Lectures on aspects of the history of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. The talks were recorded at meetings held in various locations in England and Wales in recent years. All our speakers are experts in their field.
Joanna Bogle gives an engaging presentation about the fascinating, little-known life of Caroline Chisholm, Catholic reformer and friend of emigrants in the Australia of the 1840s. Caroline travelled to Australia with her husband and family in 1838. Very soon she realised that … Continue reading →
Joanna Bogle gives an engaging presentation about the fascinating, little-known life of Caroline Chisholm, Catholic reformer and friend of emigrants in the Australia of the 1840s. Caroline travelled to Australia with her husband and family in 1838. Very soon she realised that … Continue reading →
Watch the video below for our latest Zoom presentation from Leanda de Lisle, who gave a wonderful portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I. For the audio only listen via the player below or go to our podcast … Continue reading →
Watch the video below for our latest Zoom presentation from Leanda de Lisle, who gave a wonderful portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I. For the audio only listen via the player below or go to our podcast … Continue reading →
Nicholas Breakspear was elected pope in 1154, but his story started long before that. The son of a local churchman near St Albans, he would battle his way across Europe to defend and develop Christianity, facing war in Scandinavia and … Continue reading →
Nicholas Breakspear was elected pope in 1154, but his story started long before that. The son of a local churchman near St Albans, he would battle his way across Europe to defend and develop Christianity, facing war in Scandinavia and … Continue reading →
At more than thirty-one years (1903-1935), Cardinal Bourne’s is the longest reign of any Archbishop of Westminster. Today, with the possible exception of his turbulent relationship with Bishop Amigo of Southwark, Bourne is virtually unknown. That obscurity is unmerited. His … Continue reading →
At more than thirty-one years (1903-1935), Cardinal Bourne’s is the longest reign of any Archbishop of Westminster. Today, with the possible exception of his turbulent relationship with Bishop Amigo of Southwark, Bourne is virtually unknown. That obscurity is unmerited. His … Continue reading →
Francois Longuet was one of several French émigré priests who came to Reading in the wake of the French Revolution. He founded a new chapel in Reading, the first purpose-built one since the Reformation, which he called The Chapel of … Continue reading →
Francois Longuet was one of several French émigré priests who came to Reading in the wake of the French Revolution. He founded a new chapel in Reading, the first purpose-built one since the Reformation, which he called The Chapel of … Continue reading →
The Papal Zouaves were the volunteers from Britain and Ireland who flocked to Rome to help the Pope defend the Papal States between 1860 and 1870. Fr Nicholas Schofield gives a detailed and fascinating account of this little known episode … Continue reading →
The Papal Zouaves were the volunteers from Britain and Ireland who flocked to Rome to help the Pope defend the Papal States between 1860 and 1870. Fr Nicholas Schofield gives a detailed and fascinating account of this little known episode … Continue reading →
Rev Carleton is a Deacon of Brentwood Diocese, UK. He gives an introduction to Cardinal Reginald Pole, Archbishop of Canterbury under Queen Mary, and son of Blessed Margaret Pole. To listen to the talk click on the arrow below or … Continue reading →
Rev Carleton is a Deacon of Brentwood Diocese, UK. He gives an introduction to Cardinal Reginald Pole, Archbishop of Canterbury under Queen Mary, and son of Blessed Margaret Pole. To listen to the talk click on the arrow below or … Continue reading →
Dr Francis Young spoke on this subject to our members during a recent Zoom lecture. It happened also to be the Feast of St Edmund to which he alludes at the beginning of the talk. Dr Young gives a masterly … Continue reading →
We are grateful to Dr Hazard, of the School of History, University of Dublin, for providing us with this recording for our podcast which relates to a unique collection of letters written by Loreto Sisters during the Spanish Civil War. … Continue reading →
“The spiritual guide, the apologist, the modern visionary, the antidote to liberalism, the defender of conscience, the man who never sinned against the light – these are the reasons why Newman should be considered a Doctor of the Church.” Blessed … Continue reading →
Reading Abbey, a Cluniac monastery, was founded in 1121 by Henry I, the son of William the Conqueror, in remembrance of his own son William, who had died tragically at sea. Little remains now of what was once the largest and … Continue reading →
Bishop Laurence Walter Youens was a convert to the Catholic faith from Anglicanism, and was ordained priest in 1901 in High Wycombe, the first Catholic priest ordained there since the Reformation. After a period of missionary work in North Africa, … Continue reading →
St Alphege was born near Bath in 954 and died a martyr 1011. Little known today, his life is however an example and inspiration. Dr Giles Mercer, former headmaster of Stonyhurst and Prior Park Schools and author of a recent … Continue reading →
26 Fr Richard Finn OP, a member of the Dominican house in Oxford, gives a lucid and informative account of the establishment of the Dominican Order in England. He covers their growth up to the time of the Reformation, their … Continue reading →
Dr Simon Johnson is Director of Heritage at Downside Abbey, a Benedictine Abbey and school in Somerset, England. Established in the 19th century, Downside is home to one of the best collections of religious manuscripts in the world. A recent … Continue reading →
Lady Clare Asquith published her acclaimed book ‘Shadowplay: The Hidden Beliefs and Coded Politics of William Shakespeare’ in 2005, a study of how Shakespeare secretly addressed the most profound political issues of his day, and how his plays embody a … Continue reading →
St Nicholas Owen was arguably one of the most fearless and courageous of the Catholic martyrs of the Reformation. He learnt joinery as a trade and put his skills to use in fashioning the most ingenious priest-holes in England during … Continue reading →
