0:00:07 > 0:00:08I want to tell you a story.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11It's a story about a book. A book that even if you haven't read it
0:00:11 > 0:00:14has had an influence on your life.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16In fact its imagery,
0:00:16 > 0:00:19its language and its influence
0:00:19 > 0:00:23have been felt right around the world for the past 400 years.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26It also claims to be the living Word of God.
0:00:37 > 0:00:38Not long!
0:00:55 > 0:00:59The old Queen was dying and the nation held its breath.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02For this was Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen of England,
0:01:02 > 0:01:05and she had no children to succeed her.
0:01:05 > 0:01:10At this moment, the future of the nation looked dangerous and uncertain.
0:01:10 > 0:01:16And yet, within ten years, the English language would produce a work so powerful,
0:01:16 > 0:01:22so influential and so all-encompassingly great
0:01:22 > 0:01:26that the entire world would never be quite the same again.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49Elizabethan England was a dangerous place.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52These fellows are just practising.
0:01:52 > 0:01:57But, back in the 16th century, it was all very much for real.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00And it wasn't just straightforward fighting.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04Deep within contemporary society, a whole variety of factions,
0:02:04 > 0:02:11separatists, religious zealots, political spies and assassins were busy about their work.
0:02:13 > 0:02:18Violent events and even more violent reprisals were a matter of course.
0:02:22 > 0:02:27The truth was, Elizabeth had been sitting on a powder keg for years.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30Famous for her victory over the Spanish at the time of the Armada,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33head of the infant Church of England
0:02:33 > 0:02:39and a successful female in what was clearly a man's world,
0:02:39 > 0:02:44she had earned the respect and the love and the loyalty of her people.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46Even her enemies knew their place.
0:02:47 > 0:02:52She'd held the world at bay and kept England great.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57But, as the Queen grew older, the country atrophied.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01She'd always had a light but firm grasp on power.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05Now it became leaden. Change became the enemy
0:03:05 > 0:03:10and she responded and fought back by doing nothing.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15The big question was - who was going to succeed her?
0:03:15 > 0:03:21There was no shortage of applicants, each with his or her very strong claim,
0:03:21 > 0:03:25but it really boiled down to three frontrunners.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31Lady Arbella Stuart was second cousin to the Queen.
0:03:32 > 0:03:38And, although of royal blood, as an individual she was unimpressive.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40Arbella might be seen as a possible choice to some,
0:03:40 > 0:03:43but her general popularity was in question.
0:03:46 > 0:03:51Arch Duchess Isabella in the Low Countries had a very strong claim to the throne
0:03:51 > 0:03:55with a blood line going back to Edward III.
0:03:55 > 0:04:01The sister to King Philip of Spain, many English Catholics were keen to support Isabella's cause.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09James VI of Scotland was another second cousin to Elizabeth.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14Already an experienced monarch, he was in many ways a prime contender.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17However, his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots,
0:04:17 > 0:04:21had been executed for treason against the English throne.
0:04:25 > 0:04:31The fascinating thing about English history is that it still exists all around us.
0:04:31 > 0:04:37You can encounter the ghosts of the past in the very places where once they walked.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39This is Hatfield House, near Luton.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44This was the home of Sir Robert Cecil, Elizabeth's chief minister.
0:04:44 > 0:04:50400 years ago, this was the centre of real power in England.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53You can still sense that power.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58Like his father before him, Robert Cecil was very close to the Queen
0:04:58 > 0:05:03and close to her decisions, and the issue of who was to succeed her
0:05:03 > 0:05:06on the throne was of vital importance to him.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16Is everything to Your Majesty's liking?
0:05:16 > 0:05:19Always so attentive,
0:05:19 > 0:05:22and so very ordered.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27Did you arrange the flowers yourself, Robert?
0:05:27 > 0:05:29I am a fool for detail, Majesty.
0:05:29 > 0:05:35Oh, my poor Earl. So you were up at dawn arranging a bouquet for your beloved Queen.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38I was up at dawn, troubled by affairs of State.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41The grave matter of your successor.
0:05:41 > 0:05:49Grave matter? Oh, Robert, so you would lower me into my grave already?
0:05:49 > 0:05:51Majesty, I only seek...
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Forbidden knowledge.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57No-one shall know before the time.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59The time?
0:05:59 > 0:06:03You are the cleverest man I know, Robert. Surely you can understand
0:06:03 > 0:06:07what might happen if I were to declare my hand too soon?
0:06:10 > 0:06:12Rejection leaves a bitter taste.
0:06:12 > 0:06:17And those who follow those that are not chosen
0:06:17 > 0:06:22might well cause much unpleasantness.
0:06:22 > 0:06:29Besides, it would be a shame to have such rigid order in my realm, ah?
0:06:29 > 0:06:35Without any element of mystery and surprise.
0:06:35 > 0:06:42Your Majesty, I merely felt your grateful subjects needed a little more clarification.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46I'm sure we all appreciate the poetry of divine mystery, but...
0:06:47 > 0:06:53Tell me I am irreplaceable, Robert. That no mortal on Earth could possibly succeed me,
0:06:53 > 0:06:55if you want me to keep my temper this morning.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59Majesty, no-one in the world, let alone the possible contenders...
0:06:59 > 0:07:03Contenders? That's an ugly... a vile word.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07Battles and strife.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11The glorious peace of your realm will endure for ever. Yes?
0:07:11 > 0:07:16I'll tell you this. Only a crowned head will do.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20Nothing inferior.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26Your Scottish cousin, Your Majesty. He has many attributes.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30There is nothing but order in your garden, Robert.
0:07:31 > 0:07:37Where is the perfume? The mystery, the secrets?
0:07:43 > 0:07:46Sir Robert favoured James, but the choice was not his to make.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50The choice was the Queen's. And she was saying nothing.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59As Sir Robert Cecil approached the dying Queen,
0:07:59 > 0:08:03he still had no idea who she had chosen.
0:08:06 > 0:08:12Majesty, your humble servant wishes you peace.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18And, for your great and enduring kingdom, peace.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24Majesty, the time has come to...
0:08:25 > 0:08:29She has lost all words, Sir. She has not got the words.
0:08:29 > 0:08:34No, she can hear. She can still hear me.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Majesty, who is it to be?
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Peace is in your gift.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46It is yours alone to grant.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52Who is it to be?
0:09:11 > 0:09:15Your Scottish cousin, James?
0:09:31 > 0:09:38The Queen was dead. Long live her chosen successor.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42Now the news spread out from Richmond Palace
0:09:42 > 0:09:50to all the factions and the pressure groups eager to play their various cards for power and advancement.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56Sir Robert Carey was an English nobleman who had fallen on hard times.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59In a desperate effort to restore his fortunes,
0:09:59 > 0:10:04he determined to be the first person to bring the news to James in Scotland.
0:10:04 > 0:10:10Now, we must remember there was much at stake here, not just for Sir Robert Carey.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Elizabethan England had significant interests around the world,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16not the least in that newest of countries, America,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20where Virginia had already been named after the Virgin Queen
0:10:20 > 0:10:25and, within four years, an early settlement of Jamestown would be named after her successor.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28Make no mistake, in developing this story,
0:10:28 > 0:10:32we are dealing with the future of two nations, not just one.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37King James's castle in Scotland lay hundreds of miles to the north
0:10:37 > 0:10:43but Sir Robert had spent his last money setting up a string of fresh horses along the way.
0:10:43 > 0:10:50He saw himself galloping into history and arriving as the true hero of the hour.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54Unfortunately, Sir Robert was kicked in the face by one of his horses
0:10:54 > 0:10:56and instead of arriving in true heroic style,
0:10:56 > 0:11:01he looked more like the town drunk when he finally arrived at Stirling.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03Ho! Ho!
0:11:08 > 0:11:11- I have a message for the King. - Follow me. Soldier!
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Arriving at least four days in front of the official heralds,
0:11:15 > 0:11:19Sir Robert had earned his personal footnote in history.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Now bruised, battered and bleeding, he must have appeared
0:11:22 > 0:11:26the most unlikely of royal messengers to the Scottish Court.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35HE KNOCKS AT THE DOOR
0:11:36 > 0:11:38Enter!
0:11:39 > 0:11:41Sire, a messenger.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46Your Majesty, the Queen is dead.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51Long live the King.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59James's dream had finally become a reality.
0:11:59 > 0:12:04The English throne was his, and he couldn't wait to take over his new kingdom.
0:12:04 > 0:12:09But just who was this strange little king called James?
0:12:09 > 0:12:13Well, I think James VI was the first Scot on the make in the United Kingdom.
0:12:13 > 0:12:18He was the one who saw London and England as the golden prize.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22I think James was a political genius.
0:12:22 > 0:12:28I think his ability to hold the Kingdom together was quite remarkable.
0:12:28 > 0:12:33James has a very deep belief that his life is shaped by God.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Well, I think he puzzled a lot of people in his time.
0:12:36 > 0:12:42He's continued to puzzle historians, and getting the whole picture of James has been difficult.
0:12:43 > 0:12:50James Stuart was born in Edinburgh Castle on 19th June 1566.
0:12:50 > 0:12:55His mother was the legendary Mary, Queen of Scots, Elizabeth's cousin.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59The two women knew each other well, but had never met.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07But trouble was brewing.
0:13:07 > 0:13:13Mary was strongly Roman Catholic, while most of her people and Parliament were fiercely Protestant.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16400 years ago, these things really mattered.
0:13:16 > 0:13:21The compass of religion was held at the very centre of power and society.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26The truth about God, the way of salvation,
0:13:26 > 0:13:28or the corruption of His Church on Earth,
0:13:28 > 0:13:33were all topics capable of stirring up the highest of passions.
