Christopher Wren

Not Just the Tudors

History Hit

History

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 14 August 2023

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Best known for St. Paul’s Cathedral, Christopher Wren was the greatest architect Britain has ever known. But he was so much more: he applied his mind to astronomy, meteorology and anatomy. How did he achieve so much while running the nation's biggest architectural office with all its petty jealousies and political challenges?

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more about this extraordinary figure from Professor Adrian Tinniswood, author of His Invention So Fertile: A Life of Christopher Wren.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to not just the tutors from HistoryHit.
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0:15.4	And if you're an Apple listener, you can subscribe for new,
0:18.8	add free episodes within the app.
0:32.2	If you think you know Cust for Ren, born in 1632 and remembered as the most English of all
0:38.5	England's architects, today I ask you to think again. For Ren was far more than an architect.
0:45.7	He was an anatomist, a mathematician, a navigator and astronomer. He was a founding member of the
0:51.6	Royal Society, he held a chair at Gresham College and was a member of Parliament. He was a husband,
0:57.4	a father and a widower, twice over. He was a courtier and a man who in his 90-year long life
1:04.3	experienced struggles and tragedy. To some he was almost a deity. To all he was certainly a virtuoso.
1:12.9	With so many facets to his life and character, it's not likely that we will ever truly know Ren.
1:19.2	But we can appreciate him as a person whose life was as complex as the beautiful bricks,
1:24.8	stone and mortar he left behind. Professor Adrian Tinniswood, OBE and fellow of the Society of
1:30.8	Antichrist is my guest today. Author of no fewer than 18 books on social and architectural history.
1:38.8	Adrian has also worked with several heritage organisations, including the National Trust.
1:43.7	He's currently Professor Royal Research Fellow at the Humanities Research Institute,
1:48.1	University of Buckingham, an adjunct Professor of History at the University of Maynuth, Ireland.
1:53.8	I'm very pleased to welcome Professor Tinniswood to talk about his wonderful book,
1:58.3	His Invention So Fertile, a Life of Christopher Ren.
2:02.6	Professor Tinniswood, welcome to not just the tutors. Thank you, it's great to be with you.
2:12.0	It's really wonderful to have a chance to talk with you and what a wonderful subject we have got
	...

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