0:00:02 > 0:00:06This is the amazing story of a Royal armour workshop.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10The tale of how Henry VIII set great craftsmen the task
0:00:10 > 0:00:14of transforming him into a dazzling, mythic hero,
0:00:14 > 0:00:15of how his daughter Elizabeth
0:00:15 > 0:00:19used their remarkable talents to help create a chivalric cult
0:00:19 > 0:00:22with herself at its head.
0:00:22 > 0:00:27If she'd been a man, this is what Elizabeth would have looked like.
0:00:28 > 0:00:33It's the story of a king, a queen, a culture
0:00:33 > 0:00:36and the precise manipulation of one image,
0:00:36 > 0:00:40an image we all think we know very well,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43one of the most powerful images in history,
0:00:43 > 0:00:47the image of the knight.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01Armour was protection, but it was also high fashion.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04It was costume, it was theatre,
0:01:04 > 0:01:08it gave the wearer an incredibly imposing presence,
0:01:08 > 0:01:12making him seem invincible, superhuman.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18Armour has always been there.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21It existed in nature long before we caught up.
0:01:21 > 0:01:26The name "armadillo" means, essentially, little armoured guy.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31Ancient peoples understood that armour had symbolic power,
0:01:31 > 0:01:35from the ancient Greeks and Romans, who wore beaten bronze into battle,
0:01:35 > 0:01:40to the Normans, who conquered England in long coats of iron mail,
0:01:40 > 0:01:42to the knights of King Edward III,
0:01:42 > 0:01:46who won that staggering victory against the French at Crecy in 1346,
0:01:46 > 0:01:51wearing plates of hardened leather, horn and iron.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55Armour had always had great artistic merit,
0:01:55 > 0:01:57but it became a kind of wearable sculpture
0:01:57 > 0:02:02with the development of full plate armour.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05Full armour appeared in the late 14th century,
0:02:05 > 0:02:07when it first became possible
0:02:07 > 0:02:09to smelt big enough pieces of iron and steel
0:02:09 > 0:02:11to make back plates, breastplates
0:02:11 > 0:02:16and all the 20 or so parts that make up the complete harness, as it was called.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23Full plate armour was an awesome sight.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27It was so powerful, in fact, that it came to define an age.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32When we think of the medieval past, we think of armoured knights.
0:02:37 > 0:02:42In Britain, metal armour had been worn since the Bronze Age.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46Records of English armour-makers date back to the early Middle Ages.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49But it's impossible to be sure of the origin of the few rare pieces
0:02:49 > 0:02:54that survive, like this helmet, found in a field in Warwickshire.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57You just look at the way the visor follows the shape of the skull.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01All of the curves are matched up so beautifully,
0:03:01 > 0:03:03and all of the plates fit so well together.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08It's obviously had a long and rough life, but it's a high-quality piece.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12This could have seen the Wars of the Roses. Found in the Midlands,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15it dates from the second half of the 15th century.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17We just don't know the origin of this.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20So little English armour survives from before 1500.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22If it is English,
0:03:22 > 0:03:26it's evidence of a very high level of skill and artistry.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30The plasticity of the form, technically, is extremely hard to do.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32That's a shape that would be familiar
0:03:32 > 0:03:35to a modern-day Olympic cyclist, for example.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37But the evidence just isn't there.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41We have to say it's possibly English, because of its history, but we don't know.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58But there is another way to know
0:03:58 > 0:04:00the medieval armour of the British Isles.
0:04:00 > 0:04:06It's found in old churches all over England, Wales and Scotland.
0:04:08 > 0:04:13Here you find complete, English armours,
0:04:13 > 0:04:15beautifully carved in alabaster.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19This is the effigy of Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford,
0:04:19 > 0:04:23a great English knight and one of the commanders at Agincourt.
0:04:23 > 0:04:28He carries the de Vere star on his breastplate
0:04:28 > 0:04:31and the collar of SS at his neck, which identifies him
0:04:31 > 0:04:34as a supporter of the Royal House of Lancaster.
0:04:34 > 0:04:40The figure records perfectly what plate armour looked like.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42Sabatons to protect the feet.
0:04:42 > 0:04:48The greaves or lower-leg defences, the cuisses or upper-leg defences,
0:04:48 > 0:04:52the breastplate, the vambraces protecting the arms,
0:04:52 > 0:04:56the gauntlets and the tall, pointed helmet.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00What we're presented with is an incredibly accurate depiction
0:05:00 > 0:05:05of armour dating from the early 15th century.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08You can take one of these effigies
0:05:08 > 0:05:12and build a working armour using it as a reference.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16I've done it, it works. This armour would work.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18You look very closely and you can see
0:05:18 > 0:05:22how carvers placed every rivet in exactly the right place.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26The rivets in their locations are crucial because they determine
0:05:26 > 0:05:28whether the piece works or not.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30Here, you've got the pivot point,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33the neck plate opens to allow the head to be inserted
0:05:33 > 0:05:35and then locks around the neck.
0:05:35 > 0:05:40This is a realistic image of a real, fighting knight.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44It's hard to avoid a sense that this is a figure
0:05:44 > 0:05:47that could get just right up and walk off.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51He could get up and attack the enemies
0:05:51 > 0:05:53of England or of Christendom.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00Effigies show us that very fine armour
0:06:00 > 0:06:04was being made in England long before the 16th century.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08Despite that, one man decided to make a conscious break
0:06:08 > 0:06:12with the English armour tradition and bring a new, Renaissance style
0:06:12 > 0:06:14to the British Isles.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19That man was one of the greatest jousters,
0:06:19 > 0:06:23the greatest swordsman, the greatest knight of his time -
0:06:23 > 0:06:24King Henry VIII.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30From an early age, Henry was obsessed with knighthood,
0:06:30 > 0:06:33but his father, the anxious King Henry VII,
0:06:33 > 0:06:36wouldn't let him joust or fight anyone,
0:06:36 > 0:06:38even just for fun.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40When he was a boy of three,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43he was put on his pony and he rides it without anyone leading him.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45He knows that he has to be,
0:06:45 > 0:06:49in a sense, the emblem of the virility
0:06:49 > 0:06:50and the continuation of his family.
0:06:50 > 0:06:55So his sense of his own destiny, and I imagine his sense of his own self-dramatisation,
0:06:55 > 0:06:58must have been very intense in these years.