0:13:33 > 0:13:38People believed that religious faith was not only worth living for
0:13:38 > 0:13:41but, if necessary, worth dying for as well.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47For a time, Mary made an agreement with her Protestant nobles
0:13:47 > 0:13:51only to engage in her Catholic worship in private.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55But this arrangement did not last.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59Tolerance, once more, gave way to discontent.
0:14:08 > 0:14:13Mary's relations with her subjects were uneasy at best,
0:14:13 > 0:14:17but when scandal, intrigue and even murder
0:14:17 > 0:14:22settled around the royal private life, the Scots had had enough.
0:14:22 > 0:14:28She was captured, and forced to abdicate in favour of her infant son, James.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33He was 13 months old.
0:14:33 > 0:14:40They brought him here, to the Church of the Holyrood in Stirling,
0:14:40 > 0:14:43and made him King.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59I challenge you to enter this place without feeling the weight of events.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03This place has figured in so much of Scottish history.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07Scots regard this as their Westminster Abbey.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10It was the perfect place to crown the infant, James.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19The idea of crowning someone very young is not abnormal.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22The question then becomes, who is Regent during the child's minority,
0:15:22 > 0:15:26and I think what's peculiar in Scotland is this isn't,
0:15:26 > 0:15:31for example, a dowager queen or an uncle or something like that, a very close family member.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35It was almost, in some ways, a sort of a group regency.
0:15:35 > 0:15:40James's childhood is shaped by people grasping for power
0:15:40 > 0:15:44that doesn't belong to them, but belongs to James.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47James was the pawn on the chess board.
0:15:47 > 0:15:52Or rather he was the King, and everyone wanted control of the King.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54This is the exact spot
0:15:54 > 0:15:59where the infant James was crowned King of all Scotland.
0:15:59 > 0:16:06On the day of the Coronation, the great nobles of Scotland were assembled.
0:16:06 > 0:16:13The event was sanctified by the highest officials of the Scottish Church.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15John Knox himself wrote the sermon.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20The Scots had a new King.
0:16:20 > 0:16:28He may have been born a Catholic but, by jinkies, he was a Protestant now!
0:16:28 > 0:16:32Oh, the child never saw his mother again.
0:16:46 > 0:16:52The infant James grew up in the castles of Scotland without family or friends.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56Kept and controlled at every turn by the ruling Regents,
0:16:56 > 0:17:03he was all but a prisoner in his own Kingdom.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06LAUGHTER
0:17:06 > 0:17:11GENERAL CHATTER
0:17:11 > 0:17:15His governing Regents were chosen by birth and rank,
0:17:15 > 0:17:21stand-in Kings, appointed to lead the country while young James was still a child.
0:17:21 > 0:17:28It must have been a strange and unsettling upbringing for this impressionable young boy.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37Forget the Royalty! The Regents should take over.
0:17:37 > 0:17:44James VI is a complex, pathetic figure in terms of the circumstances of his early life.
0:17:44 > 0:17:50And, therefore, it's not surprising that he should be deeply needy of affection, of attention,
0:17:50 > 0:17:56but also with a political passion for unity, for holding things together.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00Because he knows how easily everything falls apart.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07But this was a violent age.
0:18:07 > 0:18:11And turn after turn, the ruling Regents rose and fell.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16One was attacked by the Catholic opposition, and died a horrible death.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18Another was shot.
0:18:18 > 0:18:24Yet another was poisoned, apparently by the very man that would then succeed him.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29Young James watched it all.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33As year by year, Regent by Regent,
0:18:33 > 0:18:37constant power struggles, intrigues and divisions
0:18:37 > 0:18:39threatened the Kingdom.
0:18:39 > 0:18:44This was his world. The world which shaped his sensitivities,
0:18:44 > 0:18:50his future strategies, and his much needed sense of survival.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58But the boy was growing, and his minders were aware of their responsibilities.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02To guarantee the very best Protestant education,
0:19:02 > 0:19:08a talented tutor was required. Enter one George Buchanan.
0:19:10 > 0:19:15George Buchanan was regarded as one of the great intellectuals of his time, in Europe.
0:19:15 > 0:19:20This was not a local hero. George Buchanan had a very distinguished career
0:19:20 > 0:19:23in Continental Europe and when he came back to Scotland
0:19:23 > 0:19:29he already had established his reputation as a great writer, in Latin,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32of poetry, plays, and other scholarly works.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35I'm fairly certain he wasn't a very nice teacher.
0:19:35 > 0:19:41I think he was an extremely hard and probably quite violent teacher, which is not abnormal for the age.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46Percipiat.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49Percipiamus.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52Percipiatis.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55Percipiant!
0:19:58 > 0:20:03Don't blame me, sir, it was your error, not mine.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06You know I will not tolerate lazy Latin,
0:20:06 > 0:20:11which is what that was. Neither laziness or stupidity,
0:20:11 > 0:20:18neither of which inferior qualities have any place in the King you are meant to be.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22Now, continue.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Buchanan was not intimidated by kings or royalty.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29He was a true Calvinist, he believed that God alone
0:20:29 > 0:20:32was the King and Judge. That the Kings of this Earth,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35the Princes of this Earth, were the servants of God.
0:20:35 > 0:20:42I think Buchanan's brief, and I think his goal, was very simple. To produce a Godly monarch.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44Time off?!
0:20:44 > 0:20:45I only asked for one day!
0:20:45 > 0:20:49One whole day snatched from your soul.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51But today's a feast day.
0:20:51 > 0:20:57What feast day? We observe no feasts, no fasts, no rituals,
0:20:57 > 0:21:01no calendars, no Papist practices.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04There are no saints' days in Scotland.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07But it's not a saint's day. It's the Feast of the Epiphany.
0:21:07 > 0:21:14Oh. Epiphany, eh? That's a long word for a little laddie.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16It's from the Greek epiphanaea.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19You've done your homework. But what does it mean?
0:21:19 > 0:21:22"The revelation of God to the whole world."
0:21:22 > 0:21:30A fair translation perhaps, perhaps. What is the significance, sir?
0:21:30 > 0:21:36The revelation of God to the whole world, er, the appearing of light to the gentiles,
0:21:36 > 0:21:39to the coming of the Wise Men to the wee bairn in Bethlehem.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41The wee bairn?
0:21:41 > 0:21:45The Messiah. I think this is a very just and holy cause for a day off.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48And who says? A feast day on whose authority?
0:21:48 > 0:21:55Is it here in Scripture? Does it have the warrant of Almighty God? Or are you becoming like one of
0:21:55 > 0:22:00the Three Kings and declaring a feast day on your own authority?
0:22:00 > 0:22:05The Scripture says nothing of these kings. In fact, they say nothing of three,
0:22:05 > 0:22:11only certain wise men bringing three gifts. So the Three Kings that you mention have no basis in fact.
0:22:11 > 0:22:17Yes. And I wish the fourth one standing here paid a bit more attention to facts.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23Aye, very good, laddie.
0:22:23 > 0:22:29I do think that deserves at least one hour off.
0:22:29 > 0:22:30One hour only!
0:22:33 > 0:22:36'Well, Buchanan was a superb teacher of the classics,'
0:22:36 > 0:22:39because James was superbly educated
0:22:39 > 0:22:42if you look at it in terms of his knowledge and his
0:22:42 > 0:22:45breadth of reading, his linguistic skills,
0:22:45 > 0:22:49his ability to write clear and forceful prose.
0:22:49 > 0:22:55All those skills Buchanan certainly has transmitted to his pupil,
0:22:55 > 0:23:01and Buchanan might say, "Well, what else did you expect me to do? I'm not his nanny, I'm his tutor."
0:23:01 > 0:23:07As the years passed, the bond between pupil and tutor became more close,
0:23:07 > 0:23:12but not necessarily more friendly. George Buchanan undoubtedly had the boy's best interests at heart,
0:23:12 > 0:23:18and he did inspire a deep love of learning languages and literature into his pupil,
0:23:18 > 0:23:21even if they did disagree on many occasions.
0:23:25 > 0:23:31Young James knew his own mind from a very early age and he knew how to stick to his guns.
0:23:34 > 0:23:40Those that do not know how to dissimulate, do not know how to rule.
0:23:40 > 0:23:46Dissimulating, lying, deceiving,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49are these your Kingly virtues?
0:23:49 > 0:23:52These are the opinions of Tarsitus, an observation.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55But I believe that Rahab, the whore of Jericho,
0:23:55 > 0:24:01deceived her own people and yet was commended for her faith in the Book of Hebrews.
0:24:01 > 0:24:07Hmm. Are you reading Scripture through the distorted lenses of pagans,
0:24:07 > 0:24:12or through the blindness of pride? An affliction common to Kings.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16- The King can determine the Word of God for himself- Oh. Can he?
0:24:16 > 0:24:23Aye. He can. For the King has an immortal soul which is open to the Truth of God,
0:24:23 > 0:24:26even when his tutors are too old and dim to teach him.
0:24:28 > 0:24:34No King is above God's Word. No King can interpret God's Word for any other man.
0:24:34 > 0:24:39So, how will a nation of corrupted human souls, the corruption that you see
0:24:39 > 0:24:45in every nook and cranny of the human heart, how will that nation of reckless rebels be governed?
0:24:45 > 0:24:48By a thousand tutors, by a million little kings?
0:24:48 > 0:24:52By their own conscience illuminated by God's Word!
0:24:52 > 0:24:59A thousand thousand consciences blending in delightful and continual harmony in heavenly agreement?
0:25:00 > 0:25:07I think not. God has appointed his rulers to rule, to submit themselves to God.
0:25:07 > 0:25:13Aye, to obey their Lord and Master but to rule with wisdom and authority.
0:25:13 > 0:25:18You jump up too high. You leap up to Heaven. There is no divinity in a King.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22There is no prophesy in your pet opinion.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26God is my judge, my only judge.
