The Multicultural Middle Ages Podcast

Why does studying medieval Jewish women matter? The framework of intersectionality, a term coined by the scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, allows us to address how Jewish women’s lived experiences in the Middle Ages differed from those of either Jewish men or of Christian or Muslim women. Dr. Sarah Ifft Decker offers an overview of what we might learn—and how we might reevaluate our understanding of the...

Although much scholarship on the Middle Ages uses the model of “great men” to describe this time period, “Women, Books, and Pregnancy in Medieval France” focuses on the Christian patron saint of childbirth St. Margaret to promote a more equitable interpretation of first-hand evidence found in material objects that points to a more holistic understanding of the past. From evidence found in specific...

In this episode, join Reed O'Mara (GSC) as she interviews Elina Gertsman (Case Western Reserve University) and Sonya Rhie Mace (Cleveland Museum of Art) about their experiences co-teaching undergraduate- and graduate-level courses on the "global Middle Ages." Follow this link for more information about Reed, Dr. Gertsman, Dr. Rhie Mace, and this topic: www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

As medieval scholarship attempts to decenter the West and move towards a global and multicultural approach, we frequently ask: how do we mimic this move in the classroom? Most often, however, this question and its suggested solutions still presuppose a primarily Western and English-native speaking population of students, as well as courses situated within U.S. or European institutions. Informed by...

In this podcast, Dr. Stephanie Azzarello explores several miracle legends depicted in images that have been excised from a series of early fifteenth-century Venetian choir books. The legends include the so-called “Beirut Miracle,” the “Matariya Bathing miracle” and what may (or may not be) the miracle of the “Holy House of Loreto.” Follow this link for more information about Dr. Azzarello and this...

In a 1998 roundtable discussion, historian Ian Wood pithily said that there were more than two ethnic groups in Early Medieval Gaul, responding to a comment by fellow scholar Giorgio Ausenda. Much discussion surrounds Franks and Romans, but the ethnic landscape was indeed much broader, and extreme fluidity was the norm: strategies of identification prevailed over any biological sense of ethnicity....

Trans people and non-cis cultures and artifacts are not only a part of, they shape and define the Middle Ages. Legendary saints and military leaders, theology, poetry and science, documented religious and regular people, mainstream fictional characters, allegories, mythological figures, alchemical and celestial bodies are part of nonbinary, gender fluid, trans, asexual, queer, non-cis, non-normati...

This episode introduces approaches that museum curators take to bring a global Middle Ages to life for a range of audiences. We focus on the exhibition and publication, The Fantasy of the Middle Ages: An Epic Journey through Imaginary Medieval Worlds (Getty 2022) to address everything from the Grimm Brothers’ whimsical tales to Game of Thrones ’ bloody battles, from The Lord of the Rings ’ Middle-...

Does the medieval period really span 500-1500CE? Are knights, cathedrals, and jousts really the best representatives of the time? And what does it mean to call the Middle Ages... well, middle ? Join season hosts and producers Jonathan Correa Reyes, Reed O'Mara, and Logan Quigley as they discuss these questions and welcome you to the inaugural season of The Multicultural Middle Ages . This podcast...