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

Richard Abels

Talking about popular conceptions of the Middle Ages and their historical realities. Join Richard Abels to learn about Vikings, knights and chivalry, movies set in the Middle Ages, and much more about the medieval world.

  1. 2d ago

    A Model Pre-Gregorian Reform Bishop: St. Ulrich of Augsburg

    Send us Fan Mail 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

    21 min

  2. May 21

    Offa of Mercia: Laying the Foundations of a Kingdom of England (with Prof. Rory Naismith)

    Send us Fan Mail 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

    1h 18m

  3. May 13

    Sieges, Chivalry, and Medieval Warfare: Dr. Larissa Tracy's podcast, "Medieval Mischief and Mayhem" (with Dr. Richard Abels) (E23 2026))

    Send us Fan Mail As 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 Nakarada If you have questions, feel free to contact me at richard.abels54@gmail.com

    1h 21m

  4. Apr 30

    The Knights Templar, Part 3: From History to Legend (with Steve Tibble)

    Send us Fan Mail This 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 Nakarada If you have questions, feel free to contact me at richard.abels54@gmail.com

    51 min

  5. Apr 16

    The Knights Templar: The Trial and Suppression of the Order (with Steve Tibble)

    Send us Fan Mail Today’s episode is the second in a three part series on the Crusading military order of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, more commonly known as the Templars.  My cohost for this series is Dr. Steve Tibble, one of the foremost military historians of the crusades, whose most recent book is Assassins and Templars: A Battle in Myth and Blood (Yale University Press, 2025).   In our previous episode Steve and I talked about the origin, mission, and activities of the Templars. Today we discuss the most notorious event in the history of the Templars: the arrest and trial of the Templars of France by order of King Philip IV 'the Fair' in 1307 on charges of heresy, idolatry, blasphemy, and sodomy, and the subsequent suppression of the Order by Pope Clement V. Among the topics we cover are: the Templars' role in the futile defense of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the thirteenth century; the mission challenge raised by the final conquest of Outremer by the Mamlukes; why King Philip IV targeted the Templars, why so many French Templars, including the Grand Master, confessed to the lurid charges; and why Pope Clement V, despite doubting the accusations, dissolved the Order.   In a forthcoming third episode, Steve and I will talk about the Templar afterlife: how after its suppression it lived on in popular imagination as a staple of conspiracy theories. 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

    1h 8m

  6. Mar 15

    The Knights Templar, Part 1: the Templars in History (with Steve Tibble)

    Send us Fan Mail Today’s episode is the first of a two-part series on the notorious Christian military order, The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, more commonly known as the Knights Templar.  This first episode deals with the historical Templars; the second, with the Templar legend  My cohost for both is a veteran of this podcast, Dr. Steve Tibble whose newest book is Assassins and Templars, A Battle in Myth and Blood (Yale University Press, 2025).  In this episode, Steve and I talk about the evolution of Christian ideas about warfare that allowed for crusading and for military orders such as the Templars; the Templar origin story; the growth, organization, and development of the order; and the Templars' core mission and activities, in war and peace.  The second episode begins with the trial of the Templars in 1307 by King Philip IV 'the Fair' of France, and the subsequent suppression of the order by the papacy.  We then discuss the Templars' "afterlife," their transformation into a mythic secret society beloved by paranoid conspiracy theorists. And, as is the wont of this podcast, we look at how the historical and mythic Templars are represented in novels, movies, and even video games. I hope you will join us! This episode includes quoted passages from St. Bernard of Clairvaux's recruitment letter for the Second Crusade and his treatise on the Templars, The New Knighthood. Both are included in The Crusades: A Reader, ed. S,J. Allen and Emilie Amt, second edition (University of Toronto Press, 2014) It also has a short snippet from the thirteenth-century chant "Dies Irae," performed by Schola Gregoriana Mediolanensis  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU9qrdrswO8) 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

    1h 7m

  7. Mar 4

    Knights, Samurai, and the Myth of Japanese Feudalism: A Conversation with Professor Stephen Morillo

    Send us Fan Mail Until now, "'Tis But A Scratch: Fact & Fiction About the Middle Ages" has dealt with medieval Europe and the Middle East. In this episode, we branch out to a more global perspective by comparing medieval European knights with the samurai of "feudal Japan."  And, yes, we will once again be talking about the medievalist's F-word.  I am fortunate to have as my cohost my good friend Stephen Morillo. Stephen is professor emeritus of History at Wabash College, where he taught medieval, world, and military history. His first book, Warfare Under the Anglo-Norman Kings, 1066-1135,  was published in 1994. His most recent book is War and Conflict in the Middle Ages: A Global Perspective. This pretty much sums up Stephen’s scholarly odyssey from Anglo-Norman military historian to pre-modern world historian. His focus on comparative global military history makes him the ideal person to discuss knights and samurai.  I hope you will join us. 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

    1h 9m

  8. Feb 12

    1066 And All That: The Significance of the Norman Conquest (with Dr. Jennifer Paxton), part 2

    Send us Fan Mail It has been several months since I posted the first half of a two part series on the significance and consequences of the Norman Conquest with my good friend and colleague Dr. Jennifer Paxton of the Catholic University of America. Despite a number of challenges--not the least being a snow storm--we finally got together to record the second episode. In that first episode, Jenny and I reviewed how historians have interpreted the Norman Conquest through the ages, and broadly outlined some of the changes wrought by the Conquest.  In this one we explain how the Norman Conquest changed England politically, legally, socially, ecclesiastically, and economically--including the impact it had on diet and food custom (the newest area of research on the Conquest). In this episode I quote from: Craig-Atkins E, Jervis B, Cramp L, Hammann S, Nederbragt AJ, Nicholson E, et al. (2020) Correction: The dietary impact of the Norman Conquest: A multiproxy archaeological investigation of Oxford, UK. PLoS ONE 15(9): e0239640. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239640 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

    1h 27m
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4.9
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37 Ratings

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Talking about popular conceptions of the Middle Ages and their historical realities. Join Richard Abels to learn about Vikings, knights and chivalry, movies set in the Middle Ages, and much more about the medieval world.

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