0:25:26 > 0:25:33Beware of twisted reasoning, my little king, there are two kingdoms in Scotland.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36The first is Jesus Christ and his Kingdom the Kirk.
0:25:36 > 0:25:43The second is James and his paltry Kingdom, and you both are subject to the Lordship of Christ.
0:25:43 > 0:25:49One earthly King kneeling before the true King of all creation.
0:25:49 > 0:25:54Granted. But as I am kneeling meekly before the throne of my Maker,
0:25:54 > 0:26:01I receive private instructions without your help or your knowledge.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05And I will obey God rather than George Buchanan.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13'James found himself not accepting but questioning
0:26:13 > 0:26:19'the major propositions that Buchanan was teaching him,'
0:26:19 > 0:26:23and it's part of the coming to terms with his environment
0:26:23 > 0:26:27that he learned to deal with this set of ideas in his own way.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29When James becomes a true Monarch,
0:26:29 > 0:26:34in other words able to exercise the power of the King in his own right,
0:26:34 > 0:26:38as opposed to the Regency exercising the power for him,
0:26:38 > 0:26:43by definition, although he might still have tutors and might still have education,
0:26:43 > 0:26:46the relationship changes dramatically.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50This is now a Monarch who has the ability to execute people,
0:26:50 > 0:26:54for example, and that is going to change the relationship entirely.
0:26:54 > 0:27:00By his late teens, James had started to assume increasing control of his Kingdom.
0:27:00 > 0:27:05He was intelligent, quick-witted, a true scholar and a fearsome debater.
0:27:05 > 0:27:11He'd grown used to dealing with the rougher edges of his Scottish nobles
0:27:11 > 0:27:14and, above all, he'd learned to survive.
0:27:14 > 0:27:21He was also praised for his chastity, since he seemed to show very little interest in women.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26Then along came Anne of Denmark.
0:27:26 > 0:27:32Anne was a Protestant princess, a perfect match for this young Scottish Presbyterian King.
0:27:32 > 0:27:40Tall and elegant, she was still only 14 years old when she set sail for Scotland to meet her husband,
0:27:40 > 0:27:46only to find that strong winds and storms drove her back onto the coast of Norway.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50Upon hearing that the crossing had been abandoned,
0:27:50 > 0:27:56young James suddenly showed a rarely seen dashing and romantic side to his character.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59Along with a 300-strong retinue of followers,
0:27:59 > 0:28:04he set sail from Leith to rescue his bride-to-be and bring her home.
0:28:04 > 0:28:11The people of Scotland and Denmark were entranced. There's nothing like a royal wedding.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26Raaargh!
0:28:32 > 0:28:34Raaargh!
0:29:14 > 0:29:20So the King had found his Queen, and now James settled into making the most of his unruly Kingdom.
0:29:20 > 0:29:28Resources were limited, luxuries few and the clans and the nobility were as fractious and difficult as ever.
0:29:28 > 0:29:35One can only imagine how he must have looked in envy at that land to the south of him,
0:29:35 > 0:29:38flowing in milk and honey.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42He knew that England was rich and generous, with a secure monarchy
0:29:42 > 0:29:48and a population who broadly appeared to want to be ruled. To James,
0:29:48 > 0:29:55struggling with his Scottish problems, it must have seemed to be a very Heaven on Earth.
0:30:06 > 0:30:11As a minor relative, James kept in regular touch with his mighty cousin.
0:30:11 > 0:30:15When the Spanish Armada threatened the English shores,
0:30:15 > 0:30:19he was careful to write to reassure the Queen of his support.
0:30:19 > 0:30:24As his own family started to expand, he was more than aware that, further south,
0:30:24 > 0:30:29the unmarried Elizabeth was fast growing too old for child-bearing,
0:30:29 > 0:30:32and would soon need an heir to her throne.
0:30:35 > 0:30:42For her part, Elizabeth seems to have received this constant flow of letters with good grace,
0:30:42 > 0:30:45good humour, and discreet but determined silence.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51Meanwhile, back on his own territory, James played the long game,
0:30:51 > 0:30:56gradually imposing his own authority over the Scottish Church and society.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59In the end, when he needed a show of unity,
0:30:59 > 0:31:05he commanded his squabbling nobles to march through Edinburgh, publicly holding hands.
0:31:05 > 0:31:10And they did. And very popular it proved with the local population too.
0:31:14 > 0:31:20James had won. He had risen to Kingship under the most difficult circumstances
0:31:20 > 0:31:28and established more peace and unity than his country had ever experienced before.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38As Scotland relaxed into relative prosperity,
0:31:38 > 0:31:43James happily embraced every aspect of his role as ruling Monarch.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46Perhaps one of his more arduous duties was to attend
0:31:46 > 0:31:55the Kirk's great National Assemblies, like the one held here at Burntisland Church, in 1601.
0:31:55 > 0:32:00At some point in the interminable Church business,
0:32:00 > 0:32:07a call was made for the Assembly to commission a new translation of The Bible.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11This suggestion probably caught James's attention.
0:32:11 > 0:32:16The creation of a single mutually acceptable version of the Holy Scriptures
0:32:16 > 0:32:21would have fitted in perfectly with his strong and emerging belief in unity.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24Unity at all costs.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27However, like the good Presbyterians they were,
0:32:27 > 0:32:32the Church Assembly kicked the suggestion into the long grass -
0:32:32 > 0:32:38a committee to look into the possibilities, doubtless to report back to another committee.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41You know the drill. The point is, they missed the moment.
0:32:43 > 0:32:51As far as we know, nothing much came of that idea, but perhaps a seed was sown in James's mind.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55A seed that shortly was to bear fruit.
0:32:57 > 0:33:05So, on 26 of March 1603, James received the news that Elizabeth had died,
0:33:05 > 0:33:08naming him as her chosen successor.
0:33:08 > 0:33:10Long live the King!
0:33:20 > 0:33:22ALL: God save the King!
0:33:22 > 0:33:30James was now the ruler of two Kingdoms. The future was his for the taking.
0:33:33 > 0:33:38When James went south, the castle here at Stirling fell into disrepair.
0:33:38 > 0:33:45No longer filled by the Court, it became a cold and damp reminder of his early youth.
0:33:45 > 0:33:50Its Scottish King had gone to meet his destiny
0:33:50 > 0:33:53and the world was waiting.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11James was welcomed like a conquering hero by his new subjects.
0:34:11 > 0:34:18After the last stultifying years of Elizabeth's reign, the country wanted a new start,
0:34:18 > 0:34:24a release, and James was that release. And his people loved him for it.
0:34:26 > 0:34:31Of course, nothing is perfect. The country that James had inherited
0:34:31 > 0:34:33was a mixed bag of blessings and problems.
0:34:33 > 0:34:40Once Elizabeth was dead, all the factions that she had held in check were released.
0:34:40 > 0:34:47And now they turned to their new King for advancement and favour.
0:34:49 > 0:34:54There were hungry eyes fixed upon James as he rode south.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58Expectations were high. Too high.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01Everyone had high hopes when James came to the throne,
0:35:01 > 0:35:03Puritans as well as Catholics,
0:35:03 > 0:35:08all hoping for some accommodations for their own side.
0:35:08 > 0:35:13Inevitably he, one by one, disappointed them all.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16I think everyone thinks James is going to be what they want,
0:35:16 > 0:35:17or what they fear.
0:35:17 > 0:35:22What I think all of them forget is they're getting a grown-up on the throne,
0:35:22 > 0:35:24who has been a Monarch somewhere else.
0:35:24 > 0:35:29Normally, when you get a new King they haven't been a King anywhere else,
0:35:29 > 0:35:33so there's a sort of a period in which they're going to have to learn how to do this,
0:35:33 > 0:35:36and they're going to have to negotiate and make their way
0:35:36 > 0:35:39and that's your best time to strike, with the Monarch,
0:35:39 > 0:35:42if you want real power, is when they first come to the throne.
0:35:42 > 0:35:47But apart from the pressure groups and the self-serving opportunists,
0:35:47 > 0:35:51there was one problem that was real enough and it had to be addressed.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54You see, Church and State were unified.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58James, the King, was head of both of them.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02And the Church of England was in danger of falling apart
0:36:02 > 0:36:05as two factions inside it became increasingly opposed.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09First, there were the Bishops.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12These were the ultimate authority figures at the very high end
0:36:12 > 0:36:14of this fledgling Church.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17Although capable of great spirituality,
0:36:17 > 0:36:21they were also known for acquiring tremendous wealth and power.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24Their preferred version of the Scriptures,
0:36:24 > 0:36:29known as the Bishops' Bible, was the only one allowed in English churches.
0:36:29 > 0:36:31As a more than competent scholar himself,
0:36:31 > 0:36:36James knew that this was basically a lazy work,
0:36:36 > 0:36:41with much of the academic translation being, frankly, not up to scratch.
0:36:41 > 0:36:43Then there were the Puritans,
0:36:43 > 0:36:47fervent believers who wanted a faith based solidly on Scripture.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51Their translation was the Geneva Bible,
0:36:51 > 0:36:53known for its notorious side notes.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57These notes were written by Protestant scholars,
0:36:57 > 0:37:00often themselves refugees from royal persecution,
0:37:00 > 0:37:07who needed no encouragement to offer anti-monarchist interpretations of Holy Text.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10James hated this Geneva Bible with a passion,
0:37:10 > 0:37:13particularly because of those dreadful notes.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17To James, this was a translation which spread sedition
0:37:17 > 0:37:19and encouraged division.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25The issue of the Bible apart, the Puritan leaders were sure that
0:37:25 > 0:37:29the new King would back their calls for an urgent reform of the Church.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33How could he do otherwise? He was a brother of their own persuasion.
