0:00:05 > 0:00:09In the early 17th century, the British Isles were engulfed
0:00:09 > 0:00:13by bitter religious and political conflict.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17The people divided into two warring tribes,
0:00:17 > 0:00:19The Roundheads -
0:00:19 > 0:00:23radical parliamentarians led by Oliver Cromwell,
0:00:23 > 0:00:26fighting to create a more egalitarian church and state -
0:00:26 > 0:00:28SHOUTING AND SWORDS CLASHING
0:00:28 > 0:00:31and the Cavaliers - royalists led by Charles I
0:00:31 > 0:00:35fighting to preserve the political and religious hierarchy
0:00:35 > 0:00:37and the King's authority.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39SHOUTING AND HORSES WHINNYING
0:00:39 > 0:00:42The conflict came to a head in civil war
0:00:42 > 0:00:47that would revolutionise the culture and politics of Britain.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49MEN SHOUTING AND GALLOPING HOOVES
0:00:51 > 0:00:55'It shattered unified society forever.'
0:00:55 > 0:00:56And ever since then we've had,
0:00:56 > 0:00:59essentially, some kind of two party system.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02The division of Roundhead and Cavalier
0:01:02 > 0:01:06got perpetuated, in many ways, into Whig and Tory,
0:01:06 > 0:01:08Liberal and Conservative,
0:01:08 > 0:01:10Conservative and Socialist.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15The Civil War was more than a battle for political power.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19It was also a struggle between two conflicting attitudes to life
0:01:19 > 0:01:22and that struggle continues to this day.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27I think we subconsciously divide ourselves into Roundheads and Cavaliers.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31It's not a mark of wealth, it's not a question of class distinction,
0:01:31 > 0:01:32it's a, sort of, cast of mind.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39The Cavalier is flamboyant, a person of the grand gesture,
0:01:39 > 0:01:41they're not particularly interested in the nitty-gritty
0:01:41 > 0:01:44of organising life and politics.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47They probably don't have a huge overall plan.
0:01:47 > 0:01:54Rather vainglorious but also terribly affable and very friendly.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58Beautiful, beautiful style, not much substance.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02Roundheads I would say, more austere,
0:02:02 > 0:02:04more careful, more organised.
0:02:04 > 0:02:09Dour, godly, sincere, determined, thoughtful...
0:02:09 > 0:02:12People of principle, people of purpose...
0:02:12 > 0:02:18Very militant, power hungry, rebellious...
0:02:20 > 0:02:22The battle between Roundheads and Cavaliers
0:02:22 > 0:02:25continues to shape our national life.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27In architecture...
0:02:29 > 0:02:30..in the press...
0:02:31 > 0:02:33..on the sports field...
0:02:36 > 0:02:38..and in the kitchen.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42To understand the origins of this great divide
0:02:42 > 0:02:47is to understand what it means to be British.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53Prepare to march. March on!
0:03:00 > 0:03:05August Bank Holiday, Godalming, in Surrey.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11And The Sealed Knot -
0:03:11 > 0:03:16the Roundheads and Cavaliers of 21st Century Britain -
0:03:16 > 0:03:17are on the march.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22They regularly gather to re-create battles
0:03:22 > 0:03:25from a civil war that forged our national character.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Very definitely pleased to say that I'm a royalist
0:03:33 > 0:03:34and definitely a Cavalier as well.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36And me now, you get Daddy!
0:03:36 > 0:03:40'Cavalier means a gentleman of the royalist ranks, really.'
0:03:40 > 0:03:44'I'm a Roundhead and I'm proud of it. Parliament for me.'
0:03:44 > 0:03:46One voice, one people, one vote.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48Without it where'd we be today?
0:03:48 > 0:03:51We'd all be living in the gutter, king'd still be living in castles.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55The first people to be called Roundheads
0:03:55 > 0:03:59were bands of apprentices rioting in London in 1641
0:03:59 > 0:04:03in protest against the power of the King and the Church of England.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07'Roundheads is a name that appeared out of the blue almost.'
