Ask a Medievalist

Em and Jesse continue their discussion of Passover and Easter, including the Venerable Bede's take on Easter's pagan origins, blood libel, and some long digressions about monasteries, Pope Francis, Saint Francis, and Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice.

Em and Jesse retell the story of Passover, and then discuss the story of the crucifixion in the New Testament and how the two dovetail together. In the process, they cover Medieval traditions surrounding Easter week in a wide-ranging discussion that also touches on Gilgamesh, the harrowing of hell, and Peeps.

It's the Black Death, the original plague! Em and Jesse discuss the outbreaks of plague that bookended the Middle Ages--the Plague of Justinian (around 540 CE) and the better-known outbreak that spread across Asia into Western Europe and eventually hit the British Isles in the 1300s. We discuss Medieval responses to plague, such as quarantine, scientific inquiry, and pograms, as well as the ways t...

Em and Jesse discuss the inspiration behind the podcast and try to answer a few questions: What are the Middle Ages? How are they different from the Dark Age? Where did the name "Middle Ages" come from? Why study the Middle Ages? Also, Jesse makes controversial claims about Christopher Marlowe's play Doctor Faustus.