0:37:33 > 0:37:39A delegation of leading Puritans of the Church of England collected a petition,
0:37:39 > 0:37:44with a thousand signatures of active members of the clergy
0:37:44 > 0:37:50who were concerned about corruption and the drift away from the Scriptures.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53They rode out to meet James before he reached London,
0:37:53 > 0:37:56presenting him with their petition and requesting,
0:37:56 > 0:38:00with great urgency, that the Church be reformed.
0:38:00 > 0:38:06Although many of their specific requests may seem technical or even trivial today,
0:38:06 > 0:38:09they were at the centre of a theological revolution.
0:38:11 > 0:38:16James, surprisingly, smiled upon the Puritans' request,
0:38:16 > 0:38:19and, without consulting his Bishops,
0:38:19 > 0:38:25he agreed to call a summit to address their genuine grievances.
0:38:25 > 0:38:27The Bishops went ballistic.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33This is madness! A conference?
0:38:33 > 0:38:34Ah, my Lord Bishops.
0:38:34 > 0:38:40- A crowd of begging and whining and scribbling preachers. - A festival for Puritans.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44Festival? I would have thought that was a contradiction in terms.
0:38:44 > 0:38:47I don't think the Puritans are looking for fun, are they?
0:38:47 > 0:38:50They're looking for advantage, for dangerous concessions.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53His Gracious Majesty is...
0:38:53 > 0:38:54Vulnerable?
0:38:54 > 0:38:59Impressionable? Naive? An ignorant newcomer?
0:38:59 > 0:39:03Of course not, his Majesty can, I'm sure, deal with every issue of State...
0:39:03 > 0:39:07His Majesty has a tendency, I would call it "a talent",
0:39:07 > 0:39:10for striking his opponents from their perch.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14He's had a considerable amount of practice at it in Scotland.
0:39:14 > 0:39:1730 years of George Buchanan and John Knox.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20The Puritans think that the King is half-Presbyterian!
0:39:20 > 0:39:25Half-Presbyterian? That sounds like a painful condition, my Lord Bishop.
0:39:25 > 0:39:30And what are you? Half-Bishop or half-King?
0:39:30 > 0:39:32King?
0:39:32 > 0:39:37I make no claim. I acknowledge His Majesty, but he cannot do this!
0:39:37 > 0:39:41We know that His Majesty has the very noblest intentions...
0:39:41 > 0:39:43Ah, good. You had me worried.
0:39:43 > 0:39:49But he can't just give in to the first craven little Puritan request!
0:39:49 > 0:39:52A conference? About the Church?
0:39:52 > 0:39:54The prayer book? Vestments?
0:39:54 > 0:39:59- Snivelling little gripes about everything under the sun? You can't just...- "Can't"?
0:40:00 > 0:40:02I believe he is your Sovereign.
0:40:02 > 0:40:07He is our King. Our gracious lord and our wise Sovereign.
0:40:07 > 0:40:13But even His Majesty cannot act in matters on the Church without the assent of his Bishops.
0:40:13 > 0:40:19"Can't act without"? I assume my hearing is at fault. Can't act without your permission?
0:40:19 > 0:40:24All men are subject to God and to the Church.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28And who is Head of the Church? Who is your Head?
0:40:28 > 0:40:31Who is the Supreme Head of the Church of England?
0:40:43 > 0:40:47I think His Majesty is entitled to a little conference, don't you?
0:40:50 > 0:40:55- We'll get the first hearing. - Can it be done?- We'll get that one concession at least.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57We'll speak first, or I'll be damned!
0:40:59 > 0:41:03The venue was to be the royal palace at Hampton Court.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06The King himself was to preside.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10And, no matter what their fears or hopes were of the outcome,
0:41:10 > 0:41:13there was one question on everyone's lips.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16How would the King cope? Would he be a pushover?
0:41:16 > 0:41:20Would he be susceptible to flattery? Or to bullying?
0:41:20 > 0:41:23He had never been tested in quite this way before.
0:41:24 > 0:41:27And whatever the outcome of the match,
0:41:27 > 0:41:30Cecil had the ringside seat.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41James was more than aware of the divisions in his Church
0:41:41 > 0:41:43and that this conference
0:41:43 > 0:41:47presented him with a golden opportunity to secure unity.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50But how would he be able to achieve it?
0:41:50 > 0:41:55'For James, opposing himself was the only way to get unity.
0:41:55 > 0:41:59'His agenda is very clear.'
0:41:59 > 0:42:01The first thing he wanted to do was to make them respect
0:42:01 > 0:42:08his authority as the Head of the Church in England, without question.
0:42:08 > 0:42:13Also, he wants to move both parties out of their entrenched positions.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16To accept a compromise that he brokers
0:42:16 > 0:42:17and will seal with his authority.
0:42:24 > 0:42:25What?!
0:42:27 > 0:42:29You shall not sit before your King!
0:42:49 > 0:42:51You may be seated.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58Two sides, two agendas,
0:42:58 > 0:43:01and one new King to give them all they wanted.
0:43:06 > 0:43:08Majesty.
0:43:08 > 0:43:10Frankly, we cannot see any need for change,
0:43:10 > 0:43:15because the Church of England has been in a settled state for 40 years.
0:43:15 > 0:43:2040 years. A man can have the pox for 40 years.
0:43:20 > 0:43:24Does that mean there is never going to be any cure for his sickness?
0:43:24 > 0:43:28We do not regard the Church of Christ as sick, Majesty.
0:43:28 > 0:43:30Maybe not the Church of Christ,
0:43:30 > 0:43:34but are there not practices in the Church of England
0:43:34 > 0:43:37which would make these learned and holy men want to retch and vomit?
0:43:37 > 0:43:43My lords, I come from a place of coarse wind and harsh climate.
0:43:43 > 0:43:47My language may be far too influenced by the roughness of the Scots tongue.
0:43:49 > 0:43:54Or is it my daily diet of studying the plain speaking of Holy Scripture?
0:43:54 > 0:43:57I really cannot tell.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00We only beg you not to give in to the rash and...
0:44:00 > 0:44:04presumptuous demands which will rock your Kingdom.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07So solicitous for my welfare!
0:44:07 > 0:44:11Already you put your hand out to steady the ship of State.
0:44:11 > 0:44:18Perhaps like Uzar, the man who put his hand out to steady the Ark of God and was struck dead.
0:44:20 > 0:44:24Bancroft, Andrews and the rest of the Bishops got far more than
0:44:24 > 0:44:25they bargained for from the King.
0:44:25 > 0:44:31Not in concessions, but in a severe verbal bashing.
0:44:31 > 0:44:35James was an intellectual and a considerable theologian.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38He thrived on argument and debate, no matter how rough.
0:44:38 > 0:44:42Buchanan and those troublesome Scottish nobles had taught him well
0:44:42 > 0:44:47and, apart from that, what he said was true.
0:44:50 > 0:44:52In short, gentlemen,
0:44:52 > 0:44:58I do not know of any organisation or institution of over 40 years' existence
0:44:58 > 0:45:05that does not have deep within it some seeds of sin, corruption or ineptitude.
0:45:05 > 0:45:09Severe self-examination and reform will indeed be necessary.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15To suggest otherwise is to fly in the face of simple fact,
0:45:15 > 0:45:19basic honesty and your King's judgment.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29End of round one, a technical knock-out for James.
0:45:29 > 0:45:33And now it was the turn of the Puritans to put their case.
0:45:33 > 0:45:39They were certain that they would get a much better reception from their new Presbyterian King.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42You have a list of grievances, Master Reynolds?
0:45:42 > 0:45:45A few points, Majesty.
0:45:51 > 0:45:53"A few"?
0:45:53 > 0:45:56By God and all the saints in Heaven,
0:45:56 > 0:45:59not that I countenance praying to the saints in Heaven in any circumstances,
0:45:59 > 0:46:03but perhaps we could do with their help in reading this endless list!
0:46:03 > 0:46:07Majesty, I've underlined the most serious articles of complaint.
0:46:07 > 0:46:10And worn out your pen with its scratching, Master Chadderton!
0:46:10 > 0:46:15Scratching and itching, and scraping away in your Puritan college.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19What is this? You have an objection to the wedding service?
0:46:19 > 0:46:25"With my body, I thee worship" has a little too much force, Your Majesty,
0:46:25 > 0:46:28for only God is worthy of our worship.
0:46:28 > 0:46:33- Not your wife?- I have no wife, your Majesty.- No wife?
0:46:34 > 0:46:40Well, Master Reynolds, many a man has spoken of Robin Hood without shooting his own bow.
0:46:40 > 0:46:44I would say, if you can get yourself a good wife,
0:46:44 > 0:46:49I think you will consider all the worship you could give her would be well on target.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52I... Your Majesty, I...
0:46:52 > 0:46:56This is a matter of definition, Your Majesty. The word "worship".
0:46:56 > 0:46:59Worship. I hear of worshipful gentlemen in England.
0:46:59 > 0:47:04I hear of worshipful companies of tailors and wool merchants!
0:47:04 > 0:47:07Worship is everywhere in the realm!
0:47:07 > 0:47:11Are you going to exclude your wives, who are made in the image of God, as you are?!
0:47:11 > 0:47:16If not that particular passage, your Majesty, would you graciously consider some others?
0:47:16 > 0:47:20I will graciously consider some of them, but not all of them,
0:47:20 > 0:47:25or I will be in danger of running out of graciousness altogether.
0:47:25 > 0:47:27My stock is very low this morning.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37This is an everlasting sermon!
0:47:37 > 0:47:41A litany of dullness and stupidity, blown out of your buttocks!
0:47:41 > 0:47:44- Majesty...- Perhaps we should stick the list back where it came from!
0:47:44 > 0:47:48Your Majesty, may we humbly summarise?
