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.
21 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
HistoryMedieval Latin-language poetsMedieval English theologiansAnglican saintsGrammarians of Latin9th-century philosophers8th-century Christian theologians, 8th-century English writers, 8th-century writers in Latin, Anglo-Saxon poets, Anglo-Saxon writersChristian hagiographersScholastic philosophersChristina 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
CultureVictorian women writersSonneteersEnglish fantasy writersAnglican saintsBurials at Highgate CemeteryEnglish hymnwritersEnglish women poetsWriters from the London Borough of Camden19th-century British writersPoets from London19th-century English women writersBritish people of Italian descent, English people of Italian descent, Polidori-Rossetti familyVictorian poetsDietrich 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
History19th-century male writers19th-century American memoirists, People of the Six Years' WarAmerican male journalistsUnderground Railroad peopleAnglican saintsActivists for African-American civil rightsAmerican lecturersDeaths from coronary thrombosisAmerican autobiographersWriters from Baltimore19th-century American male writers19th-century American businesspeopleGeorge 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
George Herbert
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the author of 'the most beautiful poem in the world' whose works on his relationship with God offered comfort to Charles I when he faced execution.
07 November 2024
Featuring: Helen Wilcox, Victoria Moul, Simon Jackson
CulturePoet priestsSonneteersPeople celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar17th-century English Anglican priestsAnglican saintsAnglo-Welsh poets17th-century deaths from tuberculosisEnglish male poetsAnglican poetsTuberculosis deaths in EnglandLutheran saintsAlumni of Trinity College, CambridgePeople educated at Westminster School, London17th-century Christian mystics17th-century English male writersProtestant mystics17th-century English poetsAnglican writersHildegard 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
HistoryMedieval Latin-language poetsWomen religious writersCatholic philosophersManuscript illuminatorsDoctors of the ChurchAnglican saintsCreators of writing systemsGerman classical composersRoman Catholic mysticsWomen mystics12th-century writers in LatinBenedictine philosophersHerbalistsGerman women philosophersAngelic visionariesMystic poets12th-century Christian saintsPre-Reformation Anglican saintsJohannes 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
CulturePeople from the City of London17th-century Anglican theologiansLutheran saintsLiteracy and society theoristsIndependent scholarsPamphleteers17th-century English Anglican priestsChristian poetsAnglican poetsAlumni of Hart Hall, OxfordEpigrammatistsMetaphor theoristsPoet priestsEnglish people of Welsh descentPeople celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar16th-century English male writersCritics of the Catholic ChurchLiterary theoristsEnglish male poets16th-century English poets17th-century English poetsMetaphysical poetsWriters from LondonSonneteersPhilosophers of religionAnglican saintsEnglish satiristsWriters about activism and social changeEnglish male non-fiction writers17th-century English male writersJohn 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
ReligionEnglish sermon writersChristian humanists18th-century English diaristsLutheran saints18th-century evangelicalsEnglish abolitionistsChristian vegetariansFounders of religionsPeople educated at Charterhouse SchoolEnglish evangelicalsPeople celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendarEnglish pamphleteersChristianity in OxfordGerman–English translatorsChristian radicalsEnglish Anglican theologians18th-century Anglican theologiansFounders of English schools and collegesAlumni of Christ Church, OxfordAnglican saintsTranslators 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
English sermon writersEnglish travel writersEnglish literary critics18th-century lexicographers, 18th-century writers in LatinConversationalistsEnglish essayistsAnglican saintsStreathamitesBurials at Westminster AbbeyMale essayistsEnglish Anglicans18th-century English writersPeople with mood disorders18th-century English poetsEnglish biographers18th-century English male writersMargery 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
HistoryWriters from King's LynnWomen religious writersEnglish Roman Catholics14th-century Christian mystics, 14th-century English women writers, 15th-century English women writers, 15th-century deaths, English Catholic mystics, Middle English literature15th-century English writersAnglican saintsEnglish autobiographersEnglish religious writersRoman Catholic mysticsWomen mysticsEnglish women non-fiction writersFemale saints of medieval EnglandPre-Reformation Anglican saintsMary 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
PhilosophyMedieval Latin-language poets13th-century philosophersCritics of atheismNatural law ethicistsMagic (supernatural)Lutheran saintsThomas AquinasPhilosophers of lawDoctors of the Church13th-century writers in LatinAristotelian philosophersWriters about religion and scienceAngelic visionariesVirtue ethicistsChristian ethicistsCatholic philosophersSystematic theologiansChristian apologistsScholastic philosophersClassical theismMetaphysiciansDominican mysticsAnglican saintsUniversity of Paris alumniThe 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
ReligionMedieval English theologiansEnglish Roman Catholic saintsEnglish Christian theologiansTrope theoristsDoctors of the ChurchAnglican saintsNorthumbrian saints8th-century Christian theologians, 8th-century English writers, 8th-century writers in Latin, Anglo-Saxon poets, Anglo-Saxon writersChristian hagiographersLutheran saintsHistory of Catholicism in EnglandThomas 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
ReligionEnglish AnglicansEnglish religious writersAlumni of St John's College, CambridgeFellows of the Royal Society of ArtsAnglican writers18th-century evangelicalsEnglish abolitionistsEnglish philanthropistsBurials at Westminster Abbey19th-century Anglicans19th-century English non-fiction writersUK MPs 1818–1820, UK MPs 1820–1826British MPs 1784–1790, British MPs 1790–1796Christian radicals19th-century English politiciansAnglican saintsEnglish male non-fiction writersBritish MPs 1780–1784, Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituenciesBritish reformersWyclif 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
ReligionEnglish evangelicalsChristian humanistsDamnatio memoriaePeople excommunicated by the Catholic ChurchAnglican saintsTranslators to EnglishCritics of the Catholic ChurchProto-Protestants, Roman Catholic biblical scholars14th-century writers in LatinChristian radicals14th-century English writersTranslators of the Bible into EnglishEnglish Reformation