Concerning Seizure and Possession (Part 2): Medieval Methods

Concerning Seizure and Possession (Part 2): Medieval Methods

Author: Medieval Death Trip June 7, 2026 Duration: 1:06:14
We complete our look at epilepsy in the Middle Ages by considering how religion and medicine intersect in surviving medical texts and how classical learning was reintroduced by looking at the example of John of Gaddesden, possibly the model for Chaucer's Doctour of Phisik. Today's Texts: John of Gaddesden. "John of Gaddesden on Epilepsy." Edited by William G. Lennox, translated by Adrian P. English, Annals of Medical History, vol. 1, no. 3, May 1939, pp. 283-307. Semantic Scholar. Origen. Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, translated by John Patrick, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 9, edited by Allan Menzies, Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1896. New Advent, revised and edited by Kevin Knight, www.newadvent.org/fathers/1016.htm Herbarium. In Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England, translated by Thomas Cockayne, vol. 1, Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, 1864, pp. 1-325. Archive.org. Leech Book. Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England, translated by Thomas Cockayne, vol. 2, Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, 1864. Archive.org. "Life of St. Winefred." Lives of the Cambro British Saints, of the Fifth and Immediate Succeeding Centuries, from Ancient Welsh & Latin MSS. in the British Museum and Elsewhere, with English Translations, an Explanatory Notes, edited and translated by W. J. Rees, Welsh MSS. Society, 1853, pp. 515-529. Google Books. Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:34 Text: Gospel of Mark (NIV), Ch. 9:14-29 00:04:36 Commentary 00:10:12 Text: Origen, Commentary on Matthew 00:11:44 Commentary 00:13:58 Flashback to Life and Miracles of St. Winefred 00:14:41 Commentary 00:18:33 Text: Bald's Leechbook 00:19:44 Commentary 00:22:17 Text: Anglo-Saxon Herbarium, "On Asterion" 00:23:11 Commentary 00:24:03 Text: Anglo-Saxon Herbarium, "On Artemisia" 00:25:05 Commentary 00:34:28 Text: John of Gaddesden, Rosa Medicinae 00:56:59 Commentary 01:00:42 PSA: Seizure First Aid 01:04:03 Riddle 01:04:39 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: 100

Medieval Death Trip
Podcast Episodes
MDT Ep. 102: Concerning the Occult Career of Pope Sylvester II [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:47
We pick up our unfinished thread from the Melrose Chronicle by exploring the "Dark Legend" of Gerbert d'Aurillac, who became Pope Sylvester II allegedly through the assistance of the devil. We'll hear one version of this…
MDT Ep. 100: Concerning the Litigious Origins of Printing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:19:33
For our 100th episode, we look at one of the technologies that marks an endpoint for the middle ages, the printing press, and consider how Johann Gutenberg may be a prototype for today's paranoid tech tycoons and the law…
MDT Ep. 99: A Valentine's Battle for the Kingship of Man [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:19
On Valentine's Day 796 years ago, brother fought brother for the throne of the Isle of Man, as their fathers and uncles had done before them, another entry in the blood and betrayal-filled saga of the house of Crovan. To…
MDT Ep. 97: Concerning Three Witches [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:20:01
This time on Medieval Death Trip, we celebrate Black Friday weekend with some black magic in our belated Halloween anniversary episode. We look at a couple of quite different medieval witches, a Cornish wildwoman from th…
MDT Ep. 96: Concerning the Relics and Grave of King Oswald [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:01
This episode we examine the fate of another royal head, that of King Oswald of Northumbria, and the miracles associated with his relics and the dirt from his grave, as reported by the Venerable Bede. Today's Text Bede. B…
MDT Extra: Letters on the Death of Elizabeth I [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:34
This extra minisode of Medieval Death Trip offers a bit of historical perspective on the recent death of Queen Elizabeth II by looking back at accounts of the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603. Also, a surprisingly rele…
MDT Ep. 95: Concerning Princely Heads and the Bishop's Monkeys [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:34
This episode we return to the Lanercost Chronicle (and a bit of Capgrave's Chronicle) to get some serious history concerning the fall of the last native prince of Wales, before getting some a less serious dinner party an…
MDT Ep. 94: Helmbrecht v Sheriff: Eve of Justice [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:31
This episode we conclude the story of the peasant lad who spurned a humble farming life to go off live the high life with a robber knight and, as we shall see, did not ultimately get the life he expected. Here is the fin…