St. Catherine & Autumnal Saints

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

**This episode contains graphic references to genitalia**

Did you know that the Catherine Wheel firework takes its inspiration from St. Catherine of Alexandria? How did a 4th-century noblewoman convert fifty of the empire's greatest philosophers to Christianity before they were executed alongside her?

Dr. Eleanor Janega is once again joined by historian and storyteller Amy Jeffs, this time to uncover the fascinating stories of medieval saints connected to the autumn. In addition to St. Catherine, there's St. Martin of Tours who achieved sanctity through charity and humility rather than martyrdom, and St. Ursula, the British princess who led an impossible pilgrimage that ended in mass martyrdom at Cologne, and produced an "ocean of relics" that flooded European churches and captured imaginations across the continent.

More:

St. Christopher & Summertime Saints

St. George & Springtime Saints

Edward the Confessor & New Year Saints

Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. The narrator is Sophie Gee. This episode is edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Matt Lewis.
0:02.6	And I'm Dr. Eleanor Yonaga.
0:04.2	And we're just popping up here to tell you some insider info.
0:08.0	If you would like to listen to Gone Medieval ad-free and get early access and bonus episodes,
0:13.3	sign up to History Hit.
0:14.5	With the History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries.
0:20.6	Such as my new series on everyone's favorite
0:22.8	conquerors, the Normans, or my recent exploration of the castles that made Britain. There's a new
0:29.9	release to enjoy every week. Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe, or find a link in the show notes for this episode.
0:45.0	Mia! Yeah? Don't forget flu vaccine today. Really? Yeah, online consent form signed ages ago.
0:56.7	It helps stop you getting really poorly with flu
0:58.6	or passing it on to your baby brother.
1:01.0	If you have a child in reception to year 11,
1:03.3	help protect them with a flu nasal spray vaccine.
1:06.0	Your child's consent form could arrive by email, text
1:08.6	through your school app or in their bag.
1:10.7	Look out for it and complete it.
1:12.9	Stay strong. Get vaccinated. Find out more at NHS.uk slash child-hyphen flu.
1:18.9	To get better rates on mortgages, loans and credit cards, you don't need to know the friend of a
1:24.5	friend of the second cousin of a dog walker who went to school with the adopted
1:28.0	son of a reflexologist who's currently plant sitting for the step-sister of a social media influencer
1:34.1	that lives next door to some guy who works in finance. You just need a little help from Experian
	...

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