Anglican saints
The word saint derives from the Latin sanctus, meaning holy, and has long been used in Christianity to refer to a person who was recognized as having lived a holy life and as being an exemplar and model for other Christians. Beginning in the 10th century, the Catholic Church began to centralise and formalise the process of recognising saints; the process whereby an individual was added to the canon (list) of recognised saints became known as canonisation.
20 episodes
Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:
Alcuin
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the cleric, educator and poet from York who put learning for its own sake at the heart of the Carolingian Renaissance
30 January 2020
Featuring: Joanna Story, Andy Orchard, Mary Garrison
HistoryAnglican saintsScholastic philosophersMedieval Latin-language poetsMedieval English theologiansChristian hagiographers9th-century philosophersGrammarians of LatinAnglo-Saxon poets, Anglo-Saxon writers, 8th-century English writers, 8th-century Christian theologians, 8th-century writers in LatinChristina Rossetti
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of the Victorian poet Christina Rossetti.
1 December 2011
Featuring: Dinah Birch, Rhian Williams, Nicholas Shrimpton
CultureAnglican saintsSonneteersEnglish women poetsVictorian poets19th-century English women writersEnglish fantasy writersWriters from the London Borough of CamdenVictorian women writersBurials at Highgate CemeteryEnglish hymnwriters19th-century British writersPoets from LondonPolidori-Rossetti family, British people of Italian descent, English people of Italian descentDietrich Bonhoeffer
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Bonhoeffer's ideas about Christian ethics, the role of the Church in a secular world, and his attempts to overthrow Hitler.
27 September 2018
Featuring: Stephen Plant, Eleanor McLaughlin, Tom Greggs
Frederick Douglass
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and ideas of the prominent abolitionist, who in 1845 told his story in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.
9 February 2018
Featuring: Celeste-Marie Bernier, Karen Salt, Nicholas Guyatt
HistoryAnglican saints19th-century male writers19th-century American male writersDeaths from coronary thrombosisAmerican male journalistsAmerican lecturersActivists for African-American civil rightsAmerican autobiographersWriters from Baltimore19th-century American businesspeopleUnderground Railroad peoplePeople of the Six Years' War, 19th-century American memoiristsGeorge Fox and the Quakers
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the foundation of the Religious Society of Friends, otherwise known as the Quakers, in the 17th century.
5 April 2012
Featuring: Justin Champion, John Coffey, Kate Peters
Hildegard of Bingen
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the medieval mystic, composer and writer Hildegard of Bingen.
26 June 2014
Featuring: Miri Rubin, William Flynn, Almut Suerbaum
HistoryAnglican saintsCatholic philosophersWomen religious writersWomen mysticsMedieval Latin-language poetsAngelic visionariesGerman classical composersGerman women philosophersRoman Catholic mystics12th-century writers in LatinDoctors of the ChurchManuscript illuminators12th-century Christian saintsPre-Reformation Anglican saintsMystic poetsBenedictine philosophersCreators of writing systemsHerbalistsJohannes Kepler
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the German astronomer Johannes Kepler.
29 December 2016
Featuring: David Wootton, Ulinka Rublack, Adam Mosley
John Donne
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the extraordinary life and work of one of England's finest love poets and, as Dean of St Paul's Cathedral, most remarkable preachers.
12 January 2023
Featuring: Mary Ann Lund, Sue Wiseman, Hugh Adlington
CultureAnglican saintsWriters about activism and social changeEnglish male poetsPhilosophers of religionSonneteersCritics of the Catholic ChurchEnglish male non-fiction writers17th-century English male writersLiteracy and society theorists16th-century English poets17th-century English poetsLiterary theoristsLutheran saintsPeople celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendarAnglican poetsChristian poetsEnglish satiristsPeople from the City of LondonEnglish people of Welsh descentMetaphor theoristsWriters from LondonEpigrammatistsPamphleteers16th-century English male writers17th-century Anglican theologiansAlumni of Hart Hall, OxfordIndependent scholarsMetaphysical poetsPoet priestsJohn Wesley and Methodism
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the difference John Wesley made during the Christian Revival of the 18th Century, developing Methodism into a major movement around the world
10 December 2020
Featuring: Stephen Plant, Eryn White, William Gibson
ReligionAnglican saintsChristian humanistsChristian radicalsLutheran saintsPeople celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendarFounders of religionsEnglish abolitionistsAlumni of Christ Church, OxfordEnglish evangelicalsEnglish pamphleteersFounders of English schools and collegesGerman–English translators18th-century Anglican theologians18th-century English diarists18th-century evangelicalsChristian vegetariansChristianity in OxfordEnglish Anglican theologiansEnglish sermon writersTranslators of the Bible into EnglishJohnson
Melvyn Bragg discusses Samuel Johnson, a giant of 18th century literature, language and letters, and perhaps the most quotable Englishman to have ever lifted a pen.
