0:00:06 > 0:00:10Some 700 years ago, at the Tower of London,
0:00:10 > 0:00:14amidst the usual screams of terror, you might have heard
0:00:14 > 0:00:16the sighs of an amorous Frenchman.
0:00:18 > 0:00:23Charles, Duke of Orleans, had been captured in battle at Agincourt.
0:00:23 > 0:00:30His 24 years as a prisoner were whiled away writing love poems.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33"Strengthen, my love, this castle of my heart,
0:00:33 > 0:00:38"And with some store of pleasure, give me aid."
0:00:38 > 0:00:42The poems were well known among the European elite of the day.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46This edition was hand-made for England's Royal Library
0:00:46 > 0:00:47in the 1470s.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53What's most interesting is how these French poems
0:00:53 > 0:00:56have been presented for an English audience.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01'The author is pictured at his "noble" work,
0:01:01 > 0:01:03'but step back a little,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06'and it's clear he's the captive of English troops.
0:01:08 > 0:01:14'He's imprisoned in the dazzling whiteness of the Tower.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17'And he's engulfed by the splendour of London.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21'This is the very first topographically accurate image
0:01:21 > 0:01:23'of the city.'
0:01:23 > 0:01:27All this celebrates not the work of a French poet,
0:01:27 > 0:01:29but the power of the English nation.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33This manuscript is sending out a clear message.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36England is once again a force to be reckoned with,
0:01:36 > 0:01:40and its kings want to be players on the world stage.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44'And their weapon of choice, when competing with European rivals
0:01:44 > 0:01:48'to be the most magnificent of monarchs, was the manuscript.'
0:01:52 > 0:01:53'For this series,
0:01:53 > 0:01:58'I've been given unrivalled access to the Crown Jewels of illumination,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02'the royal Manuscripts Collection at the British Library.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07'Few people have ever seen these miraculous survivors,
0:02:07 > 0:02:10'except for the monarchs who owned them.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13They were custom made for kings, they were about kings,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16and they were read by kings.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20'I've been exploring the world which created these manuscripts.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27'And going to the places where they were made.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33'It's a journey that's taken me from the Anglo Saxons,
0:02:33 > 0:02:36'who first united England,
0:02:36 > 0:02:40'through centuries of conquest and conflict with France.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46'In this episode, the story of the Royal Manuscripts
0:02:46 > 0:02:47'draws to its conclusion,
0:02:47 > 0:02:50'with the last great flowering of illumination,
0:02:50 > 0:02:54'and the role books played for the Tudors.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57'I'm on the trail of three kings who led England
0:02:57 > 0:03:03'out of the Medieval world and into its Renaissance.
0:03:17 > 0:03:22'In 1476, William Caxton began printing in England.'
0:03:28 > 0:03:32'One of his patrons was Margaret of York, the sister of King Edward IV.'
0:03:44 > 0:03:49'Yet, surprisingly, the arrival of this modern technology
0:03:49 > 0:03:53'didn't mean the death of handwritten, hand-painted books.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01'In fact, some of the great achievements of the Renaissance
0:04:01 > 0:04:04'would take place in a medieval art form,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07'which proved remarkably durable.'
0:04:07 > 0:04:11Of course, the arrival of cheaper, more easily produced printed books
0:04:11 > 0:04:15had an effect on the market for illuminated manuscripts.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19These bespoke artworks became even more of a luxury good.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24'Now, the illuminator's art was only an option
0:04:24 > 0:04:27'for the very wealthiest of elites.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29'Chief among them, royalty.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34'One of the biggest collectors of all in the late 15th century
0:04:34 > 0:04:37'was Edward of York, the King of England.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45'And in a highly secure inner sanctum of the British Library,
0:04:45 > 0:04:47'the collection which this king built up
0:04:47 > 0:04:51'still remains largely intact.
0:04:57 > 0:05:02'This is just one of up to 50 books Edward is believed to have had made.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06'The first thing that strikes you is the choice of language.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10'At a time when books were being printed in English,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13'the ruling classes still favoured handwritten French.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16'It was the language of the elite,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19'as exclusive as the manuscript itself had become.'
0:05:23 > 0:05:27Nearly all the manuscripts Edward commissioned
0:05:27 > 0:05:30have something in common. They were histories.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35'This book's title is Miroir Historial, which is one reason why
0:05:35 > 0:05:39'its author, Vincent de Beauvais, is pictured with a looking glass.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44'The subject reflects the interests and tastes of its royal reader.'
0:05:44 > 0:05:46Edward personally led his army
0:05:46 > 0:05:50into some of the most important battles in the War of the Roses.
0:05:50 > 0:05:56He was sent away into foreign exile, and he even deposed Henry VI twice.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58Edward's life WAS history.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03'There's something else which Edward would have identified with here.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06'The number of books on display.
0:06:06 > 0:06:11'A library has become something to aspire to.'
0:06:11 > 0:06:16And of course, Edward IV is building up a collection like this himself,
0:06:16 > 0:06:18so this image would have flattered the King,
0:06:18 > 0:06:21by implying that he too was a great scholar.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26'But scholarship wasn't the King's only motive
0:06:26 > 0:06:28'for building his library.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33'And that becomes clear when you see the book's original home.
0:06:37 > 0:06:38'When first completed,
0:06:38 > 0:06:43'they would have been carried in wooden chests across this bridge.
0:06:43 > 0:06:48'It led to the King's favourite palace, Eltham, in South London.
0:06:48 > 0:06:53'The only Medieval section still to survive was created by Edward,
0:06:53 > 0:06:58'and it shows how different he was from his royal predecessor.'
0:06:58 > 0:07:00During the chaotic reign of Henry VI,
0:07:00 > 0:07:04the Crown lost virtually all its territories in France.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06The land was corrupt and lawless,
0:07:06 > 0:07:10and the King himself for a time was a raving lunatic.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14Edward's mission was to rebuild the reputation of the monarchy.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17And to do that, he built this great hall.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35'Although the stunning hammerbeam ceiling looks just as it did
0:07:35 > 0:07:37'when completed in 1480,
0:07:37 > 0:07:42'the walls lack the ornate tapestries which once hung here.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45'There's some sense of what they looked like
0:07:45 > 0:07:49'in this portrait of Edward, from one of his manuscripts.'
