'tis but a scratch: fact and fiction about the Middle Ages

Send us Fan MailAs I did with the episode I scripted for the podcast BEEF about the conflict between King Philip the Fair of France and Pope Boniface VIII,  today I am posting an episode from another podcast, "Medieval Mayhem and Mischief with Dr. Larissa Tracy". You probably remember Dr. Tracy (Kat to her friends) from this podcast's episodes on Chretien de Troyes' "Yvain, the Knight with the Lion," and the four part series we did about medieval adultery in history, literature, and modern popular culture. I was really excited when she told me that she was starting her own podcast and asked me if I would be on it. We decided that a discussion of the influence of culture on warfare, specifically on medieval warfare, would be timely, so that is what we did."Medieval Mischief and Mayhem with Dr. Larissa Tracy"  is the perfect title for Kat's podcast, given that among the subjects she has explored in her ten (!) books are medieval sex, sexuality, obscenity, torture and brutality, and comedy.  Unlike 'Tis But A Scratch, "Medieval Mischief and Mayhem" is a video podcast. If you want to see Kat and me rather than just hear us, you can do so at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0C-U4mTsKU, or by subscribing to her Patreon. I recommend the latter, not only in appreciation for Kat's hard work in preparing and editing a video podcast, but also for the nice extras you get as a subscriber.  And, yes, I know, I need to look up more at the camera  😊"Medieval Mayhem and Mischief with Dr. Larissa Tracy" can be streamed on YouTube or her Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/cw/MedievalMischiefandMayhem).Listen on Podurama   https://podurama.com                                                                    Intro and exit music are by Alexander NakaradaIf you have questions, feel free to contact me at [email protected]

Send us Fan MailThis is our third and final episode on the crusading order of the Knights Templar. In today's episode, my cohost Dr. Steve Tibble and I talk about the "afterlife" of the Templars, and how and why a military order suppressed in the early fourteenth century has become the go-to for so many conspiracy theorists. Among the topics discussed in this episode are: Templars and Freemasonry; Sir Walter Scott's shaping of their image in his novels, Ivanhoe and The Talisman;  the (mis)use of the Templar legend by late nineteenth century French Occultists, racist Neo-Templarists and today's White Supremacists, in the videogame, "Assassin's Creed," and in the "non-fiction" best-seller Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, and the even better selling novel that drew upon it, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. The last seems to have opened the floodgates for conspiracy theories featuring the Templars, including their role in 9/11! I highly recommend Steve Tibble's newest book, Assassins and Templars: A Battle in Myth and Blood (Yale University Press, 2025).  This episode includes a snippet from the trailer of the 1972 movie "Tombs of the Blind Dead" (which is NOT highly recommended)Listen on Podurama   https://podurama.com                                                                    Intro and exit music are by Alexander NakaradaIf you have questions, feel free to contact me at [email protected]