'tis but a scratch: fact and fiction about the Middle Ages
Richard Abels
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About This Podcast
Talking about popular conceptions of the Middle Ages and their historical realities. Join Richard Abels to learn about Vikings, knights and chivalry, movies set in the Middle Ages, and much more about the medieval world.
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Recent Episodes
S5E72 Knights, Samurai, and the Myth of Japanese Feudalism: A Conversation with Professor Stephen Morillo
Send a textUntil now, "'Tis But A Scratch: Fact & Fiction About the Middle Ages" has dealt with medieval Europe and the Middle East. In this episode, we branch out to a more global perspective by…
S5E71 1066 And All That: The Significance of the Norman Conquest (with Dr. Jennifer Paxton), part 2
Send a textIt has been several months since I posted the first half of a two part series on the significance and consequences of the Norman Conquest with my good friend and colleague Dr. Jennifer…
S5E70 Episode 70: What we can learn about medieval people from their bones and teeth. A conversation with Professor Alison Beach
Send a textAnd now for something completely different! In this episode, we are not going to be talking about kings or popes, crusades, wars, or political events. Instead, we will be examining the…
S4E69 The First King of England: Æthelstan (with David Woodman)
Send a textIronically, the most famous date in Anglo-Saxon history is that of its demise, 1066, which is why when in 1930 W. C. Sellar, a former schoolmaster, and his classmate at Oxford, the…
S4E68 A Florentine Pilgrimage to Bethlehem and Jerusalem in 1384
Send a textThis is an addendum to my previous episode with Peter Konieczny. One of my listeners sent me an email asking why we never covered Frescobaldi's, Gucci's, and Sigoli's accounts of their…
S4E67 Three Accounts of A Pilgrimage To Egypt and the Holy Land in 1384-5
Send a textIn the year 1384 a company of six wealthy merchants from Florence, each accompanied by a servant, went on a ten-month long pilgrimage to Mameluke Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. Upon…
S4E66 Halloween special: Three Medieval Ghost Stories and My One Encounter with a Ghost
Send a textTo celebrate my birthday—yes I was a Halloween baby—I decided to do a short episode recounting my one up-close and personal experience with a ghost. No, it was not a ghost of some one who…
S4E65 From Bishop of Rome to the Papal Monarchy: Pope Innocent III, Crusade, Church Reform, and the Apex of the Medieval Papacy
Send a textYes, we have finally come to the end of our series "From Bishop of Rome to the Papal Monarchy." In this episode, Ellen and I talk about the pontificate of Innocent III, which historians…
S4E64 From Bishop of Rome to the Papal Monarchy: the Rise of the Papal Monarchy
Send a textIn this, the fourth--and penultimate--episode of our continuing series on the medieval papacy, my wife Ellen and I examine the establishment of the papal monarchy in the twelfth century.…
S4E63 "1066 and All That": The Significance of the Norman Conquest, Part 1 (with Dr. Jennifer Paxton)
Send a textAbout eight months ago, Jenny and I released a couple of episodes dealing with the historical context of the Norman Conquest. I am delighted to have Jenny back to talk with me about the…
S4E62 From Bishop of Rome to the Papal Monarchy: Pope Gregory VII and the Investiture Controversy
Send a textThe subject of today’s episode, the pontificate of Pope Gregory VII and the Investiture Controversy, is a staple of undergraduate medieval surveys. The first episode I posted after our…
S4E61 From Bishop of Rome to the Papal Monarchy: Pope Leo IX and the Gregorian Reform
Send a textAfter a summer hiatus, we are finally back with a new episode, the third in our series on the medieval papacy, “From Bishop of Rome to the Papal Monarchy.” The previous covered the…
S4E60 Pope Boniface VIII vs King Philip the Fair: Catholicism's Medieval Meltdown (an episode from the podcast "BEEF with Bridget Todd")
Send a textAfter a summer hiatus “’Tis But A Scratch: Fact & Fiction About the Middle Ages” is back—well, not actually quite yet. I am busily working on the final two episodes of our series on…
S4E59 Mysterious Medieval Manuscripts: Interview with Garry J. Shaw
Send a textNow for something completely different from tracing the development of the papacy from bishop of Rome to the papal monarchy--but, don't worry, I will be completing that series soon. In…
S4E58 The medieval papal conclave: starving cardinals into consensus
Send a textI finally saw the movie "Conclave," and really enjoyed it. As you probably know, it is about the contentious election of a pope in a conclave of the college of cardinals. The movie,…
S4E57 From Bishop of Rome to the Papal Monarchy, Part 2: The Early Middle Ages
Send a textIn this second episode of a three part series, my favorite cohost Ellen and I survey the development of the papacy from the eighth through the early eleventh century. Among the topics we…
S4E56 From Bishop of Rome to the Papal Monarchy: the early centuries
Send a textIn this first episode of a three part series, my favorite cohost Ellen and I survey the development of the papacy over its first seven centuries. I have to confess that along the way I got…
S4E55 El Cid, From History to Legend
Send a textIn this episode I interview Professor Nora Berend of the University of Cambridge about her new book El Cid; The Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Mercenary (Pegasus Books, 2025). We discuss…
S4E54 Tne Norman Conquest (with Dr. Jennifer Paxton), part 2
Send a textThis is the second of our two part series on the Norman Conquest. In it Jenny and I discuss the military challenges faced by King Harold Godwinson and Duke William of Normandy and the…
S4E53 The Norman Conquest, part one: From Cnut to the Death of Edward the Confessor
Send a textThis is the first half of a two part series on the Norman Conquest of England. My cohost for both parts is a veteran of this podcast, Dr. Jennifer Paxton of the Catholic University of…
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'tis but a scratch: fact and fiction about the Middle Ages has published 72 episodes since January 2022, covering topics in Education, History.
'tis but a scratch: fact and fiction about the Middle Ages is currently highly active with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 59m.
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