A History of the World in 100 Objects

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Factual: History

Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects

Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, narrates 100 programmes that retell humanity's history through the objects we have made.

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A History of the World in 100 Objects: Meeting The Gods (1200 - 1400 AD): Holy Thorn Reliquary

Holy Thorn Reliquary

Meeting The Gods (1200 - 1400 AD)

A History of the World in 100 Objects Omnibus

BBC Radio 4 - A History of the World in 100 Objects, Meeting The Gods (1200 - 1400 AD), Holy Thorn ReliquarySearch BBC

Neil MacGregor with a reliquary made for a thorn from Christ's crown of thorns.

Neil MacGregor's world history explores ways of expressing the divine in the 14th and 15th centuries. Today - a famous Christian reliquary made to house a sacred thorn.

Neil MacGregor's world history as told through things. This week he is exploring the sophisticated ways that people expressed religious yearning in the 14th and 15th centuries. He is looking at the statues of gods and ancestors  - in India, Mexico and on Easter Island - and he describes the importance of icon painting in the Orthodox Church. 
Today he is with an object designed to connect with Christ himself - a stunning Christian reliquary from medieval Europe made to house a thorn from the crown of thorns. Neil tells the story of this highly ornate reliquary while Sister Benedicta Ward and the Archbishop of Leeds, the Right Reverend Arthur Roche, help explain the background and meaning to the powerful tradition of relic worship.

Producer: Anthony Denselow


A History of the World in 100 Objects: Meeting The Gods (1200 - 1400 AD)

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Objects from the British Museum show how the faithful were brought closer to their gods

From Mexico to Easter Island, the followers of many world religions used objects to become closer to their gods. Neil MacGregor finds five such devotional items

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A History of the World in 100 Objects

Meeting The Gods (1200 - 1400 AD)

Holy Thorn Reliquary

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