Human Circus: Journeys In The Medieval World

Salah ad-Din/Saladin part one, from birth into banishment to ruler of 12th-century Egypt. This is the story of the rise of the Ayyubid founder. 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. I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus. Sources:Hiestand, Rudolf. "The Papacy and the Second Crusade," in The Second Crusade: Scope and Consequences, edited by Jonathan Phillips & Martin Hoch. Manchester University Press, 2001. Lēv, Yaacov. Saladin in Egypt. Brill, 1999.Lyons, Malcolm Cameron & Jackson, D.E.P. Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War. Cambridge University Press, 1982.Maalouf, Amin. The Crusades through Arab Eyes. Saqi, 2012.Man, John. Saladin: The Sultan who Vanquished the Crusaders and Built an Islamic Empire. Hachette Books, 2016.Phillips, Jonathan. The Second Crusade: Extending the

After David had died, Moses/Maimonides still had a lot of life left to live, so this episode is about that life in Ayyubid Egypt. 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. I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus. Sources:Ben-Sasson, Menahem. "Maimonides in Egypt: The First Stage," in Maimonidean Studies: vol. 1, edited by Arthur Hyman. Yeshiva University Press, 1991.Bareket, Elinoar. Fustat on the Nile: The Jewish Elite in Medieval Egypt. Brill, 1999.Davidson, Herbert, A. Moses Maimonides: The Man and His Works. Oxford University Press, 2004.Goitein, S.D. A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza, Vol. IV: Daily Life. University of California Press, 2000.Halbertal, Moshe. Maimonides: Life and Thought, translat

Moses and David ben Maimon make their home in Fatimid - soon to be Ayyubid - Egypt, where the Nile and caravan routes linked the Mediterranean ports to the Red Sea and the crossing to the coast of India, a crossing David would attempt to make. 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. I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus. Sources:The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, translated by Marcus Nathan Adler.  Philipp Feldheim, inc.Judaism in Practice: From the Middle Ages Through the Early Modern Period, edited by Lawrence Fine. Princeton University Press, 2001.Abu-Lughod, Janet L. Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250-1350. Oxford University Press, 1989.Bareket, Elinoar. Fustat on the Nile: The Jewish Elite in Medieval Egypt. Brill, 1999.Cooper, John. The Medieval Nile: R

This is my first episode on Maimonides/Moses and his little brother David, on their exile from their homeland in Al-Andalus, and on their winding way to Egypt, which would be their long-term home. 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. I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus. Sources:The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, translated by Marcus Nathan Adler.  Philipp Feldheim, inc.Judaism in Practice: From the Middle Ages Through the Early Modern Period, edited by Lawrence Fine. Princeton University Press, 2001.Davidson, Herbert, A. Moses Maimonides: The Man and His Works. Oxford University Press, 2004.Fromherz, Allen J. The Almohads: The Rise of an Islamic Empire. I.B. Tuaris, 2012.Jacobs, Martin. Reorienting the East: Jewish Travelers to the Medieval Muslim World. University of Pe

The conclusion of the Rabban Bar Sauma series. It's Bar Sauma's return to the Ilkhanate and the results of his journey. It's the end of the line for him and his friend the catholicus, and it's the changes that were going on in the Ilkhanate and how they affected the Church of the East and our main characters. 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. I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus. Sources:The Monks of Kublai Khan, translated by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge. The Religious Tract Society, 1928.Aigle, Denise. The Mongol Empire between Myth and Reality: Studies in Anthropological History. Brill, 2014.Grousset, René. Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia. Rutgers University Press, 1988. Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the Islamic World. Yale University Press, 2017.Jackson, P

This is Rabban Bar Sauma part 3 of 4, the story of the Mongol envoy's diplomatic efforts in Paris, Bordeaux, and Rome, his experience as a pilgrim to the sites and saints of Italy and France, and his attempts to improve the Ilkhanid cause against the Mamluks. 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. I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus. Sources:The Monks of Kublai Khan, translated by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge. The Religious Tract Society, 1928.Epstein, Steven. Genoa and the Genoese, 958-1528. University of North Carolina Press, 2001.Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the Islamic World. Yale University Press, 2017.Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the West: 1221-1410. Pearson Longman, 2005.Kolbas, Judith. The Mongols in Iran: Chingiz Khan to Uljaytu 1220–1309. Routledge, 2006.Lower, Mich

In this episode, our monkish friends attempt to navigate the violent waters of Ilkhanid Mongol politics, and Bar Sauma himself embarks on another long journey, this time heading for Rome. 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. I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus. Sources:The Monks of Kublai Khan, translated by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge. The Religious Tract Society, 1928.Aigle, Denise. The Mongol Empire Between Myth and Reality: Studies in Anthropological History. Brill Academic Pub, 2014.Benjamin, Sandra. Sicily: Three Thousand Years of Human History. Steerforth Press, 2010.Grousset, René. The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia, translated by Naomi Walford. Rutgers, 2002. Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the Islamic World. Yale University Press, 2017.Jackson, Peter.