0:07:52 > 0:07:55Edward IV is a king with a strong sense of style.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58When he has this built, he is creating for himself
0:07:58 > 0:08:02a stage at which the spectacle of monarchy will be able to be enacted.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05There's a strong sense that this is to do with
0:08:05 > 0:08:06the personal image of the King.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08How he will appear.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12It didn't do him any damage that he was ridiculously good looking and very tall.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15But he likes his clothes, he likes his jewellery,
0:08:15 > 0:08:17he likes all the trappings.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20The sun in splendour is his heraldic insignia,
0:08:20 > 0:08:21and it's entirely appropriate.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25So, it's the look of a king. He's trying to get the look of a king.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29Yes, but I wouldn't suggest there's anything frivolous about that.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31The look of a king is a vital part of statecraft.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34Remember, he has lived through the Wars of the Roses,
0:08:34 > 0:08:36and the disastrous reign of his predecessor Henry VI,
0:08:36 > 0:08:38who no-one thought looked like a king.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42Henry VI, who, when times got tough, would hide in a monastery.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44That isn't Edward IV's style.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47He knows that to be a king, you've got to look the part,
0:08:47 > 0:08:48and he looks the part.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51So, all this lavishness that you've described,
0:08:51 > 0:08:55that I can see all around me, comes through in the manuscripts.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59All Edward IV's manuscripts are these large tomes.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01They're big display books,
0:09:01 > 0:09:05and they've got all this colour and amazing intricate detail in them.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09And it's just amazing to think about these surroundings, you know,
0:09:09 > 0:09:12this magnificent ceiling, the tapestries,
0:09:12 > 0:09:16all that jewellery and plate, and then these beautiful bound books
0:09:16 > 0:09:17in the midst of all of that.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Yeah, all these things are the props of the monarchy.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24And they all have to be here for it to work as well as it did.
0:09:27 > 0:09:33'Collecting fine manuscripts posed a particular challenge for Edward.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37'England could no longer boast the best illuminators.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41'For centuries now, royal manuscripts had been made in France.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44'But since Henry VI had lost England's territories
0:09:44 > 0:09:48'on the other side of the Channel, Edward had to find another source.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56'He turned to the centre for must-have luxury goods at the time.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02'Bruges.
0:10:04 > 0:10:09'In the late 15th century, the city was part of the Duchy of Burgundy,
0:10:09 > 0:10:13'and one of the commercial and artistic powerhouses of Europe.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19'The unique qualities of the place had a visible impact
0:10:19 > 0:10:21'on the manuscripts produced here.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27'Take, for example, this image, from one of Edward's books.'
0:10:27 > 0:10:30How do we know it was made here in Bruges?
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Well, for starters, there's a handy visual clue.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36If you look through the window in the background, you can see
0:10:36 > 0:10:40these red brick buildings with crenellated facades
0:10:40 > 0:10:41reflected in the water.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45And even today, that's what this beautiful medieval city looks like.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51'But there's more to the Bruges style
0:10:51 > 0:10:53'than a love of local landscape.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56'What's most distinctive is the whole approach to painting.
0:10:58 > 0:11:03'The picture imagines the book's author, Giovanni Boccaccio,
0:11:03 > 0:11:07'meeting Lady Fortune, the personification of chance.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10'But this supernatural apparition isn't really
0:11:10 > 0:11:13'the centre of attention here.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16'In fact, a third character is more interested
0:11:16 > 0:11:20'in what's outside the window than a woman with six arms.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24'This image anticipates later Dutch painters such as Vermeer,
0:11:24 > 0:11:28'because its real subject is the natural textures of reality.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32'It's all about the play of light and shade,
0:11:32 > 0:11:36'the perspective of the room, the quality of the landscape.'
0:11:37 > 0:11:40It's the realism of the images made here in Bruges
0:11:40 > 0:11:44that set them apart from earlier manuscript illuminations.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46They are truly exceptional,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49and represent a real break from the Medieval past.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53We are now firmly in the Renaissance.
0:11:56 > 0:12:01'Even in the borders of these images, there's a new realism.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04'A near-scientific observation of the natural world.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10'These are achievements more usually associated with figures
0:12:10 > 0:12:15'such as Van Eyck, who also worked in Bruges in the 15th century.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17'At that time,
0:12:17 > 0:12:21'skilled illuminators were seen as the equals of talented oil painters.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25'The two worlds influenced each other, and some artists
0:12:25 > 0:12:26'worked in both forms.
0:12:26 > 0:12:31'But posterity has favoured the work which went on public display.'
0:12:32 > 0:12:35There are some masterpieces of the Northern Renaissance
0:12:35 > 0:12:38that remain largely unknown to this day,
0:12:38 > 0:12:41because they don't hang on the walls of museums.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44They're contained within the covers of manuscripts,
0:12:44 > 0:12:46and locked within libraries.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51'Yet it's in books of the time that some of the innovations
0:12:51 > 0:12:54'of the artistic Renaissance first appear.'
0:12:54 > 0:12:58We see an entirely new art genre here in Bruges.
0:12:58 > 0:12:59The landscape painting.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03Instead of filling illuminations with figures and narratives,
0:13:03 > 0:13:06we now get landscape for landscape's sake.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12'This is one of the very first European paintings
0:13:12 > 0:13:15'to take the countryside as its chief subject.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18'The way it captures the qualities of the natural world
0:13:18 > 0:13:21'anticipates great names such as Constable.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24'Yet it was painted not on canvas or wood,
0:13:24 > 0:13:26'but on the pages of a Bruges manuscript
0:13:26 > 0:13:28'called Treasure D'Histoire.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33'Given their increasingly secular subjects,
0:13:33 > 0:13:36'it's apt that Bruges manuscripts were produced
0:13:36 > 0:13:40'not in monastic scriptoria, but in commercial workshops.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42'Both the quality of the craftsmanship
0:13:42 > 0:13:47'and the cutting edge style made Flemish workmanship fit for a king.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55'But there was a further reason why Edward was familiar
0:13:55 > 0:13:56'with the art of Bruges.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59'When exiled from England by Henry VI,
0:13:59 > 0:14:01'he had lived here in this mansion,
0:14:01 > 0:14:04'which belonged to a noble friend.'
0:14:04 > 0:14:09I can imagine Edward IV would have been impressed when he stayed here.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12Bruges was a very wealthy city at this point,
0:14:12 > 0:14:15stuffed full of craftspeople and artisans,
0:14:15 > 0:14:20producing the very finest clothing, jewellery and of course manuscripts.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25'The court Edward created on his return to England
0:14:25 > 0:14:30'was a deliberate attempt to compete with the magnificence he'd witnessed
0:14:30 > 0:14:32'in the Duchy of Burgundy.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37'He succeeded not only in rebuilding the image of the English monarchy,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40'but also restoring its strength.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43'His reign was a long and peaceful one.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46'Just how well Edward had managed to hold England together
0:14:46 > 0:14:50'became obvious when he died in 1483.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57'The Wars of the Roses erupted once more.
0:14:59 > 0:15:04'They were only settled for good when the usurping Richard III
0:15:04 > 0:15:08'was defeated in the Battle of Bosworth Field by the founder
0:15:08 > 0:15:11'of one of the greatest royal dynasties, Henry Tudor.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16'It was said he plucked Richard's discarded crown
0:15:16 > 0:15:21'from a hawthorne bush, and his heraldry often incorporated this,
0:15:21 > 0:15:25'along with the red dragon, which was on his standard at Bosworth,
0:15:25 > 0:15:27'and the white greyhound
0:15:27 > 0:15:29'of his Lancastrian ancestors.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33'Though Henry and his descendants changed English history,
0:15:33 > 0:15:35'at the start of his reign,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38'it wasn't certain he could survive in the job.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41'His claim to the throne was weak, depending on a female line
0:15:41 > 0:15:44'and an illegitimate ancestor.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48'So the image he sought to portray was different from the glamour
0:15:48 > 0:15:50'favoured by Edward IV.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53'And the mission for manuscripts in Henry's reign is to prove
0:15:53 > 0:15:57'both his right to rule and his nobility.'
