7: A Golden Applefrom the Emperor
On his 12-part journey towards the Middle Ages,
Brian Redhead stops off this week in ninth-century Byzantium and explores the world of Kasia, talkative debutante, wit, epigrammatist and abbess.
He unravels the arguments of the iconophiles and iconodules, meets an emperor with a reputation for ingenious sacrilege and discovers why the Bulgarians were worried about having baths on Wednesdays. Reader JOANNA MCKIE .Researcher IAN MORGAN
Series producer FRANCES GUMLEY