Weird Medieval Guys

Why are peasants so revolting?

The movies are back, or so they say. But what makes a good medieval movie? Historical accuracy? Satisfying storytelling? The quality of the tassels? To find out, Aran, Olivia and Joe Mason reviewed five movies. Some of them were good, some of them were interesting, and some of them were Braveheart. Films reviewed: Braveheart (1995) The Northman (2022) The Green Knight (2021) The Kingdom of Heaven...

Roger Scruton - In Defense of Booty

Wait, what? Are you for real? is this a bit you're doing?

It would only make sense, right? Why else would they call it millenarianism?

And how Hitler made them illegal!

Nothing beats a Jet 2 Holiday - except, of course, trekking thousands of miles across Central Asia to deliver spices, preach the gospel, or just see that's going on over there. The Mongol Empire facilitated an unprecedented transcontinental mobility, which a few people (mostly Europeans, go figure) wrote about. Some of that writing was genuinely insightful, and some was unitentionally hsyterical....

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In the medieval Middle East, no group was as feared as the Order of the Assassins - or as misunderstood. In this episode, Olivia and Aran chart the emergence of this deadly organisation and their role in the complex web of Middle Eastern politics. This episode has everything you could want: high-octane derring-do, arcane Islamic eschatology, thundering Mongol armies and yes: even a few scheming vi...

Dry January is over! Wet February is here! What was it like to get drunk in the Middle Ages? Let's investigate...... Join the official WMG Discord server!! https://discord.gg/6GzvXdWX23

Q&A with Aran and Olivia Join the official WMG Discord server!! https://discord.gg/6GzvXdWX23

Our series on the Norman Conquest finally comes to an end with a grand finale covering the aftermath of the events in Scotland, England, and Wales. Though William the Bastard may die 20 years after the conquest takes place, his actions will reverberate throughout history....

It all comes down to this. Harold Godwinson, Harald Sigurdson, and William the Bastard are preparing their armies, for a tri-cornered showdown for the English throne. But what really happened in 1066? In this episode, Olivia and Aran will piece together Norman histories, Icelandic sagas, English chronicles, and one big tapestry, to assemble the events that would change England - and Europe - forev...

So far we've talked a lot about the Norman conquest without talking very much about who the Normans were and why they (and especially one guy) wanted to conquest. Well, that changes today! How did some Vikings become French, why is that our problem over here in England, and what's wrong with being a bastard descended from a long line of bastards? Find out.... Join the Weird Medieval Guys discord t...

In the third episode of our Norman Conquest series, we look at the life and times of the second of our claimants to the English throne in 1066: Harald Sigurdson, King of Norway. When a teenaged Harald's life is upended by Cnut's invasion of Norway in 1028, he builds a new life for himself as a mercenary in Kyiv, and eventually as an honour guard for the Roman Emperors themselves. Along the way, he...

Thanks to the efforts of Alfred the Great and his descendants, England enters the new millennium as united kingdom. However, trouble is brewing: the Vikings have returned, and their leader, Sweyn Forkbeard, has designs on the English throne. What follows is a bloody tale of intrigue, with more mysterious deaths than a series of The Traitors. Expect an unready king, people marrying their dead enemi...

We are literally so back!! And this time with our longest series yet!! This is part 1 of 6(?) of our Norman conquest series and this part is all about ENGLAND!! More specifically, the crazy cats who invented it. Many thanks to our dear friend Joe Mason for joining us again. Join the official WMG discord! https://discord.gg/6GzvXdWX23

Well, we finally made it: The Definitive Podcast (jodcast?) on medieval Jewish culture. After the destruction of the Second Temple, Jews were scattered across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Despite often-brutal repression, many Jews thrived, creating new communities, cultural expressions, and even languages. Despite marginalisation, Jewish women were also key to this evolution, enthusia...

Taggart voice There's been a murder! Medieval life was full of murders! People were getting knifed all the time mate. But who was responsible for sorting the guilty from the innocent? What do God and intimate social knowledge have to do with it? And is this all a thinly-veiled excuse for Aran to do his incredible Poirot impression? For more information, see the University of Cambridge's Medieval M...

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We've got a lovely two-parter lined up for you guys and it's all about the history of the English language during the Middle Ages! Join us as we follow English from its humble origins as a collection of Germanic dialects spoken by a bunch of illiterate, trousers-wearing mudmen from in 400AD to a real language spoken by relatively normal people who have things like books and kings and their own cou...

Yarrrrrrrr!!!!!! Where's me BOOTY?! We all love stories about pirates, whether they're plundering Treasure Islands, fighting an octopus man, or stealing Tom Hanks' job. But did you know that the Middle Ages had pirates? They did! And they were just as swashbuckling, mercenary and unhinged as their later successors. Set sail with Olivia and Aran on the good ship Podcasting , as they set out to find...

Gather round, rockhounds! It's time to journey even further into the past than usual by taking a look at fossils through medieval eyes. Did dragon myths come from dinosaur bones? Did cyclops myths come from elephant bones? Can rocks be Jewish? All these questions and more, answered..... For more on some of what we discuss, check out: Lapis Judaicus or the Jews' stone: The folklore of fossil echino...

Happy New Year to all our Weird Medieval Guys podcast listeners and welcome back to our annual Q&A session! We solicited questions about history and the podcast from our Discord community and answered as many as we could for you. Listen on to hear about why we do silly voices, whether medieval people played drinking games, and more! Join our Discord server to be part of a wonderful community o...

The days have been getting shorter, the nights longer and the wind bitter-er. Even as the winter solstice draws near, the coming months of cold and darkness make spring seem still an eternity away. Making it through winter is never easy, so how did people in the Middle Ages get by? Join Olivia and Aran as they look into how people not only survived but thrived the whole medieval winter through. Fo...