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Medieval LOLs

by London Review of Books

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Latest episodes

Gwerful Mechain’s ‘Ode to the Vagina’

December 19, 2024 · 11 min

For the final episode of their series in search of the medieval sense of humour Irina and Mary look at one of the most remarkable women authors of the Middle Ages, Gwerful Mechain, who lived in Powys in the 15th century. Mechain was part…
'Tales of Count Lucanor' by Juan Manuel

November 18, 2024 · 14 min

If you’re looking for advice on sustaining a marriage, or robbing a grave, or performing liver surgery, then a series of self-help stories by a 14th-century Spanish prince is a good place to start. Tales of Count Lucanor, written between…
Boccaccio’s ‘Decameron’: Part Two

October 18, 2024 · 15 min

Mary and Irina resume their discussion of Boccaccio’s Decameron, focusing on three stories of female agency, deception and desire. Alibech, an aspiring hermitess, is tricked into indulging her powerful sexual urges; Petronella combines…
Boccaccio's 'Decameron': Part One

September 18, 2024 · 46 min

In the preface to the Decameron Boccaccio describes Florentine society laid waste by bubonic plague in the mid-14th century. But before he gets to that he has a confession for the reader: he has been hurt by love, a love ‘more fervent than…
Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle

August 18, 2024 · 12 min

The character of Gawain, one of King Arthur’s leading knights, recurs throughout medieval literature, but the way he’s presented underwent a curious development during the period, moving closer and closer to an impossible and perhaps…

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Solomon and Marcolf

July 18, 2024 · 11 min

The foul-mouthed, mean-spirited peasant Marcolf was one of the most well-known literary characters in late medieval Europe. He appears in many poetic works from the 9th century onwards, but it’s in this dialogue with Solomon, printed in…
The Second Shepherds' Pageant

June 18, 2024 · 11 min

In their quest for the medieval sense of humour Mary and Irina come to The Second Shepherds’ Pageant, a 15th-century reimagining of the nativity as domestic comedy that’s less about the birth of Jesus and more about sheep rustling, taxes…
Dame Syrith

May 31, 2024 · 12 min

As Mary and Irina discussed in the previous episode of Medieval LOLs, fabliaux had an enormous influence on Chaucer, but outside of his work, only one survives in Middle English. Dame Syrith, a story of lust, deception and a mustard-eating…
Fabliaux

April 18, 2024 · 14 min

Fabliaux were short, witty tales originating in northern France between the 12th and 14th centuries, often featuring crafty characters in rustic settings and overwhelmingly concerned with money and sex. In this episode Irina and Mary look…
Old English Riddles

March 18, 2024 · 11 min

Riddles are an ancient and universal form, but few people seem to have enjoyed them more than English Benedictine monks. The Exeter Book, a tenth century monastic collection of Old English verse, builds on the riddle tradition in two…
The Colloquies of Aelfric Bata

February 18, 2024 · 34 min

All teachers know that the best way for students to learn a language is through swear words, and nobody knew this better than Aelfric Bata, a monk from Winchester whose Colloquies, compiled in around the year 1000, instructed pupils to…
Chaucer's Miller's Tale

January 18, 2024 · 29 min

Were the Middle Ages funny? In this bonus series for 2024, Irina Dumitrescu and Mary Wellesley begin their quest for the medieval sense of humour with Chaucer’s 'Miller’s Tale', a story that is surely still (almost) as funny as when it was…

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About the show

Were the Middle Ages funny? To answer that question, Mary Wellesley and Irina Dumitrescu hunt through some of the rudest, silliest and surprising works in English literature in search of the Medieval sense of humour. Mary Wellesley and Irina Dumitrescu are both writers and historians, and regular contributors to the London Review of Books. Sign up to listen to this series ad free and all our subscriber series in full, including Mary and Irina's twelve-part series Medieval Beginnings: Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/medlolapplesignup In other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/medlolscsignup Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk