Shows / The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Hilaire Belloc Library
Come away from the noise of the present, and walk the old roads once more. The Hilaire Belloc Library presents the complete works of Hilaire Belloc, read aloud in full and unabridged. From stirring histories and spirited essays to travel, poetry, and unforgettable stories, these are books written for those who delight in adventure, faith, laughter, and the enduring inheritance of Europe. Take up the journey, and let Belloc himself be your fellow traveller.
Episodes
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 10
In which the profound and long-lasting effects of the Reformation are observed as a gradual but decisive disruption of European unity, producing an isolation…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 10 - (Concluded)
In which the profound upheaval in European society is traced to the severing of the soul’s anchorage in the Catholic Faith, producing a new age dominated by…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 9 - (Concluded)
In which the gradual estrangement of England from the Catholic Faith is portrayed as a momentous upheaval set against a backdrop of economic ambition, national…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 9 - (Cont. 2)
In which the intricate interplay of rising wealth, religious upheaval, and the idolatry of princely power is observed as casting a long shadow over the England…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 9
In which the enduring fracture wrought by the Reformation is examined through the singular defection of Britain from the Faith that had long underpinned the…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 9 - (Cont. 1)
In which the unraveling of European unity is traced to both external barbarian revolts and internal betrayals by wealthy interests who sought to profit from…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 8
In which the nature and origins of the Reformation are explored as a profound spiritual upheaval that fractured the unity of medieval Christendom, revealing a…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 8 - (Concluded)
In which the fifteenth century’s burgeoning religious discontent and the rapid advancement of technical knowledge birthed a widespread European impulse for…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 7
In which the tumultuous centuries following Rome's decline are revealed not as mere darkness, but as a crucible wherein the Normans, St. Gregory VII, and the…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 7 - (Concluded)
In which the enduring influence of St. Gregory VII is traced through the triumphs and transformations of medieval Europe, from the rise of Gothic architecture…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 6 - (Concluded)
In which the author observes the Dark Ages as a time marked by remarkable stability in material culture, social customs, and the enduring influence of the…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 6 - (Cont.)
In which the valiant efforts of Charlemagne and Alfred, among others, secure the survival of Christendom against barbarian invasions, thus setting the stage…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 5 - (Concluded)
In which we observe the remarkable revival of Christian civilisation in post-Roman Britain, effected not by indigenous Celtic tongues but by the half-German…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 6
In which the period following the fall of the Roman Empire is revealed as a time of essential transformation, marked not by the collapse of civilisation but by…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 5 - (Cont. 4)
In which the fragmented and tumultuous landscape of early Britain reveals a patchwork of petty chieftains engaged in incessant skirmishes without coherent…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 5 - (Cont. 5)
In which the enduring presence of Roman towns throughout Britain is carefully examined, revealing a surprising continuity of settlement and institutions…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 5 - (Cont. 3)
In which the disintegration of Roman order in Britain is observed through direct and indirect evidence, revealing a century and a half of fragmentation marked…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 5 - (Cont. 2)
In which an examination of early British history is undertaken through the sparse but valuable accounts of St. Gildas and the Venerable Bede, revealing the…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 5
In which the enduring transformation of the Roman Empire into a Christian civilisation is observed, with particular attention to the crucial yet obscure fate…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 5 - (Cont. 1)
In which we examine the murky and scant historical records of Britain’s early post-Roman centuries, chiefly filtered through the moralistic and imperfect…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 4 - (Concluded)
In which the triumph of the Catholic Church as the unifying force across Europe during the collapse of Roman administration is examined, highlighting the…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 4 - (Cont. 2)
In which the gradual transformation of Roman imperial authority into localized rule by various Rexes is unveiled, revealing a mosaic of mixed races and…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 4
In which the unity of European civilisation, shaped and preserved by the Catholic Church, endures through the emergence of distinct national identities after…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 4 - (Cont. 1)
In which a traveller in sixth-century Spain encounters the remnants of Roman governance preserved in the offices and ceremonies of provincial power, where…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 3 - (Cont. 2)
In which the gradual transformation of the Roman Army is observed, from a proud civic institution of Roman citizens to a professional force largely composed of…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 3 - (Concluded)
In which the author examines the true character of the late Roman Empire’s military upheavals, focusing on Alaric not as a foreign barbarian conqueror but as a…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 3 - (Cont. 1)
In which the enduring myth of a barbarian conquest dismantling the Roman Empire is carefully examined and found to be a misleading simplification, replaced…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 3
In which the complex transition from the Roman Empire’s unity to the so-called Dark Ages is examined, revealing a unique preservation and eventual revival of…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 2 - (Concluded)
In which we consider the early third century as the first moment where the Catholic Church appears in full historical clarity, revealing a unified, disciplined…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 2 - (Cont. 2)
In which the nature and unity of the early Catholic Church are carefully examined, revealing a disciplined society rooted in clear doctrine and tradition…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 2
In which we explore the character and social position of the Catholic Church in the Roman Empire during the late second and third centuries, as seen through…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 2 - (Cont. 1)
In which we observe the daily life and social concerns of a Roman Senator amidst a pagan society that is becoming increasingly aware of the Catholic Church, a…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 1 - (Concluded)
In which the ancient world of sovereign city-states, each a small kingdom of its own with distinct customs, language, and gods, gives way to broader unities…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 1 - (Cont.)
In which we observe the Roman Empire not as a mere collection of separate nations but as a singular, all-encompassing civilisation, united by shared customs…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Chapter 1
In which the Roman Empire is portrayed not merely as an ancient political entity but as the unique and enduring source from which the whole of European…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Introduction (Concluded)
In which the Catholic perspective reveals a profound understanding of European history as a coherent and living tradition shaped and sustained by the Faith…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Introduction (Cont.)
In which the struggle of Europe against forces that threaten its ancient Christian tradition is vividly brought to light through the example of the Prussian…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
Europe and the Faith Introduction
In which the Catholic conscience of history is presented not as a mere viewpoint but as an intimate identity with Europe’s story, allowing the Catholic to…