MDT Ep. 87: Medieval True Crime III: Death in the Countryside

MDT Ep. 87: Medieval True Crime III: Death in the Countryside

Author: Medieval Death Trip May 12, 2021 Duration: 54:56
We return from an unplanned semester hiatus with the third installment of our Medieval True Crime miniseries, continuing to explore the 13th-century coroner's rolls of rural Bedfordshire (plus one item from 14th-century Essex), as well as muse on why murder narratives so monopolize our mysteries and how murder was defined in medieval England. Today's Text: Gross, Charles, editor. Select Cases from the Coroners' Rolls, A.D. 1265-1413, with a Brief Account of the History of the Office of Coroner. Bernard Quarithc, 1896. Google Books. References: Green, Thomas A. "Societal Concepts of Criminal Liability for Homicide in Mediaeval England." Speculum, vol. 47, no. 4, Oct. 1972, pp. 669-694. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2856634. Hanawalt, Barbara A. "Violent Death in Fourteenth- and Early Fifteenth-Century England." Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol. 18, no. 3, July 1976, pp. 297-320. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/178340. Kaste, Martin. "Open Cases: Why One-Third Of Murders In America Go Unresolved." Morning Edition, National Public Radio, 30 Mar. 2015, www.npr.org/2015/03/30/395069137/open-cases-why-one-third-of-murders-in-america-go-unresolved. United States. Department of Justice. Bureau of Justice Statistics. "FAQ Detail: What is the probability of conviction for felony defendants?" www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?iid=403&ty=qa.

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
MDT Ep. 86: Concerning the Meaning of Stones [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:52
As we kick off the New Year, we take a brief diversion from our Medieval True Crime miniseries to explore the world of precious stones and the extraordinary properties attributed to them through a look at the Lapidary of…
MDT Ep. 82: Concerning Plague Persecutions [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:19:55
This episode, we examine the persecution of Jews that occurred during the plague years of 1348-1350, including the record of well-poisoning interrogations, the pope's attempt to quell the violence, and a Jewish account o…
MDT Ep. 81: Concerning More Descriptions of the Plague [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:56
As life under quarantine begins to enter a new phase, we continue our survey of plague texts, with a grab-bag of selections ranging from Petrarch baring his soul to a surgeon listing failed remedies to some Paris profess…
MDT Ep. 80: Concerning Boccaccio's Description of the Plague [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:21
We return at last for our first episode of 2020 in the midst of the covid-19 global pandemic. As such, our text for today is the famous description of the bubonic plague as it appeared in Florence in 1348 with which Bocc…