0:06:58 > 0:07:03We know he's very sporty, very strong. He's physically robust, he's very handsome.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06People called him the handsomest prince in Christendom.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10He really is a prince in waiting. He's wanting to spread his wings.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13They won't let him joust, they'll only let him run at the quintain,
0:07:13 > 0:07:15and that's so frustrating for a young man.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18All of his heroes, all of his friends, everyone at court
0:07:18 > 0:07:21is jousting within an inch of their lives,
0:07:21 > 0:07:24and Henry is kept back by these very dominant guardians.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29Then, in 1509, Henry's father died.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31From the moment he came to the throne,
0:07:31 > 0:07:36King Henry VIII could do as he liked.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39And what he liked was jousting.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44The joust was about hitting your opponent as hard
0:07:44 > 0:07:49and as accurately as possible with a steel-tipped wooden lance.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54It's a game that demonstrates strength in body but also in mind.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58I've been jousting for 20 years.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Here, the armour is definitely not for show.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05In fact, mine has saved my life on more than one occasion.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20A perfect strike should shatter the lance,
0:08:20 > 0:08:23making the score pretty obvious to anyone.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28Here, you see the young King Henry breaking his lance
0:08:28 > 0:08:32on his opponent's head in celebration of the birth of a son
0:08:32 > 0:08:35by his queen, Catherine of Aragon.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39This illustration shows us what Henry looked like in armour
0:08:39 > 0:08:40early in his reign.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43His clothing may be exceptionally rich
0:08:43 > 0:08:46but, actually, his jousting armour is quite plain.
0:08:49 > 0:08:55One of the most famous rulers at that time was Maximilian,
0:08:55 > 0:08:59Holy Roman Emperor and overlord of the German lands.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01Maximilian was a chivalric celebrity,
0:09:01 > 0:09:05the self-styled White King,
0:09:05 > 0:09:08who constantly presented himself in art as a victorious knight,
0:09:08 > 0:09:13clad in resplendent armour of his own design.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16Henry idolised him.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20He allied himself with Maximilian on the battlefield,
0:09:20 > 0:09:23studied how he had created a heroic, public image
0:09:23 > 0:09:26and in every way just wanted to BE like him.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35On armour of the Maximilian style,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38the surfaces are covered with dense fluting,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41making the steel ripple like cloth.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47Maximilian's armours used the very latest decorative techniques.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51Surfaces were often etched with acid and gilded with mercury,
0:09:51 > 0:09:55but frequently only in narrow bands,
0:09:55 > 0:09:59so that you never lose the brilliance of the pure, polished steel.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13And just three years into his reign,
0:10:13 > 0:10:17Henry received a spectacular gift armour from Maximilian.
0:10:19 > 0:10:24This strange helmet is the only piece of that gift armour known to survive.
0:10:26 > 0:10:27It may look bizarre,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30and perhaps even frivolous to modern eyes,
0:10:30 > 0:10:32but it's actually a mark
0:10:32 > 0:10:36of Maximilian's absolute respect for Henry.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40This really is a caricature of a portrait of Maximilian.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44It has exactly his hooked nose. He hasn't shaved properly.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46His chin's covered with stubble.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50And the quality of etching's absolutely fantastic.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53If you have a look at the little dragons on these hinge brackets,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56- they're absolutely wonderful. - Yeah, really lively.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00The helmet reflects the Renaissance obsession with verisimilitude -
0:11:00 > 0:11:03to recreate the very image of a living human being
0:11:03 > 0:11:05in cold, hard metal.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08The smoothness of the surfaces
0:11:08 > 0:11:13disguises the thousands of hammer blows required to form the features.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17Could there ever have been a clearer demonstration of an armourer's power?
0:11:17 > 0:11:21The power to transform a delicate human body
0:11:21 > 0:11:26into an invulnerable automaton of tempered steel.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31When this armour arrived at Henry's court in 1514,
0:11:31 > 0:11:33you only need to look at fragments
0:11:33 > 0:11:37to try and imagine how impressive and...
0:11:37 > 0:11:40and moving that must have been for him.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44He's got these aspirations to be a great Renaissance monarch
0:11:44 > 0:11:46and then he's presented with the very best
0:11:46 > 0:11:49of what's going on on the continent.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51There must have been a little part of him somewhere
0:11:51 > 0:11:53that felt a bit small at that point.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55Well, do you think that?
0:11:55 > 0:11:59Or do you think, "Hey, I've arrived! I'm really at the top table.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01"I'm getting presents from the Emperor.
0:12:01 > 0:12:06"He's using his own caricature as an armour for me."
0:12:06 > 0:12:10Which you'd think was an odd joke
0:12:10 > 0:12:13for one king to play on another,
0:12:13 > 0:12:15but it's a motif that absolutely
0:12:15 > 0:12:20runs centrally through the iconography of the tournament.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22People are making themselves out to look fools
0:12:22 > 0:12:26and then impressing with their prowess on the tournament field.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32At the same time as he received his gift,
0:12:32 > 0:12:36Henry bought two other armours from Maximilian's court workshop
0:12:36 > 0:12:40but these great works of art have been lost,
0:12:40 > 0:12:42except, in the Wallace collection,
0:12:42 > 0:12:45there are three fascinating fragments, part of a lost armour
0:12:45 > 0:12:48made in Maximilian's court workshop at Innsbruck
0:12:48 > 0:12:50at exactly the right time,
0:12:50 > 0:12:52in exactly the right style.
0:12:59 > 0:13:05You can always tell when an armour or piece of an armour
0:13:05 > 0:13:08has great artistic qualities
0:13:08 > 0:13:12when you can feel it trying to seduce you.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23You know, even though we're just dealing with a pair of legs
0:13:23 > 0:13:24and a helmet,
0:13:24 > 0:13:27that's not really much of a armour.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30Even so, just those three pieces sitting here,
0:13:30 > 0:13:33they're just vibrating with energy
0:13:33 > 0:13:37and they're trying to tell you something.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44These perfectly articulated structures
0:13:44 > 0:13:46pulse with the Renaissance fascination
0:13:46 > 0:13:48with the mechanics of nature,
0:13:48 > 0:13:51but who could they have been made for?
0:13:54 > 0:13:55They're very big legs.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59They're very muscular, beautifully shaped,
0:13:59 > 0:14:01the calves of a skilled horseman,
0:14:01 > 0:14:03a great warrior, no doubt.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07The helmet is for someone with a big head.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10This is a big, muscular guy.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13You can see where we're going with this.
0:14:13 > 0:14:19I believe that these may be parts of one of Henry's lost armours.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22It's not just the shape and the size. It's also the decoration.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27There are pomegranates all over this armour.
0:14:27 > 0:14:31They're crawling on every part of the decoration.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34They're appearing and poking out
0:14:34 > 0:14:38of all of the scrolling foliage and twisting vines.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41Covered in pomegranates.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43And we can't avoid the fact, of course,
0:14:43 > 0:14:47that the pomegranate was the personal device of Catherine of Aragon,
0:14:47 > 0:14:49Henry's queen.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53It's a device that Henry made a point of wearing
0:14:53 > 0:14:56at every possible opportunity early in his reign.
0:14:56 > 0:15:02Maybe these are parts of one of the armours he received in 1514.
0:15:04 > 0:15:05We can't prove it.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07We'll never be sure.
