As Mary and Irina discussed in the previous episode of Medieval LOLs, fabliaux had an enormous influence on Chaucer, but outside of his work, only one survives in Middle English. Dame Syrith, a story of lust, deception and a mustard-eating dog, is medieval humour at its silliest and most troubling. Mary and Irina explore the surprising representations of old ... Show More
May 27
Who’s afraid of realism? ‘Mrs Dalloway’ by Virginia Woolf
In August 1923, halfway through writing ‘Mrs Dalloway’, Virginia Woolf recorded a new idea in her diary: she would ‘dig out beautiful caves’ behind her characters, and ‘the caves shall connect, and each comes to daylight at the present moment’. This was Woolf’s ‘tunnelling proces ... Show More
21m 10s
May 18
London Revisited: The Protestant Capital
At the start of the 16th century London was still recognisably medieval, crowded within its walls, dominated by churches and monasteries and deeply tied to Catholic Europe. By the end of Henry VIII’s reign, much of that world had vanished. The Reformation not only changed the rel ... Show More
21m 55s
Aug 2023
Medieval Booze with Eleanor Janega
<p>In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis welcomes his new co-host, historian Dr. Eleanor Janega. For her first episode, Eleanor and Matt kick off with a quick fire round about some of her favourite Medieval subjects, culminating in booze. How important was alcohol in the m ... Show More
41m 53s
Apr 2021
The Mermaid of Zennor (Pre-Intermediate)
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In Zennor, a village in Cornwall, there is a carving of a mermaid in the local church. How did it get there? Well, hundreds of years ago, a strange but beautiful woman visited the town, and caught the eye of a young man call ... Show More
22m 55s