Medieval Vampire Epidemics with John Blair

Medieval Vampire Epidemics with John Blair

Author: Danièle Cybulskie October 30, 2025 Duration: 49:15
As the nights get longer and spookier, there's one thing that's guaranteed to make our hair stand on end: corpses that just won’t stay dead. Especially the ones interested in eating us. This week, Danièle speaks with John Blair about who refused to rest in peace in the Middle Ages, how medieval people attempted to keep the dead buried, and why some hauntings reached epidemic proportions.

You can support this podcast on Patreon - go to https://www.patreon.com/medievalists

This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

Step back in time without the dust and difficulty of old archives. The Medieval Podcast, hosted by Danièle Cybulskie, is your accessible gateway to a thousand years of human experience. This isn't a dry recitation of dates and battles, but a vibrant exploration of how people lived, thought, and created. Each week, Danièle brings her genuine curiosity and conversational style to interviews with leading scholars, uncovering the fascinating details that textbooks often miss. You'll find yourself immersed in discussions that might cover the economic significance of pigs, the beauty and complexity of Persian poetry, or the tumultuous drama of the Plantagenet dynasty. The scope is deliberately broad, touching on history, arts, literature, and the intricacies of daily culture and society, all through the medieval lens. Listening to this podcast feels like having a friendly chat with a knowledgeable guide who is just as excited to learn as you are. It’s designed for anyone with a spark of interest, whether you're a seasoned enthusiast or just wondering what daily life was really like between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance. The conversations are deep yet digestible, always aiming to connect the medieval world to our own in unexpected ways. Prepare to have your assumptions challenged and your curiosity ignited as Danièle and her guests illuminate the shadows of the past, one compelling story at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

The Medieval Podcast
Podcast Episodes
Financing Queenship with Michele Seah [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:13
The English queens of the fifteenth century have had a serious popularity boost in the last twenty years, thanks to novels and TV series showing the glamour and drama of their lives. Queenship could have serious advantag…
Five Life Lessons from Ten Years as an Author [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:05
This week, Danièle celebrates ten years of The Five-Minute Medievalist by sharing some of the life lessons she's learned since the book came out - and some of the lessons that she just keeps on having to learn.This podca…
Medieval Musical Romances with Nigel Bryant and Matthew P. Thomson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:34
It’s always a great moment when you’re watching a play or a movie, and suddenly one of your favourite songs appears to heighten the mood. All of a sudden, you’re even more deeply emotionally invested in the lives of the…
Self-Help and the Seven Deadly Sins with Peter Jones [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:26
We’ve all been there: suddenly face-to-face with our ugliest selves, wrestling with pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice, gluttony, or lust. AKA the Seven Deadly Sins. In the Middle Ages, Christian thinkers divided moral m…
Patterns of Plague with Lori Jones [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:16
There are some very entrenched cultural ideas about the plague these days, involving big, beaky masks, and agonized people flagellating themselves in the street. But the way people thought about and treated plague change…
Comparing Women's Work with Nena Vandeweerdt [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:50
Last week, we talked about a woman whose work was to support her husband’s dreams of conquest – and her son’s dreams of rebellion. But what about the medieval women whose work was a little more ordinary? What was the 9-5…
Mathilda of Flanders with Laura Gathagan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:39
They say that behind every successful man is a woman, and when it comes to one of the biggest medieval stories of personal success, that seems to have been true. Everyone’s heard of William the Conqueror, the illegitimat…
On the Supremacy of the Pope with Patrick Nold [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:12
When the king is semi-divine and the pope speaks for God, himself, who is the boss of whom? It’s a question most of us don’t spend our days contemplating, but in the Middle Ages, this philosophical debate loomed large. J…
The Welles-Ros Bible with Kathryn A. Smith [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:25
Much in debate in England in the fourteenth century was how – and even if – the Bible should be translated into everyday language. Enter Maud de Ros, Lady Welles, the woman responsible for the most complete surviving tra…
Sir Tristrem with Thomas H. Crofts [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:43
As we wrap up the month, we have time to squeeze in one last love story. A tale packed full of potions, princesses, and even puppies, this one is right up there with Lancelot and Guinevere. It’s the story of Tristan and…