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

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This is the first of a two part series on the evolution of castle-building and siege warfare in Britain from the Norman Conquest through the middle of the fifteenth century. My very special guest is Paul Remfry, one of the world’s leading experts on castles.  
Although this series focuses on castles in England and Wales, the idea for it came from a tour of the castles of Occitanie that Ellen and I took last June. Listeners of this podcast may remember an earlier episode in which Ellen and I talked about the Cathar heresy and the Albigensian Crusade and explained how early in our marriage we co-authored an article on “The Participation of Women in Languedocian Catharism.”  Ellen thought that a historical themed tour of Languedoc would be the perfect way to celebrate our fiftieth anniversary. She found the ideal tour, Scholarly Sojourns’ “Castles in the Clouds,” a week-long exploration of the castles and churches of southwestern France associated with the Cathars. 
What made the tour really special for me was the opportunity to meet and chat with our historical guide, Paul Remfry. Ellen and I, of course, were not casual travelers. We have both researched and read extensively on the Cathars and medieval Languedoc. I am also a medieval military historian. But I was surprised and pleased to discover how much I didn’t know and understand about castle building.  By the end of the tour, I knew that I had to have Paul on the show to share with our listeners his knowledge of castles and siege warfare.
The subject is enormous, so we agreed to limit our talk to a few key castles and sieges in England and Wales that illustrate key developments in castle-building and siege warfare in the High and Late Middle Ages. Please join us!

(If you love history, Scholarly Sojourns is for you. You can check it out at http://www.scholarlysojourns.com/ or on Facebook!)
There is a downside in doing a purely audio podcast, especially on a subject like castles and siege warfare. The best I can do is recommend some websites with images of castles that Paul Remfry and I spoke about. 
A good starting point is English Heritage's "Norman Castles," which is organized geographically: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/norman-castles/
For Norman stone keeps, see "Castellogy, Castles and Town Walls in England and Wales: Norman keeps": https://castellogy.com/architecture/design-and-styles/norman-keeps
For William the Conqueror's White Tower (Tower of London), see the images in its Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Tower_(Tower_of_London)
For Norman motte-and-bailey castles, see  "Castellogy, Castles and Town Walls in England and Wales: motte-and-bailey castles" https://castellogy.com/architecture/architectural-terms/motte-and-bailey-introduction
The vast majority of castles erected during the Norman settlement were of the motte-and-bailey variety, with wooden towers (keeps). This is a modern term describing a castle consisting of the following elements: 
1)  The motte: a raised earthwork (the motte), fattened on top and surmounted by a tower (keep). In the eleventh century, the tower would have been made of wood. None of these survive.  In the twelfth century, some of the wooden towers were replaced with stone keeps. The ruins of a number of these survive.  The tower would have been protected by a palisade made of timber.
2) The bailey: a courtyard enclosed by a wooden palisade adjacent to the mound. The bailey would have stables and houses for troops.
3. The entire complex would often be surrounded by a ditch. 
For a good general discussion of the construction of motte-and-bailey castles, see  "Castellogy, Castles and Town Walls in England and Wales: motte-and-bailey castles" https://castellogy.com/architecture/architectural-terms/motte-and-bailey-introduction

This episode includes:
 A musical snippet from "Reis glorios," a  12th-century alba (dawn song) written by the Occitan troubadour Giraut de Bornelh , performed by Ensemble Unicorn ("Music of the Troubadours," uploaded by SableAradia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gXfH5RL0TQ)
Thehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQeXYqp66GY trailer for the 2011 movie Ironclad (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQeXYqp66GY)
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Intro and exit music are by Alexander Nakarada

If you have questions, feel free to contact me at richard.abels54@gmail.com

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Each year about three million Americans visit Medieval and Renaissance Faires and Festivals. Among the largest is the annual Maryland Renaissance Festival, about a half hour drive from my home. In this episode I talk with a veteran of this podcast, Dr. Larissa "Kat" Tracy, about the appeal of the Renaissance Faire and Festivals. It turns out that Kat is not only a renowned scholar of medieval literature but is also a devotee of Renaissance Faires, which she has been attending in full costume since 1990.. (She reminded me to add the silent "e.") 
The episode begins with historical medieval fairs, focusing on the Fairs of Champagne, an essential element in the commercial revolution of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Each year six fairs were held, each one lasting six weeks. They rotated through four towns. The Fairs of Champagne had a critical economic purpose, connecting the two powerhouses of the Western European economy, the textile industry of Flanders and the merchants of Italy.  
We turn from that to consider England's oldest fair, London's St. Bartholomew Fair, founded in the twelfth century. By the sixteenth century, this fair's original economic purpose as a cloth market was eclipsed by the entertainment it offered--music, acrobats, puppet shows, plays, wild animals, freak shows. That leads us into a discussion of modern Renaissance Faires and Festivals. Kat discusses the appeal of and different varieties of cosplaying; describes what a typical day at a Faire is like for her; explains why American Renaissance Faires are so often set in the reign of King Henry VIII; and offers recognition and appreciation for the actors, musicians, and vendors who transform a fairground into a day's visit to an imagined past.

Dr. Larissa "Kat" Tracy's video podcast Medieval Mischief and Mayhem is available on YouTube, SubStack, and with premium material on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/cw/MedievalMischiefandMayhem)

This episode includes a snippet from The Gathering's performance of the "Rocky Road to Dublin" at the Maryland Renaissance Festival on Oct. 8, 2022 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnoVpPs81yY)
Listen on Podurama   https://podurama.com                                                                    
Intro and exit music are by Alexander Nakarada

If you have questions, feel free to contact me at richard.abels54@gmail.com

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In this episode Dr. Nicholas Morton returns to discuss his newest book, The Crusader Storm: A Global History of the Wars of the Middle East (Basic Books, 2026). With some rare exceptions, histories of the Crusades and the Crusader States have been viewed from a Western perspective. What is missing is the Middle Eastern context of the Crusades to the East, how the crusades and the establishment of these Latin states in the Levant interacted with and impacted the multiple rival power centers of the region. For many, the story of the Crusades is that of a clash of cultures, a binary tale which pitted Western Christendom against Islam, with Jerusalem as the prize. But, as Nick Morton, shows, the reality was far more complicated and nuanced than that. The twelfth-century Middle East was multi-cultural and politically fragmented.  Civil war was endemic within the Seljuk Empire. It was not unusual for Seljuk governors to seek allies among their Frankish neighbors in their wars against rival Seljuk leaders. And friendships could arise between Frankish knights and elite Turkish and Arab horsemen based on shared values.  The Crusades and the history of the Crusader States can only truly be understood within this context.
Listen on Podurama   https://podurama.com                                                                    
Intro and exit music are by Alexander Nakarada

If you have questions, feel free to contact me at richard.abels54@gmail.com

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Back in September Ellen and I did an episode on Popes Leo IX and Gregory VII and their promotion of the Gregorian Reform of the Church. Because my hosting platform informed me that I have 21 minutes left to post a new episode this month, I decided to use that time to do a short episode on the "Church" before it was reformed. Rather than focus on a "bad" bishop like Gaudry of Laon, I chose to examine the career of a saintly bishop, Ulrich of Augsburg (890 – 4 July 973), sometimes called Udalrich. Ulrich was Prince-Bishop of Augsburg.  In many ways Ulrich's activities were typical of a tenth-century Prince-Bishop, including his military service to the German king.  He was the first saint to be canonized not by a local authority but by a pope, Pope John XV. Ulrich demonstrates that not all pre-Reform bishops were worldly, even if they spent most of their time on secular administration.
This episode has a short snippet of the monophonic chant Kyrie Eleison (The Best of Gregorian Chant Version, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6CRsw2gdcc) 
Listen on Podurama   https://podurama.com                                                                    
Intro and exit music are by Alexander Nakarada

If you have questions, feel free to contact me at richard.abels54@gmail.com

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Offa, king of Mercia from 757 to 796, was the most powerful and successful Anglo-Saxon ruler of pre-Viking England. Today Offa is probably best remembered for Offa's Dyke, a massive 150 mile long earthwork that runs along the border of England and Wales. But Offa's contribution to the creation of the kingdom of England goes far beyond that. Offa was the heir to more than a century of Mercian military success that established a Mercian hegemony over England between the Humber River to the north and the river Thames to the south.  In this episode, Professor Rory Naismith, author of Offa, King of the Mercians, explains how Offa extended Mercian domination over southern England and transformed the Mercian hegemony into a "greater Mercia" ruled directly by the king. In so doing, Offa provided a model of governance for the tenth-century kings of Wessex, Athelstan and his successors, in their creation of a unified kingdom of "England."

Rory Naismaith, Offa, King of the Mercians (Yale University Press, 2026)
Listen on Podurama   https://podurama.com                                                                    
Intro and exit music are by Alexander Nakarada

If you have questions, feel free to contact me at richard.abels54@gmail.com