The son of a Congregational minister from Leeds, Rousell David Byles was influenced by High Church ideas at school and then at Oxford. He began training for Anglican ministry during which time he converted to Catholicism and was subsequently ordained … Continue reading →
There are approximately 20,000 extant letters written by Blessed John Henry Newman. These have been gathered together in 32 volumes by the long and painstaking work of members of the Birmingham Oratory. Mgr Strange, theologian and Newman scholar, has recently … Continue reading →
Glastonbury is the oldest shrine dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in England, pre-dating the better-known Marian shrine of Walsingham by many 100s of years. Since the destruction of Glastonbury Abbey at the Reformation, the shrine’s Marian origins have been … Continue reading →
Dr James Hagerty gives a detailed talk on the contribution of military chaplains in the First World War. Roman Catholic chaplains were first commissioned for the British Army after the Crimean War, in 1858. At the outbreak of WWI therefore … Continue reading →
David Jones (1895-1974) was an artist and poet who contributed significantly to Catholic war literature. He was present at the front throughout most of the First World War only leaving the front when wounded, and then returning. His experiences marked … Continue reading →
Michael Hodgetts reviews the 300 years of liturgical practice of Catholics under penal conditions in England from the mid 1500s to early Victorian times. Music, missals, primers, chapel architecture and decoration, official and unofficial records of one sort or another, … Continue reading →
A clear and concise overview of the celebration of the Eucharist from the time of its foreshadowing in the Old Testament with the figure of Melchisedek (Genesis 14: 18-20). Fr Peter Jones shows that there is a core and constant … Continue reading →
Fr Ian Ker of Oxford University is a distinguished biographer of both Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman and G K Chesterton. In this talk he draws upon his extensive knowledge of these great literary and religious figures to draw out … Continue reading →
Br Michael Curran is a De La Salle brother. The Institute was founded in France in the 17th century by St John Baptiste de la Salle, princially for the education of boys from poor backgrounds. Br Michael looks at the … Continue reading →
A detailed overview of the expansion of the Catholic Church from 1750 to the present day in the area covered by the Diocese of Northampton, as established in 1850 at the restoration of the Catholic hierachy in England & Wales. … Continue reading →
The Canons Regular of the Lateran, based at their Abbey in Bodmin, played a key role in the revival of the Catholic faith in Cornwall in the 19th century. They arrived in England from France in 1881, as a result of … Continue reading →
Unlike the Arundells, the Molesworths were not an old Catholic family, but they played a very signficant role in the revival of Catholicism in Cornwall, after the conversion in the mid 19th century, of Paul Molesworth, a Church of England … Continue reading →
This is the first of three talks on Catholicism in Cornwall. The Arundells were a leading Cornish family, with branches at Wardour Castle in Somerset and lands at Chideock in Dorset. The family came to England with William the Conqueror … Continue reading →
Until the Civil War in the mid 17th century Wales was the most Catholic part of Britain. Mrs O’Keefe details the increasing severity of the laws against the practice of the Catholic religion in England and Wales from the time … Continue reading →
A detailed chronological account of what we know of the families and priests who held to the Catholic faith, or converted to the Catholic faith, after the Reformation (c 1530) until after the end of penal times (mid 19th century) … Continue reading →
The Christian origins of the town of Wells may go back to Roman times. The excavation of an early mortuary indicates the presence of Christian worship dating from the early Saxon period. Evidence of Christian burials date from the 8th … Continue reading →
The 150,000 documents which comprise the Stuart Papers are housed in the Royal Archives at Windsor. They give a detailed overview of the exiled Jacobite world of the 18th century. Only a small proportion, the first few years, have been published. … Continue reading →
Dean John Incent or Innocent, 16th century lawyer and clergyman, and founder of Berkhamsted School. He was lawyer to the Bishop of Winchester, Richard Foxe, and master of the hospital of St Cross and Domus Dei in Portsmouth. After … Continue reading →
Professor Bernard of Southampton University History Department gives a convincing revisionist account of the dissolution of the monasteries, arguing that far from being solely motivated by financial gain, the King and his Commissioners acted ideologically, beginning with a genuine desire … Continue reading →
In 1780, as a protest against the First Catholic Relief Act of 1778, a petition was brought to Parliament in London which sparked the Gordon Riots. Some days later a small crowd was seen near the Catholic mission in … Continue reading →
The First Catholic Relief Act in 1778 led to the Gordon Riots of 1780 which lasted for a week and were of great ferocity in London where many major public buildings including the Bank of England, the prisons of Newgate … Continue reading →
Only accession to the throne remains as an impediment to full participation in public life for in England today Catholics today, whereas 400 years ago it was a treasonable offence to celebrate or attend Mass, punishable by the death penalty. … Continue reading →
Dr Johnson outlines the situation for English Catholics on the eve of emancipation experienced from the point of view of the clergy and seminarians in the exiled colleges in Europe, principally the Lisbon College. The mid 18th century was the … Continue reading →
Bishop Brownlow was born the son of an Anglican clergyman. He was influenced by evangelical preaching and then was drawn towards Catholicism. He corresponded with John Henry Newman, and wrote numerous books and pamphlets on the Catholic faith after his … Continue reading →
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
