This year marks 500 years since Pope Leo X granted Henry VIII the title of Fidi

Defensor or Defender of the Faith. Oh the irony. It's been one of the subsidiary titles

of the English and later British Crown ever since. To mark the occasion and to celebrate

the largely unsung treasures of their collection, the Society of Antiquaries in London has put

together a fabulous online exhibition exploring Henry as Defender of the Faith through rare

manuscripts, objects and portraits. Just look up the Society of Antiquaries of London

to find it and scroll through as you listen along or go and have a look later. It seems

to work especially well on Google Chrome. Joining me to talk about the exhibition is one of

its creators Dr. John Cooper. John is a reader in early modern history at the University of

York. His books include The Queen's Agent, Francis Walsinger at the Court of Elizabeth

I and he is director of the Society of Antiquaries. His recent work has focused on St. Stephen's

Chapel in the Palace of Westminster, exploring with the aid of a grant from the Arts and Humanities

Research Council how the medieval chapel royal was converted in 1547 to become the first

permanent meeting place of the House of Commons and he's also working with Historic Royal

Pazes again funded by the HRC on a project about Henry X Progresses. So there was loads of things

I could have talked to him about but what I asked him to do was to be our exclusive tour guide

for this wonderful online exhibition.

John, thank you so much for joining me and talking about this exhibition which excitingly being

online can be seen all over the world and perhaps we ought to start first of all by introducing

people to the Society of Antiquaries which they may not have heard of. Well, it's great to be

talking to you. Thanks very much for this invitation and yes, the Society of Antiquaries and when

we have been around since 1707 but you're right lots of people won't have heard of us.

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