First in a series on Rabban Bar Sauma, covering his life from miracle-baby through cave-bound monk and on to pilgrim, with ambassador to the cities of western Europe not far behind. This episode takes us from Yuan China to Jerusalem, or perhaps not quite that far. 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. I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus. Sources:  The History of Yaballaha III Nestorian Patriarch and of his Vicar Bar Sauma Mongol Ambassador to the Frankish Courts at the End of the Thirteenth Century, translated by James A. Montgomery. Columbia University Press, 1927.The Monks of Kublai Khan, translated by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge. The Religious Tract Society, 1928.Nestorian Tablet: Eulogizing the Propagation of the Illustrious Religion in China, with a Preface, composed by a pr

All good things must end, and even those not so good. With this episode, we bring the Fourth Crusade to something of an end. It's Baldwin and Boniface's rivalry. It's the king of the Bulgarians. It's the long spiral. If you like what you hear, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here. I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus. Sources:  Geoffrey de Villehardouin. Memoirs or Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople, translated by Frank T. Marzials. J.M. Dent, 1908.Three Old French Chronicles Of The Crusades: The History Of The Holy War; The History Of Them That Took Constantinople; The Chronicle Of Reims, translated by Edward Noble Stone. University Of Washington Publications In The Social Sciences, 1939.O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates, translated by Harry J. Magoulias. Wayne State University Press, 1984.Madden,

A Halloween special full of medieval ghost (or revenant) stories from the 11th and 12th centuries, featuring Orderic Vitalis, Thietmar of Merseburg, William of Newburgh, and, briefly representing the 6th-century, Gregory of Tours. If you like what you hear, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here. I'm on Twitter @circus_human and my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com. Sources: Joynes, Andrew. Medieval Ghost Stories: An Anthology of Miracles, Marvels and Prodigies. Boydell Press, 2006. Schmitt, Jean-Claude. Ghosts in the Middle Ages: The Living and the Dead in Medieval Society. The University of Chicago Press, 1998. Shinners, John, ed. Medieval Popular Religion, 1000-1500 (2nd Edition). Broadview Press, 2007. Vitalis, Ordericus. The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy. Bohn, 1854. Warner, David A, ed. Ottonian Germany: The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg. Manchester University Press, 2001. Widukind of Corvey. Deeds of the Saxons. Catholic University of America Press, 2014.

This one will be a bit of a side step in the Fourth Crusade story. This is a story of furta sacra, or sacred theft, following the fall of Constantinople, and of one theft in particular. This the story of Saint Simon and how he came to Venice. The medieval Christmas card Kickstarter which I mentioned can be found here. If you like what you hear, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here. I'm on Twitter @circus_human and my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com. Sources:  Geoffrey de Villehardouin. Memoirs or Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople, translated by Frank T. Marzials. J.M. Dent, 1908.Three Old French Chronicles Of The Crusades: The History Of The Holy War; The History Of Them That Took Constantinople; The Chronicle Of Reims, translated by Edward Noble Stone. University Of Washington Publications In The Social Sciences, 1939.O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates, translated by Harry J. Magoulias. Wayne State University Press, 1984.Madden, Thoma

This is part three of my Fourth Crusade series. It's got emperors, fires, and first hand accounts of the taking of Constantinople. Hope you enjoy it! My Medieval Christmas Kickstarter can be found here! If you like what you hear, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here. Sources:  Geoffrey de Villehardouin. Memoirs or Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople, translated by Frank T. Marzials. J.M. Dent, 1908.Three Old French Chronicles Of The Crusades: The History Of The Holy War; The History Of Them That Took Constantinople; The Chronicle Of Reims, translated by Edward Noble Stone. University Of Washington Publications In The Social Sciences, 1939.O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates, translated by Harry J. Magoulias. Wayne State University Press, 1984.Madden, Thomas F. Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.Madden, Thomas F. Venice: A New History. Viking, 2012.Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium: The Decline and Fall.

The Fourth Crusade continues, with the assault on Zara, a long winter in the city, and one reasonable occasion to go to Constantinople. If you like what you hear, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here. I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, my website is www.humancircuspodcast.com, and I have some things on Redbubble at https://www.redbubble.com/people/humancircus. Sources:Geoffrey de Villehardouin. Memoirs or Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople, translated by Frank T. Marzials. J.M. Dent, 1908.Three Old French Chronicles Of The Crusades: The History Of The Holy War; The History Of Them That Took Constantinople; The Chronicle Of Reims, translated by Edward Noble Stone. University Of Washington Publications In The Social Sciences, 1939.O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates, translated by Harry J. Magoulias. Wayne State University Press, 1984.Madden, Thomas F. Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice. The Johns Hopkins University Press,

