Medieval Madness

During the early medieval era imprisonment was not really a thing. It was more common to either fine, mutilate or execute criminals. But in turbulent times of war, it was often necessary to hold political prisoners who could be used for negotiation and inducement. Even so, only the most high-level captives would actually be held hostage for long periods of time. Incarcerating common criminals was...

We often think that jobs during the Middle Ages were quite different than those that exist today, but actually many of them are connected. Some even have the same titles now as then. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The attitude towards love, sex and marriage went through some interesting changes during the medieval period. Probably due to the prevalence of religion, especially Christianity becoming such an important part of life. One impression that we often associate with medieval sexuality is that of complete repression. A world where a group of people, namely priests and other clerics, who don’t have sex,...

The Medievals had three types of hospitals. The first, known as the leprosaria, for those afflicted with leprosy. The second were those erected for the general use of pilgrims and sick travellers and the third were intended to give shelter to the elderly. A lot were a mixture of the three types, and all were used to look after the needs of the poor, where the inmates would receive care and possibl...

The disease known as the plague has been stalking humanity for over 5,000 years, and there have been many outbreaks. In fact, there have been three pandemics caused by the bacillus bacterium Yersinia Pestis. The first was in the 6th century. It devastated the Byzantine Empire and was known as The Plague of Justinian. The third began in China in the mid-19th century and quickly spread throughout th...

In the Middle Ages how much leisure time a person had would depend heavily upon their social status. Because they had such a favoured position in life, and many servants to fulfill their every need, medieval royalty had lots of free time that they could just fritter away. They could also afford to pay for the best activities for themselves, and for any guests who they needed to entertain. Learn mo...

Even in the 21st century, many people are still afraid to visit the dentist, as it can be an unpleasant experience. Try to imagine it in the Middle Ages without anesthetic and with no sophisticated dental tools. Any affliction of the teeth meant a trip to the barber surgeon, who was the go-to medical practitioner at the time, or even the blacksmith if no barber was available. It is a common miscon...

Let’s be honest, daily life for a medieval serf in England, and many other European countries wasn’t much fun. The feudal system meant that peasants were bound by law to work for the nobility, who owned the land they lived on. The outside working day started at dawn, which meant that during the summer months it could be as early as 3am. And it didn’t end until dusk. Work in the fields was back bre...

Throughout history, there have always been people who belong to the LGBTQ community. In Antiquity same-sex relations were common, and it was acceptable for men to have both male and female lovers outside of marriage. Regarded as a way of controlling the population, Plato compared the acceptance of homosexuality to democracy and its repression to tyranny. Both the terms heterosexuality and homosexu...

Just as they do now many people in the Middle Ages journeyed for business, pleasure, and religious reasons. But unlike today people had just two options when travelling in the medieval world. They could either go by land or sea. In today's episode, we look at 4 Modes of Transport in the Middle Ages. Welcome to Medieval Madness! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The elite women of ancient Greece and Rome regularly used cosmetics, a custom that was adopted from the ancient Egyptians. During the Middle Ages the tradition continued only among the nobility, as most of the peasant classes didn’t have the money for such luxuries. Of course, in medieval times the church kept a watchful eye over everything, and this included the makeup habits of its female parish...

It seems that students of the modern world and their reputation for drunken debauchery aren't too dissimilar to students of the medieval world. Lets travel back in time and learn about learning in the middle ages. Welcome to Medieval Madness! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A lot has been written about the medieval period and a lot of it generally portrays the people as being unsophisticated, cruel, and ignorant. Superstition was a dominating force that filled peoples lives. Violence, death, and disease skulked around every corner, waiting to pounce. But there are also many misconceptions about the Middle Ages making it one of the most fascinating periods in history....

We previously looked at the diet of a medieval peasant, so in todays episode we're going to explore the diet of the upper classes of the middle ages! What did the medieval upper classes actually eat?! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the Middle Ages most people never saw a doctor. Peasants would normally visit a cunning woman or a monk who would provide them with some sort of herbal remedy as well as prayer. The few physicians that were available would only treat the rich. Naturally, people didn't tend to have quite as high of a life expectancy as we do these days. In this video, we're going to look into some of the many re...

The smock, hose, kirtle, dress, belt, surcoat, girdle, cape, hood, and bonnet are just some examples of the more standard medieval clothing. However, fashion trends did sometimes get a little ridiculous too. So, strap your gucci boxers tight as we travel back in time to look at fashion during the middle ages. Welcome to Medieval Madness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic...

Unicorns, centaurs, griffins, manticores, mermaids and dragons. These are all medieval monsters we learned about in a previous episode. Today we're going to travel a little further afield in the middle ages, to learn about beasts such as the ones described as, “ugly folk without heads” with their “mouths round like a horseshoe, in the middle of their chest”. Welcome to Medieval Madness! Learn more...

European maps from the Middle Ages are full of strange lands, legendary races and fabulous monsters.  Only the Church with the help of God was able to provide protection against these horrors. The medieval world was hard to understand, and the people believed that their souls were always in danger of being stolen away by all sorts of spiritual creatures. In todays episode of Medieval Madness, we h...

 Saint Augustine’s ideal of the unbreakable marriage dominated the Middle Ages. By the late medieval period the marriage vows contained the phrase ‘till death do us part’, emphasizing the seriousness of the commitment that was being made. And it certainly was serious! In today's episode of Medieval Madness, we will be exploring divorce in the middle ages, as well as taking a look at the story behi...

During the medieval period lucky jesters were the ones who were employed by nobles or royalty to perform at court. But he or she wasn’t just an entertainer, they were part of the social fabric of a region, whilst court jesters were valued with great privileges. Today in Medieval Madness, we look at the life of a Medieval Jester. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices