The Multicultural Middle Ages

by Will Beattie, Jonathan Correa Reyes, Reed O'Mara, & Logan Quigley

The Multicultural Middle Ages is a podcast where medievalists from all professional and disciplinary tracks can come together to think and talk about the too-oft-unsung diversity of the Middle Ages. We offer public-facing, open access content directed at experts and non-experts alike to present updated, accurate, and culturally responsible accounts of the plurality of the medieval period.

Series producers: Wil ... 

 ...  Read more

Podcast episodes

  • Season 3

  • Built and Natural Environments in Medieval Contexts

    Built and Natural Environments in Medieval Contexts

    What is the relationship between so-called built and natural environments as they are represented in medieval literature, and what is the value of thinking about this relationship? Amy Juarez, Chelsea Keane, and Rebecca Davis discuss the nuanced connections between medieval literary representations of “built” and “natural” environments. Their wide-ranging discussion covers the multiplicity of Middle English words, the form of medieval poetic constructions, and the problematics of disciplinary distinctions. For more on this discussion, check out the episode notes on our website: multiculturalmiddleages.com.

  • Reflections on The Multicultural Middle Ages

    Bonus

    Reflections on The Multicultural Middle Ages

    Bonus

    The producers of The Multicultural Middle Ages podcast sit down to talk about where we've been, what it's been like, and what's to come. www.multiculturalmiddleages.com

  • Season 2

  • Speculum Spotlight: The Cerne Giant in its Early Medieval Context

    Speculum Spotlight: The Cerne Giant in its Early Medieval Context

    Scholars Thomas Morcom and Helen Gittos reflect on their experiences with researching and writing their article, "The Cerne Giant in its Early Medieval Context," which appears in Speculum 99:1. The Cerne Abbas giant is a well-known figure cut into the chalk of a hillside in Dorset. Recent archaeological investigation has concluded that it had been cut in the early middle ages. Morcom and Gittos argue that he was originally carved as an image of the classical hero Hercules and that this apparently surprising date makes good historical sense. The landscape context of the giant indicates that he is best explained as marking a muster station for the West Saxon army. Although it is widely believed that the earliest written evidence for the giant dates to the seventeenth century, this study makes the case that he was referred to, albeit implicitly, in the liturgy for St Eadwold, whose relics were at Cerne. By the mid eleventh century, the monks of Cerne were re-interpreting the giant as an image of their saint. This is one of the many ways in which the saint has been re- imagined which helps explain why he has been looked after for so long. This episode is an installment in a special partnership with Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies. Each episode is designed to bring you behind the scenes of an article published in an upcoming Speculum issue. This episode is hosted by Katherine L. Jansen and Will Beattie. For more about Thomas, Helen, the Cerne Abbas giant, and this conversation, check out our website at www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

  • Speculum Spotlight: Jewelry and People in the Byzantine Cemetery of Parapotamos, Epiros

    Speculum Spotlight: Jewelry and People in the Byzantine Cemetery of Parapotamos, Epiros

    Scholar Georgios Makris reflects on his experiences with researching and writing his article, “Jewelry and People in the Byzantine Cemetery of Parapotamos, Epiros,” which appears in Speculum 98:4. Jewelry reflecting the tastes, needs, and practices of past users across all social strata constitutes one of the most representative portable arts in the Middle Ages. Jewelry’s typical lack of iconography or original context has often prevented scholars of Byzantine art from engaging with the medium’s socio-historical value. By bringing together artworks from museum collections and objects found in the cemetery of Parapotamos, in northwestern Greece, this study disentangles medieval jewelry from an inquiry into provenance or the development of fashion and instead situates specific jewels in a discussion about meaning on a social level, in terms of ownership and human behavior in Byzantium and beyond. This episode is an installment in a special partnership with Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies. Each episode is designed to bring you behind the scenes of an article published in an upcoming Speculum issue. This episode is hosted by Katherine L. Jansen and Reed O'Mara.For more about Georgios, Byzantine jewelry, and this conversation, check out our Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/mmapodcast.

  • Medieval Japanese Buddhisms

    Medieval Japanese Buddhisms

    What does it mean to experience a sacred text? How did Buddhism make its way from south Asia to the Japanese archipelago? How did the adoption of Buddhism impact the Japanese Middle Ages? Join Jon Correa Reyes and Reed O'Mara for a conversation with Charlotte Eubanks, where they discuss some of the many ways in which Buddhist beliefs and practices shaped medieval Japanese history, individuals, and landscapes. Additionally, they shed light on how engagement with Buddhist sacred texts was a deeply embodied experience for Buddhist monks and devotees.For more about Charlotte, Jon, Reed, and their conversation, visit our Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/mmapodcast.