0:15:59 > 0:16:02In order to bolster his claim to the throne,
0:16:02 > 0:16:05Henry VII selects a very specific set of symbols
0:16:05 > 0:16:09that will add legitimacy and mystique to the Tudor dynasty.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12We find them throughout manuscripts associated with him,
0:16:12 > 0:16:14and this one is full of them.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19'The red dragon makes another appearance.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22'It was the symbol of the last king of the ancient Britons,
0:16:22 > 0:16:24'Cadwaladr, from whom Henry claimed descent.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30'And later in the book, the dragon's entwined
0:16:30 > 0:16:33'with another recurring symbol, the hawthorn bush with the crown.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39'Other imagery reminds readers that Henry had united
0:16:39 > 0:16:42'the warring houses of Lancaster and York.'
0:16:42 > 0:16:44Here in the borders,
0:16:44 > 0:16:48we can see that the War of the Roses has reached its symbolic conclusion.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51Red and white roses intertwine to symbolise
0:16:51 > 0:16:55the marriage between Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00'On the same page, we have an image of the Tudor court.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03'The King inspects this very book.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06'What the figures of state have gathered to see is something
0:17:06 > 0:17:11'very different to the history texts Edward IV would have shown them.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15'At the front are pages of dense data.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18'These are calculations of planetary movements
0:17:18 > 0:17:21'by an Oxford academic, John Killingworth.'
0:17:23 > 0:17:27What's interesting about this manuscript is that
0:17:27 > 0:17:30these pages of mathematical information have been given
0:17:30 > 0:17:33the royal treatment with the inclusion of these gold columns.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37At Henry's court, science and scholarship more generally,
0:17:37 > 0:17:42were held in the highest esteem, and Henry wanted to be their patron.
0:17:42 > 0:17:47'Sponsoring learning was one way Henry could prove his worth,
0:17:47 > 0:17:53'and compensate for the lowly status of some of his ancestors.
0:17:53 > 0:17:54'These days, however,
0:17:54 > 0:17:58'the manuscript wouldn't be classified as scientific.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05'In modern terms, its subject is not astronomy, but astrology.
0:18:07 > 0:18:11'Though at the time, the distinction between the two was less clear.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13'Constellations have been plotted
0:18:13 > 0:18:16'to divine what's written in the stars for the reader.'
0:18:16 > 0:18:21'Later in the book, there's even a collection of ancient prophecies
0:18:21 > 0:18:23'about the future of the English monarchy.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25'Some attributed to Merlin!
0:18:25 > 0:18:29'You can understand why the king this was all created for
0:18:29 > 0:18:32'might have been anxious about his future.'
0:18:33 > 0:18:37Henry was all too aware that his hold on the throne was vulnerable.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40By the time this manuscript was made,
0:18:40 > 0:18:42he'd already put down a rebellion.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46So I can imagine a collection of texts that prophesises
0:18:46 > 0:18:49the success of his family and the length of his reign
0:18:49 > 0:18:54must have been quite appealing. And actually quite reassuring.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01'But it's still a little strange to find science and magic
0:19:01 > 0:19:05'jumbled up together in the library of a Christian king.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11'To try to understand these apparent contradictions,
0:19:11 > 0:19:14'I've come to Merton College in Oxford.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20'This was where the mathematician
0:19:20 > 0:19:23'who wrote some of the manuscript was a tutor.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27'And the warden here at the time was one of Henry's closest courtiers,
0:19:27 > 0:19:30'a bishop called Richard Fitzjames.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34'He commissioned some sculpture which resembles
0:19:34 > 0:19:38'the manuscript in both style and subject.'
0:19:41 > 0:19:44We're looking at astrological symbols,
0:19:44 > 0:19:47and they're all here. The spring ones starting with Aries,
0:19:47 > 0:19:52the summer ones starting with Cancer,
0:19:52 > 0:19:56then the autumn ones starting with Libra, the scales over there,
0:19:56 > 0:20:00and then we've got the winter ones ending with Pisces.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04Right next to the Royal Arms of Henry VII.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07Yes, cos that's what's right here in the centre, isn't it?
0:20:07 > 0:20:11- It's dominating the whole composition.- Absolutely.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14And I think you'd have to say that Henry VII is ruling the cosmos.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17It's as powerful a statement as that.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23And they've been put here by a bishop. You see, that surprises me.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27It might seem a bit strange to us today to imagine that a bishop
0:20:27 > 0:20:31would be interested in this, but you mustn't think about it like that.
0:20:31 > 0:20:36Remember, it's 1497, it's the height of the Northern Renaissance,
0:20:36 > 0:20:40and astrology isn't a kind of thing for people in Sunday magazines.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42We're here in Merton College,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45so some of the most famous astrologers were trained here,
0:20:45 > 0:20:48like John Ashenden, who was thought to have predicted the Plague.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52So, astrology was part of the science of the day.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01'During Henry's reign,
0:21:01 > 0:21:06'this beautiful oak-panelled roof was built for Merton's library.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09'Once again, there's Henry VII's coat of arms
0:21:09 > 0:21:11'alongside other Tudor insignia.
0:21:14 > 0:21:19'And in 1502, exactly when the ceiling was constructed,
0:21:19 > 0:21:24'another astrological manuscript was presented to Henry VII.'
0:21:28 > 0:21:30OK, so, what have we got here, then?
0:21:30 > 0:21:34Well, now it's time to introduce you to William Parron.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38Now, William Parron is an Italian astrologer,
0:21:38 > 0:21:42and he is the first court astrologer that any English king takes on.
0:21:42 > 0:21:47What he's done here is cast a chart for Prince Henry of York,
0:21:47 > 0:21:48who's the future King Henry VIII.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52- It's a personal horoscope. - Absolutely. This is special.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54Astrology in this period is a royal art,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57something you pay a specialist to do for you.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01You can't just pick up a newspaper and have a reading done.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03It has to be done for you by someone who's got
0:22:03 > 0:22:05the nous and the professionalism to do it.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10- Overall, what have we got?- We've got the classic horoscope diagram,
0:22:10 > 0:22:13which is a square within a square.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17You'd get your astronomical data, OK, here's the planets and so on,
0:22:17 > 0:22:22that's the data there. And then you would discuss it theme by theme.
0:22:22 > 0:22:29So, life, wealth, death, and in the centre,
0:22:29 > 0:22:31what is in the centre? Of course, the Earth!
0:22:31 > 0:22:37We've in fact got what was called a "mappa mundi," a map of the world.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39It makes more sense round that way.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43It sure does. Clearly, this is the north, cos there's Greenland.
0:22:43 > 0:22:48And fascinatingly, this strange sort of nodule here says "Angland".
