In the Middle Ages, Christian monasteries played an integral role in the generation and spread of knowledge. Scholarship flourished behind monastery walls and monks became experts in a wide range of fields, including astronomy, medicine, even beer-making and beekeeping. But how and why did monasteries became such important centres of learning and literacy? Rob Weinberg asks the big questions about this fascinating development in history to Eyal Poleg at Queen Mary University of London.
Up Next in Season 1
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🎧 The Battle of Britain
In a moment of great danger to national survival, the Royal Air Force defended the United Kingdom against large scale attacks by the Luftwaffe. So how did the Battle of Britain play out? What was Germany’s objective? And how important was it to the direction of the Second World War? To answer the...
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🎧 The Birth of Scotland
The recorded story of Scotland begins with the arrival of the Roman Empire in the 1st century, when the province of Britannia reached as far north as the Antonine Wall. But how much further back can the history of Scotland be traced? Who were the Picts and the Gaels? And how did the Viking invasi...
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🎧 Joan of Arc
In the early 15th century, a French village girl became a heroine for her role in the French victory during the Lancastrian phase of the 100 Years War. But it took 600 years before Joan of Arc was canonised as a Roman Catholic Saint. How did she become such a famous name in history? Why did she j...