0:47:48 > 0:47:50We do not accept the full governance of the Bishops.
0:47:50 > 0:47:54You see, Majesty, your very authority is undermined!
0:47:54 > 0:47:59Only by YOUR rash interruptions. Go on.
0:47:59 > 0:48:06What if the Bishops ruled jointly...with a...Council?
0:48:06 > 0:48:09A presbytery of their fellows?
0:48:10 > 0:48:14- "Presbytery"? "A presbytery"?! - Oh, no, no...
0:48:14 > 0:48:16If you're aiming at a Scots' Presbytery,
0:48:16 > 0:48:21that will agree with this monarch as well as God agrees with the devil!
0:48:22 > 0:48:26It was of course a strategy of genius.
0:48:26 > 0:48:32In a country where polarising factions were a real danger of pulling things apart,
0:48:32 > 0:48:35James was imposing himself as the middle way.
0:48:35 > 0:48:39He was determined to force everyone back to the centre ground
0:48:39 > 0:48:46where he would stand as God's appointed King, the one and only ruler.
0:48:46 > 0:48:48No!
0:48:48 > 0:48:50Anything else?
0:48:53 > 0:48:56- Rings in marriage are a...- No!
0:48:57 > 0:49:00- Signing the Cross...- No! - And bowing...- No!
0:49:02 > 0:49:04No, no. HE CLEARS HIS THROAT
0:49:07 > 0:49:09Do you have any other worthy requests?
0:49:09 > 0:49:14I mean TRULY worthy of my attention?
0:49:16 > 0:49:19James needed unity.
0:49:19 > 0:49:21Unity at all costs.
0:49:21 > 0:49:26And to achieve this, he had to give the Puritans something to go home with.
0:49:26 > 0:49:30But what? Then it happened.
0:49:30 > 0:49:32In God's name, is there nothing?!
0:49:34 > 0:49:37- We had thought that...- It's long been a cause of concern...
0:49:37 > 0:49:42That there should be one translation of The Bible to be authenticated and read in the churches.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46- There is a Bible!- Hated by all the people and the work of dunces!
0:49:46 > 0:49:49- But the Bishops' Bible... - Is unacceptable...
0:49:49 > 0:49:51to these worthy scholars!
0:49:53 > 0:49:55Go on.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59One version.
0:50:00 > 0:50:03To be read throughout the land,
0:50:03 > 0:50:05unifying our worship.
0:50:10 > 0:50:11The Geneva Bible is...
0:50:11 > 0:50:14Infuriating! Prejudiced!
0:50:14 > 0:50:18And full of nasty little Puritan notes.
0:50:18 > 0:50:20Not fit for purpose!
0:50:21 > 0:50:23So,
0:50:23 > 0:50:28you are suggesting a completely new translation of God's Holy Word
0:50:28 > 0:50:30agreeable to everyone?
0:50:32 > 0:50:35Yes, all things considered I...
0:50:35 > 0:50:40Gentlemen, you have spoken excellent good sense for the first time.
0:50:40 > 0:50:42We will have a new translation.
0:50:43 > 0:50:47And you, humble servants of Almighty God,
0:50:47 > 0:50:50will all work together.
0:50:51 > 0:50:56Oh, how precious is unity in the blessed realm of England.
0:51:01 > 0:51:05With this one masterstroke, James had done it.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08The two opposing sides now had to work together
0:51:08 > 0:51:12on a single jointly unifying project,
0:51:12 > 0:51:18a project based on scholarship, clarity and the all-powerful Word of God.
0:51:20 > 0:51:24It also established his credentials as King.
0:51:24 > 0:51:32From now on, this little Scottish cousin from the north was to be a real force to be reckoned with.
0:51:33 > 0:51:40It was a risky strategy to bind such separate factions together in one unifying project,
0:51:40 > 0:51:44but James was prepared to take that risk.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47So the great work got under way.
0:51:47 > 0:51:52The King was determined that this would be the finest translation ever completed.
0:51:52 > 0:51:59But there were one or two growing concerns and suspicion soon began to rise.
0:51:59 > 0:52:01As the Bishops watched the opposition arriving
0:52:01 > 0:52:04with their books, commentaries, and opinions,
0:52:04 > 0:52:09they feared that these Puritan scholars might be able to slip
0:52:09 > 0:52:14some heretical bias in on the blind side and pollute the work.
0:52:14 > 0:52:17Bancroft in particular was deeply worried.
0:52:20 > 0:52:22They cannot be trusted.
0:52:22 > 0:52:27You are a very suspicious man, and well qualified to be an archbishop in due course.
0:52:27 > 0:52:29I have no earthly ambitions.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32I only seek the security of your Kingdom.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35- Are you asking me to trust such a blatant lie?- Your Majesty!
0:52:35 > 0:52:39No ambition? What a sweet soul you are!
0:52:39 > 0:52:44Do not lecture me about trust, my Lord Bishop.
0:52:45 > 0:52:48Have you not read John's Gospel Chapter Two?
0:52:48 > 0:52:53"He trusted himself to no man because he knew what was in the heart of man."
0:52:53 > 0:52:56Even our Blessed Lord had serious problems with trust.
0:52:56 > 0:53:03Majesty, the Puritans will slip in their doctrinal errors on every page, in every column.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06These people. If every man's whims are to be followed
0:53:06 > 0:53:10the whole world will be piled high with new translations!
0:53:10 > 0:53:17That is why you must trust no one man, no one theology, no one party.
0:53:17 > 0:53:21Not even the most pious of your bishops. Trust no-one.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23Not even your own scheming heart.
0:53:26 > 0:53:30Trust only the spirit that refines, that purifies with fire.
0:53:35 > 0:53:40I could set up committees, trusting every man's work with checks and balances at every stage.
0:53:40 > 0:53:43Checks, and counter checks, and triple checks.
0:53:43 > 0:53:45There will be no marginal notes,
0:53:45 > 0:53:48no vicious little back-biting commentaries,
0:53:48 > 0:53:54and no pompous Episcopal nonsense of Papist puke either!
0:53:54 > 0:53:57It shall be plain, pure and simple.
0:53:57 > 0:54:02But surely it can be based on the Bishops' Bible, which is still a fine work...
0:54:02 > 0:54:04The Bishops' Bible?!
0:54:04 > 0:54:09Where "cast thy bread upon the waters" becomes "lay your bread on wet faces"?
0:54:09 > 0:54:13Dear God in Heaven, it must be better than that
0:54:13 > 0:54:17or I will be laying a loaf of bread on your wet face.
0:54:20 > 0:54:21I am trusting you with this.
0:54:24 > 0:54:25Really.
0:54:25 > 0:54:31But just in case, I will supervise personally every man's work.
0:54:31 > 0:54:32Especially yours!
0:54:35 > 0:54:37'The King is determined'
0:54:37 > 0:54:43to create a system that will include Puritan participation
0:54:43 > 0:54:48but will filter out any undue Puritan agenda.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54Rules of checking were set up.
0:54:54 > 0:54:58Apart from a separate list of stringent rules drawn up by the King,
0:54:58 > 0:55:02four extra tests for the final text would be applied,
0:55:02 > 0:55:07raising the level of academic excellence to an unprecedented new level.
0:55:09 > 0:55:15In the end, it's wonderfully ironic that this unnecessary paranoia about Puritan bias
0:55:15 > 0:55:19should be one of the main reasons for such a wonderful translation,
0:55:19 > 0:55:24because it was purified and tested time and time again,
0:55:24 > 0:55:28far beyond the normal expectations of this or any other age.
0:55:28 > 0:55:32One of the translation groups met here,
0:55:32 > 0:55:35in the precincts of Westminster Abbey,
0:55:35 > 0:55:38in a room called the "Jerusalem Chamber".
0:55:43 > 0:55:44And here it is.
0:55:46 > 0:55:51It's still used for small groups of people to meet and talk about Church business today.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54Round this fireplace, 400 years ago,
0:55:54 > 0:55:57there was a group of scholars seated
0:55:57 > 0:56:01under the leadership of Lancelot Andrewes.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05Now, these were some of the top scholars of their day,
0:56:05 > 0:56:08meeting together not to create spin or bias,
0:56:08 > 0:56:12but to get as close as is humanly possible to the original texts,
0:56:12 > 0:56:14and their true meaning.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19It was a mammoth undertaking.
0:56:19 > 0:56:21All the more surprising, then,
0:56:21 > 0:56:25that so little evidence of it has survived.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28But in recent years major discoveries have been made,
0:56:28 > 0:56:31actual examples of work in progress,
0:56:31 > 0:56:37the very ink and paper produced by those translators 400 years ago.
0:56:37 > 0:56:41One of these rare gems was found here, in Lambeth Palace,
0:56:41 > 0:56:44home to the Archbishops of Canterbury for centuries.
0:56:46 > 0:56:50This library was built by Archbishop Bancroft,
0:56:50 > 0:56:53and this is probably his very own book.
0:56:56 > 0:57:00No-one knows if there are any more of these in existence.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04This is an original draft.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11"An English translation of the Epistles of Paul the Apostle."
0:57:11 > 0:57:15"Corinthians 1:13.
0:57:15 > 0:57:21"Now abideth faith, hope and charity, these three.
0:57:21 > 0:57:25"The greatest of these is charity."
0:57:25 > 0:57:29I mean, glorious language.
0:57:33 > 0:57:35Meanwhile, what about James?
0:57:35 > 0:57:39How was he doing in his early years of running the country?
0:57:39 > 0:57:43To be honest with you, he was doing rather well.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46James's reign was growing increasingly established
0:57:46 > 0:57:48and ever more popular.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51The country was thriving under his policies.
0:57:51 > 0:57:55Surely no-one could argue with that?