0:22:48 > 0:22:51- Angland, yeah.- We can see Europa.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54There seems to be a lot of detail here,
0:22:54 > 0:22:57layer upon layer of meaning. What does this tell us,
0:22:57 > 0:23:01do you think, about the mindset of Henry at this stage?
0:23:01 > 0:23:04Well, I think Henry was impressed by the magnificence
0:23:04 > 0:23:06and glamour of astrology.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09It was the most sophisticated stuff.
0:23:09 > 0:23:14Other princes might have been able to send explorers around Africa.
0:23:14 > 0:23:19Henry was interested in bringing to his court Italian humanists.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22He was interested in educating his children, giving them
0:23:22 > 0:23:26a very sophisticated grasp of languages.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28And I think that's what we see here,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32that astrology was a window into a way of looking at the world.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35It was a scientific and modern way of looking at the world too.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42'There is, however, an obvious problem when astrology is
0:23:42 > 0:23:46'treated as a science, which this manuscript demonstrates.'
0:23:46 > 0:23:49In the text following the birth chart,
0:23:49 > 0:23:51Parron makes a number of predictions.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55One is that the future Henry VIII will be a loyal Catholic
0:23:55 > 0:23:58and happily married father to many sons.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01'And for Henry VII,
0:24:01 > 0:24:04'what must have raised doubts is a prediction that his queen,
0:24:04 > 0:24:08'Elizabeth of York, would live to at least to the age of 80.'
0:24:08 > 0:24:15Elizabeth died within a year of this book being written, aged just 37.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19William Parron disappeared soon after from the English court,
0:24:19 > 0:24:21and from historical records.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27'Fortunately, the scholarship that Henry VII sponsored
0:24:27 > 0:24:29'wasn't confined to stargazing.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34'Here, he's being presented with a work of Greek history,
0:24:34 > 0:24:36'Xenophon's Anabasis.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41'The Frenchman who translated it, Claude de Seyssel, visited England
0:24:41 > 0:24:47'in 1506, and noted an intriguing detail about the English King.'
0:24:49 > 0:24:54De Seyssel has been shown Henry's newly constructed library.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58He writes that it is "tres belle et tres bien acoustree."
0:24:58 > 0:25:01Very beautiful and very well appointed.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06'That room was probably at Henry's palace in Richmond,
0:25:06 > 0:25:07'long since demolished.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12'But there are other accounts of it.
0:25:12 > 0:25:17'One involves Catherine of Aragon, who'd come to England in 1502.'
0:25:18 > 0:25:22When Catherine's entourage returned to Spain, she needed cheering up,
0:25:22 > 0:25:26so Henry took her and her ladies-in-waiting to his library.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28We've got an account of this visit.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32Apparently, he "showed unto her many goodly pleasant books,
0:25:32 > 0:25:34"of works full delightful.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37"Sage, merry and also reet cunning."
0:25:37 > 0:25:39He clearly knew how to show a girl a good time.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45'A library at this time appears to have been
0:25:45 > 0:25:47'something rare and exciting.'
0:25:49 > 0:25:52It's hard to imagine the novelty, in the 16th century,
0:25:52 > 0:25:58of seeing a whole room exclusively dedicated to the display of books.
0:25:58 > 0:25:59In fact, we simply don't know
0:25:59 > 0:26:02what this royal library looked like at all.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08'Previously, only religious and academic institutions
0:26:08 > 0:26:13'kept large collections of books. Merton College was one of them.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16'But back in 1502, the books in this library
0:26:16 > 0:26:19'wouldn't have been on shelves.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23'They were kept in chests.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26'This one was used by the university at that time.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30'Records suggest Edward IV stored his books in something similar.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37'Although no Tudor palace libraries survive,
0:26:37 > 0:26:42'something still remains which helps us imagine their splendour.'
0:26:48 > 0:26:54This is an incredibly rare survival. This is an original Tudor binding.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58'This book, a guide to the Holy Land,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01'was noted in an inventory of 1547 as being covered
0:27:01 > 0:27:04'with the same embroidered velvet we can still see today.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11'Once, hundreds of books in the royal library
0:27:11 > 0:27:14'were bound as magnificently as this.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18'But the covers have fared far worse than the contents.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21'Now, just a handful of them remain.'
0:27:22 > 0:27:26It's only when you see this binding that you can fully appreciate
0:27:26 > 0:27:29the impact that a royal manuscript once had.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32Even before you glimpse the wonderful artwork within,
0:27:32 > 0:27:36this impresses and dazzles.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38They say you can't judge a book by its cover,
0:27:38 > 0:27:40but it's clear that many people did.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45'That means we're in danger of misunderstanding these objects,
0:27:45 > 0:27:49'because so few of them retain their intended appearance.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55'Which is why I've come to a place where the traditions
0:27:55 > 0:28:00'so valued by Medieval kings are still being followed.'
0:28:01 > 0:28:07'James Brockman has been re-binding historic books for 45 years,
0:28:07 > 0:28:11'and now his son Stuart has joined him in the family business.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15'To repair and preserve ancient books, James and Stuart
0:28:15 > 0:28:19'have learned the same processes used by their original creators.'
0:28:19 > 0:28:24We'd like to think that if a binder from 800 years ago came here,
0:28:24 > 0:28:27he would recognise what we're doing,
0:28:27 > 0:28:30because we're using all the original techniques.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33'Just as they were in royal manuscripts,
0:28:33 > 0:28:37'the pages of these books are sewn together by hand.'
0:28:37 > 0:28:41Effectively, you're stitching the pages above to the ones below.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44That's right. We're locking one section to the previous one.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49'The quires, three or four pages folded inside each other,
0:28:49 > 0:28:54'are bound together by tying the thread round tougher cords,
0:28:54 > 0:28:56'then passing it through the pages.'
0:28:56 > 0:28:58- Is that right?- That's it, yeah.
0:28:58 > 0:29:00I've seen pictures of this.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04I never thought I'd actually have a chance to do it myself.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08- How old is this book again?- Er, it's a printed book from about 1480.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11- No pressure, then? - No pressure at all, none at all.
0:29:11 > 0:29:12And how long does it take?
0:29:12 > 0:29:15A book of this size probably takes around a day's work.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17- A whole day.- But it's worth it.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20The strength of the structure will last 300 years.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25'When all the pages are stitched together,
0:29:25 > 0:29:27'a manuscript is knocked into shape,
0:29:27 > 0:29:31'before being clamped into a laying press to treat the edges.'
0:29:32 > 0:29:34And this is actual gold?
0:29:34 > 0:29:36Yes, it's almost pure.
0:29:36 > 0:29:38Pure gold.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42Gosh, it's so light, it's just floating as you move it.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44And then you cut the gold...
0:29:44 > 0:29:47into strips.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49And then these are gilders tips.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52Right. Oh, wow, yes, almost like cat hair or something.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56- Yes. I'm not sure what it is. - Really, really soft.- Very fine.
0:29:56 > 0:29:58Then you need a bit of grease from your hair, like this.
