Ecclesiastical History Society: Recent Episodes
Ecclesiastical History
Interviewing academics at all levels in order to promote all levels of study on the history of Christian Churches.
In this month's episode, we are joined by Professor Hilary Carey. Professor Carey is Professor of Imperial and Religious History at the University of Bristol with expertise in the history of global empires. In this episode, we discuss her current projects related to British imperialism and her advice on putting together applications for academic projects.
Her most recent book Empire of Hell (CUP, 2019), winner of the Kay Daniels prize, provides a religious history of the campaign to end the transportation of British and Irish convicts.
In this episode, we talk with Professor Giles Gasper (Durham University) about his recent research and advice on academic projects.
Giles is principal investigator on the inter-disciplinary Ordered Universe project to edit, translate and contextualise the scientific works of Robert Grosseteste (c.1170-1253).
In this episode, we talk with Professor Catherine Rider (University of Exeter) about her recent research and public outreach.
Catherine Rider's recently co-edited the book Magic in Malta: Sellem bin al-Sheikh Mansur and the Roman Inquisition, 1605(2022). She is also the author of numerous books and articles, including Magic and Religion in Medieval England (2012) and Magic and Impotence in the Middle Ages(2006).
This episode's guest is Professor Christopher Bellitto (Kean University). He is Professor of History at Kean University in New Jersey and a specialist in the Middle Ages, church history and reform. He serves as series Editor in Chief of Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition and Academic Editor at Large for Paulist Press.
His publications include Humility: The Secret History of a Lost Virtue (Georgetown University Press, 2023), Ageless Wisdom: Lifetime Lessons from the Bible (Paulist Press, 2016), and 101 Questions and Answers on Popes and the Papacy(Paulist Press, 2008).
In this episode, we talk with Professor Craig Harline (Brigham Young University) about his recent research and how to start on a new research project.
Craig Harline's most recent book is A World Ablaze: The Rise of Martin Luther and the Birth of the Reformation (OUP). He is the also author of numerous other books, including Miracles at the Jesus Oak and A Bishop's Tale: Mathias Hovius Among His Flock in Seventeenth-Century Flanders.
In this episode we speak with Professor David Maxwell (University of Cambridge) about his research on African Christianity, the advantages of visiting fellowships, and how to get editorial experience in academia.
To read more about David Maxwell's research, see his latest book, entitled Religious Entanglements. Central African Pentecostalism, the creation of cultural knowledge, and the making of the Luba Katanga (2022).
In this episode, we talk with Professor Alexandra Walsham (Cambridge) about her recent research, how to prepare for the job market after doing a PhD, and how to write an impactful academic article.
Alexandra Walsham's most recent book Generations: Age, Ancestry and Memory in the English Reformations is now available from Oxford University Press.
In this episode, we speak to Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch on everything from the importance of church history to how he chooses the subjects for his books, his thoughts on Tudor mania, and even how he really feels about Thomas Cromwell.
Dairmaid MacCulloch is Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University. He is a prize-winning author, with such book as History of Christianity: the first three thousand years (2010) , which won the Cundill Prize; Silence: A Christian History (2013); All Things New: Writings on the Reformation (2016); and Thomas Cromwell: A Life (2018). He was knighted in the UK New Year’s Honours List of 2012 and was awarded the Historical Association's Medlicott Medal in 2023.
In this episode we speak with Dr David Parry (University of Exeter). Dr Parry's research focuses on early modern Puritan writers. In this episode, he speaks to us about his current project entitled ‘Writing Religious Conflict and Community in Exeter 1500–1750’ (ReConEx) and gives advice for early career researchers on how to become part of a large-scale project in academia.
You can learn more about Dr Parry's research in his recent book, The Rhetoric of Conversion in English Puritan Writing from Perkins to Milton.
In this episode, Prof Katy Cubitt describes what it's like to be president of a learned society and the importance of becoming an active member of societies for early career researchers.
If you would like to join the EHS council, please email Dr Jacqueline Rose for more information at jer9@st-andrews.ac.uk by 5 July 2023.
In this episode, we chat with Professor Mary Heimann (Cardiff University) on tips for public speaking and academic publishing. Professor Heimann is a Professor of Modern History, with particular expertise in Czechoslovakia, English Catholicism and Communist-Catholic relations during the Cold War. She founded and currently directs Cardiff's Central and East European Research Centre and Czechoslovak Special Collection.
You can read more about her research in her publications: Catholic Devotion in Victorian England (Oxford University Press), ‘Christianity in Western Europe from the Enlightenment’, in A World History of Christianity, and Czechoslovakia: The State That Failed(Yale University Press).
In this episode Dr Caroline Bowden (QMUL) joins us to discuss her project, 'Who Were the Nuns?' and gives advice on incorporating large databases into humanities projects.
To learn more about the project, visit: https://wwtn.history.qmul.ac.uk/
Reading list for more about the history of English nuns in exile:
- The English Convents in Exile, 1600-1800: Communities, Culture and Identity, edited by Caroline Bowden and James Kelly, Farnham, Ashgate, 2013.
- English Convents in Catholic Europe, c. 1600-1800, by James E. Kelly, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2020.
In this podcast, Dr Stewart McCain discusses his recent article which discusses the Academic celtique and their reconceptualising of the ancient Celts. The work of the Academic celtique, he suggests, shows the complexities of French nation-building projects through debates about popular culture in France.