0:57:55 > 0:57:58Well, there was one faction.
0:58:02 > 0:58:04The English Catholics were losing patience.
0:58:04 > 0:58:08The promises James had made to them before he ascended to the throne
0:58:08 > 0:58:12had produced precisely nothing, and now the Roman Catholic discontent
0:58:12 > 0:58:16was growing ever darker and more dangerous.
0:58:16 > 0:58:18'By the summer of 1604,'
0:58:18 > 0:58:23there are those who are sufficiently discontented
0:58:23 > 0:58:25to think of radical solutions.
0:58:25 > 0:58:31In a sense, the moment for peaceful toleration has been ignored.
0:58:31 > 0:58:37A group of dissolute Catholic noblemen had approached an English mercenary called Guy Fawkes,
0:58:37 > 0:58:42desperate to use his particular talents for their cause.
0:58:42 > 0:58:45There are 3,000 men in England ready to take up arms.
0:58:45 > 0:58:48Good Catholic soldiers or hopeless fools?
0:58:48 > 0:58:51- Let me make it clear...- Shh...
0:58:53 > 0:58:55My cousin...
0:58:56 > 0:58:59Francis Tresham. He's sound.
0:58:59 > 0:59:02But are you sound, Sir Robert?
0:59:02 > 0:59:06- You forget your place, Fawkes! - I know my place.
0:59:06 > 0:59:09It's up to here in mud.
0:59:09 > 0:59:12It's up to here in dust and grime.
0:59:12 > 0:59:15Where is your place?
0:59:15 > 0:59:17Your library?
0:59:17 > 0:59:19I know my place on the stage of this world.
0:59:19 > 0:59:22Grand sentiments.
0:59:24 > 0:59:26The King of Spain would be deeply impressed.
0:59:26 > 0:59:32But unfortunately, his Spanish Majesty was otherwise occupied
0:59:32 > 0:59:35making peace with our own King James.
0:59:38 > 0:59:42I'm a military man, sir, a low-born mercenary,
0:59:42 > 0:59:45I'm not here for airs and graces.
0:59:45 > 0:59:49What can you do? Can you help us bring about this glorious change?
0:59:49 > 0:59:52I understand very little about human nature,
0:59:52 > 0:59:54and a great deal about gunpowder.
0:59:55 > 0:59:57Tell me what you want.
0:59:59 > 1:00:00I want to destroy them all,
1:00:00 > 1:00:04Lords, Bishops, Privy Council, Commons, the King.
1:00:05 > 1:00:08- I don't believe you.- Believe me.
1:00:08 > 1:00:12Believe me, sir, even if I go to hell with the whole lot of them.
1:00:19 > 1:00:23Well, in that case, I can arrange things so that you stay on Earth,
1:00:23 > 1:00:25with plenty of time to repent.
1:00:27 > 1:00:31But it will take at least 30 barrels of powder
1:00:31 > 1:00:33and a great deal of money.
1:00:35 > 1:00:39Their plan was audacious in the extreme.
1:00:39 > 1:00:44What they wanted was to wipe the slate clean and start again,
1:00:44 > 1:00:47but, this time, to leave only Catholics in control.
1:00:47 > 1:00:51And to achieve this, they started to plan their very own 9/11.
1:00:51 > 1:00:55This is an extraordinarily well thought out and brilliant plot,
1:00:55 > 1:00:59and it's masterminded by someone who knows about gunpowder
1:00:59 > 1:01:02and can do the calculations of what's needed and get the stuff.
1:01:07 > 1:01:09First of all,
1:01:09 > 1:01:15the attempt to dig a tunnel into the Palace of Westminster
1:01:15 > 1:01:18to blow up the State Opening when everybody would be there, King, Lords and Commons.
1:01:18 > 1:01:22Put your backs into it!
1:01:25 > 1:01:27It was a madcap scheme from the start
1:01:27 > 1:01:31but this group of fervent believers saw it as their only chance,
1:01:31 > 1:01:35their last desperate roll of the dice to win the prize
1:01:35 > 1:01:38of a truly Catholic England once again,
1:01:38 > 1:01:41and a full adoption back into the Church of Rome.
1:01:47 > 1:01:52- How far?- Not far enough. This is madness. This will take years.
1:01:52 > 1:01:57- We don't have years. We have six weeks.- We need a lot more men.- There's no-one else.
1:01:57 > 1:02:00- Six more men.- Or three real men!
1:02:00 > 1:02:02We're digging with all our might.
1:02:02 > 1:02:05We've put our life and soul into this.
1:02:05 > 1:02:07It's bodies we need, not souls.
1:02:07 > 1:02:10Better shovels.
1:02:11 > 1:02:14We need picks and sledgehammers.
1:02:14 > 1:02:17You can have all the equipment you want, but no more men.
1:02:17 > 1:02:22- Robert, everyone is exhausted and in despair.- How many more men do you want to involve?
1:02:22 > 1:02:25Let's send out the town crier ringing his bell.
1:02:25 > 1:02:28Roll up! Come and dig, come and dig!
1:02:31 > 1:02:33Christ have mercy!
1:02:33 > 1:02:35There's no way forward.
1:02:37 > 1:02:38And no way back.
1:02:43 > 1:02:45They changed the date.
1:02:45 > 1:02:49- What?- The State Opening of Parliament has been delayed by four months.
1:02:49 > 1:02:53- It's now set for November 5th! - Praise be to God!
1:02:55 > 1:02:58Let no-one doubt the true calling of our cause now!
1:03:02 > 1:03:04Then the tunnel is abandoned,
1:03:04 > 1:03:06because instead they can lease a cellar
1:03:06 > 1:03:09so they have this much better opportunity of leasing a cellar
1:03:09 > 1:03:12in the decrepit old cellar in the Palace of Westminster
1:03:12 > 1:03:15which actually, if you stuff it with gunpowder,
1:03:15 > 1:03:18will blow up the House of Lords chamber on top.
1:03:20 > 1:03:22This is the place, if you want it.
1:03:26 > 1:03:28Good access to the river, you say?
1:03:29 > 1:03:34- You know it has. - Well, it's a bit on the damp side.
1:03:34 > 1:03:36Fawkes!
1:03:41 > 1:03:42And rent's a bit high.
1:03:44 > 1:03:46Will it do?
1:03:48 > 1:03:49- Oh, yes.- Well?
1:03:52 > 1:03:54Pay the man.
1:04:03 > 1:04:05We know from modern computer modellings
1:04:05 > 1:04:07of the amount of gunpowder that they had
1:04:07 > 1:04:11what it would have been like if it had gone off successfully.
1:04:11 > 1:04:15It wouldn't just have blown up the Palace of Westminster,
1:04:15 > 1:04:17it would have blown down a good half of Westminster Abbey,
1:04:17 > 1:04:21it would have created an enormous fireball
1:04:21 > 1:04:24that would have spread out into the City of London
1:04:24 > 1:04:28and the loss of life and the loss of property would have been horrendous.
1:04:28 > 1:04:32As the new date for the planned attack drew near,
1:04:32 > 1:04:34some of the plotters began to have their doubts.
1:04:34 > 1:04:39Francis Tresham, in particular, was increasingly concerned
1:04:39 > 1:04:43as his wife's brother was due to be at the State Opening of Parliament
1:04:43 > 1:04:47and, along with everyone else, would undoubtedly be killed by the blast.
1:04:55 > 1:04:58The exact details are still hazy, even now.
1:04:58 > 1:05:00But it's a simple matter of historical record that
1:05:00 > 1:05:03an anonymous note found its way to
1:05:03 > 1:05:07Lord Monteagle, Francis Tresham's brother-in-law, warning him
1:05:07 > 1:05:11in the starkest terms not to attend the State Opening of Parliament.
1:05:11 > 1:05:14What this letter basically says is something's up.
1:05:14 > 1:05:15Now, it's not clear,
1:05:15 > 1:05:19something focusing on the State Opening of Parliament,
1:05:19 > 1:05:22something that very probably involves killing the King.
1:05:22 > 1:05:25They don't know what they're dealing with.
1:05:28 > 1:05:30You're sure this is from your brother-in-law?
1:05:30 > 1:05:34It's in his hand, unmistakeably.
1:05:39 > 1:05:41Do you think it's serious?
1:05:51 > 1:05:55Now, they don't get an idea that it's gunpowder.
1:05:55 > 1:05:59They assume that it's probably some form of assassination.
1:05:59 > 1:06:03Thinking that someone was going to shoot the King,
1:06:03 > 1:06:08Cecil and his men began an urgent search of the old corridors
1:06:08 > 1:06:11and cellars below the Houses of Parliament.
1:06:11 > 1:06:14They had no idea what was about to happen.
1:06:15 > 1:06:20And the sheer scale of the plot, it's not just killing the King,
1:06:20 > 1:06:24it's killing the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the Great Fire.
1:06:24 > 1:06:29This is a scale of atrocity that they simply had not thought of.
1:06:29 > 1:06:33It was midnight, on the 27th October 1604,
1:06:33 > 1:06:37when Cecil and his men finally made their discovery.
1:06:40 > 1:06:42Right, get in there!
1:06:56 > 1:06:58Against all the odds,
1:06:58 > 1:07:03disaster had been averted, but only by the narrowest of margins.
1:07:03 > 1:07:06Robert Cecil was the hero of the hour.
1:07:06 > 1:07:09But did he know about the plot earlier?
1:07:09 > 1:07:14Did he just bide his time for maximum political spin and effect?
1:07:14 > 1:07:18No. The shock of the Privy Council and of Cecil -
1:07:18 > 1:07:23Cecil is very frightened that he's failed, and he'll get the sack.
1:07:23 > 1:07:27It's the Principal Secretary of State's job to secure things like
1:07:27 > 1:07:29the State Opening of Parliament.
1:07:29 > 1:07:34As Guido Fawkes was being prepared for a particularly unpleasant death,
1:07:34 > 1:07:37the rest of the stragglers were being rounded up.
1:07:37 > 1:07:43Perhaps the most unfortunate of these was Henry Garnet, the Jesuit leader.
1:07:43 > 1:07:48Henry Garnet is the priest at the head of the Jesuit Mission in England.
1:07:48 > 1:07:53He's a rather ineffective man, in a very dangerous job.
1:07:54 > 1:07:58Like most Catholics, he's very disappointed that more has not
1:07:58 > 1:08:02been done for the Catholic community after 1604.
1:08:02 > 1:08:05Garnet had heard of the deadly plans,
1:08:05 > 1:08:09when giving the plotters their last confession.
1:08:09 > 1:08:11He tried to dissuade them,
1:08:11 > 1:08:14but he did not go to the authorities because he felt that he was bound
1:08:14 > 1:08:19by a higher authority to respect the silence of the confessional.
1:08:21 > 1:08:25In the eyes of the people, in the eyes of the law,
1:08:25 > 1:08:28this made him guilty of treason.
1:08:28 > 1:08:34Garnet seems to have been one of the least astute of the Jesuit observers.
1:08:34 > 1:08:38But, of course, poor man, he's got to carry the can.
1:08:38 > 1:08:41He's been the head of the order out of which
1:08:41 > 1:08:43so much of this plotting has come.
1:08:43 > 1:08:45With the execution of Henry Garnet,
1:08:45 > 1:08:49the official reprisals came to an end.
1:08:49 > 1:08:51Ironically enough, this plot,
1:08:51 > 1:08:58which had been designed to kill the King, to destroy the entire Establishment,
1:08:58 > 1:09:04to sow disunity and to fill those surviving supporters with despair,
1:09:04 > 1:09:08had produced exactly the opposite effect.
1:09:08 > 1:09:10James was never more popular.
1:09:10 > 1:09:14The English people rallied to their Scottish King,
1:09:14 > 1:09:18and Robert Cecil declared that, forever,
1:09:18 > 1:09:23the date of November 5th should be celebrated.
1:09:24 > 1:09:26And it still is.
1:09:29 > 1:09:31CHEERING
1:09:31 > 1:09:34# Remember, remember the Fifth of November
1:09:34 > 1:09:37# Gunpowder, treason and plot
1:09:37 > 1:09:41I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot... #
1:09:41 > 1:09:43Well done, Sir Robert Cecil.
1:09:43 > 1:09:46400 years on, and we still find no reason why
1:09:46 > 1:09:50gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.
1:09:50 > 1:09:54We used to do this when I was a boy. I'm going to join them.
1:09:56 > 1:10:00It is important to realise that this yearly celebration
1:10:00 > 1:10:06of Guy Fawkes's demise is no longer an anti-Catholic event.
1:10:06 > 1:10:08CHEERING
1:10:08 > 1:10:14The emphasis is on fireworks and fun, not rancour or revenge.
1:10:14 > 1:10:16Nevertheless, to the casual observer,
1:10:16 > 1:10:20it may seem somewhat strange that every November 5th,
1:10:20 > 1:10:25otherwise normal families gather together in their back gardens
1:10:25 > 1:10:29and burn a lifelike human effigy in front of their children.
1:10:29 > 1:10:32And they seem to thoroughly enjoy doing it, as well.
1:10:34 > 1:10:36Meanwhile, what about the translators?
1:10:36 > 1:10:39Split as they were into separate factions,
1:10:39 > 1:10:41how was their great work progressing?
1:10:41 > 1:10:46Despite the threats of the plots outside,
1:10:46 > 1:10:49the groups of scholars went about their work.
1:10:49 > 1:10:56As the months passed, and then the years, something wonderful happened.
1:10:56 > 1:10:59As they shared their knowledge, their resources
1:10:59 > 1:11:03and their scholarship, the suspicion and the distrust which had existed
1:11:03 > 1:11:07between the two opposing factions began to evaporate.
1:11:07 > 1:11:10Top translators who had always opposed each other
1:11:10 > 1:11:14found themselves being bonded by the work that they were producing.
1:11:14 > 1:11:19It seemed as if James's idea of unity,
1:11:19 > 1:11:22of a common middle ground, was being realised.
1:11:22 > 1:11:24BELLS RING
1:11:26 > 1:11:30Given that they were all men of deep religious conviction,
1:11:30 > 1:11:34you would assume, I think, that they were extremely aware
1:11:34 > 1:11:40of their responsibility, and not merely to the Almighty,
1:11:40 > 1:11:42but to the King as the Lord's anointed.
1:11:42 > 1:11:43It is the King James Version.
1:11:43 > 1:11:47One of the great things about the King James Version of the Bible
1:11:47 > 1:11:50is that it is the production of a committee, and therefore
1:11:50 > 1:11:55it pools these great resources from early Jacobean England.
1:11:55 > 1:11:59You have a genius of English prose, like Lancelot Andrewes,
1:11:59 > 1:12:03you have a thoughtful reform theologian like Laurence Chadderton,
1:12:03 > 1:12:08all working in the same team to address the Greek and Hebrew texts
1:12:08 > 1:12:12that underlie the Bible, to translate it into prose that is
1:12:12 > 1:12:16both more exalted than the English translations that had gone before
1:12:16 > 1:12:21but also more accurate in terms of the text upon which it's based.
1:12:21 > 1:12:28One marvels at how a project by committee can sing with
1:12:28 > 1:12:35the same voice, with the same sense of diction, clarity and eloquence.
1:12:35 > 1:12:38A great deal of scholarship, of course, had gone into it.
1:12:38 > 1:12:41The greatest linguists, the greatest translators of the time,
1:12:41 > 1:12:46in remarkable teamwork, sat together and worked with faith and earnestness
1:12:46 > 1:12:52to produce this magisterial text and polish it as best as possible.
1:12:52 > 1:12:56The hard work of the scholars was finally paying off.
1:12:56 > 1:13:00But what must it have been like to have actually been there?
1:13:00 > 1:13:02Well, if you want to taste the atmosphere,
1:13:02 > 1:13:06you could do worse than come here, to Merton College, Oxford.
1:13:07 > 1:13:12The Merton Library, in its present form, owes its inspiration to
1:13:12 > 1:13:14the warden, Sir Henry Saville.
1:13:14 > 1:13:18Now, Henry Saville was probably the most glamorous of the translators.
1:13:18 > 1:13:22He'd been a courtier, a diplomat.
1:13:22 > 1:13:27He was a bit of a buccaneer, had a great reputation as a ladies' man,
1:13:27 > 1:13:31and he had the most astonishing facility with languages.
1:13:33 > 1:13:39The contribution of his Second Oxford Company of Translators cannot be overestimated.
1:13:42 > 1:13:46Here are three books, part of Sir Henry's library,
1:13:46 > 1:13:49part of his translating kit, if you like.
1:13:49 > 1:13:53This one here is a Hebrew lexicon.
1:13:54 > 1:13:59This one here is Grammatica Chaldea Et Syra,
1:13:59 > 1:14:04a Syrian and Chaldean lexicon, or grammar, if you like.
1:14:04 > 1:14:07This is another one, and here, in the margins,
1:14:07 > 1:14:11you see in that very neat handwriting Sir Henry's personal notes.
1:14:12 > 1:14:15And if you think these are fascinating,
1:14:15 > 1:14:19you should see what they found in a library just around the corner.
1:14:40 > 1:14:43This is the Bodleian Library in the heart of Oxford.
1:14:43 > 1:14:46King James himself used to like to study here.
1:14:46 > 1:14:50Apparently he once said that, were he not King, he would choose to
1:14:50 > 1:14:57spend his entire life here, chained up with these books like a fellow prisoner.
1:14:58 > 1:14:59Can't blame him.
1:15:02 > 1:15:06The Bodleian Library is an incredible treasure trove of books,
1:15:06 > 1:15:09knowledge and unique historical documents.
1:15:09 > 1:15:12One of the greatest of these has only recently come to light.
1:15:12 > 1:15:16An extraordinary Bishops' Bible, that lay undiscovered
1:15:16 > 1:15:20and unrecognised, right here in this library for centuries,
1:15:20 > 1:15:24and it leads to the very heart of our purpose.
1:15:31 > 1:15:35What we have here is the very birthing process
1:15:35 > 1:15:37of the King James Bible.
1:15:37 > 1:15:43Here you can see new ideas, the latest scholarly discoveries,
1:15:43 > 1:15:51fresh insight, all emerging, and they're scrawled into the margins of the printed page.
1:15:51 > 1:15:56Actually, it's not scrawled, it's carefully incised
1:15:56 > 1:16:01but sometimes with palpable excitement and energy.
1:16:02 > 1:16:10You can see the text deriving from the sediments of previous thought.
1:16:11 > 1:16:14It's an extraordinary discovery.
1:16:18 > 1:16:21The translation of the King James Bible had taken
1:16:21 > 1:16:25over 50 scholars seven years to produce.
1:16:25 > 1:16:29At least two of the translators had died during the process.
1:16:29 > 1:16:32Others had driven themselves to the point of ruin.
1:16:34 > 1:16:40With great care, much prayer, and the very highest degree of academic excellence,
1:16:40 > 1:16:44these divided men had learned at last to work together.
1:16:44 > 1:16:47But, although unified in their mission,
1:16:47 > 1:16:50they were still very much individuals at heart, and in fact
1:16:50 > 1:16:55it was exactly this wide variety of character, scholarship and opinions
1:16:55 > 1:17:00which ultimately gave such an unusual strength to their finished work.
1:17:00 > 1:17:02The winner was translation.