0:30:00 > 0:30:06- And then you can pick the gold up on the gilders tip.- Wow.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09I love the idea that this was being done 300 years ago.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12People wiping their hair!
0:30:12 > 0:30:17'The Royal Accounts of 1480 record the King's books being gilded
0:30:17 > 0:30:20'in just this way, and covered and garnished,
0:30:20 > 0:30:25'at a cost of thousands of pounds each in today's money.'
0:30:25 > 0:30:28I like that, it's like the illumination inside's
0:30:28 > 0:30:30- being brought out.- Yes, exactly.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33This burnishing gives us the brilliant gold gilt edges
0:30:33 > 0:30:36that we get on early manuscripts, and here's an example.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38See, this really excites me.
0:30:38 > 0:30:42As a kid, I used to love the gold edges on things like diaries
0:30:42 > 0:30:46and books, but it is an insight for me into the mind
0:30:46 > 0:30:49of the kings that commissioned these manuscripts.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52They clearly want these things to look good from the outside.
0:30:52 > 0:30:56- It's not just what's inside.- No. The gold really dresses the edges.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59- It turns the book into a treasure, doesn't it?- It does.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05'The next stage is to give the book its hard covers.
0:31:05 > 0:31:10'Stuart and James plane these solid wooden boards from oak.
0:31:10 > 0:31:12'Then comes the gift wrapping.'
0:31:14 > 0:31:17We're thinking of maybe using this wonderful purple here
0:31:17 > 0:31:19for covering this little manuscript.
0:31:19 > 0:31:24'Many ancient books were rebound in leather during the 19th century.
0:31:24 > 0:31:30'But the Brockmans use the fabrics favoured by Medieval monarchs.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33'Crimson velvet was the most luxurious.
0:31:33 > 0:31:37'One yard cost as much as 60 days of a mason's labour.'
0:31:39 > 0:31:42And I cut it plenty generous, so there's plenty of turning,
0:31:42 > 0:31:43top and bottom.
0:31:43 > 0:31:48Every aspect of the process you've shown me seems so time consuming.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51How long would it take to complete a binding?
0:31:51 > 0:31:55I suppose a manuscript like this would probably take around 100 hours.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57- 100 hours of actual labour, working? - Yes, yes.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04'When you add on the months of skilled craft put in by the scribes
0:32:04 > 0:32:08'and illuminators, and the months required to make fine vellum,
0:32:08 > 0:32:13'you realise how labour intensive the production of manuscripts was.
0:32:13 > 0:32:18'And why kings were among the few people who could ever afford them.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26'And here's one the Tudors made earlier.'
0:32:27 > 0:32:30This is a manuscript that makes me go weak at the knees.
0:32:30 > 0:32:35Probably the most magnificent binding to survive from Tudor times.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37And it's clear it's from
0:32:37 > 0:32:39the court of Henry VII
0:32:39 > 0:32:42because it's got his coat of arms here in the middle,
0:32:42 > 0:32:47and his livery, the portcullis with the green and white background.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51We haven't entered the manuscript yet and it screams magnificence.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54You can see the velvet, burgundy velvet.
0:32:54 > 0:32:59And over here, you can see how the binding was originally stitched.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02These are the ropes, just showing through on the velvet.
0:33:03 > 0:33:08And the clasps are breathtaking in their detail.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11They're silver, they look like they've been gilded,
0:33:11 > 0:33:15with a rose in the middle and these amazing angels
0:33:15 > 0:33:20that attach to these threads, with the gold woven all the way through.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24There's even the original tassel here.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26It's just amazing that this has survived
0:33:26 > 0:33:28in such remarkable condition.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33'The antique velvet is now so delicate,
0:33:33 > 0:33:35'the edges can no longer be safely tucked in,
0:33:35 > 0:33:38'and the book requires assistance to open.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40'I'm wearing gloves for once,
0:33:40 > 0:33:44'because contact with the metal clasps could corrode them.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48'And what's inside the covers is no less impressive.'
0:33:48 > 0:33:51There's this beautiful pink damask on the inside,
0:33:51 > 0:33:53and down here, these silver tins
0:33:53 > 0:33:56attached to the manuscript.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00They've got the King's rose and crown on them.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02And if I open one up...
0:34:04 > 0:34:09..like this...inside, there's another image.
0:34:09 > 0:34:15Here we have the King enthroned in this architectural setting,
0:34:15 > 0:34:19wielding the regalia, the orb and sceptre.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23These are wax seals.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28'They're required because this manuscript is actually
0:34:28 > 0:34:29'a legal contract.
0:34:29 > 0:34:34'It's an agreement between Henry and Westminster Abbey.
0:34:34 > 0:34:39'The King is depicted giving the monks this very manuscript.'
0:34:39 > 0:34:44More usually, legal documents, even royal ones, would take the form
0:34:44 > 0:34:48of a single piece of parchment, so the fact that this is in book form,
0:34:48 > 0:34:53and it's so lavishly coloured, means it must be something pretty special.
0:34:56 > 0:35:00'This is Henry VII making plans for his afterlife.
0:35:01 > 0:35:06'He's specifying the exact rituals he expects to be performed for him.'
0:35:10 > 0:35:15So here, he's put in arrangements for the souls of him and his family
0:35:15 > 0:35:17to be prayed for in perpetuity.
0:35:17 > 0:35:21It says here, "Shall endure daily mass
0:35:21 > 0:35:24"and divine service for the good and prosperous estate
0:35:24 > 0:35:29"of our said sovereign Lord, the King, and the souls of his family."
0:35:30 > 0:35:34'This isn't just a wish list, it's a binding contract,
0:35:34 > 0:35:37'which was hand-made in duplicate.
0:35:37 > 0:35:41'One copy was with the King, and the other with the Abbey.'
0:35:41 > 0:35:45You can see here, there's a wavy line that's been cut into
0:35:45 > 0:35:46the top of the book.
0:35:46 > 0:35:50If we had the other copy, the two would fit together
0:35:50 > 0:35:52and the wavy lines would interlock.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55That's why this kind of legal document is called an indenture.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58That's the French for "toothed".
0:35:59 > 0:36:03This document doesn't just detail the prayers that are to be said
0:36:03 > 0:36:06for the souls of the King and his family after death.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09It also gives detailed information about his tomb.
0:36:09 > 0:36:10It says here,
0:36:10 > 0:36:13"A tomb there shall be made for the interment of the body
0:36:13 > 0:36:16"of our said sovereign Lord, the King,
0:36:16 > 0:36:20"and a chapel of metal made thereabouts."
0:36:25 > 0:36:28'When Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church,
0:36:28 > 0:36:31'Westminster lost the monks his father imagined
0:36:31 > 0:36:33'would still be praying for him today.
0:36:35 > 0:36:37'But Henry VII's chapel
0:36:37 > 0:36:41'is preserved just as the manuscript specified.
0:36:44 > 0:36:49'It's one of the finest late-Gothic buildings in Europe.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58'Around the walls are 95 original statues of saints.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01'It's one of the most visibly Catholic spaces
0:37:01 > 0:37:05'still remaining from this period of English history.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09'It was intended not just as a royal resting place,
0:37:09 > 0:37:12'but also a shrine to the Virgin Mary.