0:04:07 > 0:04:08There was a short-lived fashion for people,
0:04:08 > 0:04:11Parliamentarians and Puritans in particular,
0:04:11 > 0:04:13to wear their hair very short
0:04:13 > 0:04:16and this made their heads look almost naked and bald or round.
0:04:16 > 0:04:21And the name stuck, even though the fashion itself did not last very long.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24The Roundheads were campaigning for a radical transformation
0:04:24 > 0:04:27of Britain's political and religious hierarchy.
0:04:28 > 0:04:34Radical Puritans had, in their day, a very advanced view of equality.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37That view came from their religious beliefs,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40where they were all equal before God,
0:04:40 > 0:04:41they were all going to be saved.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45And if they were all equal in religion
0:04:45 > 0:04:47they should be equal in politics
0:04:47 > 0:04:51and so the religion fed into the political demands.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54The Cavaliers were determined
0:04:54 > 0:04:57to stop this Puritanical Roundhead revolution.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02Cavaliers were fighting to protect the authority of the King
0:05:02 > 0:05:05and to protect the old established Church of England,
0:05:05 > 0:05:07and they saw the Roundheads as fanatics, essentially,
0:05:07 > 0:05:10who would bring down the church, bring down the state
0:05:10 > 0:05:12and bring down law and order itself.
0:05:12 > 0:05:13- ALL:- King Charles!
0:05:16 > 0:05:20'The origin of the term Cavalier comes from the Spanish, "caballero,"
0:05:20 > 0:05:25'and it's used particularly to identify Royalists.'
0:05:25 > 0:05:28Royalist courtiers on horsebacks
0:05:28 > 0:05:30with their swords, with their honour code
0:05:30 > 0:05:33and as the propaganda campaign kicks off
0:05:33 > 0:05:36it also has connotations of drunkenness,
0:05:36 > 0:05:40rowdy behaviour, and can be used, also, as an insult
0:05:40 > 0:05:44as well as a way of identifying the enemy.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51As the conflict spread across the British Isles,
0:05:51 > 0:05:54the two tribes expressed their political and religious differences
0:05:54 > 0:05:56in the way they dressed.
0:05:58 > 0:06:03Cavaliers were flamboyant and extravagant.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06Some even sported ribbons on their codpieces.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11Roundheads valued simplicity and modesty as signs of godliness.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18'Puritans, seeing someone dressed in fine silk clothes'
0:06:18 > 0:06:22showed exactly how morally degraded they were.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25A puritan believed you displayed your own moral integrity
0:06:25 > 0:06:26by quiet, modest dress.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30So seeing those individuals in court full of their fine silks
0:06:30 > 0:06:34really exposed their fundamental moral depravity.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45The war of the wardrobes was fought out in sharply-worded pamphlets -
0:06:45 > 0:06:47precursors of the newspaper.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54One Puritan pamphlet raged against the Cavalier's long hair -
0:06:54 > 0:06:57The Unloveliness of Lovelocks.
0:07:00 > 0:07:05John Lilburne, a radical Roundhead and pamphleteer,
0:07:05 > 0:07:09was a model for the puritan values of modesty and restraint.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12'John Lilburne had an engraving done of him'
0:07:12 > 0:07:16and it promoted this image of the man in plain clothes,
0:07:16 > 0:07:20in black dress, unadorned, plain,
0:07:20 > 0:07:25just a little bit of ruff collar and a very simple hairstyle -
0:07:25 > 0:07:29the classic Roundhead with a few curls around the ears.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34The Cavaliers defended their exuberant exhibitionism
0:07:34 > 0:07:37with pamphlets of their own -
0:07:37 > 0:07:38and it wasn't just the men.
0:07:40 > 0:07:45'There is one wonderful pamphlet, by a woman, denouncing what she called,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48' "The ill-bred plebeian zealotry of Puritans," '
0:07:48 > 0:07:50and insisting that it was entirely up to women
0:07:50 > 0:07:52to wear hair as long as they liked,
0:07:52 > 0:07:55to wear beauty spots and cosmetics,
0:07:55 > 0:07:59and denounced religion as just as fickle as fashion had ever been.