27 October 2005
Featuring: John Mullan, Jim McLaverty, Judith Hawley
CultureAnglican saintsEnglish essayistsBurials at Westminster AbbeyEnglish AnglicansEnglish travel writers18th-century English male writersConversationalistsMale essayists18th-century English writersEnglish literary criticsStreathamitesEnglish biographersEnglish sermon writersPeople with mood disorders18th-century English poets18th-century lexicographers, 18th-century writers in LatinMargery Kempe and English Mysticism
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Margery Kempe (1373-1438), the English mystic who went to Jerusalem and dictated her life story, said to be the first autobiography in English.
2 June 2016
Featuring: Miri Rubin, Katherine Lewis, Anthony Bale
HistoryAnglican saintsWomen religious writersWomen mysticsEnglish religious writers15th-century English writersEnglish women non-fiction writersRoman Catholic mysticsEnglish Roman CatholicsEnglish autobiographersWriters from King's LynnPre-Reformation Anglican saintsFemale saints of medieval England15th-century English women writers, 15th-century deaths, English Catholic mystics, 14th-century English women writers, Middle English literature, 14th-century Christian mysticsMary Magdalene
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Mary Magdalene, one of the best-known figures in the Bible.
25 February 2016
Featuring: Joanne Anderson, Eamon Duffy, Joan Taylor
Octavia Hill
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Victorian reformer Octavia Hill, pioneer of social housing and campaigner for public open spaces.
7 April 2011
Featuring: Dinah Birch, Lawrence Goldman, Gillian Darley
Saint Cuthbert
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life of the Northumbrian monk, priest and hermit who lived on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne and became one of England's most revered saints.
28 January 2021
Featuring: Jane Hawkes, Sarah Foot, John Hines
St Hilda
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss St Hilda, who led a large and influential network of monasteries in 7th century Britain.
5 April 2007
Featuring: John Blair, Rosemary Cramp, Sarah Foot
St Thomas Aquinas
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss St Thomas Aquinas, the Catholic Church's foremost western philosopher and theologian.
17 September 2009
Featuring: Martin Palmer, John Haldane, Annabel Brett
PhilosophyAnglican saintsMetaphysiciansWriters about religion and sciencePhilosophers of lawUniversity of Paris alumniAristotelian philosophersNatural law ethicistsCatholic philosophersVirtue ethicistsChristian ethicistsLutheran saintsScholastic philosophersClassical theismMedieval Latin-language poetsAngelic visionariesCritics of atheism13th-century writers in Latin13th-century philosophersDoctors of the ChurchSystematic theologiansChristian apologistsDominican mysticsThomas AquinasMagic (supernatural)The Venerable Bede
Melvyn Bragg discusses the Venerable Bede, who revolutionised history and scholarship, and became adopted by Rome as the last of the founding fathers of Christian religion.
25 November 2004
Featuring: Richard Gameson, Sarah Foot, Michelle Brown
ReligionAnglican saintsLutheran saintsTrope theoristsMedieval English theologiansNorthumbrian saintsChristian hagiographersDoctors of the ChurchEnglish Christian theologiansHistory of Catholicism in England, English Roman Catholic saintsAnglo-Saxon poets, Anglo-Saxon writers, 8th-century English writers, 8th-century Christian theologians, 8th-century writers in LatinThomas Becket
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Thomas Becket, chancellor turned archbishop, who was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral and whose tomb became a centre of pilgrimage across Europe.
14 December 2017
Featuring: Laura Ashe, Michael Staunton, Danica Summerlin
Wilberforce
In an unusual edition of In Our Time, marking the 1807 Abolition of the Slave Trade, Melvyn Bragg leaves the studio to examine the life of William Wilberforce.
22 February 2007
Featuring
ReligionAnglican saintsEnglish male non-fiction writersBurials at Westminster AbbeyEnglish AnglicansChristian radicalsAlumni of St John's College, Cambridge19th-century English non-fiction writersEnglish religious writersEnglish philanthropistsEnglish abolitionistsAnglican writers19th-century Anglicans19th-century English politicians18th-century evangelicalsBritish reformersFellows of the Royal Society of ArtsMembers of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies, British MPs 1780–1784UK MPs 1820–1826, UK MPs 1818–1820British MPs 1790–1796, British MPs 1784–1790Wyclif and the Lollards
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the medieval philosopher and theologian John Wyclif and his followers, the Lollards.
16 June 2011
Featuring: Anthony Kenny, Anne Hudson, Rob Lutton
ReligionAnglican saintsCritics of the Catholic ChurchChristian humanistsChristian radicalsPeople excommunicated by the Catholic ChurchEnglish evangelicalsDamnatio memoriaeEnglish Reformation14th-century writers in LatinTranslators of the Bible into EnglishTranslators to English14th-century English writersRoman Catholic biblical scholars, Proto-Protestants