0:15:09 > 0:15:10But they could be.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17Maximilian's gift armour had lit a fire in Henry's heart.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21He had to have his own Royal armour workshop.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24There, he could create his own high-technology armours
0:15:24 > 0:15:26and take his rightful place
0:15:26 > 0:15:30alongside the most sophisticated rulers of Europe.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34He needed something highly engineered,
0:15:34 > 0:15:36beautifully shaped
0:15:36 > 0:15:38and exquisitely decorated.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40Flemish armourers were famous throughout Europe
0:15:40 > 0:15:43so Henry brought Flemings to England
0:15:43 > 0:15:46to establish his court workshop.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49Within a year, his first armour was complete -
0:15:49 > 0:15:53a celebration of his devotion to his queen.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55The statement this armour makes
0:15:55 > 0:15:58about dynastic marriages is so strong.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01The heraldry, you know, the pomegranates,
0:16:01 > 0:16:02the portcullises,
0:16:02 > 0:16:05the sheaves of arrows, the roses.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08That's showing Henry as a continental monarch.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10He's marrying into the Spanish royal family,
0:16:10 > 0:16:13yet he's at one with the rest of them.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20No English armour before had been so extensively decorated.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23Every inch of this magnificent equestrian armour
0:16:23 > 0:16:25was polished, engraved
0:16:25 > 0:16:28and covered in a layer of brightest silver.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34And what's so interesting about it - this is engraved decoration.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37It's not the new, modern etching and gilding.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39This is hand-engraved,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43and it's decorated overall with this engraving.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46- £200.- Just for the decoration? - Just for the decoration.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49- That's a lot more than the armour cost.- Yeah, totally.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52£200 is an outrageous sum, just to decorate an armour.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02You can't escape a sense,
0:17:02 > 0:17:04even at this early stage,
0:17:04 > 0:17:06that there's tremendous ambition here.
0:17:06 > 0:17:12He doesn't just want to equal his continental colleagues,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15he sort of wants to surpass them
0:17:15 > 0:17:18- but at this point, he doesn't really know how to do it.- I'm not sure...
0:17:18 > 0:17:22- He's just getting going.- I'm not sure he's trying to surpass them
0:17:22 > 0:17:25at this stage. I think he just wants to be at the same table.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28But engraving was a bit primitive
0:17:28 > 0:17:32compared to Maximilian's revolutionary acid etching.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41What Henry needed now was something that could hold its own
0:17:41 > 0:17:44against the very best foreign armours
0:17:44 > 0:17:47but which was also totally unique.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50What if he could attract the best armour-making talent
0:17:50 > 0:17:52from different parts of Europe
0:17:52 > 0:17:54and put it all into one place,
0:17:54 > 0:17:57forming a crucible of creativity?
0:17:58 > 0:18:01Now he recruited armourers from the German Empire
0:18:01 > 0:18:03to join his Flemings.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07This elite team would soon be working hammer and tongs
0:18:07 > 0:18:10to keep up with the King's demands for the very best armour.
0:18:22 > 0:18:23This is Greenwich.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27Today, it lies in the shadow of London's Canary Wharf
0:18:27 > 0:18:30but in the 16th century, it was the location
0:18:30 > 0:18:32of one of Henry's favourite Royal palaces,
0:18:32 > 0:18:34and most importantly for us,
0:18:34 > 0:18:38this is where Henry chose to build his Royal workshop.
0:18:38 > 0:18:43It's very, very different to what's down there now.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48None of these 18th-century buildings
0:18:48 > 0:18:51would have been here in Henry's lifetime.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54All we would have seen moving down this walkway
0:18:54 > 0:18:56would be the great red-brick structure
0:18:56 > 0:18:59of Henry's Palace of Placentia,
0:18:59 > 0:19:02quite literally, his pleasure palace.
0:19:04 > 0:19:05So...
0:19:05 > 0:19:09That's where the Royal workshops were.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14There's just a bunch of trees there now.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17And looking at the site now,
0:19:17 > 0:19:20we get a much better sense, actually,
0:19:20 > 0:19:25of the distance between the Royal workshops and the palace itself.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29It's close enough for the King to just stroll over
0:19:29 > 0:19:32and meet with his armourers if he wished to,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35but at the same time, it's far enough away
0:19:35 > 0:19:38so that the King and the palace aren't disturbed
0:19:38 > 0:19:44by the incredible clamour and noise of the armourers at work.
0:19:44 > 0:19:49Not only the noise, but the smell of burning charcoal and fuming mercury.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53It would have been a noisy, nasty place.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01By 1515, Henry's armour workshop was throbbing with life,
0:20:01 > 0:20:05producing custom-made armours for the King himself.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09But making armour is a complex, multi-stage process,
0:20:09 > 0:20:11requiring the brain of a watchmaker,
0:20:11 > 0:20:16the eye of a master builder, and the hand of a virtuoso sculptor.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23A lot of the techniques that I'm using are hands. It's all hammering,
0:20:23 > 0:20:25it's all hand techniques,
0:20:25 > 0:20:27but there are some things, you know,
0:20:27 > 0:20:30when it comes to sanding and polishing,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32where I use grinders and buffers
0:20:32 > 0:20:35and things like that to get the work done.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38- You haven't not got a workshop full of apprentices.- No, I don't.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42So, in a way, the power tools take the place of an army of assistants.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46Yes, exactly. Can you file this? Can you...you know?
0:20:46 > 0:20:47I think that's excusable.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51Given the circumstances, that's excusable!
0:20:53 > 0:20:55Modern people are so used to science
0:20:55 > 0:20:58and measuring things, and this process,
0:20:58 > 0:21:00the way these armours were created,
0:21:00 > 0:21:02comes from a time when people didn't have those tools
0:21:02 > 0:21:06and they depended upon their own senses
0:21:06 > 0:21:09and the sense of the artist's craftsmen to create these things.
0:21:10 > 0:21:15We really see how difficult it is
0:21:15 > 0:21:18and how extraordinary these armours are.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21The German armourers at Greenwich -
0:21:21 > 0:21:24or Almains, as the English called them -
0:21:24 > 0:21:26drew on their past experience,
0:21:26 > 0:21:30but they used it to make something truly revolutionary.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33The Greenwich style began to evolve.
0:21:36 > 0:21:37Do you ever find yourself wondering,
0:21:37 > 0:21:42"Why are they doing it in the most difficult way?
0:21:42 > 0:21:47"Why has there got to be this hook and latch and pin, you know?"
0:21:47 > 0:21:51I think the craftsmen are revelling
0:21:51 > 0:21:55in their ability to make something,
0:21:55 > 0:21:58even though it is more difficult.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01It's a wow factor, it's going to impress people.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05The monarch's reputation as a Renaissance king,
0:22:05 > 0:22:07as a chivalric hero,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10rested on the shoulders of these foreign masters.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14What they went on to achieve
0:22:14 > 0:22:16was utterly breathtaking.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26This is the earliest surviving armour, made in the new
0:22:26 > 0:22:29and very distinctive Greenwich style.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32It may, at first glance, look quite plain,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35but look a little closer and it's impossible
0:22:35 > 0:22:37not to be awestruck by it.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40ROUSING MUSIC PLAYS
0:22:52 > 0:22:55It's a tournament armour, designed to provide the King
0:22:55 > 0:22:59with total body protection in friendly sporting combats.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01Steel sculpting
0:23:01 > 0:23:03meets advanced biomechanics.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07It's one of only about three armours surviving in the world
0:23:07 > 0:23:10that cover the entire body.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14Normally, on almost every armour that you'll see,
0:23:14 > 0:23:15there are key gaps -
0:23:15 > 0:23:17the area around the groin,
0:23:17 > 0:23:20the backs of the legs, the insides of the arms.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24All of those areas are usually left open for practical purposes.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27But the Greenwich armourers here
0:23:27 > 0:23:29have gone to extraordinary lengths
0:23:29 > 0:23:34to entirely encase the King's body in steel.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37One of the things I love most about armour
0:23:37 > 0:23:41is that when you stand next to something like this,
0:23:41 > 0:23:45you ARE standing next to the real historical person,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48a sense that you just don't get from portraits
0:23:48 > 0:23:51or other art forms.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54He's a big guy, he's muscular, he's powerful,
0:23:54 > 0:23:56he's fit.
0:23:56 > 0:24:01There's no sign yet of the corpulence that we associate
0:24:01 > 0:24:04with Henry VIII in the popular imagination.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07He's a fearsome character,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10and his armour exudes that.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13But even the most advanced armour
0:24:13 > 0:24:16could not stop accidents from happening.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18On March 10 1524, Henry ordered a joust
0:24:18 > 0:24:22so that he could test one of his new armours.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26As he made himself ready, his friend, the Duke of Suffolk, charged.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31Henry SHOULD have refused the encounter.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34He hadn't closed or locked his visor, but instead,
0:24:34 > 0:24:36he also surged forward.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40The duke struck Henry a powerful blow to the side of the helmet.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43His lance shattered,
0:24:43 > 0:24:46and sharp splinters flew into Henry's unprotected face.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51But, miraculously, the King was unhurt.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53Even with the visor raised,
0:24:53 > 0:24:57the helmet had done its job. It had been a narrow escape,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00but it didn't blunt Henry's enthusiasm for jousting.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05If anything, it cemented his love of armour.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14Here in New York City
0:25:14 > 0:25:17is the Greenwich armour most like the one that saved Henry' s life,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20and it's truly magnificent.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27Now that Henry's armourers had perfected their technical style,
0:25:27 > 0:25:30it was time to come up with a fabulous ornamentation
0:25:30 > 0:25:34to suit Henry's expensive tastes.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41Looking at this armour, standing next to it,
0:25:41 > 0:25:42I have a very hard time
0:25:42 > 0:25:47avoiding the idea that this is one of the King's own armours.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49But we don't know that for sure, do we?
0:25:49 > 0:25:53You would think that it would be documented somewhere in history.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55Curiously, we nothing about it
0:25:55 > 0:25:57before the very end of the 19th century,
0:25:57 > 0:25:59when it was displayed in Paris.
0:25:59 > 0:26:03We CAN be sure that it was made for someone
0:26:03 > 0:26:05of very high status.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09Its entire surface has been acid-etched and fire-gilded.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12It would have blazed like the sun on the tournament field.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15This is very rich, very modern
0:26:15 > 0:26:19and very expensive Renaissance decoration.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21But these are not Royal symbols.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25In fact, there are no specifically Royal symbols anywhere.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31It's the only armour of its kind. The form, the structure,
0:26:31 > 0:26:35the size does compare so closely with Henry's armours.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39It's very difficult to argue that it's not his own.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43It seems strange to say it about armourers, because it's their job,
0:26:43 > 0:26:49but they seem especially concerned with safety and security.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53The extreme constructional concerns that the armourers had
0:26:53 > 0:26:57with this armour was essentially protecting the man,
0:26:57 > 0:27:00making him invincible.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02If this were worn by Henry VIII,
0:27:02 > 0:27:06imagine a head of state, today, playing rough sports.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09It's inconceivable, and yet, the head of state at this time
0:27:09 > 0:27:11took such risks.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14We know that Henry had several near misses
0:27:14 > 0:27:18and was fortunate to survive blows to the visor
0:27:18 > 0:27:21that shattered lances against his face,
0:27:21 > 0:27:26but here we have an armour that locks securely as a safe.
0:27:26 > 0:27:31The man inside is snug and secure,
0:27:31 > 0:27:36and I think as much protection is given to the wearer of this armour
0:27:36 > 0:27:38as any at any time.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42Imagine Barack Obama competing in,
0:27:42 > 0:27:45let alone winning, the Indianapolis 500.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49His voter approval rating would go through the roof.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52All of this still makes sense,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55it's just that we no longer practise it.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59Princely magnificence in the 16th century was such
0:27:59 > 0:28:02that you had to not only look splendid,
0:28:02 > 0:28:04but you had to act regal.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08Certainly, if this were Henry's armour,
0:28:08 > 0:28:11his appearance in the lists of the day
0:28:11 > 0:28:15would have created an awe-inspiring presence.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18With this armour,
0:28:18 > 0:28:22the Greenwich workshops had demonstrated their mastery of the art,
0:28:22 > 0:28:27but perhaps, more importantly, the armour points towards the future of the style.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30That future lay in the richness of the decoration.
0:28:30 > 0:28:35This is the first surviving Greenwich armour to be acid-etched.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40Acid-etching had been developed specifically
0:28:40 > 0:28:43for the decoration of armour.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45The German inventor of the technique - Daniel Hopfer -
0:28:45 > 0:28:48also realised its potential for print-making.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53It had a huge advantage over engraving,
0:28:53 > 0:28:56which in steel was very laborious.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59Anyone who could draw could also etch.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05A lot of people could draw in the 16th century,
0:29:05 > 0:29:08and etching proved revolutionary to the art of armour-making.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10It allowed artists to create
0:29:10 > 0:29:12very intricate patterns on steel easily
0:29:12 > 0:29:15and without weakening the armour plates.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19The acid actually
0:29:19 > 0:29:22physically cuts into the metal,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25so you have areas that are raised
0:29:25 > 0:29:28and sunken,
0:29:28 > 0:29:31and the sunken areas are kind of eaten away,
0:29:31 > 0:29:34so they have their own little texture.
0:29:36 > 0:29:38This isn't paint that Jeff's applying.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42It's a resist that stops the acid from eating away parts of the metal.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49It's really staggering, the complexity of these types of armours
0:29:49 > 0:29:51and the decoration
0:29:51 > 0:29:55and how all of these little details come together
0:29:55 > 0:30:01to make them just extraordinarily complex...
0:30:02 > 0:30:05..and have, like, an awe-inspiring effect.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12The steel plates were then washed carefully in acid.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15Once the acid had eaten into the metal,
0:30:15 > 0:30:19the piece was rubbed in a mild alkali to neutralise it.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23Now you've only got about
0:30:23 > 0:30:28500 more feet of edged strap work to go!
0:30:28 > 0:30:31Right!
0:30:34 > 0:30:38This perfect combination of intricate surface decoration
0:30:38 > 0:30:42and the deceptive simplicity of the armour's construction
0:30:42 > 0:30:44is what defines the Greenwich style.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49But etching designs into the armour
0:30:49 > 0:30:51was only one part of the process.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53That decoration had to be
0:30:53 > 0:30:55of an artistically high quality,
0:30:55 > 0:31:00and that required the skill of a great artist.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03The one man we associate more than any other
0:31:03 > 0:31:05with images of Henry
0:31:05 > 0:31:09is Hans Holbein the Younger - his court artist.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12If anyone was going to decorate the King's own person,
0:31:12 > 0:31:14it would have to be him.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18We know Holbein designed jewellery,
0:31:18 > 0:31:21weapons and other metalwork for Henry,
0:31:21 > 0:31:26so it's not much of a leap to suggest that he was designing armour decoration as well.
0:31:26 > 0:31:28This beautiful and imposing artwork
0:31:28 > 0:31:32is the third of Henry's surviving Greenwich armours.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35It's dated 1540, so we know it was made at a time
0:31:35 > 0:31:37when Henry was getting old
0:31:37 > 0:31:40and his body was breaking down.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43But he was still commissioning great armour.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46This one bears very fine etched and gilt decoration
0:31:46 > 0:31:49in the form of bands and borders
0:31:49 > 0:31:52which I think were almost certainly designed by Holbein.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55MUFFLED HEAVY BREATHING
0:32:08 > 0:32:11So, Susan, what's your first impression?
0:32:11 > 0:32:14How big he is.
0:32:14 > 0:32:16Like a great bear of a man,
0:32:16 > 0:32:19especially when you stand to the side and you see that girth.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21He's an armoured bear,
0:32:21 > 0:32:25- which seems even scarier. - Yeah, more powerful!
0:32:25 > 0:32:28- It just demands respect, don't you think?- I agree, yeah.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31These gloves seem to add to that effect as well.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35- He really looks as though he could lay you out with one blow.- Mm-hm.
0:32:35 > 0:32:36And that's quite frightening.
0:32:36 > 0:32:41The designer has made it look scary on purpose.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44The subtlest feature
0:32:44 > 0:32:47that actually is working on us most powerfully,
0:32:47 > 0:32:51and a feature I can't recall seeing on any other armour,
0:32:51 > 0:32:54is the fact that they've located
0:32:54 > 0:32:57these little reinforcing bars in the sight,
0:32:57 > 0:32:59right where you'd expect to have an iris.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01So the visor forms
0:33:01 > 0:33:05a set of staring, predatory eyes
0:33:05 > 0:33:08that are unblinking, merciless,
0:33:08 > 0:33:10soulless.
0:33:10 > 0:33:12That's very interesting,
0:33:12 > 0:33:15when you think about how Holbein presented Henry,
0:33:15 > 0:33:18how he showed him absolutely frontally,
0:33:18 > 0:33:20staring at you in very much the same way.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23So I suppose the purpose may have been rather similar,
0:33:23 > 0:33:27to intimidate people, to frighten them, and we know that
0:33:27 > 0:33:29when visitors came to Whitehall Palace
0:33:29 > 0:33:34where they saw a full-length figure of Henry, rather like this,
0:33:34 > 0:33:38that we're that told visitors were abashed and annihilated
0:33:38 > 0:33:41- by seeing that full-length figure. - Really? Wow!
0:33:42 > 0:33:46So, Susan, now that you've had a chance to look at the armour
0:33:46 > 0:33:49in very close detail,
0:33:49 > 0:33:52is this Holbein, or not?
0:33:52 > 0:33:55I think it's very hard to say.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59Parts of this decoration are certainly very similar indeed
0:33:59 > 0:34:03to the sort of decorative style of a lot of his metalwork.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05All of these details remind me of things that one can see
0:34:05 > 0:34:08in his decorative designs.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10If this is Holbein,
0:34:10 > 0:34:17isn't it a bit like Holbein acting as Henry's tattoo artist, in a way?
0:34:17 > 0:34:23He's not designing some other divorced object for the King.
0:34:23 > 0:34:28He is transforming the King into an artwork himself.
0:34:28 > 0:34:34I mean, doesn't that strike, potentially, at the very heart of what it is to be a court artist?
0:34:34 > 0:34:37I think you're right. I think it does.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40And I think it's something that one could very well imagine
0:34:40 > 0:34:42that Holbein was involved in doing
0:34:42 > 0:34:46and absolutely was part of his role as court artist.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56So I think this armour
0:34:56 > 0:35:00is an elaborate form of early press release.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05It's recalling the image of the 20-year-old Henry -
0:35:05 > 0:35:09a great heroic warrior, a great martial artist.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15And it's saying to us that he could still crush you with a single blow,
0:35:15 > 0:35:20and that, for a regime that was founded on images
0:35:20 > 0:35:24of the fighting prowess of one man,
0:35:24 > 0:35:26was tremendously important.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34Since its foundation in 1515,
0:35:34 > 0:35:38the Greenwich armour workshop had established Henry's place
0:35:38 > 0:35:41amongst the foremost monarchs of Europe.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45Henry had brought together the best foreign technologies and talent
0:35:45 > 0:35:48and created some of the finest armours ever made
0:35:48 > 0:35:51in a new and uniquely English style.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55But everything was about to change.
0:35:57 > 0:36:02In 1559, Henry's daughter Elizabeth was crowned Queen of England.
0:36:04 > 0:36:08Elizabeth would exploit the Greenwich armours in a totally new way.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10In the Elizabethan Age,
0:36:10 > 0:36:14armour as a courtly tool would be wielded with much greater skill
0:36:14 > 0:36:18and cunning, though the monarch herself would never wear it.
0:36:22 > 0:36:27In all other things, Elizabeth was the equal of or superior to
0:36:27 > 0:36:32her famous father, but she could never be a knight.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37Queens did not wear armour,
0:36:37 > 0:36:40and that might seem like a problem for a Royal workshop
0:36:40 > 0:36:44that made armour exclusively for the monarch,
0:36:44 > 0:36:46until you consider this -
0:36:46 > 0:36:51under Henry, no-one would've dared wear an armour richer than the King's.
0:36:51 > 0:36:55But under Elizabeth, that wasn't a problem any more.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58There was no king to offend.
0:37:08 > 0:37:10So who is Elizabeth at the beginning of her reign?
0:37:10 > 0:37:14I think if you asked every historian in England,
0:37:14 > 0:37:17"What is the nature of Elizabeth?", you'd get as many answers.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20To me, she's more rounded than people often describe her,
0:37:20 > 0:37:22so I think she is a very scholarly girl,
0:37:22 > 0:37:26I think she's quite a serious Protestant.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30At the same time, she's a young woman, she's beautiful,
0:37:30 > 0:37:34she's surrounded by men who tell her she's utterly wonderful,
0:37:34 > 0:37:36she's, I think, quite sexually charged.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39All the Tudors have quite a high sexual...sex drive,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42and in a way that gets sublimated into this pageantry of the court,
0:37:42 > 0:37:46in which everybody adores Elizabeth, and that's the ritual.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49You have to behave. Even when - bless her - she's a very, very, very old lady,
0:37:49 > 0:37:52you have to behave as if you've just fallen in love with her
0:37:52 > 0:37:54for her amazing beauty.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00And so, just when you might have thought that the days
0:38:00 > 0:38:03of the Greenwich workshop were numbered, it entered its golden age.
0:38:04 > 0:38:08Where once Henry had been its one main client,
0:38:08 > 0:38:12Elizabeth opened the Greenwich workshop to many of her favourite noblemen.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15Buying an armour from the Virgin Queen's armoury
0:38:15 > 0:38:17became a kind of devotional act.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23Elizabeth realised that she could sell armour licences to her courtiers,
0:38:23 > 0:38:27who would then compete with each other to devise
0:38:27 > 0:38:31the most magnificent armour, with the sole purpose being to catch,
0:38:31 > 0:38:35hopefully to keep, the Queen's approving eye.
0:38:45 > 0:38:50But we wouldn't know any of this if it wasn't for one extraordinary album of drawings
0:38:50 > 0:38:53at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
0:38:53 > 0:38:58They were the key to understanding Greenwich armoury in the Elizabethan period.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01When they were first discovered at the end of the 19th century,
0:39:01 > 0:39:03they opened up a whole new understanding.
0:39:03 > 0:39:08The Almain Album contains 30 drawings of armours,
0:39:08 > 0:39:10made over three decades.
0:39:10 > 0:39:12It is the work of Jacob Halder,
0:39:12 > 0:39:15a German, or Almain, armourer,
0:39:15 > 0:39:19first mentioned as a hammer man at Greenwich in 1553.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23The album allowed historians to match the designs,
0:39:23 > 0:39:27and the men who commissioned them, with surviving armours in the real world.
0:39:33 > 0:39:37Today, we tend to separate art from violence, and this distinction
0:39:37 > 0:39:39didn't exist in the 16th century.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42It was perfectly possible
0:39:42 > 0:39:44to be maimed or killed with an object
0:39:44 > 0:39:47made with absolutely exquisite artistry and beauty.
0:39:47 > 0:39:52These armours are decorated with the same sources that inspired
0:39:52 > 0:39:54silver-work and tapestries and so forth,
0:39:54 > 0:39:58but it's always worth remembering they were designed to save your life.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01They don't sit on a shelf in a treasury.
0:40:01 > 0:40:04They are working objects,
0:40:04 > 0:40:09designed to protect somebody in the most frightening
0:40:09 > 0:40:11and traumatic situation.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15The violence itself becomes a kind of artistic statement
0:40:15 > 0:40:17in a strange way.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20Fighting skills are called martial arts.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24It's the skill of killing someone in a beautiful way.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28That seems strange, but that's the Renaissance mentality,
0:40:28 > 0:40:33that the things that modern people might find distasteful,
0:40:33 > 0:40:37in the Renaissance go hand in hand with works of the most stunning beauty.
0:40:37 > 0:40:41That distinction is one of the things that has separated armour
0:40:41 > 0:40:43from mainstream art history.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46And this is where this album is absolutely pivotal.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49The various poses you see in the album,
0:40:49 > 0:40:52the naming of the individuals for whom they were commissioned,
0:40:52 > 0:40:56it all lends itself to the seriousness with which the subject was treated
0:40:56 > 0:41:00during the 16th century, when the Greenwich armouries were in their heyday.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10We've often been asked about the red colour on the album itself,
0:41:10 > 0:41:13and so we recently had them tested, and it's shown that the red
0:41:13 > 0:41:18is actually an iron oxide, and what we originally wondered was,
0:41:18 > 0:41:21is that a case that you colour these in an iron oxide
0:41:21 > 0:41:25in order to save costs, because blue would've been more expensive?
0:41:25 > 0:41:27It would've come from something like a lapis.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31So what we think now is that the red is just a cheap paint
0:41:31 > 0:41:36that is meant to stand for the rich blue, purpley,
0:41:36 > 0:41:40iridescent colour that these armours generally were given?
0:41:40 > 0:41:41Yes. This wasn't once blue
0:41:41 > 0:41:44and it's faded or deteriorated into this colour.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47- They have always been this red colour.- Yeah.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51In the album, many of the armours are painted red,
0:41:51 > 0:41:56but in reality, they would have been a gorgeous, iridescent blue.
0:42:03 > 0:42:07Blueing was an important but difficult technique in armour-making
0:42:07 > 0:42:09and even today, it's very hard to achieve.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13It's all down to very precise temperature control.
0:42:14 > 0:42:16A modern blowtorch helps,
0:42:16 > 0:42:20but getting an even, vibrant blue is still a pretty tricky business.
0:42:22 > 0:42:24Like this kind of thing doesn't happen fast.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26It's better for it to happen slow,
0:42:26 > 0:42:29and you can watch those colours appear.
0:42:29 > 0:42:33When I heated up these plates, I was watching to see
0:42:33 > 0:42:37what was changing colour first. I was watching for that straw colour first
0:42:37 > 0:42:41and then I watched everything turn this reddishy brown
0:42:41 > 0:42:44and then the purple... like very reddy purple,
0:42:44 > 0:42:48then getting into the purple blue, and that's where I want to stop it.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53Many of the most fashionable armours would have been
0:42:53 > 0:42:56an explosion of blue and gold.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06In the real world, many of these armours have been lost,
0:43:06 > 0:43:08while most of the survivors now look quite different
0:43:08 > 0:43:11from what their creators intended.
0:43:11 > 0:43:15Many have lost their colour, their gilding, and even essential parts,
0:43:15 > 0:43:19but in the album, they are seen as their creator meant them to be seen.
0:43:19 > 0:43:24The richness of the later Greenwich style is based around
0:43:24 > 0:43:27the flamboyant combination of colour, surface decoration
0:43:27 > 0:43:30and pure sculptural form.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33This is a period with no king to risk upstaging.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37What Elizabeth did was foster an element of competition
0:43:37 > 0:43:41among her courtiers, so they would be vying for the grandest armour
0:43:41 > 0:43:44to impress her at court pageantry and during tournaments,
0:43:44 > 0:43:47so you have someone like Sir Christopher Hatton,
0:43:47 > 0:43:49who has several armours in the album,
0:43:49 > 0:43:53paying up to £500 a time for a full garniture,
0:43:53 > 0:43:55and actually running up enormous debts,
0:43:55 > 0:43:57going to his grave owing £42,000,
0:43:57 > 0:44:00some chunk of it presumably from his armour commissions.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04£500 in the 16th century is an extraordinary amount of money.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06We're talking over a million pounds.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09Millions of pounds, certainly.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12It's probably the second most expensive thing you would buy,
0:44:12 > 0:44:15as a nobleman, after commissioning a castle or a palace.
