For Mother’s Day, we look at a 15th-century tale of a plowman who thinks that — in terms of daily labor — his wife has it too easy, and how he learns otherwise.

Today’s Texts

References

Image: Manuscript detail of flax breaking and striking with a swingle. (via Trame di Storia Handmade)

Audio Credit: Fiddle tune, “Frosty Morning” performed by Henry Reed (1966), from the Library of Congress.

This episode was recorded on site at the 2024 International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University. Behold, my humble recording booth:

Photo of makeshift reverb dampening.