BBC Four’s Medieval Season (part 2)

I’ve been watching some of the recordings I’ve of BBC Four’s Medieval Season over the weekend and I have found those programmes that I have watched so far to be very interesting, and certainly adhere to the ideal that television should be informative educational and entertaining.

The programme that was for me the most disappointing was In Search of Medieval Britain, I don’t know if this is because of its 30 minute length or not but I think that the content of the second programme was covered much more fully by Nicholas Crane in the Series “Map Man”. While with the programme Inside the Medieval Mind there seems to be a conflict of style over content, but I still found the programme very informative and entertaining.

The programmes I’m looking forward to this week are “Heist” and “The Last Duel” both on Wednesday, and the repeat of “Les Visiteurs” on Saturday.

The version of “Purple Haze” used on the trailers can be downloaded here.

Anyway this weeks viewing is as follows:

Monday 21 April

Abroad again in Britain 7.30pm
Part of the medieval season. Jonathan Meades was raised in the shadow of Salisbury Cathedral’s spire (the highest in Britain), and in this programme he returns to one of the country’s finest medieval buildings, wondering how an atheist can love a building dedicated to the propagation of medieval superstitions and fears.

How to build a cathedral 9.00pm
The great cathedrals were the wonders of the medieval world. Many were the tallest structures on earth, the highest buildings created since the pyramids and until the Eiffel Tower; yet they were built without any of the technological aids of the modern world and with little more than set-squares and dividers, ropes and pulleys, hammers and chisels.

The vision was to create a sense of heaven on earth and the medieval cathedral aspired to be nothing less than ‘the new Jerusalem’. Spectacular effects were achieved as this ambition was realised, leading to a revolution in design and a golden age for cathedral architecture in England.

Who were the people who built them? What drove them? And just how were they able to build with such stupendous skill, vision and ambition?

Architectural historian Jon Cannon, author of the recent, acclaimed Cathedral, goes in search of the clues that shed light on how our medieval forebears were able to realise such bold ambition. From the fan vaulting at Gloucester to the stained glass at York, from the solid mass of Norwich to the soaring elegance of the Octagon at Ely, Jon climbs up above the stone vaulted ceilings, along the parapets, through the roof voids and down into the crypts of the greatest cathedrals to find out how – and why – it was done.

Britain’s best buildings 11.50pm
Durham Cathedral was the most daring structure of its age – the first structure of the modern age. With its astonishing grasp of engineering – thrust and counter-thrust – it was a century ahead of any other building in Britain.

Dan Cruickshank also reveals a building that is as puzzling as the pyramids but which, with the right key, he is determined will give up its ancient secrets. “Nothing is constructed by chance – every piece of the puzzle has a meaning – even the things that look like mistakes. Each has a secret message to impart”, says Cruickshank.

Meanwhile monks’ skulls reveal a luxury lifestyle, while records of tightrope walking and sexual incontinence cast an altogether different light on monastic life. And what is the explanation behind the cathedral’s modern invention?

Wednesday 23 April

Heist 9.00pm
Part of the medieval season. The true story of an outrageous medieval heist. When Dick Puddlecote is released from a Flanders jail in 1302 to discover his former friends and allies are all in league with the king, he decides to exact his revenge by breaking into the vault at Westminster Abbey and stealing all the King’s gold. Some strong language

The last duel 23.55pm
Part of the medieval season. Drama-documentary about of one of the last trials by battle to be fought in Europe, set against the backdrop of the Hundred Years War between England and France.

Thursday 24 April

In search of medieval Britain (part 3 of 6) 7.30pm
Part of the medieval season. Dr Alixe Bovey follows the ancient pilgrim trail from the east coast to London and tracks the flow of commodities and ideas from the rest of Europe.

The voices of morbath 8.00pm
Part of the medieval season. Told through the records of a local priest, this is the story of how a small village in Devon was affected by the Reformation 450 years ago. The book “The Voices of Morebath” is available from amazon.co.uk

Inside the medieval mind (part 2 0f 4) 9.00pm
Robert Bartlett unearths remarkable evidence of the complex passions of medieval men and women. While the Church preached hatred of the flesh, promoted virginity and condemned woman as the sinful heir to Eve, this was the era that gave birth to the idea of romantic love.

Crusades (part 2 of 4) 10.00pm
Jerusalem: Part of the medieval season. Terry Jones dons a suit of medieval armour and retraces the 1,000 mile trek from the Bosphorus to the Holy City.

Saturday 26 April

Les Visiteurs 11.35pm
A sorcerer accidentally transports a medieval nobleman Godefroy de Montmirail and his squire to the 20th century. Appalled that his descendants are poor and that his squire’s family are now rich, Godefroy de Montmirail and tries to get his descendants to help them get back home. In French with English subtitles.

100 years of baptisms & burials now online!

I have just put another five years of baptisms and burials online which means that there is complete coverage for the period 1750 – 1850, with work on the marriage records now underway.

The replacement search engine is also undergoing beta testing at the present time and I am hoping to have it go live sometime in May. It has the look and feel of a Google search but as it is under my control it can be updated each time a put new records online without having to wait for Google to crawl the site and update its links.