2020-08-19
54 分钟This is medieval death trip for Tuesday, August 18, 2020.
Episode 83 concerning island kingdoms, bloodsuckers and.
Flesh eaters.
Hello and welcome to medieval death trip, the show where we explore the wit and weirdness of medieval texts.
I'm your host Patrick Lane.
We got into some heavy material in our last episode and have been in somewhat of a heavy mood since focusing on the black death all the way back in March.
So I wanted to shift gears and see out the summer with a kind of vacation themed episode, or at least travel themed.
Today we'll revisit the early 14th century book of the travels of the franciscan friar, Odoric, or in Latin, Odoricus, of either portionone or Friuli, depending on who you ask.
He has previously featured in two episodes of this show, episode 57, concerning dive doppers, paper money, and a halfway house for souls, which also drew from his book of travels and episode 58, concerning the life and many disentubments of Odoric of Porta, none which draws from a saint's life written about him a few decades after his death.
I think this is lighter material, but it does come with its own set of problems, namely, it's a medieval westerner's description of the east and its peoples, which is a path with many potholes, to say the least.
In our excerpt for today, Odoric certainly repeats some unflattering and derogatory fantasies about the mysterious islands east of India.
But compared to many other medieval and especially later travel writers, odoric is refreshingly, I cant say non judgmental, but less judgmental I think is fair.
He encounters beliefs and practices he disagrees with, but often he doesnt turn this into open condemnation.
And even when he does condemn, he doesnt demonize or dehumanize.
Well, that said, in today's selection, he does specifically identify the God of a particular tribe as being a demon.
But that isn't the same thing as saying that the people themselves are innately demonic or wicked.
Anyway, he is frequently full of praise and admiration, and not just for natural wonders, but for the accomplishments of the people and kingdoms he visits.
This attitude no doubt derives from his purpose in traveling and in reporting what he found.
Hes a missionary.
Hes writing to encourage more missionaries to go into the east.