

References:

  • Burgess, Glyn S., trans. The Song of Roland. New York: Penguin, 1990.
  • Holmes, Urban T., Jr. “Chernubles de Munigre.” Speculum 16.2 (Apr. 1941): 244-245.
  • Stafford, Pauline. Queen Emma and Queen Edith: Queenship and Women’s Power in Eleventh-Century England. Oxford: Blackwell, 1997.

Image: Queen Emma flees with Edward and Alfred to her brother in Normandy, detail from Cambridge University Library MS EE 3.59 f. 4v. [Used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License (CC BY-NC 3.0).]

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