Human Circus: Journeys in the Medieval World

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 priest of the Syriac Church, 781 A.D. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/eastasia/781nestorian.asp Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the Islamic World. Yale University Press, 2017.Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the West: 1221-1410. Pearson Longman, 2005. Keevak, Michael. The Story of a Stele: China's Nestorian Monument and Its Reception in the West, 1625-1916. Hong Kong University Press, 2010.Rossabi, Morris. Khublai Khan: His Life and Times. University of California Press, 1988. Rossabi, Morris. Voyager from Xanadu: Rabban Sauma and the First Journey from China to the West. Kodansha International, 1992. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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, 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. Viking, 1995.Queller, Donald E. The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople, 1201-1204. Leicester University Press, 1978. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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, 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. Viking, 1995.Perry, David M. Sacred Plunder: Venice and the Aftermath of the Fourth Crusade. Penn State Press, 2015.Perry, David M. "The Translatio Symonensis and the Seven Thieves: A Venetian Fourth Crusade Furta Sacra Narrative and the Looting of Constantinople."Queller, Donald E. The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople, 1201-1204.  Leicester University Press, 1978. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Viking, 1995.Queller, Donald E. The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople, 1201-1204.  Leicester University Press, 1978. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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, 2003.Madden, Thomas F. Venice: A New History. Viking, 2012.Queller, Donald E. The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople, 1201-1204.  Leicester University Press, 1978. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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.WebsitePatreonBuy 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 WebsiteKo-FiTwitterPaypal 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. "Relics of the Kamikaze," Archaeology. 56, no. 1 (January/February, 2003).  Larner, John. Marco Polo and the Discovery of the World. Yale University Press, 1999.Mass, Jeffrey P., ed. Court and Bakufu in Japan: Essays in Kamakura History. Stanford University Press (1995).Olschki, Leonardo. Marco Polo's Asia. University of California Press, 1960.Rossabi, Morris. Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times. University of California Press, 1988.Sasaki, Randall J. The Origins of the Lost Fleet of the Mongol Empire. Texas A & M University Press, 2015.Yamada, Nakaba. Ghenko, the Mongol Invasion of Japan. London, Smith, Elder, 1916. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices