Appendix to Ep. 120: Some Sts. Valentines' Lives

Appendix to Ep. 120: Some Sts. Valentines' Lives

Author: Medieval Death Trip February 14, 2026 Duration: 23:57
In this prelude appendix to our episode on saint's lives, we hear versions of the life of St. Valentine from three different medieval sources. Today's Texts: First English edition of the Nuremberg chronicle: being the Liber chronicarum of Dr. Hartmann Schedel. Edited and translated by Kosta Hadavas, U of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries, 2023, https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/3SXNV3NHBQLFQ8J [used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.] Jacobus de Voragine. "Life of S. Valentine." In The Golden Legend, or Lives of the Saints. Translated by William Caxton, edited by F.S. Ellis, vol. 3, J.M. Dent, 1900, pp. 42-45. Google Books. Bede. Martyrologium de Natalitiis Sanctorum. In Patrologia Latina, edited by J.-P. Migne, vol. 94, col. 840A-842B, 1862. Google Books. Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction 00:07:34 The Nuremberg Chronicle's account of the 8th Persecution 00:13:57 Commentary 00:15:28 "St. Valentine" from Caxton's Translation of the Golden Legend 00:19:02 Commentary 00:19:59 from Bede's Martyrology 00:21:20 Commentary 00:23:37 Outro

Step into the strange and vivid world of the Middle Ages with Medieval Death Trip. Each episode is built around a single primary source-a chronicle, a poem, a letter, or a legal record-that reveals something peculiar, grim, or wonderfully unexpected from the period. The chosen texts are the real draw, offering unmediated glimpses into a mindset that can feel both alien and strangely familiar. You’ll hear about bizarre miracles, brutal justice, mystical visions, and the quiet, odd details of daily life that history books often overlook. After presenting the document in full, the host provides context and personal reflections, piecing together what the story might tell us about the people who wrote it and the world they inhabited. This isn’t a dry academic lecture; it’s more like a guided tour through the archives, pointing out the bloodstains and the marginal doodles with equal fascination. The podcast lives in the intersection of several genres, pulling from history, literature, and cultural study to examine how medieval people made sense of their reality. Listening feels like uncovering a series of forgotten artifacts, each one a conversation starter about belief, violence, humor, and humanity. For anyone curious about history’s shadowy corners and the raw, unfiltered voices of the past, this series provides a consistently engaging and thought-provoking journey. The approach is both serious and accessible, treating these centuries-old accounts with respect while never shying away from their inherent strangeness. Tune in for a deep dive into the archives, one unsettling and fascinating story at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Medieval Death Trip
Podcast Episodes
The Voyage of the Uí Corra (Part 2) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:43
This episode we finally enter the open ocean with the Uí Corra and their fellow pilgrims as they explore strange new lands, seek out new afterlives and new sects, and boldly go where many other saints and heroes of Irish…
The Voyage of the Uí Corra (Part 1) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:47
In this episode, we embark on another Irish adventure with the first part (of two) of "The Voyage of the Uí Corra," in which we don't actually set sail until final paragraph. Today's Texts "The Voyage of the Hui Corra."…
St. Patrick's Letter to Coroticus [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:23
For this St. Patrick's Day, we finally present the last canonical text written by St. Patrick, his letter to Coroticus, completing the series we began in Episode 68 with the first half of Patrick's Confessio. Today's Tex…
Concerning the Murder and Miracles of Kenelm of Mercia [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:22
This episode, we go into more depth with the legend of St. Kenelm (Cynehelm) and his jealous sister Quendrida (Cwenthryth). We also learn what it means to "crab the parson." Today's Text - "The Legend of St. Kenelm." Tra…
Concerning Conjoined Twins, Some Incorruptibles, and Royal Murders [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:09
We continue on from last episode's look at the Green Children of Woolpit with a further consideration of what it meant to wonder at a marvel in the middle ages, with additional illustration of some wondrous things from W…
Concerning the Green Children of Woolpit and Other Prodigies [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:59
This Halloween marks our 10th anniversary, and we observe it by hearing the earliest written accounts of one of the most well-known pieces of medieval weird history: the Green Children of Woolpit -- and also hear the oth…
Concerning the Miseries of the Flesh according to Pope Innocent III [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:36
In this episode, we explore the tradition of contemptus mundi with a text all about how horrible it is to be a human being, On the Misery of the Human Condition, written by Pope Innocent III (when he was but Cardinal Lot…
MDT Ep. 106: Concerning the Hard Work of a Housewife [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:49
For Mother's Day, we look at a 15th-century tale of a plowman who thinks that -- in terms of daily labor -- his wife has it too easy, and how he learns otherwise. Today's Text "Ballad of a Tyrannical Husband." Reliquiae…