Constructing Identities in Medieval Kabbalistic Discourse with Dr. Hartley Lachter

Tour the Notre-Dame of Amiens with Dr. Stephen Murray as we discuss the cathedral’s mythological origins as a “new Jerusalem” and how medieval Latin Christians interacted with the sublime through sacred architecture. Like our content? Follow us on Twitter @knightschool_ for more snippets of the global Middle Ages.

This week, Dr. Hartley Lachter discussed medieval Kabbalah, analyzing how Jewish historical experiences and Jewish-Christian debates influenced the development of kabbalistic discourses. Follow us on Twitter @knightschool_ and check out our website.

Dr. Sara Verskin joins us to discuss gender and infertility in the medieval Arab-Islamic world. Listen to learn more about implications for marriage, midwives, and infertility tests. Follow us on Twitter @knightschool_

Dr. Emily Steiner joins us to discuss the 14th-century allegorical narrative poem, Piers Plowman, in all its complexities. Follow us on Twitter @knightschool_ for more! Manuscript image is a detail from Corpus Christi College MS 201 (Piers Plowman manuscript), c. 1375–1399, Library of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, England.

Dr. Sierra Lomuto discusses the racial construction of Mongols as "exotic allies," the 14th-century King of Tars romance, the modern weaponization of medieval symbolism, and racism in medieval academia. Follow us on Twitter @knightschool Manuscript in episode cover art is a detail from King of Tars in the Auchinleck MS f.7ra, c. 1330s, National Library of Scotland copy.

Dr. Malgorzata Citko recounts the tale of this thirteenth-century Japanese imperial concubine-turned traveling Buddhist nun through lady Nijō's own diary, Towazugatari. Follow us on Twitter @knightschool

Dr. Edward Wheatley joins us to discuss how religious and literary representations of disability reveal multiplicities of lived experiences, as well as contemporary anti-Semitic attitudes and societal suspicions of "feigned" disability. Follow us on Twitter @knightschool

Dr. Hannah Ryley discusses medieval “constructive destruction,” sustainable media, and economies of book production. Follow us on Twitter @knightschool

Dr. Holly Dugan explains how medieval literary “smell-scapes” reveal contemporary socio-cultural perceptions of religion, race, gender, and more. Follow us on Twitter @knightschool_ Manuscript in episode cover art is a detail from the Holkham Bible Picture Book (BL MS 47682 f. 39r), c 1327-1335, British Library, London, UK.

Dr. Lynch discusses Rumi's Masnavi-e Ma‛navi, Mevlevi Sema Ceremonies, and more. Follow us on Twitter @knightschool_