Which Catholic martyr became both Bishop of Rochester and Chancellor of Cambridge University in 1504?
[pause.] Em. Thomassss ...er... Thomas CranmerAnother contestant gave the right answer and the presenter went on to say
Yes. Cardinal John Fisher who was beheaded on the order of King Henry VIII at Tower Hill in 1535 because he refused to accept Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn or the suppression of English Catholicism.which is not bad for the BBC.
I thought that the contestant might be going to say "Thomasssss MORE" which would have been a less disastrous mistake. Of course we don't expect everyone to know all about our history and I don't want to attack the poor chap for not knowing everying, but Thomas Cranmer was perhaps about the worst answer he could have given.
7 comments:
But let us not forget that there were 'martyrs' on both sides. Cranmer was burnt at the stake on 21 March 1556.
How little we know of our saints. And indeed an uncharacteristically accurate and un-nuanced (if such is a word) description by the BBC.
SS John Fisher and Thomas More, pray for us.
Very occasionally the Beeb surprises one. The other week I watched an episode of 'An Island Parish' on BBC2. A better ad for the Catholic priesthood would be hard to find.
He might, I suppose have said Thomas Cromwell…… Or even Oliver.
Credit not to the Beeb but to Russell Davies, maintaining the standard set by the late Robert Robinson during more than 30 years of chairmanship.
"Em. Thomassss ...er..."
With the BBC's knowledge of Christian religion and ever-so-slightly anti-Christian bias, I'm surprised the answer wasn't "Thomas The Tank Engine".
John, Cardinal Fisher, is usually eclipsed by his fellow-martyr St Thomas More, but to my mind he was the more heroic figure. More would have retired into private life had not a vindictive monarch pursued him. Fisher was from the outset opposed to the royal 'marriage' and was also a distinguished theologian whom Thomas Cranmer in his pre-heretical days greatly admired.
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