114. Beehive Stolen, Portugal 1435

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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