Vespasiano da Bisticci was “the king of the world’s booksellers.” Born in humble circumstances in Florence in 1422, he became the biggest manuscript dealer in fifteenth-century Europe. His clients included kings, popes and princes, as well as three generations of the Medici. He created magnificen...

In late 1348, the Black Death entered London. Over the next 9 months, it ravaged the populace killing thousands. This paper provides a detailed look at its arrival, spread and eventual disappearance, and looks at some of the archaeological and architectural evidence for its passage, its final dea...

The talk will explain how various textile types from the Pre-Columbian Americas were adapted to create Catholic church ornaments beginning in the sixteenth century. Examples will be drawn from each of the chapters of Dr. Stanfield-Mazzi’s new book, Clothing the New World Church: Liturgical Textil...

Ever wondered how you go about looking at funerary monuments? How were they built? Who built them? What do they tell us? Join the Churches Conservation Trust and Dr Jean Wilson, from The Church Monuments Society, for this fascinating lecture exploring the wide-ranging subject of funerary monument...

In 1981 the Redundant Churches Committee of the Church Commissioners agreed by a narrow margin – one vote – to vest All Saints, Cambridge, in the Churches Conservation Trust, thus saving it from certain mutilation and possible demolition. The building, designed by George Frederick Bodley and open...

Death has been a source of grief and uncertainty for humanity throughout history, but it has also been the inspiration for a plethora of fascinating customs and much human creativity. This talk with Dr Helen Frisby, author of the Shire book Traditions of Death and Burial, explores English death a...

What do you do after writing a PhD on the medieval grotesque? In Alex Woodcock’s case it was to learn stonemasonry. Practical knowledge of working stone gradually transformed his understanding of medieval sculpture and eventually led to him working as a stonemason at Exeter Cathedral for several ...

In December 1983, a priest in the Italian hill town of Calcata shared shocking news with his congregation: The pride of their town, the foreskin of Jesus, had been stolen. Some postulated that it had been stolen by Satanists. Some said the priest himself was to blame. Some even pointed their fing...

This talk will analyse Sir Edwin Lutyens’ design for Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, which, according to his son, was ‘the very greatest building that was never built.’ Whilst research and critique of unbuilt or destroyed architecture is traditionally carried out through the examination of surv...

In 864 Tsar Boris I of the Bulgarian empire converted to Christianity after an extensive period of research into Christianity which included detailed questioning of the Pope. However, the new religion only took off after the intervention of the pupils of Saints Cyril and Methodius moved in after...

Join Churches Conservation Trust, and the Royal School of Church Music, to explore the nature of traditional and modern carols and their symbolism within our churches in a unique narrative combining words, live music, and participative song.

We are delighted to be welcoming Classic FM presenter,...