0:08:00 > 0:08:06The English Civil War dropped a pebble into our pond
0:08:06 > 0:08:10and those ripples keep coming, keep coming.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13MUSIC: "Vogue" by Madonna
0:08:20 > 0:08:22'I think if we look at modern fashion then, obviously,'
0:08:22 > 0:08:26a sense of permissiveness, and pleasure, and glamour,
0:08:26 > 0:08:28and extravagance has won out.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30So the Cavaliers have definitely won.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32# Vogue
0:08:32 > 0:08:35# Let your body groove to the music
0:08:35 > 0:08:37# Hey, hey, hey!
0:08:37 > 0:08:39# Vogue... # What are you looking at?
0:08:39 > 0:08:41'I do think that the exposure,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44'which goes on in our streets at the moment, is plain immodest.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47'And I did use to say to some of the girls on Strictly,'
0:08:47 > 0:08:49"Are you feeling a bit cold?"
0:08:49 > 0:08:53Because they weren't really wearing very much and I do disapprove.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57And I do think that people should conduct themselves modestly.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02I mean, just the sense of disapproval of everything
0:09:02 > 0:09:04still happens today.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08The idea that dressing up is wrong, anything indulgent is wrong.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13It's about distracting you away from your core value,
0:09:13 > 0:09:18which, you know, obviously, for the Roundheads was God, was religion.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26In the early 1640s,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29the Roundheads stepped up their parliamentary campaign
0:09:29 > 0:09:33for democratic reform of church and state...
0:09:33 > 0:09:35but the Cavaliers refused to compromise
0:09:35 > 0:09:37the supremacy of the monarchy.
0:09:38 > 0:09:43'By the summer of 1642, their differences are irreconcilable.'
0:09:43 > 0:09:47They can only be decided on the field of war by the use of the sword.
0:09:47 > 0:09:48And that's what happens,
0:09:48 > 0:09:53both Parliament and the King set up their standards in August 1642,
0:09:53 > 0:09:55and the English Civil War is under way.
0:09:56 > 0:10:02On October 23rd 1642, at Edgehill, in Warwickshire,
0:10:02 > 0:10:07Roundhead and Cavalier armies faced each other for the first time.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18The King's Cavalry were crack troops led by his nephew,
0:10:18 > 0:10:21the 23-year-old Prince Rupert of the Rhine.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25One of the most experienced cavalry commanders in Europe,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28he was the very image of a Cavalier.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32'He was so dashing, he was definitely romantic.'
0:10:32 > 0:10:38And I love the fact he used to ride into battle with his standard poodle,
0:10:38 > 0:10:42which the parliamentary forces thought was his familiar,
0:10:42 > 0:10:44running along beside him.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46How do you train a poodle to take somebody's throat out
0:10:46 > 0:10:49if they're trying to hamstring your horse, I don't really know!
0:10:55 > 0:10:59'This the saddle belonging to Prince Rupert of the Rhine.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02'An extremely posh saddle.'
0:11:03 > 0:11:08The most expensive accessory which a household can have is tapestry
0:11:08 > 0:11:10and this is a miniature piece of tapestry.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12It's also extremely comfortable
0:11:12 > 0:11:15by the standards of saddles of that day and most.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17Instead of the usual hard leather thing,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20what you have here is velvet plush,
0:11:20 > 0:11:22really deep, and maximum comfort.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29At Edgehill, Rupert launched the Cavalier's secret weapon...
0:11:31 > 0:11:34..a manoeuvre he'd learnt on the battlefields of Europe...
0:11:34 > 0:11:36MEN SHOUTING
0:11:36 > 0:11:38..the thunderbolt charge.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44'You hear the sound of thousands and thousands
0:11:44 > 0:11:48'of horses' hooves striking the ground at once'
0:11:48 > 0:11:50and it's louder than thunder.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54It's an extraordinary cacophony of noise,
0:11:54 > 0:11:56which sweeps you along with it,
0:11:56 > 0:11:59as finally the canter turns into the all-out charge.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03Horses encourage each other,
0:12:03 > 0:12:06so as one moves faster the whole mass begins to go,
0:12:06 > 0:12:11and it's rather like something being released from a bow or from a gun.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14'Prince Rupert knew the shock value of cavalry.'
0:12:14 > 0:12:16He went straight in and hard.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19He knew if he broke the enemy cavalry they would never reform.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21He could then dominate the field.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23MEN SHOUTING
0:12:25 > 0:12:30The Cavalier Thunderbolt scattered the Roundhead cavalry
0:12:30 > 0:12:33but then Prince Rupert and his high-spirited horsemen
0:12:33 > 0:12:34continued charging...
0:12:36 > 0:12:41..off the battlefield and toward the Roundhead encampment.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45'And one of the most glorious things about old-fashioned warfare'
0:12:45 > 0:12:47is your ability to loot the defeated enemy.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52And here in the wagons were not just the foodstuffs, and the drink,
0:12:52 > 0:12:55and the cloth for the ordinary soldiers
0:12:55 > 0:12:58but all the valuables of the officers.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00And so what Rupert's troopers did
0:13:00 > 0:13:02was set about plundering for hours -
0:13:02 > 0:13:06behind them the battle was largely being lost.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09The Cavaliers' lack of self-discipline
0:13:09 > 0:13:12allowed the Roundheads to regain the initiative.
0:13:12 > 0:13:17As darkness fell, the battle of Edgehill ended in stalemate.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22'Cavaliers don't do self-discipline at all,'
0:13:22 > 0:13:26that's, the absolute antithesis of Cavalier thought is self control,
0:13:26 > 0:13:28it's all about letting it go.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31You know, about just enjoying the moment.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34It's carpe diem, it's gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
0:13:34 > 0:13:35all of that kind of stuff.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40'A Cavalier person, in a way, reflects Cavalier principles,
0:13:40 > 0:13:43'which are they don't care too much. They are there for the moment.'
0:13:43 > 0:13:45They are dazzling rather than detailed,
0:13:45 > 0:13:49they are, they are there to entertain and to move life along
0:13:49 > 0:13:52but they're not there, really, to do the nitty-gritty.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59Over the next three years, as the Civil War swept through the country,
0:13:59 > 0:14:02the radical Parliamentarian Oliver Cromwell
0:14:02 > 0:14:05emerged as the Roundheads' most effective military leader.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07Open your order from the centre!
0:14:07 > 0:14:09In 1644, he began building
0:14:09 > 0:14:13Britain's first full-time professional fighting force...
0:14:13 > 0:14:14Port your pike!
0:14:14 > 0:14:16..the New Model Army.
0:14:16 > 0:14:17Double your files!
0:14:17 > 0:14:20It became a showcase for the Roundhead values
0:14:20 > 0:14:22of godliness and discipline.
0:14:38 > 0:14:43Without discipline you get nowhere in life
0:14:43 > 0:14:46and that's very true of today, never mind the 17th century.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50You think this is your birthday, don't you, Josh?
0:14:50 > 0:14:52You have to have discipline,
0:14:52 > 0:14:54you have to have order
0:14:54 > 0:14:59and Cromwell was very good at instilling order into his troops.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06We believe, "Work hard and play hard."
0:15:06 > 0:15:10It wouldn't be unfair to say Ruperts believe,
0:15:10 > 0:15:12"Play hard, and play a bit harder."
0:15:13 > 0:15:16So, that's the main difference between the two units.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24Discipline was absolutely essential.
0:15:24 > 0:15:29And we know that the Parliamentary troops were far better disciplined.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33Everything from drunkenness and fornication
0:15:33 > 0:15:35being punished severely...
