Ibn Fadlan 2: A Letter from the Caliph

The envoys of Byzantine Emperor Michael II are received by Omurtag the Bulgar ruler - Wikicommons

Ahmad ibn Fadlan carries on to his cash-poor appointment with the Volga Bulgars. There's talk of funerals, cultural differences, and threats of death. 10th century diplomacy could be hard.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

Sources:

• Ahmad ibn Fadlan. Mission to the Volga, translated by James E. Montgomery. New York University Press, 2017.

• Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North, translated and with an introduction by Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone. Penguin, 2012.

• Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, edited by Josef W. Meri. Routledge, 2005.

• Bukharaev, Ravil. Islam in Russia: The Four Seasons. Routledge, 2014.

• Curta, Florin. Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1250. Cambridge University Press, 2006.

• Hansen, Valerie. The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World and Globalization Began. Simon and Schuster, 2020.

• Le Strange, Guy. The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate: Mesopotamia, Persia, and Central Asia from the Moslem Conquest to the Time of Timur. Cosimo Classics, 2010.

• Romano, John F. Medieval Travel and Travelers: A Reader. University of Toronto Press, 2020.

• Vernadsky, George. Kievan Russia. Yale University Press, 1973.

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Ibn Fadlan 1: From Baghdad with Very Cold Beards

Baghdad between 150 and 300 AH (767 and 912 AD) Wikimedia

Ahmad ibn Fadlan travels from early 10th century Baghdad on a diplomatic mission to the Volga Bulgars. There is a Viking funeral in his future, along with unfamiliar cultures and extremely cold weather. It's not The 13th Warrior, which it loosely inspired, but it is a good story.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

Sources:

• Ahmad ibn Fadlan. Mission to the Volga, translated by James E. Montgomery. New York University Press, 2017.

• Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North, translated and with an introduction by Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone. Penguin, 2012.

• Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, edited by Josef W. Meri. Routledge, 2005.

• Bukharaev, Ravil. Islam in Russia: The Four Seasons. Routledge, 2014.

• Le Strange, Guy. The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate: Mesopotamia, Persia, and Central Asia from the Moslem Conquest to the Time of Timur. Cosimo Classics, 2010.

• Romano, John F. Medieval Travel and Travelers: A Reader. University of Toronto Press, 2020.

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Eustace the Black Monk

Eustace’s death at the 1217 Battle of Sandwich as depicted by Matthew Paris in the Chronica Majora

This is the story of a monk, a sorcerer, a pirate, a woodland outlaw, and a master of disguise. His name is Eustace.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

Sources:

• Burgess, Glyn S. Two Medieval Outlaws: Eustace the Monk and Fouke Fitz Waryn. D.S. Brewer, 1997.

• Davis, Alex. Imagining Inheritance from Chaucer to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, 2020.

• Ohlgren, Thomas H. Medieval Outlaws: Twelve Tales in Modern English Translation. Parlor Press, 2005.

• Seal, Graham. Outlaw Heroes in Myth and History. Anthem Press, 2011.

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Brancacci's Mission 2: Already Dismissed

Detail from Masaccio’s The Tribute Money in the Brancacci Chapel

The conclusion of the Felice Brancacci story. Our ambassador from Florence deals with the Mamluk sultan in Cairo, with sickness, and with a shortage of funds, and he comes home to commission some memorable art at the Brancacci Chapel.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

Sources:

• Florence's Embassy to the Sultan of Egypt, translated by Mahnaz Yousefzadeh. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.

• Ashtor, Eliyahu. Levant Trade in the Middle Ages. Princeton University Press, 2014.

• Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. Practising Diplomacy in the Mamluk Sultanate: Gifts and Material Culture in the Medieval Islamic World. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014

• Goldthwaite, Richard A. The Economy of Renaissance Florence. JHU Press, 2009.

• Najemy, John M. A History of Florence, 1200-1575. John Wiley & Sons, 2008.

• Shulman, Ken. Anatomy of a Restoration: the Brancacci Chapel. Walker, 1991.

