The Battle of Tours
In Our Time: History
01/16/14
•42m
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Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Battle of Tours. In 732 a large Arab army invaded Gaul from northern Spain, and travelled as far north as Poitiers. There they were defeated by Charles Martel, whose Frankish and Burgundian forces repelled the invaders. The result confirmed the regional supremacy of Charles, who went on to establish a strong Frankish dynasty. The Battle of Tours was the last major incursion of Muslim armies into northern Europe; some historians, including Edward Gibbon, have seen it as the decisive moment that determined that the continent would remain Christian.
With:
Hugh Kennedy
Professor of Arabic at SOAS, University of London
Rosamond McKitterick
Professor of Medieval History at the University of Cambridge
Matthew Innes
Vice-Master and Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London.
Previous Episode
Plato's Symposium
January 2, 2014
•42m
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Plato's Symposium, one of the Greek philosopher's most celebrated works. Written in the 4th century BC, it is a dialogue set at a dinner party attended by a number of prominent ancient Athenians, including the philosopher Socrates and the playwright Aristophanes. Each of the guests speaks of Eros, or erotic love. This fictional discussion of the nature of love, how and why it arises and what it means to be in love, has had a significant influence on later thinkers, and is the origin of the modern notion of Platonic love.
With:
Angie Hobbs
Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield
Richard Hunter
Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge
Frisbee Sheffield
Director of Studies in Philosophy at Christ's College, University of Cambridge.
Producer: Thomas Morris.
Next Episode
Sources of Early Chinese History
January 23, 2014
•42m
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the sources for early Chinese history. The first attempts to make a record of historical events in China date from the Shang dynasty of the second millennium BC. The earliest surviving records were inscribed on bones or tortoise shells; in later centuries, chroniclers left detailed accounts on paper or silk. In the last hundred years, archaeologists have discovered a wealth of new materials, including a cache of previously unknown texts which were found in a sealed cave on the edge of the Gobi Desert. Such sources are are shedding new light on Chinese history, although interpreting ancient sources from the period before the invention of printing presents a number of challenges.
With:
Roel Sterckx
Joseph Needham Professor of Chinese History at the University of Cambridge
Tim Barrett
Professor of East Asian History at SOAS, University of London
Hilde de Weerdt
Professor of Chinese History at Leiden University
Producer: Thomas Morris.
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