John Gower and the Gruffalo

Back in June I was thrilled to get another chance to broadcast an Essay on BBC Radio 3.  This one was about John Gower, "the forgotten medieval poet".  So I dusted off my Middle English, paid a quick trip to Southwark Cathedral, and did my best to convey the amazing range of this 14th-century Kentish curmudgeon.

"Here lies John Gower, poeta celeberrimus"

You can listen now at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b7hvgy.  It was recorded with a live audience at the fantastic York Festival of Ideas.  I did get rather carried away with this passage from the Confessio Amantis:

Medea with hire art hath wroght Of cloth of gold a mantel riche, Which semeth worth a kinges riche, And that was unto Creusa sent In name of gifte and of present, For sosterhode hem was betuene; And whan that yonge freisshe queene That mantel lappeth hire aboute, Anon therof the fyr sprong oute And brente hir bothe fleissh and bon. Tho cam Medea to Jason With bothe his sones on hire hond, And seide, 'O thou of every lond The moste untrewe creature, Lo, this schal be thi forfeture.' With that sche bothe his sones slouh Before his yhe, and he outdrouh His swerd and wold have slayn hir tho, Bot farewel, sche was ago

Stirring stuff! And a very similar metre to that used by Julia Donaldson, as I explain in my programme.

Medieval finger-counting on the BBC

"Hand of Bede" from Bodleian Library, Oxford,
MS Digby 56, f. 165v (12th century)

Yesterday I had an opportunity to present some medieval science on the BBC.  I had been asked to contribute to "Free Thinking" on Radio 3.  The theme of the programme was "Hands", so I decided to fill my allocated 4 minutes by talking about early medieval finger-counting.

You can listen to the full programme here - my short essay and interview start at 22 minutes. (You can also download Free Thinking as a podcast on iTunes.)

I also recorded this spur-of-the-moment clip, showing some numbers on my fingers.  A bit clumsy, but I only got one try at it!


If you want to read some more about finger-counting and hand-diagrams in the Middle Ages, I recommend this blog post by Irene O'Daly.  You can also read Bede's The Reckoning of Time in a great edition by Faith Wallis.