Human Circus: Journeys in the Medieval World

Today we step outside the usual medieval travel subject matter on the podcast for a look into William Shakespeare's historical source for the story of Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and of course, King of Scotland, or at least of Alba. That story takes us to a 16th-century man named Reginald Wolfe, to Holinshed's Chronicles, and to the 11th-century doings of some familiar figures, of Duncan, Banquo, Macduff, Malcolm, and the rest. There are some familiar scenes, such as at Dunsinane Castle, but there are also unfamiliar elements like the murder of King Duffe, from which Shakespeare did a little borrowing. 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: Holinshed, Raphael. Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland. J. Johnson, et al., 1808. The Oxford Handbook of Holinshed's Chronicles, edited by Felicity Heal, Ian W. Archer, & Paulina Kewes. Oxford University Press, 2013. McLuskie, Kathleen. Macbeth. Northcote House, 2009. Patterson, Annabel. Reading Holinshed's Chronicles. University of Chicago Press, 1994. Plomer, Henry Robert. A Short History of English Printing, 1476-1898. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., 1900. Shakespeare, William. Macbeth, edited by Sandra Clark & Pamela Mason. Bloomsbury, 2015. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is the final episode of a narrative series on the Icelandic saga of a famed outlaw. The Grettir Saga concludes without Grettir the Strong. His half-brother Thorstein finds freedom and romance in Constantinople before the story takes one last turn, a religious one that will take us to Norway and then Rome. 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: Grettir's Saga, translated by Jesse Byock. Oxford University Press, 2009. Grettir's Saga, translated by Denton Fox and Hermann Palsson. University of Toronto Press, 1974. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is the sixth episode of a narrative series on the Icelandic saga of a famed outlaw. Grettir the Strong's half-brother goes looking for revenge, and his killer goes to join the Varangian Guard. The journey takes us from Iceland to Norway, and on to Constantinople. 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: Grettir's Saga, translated by Jesse Byock. Oxford University Press, 2009. Grettir's Saga, translated by Denton Fox and Hermann Palsson. University of Toronto Press, 1974. Collingwood, W.G. A Pilgrimage to the Saga-Steads of Iceland. W. Holmes, 1899. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is the fifth episode of a narrative series on the Icelandic saga of a famed outlaw. Grettir the Strong, his little brother, and their reluctant helper face a new threat on Drangey. His story comes to a conclusion but not his saga. 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: Grettir's Saga, translated by Jesse Byock. Oxford University Press, 2009. Grettir's Saga, translated by Denton Fox and Hermann Palsson. University of Toronto Press, 1974. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is the fourth episode of a narrative series on the Icelandic saga of a famed outlaw. Grettir the Strong and his brother look for refuge on the island of Drangey in northern Iceland, but they aren't the only ones who are interested in the island. 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: Grettir's Saga, translated by Jesse Byock. Oxford University Press, 2009. Grettir's Saga, translated by Denton Fox and Hermann Palsson. University of Toronto Press, 1974. Ljungqvist, Fredrik Charpentier. "Rape in the Icelandic Sagas: An Insight in the Perceptions about Sexual Assaults on Women in the Old Norse World," in Journal of Family History, 40(4), 431–447. Tweedie, Ethel Brilliana. A Girl's Ride in Iceland. Horace Cox, 1895. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is the third episode of a narrative series on the Icelandic saga of a famed outlaw. Grettir wanders Iceland, never able to stay in one place for too long. He is cursed to fear the dark and wish for company because of it, even as that company wishes him dead. 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: Grettir's Saga, translated by Jesse Byock. Oxford University Press, 2009. Pavey, Sophie. "Outlawed but Not Alone: Friendships Out of Bounds in Grettir’s Saga," UBC Arts One, Prof. Miranda Burgess Seminar, 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is the second episode of a narrative series on the Icelandic saga of a famed outlaw. Grettir the Strong's story continues. Following his fight with the undead draugr, he feels the effects of Glamr's curse as his luck turns against him and he is outlawed once more. 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: Grettir's Saga, translated by Jesse Byock. Oxford University Press, 2009. Grettir's Saga, translated by Denton Fox and Hermann Palsson. University of Toronto Press, 1974. Three Icelandic Outlaw Sagas, translated by George Johnston and Anthony Faulkes. Everyman, 2001. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is the first episode of a narrative series on the Icelandic saga of a famed outlaw. The Saga of Grettir the Strong opens with his grandfather leaving King Harald's Norway for Iceland. We follow its portrayal of Grettir's troubled childhood and his tests of strength against boulders, men, bears, and (for some Halloween appropriate listening) draugr, the undead of the burial mound. 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: Grettir's Saga, translated by Jesse Byock. Oxford University Press, 2009. Grettir's Saga, translated by Denton Fox and Hermann Palsson. University of Toronto Press, 1974. Three Icelandic Outlaw Sagas, translated by George Johnston and Anthony Faulkes. Everyman, 2001. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tāj al-Dīn ‘Alī ibn Anjab ibn al-Sā’ī was born in the last years of the 12th century and lived until the last quarter of the 13th. He was a prolific writer who grew up Abbasid Baghdad and saw it fall to the Mongol invasion of Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan. His solitary work that survives in its entirety is Consorts of the Caliphs: Women and the Court of Baghdad. In that book, he reaches all the way back to Hammādah bint ‘Īsā, who was married to al-Mansūr the Abbasid dynastic founder and died in 780, and all the way up to Shāhān, a contemporary of his and the concubine of al-Mustansir who died in 1242. He fills its pages with the women of the Abbasid caliphal court, women who appear there as wives, concubines, poets, and more. This episode is about some of those medieval women. 