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Brancacci's Mission 1: From Florence to Cairo

Detail from Masaccio’s The Tribute Money in the Brancacci Chapel

In 1422, Felice Brancacci set out from Florence to establish trading relations with Mamluk Egypt, and to advocate for his city's currency. This is that story, part one of two.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

Sources:

• Florence's Embassy to the Sultan of Egypt, translated by Mahnaz Yousefzadeh. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.

• Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. Practising Diplomacy in the Mamluk Sultanate: Gifts and Material Culture in the Medieval Islamic World. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014.

• Goldthwaite, Richard A. The Economy of Renaissance Florence. JHU Press, 2009.

• Najemy, John M. A History of Florence, 1200-1575. John Wiley & Sons, 2008.

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Sir John Mandeville 5: Mongols, Mountains, and Myths

The Travels of Sir John Mandeville - British Library Add. Ms 24189

Finishing up with Mandeville's travels, we visit the palace of the Mongol khan, the fortress paradise of the Old Man of the Mountain, and a land that never sees the sun.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

Sources:

• Sir John Mandeville: The Book of Marvels and Travels, translated by Anthony Bale. Oxford University Press, 2012.

• The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, translated by Charles Moseley. Penguin, 2005.

• The Book of John Mandeville, edited by Tamarah Kohanski and C. David Benson. Medieval Institute Publications, 2007. 

• Friedman, John Block. The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and Thought. Syracuse University Press, 2000.

• Higgins, Iain Macleod. Writing East: The "Travels" of Sir John Mandeville. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997.

• Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the West: 1221-1410. Routledge, 2018.

• Metlitzki, Dorothee. The Matter of Araby in Medieval England. Yale University Press, 2005.

• Tzanaki, Rosemary. Mandeville's Medieval Audiences: A Study on the Reception of the Book of Sir John Mandeville (1371-1550). Taylor & Francis, 2017.

• Verner, Lisa. The Epistemology of the Monstrous in the Middle Ages. Routledge, 2005.

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Sir John Mandeville 4: Of India and Medieval Monsters

Cynocephalus  - Nuremberg Chronicle

Mandeville goes east into Greater India, and we go with him, following, as he follows the path of Odoric of Pordenone, into India, into the sea and its islands, and into a discussion of medieval hybrids and monsters, and what they mean. We'll find Amazons, the hand of St. Thomas, and people with neither noses nor eyes.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

Sources:

• Sir John Mandeville: The Book of Marvels and Travels, translated by Anthony Bale. Oxford University Press, 2012.

• The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, translated by Charles Moseley. Penguin, 2005.

• Cathay and the Way Thither Vol. II. Hakluyt Society, 1913.

• Andyshak, Sarah Catherine. Figural and Discursive Depictions of the Other in the Travels of Sir John Mandeville. Florida State University Libraries, 2009.

• Friedman, John Block. The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and Thought. Syracuse University Press, 2000.

• Greenblatt, Stephen. Marvellous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World. University of Chicago Press, 1991. 

• Higgins, Iain Macleod. Writing East: The "Travels" of Sir John Mandeville. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997.

• Patterson, Robert. Mandeville's Intolerance: The Contest for Souls and Sacred Sites in The Travels of Sir John Mandeville. Washington University in St. Louis, 2009.

• Schildgen, Brenda Deen. Dante and the Orient. University of Illinois Press, 2002.

• Tzanaki, Rosemary. Mandeville's Medieval Audiences: A Study on the Reception of the Book of Sir John Mandeville (1371-1550). Taylor & Francis, 2017.

• Verner, Lisa. The Epistemology of the Monstrous in the Middle Ages. Routledge, 2005.

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Sir John Mandeville 3: Mamluk Egypt

Detail from Add. MS 18866, a Mamluk manual on horsemanship

Our traveller reaches Egypt. He writes of wondrous gardens of balsam, of the pyramids and their purpose, of the recent history of the sultanate, and of the Mamluk Sultan's views of Latin Christian life.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

Sources:

• Sir John Mandeville: The Book of Marvels and Travels, translated by Anthony Bale. Oxford University Press, 2012.

• The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, translated by Charles Moseley. Penguin, 2005.

