

Medieval Murder
Hannah S Purtymun
Medieval Murder is an educational podcast bringing historical murders from the medieval and early modern period to life.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 24, 2021 • 46min
The Sagas of the Icelanders - Egil’s Saga Part 3
Hello and welcome to Medieval Murder, the podcast that brings all things gruesome and historical to the comfort of your own home or car or wherever it is you’re listening from. My name is Hannah Purtymun and I’m here with my father Kevin Purtymun to discuss some of the most famous and infamous murders that took place in the Medieval and Early Modern periods.
Today we will be jumping back into Egil’s Saga, part of the Icelandic Sagas.

Oct 4, 2021 • 26min
The Pazzi Conspiracy
Hello and welcome to Medieval Murder, the podcast that brings all things gruesome and historical to the comfort of your own home or car or wherever it is you’re listening from. My name is Hannah Purtymun and I’m here with my father Kevin Purtymun to discuss some of the most famous and infamous murders that took place in the Medieval and Early Modern periods.
Medieval Murder came to be, first as a blog, then as an instagram and now as a podcast after I finished my master’s dissertation on homicide in early medieval England. The podcast will feature some of the most famous murders in medieval history, some mini-episode series on different types of medieval murders and interviews with historians and history enthusiasts alike.
Apologies for the long wait between podcast episodes, I started a Master’s of Library and Information Science and have been busy with my full-time job as well. But, we have a packed schedule for the next several weeks! Today we will be talking about the Pazzi Conspiracy in Florence, Italy.

Aug 27, 2021 • 18min
Medieval Serial Killers or Werewolves?
Hello and welcome to Medieval Murder, the podcast that brings all things gruesome and historical to the comfort of your own home or car or wherever it is you’re listening from. My name is Hannah Purtymun and I’m here with my father Kevin Purtymun to discuss some of the most famous and infamous murders that took place in the Medieval and Early Modern periods.
Today we will be talking about the “werewolf epidemic” that swept through western Europe during the late middle ages and early modern period.
In the present day, in general, society looks back at the Middle Ages and sees things like a belief in witchcraft, werewolves, and even sea monsters as confusing and even childish. How could they have truly believed in any of this? That is what this podcast will be discussing; the truth behind the legends.

Aug 10, 2021 • 32min
The Saga’s of the Icelanders - Egil’s Saga Part 2
Hello and welcome to Medieval Murder, the podcast that brings all things gruesome and historical to the comfort of your own home or car or wherever it is you’re listening from. My name is Hannah Purtymun and I’m here with my father Kevin Purtymun to discuss some of the most famous and infamous murders that took place in the Medieval and Early Modern periods.
Medieval Murder came to be, first as a blog, then as an instagram and now as a podcast after I finished my master’s dissertation on homicide in early medieval England. The podcast will feature some of the most famous murders in medieval history, some mini-episode series on different types of medieval murders and interviews with historians and history enthusiasts alike. Today we will be talking about the second part of Egil’s Saga back in Iceland.

Jul 26, 2021 • 20min
A Medieval Serial Killer in France
Hello and welcome to Medieval Murder, the podcast that brings all things gruesome and historical to the comfort of your own home or car or wherever it is you’re listening from. My name is Hannah Purtymun and I’m here with my father Kevin Purtymun to discuss some of the most famous and infamous murders that took place in the Medieval and Early Modern periods.
Medieval Murder came to be, first as a blog, then as an instagram and now as a podcast after I finished my master’s dissertation on homicide in early medieval England. The podcast will feature some of the most famous murders in medieval history, some mini-episode series on different types of medieval murders and interviews with historians and history enthusiasts alike.
Today we will be talking about a man who has been known as the inspiration for the folktale Bluebeard but his real name was Gilles de Rais and he was a french serial killer during the fifteenth century.

