Weird Medieval Guys

Here's a rhetorical question: do you love your pet? Of course you do, but did you know that medieval people did too? The only difference is, these pets had jobs!

In this episode, Olivia and Aran delve into the wacky world of medieval cats and dogs, to explore what contemporary people wrote about them. Spoiler alert: they thought they were cool little guys.

Also discussed: the official WMG dogs Bonnie and Bizzy; whether medieval hunting is like football, and if they had Mormons in late-antique Arabia.

Further Reading:

Carole Rawcliffe, "Town Tykes and Butchers Hounds" https://www.jstor.org/stable/26630015?read-now=1&seq=18#page_scan_tab_contents

Peter Konieczny, "Why cats were hated in medieval Europe" https://www.medievalists.net/2023/05/cats-hated-medieval-europe/#:%7E:text=Cats%20in%20medieval%20Europe%20mostly,this%20view%20of%20felines%20emerged

Edward, Duke of York, "The Master of Game": https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43452/43452-h/43452-h.htm

Some lady called "'Olivia Swarthout' (never heard of her): "Medieval Muslims loved their cats so much" https://weirdmedievalguys.substack.com/p/medieval-muslims-were-so-much-nicer

The Laws of Hywel Dda: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Laws_of_Howel_the_Good

Join the official Weird Medieval Guys Discord: https://discord.gg/ZwHz5JDKky

In this inaugural episode of the Weird Medieval Guys podcast, Olivia and Aran discuss why medieval art is so intriguing to modern viewers and what makes so much of it so weird. Also discussed are Galaxy Quest, Mel Gibson's crimes against the Middle Ages, and the future historic legacy of explicit images of Garfield the cat.

For more information about some of what we cover:

• Listen to Ira Glass and Michael Camille at Medieval Times
• Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
• Read more about visual puns in the 13th century Rutland Psalter
• Read "The Wonders of the East" online to learn about giant ants, pepper-loving snakes, and more

Follow us on Twitter!

Weird Medieval Guys @WeirdMedieval

Olivia @olivia__ms

Aran @aranptappers

Happy New Year to all our Weird Medieval Guys podcast listeners and welcome back to our annual Q&A session! We solicited questions about history and the podcast from our Discord community and answered as many as we could for you. Listen on to hear about why we do silly voices, whether medieval people played drinking games, and more!

Join our Discord server to be part of a wonderful community of weird medieval enthusiasts and for the chance to submit questions next year!

https://discord.gg/6GzvXdWX23

Weird Medieval Guys is back, and there's more audience participation than ever! In this episode, Aran and Olivia tackle a litany of listener questions on the most important medieval topics, like the conversion of the Vikings, the best names for dogs, and whether medieval life was mid and evil. Also discussed are jambalaya, the importance of simping and the gruesome fate of Mickey Mouse.

Order Weird Medieval Guys: How to Live, Laugh, Love (and Die) in Dark Times by Olivia M. Swarthout: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/455674/weird-medieval-guys-by-swarthout-olivia/9781529908305

Order merch from the Weird Medieval Guys merch shop: https://weirdmedievalguys.bigcartel.com/

Further reading:

"The names of all manner of hounds: a unique inventory in a fifteenth-century manuscript" by David Scott-Mcnab https://www.academia.edu/44222801/THE_NAMES_OF_ALL_MANNER_OF_HOUNDS_A_UNIQUE_INVENTORY_IN_A_FIFTEENTH_CENTURY_MANUSCRIPT

Ibn Fadlan's account of a Viking funeral: https://www.mrtredinnick.com/uploads/7/2/1/5/7215292/ibn_fadlan_-_account_of_a_viking_burial.pdf

Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities by Bettany Hughes: https://www.bettanyhughes.co.uk/istanbul-a-tale-of-three-cities

Olivia's approach to episode planning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QFM8VD_Nbs

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/74034

The Knight's Toast by Sir Walter Scott: https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-130606/

War Song of the Normans: https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-11937/

The year is 1453 and the Ottomans are at the gates of the great city of Constantinople. For centuries, they have been laying siege to this city; for centuries their efforts have failed. But this time, everything is going to be different. Constantinople is going to fall.

How did history lead them there, though? And how exactly are the events of the siege going to play out? Olivia and Aran wrap up their magnificent two-part overview of Constantinople with an exploration of how the Ottoman Turks came to be the most powerful force in Anatolia and how they finally managed to claim Constantinople for themselves. Also discussed are the Wild East, Scottish things, and the simple pleasures of a flaked almond.

For more on some of what we discuss, check out:

• This biography of Mehmed the Conqueror by Franz Babinger https://archive.org/details/mehmedconqueror00fran/mode/2up
• Nicolo Barbaro's first-hand account of the siege of Constantinople https://deremilitari.org/2016/08/the-siege-of-constantinople-in-1453-according-to-nicolo-barbaro/

The music used in the intro and outro of this episode is a public domain recording of the Ottoman march Ceddin Deden.

https://archive.org/details/lp_turkey-a-musical-journey-traditional-son_various/disc1/02.07.+Mehter+Music.mp3

Additional music used throughout is a public domain recording of a Turkish folk song called "Girl from Kermen" https://archive.org/details/lp_songs-and-dances-of-turkey_various/disc1/01.05.+Girl+From+Kermen+(Love+Song+From+Central+Turkey).mp3