
114. Beehive Stolen, Portugal 1435
From True Crime Medieval by Anne Brannen and Michelle Butler
September 13, 2025 · 1h 0m · Season 6 · Episode 114
About this episode
The episode discusses the complexities of beekeeping laws in medieval Europe, particularly focusing on the theft of beehives in Portugal and other countries.
If you wanted to steal beehives in the Middle Ages, you would need to be very good at the theft, because the laws about bees and beehives were many and varied, all over the European continent. And you should be really careful about stealing beehives in Portugal (or France, or Spain), because those were the places where the high-end honey got made, and the people there were very serious about their hives. Anne talks about the history of beekeeping, and the medieval laws thereof, and Michelle, ...
People in this episode
Hosts: Anne Brannen, Michelle Butler
Topics covered
- beekeeping
- medieval laws
- theft
- honey production
- European history
Keywords
- beehives
- theft
- medieval laws
- beekeeping
- honey
Mentioned in this episode
Places: Portugal, France, Spain
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