Episode 3. In this episode we are joined by Dr James Kelly (Durham University) to talk about how to organise academic conferences.
This episode of 'Talking with Religious Historians' features Dr Christopher Langley, a Staff Tutor in History with the Open University. In this episode, Dr Langley speaks about his work as the Co-Director on the project 'Mapping the Scottish Reformation: A database of the Scottish clergy, 1560-1689'. He shares his advice for academics wanting to incorporate digital elements into their research projects.
In this interview with Dr Francis Young we discuss his monograph (released in March 2022), 'Magic in Merlins' Realm: A History of Occult Politics in Britain'. We discuss the historical intersection between magic and religion and their simultaneous entanglement with politics.
Our inaugural episode of 'Talking with Religious Historians' features Dr Emily Michelson, a Senior Lecturer at the University of St Andrews. In this episode, Dr Michelson speaks about her career as a religious historian and gives advice on how to publish in academia.
In this episode, we chat with Lynneth Miller-Renberg about gendered conceptions of dance within parish churches in late medieval and early modern England. This topic is discussed in more detail in her upcoming monograph: 'Women, Dance and Parish Religion in England 1300-1640'.
In this episode we discuss Robert’s upcoming article in the SCH volume 58 – on sickness experienced by clergyman in the 17th century. This article, which won the ‘President’s Prize’ for 2020/21 homes in on the significant role which illness played in the pulpit performance of post-Reformation preachers in England.
This podcast discusses the upcoming biography on Ebenezer Howard which will form part of the OUP’s ‘Spiritual Lives’ series. Renowned for his prominent role in the ‘Garden City Movement’, we discuss how this biography will uncover his religious roots and inspiration.
In this interview we discuss Dr Eilish Gregory's recent monograph 'Catholics During the English Revolution, 1642-1660: Sequestration and Loyalty'. A topic of which there has been a dearth of material is explored masterfully by Eilish, as we discuss the treasure-trove of insight this period affords those interested in Catholic culture, theology, and history.
In this interview, Dr Jacob Phillips shares his research from his book chapter Service in Perfect Freedom: The Precious Gift of the Caroline Divines found in 'The Anglican Patrimony in Catholic Communion'. This chapter reflects on theological dimensions of Anglican culture in the 17th century.
In this interview, we talk to Rev. Dr Robert Evans about his upcoming book (the culmination of his PhD research) which focuses on the value of history in the Carolingian world.
In this episode, we discuss John's recently edited volume 'Jonathan Edwards within the Enlightenment: Controversy, Experience & Thought'. Much of the discussion focuses on his contributed chapter which discusses Edwards and his views on slavery.
In this interview we discuss Carmen's latest book: Catholic Nuns and Sisters in a Secular age: Britain, 1945-90 - looking at the experience & identity in the post-War era.
In this interview we explore the 'chosen peoples' motif as it is noted in early medieval western thought and experience.
In this interview, we talk to Dr Reuben Loffman about his EHS Prize short-listed monograph on the Congo. With this research, Dr Loffman investigates the relationship between Church and State in the colonial empire.
An interview with Dr Geraldine Vaughan talking about her upcoming monograph on Anti-Catholicism in Imperial Britain. We discuss the historical actors involves in anti-Catholicism and the contexts of anti-Catholicism in Britain.
In this episode, we interview Dr Gareth Atkins about his monograph 'Converting Britannia' published in 2019. Shortlisted for the EHS prize, this monograph analyses public religion in the 'Age of Wilberforce'.
In this episode, we discuss Professor Tingle's latest monograph 'Sacred Journeys in the Counter Reformation' which analyses the devotional experience of pilgrimages in the Catholic Reformation.
In this episode, we discuss Emma's recent research on the Reformation Era as she interrogates sensory experience amongst Protestant groups, noting how this compares with Catholic counterparts, and - furthermore - how it fuelled actions of iconoclasm.
Naomi Pullin was shortlisted for the EHS prize in 2019, for her first monograph 'Female Friends and the Making of Transatlantic Quakerism 1650-1750. During this podcast episode, Naomi discusses research that arose from this monograph, and further research she has been undertaking on Quaker women and maternity. An article is shortly forthcoming called 'Motherhood and Domestic Authority in British and Colonial Quakerism'.
In this third episode of our EHS podcast we talk to Rosamond McKitterick about the Liber Pontificalis. The Liber Pontificalis (book of Pontiffs) is elucuidates for listeners. Key to the discussion in this podcast is how this text contributes to a people’s (re)construction, knowledge and use of the past. This research manifests in Rosamond's lastest publication: Rome and the invention of the papacy: the Liber pontificalis.
In this interview with Dr Chris Langley and Dr Michelle Brock, we discuss their on-going project 'Mapping the Scottish Reformation' : a forthcoming database which will offer a first port of call and, hopefully, a catalyst for understanding and linking the lives of clerics in the early modern period. Mikki and Chris share their enthusiasm about this project, suggest how it might be used by researchers and hobbyists, and undcover some interesting themes they have discovered.
Alec Ryrie discusses his latest publication - Unbelievers: An Emotional History of Doubt.Much attention is given to the perceptions of medicine in the medieval and early modern period, with a special treat as he reads from one of his primary sources demonstrating contemporary views.