0:37:12 > 0:37:17'Henry was a supporter of the cult of the Immaculate Conception.'
0:37:17 > 0:37:22It's hard to believe that imagery like this, a generation later,
0:37:22 > 0:37:26was being destroyed at the behest of Henry's own son.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41'Only a few decades before the break with Rome, it's clear that England
0:37:41 > 0:37:45'was a deeply Catholic nation, and its King shared that faith.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52'Henry's tomb remains the centrepiece of the chapel.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01'As one contemporary wrote,
0:38:01 > 0:38:07'"He dwelleth more richly dead than he did at any of his palaces."'
0:38:07 > 0:38:11As a statement of the permanence of your family's position,
0:38:11 > 0:38:14this mausoleum's hard to argue with.
0:38:16 > 0:38:21'By the time he'd died, on the 21st of April 1509,
0:38:21 > 0:38:25'Henry had successfully transformed the shaky Tudor claim to the throne
0:38:25 > 0:38:29'into what looked like a permanent hold on kingship.
0:38:35 > 0:38:40'His son and heir was determined to build on that inheritance.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43'Henry VIII marks the culmination
0:38:43 > 0:38:46'of the English royal manuscript tradition.
0:38:46 > 0:38:50'The imagery of monarchy is never more complex,
0:38:50 > 0:38:53'revealing or magnificent than in his reign.'
0:38:55 > 0:39:00'This manuscript dates from when Henry was just 25 years old,
0:39:00 > 0:39:03'but already in the seventh year of his rule.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06'It was a gift from an Antwerp merchant,
0:39:06 > 0:39:09'and begins with a long poem praising the King.'
0:39:09 > 0:39:13And here is Henry's name,
0:39:13 > 0:39:14highlighted in gold.
0:39:17 > 0:39:21'The artwork is stuffed with symbols of England and the Tudors.
0:39:21 > 0:39:23'Everything in this image has a meaning.'
0:39:26 > 0:39:29Henry was a famously accomplished individual.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32He was very well educated, he spoke several languages.
0:39:32 > 0:39:37He wrote books and he was also an excellent sportsman.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39And this is clearly a gift
0:39:39 > 0:39:41intended for a Renaissance prince.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44In many ways, this frontispiece
0:39:44 > 0:39:45is an intellectual game
0:39:45 > 0:39:48or challenge, where these complex
0:39:48 > 0:39:50visual symbols wrap around
0:39:50 > 0:39:52and intertwine with
0:39:52 > 0:39:55the allegorical poem within.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59'The verse describes how a single root
0:39:59 > 0:40:01'here produces different flowers.
0:40:01 > 0:40:04'Since the blooms are clearly Tudor roses,
0:40:04 > 0:40:10'they can be identified as Henry and his sisters, Margaret and Mary.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14'The King, of course, is the tallest.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17'Growing by the side of the English rosebush
0:40:17 > 0:40:22'is an exotic pomegranate tree, symbol of Henry's Queen at the time,
0:40:22 > 0:40:24'Catherine of Aragon.'
0:40:24 > 0:40:28It's heavy with fruit that's literally bursting open,
0:40:28 > 0:40:32and it reflects Henry's desire for a male heir.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37'All of this grows, naturally enough, in a garden.
0:40:37 > 0:40:41'And because it's the garden of England, it's on an island,
0:40:41 > 0:40:43'and heavily defended.'
0:40:43 > 0:40:46This is fortress England.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50It's strong and secure under Henry, and even though it's a garden,
0:40:50 > 0:40:53it's protected by warships.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01'The shape of the rosebush is also significant.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05'It's the outline of a musical instrument, a lyre.'
0:41:07 > 0:41:10Alongside the specially produced
0:41:10 > 0:41:11poetry and art,
0:41:11 > 0:41:14this manuscript is full of music,
0:41:14 > 0:41:16composed to delight the King.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21'The first piece is written in this novel, circular form,
0:41:21 > 0:41:26'and turns the previous pages' poetry into song.'
0:41:26 > 0:41:31The way that the notation spirals around the rose inside
0:41:31 > 0:41:36reinforces this idea of the fortress on the frontispiece.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40Henry is probably the most musical monarch England's ever produced.
0:41:40 > 0:41:44From the time of his coronation, he kept at least 25 musicians at court,
0:41:44 > 0:41:46and he composed music himself.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49So, of course, he'd be able to read this notation,
0:41:49 > 0:41:53but he'd also be able to read the symbolism.
0:41:53 > 0:41:58'Presumably, this piece was once performed in Henry's court,
0:41:58 > 0:42:01'but because it wasn't published elsewhere, it never reached
0:42:01 > 0:42:02'a wider audience.'
0:42:02 > 0:42:06It's sad to think that so much creativity has been
0:42:06 > 0:42:08poured into this gift for the King,
0:42:08 > 0:42:14and yet it went unheard for centuries, locked away in a library.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19CHOIR SINGS
0:42:33 > 0:42:37'In recent years, however, the piece has been rediscovered
0:42:37 > 0:42:41'by early music specialists, such as the Brabant Ensemble.'
0:42:55 > 0:42:58This is such evocative music.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01It's so strange to think that this was written
0:43:01 > 0:43:04for the ears of the King 500 years ago.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21It almost sounds odd or discordant in places,
0:43:21 > 0:43:26and I think that's because I can hear the spiralling notes,
0:43:26 > 0:43:29the voices overlapping with each other and the pitch changing,
0:43:29 > 0:43:32just like we see it depicted in the manuscript.
0:43:45 > 0:43:47Out of all the manuscripts I've encountered,
0:43:47 > 0:43:50this is the most multi-dimensional.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53I can read the words, I can see the notes
0:43:53 > 0:43:56and the beautiful illuminations, and I can hear it.
0:44:12 > 0:44:16'There are several other pieces of music written for the manuscript.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20'And nearly all of them share a particular theme.'
0:44:26 > 0:44:29They're singing praise for the Virgin Mary,
0:44:29 > 0:44:33and this reminds me that, before his divorce,
0:44:33 > 0:44:37of course, Henry was a famously devout Catholic.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40But specifically, they're referring to her
0:44:40 > 0:44:43as "magnificent channel, excellent vessel."
0:44:43 > 0:44:48This is a song glorifying childbirth.
0:44:53 > 0:44:55'It was a subject close to Henry's heart.
0:44:55 > 0:44:58'Anyone hearing this in 1516 would have thought
0:44:58 > 0:45:02'of Catherine of Aragon, and the expectation that
0:45:02 > 0:45:06'she would soon produce a male heir to the Tudor line.
0:45:06 > 0:45:09'Of course, the consequences when she failed to do so
0:45:09 > 0:45:11'changed England's history.'
0:45:16 > 0:45:19'In the British Library, there's evidence of the woman
0:45:19 > 0:45:23'who replaced Catherine in Henry's affection, and inspired him
0:45:23 > 0:45:28'to seek first divorce and then a break with the Roman church.'
