Episode 92: Emergency Popecast

Episode 92: Emergency Popecast

From Ask a Medievalist by Ask a Medievalist

April 30, 2025 · 1h 17m · Season 6 · Episode 92

About this episode

The episode discusses the death of Pope Francis and the historical context of papal conclaves.

Synopsis Pope Francis, beloved of medievalists, died on April 21, 2025, so we’re here with all you might care to know about the forthcoming conclave (now a film starring Ralph Finnes), the history of conclaves, and why medievalists loved Francis so much, anyway. Notes 1/ Benedict went to Mater Ecclesiae Monastery , I think. It’s in the neighborhood. 2/ Jesse and I decided to try and do any extra notes attached to NEXT episode, so y’all are stuck with only my ramblings down here this time. 3/ Sorry about the sound quality. I messed something up during the recording process. Also I’ve never sat still in my life, apparently. What a way to find out. 4/ Books and films in this episode: Conclave (2024) The Name of the Rose , by Umberto Eco (1980) The Key to the Name of the Rose: including translations of all non-English passages , by Adele J. Haft, Jane G. White, and Robert H. White (1987) The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) 5/ I asked Jesse for clarification about what is meant by someone getting to be pope with a minority of votes. Basically the minority vote-getter (Innocent II) went off and set up as pope anyway, and eventually everyone came around to his way…

People in this episode

Host: Jesse

Topics covered

  • Pope Francis
  • conclave history
  • medievalism
  • antipope
  • film adaptations

Keywords

  • Pope Francis
  • conclave
  • medievalists
  • antipope
  • Ralph Finnes

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Conclave, The Name of the Rose, The Key to the Name of the Rose, The Shoes of the Fisherman

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