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Documentary
Janina Ramirez discovers how monasteries shaped all aspects of medieval Britain and created a dazzling array of art, architecture and literature, a story of faith, sacrifice, violence and corruption.
Dr Janina Ramirez explores how monasteries evolved from a cult of extreme isolation and self-deprivation into powerhouses of Anglo-Saxon art, industry and learning. Janina begins her journey on the desolate rock of Skellig St Michael off the east coast of Ireland, home to the oldest surviving monastery in the British Isles. Monasteries such as Lindisfarne and Whitby became beacons of civilisation and literature in the barbaric Anglo-Saxon world, creating wondrous works of art including the Lindisfarne Gospels and St Cuthbert's pectoral cross. They transform the culture and landscape of England, until they too were destroyed by a new wave of barbarian invaders
The golden age of the British monastery was during the medieval period, when monks transformed British society and rose to a position of immense power. Fighting back after centuries of defeat and neglect, a wave of new monasteries spread across the nation, with over 500 British monastic houses established by the 14th century. Far from the inward-looking recluses of legend, monks were exceptionally creative, and became pioneers in the fields of medicine, science, scholarship, industry, farming, art and music. They didn't turn their back on the medieval world, but helped transform it. Yet as the monasteries mingled with the world outside their cloisters they began to take on its corruption
Dr Janina Ramirez discovers how the immensely rich and powerful monasteries, that had dominated British society for a thousand years, were annihilated in less than five years. In the 15th century, eight hundred monasteries in England owned one third of the nation's land. Many monks were living in palatial monasteries and were patrons of the finest art and architecture. Janina then traces the story of the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell. Although not a single monastery survived the systematic liquidation, Janina shows the lasting impact Britain's millennium of monasteries had on our society and culture.
Self - Presenter
On the edge of London stands Hampton Court, one of Britain's biggest palaces and most popular tourist spots, attracting almost a million visitors every year. Spanning 750 acres of grounds, it boasts 1,300 rooms and 23 courtyards...along with a host of secrets and historic stories. This two-part special provides an exclusive and intimate look at life inside the court today for the people keeping Henry VIII's world alive in the modern age, and also explores what life was like in the palace where the private world of the Tudors began.
In four chapters, largely based on and illustrated with archaeological finds and sites, Neil Oliver explains how, as far as is known, the Iron Age Celtic tribes known as the Ancient Britains evolved and entered European civilization. Their internecine tribal phase was warlike and partitioned. Overseas contacts, especially metal trade, brought wealth and progress. Ultimately, it attracted the superior Roman empire, which would conquer and pacify Britain into a province, like Gaul shortly before, but Caesar's invasion wasn't the definitive annexation yet, that was left to emperor Claudius; even afterward some Celtic traits and even rebellions remained.
In this four-part documentary series, leading Hollywood actors undertake a fascinating journey into their family's past by re-tracing the footsteps of their grandparents during World War Two. We follow the moving, personal stories of Helena Bonham Carter, Mark Rylance, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Carey Mulligan as they travel to historic locations, from the beaches of Dunkirk to prisoner of war camps in Asia, to learn about the war their grandparents experienced. All of the actors have unanswered questions about the scars war left on their grandparents, and in each episode one of the actors explore how six years changed the lives of their family and the world forever while learning about the life and death decisions that their grandparents faced.