0:45:30 > 0:45:34This is a personal prayer book that was in use
0:45:34 > 0:45:36within the royal household.
0:45:36 > 0:45:38Inside it, we can find evidence
0:45:38 > 0:45:39that the early readers' minds
0:45:39 > 0:45:43weren't always on the sacred contents.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48'Turning the pages, we find an image of the Man of Sorrows,
0:45:48 > 0:45:50'from the Book of Isaiah.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54'It's a sacred work of art, but King Henry had no qualms
0:45:54 > 0:45:58'about making use of it as part of a love letter to Anne Boleyn.'
0:45:59 > 0:46:02This is the handwriting of Henry VIII,
0:46:02 > 0:46:04and he's written here in French,
0:46:04 > 0:46:07"If you remember me in your prayers,
0:46:07 > 0:46:09"as strongly as I adore you,
0:46:09 > 0:46:13"I shall hardly be forgotten, for I am yours. Henry R."
0:46:14 > 0:46:19It's such a personal note to find written in the King's own hand,
0:46:19 > 0:46:22and it really gives this sense of
0:46:22 > 0:46:24the lovesick individual.
0:46:26 > 0:46:30'Like a schoolboy sending a note round the classroom, the King
0:46:30 > 0:46:33'must have then passed on the manuscript to his beloved,
0:46:33 > 0:46:36'because on another page, there's some different handwriting.'
0:46:37 > 0:46:41Here is Anne Boleyn's response.
0:46:41 > 0:46:42She's written,
0:46:42 > 0:46:45"Be daily proof you shall me find,
0:46:45 > 0:46:48"to be to you both loving and kind."
0:46:48 > 0:46:51And it's interesting, the image she's chosen
0:46:51 > 0:46:52to write this underneath,
0:46:52 > 0:46:54it's the Annunciation.
0:46:54 > 0:46:59The Angel Gabriel is telling Mary that she will conceive a son.
0:46:59 > 0:47:03And given that a son is the thing Henry most wants in the world,
0:47:03 > 0:47:06Anne is clearly saying what the King wants to hear.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17'Henry's determination to wed Anne led, of course,
0:47:17 > 0:47:21'to England's break with the Roman Catholic Church.
0:47:21 > 0:47:25'The Reformation caused the destruction not just of monasteries
0:47:25 > 0:47:30'across the country, but also many of their illuminated manuscripts.'
0:47:32 > 0:47:36'The act that established the Book of Common Prayer specifically called
0:47:36 > 0:47:42'for the abolishing and putting away of diverse books and images.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46'Anything which seemed too redolent of the old religion.'
0:47:47 > 0:47:50"All books used for the service of the Church,
0:47:50 > 0:47:55"by the King's majesty, shall be clearly and utterly abolished,
0:47:55 > 0:48:00"extinguished and forbidden forever to be used or kept in this realm."
0:48:00 > 0:48:04I feel real sorrow at these words, when I think about the thousands
0:48:04 > 0:48:08of beautiful manuscripts that must have been lost.
0:48:13 > 0:48:17'Not even royal manuscripts escaped the destruction.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22'This is the only page that survives from a choir book,
0:48:22 > 0:48:26'commissioned in the 1470s by Margaret of York,
0:48:26 > 0:48:27'the sister of Edward IV.
0:48:27 > 0:48:32'The royal family sponsored the house of friars in Greenwich,
0:48:32 > 0:48:34'who were thought to have used this in worship,
0:48:34 > 0:48:37'until they were abolished by the Reformation.'
0:48:39 > 0:48:42The quality of this single leaf is exquisite.
0:48:42 > 0:48:45You can really tell it was a royal commission.
0:48:45 > 0:48:49The details on the leaves, the flowers with shadows underneath,
0:48:49 > 0:48:52and then this amazing miniature showing King David.
0:48:52 > 0:48:56Really beautiful treatment of his hair and his face.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00But even something as beautiful as this
0:49:00 > 0:49:04wasn't exempt from the purges of the Reformation.
0:49:04 > 0:49:09The rest of the book that this page was a part of has been destroyed.
0:49:09 > 0:49:14This is the only page that remains. It's survived by accident, really.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17It's been re-used as some sort of a wrapper.
0:49:17 > 0:49:19It's been folded down the middle,
0:49:19 > 0:49:22and people have even been practising their handwriting
0:49:22 > 0:49:24in-between the notation.
0:49:24 > 0:49:28To me, it's quite tragic that this is all that's left
0:49:28 > 0:49:32of what was previously a magnificent Catholic manuscript.
0:49:44 > 0:49:48'While the art of England's old religion was being destroyed,
0:49:48 > 0:49:51'a very special prayer book had been made
0:49:51 > 0:49:54'for the head of its new church.'
0:49:55 > 0:49:58'This is a Psalter, an edition of the Book of Psalms.
0:49:59 > 0:50:03'Many English monarchs before Henry had owned personal Psalters,
0:50:03 > 0:50:07'because the Biblical ruler they feature, David,
0:50:07 > 0:50:09'was seen as a model of kingship.
0:50:09 > 0:50:10'Following tradition,
0:50:10 > 0:50:15'King David is depicted in various scenes from the psalms.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18'Whenever he turns up in this Psalter, however,
0:50:18 > 0:50:22'he's a dead ringer for another monarch.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25'You could argue that Henry VIII is being encouraged
0:50:25 > 0:50:29'to see the relevance of Biblical teachings for his own life.'
0:50:29 > 0:50:33Or you could say Henry is a megalomaniac.
0:50:33 > 0:50:37Not only has he made himself head of the Church,
0:50:37 > 0:50:41he's now imagining himself as the most important Biblical King.
0:50:44 > 0:50:46'It's a very literal reading of the Bible,
0:50:46 > 0:50:50'as if it had all been written about 16th-century England.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54'So, when the psalmist warns, "The fool says in his heart,
0:50:54 > 0:50:55'"There is no God,"
0:50:55 > 0:51:00'we see a portrait of Henry's fool, the Tudor court jester Will Somers.
0:51:01 > 0:51:07'Everywhere the King looked, he'd see himself reflected back.'
0:51:07 > 0:51:11For me, this is an intensely intimate scene
0:51:11 > 0:51:13of one man alone with his books.
0:51:13 > 0:51:18Henry has had himself inserted into this sacred text.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21And here he is, reading the same text
0:51:21 > 0:51:25and meditating on himself within the book.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30'It must have felt like being in a hall of mirrors.
0:51:31 > 0:51:35'And the self-references continue in the margins,
0:51:35 > 0:51:38'where Henry's written a running commentary.'
0:51:39 > 0:51:42Next to the opening psalm, which begins,
0:51:42 > 0:51:44"Blessed is the man who has not walked
0:51:44 > 0:51:46"in the counsel of the ungodly,"
0:51:46 > 0:51:51Henry has written, in his own hand, "Nota quis sit beatus."
0:51:51 > 0:51:53"Note who is blessed."