Using the the chronicles of two participants in the Fourth Crusade - the one a common knight, the other a leader involved in decision making and the important work of an envoy - we follow the growth of the Fourth Crusade through the elevation of Pope Innocent III, the negotiation with the Venetians, the ruinous agreement that was the result, and all the way up to the gates of Zara. Website Patreon Buy me a Ko-fi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this, the last episode of the Marco Polo series, Marco comes home to Venice. I touch on a bit of the history of the book (or books), The Travels of Marco Polo, and we follow Marco as he disentangles himself from the stifling embrace of Kublai Khan, encounters many things new and strange to him on the coast of India, and finds himself mixing with Ilkhan royalty. Patreon Website Ko-Fi Twitter Paypal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's the grand tour of the world, or at least that part of it from Southeast Asia to the African coast, and you are taking it with/as Marco Polo. There will be monstrous birds, cannibals, the spice trade, and quite a lot of date wine. There'll be the beginning of the Buddha and the end of Saint Thomas. Thanks for listening! Find me at my website, on Twitter, or on Patreon, If you like what you hear, you can buy me a coffee over here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Marco Polo's story of "Zipangu," the secluded island kingdom, abundant with gold, and Kublai Khan's attempt to take it all, is the subject of this episode. I talk about the two Mongol invasions of Japan and how their story has reached us.   Sources: The Travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian, translated by William Marsden, edited by Thomas Wright. George Bell & Sons, 1907.The Travels of Marco Polo: The Complete Yule-Cordier Edition, translated by Henry Yule and revised by Henri Cordier. Courier Corporation, 1993.Chase, Kenneth W. "Mongol Intentions Towards Japan in 1266: Evidence from a Mongol Letter to the Sung." Sino-Japanese Studies 9, no. 2 (1997).Conlan, Thomas D. In Little Need of Divine Intervention: Takezaki Suenaga's Scrolls of the Mongol Invasions of Japan. Cornell University (2010).Delgado, James P. Adventures of a Sea Hunter: In Search of Famous Shipwrecks. Douglas & McIntyre, 2004.Delgado, James P. Khubilai Khan's Lost Fleet: In Search of a Legendary Armaga. Douglas & McIntyre, 2008.Delgado, James P

In this episode, I look at the question of whether Marco actually went to China (some have thought he did not at all, or only made it to the capital), and, if so, what he was doing there. humancircuspodcast.com patreon.com/humancircus @circus_human Sources:The Travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian, translated by William Marsden, edited by Thomas Wright. George Bell & Sons, 1907.The Travels of Marco Polo: The Complete Yule-Cordier Edition,translated by Henry Yule and revised by Henri Cordier. Courier Corporation, 1993.Haw, Stephen G. Marco Polo's China: A Venetian in the Realm of Khubilai Khan. Routledge, 2006.Larner, John. Marco Polo and the Discovery of the World. Yale University Press, 1999.Man, John. Marco Polo: The Journey that Changed the World.HarperCollins, 2009.Olschki, Leonardo. Marco Polo's Asia. University of California Press, 1960.Rossabi, Morris. Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times. University of California Press, 1988.Vogel, Hans Ulrich. Marco Polo was in China: New Evidence from Currencies, Salts

Marco Polo was a tremendous admirer of Kublai Khan and of his Genghisid legacy more generally. This episode, we explore that admiration, the character of Kublai, and the anecdote of the treacherous minister. www.humancircuspodcast.com Sources: The Travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian, translated by William Marsden, edited by Thomas Wright. George Bell & Sons, 1907.Larner, John. Marco Polo and the Discovery of the World. Yale University Press, 1999.Man, John. Marco Polo: The Journey that Changed the World. HarperCollins, 2009.Olschki, Leonardo. Marco Polo's Asia. University of California Press, 1960.Rossabi, Morris. Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times. University of California Press, 1988. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The three Polos depart for the summer palace of Kublai Khan. There'll be Assassins, baked corpses, and papal elections along the way! Website: humancircuspodcast.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/circus_human Email: HumanCircusPod@gmail.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/humancircuspod/ Donate to the podcast: https://ko-fi.com/A7071B1K Sources: - The Travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian, translated by Willam Marsden, edited by Thomas Wright. George Bell & Sons, 1907. - The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck, translated by Peter Jackson. The Hakluyt Society, 1990. - Cathay and the Way Thither, Being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China, Vol. III, translated and edited by Henry Yule and Henri Cordier. London, 1916. - Ackroyd, Peter. Venice: Pure City. Chatto & Windus, 2009. - Daftary, Farhad. The Assassin Legends. I. B. Tauris, 1994. - Larner, John. Marco Polo and the Discovery of the World. Yale University Press, 1999. - Madden, Thomas F. Venice: A New History. Viking, 2012. - Olschki, Leonardo. Marco Po