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: Ibn al-Sā'ī. Consorts of the Caliphs: Women and the Court of Baghdad, edited by Shawkat M. Toorawa. New York University Press, 2015. Caswell, F.M. The Slave Girls of Baghdad: The Qiyan in the Early Abbasid Era. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A standalone episode on medieval diplomacy, on the travels, career, and narrative of a 14th and 15th century Ming Dynasty diplomat and administrator, and on the history around him. Chen Cheng would suffer professional setbacks outside of his control, as the the Jianwen Emperor would be replaced by the Yongle Emperor, and he would make the overland journey from China to see Shah Rukh, the son of Timur (Tamerlane), in Timurid Herat. 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: Hecker, Felicia J. “A Fifteenth-Century Chinese Diplomat in Herat.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 3, no. 1 (1993): 85–98. Rossabi, Morris. “Two Ming Envoys to Inner Asia.” T’oung Pao 62, no. 1/3 (1976): 1–34. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A story of medieval travel and diplomacy, the 15th-century story of Ghiyath al-Din and the other Timurid envoys, and their visit to Yongle's Beijing on behalf of Timur's son Shah Rukh. 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: "Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking," in A Century of Princes: Sources on Timurid History and Art, selected and translated by W. M. Thackston. Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, 1989. Ford, Graeme. "The Uses of Persian in Imperial China: The Translation Practices of the Great Ming," in The Persianate World, edited by Nile Green. University of California Press, 2019. Hecker, Felicia J. “A Fifteenth-Century Chinese Diplomat in Herat,” in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 3, no. 1 (1993): 85–98. Lipman, Jonathan N. Familiar Strangers: A History of Muslims in Northwest China. University of Washington Press, 2011. Park, Hyunhee. Mapping the Chinese and Islamic Worlds: Cross-Cultural Exchange in Pre-Modern Asia. Cambridge University Press, 2012. Rossabi, Morris. A History of China. Wiley, 2013. Rossabi, Morris. "Two Ming Envoys to Inner Asia," in T’oung Pao 62, no. 1/3 (1976): 1–34.  Tsai, Shih-shan Henry. Perpetual Happiness. University of Washington Press, 2011. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the early 15th century, Shah Rukh, the son of Timur, sent an embassy east to the target of his father's last military campaign, Ming China. Making that journey from Timurid Herat to the home of the Yongle Emperor (with stops along the way at Samarkand, Tashkent, Hami, Ganzhou, and finally Khanbaliq) was a chronicler and painter named Ghiyāth al-Dīn. His story is one of medieval diplomacy and travel. 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: "Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking," in A Century of Princes: Sources on Timurid History and Art, selected and translated by W. M. Thackston. Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, 1989. Ford, Graeme. "The Uses of Persian in Imperial China: The Translation Practices of the Great Ming," in The Persianate World, edited by Nile Green. University of California Press, 2019. Lipman, Jonathan N. Familiar Strangers A History of Muslims in Northwest China. University of Washington Press, 2011. Park, Hyunhee. Mapping the Chinese and Islamic Worlds: Cross-Cultural Exchange in Pre-Modern Asia. Cambridge University Press, 2012. Rossabi, Morris. A History of China. Wiley, 2013. Rossabi, Morris. "Two Ming Envoys to Inner Asia," in T’oung Pao 62, no. 1/3 (1976): 1–34.  Tsai, Shih-shan Henry. Perpetual Happiness. University of Washington Press, 2011. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Another year of drought, another of famine, and even more disasters pile on for the early-13th-century Egyptians. We also see Abd al-Latif make a surprising 20th-century appearance. 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: Abd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī. A Physician on the Nile: A Description of Egypt and Journal of the Famine Years. NYU Press, 2021.  Barber, Malcolm. The Crusader States. Yale University Press, 2012. Ellis, Richard. Imagining Atlantis. Knopf, 2012. Modern, John. Neuromatic: Or, A Particular History of Religion and the Brain. University of Chicago Press, 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happens when the river fails to rise? In 597 (1200), Abd al-Latif found famine, crime, and cannibalism. 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: Abd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī. A Physician on the Nile: A Description of Egypt and Journal of the Famine Years. NYU Press, 2021. Lev, Yaacov. Administration of Justice in Medieval Egypt: From the 7th to the 12th Century. Edinburgh University Press, 2020.  Lewicka, Paulina B. Food and Foodways of Medieval Cairenes: Aspects of Life in an Islamic Metropolis of the Eastern Mediterranean. Brill, 2011.  Traveling Through Egypt: From 450 B.C. to the Twentieth Century, edited by Deborah Manley & Sahar Abdel-Hakim. American University in Cairo Press, 2008. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Like many people ever since, and even now, Abd al-Latif was fascinated by Egypt's ancient sites and structures, the pyramids and the Sphinx. He was fascinated, but also disgusted with how their stones and contents had been treated as his contemporaries looked to them less with wonder, more with greed. 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: Abd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī. A Physician on the Nile: A Description of Egypt and Journal of the Famine Years. NYU Press, 2021. Bonadeo, Cecilia Martini. ʿAbd Al-Laṭīf Al-Baġdādī’s Philosophical Journey From Aristotle’s Metaphysics to the ‘Metaphysical Science’. Brill, 2013. Ibn Abi Usaybi'a. A Literary History of Medicine. Edited by E. Savage-Smith, S. Swain, and G.J. van Gelder. Leiden, 2020. Joosse, Peter. The Physician as a Rebellious Intellectual. Peter Lang, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices