In this episode, Mourad Tadghout explores how manuscript cultures shaped intellectual exchange across medieval Eurasia and the Mediterranean. Focusing on the transmission of texts such as Ibn Sina’s Canon of Medicine, Tadghout traces the movement of knowledge from Baghdad to Toledo and beyond. The episode highlights the collaborative nature of translation, commentary, and scholarly exchange, challenging narratives of isolation and rethinking the medieval world as deeply interconnected across cultures and languages.

For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

In this episode, producer Reed O’Mara sit down with Georgetown professor Sarah McNamer about her contribution to Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies, in which McNamer explores the provenance and purpose of the Bodley Alexander manuscript (Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 264 [Part A, fols. 3–208]). Namer’s article suggests that the manuscript can be read as a medieval version of a children’s search-and-find activity book and that it was made for a young prince.

For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

This episode takes a bird’s eye view of the global medieval world, following the trade and giving of arctic gyrfalcons across vast distances. Caitlin, Sam, Bjørn, and Ragnar discuss the capture and keeping of these rare birds in Scandinavia and their cultural significance in Europe, China and the Islamic world.

For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

In this episode of The Multicultural Middle Ages Podcast, the editors of the recent volume Towards an Accessible Academy discuss disability, academia, and medieval studies with several of the authors. Combining interviews with chapter readings, Dr. Alex R. A. Lee and Dr. Hope Doherty-Harrison break down key concepts and consider how they as disabled medievalists do their work, and how we can make the academy better for everyone.

Content notes: This episode contains mentions of suicide (22:50–22:55, 23:33–22:50, 24:03–25:28) and of surgery/surgical wounds (28:34–28:36, 30:40–32:00, 36:42–36:54).

For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

In this episode, Dr. Polina Ignatova deconstructs the spectrum of diverse roles of St. Christopher in the contemporary societal discourses in Russia. She argues that the public knowledge about St. Christopher is sporadic and unsystematized, resulting in the saint’s image being used by both oppressors and oppressed.

For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

In this episode, Zelda Cahill-Patten and Sofia Holmberg explore the unusual tomb of Alice Chaucer, a wealthy and influential noblewoman living in 15th-century England. Together, Zelda and Sofia unpack clues about Alice’s life as a pious and powerful widow, from her religious practices of bodily discipline, to the books she read, to the striking monument itself.

For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

Was there really a medieval “Dark Age”? In this episode, Dr. Natasha Parnian unpacks what happened after the fall of the Sasanian Empire—and why Persian kingship didn’t simply disappear. From Abbasid Baghdad to medieval Iran, ancient ideas of justice, divine glory, and sacred rule reshaped Islamic authority. The Persian king was gone, but his political afterlife was just beginning.

For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

In this episode, producer Loren Cantrell chats with Stanford professor Fiona Griffiths about her latest contribution to Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies, in which Griffiths revisits the famously complex relationship between Heloise and Abelard. Griffiths situates Heloise’s striking language within the shifting landscape of 12th-century debates on clerical marriage and reform, offering a powerful reinterpretation of one of the Middle Ages’ most challenging couples.

For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.