The human body is the battleground where our most fundamental ideas about the way the world is come into sharp focus.

When we think and talk about the body, we are suddenly very aware of that pattern of thinking which frames concepts in opposition, divides the world up between dark and light, material and immaterial, technology and humanity, invisible and visible, mind and body, body and soul.

In this ten part series, academic and broadcaster Professor Alice Roberts traces how human knowledge of anatomy has grown and changed over time, and how this changing understanding has in turn affected our understanding of who we are.

Episode 6: Irreconcilable Opposites - The Medieval Body

The Medieval era stands out for its obsession with the body and proliferation of theories, often far-fetched, surrounding it. Professor Alice Roberts takes us from the transformation of Thomas Becket's body from a corpse into a relic, to arguments around resurrection, sex and the mirroring between the human body and the elements that make up the universe.

Presenter: Professor Alice Roberts
Actor: Jonathan Kydd

A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4 Show less