BBC Four HD

Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries

Janina Ramirez

Nick Kent

Susan Jones

Jamie Simpson

Oxford Film and TV

Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries: Episode 1

Documentaries

saints-and-sinners-britains-millennium-of-monasteries_0215_ep1_sg.jpg

Episode 1

BBC Four - Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries, Episode 1

How monasteries evolved into powerhouses of Anglo-Saxon art, industry and learning.

Dr Janina Ramirez begins her series by exploring how monasteries evolved from a cult of isolation and self-deprivation into powerhouses of Anglo-Saxon art, industry and learning.

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. She investigates the harsh lives led by these early monks, and tells the story of the arrival of hermetic Irish monasticism in Anglo-Saxon Northumberland. 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. 

A rival form of regimented, communal monasticism was imported into southern Britain from Rome, and Janina reveals the holy struggle that ensued between these two opposing monastic ideals. The victors would transform the culture and landscape of England, until they too were destroyed by a new wave of barbarian invaders.

BBC Four

Knowledge, arts, music and culture from the UK and the world.

BBC Four reflects arts, music and culture with an ambitious range of intellectually and culturally enriching programmes, taking an expert and in-depth approach to its subjects.

Factual: History

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

Dr Janina Ramirez discovers how monasteries shaped every aspect of medieval Britain.

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.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries

Episode 1

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Series

BBC Four HD

About BBC Four