• Cobb, Paul M. The Race for Paradise: An Islamic History of the Crusades. Oxford University Press, 2016.

• Friedman, John Block. The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and Thought. Syracuse University Press, 2000.

• Greenblatt, Stephen. Marvellous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World. University of Chicago Press, 1991. 

• Higgins, Iain Macleod. Writing East: The "Travels" of Sir John Mandeville. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997.

• Legassie, Shayne. The Medieval Invention of Travel. University of Chicago Press, 2017.

• Lindsay, James E. Daily Life in the Medieval Islamic World. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005.

• Milwright, Marcus. "The Balsam of Maṭariyya: An Exploration of a Medieval Panacea," in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Vol. 66, No. 2 (2003).

• Routledge Revivals: Trade, Travel and Exploration in the Middle Ages (2000): An Encyclopedia. Edited by John Block Friedman & Kristen Mossler Figg. Taylor & Francis, 2017.

• Semeonis, Symon. The Journey of Symon Semeonis from Ireland to the Holy Land. The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1960.

• Tzanaki, Rosemary. Mandeville's Medieval Audiences: A Study on the Reception of the Book of Sir John Mandeville (1371-1550). Taylor & Francis, 2017.

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Sir John Mandeville 2: In and Around Jerusalem

Konrad von Grünenberg - View of Jerusalem, 1487

It's part two of the Mandeville series, and our journey reaches the Jerusalem of a 14th-century pilgrim. We'll spend some time there, getting to know the place and its surroundings, and its treatment in the Mandeville text. 

Sources:

• Sir John Mandeville: The Book of Marvels and Travels, translated by Anthony Bale. Oxford University Press, 2012.

• The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, translated by Charles Moseley. Penguin, 2005.

• Greenblatt, Stephen. Marvellous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World. University of Chicago Press, 1991. 

• Higgins, Iain Macleod. Writing East: The "Travels" of Sir John Mandeville. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997.

• Janin, Hunt. Four Paths to Jerusalem: Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Secular Pilgrimages, 1000 BCE to 2001 CE. McFarland, 2006

• Moore, Kathryn Blair. The Architecture of the Christian Holy Land: Reception from Late Antiquity through the Renaissance. Cambridge University Press, 2017. 

• Pringle, Denys. The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: Volume 3, The City of Jerusalem: A Corpus. Cambridge University Press, 1993.

• Routledge Handbook on Jerusalem. Edited by Suleiman A. Mourad, Naomi Koltun-Fromm, and Bedross Der Matossian. Routledge, 2018. 

• Routledge Revivals: Trade, Travel and Exploration in the Middle Ages (2000): An Encyclopedia. Edited by John Block Friedman & Kristen Mossler Figg. Taylor & Francis, 2017.

• Tzanaki, Rosemary. Mandeville's Medieval Audiences: A Study on the Reception of the Book of Sir John Mandeville (1371-1550). Taylor & Francis, 2017.

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Sir John Mandeville 1: To the Holy Land

John Mandeville departs England with the encouragement of the king - BNF Fr2810 f141

Sir John Mandeville, a 14th-century figure who travelled/maybe travelled/almost definitely didn't travel from England to Jerusalem and its holy places, to the court of the sultan in Egypt, to the realms of the Mongol khan, and to the long sought lands of Prester John. With this episode, we start the journey.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

Sources:

• Sir John Mandeville: The Book of Marvels and Travels, translated by Anthony Bale. Oxford University Press, 2012.

• The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, translated by Charles Moseley. Penguin, 2005.

• Clark, James G. A Monastic Renaissance at St Albans: Thomas Walsingham and his Circle c.1350-1440. Clarendon Press, 2004. 

• Greenblatt, Stephen. Marvellous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World. University of Chicago Press, 1991. 

• Higgins, Iain Macleod. Writing East: The "Travels" of Sir John Mandeville. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997.

• Tzanaki, Rosemary. Mandeville's Medieval Audiences: A Study on the Reception of the Book of Sir John Mandeville (1371-1550). Taylor & Francis, 2017.

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