1:17:03 > 1:17:11The final drafts were taking the Jacobean love for rich textures and finely decorative detail,
1:17:11 > 1:17:18and blending them with the cool, calm clarity
1:17:18 > 1:17:21so beloved of the Puritans.
1:17:21 > 1:17:26And the result is a masterpiece of form and language,
1:17:26 > 1:17:31and, for those involved, the very gateway to Heaven itself.
1:17:32 > 1:17:38Oh, and there was one last thing. It had to sound right.
1:17:40 > 1:17:44So we know the text was designed to be spoken out loud.
1:17:44 > 1:17:50Now, everyone who sings in the bath know they sound that much better in the bath.
1:17:50 > 1:17:55Why? Because of echo. If you want dignity and gravitas, you need echo.
1:17:55 > 1:18:00And where is echo to be found? In every church in the land.
1:18:00 > 1:18:01Let's give it a try.
1:18:11 > 1:18:18"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God
1:18:18 > 1:18:20"and the Word was God.
1:18:20 > 1:18:28"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men."
1:19:03 > 1:19:07When the translation was completed, Miles Smith, Bishop of Gloucester,
1:19:07 > 1:19:10prepared a preface for the finished work.
1:19:11 > 1:19:14It is a magnificent piece of prose.
1:19:14 > 1:19:19It captures both the spirit and the intent of those worthy craftsmen
1:19:19 > 1:19:25who laboured so hard to make this, the King James Version of The Bible.
1:19:28 > 1:19:31As the date of publication grew near,
1:19:31 > 1:19:35James took an increasing interest in the final presentation of his book.
1:19:35 > 1:19:36Your Majesty.
1:19:36 > 1:19:41It was Barkers the printers who had the heavy responsibility to produce the work.
1:19:41 > 1:19:43I see that you are delivering my child.
1:19:43 > 1:19:45Yes, your Majesty.
1:19:45 > 1:19:48You do look rather like a midwife.
1:19:50 > 1:19:51Carry on.
1:19:52 > 1:19:57James had not yet seen his translation or that famous preface in print,
1:19:57 > 1:20:02and when he did, by all accounts, he was profoundly moved by it.
1:20:03 > 1:20:07"Translation it is that opens the window to let in the light
1:20:07 > 1:20:12"that removes the cover of the well that we may come to the water."
1:20:16 > 1:20:18The well.
1:20:21 > 1:20:24The water.
1:20:24 > 1:20:25The water of life.
1:20:28 > 1:20:32"The leaves for the healing of a nation."
1:20:39 > 1:20:43A miracle, a miracle.
1:20:47 > 1:20:50And here is the finished work.
1:20:50 > 1:20:53This particular copy is one of 12 presented to
1:20:53 > 1:20:56the Privy Council by Barkers the printers.
1:20:56 > 1:21:00It seems to have survived its first 400 years remarkably well.
1:21:04 > 1:21:10Of all of James's hopes and dreams for peace and unity,
1:21:10 > 1:21:13it's probably only this, the King James Bible,
1:21:13 > 1:21:17that survived and succeeded.
1:21:41 > 1:21:45Almost from the moment his great Bible project was completed,
1:21:45 > 1:21:47James's star began to wane.
1:21:49 > 1:21:53His utopian ideals began to falter and fail.
1:21:53 > 1:21:56His international peace missions ran aground.
1:21:56 > 1:21:59There was increasing report of scandal both at Court
1:21:59 > 1:22:06and in his private life, and his standing amongst the common people
1:22:06 > 1:22:08went into irreversible decline.
1:22:09 > 1:22:12Oh, and, er, his book didn't sell.
1:22:14 > 1:22:21Changes in religion are always slow because, instinctively,
1:22:21 > 1:22:24as one gets older, everything in life changes.
1:22:24 > 1:22:30And the one thing that you don't think should change should be how you
1:22:30 > 1:22:35worship God, because God is the same yesterday, today and for ever, right?
1:22:35 > 1:22:39Now, the fact that after 1611 many churches still used
1:22:39 > 1:22:43the Bishops' Bible and many continued using the Geneva Bible
1:22:43 > 1:22:48probably, I think, had more to do with finance and having to purchase
1:22:48 > 1:22:51a new book than the popularity of the new translation.
1:22:51 > 1:22:55But we can surely look back and say, yes, here is a magnificent,
1:22:55 > 1:22:58astonishing piece of English prose, a superb achievement,
1:22:58 > 1:23:03up there with the greatest writers of the English language ever,
1:23:03 > 1:23:08and it's travelled all over the world, it's had a huge worldwide impact.
1:23:08 > 1:23:12That's a revolutionary document,
1:23:12 > 1:23:16and it has shaped...Western culture.
1:23:16 > 1:23:1950 years after its first publication,
1:23:19 > 1:23:24the King James Bible finally began to take over the world.
1:23:24 > 1:23:28Its words and language soon echoed in millions of hearts.
1:23:28 > 1:23:30As they still do, today.
1:23:31 > 1:23:36"And God said, 'Let there be light.'"
1:23:36 > 1:23:41"In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth."
1:23:41 > 1:23:44"You are the salt of the earth."
1:23:44 > 1:23:47"Honour they father and thy mother."
1:23:47 > 1:23:52"He was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth."
1:23:52 > 1:23:58"He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him..."
1:23:58 > 1:24:00"And the angel said unto them,
1:24:00 > 1:24:06"'Fear not, for I bring you good tidings of great joy.'"
1:24:06 > 1:24:13"She brought forth her first-born son and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes..."
1:24:13 > 1:24:18"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity..."
1:24:18 > 1:24:23"All generations shall call me blessed."
1:24:23 > 1:24:24"I, John, saw."
1:24:24 > 1:24:29"He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."
1:24:29 > 1:24:32"Blessed are the pure in heart,
1:24:32 > 1:24:38"for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers,
1:24:38 > 1:24:42"for they shall be called the children of God.
1:24:42 > 1:24:46"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake,
1:24:46 > 1:24:48"for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."
1:24:51 > 1:24:55But James didn't live to see the worldwide success of his new translation.
1:24:55 > 1:25:01When he died in 1625, he was buried here, in Westminster Abbey,
1:25:01 > 1:25:05and a grateful nation mourned his passing.
1:25:05 > 1:25:08This place is stacked to the rafters
1:25:08 > 1:25:12with memorials to the great and the good of ages past.
1:25:12 > 1:25:16If anyone has ever done anything for Kingdom or culture, they are remembered here.
1:25:18 > 1:25:20So where is the monument to King James,
1:25:20 > 1:25:23and his magnificent achievement?
1:25:25 > 1:25:29This is the Lady Chapel, built by James for the aunty who had
1:25:29 > 1:25:30left him a country.
1:25:30 > 1:25:33It's a magnificent monument to a great Queen.
1:25:33 > 1:25:37And there are a couple of monuments there to two of his younger children who died.
1:25:37 > 1:25:38But where's James?
1:25:48 > 1:25:52James built an even bigger chapel for his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots.
1:25:52 > 1:25:57A bit cheeky, really, since she tried to overthrow his aunt.
1:25:57 > 1:26:00They had to sew her head back on in order for her to be
1:26:00 > 1:26:03buried in the cathedral.
1:26:03 > 1:26:04But where's her son?
1:26:11 > 1:26:14I've found it at last,
1:26:14 > 1:26:19right next to this magnificent tomb of Henry VII.
1:26:19 > 1:26:22Where is it? It's just down here.
1:26:24 > 1:26:30This simple black stone is the monument to James I.
1:26:35 > 1:26:36Or is it?
1:26:38 > 1:26:41Tucked away in a far corner of the Abbey is one of
1:26:41 > 1:26:44the strangest museums I've ever come across.
1:26:44 > 1:26:45Could James be here?
1:26:46 > 1:26:47So here we are.
1:26:49 > 1:26:54These are the original funeral effigies, the stand-ins if you like,
1:26:54 > 1:27:00for the heads and bodies of the dead Kings and Queens of England.
1:27:00 > 1:27:01That's Elizabeth.
1:27:06 > 1:27:07That is his wife.
1:27:08 > 1:27:12And there is his aunt, Mary Tudor, and there is his grandfather,
1:27:12 > 1:27:16Henry VII, Henry Tudor.
1:27:17 > 1:27:19But still no James.
1:27:27 > 1:27:31The room I'm heading for now used to be a monks' dormitory.
1:27:31 > 1:27:35It was modernised and turned into a library in 1591.
1:27:35 > 1:27:39I'm told that what I'm looking for has been laid out here.
1:27:44 > 1:27:46And if I'm not mistaken, this is it.
1:28:00 > 1:28:04This is all that's left of the finely dressed,
1:28:04 > 1:28:10perfectly featured rendition of King James VI and I,
1:28:10 > 1:28:13created so that his loyal subjects could pay their last respects
1:28:13 > 1:28:16while his real body was prepared for the royal burial.
1:28:19 > 1:28:21And look at it now.
1:28:21 > 1:28:24His toes are missing, half a foot.
1:28:24 > 1:28:28The badly articulated legs.
1:28:28 > 1:28:32No arms, no hands, no head.
1:28:34 > 1:28:39It's not much of a monument for a King that gave us all so much.
1:28:41 > 1:28:45But of course, there is a monument.
1:28:45 > 1:28:49One that has grown and lasted and travelled the whole world,
1:28:49 > 1:28:50bearing his name.
1:28:50 > 1:28:55The King James Bible. That's his memorial.
1:28:55 > 1:28:58His lasting monument to generations following.
1:28:58 > 1:29:01And most of you at home will have a copy of it under your own roof,
1:29:01 > 1:29:03right now.
1:29:04 > 1:29:08Now, that is quite a thought.
1:29:31 > 1:29:33Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
1:29:33 > 1:29:35E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk