Saint Cecilia (c. 1626) by Simon Vouet (French, 1590 – 1649), oil on canvas, 134.1 cm (52.7 in); width: 98.2 cm (38.6 in), Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin
This week, we're joined by author M.T. Anderson as we dive into the thrilling tale of Nicked, the true story of a medieval heist to steal t
This week, we're joined by author M.T. Anderson as we dive into the thrilling tale of Nicked, the true story of a medieval heist to steal the holy body of Saint Nicholas and save Bari from plague. We take a step-by step approach to the heist and use it as an example for how you can adapt real relic thieves and heists into your TTRPGS & stories.
Check out Nicked here! Find MT Anderson's works on his website, here.
Transparency Statement: the Maniculum does not take sponsorships or paid promotions. We are excited to share Nicked with our audience because we loved the book and believe it is a perfect example of what we strive to do on the show: bring medieval tales into the modern day. We were gifted a copy of Nicked from Penguin Random House as part of the interview process.
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Nicked, MT Anderson - at your local bookstore & Bookshop.org, a storefront for small bookstores - find it here!
Anderson, M. T. Nicked. Pantheon Books, 2024.
Anderson, M. T. Yvain: the Knight of the Lion. Illustrated by Andrea Offerman, Candlewick Press, 2017.
al-Jawbari, Jamal al-Din ‘Abd al-Rahim. The Book of Charlatans. Translated by Humphrey Davies, edited by Manuela Dengler. New York UP, 2020. Library of Arabic Literature 64.
Birrell, Anne, translator. The Classic of Mountains and Seas. Penguin, 2000.
Christopher of Mytilene, “To the Monk Andrew…” The Poems of Christopher of Mytilene and John Mauropous, edited and translated by Floris Bernard and Christopher Livanos, Harvard UP, 2018, pp. 240–51. Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 50.
Einhard, “Translation of the Relics of Sts. Marcellinus and Peter.” Translated by Barrett Wendell, edited by David Appleby. Medieval Hagiography: An Anthology, edited by Thomas Head, Garland Press, 1999, pp. 199–225.
Farley, David. An Irreverent Curiosity. Gotham Books, 2009.
Geary, Patrick J. Furta Sacra: Thefts of Relics in the Central Middle Ages. Princeton UP, 1991.
Guibert of Nogent, “On Saints and their Relics.” Translated by Thomas Head. Medieval Hagiography: An Anthology, edited by Head, Garland Press, 1999, pp. 405–27.
Kurtz, Katherine. Saint Camber. Ballantine Books, 1978. Vol. 5 of the Deryni novels.
Map, Walter. De Nugis Curialium / Courtiers’ Trifles. Edited and translated by M. R. James, revised by C. N. L. Brooke and R. A. B. Mynors, Clarendon Press, 1983.
Novik, Naomi. His Majesty's Dragon. Del Rey, 2006. Vol. 1 of Temeraire.
For spelling reference
Bari
Manzikert
Myra
myroblyte
Seljuk
Good details from Nicked we never got around to mentioning:
Appearance of the historical Norman Reverse Mullet
Hey I just wanna say there’s this one catholic st. Who was probably a trans man, and he’s usually misgendered in a lot of the resources about him but he’s rlly interesting and I might make a post about it later on my own but his name is St. Marina the Monk, and I just think it’s very cool and important to remember that we have existed for CENTURIES and that’s awesome
Yes! There are actually a LOT of Catholic saints who followed this same path! St. Marina/Marinos has had a lot written about him! If you're interested in learning more about him I recommend this article from QSpirit!
Ironically this is a topic I actually know quite a bit about since I wrote about it for two finals for grad school. I even made a zine about it, which I'll post soon. There are quite a lot of FTM saints in Catholicism, and I'd be happy to make a full post/essay about them if y'all are interested :)
Some other sources/books in the meantime if you're curious about the topic:
Cherry, Kittredge. “Euphrosyne / Smaragdus of Alexandria: Queer Saint Crossed Gender Divide in 5th-Century Egypt.” QSPIRIT, September 21, 2024. https://qspirit.net/euphrosyne-smaragdus-queer-saint/.
Cherry, Kittredge. “Trans Saints? Early Cross-Dressing Monks and Martyrs Share Similar Lives.” QSPIRIT, March 1, 2025. https://qspirit.net/trans-saints-cross-dressing-monks/.
McDaniel, Rhonda L. The Third Gender and Ælfric’s Lives of Saints. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Western Michigan University, 2018.
Spencer-Hall, Alicia, and Blake Gutt, eds. Trans and Genderqueer Subjects in Medieval Hagiography. Amsterdam University Press, 2021. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1ks0cj4.
Furta Sacra, or Holy Theft, was the medieval practice of stealing a saint, or rather his leftover bones, from one church to enrich another. Thieves weren't troubled by the commandment against stealing, because they had devised a tidy loophole: if the theft succeeded, the saint had clearly wished to be taken. The dead, conveniently, do not object. It's remarkable how easily a crime becomes a blessing once the victim is in no condition to disagree.