0:51:53 > 0:51:56And in a book full of images of Henry himself,
0:51:56 > 0:52:00the implication is that it's HE who is blessed.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03'Throughout the book,
0:52:03 > 0:52:07'Henry's notes reveal a man convinced he was serving God's will,
0:52:07 > 0:52:11'his confidence undimmed by his rejection of the Catholic Church.
0:52:11 > 0:52:15'But there's one moment where the self-justification
0:52:15 > 0:52:17'gives way to a note of frailty.'
0:52:19 > 0:52:23In the margins of Psalm 36, where it says, "I have been young,
0:52:23 > 0:52:26"and now I am old," Henry has written,
0:52:26 > 0:52:28"Dolens dictum."
0:52:28 > 0:52:30"A sad saying."
0:52:30 > 0:52:36And so we get this glimpse into how Henry viewed his own mortality.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41This is such a strange experience for me.
0:52:41 > 0:52:47I'm touching the very pages that Henry VIII himself touched,
0:52:47 > 0:52:51and he didn't just read this book, he read it again and again,
0:52:51 > 0:52:54and he invested part of himself in it.
0:52:54 > 0:52:57More than any other manuscript I've encountered,
0:52:57 > 0:53:01I really get a sense of the real man coming out of these pages.
0:53:04 > 0:53:09'The earliest English royal books had told a different story.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13'Manuscripts in Anglo-Saxon times were largely public objects,
0:53:13 > 0:53:15'displayed on altars.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19'Their power came from the Church, as did the King's.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23'Six centuries later,
0:53:23 > 0:53:28'the King controls the institution his predecessors had depended upon.
0:53:28 > 0:53:33'He now relies on no-one else in his relationship with God or England.
0:53:33 > 0:53:37'So he's shown alone, in a book for his private use.
0:53:37 > 0:53:39'For the English royal manuscript,
0:53:39 > 0:53:42'it was pretty much the end of the line.
0:53:43 > 0:53:49'By the later 16th century, changes in technology, in fashion and in art
0:53:49 > 0:53:54'meant the manuscript was finally displaced by the printed book.
0:53:54 > 0:53:56'Even among royalty.'
0:53:58 > 0:54:01But the illuminated manuscript had a clear descendant
0:54:01 > 0:54:03as a royal art form.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05Something else that would continue the work
0:54:05 > 0:54:08the manuscript had done for centuries,
0:54:08 > 0:54:11and that could communicate and symbolise the King's power.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15The royal portrait.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25'When production of the illuminated manuscript was declining,
0:54:25 > 0:54:27'in the 15th and 16th centuries,
0:54:27 > 0:54:30'the painted portrait had become more popular,
0:54:30 > 0:54:36'and the medium of choice for some of the greatest Renaissance artists.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39'It would prove particularly suitable
0:54:39 > 0:54:43'for the new challenges faced by England's monarchy.'
0:54:43 > 0:54:47Now the King is the head of the Church, he had to be more visible
0:54:47 > 0:54:51to the nation, not just a figurehead tucked away in his palaces.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54While printing was the best way of spreading the royal word,
0:54:54 > 0:54:59the portrait was perfect for disseminating the royal image.
0:54:59 > 0:55:04'Take, for example, Hans Holbein's iconic picture of Henry VIII,
0:55:04 > 0:55:08'for which this was the preparatory sketch.'
0:55:08 > 0:55:11Even as an outline, you can tell who this is,
0:55:11 > 0:55:13and that's entirely deliberate.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16This is powerful propaganda.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21'Portraits were intended to be seen by a wider public than
0:55:21 > 0:55:25'the select few who would glimpse the pages of a royal manuscript.
0:55:25 > 0:55:29'And the production of authorised copies could make the monarch
0:55:29 > 0:55:32'more visible across their kingdom.'
0:55:32 > 0:55:35The large-scale royal portrait might seem a world away
0:55:35 > 0:55:38from the miniatures of illuminated manuscripts,
0:55:38 > 0:55:41but early in his career, Holbein worked in book design,
0:55:41 > 0:55:42and he wasn't alone either.
0:55:42 > 0:55:48Other portraitists drew inspiration from the traditions of manuscripts.
0:55:49 > 0:55:52'Some portraits were still painted on vellum,
0:55:52 > 0:55:54'such as this one of Elizabeth I.
0:55:54 > 0:55:57'It's the work of Nicholas Hilliard,
0:55:57 > 0:56:02'who was most likely trained by a descendant of a Bruges illuminator.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05'And it's only a couple of inches high,
0:56:05 > 0:56:09'the small scale used for centuries in manuscripts.
0:56:13 > 0:56:17'Portraiture could also draw on a well-established language
0:56:17 > 0:56:18'for depicting royal power.
0:56:20 > 0:56:24'The iconography of monarchy, which feels so familiar
0:56:24 > 0:56:27'when we see portraits such as these, had first been developed
0:56:27 > 0:56:29'in the pages of books.
0:56:32 > 0:56:36'And that's not the manuscript's only legacy.
0:56:38 > 0:56:42'Objects which had seemed redundant after the invention of printing
0:56:42 > 0:56:47'have a renewed value now when the dominance of the printed book
0:56:47 > 0:56:49'is in turn being challenged.'
0:56:52 > 0:56:56We live in a world where, thanks to the digital revolution,
0:56:56 > 0:57:00ideas and images can be shared across the globe in an instant.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04Many millions of people can share the same things at the same time.
0:57:04 > 0:57:06And this is of course incredibly powerful.
0:57:06 > 0:57:10An illuminated manuscript was almost the exact opposite.
0:57:10 > 0:57:14It was designed to be seen by just a handful of people
0:57:14 > 0:57:17as an entirely bespoke artefact.
0:57:17 > 0:57:21And from this exclusivity and uniqueness came its power.
0:57:27 > 0:57:32'Precisely because they were never mass-produced,
0:57:32 > 0:57:35'manuscripts have a specific historical weight and meaning,
0:57:35 > 0:57:37'which it's hard to imagine being equalled
0:57:37 > 0:57:39'by the sophisticated technology of today.'
0:57:47 > 0:57:51'It's not just that they so beautifully picture that past,
0:57:51 > 0:57:55'its religious fervour and its political manoeuvring,
0:57:55 > 0:57:57'it's that they do so in such a tangible form.
0:57:57 > 0:58:04'In an object that exists now in the same way as it did then.'
0:58:04 > 0:58:09The thing that's really struck me about handling these manuscripts
0:58:09 > 0:58:11is the intimacy of the experience.
0:58:11 > 0:58:14By turning the pages, I feel as if I've sat down
0:58:14 > 0:58:15next to their royal owners
0:58:15 > 0:58:19and read over their shoulder, sharing in their insights.
0:58:19 > 0:58:22These magnificent objects were once created
0:58:22 > 0:58:26as pieces of propaganda or patronage, but now they offer us
0:58:26 > 0:58:32a unique insight into the private lives of long dead kings.
0:58:36 > 0:58:39Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:39 > 0:58:41E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk