123 episodes

A narrative history podcast following the journeys of medieval travellers and their roles in larger historical events. Telling great stories, showing the interconnected nature of the medieval world, and meeting Mongols, Ottomans, Franciscans, merchants, ambassadors, and adventurers along the way.

Human Circus: Journeys in the Medieval World D Field

    • History
    • 5.0 • 1 Rating

A narrative history podcast following the journeys of medieval travellers and their roles in larger historical events. Telling great stories, showing the interconnected nature of the medieval world, and meeting Mongols, Ottomans, Franciscans, merchants, ambassadors, and adventurers along the way.

    Fernao Mendes Pinto 10: Lisbon at Last

    Fernao Mendes Pinto 10: Lisbon at Last

    The Fernao Mendes Pinto story reaches its conclusion, and he finally reaches Portugal once more.
    If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.
    I'm on BlueSky @a-devon.bsky.social, Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.
    Sources:


    The Travels of Mendes Pinto, edited and translated by Rebecca D. Catz. University of Chicago Press, 1989.

    Hart, Thomas R. “Style and Substance in the Peregrination.” Portuguese Studies 2 (1986).

    Hart, Thomas R. “True or False: Problems of the ‘Peregrination.’” Portuguese Studies 13 (1997).

    Rubiés, Joan Pau. “Real and Imaginary Dialogues in the Jesuit Mission of Sixteenth-Century Japan.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 55, no. 2/3 (2012).

    Rubiés, Joan Pau. “The Oriental Voices of Mendes Pinto, or the Traveller as Ethnologist in Portuguese India.” Portuguese Studies 10 (1994).

    Spence, Jonathan D. The Chan's Great Continent: China in Western Minds. W. W. Norton & Company, 1999.


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    • 34 min
    Fernao Mendes Pinto 9: With Francis Xavier in Japan

    Fernao Mendes Pinto 9: With Francis Xavier in Japan

    The story of Fernao Mendes Pinto intersects with that of the Jesuit saint, Francis Xavier, and takes him back to Japan.
    If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.
    I'm on BlueSky @a-devon.bsky.social, Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.
    Sources:


    The Travels of Mendes Pinto, edited and translated by Rebecca D. Catz. University of Chicago Press, 1989.

    App, Urs. “St. Francis Xavier’s Discovery of Japanese Buddhism: A Chapter in the European Discovery of Buddhism (Part 1: Before the Arrival in Japan, 1547-1549).” The Eastern Buddhist 30, no. 1 (1997).

    Rubiés, Joan Pau. “Real and Imaginary Dialogues in the Jesuit Mission of Sixteenth-Century Japan.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 55, no. 2/3 (2012).

    Willis, Clive. “Captain Jorge Álvares and Father Luís Fróis S.J.: Two Early Portuguese Descriptions of Japan and the Japanese.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 22, no. 2 (2012).


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    • 35 min
    Fernao Mendes Pinto 8: First in Japan

    Fernao Mendes Pinto 8: First in Japan

    The first Europeans wash up on Japanese shores, bringing the musket as they do so, and Pinto would have you believe that he is with them.
    If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.
    I'm on BlueSky @a-devon.bsky.social, Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.
    Sources:


    The Travels of Mendes Pinto, edited and translated by Rebecca D. Catz. University of Chicago Press, 1989.

    Cooper, Michael. The Southern Barbarians: The First Europeans in Japan. Kodansha, 1971.

    Lidin, Olof G. Tanegashima: The Arrival of Europe in Japan. Routledge, 2003.

    Perrin, Noel. Giving Up the Gun: Japan's Reversion to the Sword, 1543-1879. David R. Godine, 1979.


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    • 37 min
    Fernao Mendes Pinto 7: A Traveller's Guide to Ming China

    Fernao Mendes Pinto 7: A Traveller's Guide to Ming China

    Pinto's story continues, and the Portuguese traveller makes his way across China as a prisoner, describing some its towns, cities, and countryside as he goes. His China, which he may not have actually visited himself, is dotted with the remnants of previous Portuguese actions, an envoy's gravestone and the remnants of failed embassies.
    If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.
    I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.
    Sources:


    The Travels of Mendes Pinto, edited and translated by Rebecca D. Catz. University of Chicago Press, 1989.

    Hart, Thomas R. “Style and Substance in the Peregrination.” Portuguese Studies 2 (1986): 49–55. 

    Hart, Thomas R. “True or False: Problems of the ‘Peregrination.’” Portuguese Studies 13 (1997): 35–42.

    Rubiés, Joan-Pau. "The Oriental Voices of Mendes Pinto, or the Traveller as Ethnologist in Portuguese India." Portuguese Studies 10 (1994): 24–43.


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    • 43 min
    Fernao Mendes Pinto 6: Grave Robbery and Leeches

    Fernao Mendes Pinto 6: Grave Robbery and Leeches

    Our Portuguese adventurer resumes his piratical ways and runs into trouble on the coast of China. He and de Faria find silver in abundance, but also shipwreck, poverty, and leeches.
    If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.
    I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.
    Sources:


    The Travels of Mendes Pinto, edited and translated by Rebecca D. Catz. University of Chicago Press, 1989.

    Hart, Thomas R. “Style and Substance in the Peregrination.” Portuguese Studies 2 (1986): 49–55. 

    Hart, Thomas R. “True or False: Problems of the ‘Peregrination.’” Portuguese Studies 13 (1997): 35–42.

    Rubiés, Joan-Pau. "The Oriental Voices of Mendes Pinto, or the Traveller as Ethnologist in Portuguese India." Portuguese Studies 10 (1994): 24–43.


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    • 34 min
    The Medieval Winter and Other Seasons Since

    The Medieval Winter and Other Seasons Since

    Not a Christmas episode, but a winter one: winter in various Old English sources and winter now. Happy New Year and thanks for listening!
    If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.
    I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble.
    Sources:

    Clare, John. Major Works. Oxford University Press, 2004.

    Gopnik, Adam. Winter: Five Windows on the Season. House of Anansi, 2011.

    Hostetter, Aaron K. Translation of "Andreas" - https://oldenglishpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/andreas/


    Hostetter, Aaron K. Translation of "The Menologium" - https://oldenglishpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/the-menologium/


    McKennitt, Loreena. To Drive the Cold Winter Away. Quinlan Road, 1987. 

    Parker, Eleanor. Winters in the World: A Journey Through the Anglo-Saxon Year. Reaktion Books, 2022.


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    • 26 min

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