0:44:16 > 0:44:21Elizabethan armour was a high fashion statement for the fabulously wealthy,
0:44:21 > 0:44:25but these armours mimic not just the stylish silhouette of the day,
0:44:25 > 0:44:28they even used metal-working technology
0:44:28 > 0:44:30to imitate fashionable tailoring.
0:44:30 > 0:44:32So if this was cloth,
0:44:32 > 0:44:36if this was textile clothing rather than metal clothing,
0:44:36 > 0:44:40there would be a number of different ways you could achieve these visual effects.
0:44:40 > 0:44:42That's right, yeah.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44There's a few areas, if this was fabric,
0:44:44 > 0:44:47that would've been left, unembellished.
0:44:47 > 0:44:52And then these crosses here would have been literally slashed,
0:44:52 > 0:44:53or cut, into the fabric,
0:44:53 > 0:44:58and puffs of another fabric pulled out to contrast.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03Then those puffs themselves have been further decorated.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05They've done it amazingly well on here.
0:45:05 > 0:45:09The minute I look at it, I can see the fabric effects
0:45:09 > 0:45:11that they are emulating here.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21Robert Dudley's armour, for example, is an amazing example of that
0:45:21 > 0:45:23exuberance of surface decoration.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26You can see this is where all the money's going,
0:45:26 > 0:45:28it's almost like they don't know where to stop.
0:45:28 > 0:45:34But they're also buying a moment of the Queen's attention, aren't they?
0:45:34 > 0:45:37They spent all this money on this fabulous armour
0:45:37 > 0:45:40so they can make an appearance and just for a couple of seconds,
0:45:40 > 0:45:43the Queen will go, "Oh, that's quite good.
0:45:43 > 0:45:45"Well done, Hatton!"
0:45:45 > 0:45:48And then it's on to something else and that's it, that's your moment.
0:45:48 > 0:45:52Politically, socially, those moments are enormously important.
0:45:52 > 0:45:56Yeah. It might bankrupt you, but it's probably worth it!
0:46:01 > 0:46:03Normal. At ease...
0:46:05 > 0:46:10So imagine I'm an Elizabethan nobleman, eager to please the Queen.
0:46:12 > 0:46:16I've been awarded a royal licence to have an armour made at Greenwich.
0:46:17 > 0:46:20I would've been received by Master Jacob,
0:46:20 > 0:46:23who would already know quite a lot about me.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26He'd know my noble rank and my position at court
0:46:26 > 0:46:30and would also have a pretty good idea of how much money I had to spend.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37Halder offered three distinct levels of quality.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43The lowest level was plain and largely undecorated.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46This was obviously the least expensive,
0:46:46 > 0:46:49and would typically be worn by lower-ranking nobleman.
0:46:49 > 0:46:51It was still a fine Greenwich armour,
0:46:51 > 0:46:53with beautiful shapes and lines,
0:46:53 > 0:46:57and all the precision fittings and fastenings that we have come expect
0:46:57 > 0:46:58from Halder and his staff.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05The second level was one quite expensive step up.
0:47:05 > 0:47:10This, believe it or not, is a medium-grade Greenwich armour.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12You wouldn't necessarily believe it
0:47:12 > 0:47:15if you just looked at this armour in isolation.
0:47:15 > 0:47:19It's very rich-looking - intentionally so.
0:47:19 > 0:47:22Halder's medium-level armours were usually decorated
0:47:22 > 0:47:25with etched and gilt strap work bands,
0:47:25 > 0:47:28but we know that a number of armours were made for different people,
0:47:28 > 0:47:31but with exactly the same decoration.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36So although it looks really impressive, it's not unique.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39It's a generic pattern.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43There are other knights commanding other bodies of soldiers,
0:47:43 > 0:47:45elsewhere in the country,
0:47:45 > 0:47:48wearing armours that are virtually identical to this one.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57Finally, there were the highest-quality armours,
0:47:57 > 0:48:00the ones commissioned by special patrons,
0:48:00 > 0:48:03for whom money was no object.
0:48:04 > 0:48:07Each of these was a totally unique expression
0:48:07 > 0:48:11of the identity and personality of the owner.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14Not only did they include very rich strap work
0:48:14 > 0:48:19but the bands are now filled with unique personalised symbols and motifs.
0:48:19 > 0:48:24This was full individualistic body art at its most ostentatious.
0:48:27 > 0:48:32These armours tell us a lot, not just about the individual noble owners
0:48:32 > 0:48:35but also about the impression that they wanted to make.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39You can see this in cases where the most ambitious patrons
0:48:39 > 0:48:43have more than one armour illustrated in the album.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46One such person was Sir Henry Lee.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51Lee was the Queen's champion for many years.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54He appeared on her behalf in tournaments
0:48:54 > 0:48:56and fought in her honour.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59Lee had at least three armours made at Greenwich
0:48:59 > 0:49:02for his own personal use.
0:49:02 > 0:49:04They are documented in the Almain Album.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07This is the armour Lee would have worn on the tournament field
0:49:07 > 0:49:12at Whitehall, in the annual jousts to celebrate Elizabeth's coronation.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15The Queen and all her court would have been there.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18If ever there was a time to look like a superhero, this was it.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23But Lee's third and last armour illustrated in the album is much plainer.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27Why would the level of decoration have dropped so drastically?
0:49:36 > 0:49:42We know that he had at least two other much, much richer armours.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47And yet this one is relatively plain.
0:49:47 > 0:49:53It does have narrow etched bands, very high quality decoration,
0:49:53 > 0:49:55but it's subtle.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59The overall effect you get of this armour is of plain, polished steel,
0:49:59 > 0:50:03so why is this so plain?
0:50:04 > 0:50:06It seems like a bit of a puzzle.
0:50:12 > 0:50:17In 1588, England faced one of the greatest threats in its history -
0:50:17 > 0:50:22an all-out invasion by the forces of King Philip II of Spain,
0:50:22 > 0:50:25the Armada. To understand Lee's plain armour,
0:50:25 > 0:50:29I think you have to look at the role he now played.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32As one of the country's elite military commanders,
0:50:32 > 0:50:35Lee needed to be ready to receive the assault.
0:50:35 > 0:50:39The lack of decoration may just have come down to a lack of time,
0:50:39 > 0:50:43or perhaps Lee felt that the opulence of his days as a champion jouster
0:50:43 > 0:50:46during peace time was utterly inappropriate
0:50:46 > 0:50:49in a time of national crisis.