Jul 11, 2021 • 18min
Medieval Murdered Saints: Holy Women and Holy Dogs
Hello and welcome to Medieval Murder, the podcast that brings all things gruesome and historical to the comfort of your own home or car or wherever it is you’re listening from. My name is Hannah Purtymun and I’m here with my father Kevin Purtymun to discuss some of the most famous and infamous murders that took place in the Medieval and Early Modern periods.
Today we’ll be talking about two saints during the medieval period who were both murdered: Saint Godelieve of Gisel and Saint Guinefort.
If you have any listener questions, comments, or topic suggestions please feel free to reach our via our Twitter Account @MurderMedieval, our instagram account @MedievalMurder or via email at info.medievalmurder@gmail.com.
Sources:
Stephen of Bourbon (Etienne de Bourbon), “De Superticione” in “De septem donis Spiritus Sancti”, or “Tractatus de Diversis Materiis Praedicalibus”, in Anecdotes Historiques, Legends et Apologues Tires de Receuil inedit d’Etienne de Bourbon, ed. Albert Lecoy de La Marche (Paris: La Société de l’Histoire de France, 1877), pp.314-29.
Goodish, Michael. “The Politics of Canonization in the thirteenth century: lay and Mendicant saints.” Saints and their Cults: Studies in Religious Sociology, Folklore and History. Pg. 169-187.
Klaniczay, Gábor. ‘The Power of the Saints and the Authority of the Popes. The History of Sainthood and Late Medieval Canonization Processes’, in Church and Belief in the Middle Ages: Popes, Saints, and Crusaders (Amsterdam, 2016).
Kienzle, Beverly Mayne and Nancy Nienhuis. “Battered Women and the Construction of Sanctity,” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 17, 1 (Spring 2001): 33-61.
Rist, Rebecca. "The papacy, Inquisition and Saint Guinefort the Holy Greyhound." Reinardus. Yearbook of the International Reynard Society 30, no. 1 (2018): 190-211.
Salih, Sarah. “Saints and sanctity in medieval England.” British Library. Jan. 2018.
Venarde, Bruce. “Drogo of Sint-Winoksbergen, Life of St. Godelieve,” Medieval Hagiography. (Jan. 2018).

Jun 29, 2021 • 35min
Medieval Murder Techniques (Guest: Midsomer Murder Bot - Matthew Berryman)
Welcome to Medieval Murder, the podcast that brings all things gruesome and historical to the comfort of your own home or car or wherever it is you’re listening from. My name is Hannah Purtymun and I’m here with my father Kevin Purtymun to discuss some of the most famous and infamous murders that took place in the Medieval and Early Modern periods.
Medieval Murder came to be, first as a blog, then as an instagram and now as a podcast after I finished my master’s dissertation on homicide in early medieval England. The podcast will feature some of the most famous murders in medieval history, some mini-episode series on different types of medieval murders and interviews with historians and history enthusiasts alike.
Today we will be discussing some of the most gruesome murder techniques in medieval history. We’ll be talking to Dr. Matthew Berryman the creator of the Midsomer Murder Bot on twitter! Matthew is a software developer who grew up in Adelaide, the murder capital of Australia. You can find him on Twitter at @midsomerplots or at midsomerplots.net.

Jun 14, 2021 • 48min
The Sagas of the Icelanders - Egil’s Saga
Hello and welcome to Medieval Murder, the podcast that brings all things gruesome and historical to the comfort of your own home or car or wherever it is you’re listening from. My name is Hannah Purtymun and I’m here with my father Kevin Purtymun to discuss some of the most famous and infamous murders that took place in the Medieval and Early Modern periods.
Medieval Murder came to be, first as a blog, then as an instagram and now as a podcast after I finished my master’s dissertation on homicide in early medieval England. The podcast will feature some of the most famous murders in medieval history, some mini-episode series on different types of medieval murders and interviews with historians and history enthusiasts alike.
Today we will be talking about Egil's Saga which spans from about 850 to 1000.
The Saga’s of the Icelanders are a genre of saga that are stories about different families in the medieval period. The stories are kind of a cross over between history and story and are almost what Icelander’s would consider historical fiction. Most of these stories were written several hundred years after the events themselves, and were told through a sort of oral tradition until they were written down.

4 snips
Jun 1, 2021 • 32min
The Many Murders Surrounding Mary Queen of Scots
Dive into the dark and tangled history surrounding Mary Queen of Scots. Discover the fierce political struggles between Scotland and England that defined her reign. Hear about her tumultuous relationships, including the shocking murder of her secretary David Rizzio and the chaos that followed her husband Darnley's death. Unravel the intrigue of Mary's captivity and her relentless pursuit of power. Finally, explore her tragic end, marked by betrayal and a failed assassination plot against Queen Elizabeth I.