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Poet Michael Symmons Roberts reflects on heresy, from Utopia to the Sex Pistols. His journey also incorporates the Salem witch trials, Margery Kempe and the poet George Herbert.

The poet Michael Symmons Roberts explores the subject of heresy and puts some surprising names under the spotlight including the Sex Pistols and that unlikely heretic George Herbert. Michel explains, "I'd always thought that John Donne was the metaphysical poet who really 'wrestled with God', but now I think it's George."

He starts his journey though by referencing the 500th anniversary of Thomas Moore's Utopia, "a remarkable vision, progressive and impressive in its openness to different beliefs" and tries to square the author of that with the more familiar Thomas More we know through dramas like Wolf Hall. "...maybe those two Thomas Mores are like before and after shots, with the seismic events of the reformation, Luther's challenge to historic orthodoxy, causing More's radical change of heart."

But a main focus of Michael's thinking are the various witch trials and witch hunts that take him through the heart wrenching Salem witch trials, the injustice inflicted on Isobel Gowdie and the extraordinary visions of Margery Kempe, "she was accused of Lollardy, of siding with the heretical anti-clerical reform movement known as the Lollards, and she made some pretty powerful enemies, like the then Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Arundel. But it's safe to say that her legacy is a lot more impressive than Thomas Arundel's." Michael's journey is accompanied by the music of James MacMillan, Aaron Copland and Radiohead whose recent release, "Burn the Witch" begins the programme.

Presenter: Michael Symmons Roberts
Producer: Michael Wakelin
A TBI Media Production for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4.

30 minutes

Last on

Sun 12 Jun 2016 23:30
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Image and Identity

See all episodes from Something Understood

Music Played

  • Radiohead

    Burn The Witch

    • XL Recordings.

  • Debbie Wiseman

    Wolf Hall Theme

    • Silva Screen Records.

  • James Macmillian & 2008 London Symphony Orchestra

    The Confession Of Isobel Gowdie

  • John Williams, The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra & Raine

    Dance Of The Witches

    • Silva Screen Records.

  • Aaron Copland & Boston Symphony Orchestra

    Appalachian Spring

    • Telarc.

  • Sex Pistols

    God Save The Queen

    • UMC (Universal Music Catalogue).

  • Madonna

    Joan Of Arc

    • Polydor Associated Labels.

Readings

Title:Β  Utopia
Author: Thomas Moore
Publisher: Simon & Brown

Title:Β The Crucible
Author: Arthur Miller
Publisher: Penguin Classics

Title: The Book of Margery Kempe
Author: Margery Kempe
Translator: B. A. Windeatt

Title: In Praise of Scientific Heresy
Author: New Scientist
Publisher: Reed Business Information

Title: Music at Midnight: The Life and Poetry of George Herbert
Author: John Drury
Publisher: Penguin

Broadcasts

  • Sun 12 Jun 2016 06:05
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Sun 12 Jun 2016 23:30
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4