0:50:49 > 0:50:52OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYS
0:51:03 > 0:51:05But even a plainer Greenwich armour
0:51:05 > 0:51:08would have looked magnificent on the battlefield.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10You have to consider how the troops Lee was supposed to
0:51:10 > 0:51:14be commanding would themselves have been armed.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17It certainly was not in fantastic Greenwich armour.
0:51:19 > 0:51:25Almost none of the armour of common English soldiers survives,
0:51:25 > 0:51:28but this medieval church contains a unique little armoury.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03So these objects have been here since the 16th century.
0:52:03 > 0:52:10They're in the original inventories, but what are we actually seeing?
0:52:10 > 0:52:13We're seeing four complete sets of armour
0:52:13 > 0:52:17that were worn by ordinary men in Mendlesham.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21It's a very...it's a very mixed-up group of objects,
0:52:21 > 0:52:26whatever the local people could get together to serve their military.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30Yes. I think we have to remember that this is really,
0:52:30 > 0:52:33if I can compare it, a sort of dad's army.
0:52:33 > 0:52:36They were ordinary people trained for battle.
0:52:39 > 0:52:44One of the extraordinary things about the armour here at Mendlesham
0:52:44 > 0:52:47is that it's nothing special.
0:52:48 > 0:52:52But Lee's Greenwich armour WAS special,
0:52:52 > 0:52:55and it was already distinctive enough.
0:52:55 > 0:52:59It was one thing to parade like a peacock in front of the Queen,
0:52:59 > 0:53:03quite another to command the respect of battle-hardened soldiers.
0:53:04 > 0:53:07With the country on a war footing in the 1580s,
0:53:07 > 0:53:11the armour workshops began working even faster than ever.
0:53:14 > 0:53:16But did this time of war stop the production
0:53:16 > 0:53:19of these very rich Greenwich armours?
0:53:19 > 0:53:21Not even a little.
0:53:25 > 0:53:29For me, this is one of the finest armours in the world.
0:53:30 > 0:53:33It's gilded and blued surfaces must have made its wearer
0:53:33 > 0:53:35look like a god.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41It's monstrously extravagant, even by Greenwich standards,
0:53:41 > 0:53:43and although the blueing has now faded,
0:53:43 > 0:53:47I think the workmanship remains the finest ever seen
0:53:47 > 0:53:49on any armour anywhere.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59But instead of being dominated by personal symbolism,
0:53:59 > 0:54:03this armour is all about the monogram of the Queen.
0:54:04 > 0:54:09Stuart, isn't it unusual to have the Queen's own monogram
0:54:09 > 0:54:10on this armour?
0:54:10 > 0:54:14The armour's extraordinary in terms of its decoration.
0:54:14 > 0:54:17It's a political statement and at the same time,
0:54:17 > 0:54:20balanced and harmonious.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23The sovereign's initials - the two Es back to back -
0:54:23 > 0:54:26that are found throughout the armour's decoration,
0:54:26 > 0:54:29they are joined by two rings which are the Clifford badge,
0:54:29 > 0:54:34hence the owner of this armour is uniting himself with the sovereign.
0:54:36 > 0:54:38Sir George Clifford, the Earl of Cumberland,
0:54:38 > 0:54:41was a genuine swashbuckler.
0:54:41 > 0:54:45He savaged the Spanish fleet from the deck of his 38-gun warship,
0:54:45 > 0:54:47the Scourge of Malice.
0:54:47 > 0:54:50It's amazing Errol Flynn never made a film about him.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53There was a cult of course of the Virgin Queen,
0:54:53 > 0:54:58and here, Clifford is presenting himself as a knight in her service,
0:54:58 > 0:55:00bearing her personal emblems,
0:55:00 > 0:55:05not only her initial but also the Tudor rose and the fleur-de-lys,
0:55:05 > 0:55:09both heraldic emblems of the British Empire.
0:55:10 > 0:55:15It's so overt. There's no Christian iconography on this armour.
0:55:15 > 0:55:19It almost seems like he's presenting himself in a kind of
0:55:19 > 0:55:21religious way, a devotional way,
0:55:21 > 0:55:25as Elizabeth's crusader, her foremost defender.
0:55:25 > 0:55:29There is no armour like this in the Greenwich workshops.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32Clifford had a political motive for this.
0:55:32 > 0:55:36We don't know what it was, but the fact he became Queen's champion five years later
0:55:36 > 0:55:40may suggest that this was a very smart move on his part.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43In the absence of a king, the Queen's champion
0:55:43 > 0:55:47was Elizabeth's representative on the field of combat.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50The Queen in male form.
0:55:50 > 0:55:54And there's a feminine delicacy in this armour.
0:55:54 > 0:55:57But also a tremendous flamboyance.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59This is the real genius of Clifford.
0:55:59 > 0:56:04He had created an armour that the Queen could imagine herself wearing.
0:56:06 > 0:56:11If she'd been a man, this is what Elizabeth would've looked like.
0:56:13 > 0:56:18Her father, the old King Henry VIII, he would've loved this.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38From its foundation by King Henry VIII in 1515,
0:56:38 > 0:56:40the Greenwich workshop had taken armour
0:56:40 > 0:56:46and forged it into a uniquely powerful English art form.
0:56:46 > 0:56:51Armour had helped turn Henry into an modern Renaissance monarch.
0:56:51 > 0:56:55It had placed Elizabeth at the heart of the cult of chivalry.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00It had led the kingdom's troops into battle.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04But now it was the end of the line for plate armour.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07Advances in military strategy and technology,
0:57:07 > 0:57:09especially firearms,
0:57:09 > 0:57:12meant that it had to be made ever thicker.
0:57:12 > 0:57:15To remain bulletproof, it had to be made so heavy
0:57:15 > 0:57:18that fighting men simply refused to wear it.
0:57:24 > 0:57:28The fires in the forges at Greenwich dwindled and died.
0:57:29 > 0:57:34In the 16th century, this little park was an incredibly important place.
0:57:37 > 0:57:41This is where all of Henry VIII's armours were made.
0:57:41 > 0:57:45This is where great Elizabethan nobleman came
0:57:45 > 0:57:50to have armours made to be worn in wars and tournaments,
0:57:50 > 0:57:53the defence of the Armada, wars with France.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57I don't see a blue plaque anywhere, or anything.
0:57:57 > 0:57:59Maybe there should be one.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08Today, nothing remains of the Royal armour workshop at Greenwich.
0:58:08 > 0:58:13What does remain are many of the great masterpieces
0:58:13 > 0:58:15of the Greenwich armourers,
0:58:15 > 0:58:19which allow us to stand in the presence of great princes and knights long dead.
0:58:21 > 0:58:23For those who take the time to look,
0:58:23 > 0:58:27they live on in ways their makers could never have imagined.
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