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New Books in Medieval History

New Books Network
Medieval History
Medieval Literature
Crusades
Christianity
Middle Ages
Magic
Holy Roman Empire
Astrology
Byzantine Empire
Norman Conquest
Poetry
Jesus
Translation
Dante Alighieri
Theology
Bede
Buddhism
Teutonic Order
Maimonides
Mongol Invasions

This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: newbooksnetwork.com Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to ge... more

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes597Founded5 years ago
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History

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Latest Episodes

The Kiss: A History of Passion and Power (Reaktion, 2026) by Professor Katie Barclay tells the surprising history of our most intimate gesture: the kiss. Richly illustrated, it explores a millennium of kisses, asking how and why the kiss has retained... more

Born in 1102, Empress Matilda combined the blood of two dynasties: the house of Wessex and their conquerors, the dukes of Normandy. As a widowed German empress, she was named as heir successor by her father, Henry I. But, after his death in 1135, Mat... more

The first chemists were Sri Lankan forgers who crafted

unimaginably strong steel millennia before it should have been

possible. They were alchemists in Roman Egypt, who designed apparatus

still in use today. They were Stone Age leatherworkers, ... more

In

the bustling market towns and growing cities of medieval England

between 1200 and 1600, public works were the lifelines of urban society.

In Urban Infrastructure in Medieval England: Sustainability and Resilience (Johns Hopkins University Press... more

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Recent Guests

Katie Barclay
Professor, author of The Kiss, A History of Passion and Power
Reaktion Books
Episode: Katie Barclay, "The Kiss: A History of Passion and Power" (Reaktion Books, 2025)
Elisabeth van Houts
Professor of European Medieval History
Honorary Professor of European Medieval History
Episode: Elisabeth van Houts, "Empress Matilda: Queen of the Romans, Ruler of the English" (Yale UP, 2026)
Kit Chapman
Author of The Age of Alchemy, How Early Innovators Shaped Modern Chemistry
Greystone Books
Episode: Kit Chapman, "The Age of Alchemy: How Early Innovators Shaped Modern Chemistry" (Profile Books, 2026)
Roberta Magnusson
Professor of Medieval History
University of Oklahoma
Episode: Roberta J. Magnusson, "Urban Infrastructure in Medieval England: Sustainability and Resilience" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2026)
Peter Dobek
Scholar of Medieval Europe, focus on Public Houses, Inns, Taverns, and Ale Houses in Kraków
Western Michigan University (PhD 2019)
Episode: Peter Paul Dobek, "The Public House in Central Europe: Inns, Tavern, and Alehouses in Cracow during the Jagiellonian Dynasty" (Lexington Books, 2024)
Karl Whittington
Professor and Chair of Art History at The Ohio State University
The Ohio State University
Episode: Karl Whittington, "Queer Making: On Artists and Desire in Medieval Europe" (Pennsylvania State UP, 2025)
Stephen Hopkins
Author of Translating Hell, Vernacular Theology and Apocrypha in the Medieval North Sea
Manchester University Press
Episode: Stephen C.E. Hopkins, "⁠Translating hell: Vernacular theology and apocrypha in the medieval North Sea"⁠ (Manchester UP, 2026)
Bruno M. Shirley
Historian of religion, gender and politics in early 2nd millennium Sri Lanka and beyond
Heidelberg University
Episode: Bruno Shirley, "Religion, Gender, and Politics in Medieval Sri Lanka: The Reconstruction of Buddhist Kingship, ca. 1070-1215" (ARC Humanities Press, 2026)
Dougald O'Reilly
Professor of Archaeology, Australian National University
Australian National University
Episode: Dougald O’Reilly, "Empires of the Southern Ocean: Early Civilizations of Mainland and Insular Southeast Asia" (Bloomsbury Academic, 2026)

Host

Miranda Melcher
Host of The New Books Network interview series

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#136
Hong Kong/History
Apple Podcasts
#195
Sweden/History

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Katie Barclay, "The Kiss: A History of Passion and Power" (Reaktion Books, 2025)
Q: What are the big shifts in the modern era regarding consent and privacy in kissing?
Modern discussions emphasize explicit or contextual consent, non-public private spaces, and reading body language, reflecting Me Too-era norms while tracing their long historical lineage.
Katie Barclay, "The Kiss: A History of Passion and Power" (Reaktion Books, 2025)
Q: How did different cultures interpret the kiss differently, such as in the Middle East?
In feudal settings, kissing could signify intense loyalty and submission, with acts like kissing the feet or ground, illustrating power dynamics across cultures and political structures.
Katie Barclay, "The Kiss: A History of Passion and Power" (Reaktion Books, 2025)
Q: Why did kissing become such a central gesture in medieval Europe and beyond?
Kissing functioned as a multi-layered sign of religious belonging, social hierarchy, and contractual obligation, transforming intimate acts into public rituals that confirmed community bonds and feudal loyalties.
Elisabeth van Houts, "Empress Matilda: Queen of the Romans, Ruler of the English" (Yale UP, 2026)
Q: So Empress Matilda, right? Daughter of King Henry I, how does she end up being selected as the heir to Henry I?
The guest details that Matilda's selection arose because she was the only legitimate child with substantial ruling experience, including her time as Queen Consort and regent in the Empire, and that political backing from nobles who trusted her leadership helped establish her as successor.
Elisabeth van Houts, "Empress Matilda: Queen of the Romans, Ruler of the English" (Yale UP, 2026)
Q: Could you start us off, please, by introducing yourself a little bit and tell us why you decided to write this book? Why did you decide it was a time for a new biography of Matilda?
Elisabeth van Houts explains her motivation for a fresh biography, noting new sources, changing scholarly questions about medieval women, and the value of reassessing Empress Matilda's career after decades of prior scholarship.

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Frequently Asked Questions About New Books in Medieval History

What is New Books in Medieval History about and what kind of topics does it cover?

Historically oriented conversations centered on recently published scholarly works in medieval studies, with a strong emphasis on primary sources, material culture, and cross-cultural networks. Episodes frequently explore manuscript production and reception, African-European exchanges, religious and social practices, and the history of everyday life across Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Islamic world. Guests are often professors, researchers, and authors from prestigious universities and presses, who bring deep disciplinary expertise and a readiness to connect archival detail to broader historical narratives. A notable strength is the breadth of methods on display—textual criticism, material culture analysis, and interdisciplinary appro... more

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1. The Medieval Podcast
2. In Our Time
3. The LRB Podcast
4. Backlisted
5. HistoryExtra podcast

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New Books in Medieval History launched 5 years ago and published 597 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on New Books in Medieval History?

Recent guests on New Books in Medieval History include:

1. Katie Barclay
2. Elisabeth van Houts
3. Kit Chapman
4. Roberta Magnusson
5. Peter Dobek
6. Karl Whittington
7. Stephen Hopkins
8. Bruno M. Shirley

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