0:15:35 > 0:15:39The penalty for blasphemy was particularly severe.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42Somebody who was a persistent blasphemer
0:15:42 > 0:15:46would have his tongue drawn out of his mouth with pincers,
0:15:46 > 0:15:48and bored through with a red hot iron,
0:15:48 > 0:15:50so he ended up with a hole in his tongue.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54Cromwell now set out to improve the performance
0:15:54 > 0:15:56of the Roundhead cavalry.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01He trained them, and trained them, and trained them,
0:16:01 > 0:16:04until they would charge home,
0:16:04 > 0:16:06the thunderbolt charge, like Prince Rupert's men,
0:16:06 > 0:16:07but after the charge,
0:16:07 > 0:16:10they would regroup, return to the battlefield,
0:16:10 > 0:16:13and be good for another charge.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17And that, of course, was a tremendous advance.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21The Roundheads also introduced a military uniform for the first time.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25The famous redcoat,
0:16:25 > 0:16:28worn by the British army for the next two centuries.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38The New Model Army recruited according to military competence,
0:16:38 > 0:16:40not aristocratic birthright.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45Britain's feudal hierarchy was being replaced by the newly-emerging
0:16:45 > 0:16:47Roundhead state.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55You have new institutions. The committee for the army,
0:16:55 > 0:17:00the committee for the navy. And so, the state bureaucracy
0:17:00 > 0:17:06is inevitably increasing to a size previously unheard of.
0:17:06 > 0:17:11I think a good case can be made that the modern state begins
0:17:11 > 0:17:15in the 1640s, with the Civil War and these new bureaucratic institutions.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23Roundhead bureaucracy introduced a new spirit of professionalism
0:17:23 > 0:17:25into British life, that still endures.
0:17:31 > 0:17:32We work all the hours that God sends,
0:17:32 > 0:17:34and if you don't die of a heart attack,
0:17:34 > 0:17:37you might make a nice profit in your old age,
0:17:37 > 0:17:38when you're too old to enjoy it.
0:17:38 > 0:17:44But certainly that "Cavalier joy", as it's called,
0:17:44 > 0:17:47has gone in our attitude to work.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50We've definitely become the Roundhead state.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55Undoubtedly there is a more austere
0:17:55 > 0:17:59and professional attitude in British life.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02The great cult of the amateur, the great cult of the eccentric,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05the person who sort of organised life from the seat of their pants
0:18:05 > 0:18:06has rather gone, I think.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09I think we certainly do expect people to have a plan,
0:18:09 > 0:18:12to stick to it, and to understand the detail of the machine.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26Deep in the Cavalier heartlands of modern Britain,
0:18:26 > 0:18:29the cult of the amateur lives on.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45Henley of course started as the Regatta in 1839,
0:18:45 > 0:18:48and amateur sport was absolutely at the heart of it.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57There was something fundamental about the way you looked at sport.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59The amateur was not all about winning,
0:18:59 > 0:19:03it was the playing the part. It was about the whole man.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05The professional was about the prize.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12Ready for the contest, boys? Come on.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15The flower, it's all dying on you.
0:19:17 > 0:19:18I'm more a Cavalier.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21Cavalier, sir. Cavalier attitude and mannerism.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24Cavalier. And that's all about team spirit and enjoying yourself.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26It's not about winning.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28It's just about taking part.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30The buttonholes at the veterans'
0:19:30 > 0:19:35National Flower Day Competition would humble any 17th century dandy.
0:19:36 > 0:19:41These are calla lilies, Asiatic lily and estrelicia,
0:19:41 > 0:19:45the bird of paradise flying in and taking nectar from it.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48This is plucked from the garden this morning.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52These are all hand-reared. and smelling delightful.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55But even in this Cavalier stronghold,
0:19:55 > 0:19:58there's been a Roundhead incursion.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10Two British Olympic hopes, Andy Triggs-Hodge
0:20:10 > 0:20:15and Pete Reed have brought Roundhead professionalism onto the water.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19Rowing is 24 hours a day for us.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23I pressurise myself in training, to make sure I'm improving
0:20:23 > 0:20:26on a daily basis. I feel that that's a decent Roundhead attitude.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29And it's finding anything we can do.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32It's all the little things that help you through the day.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36If you can reduce the amount of hours you drive, if you can sleep longer.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39The quality of your bed, it all makes a difference.
0:20:39 > 0:20:46It's applying how we execute our finest 2km race in the Olympic Games,
0:20:46 > 0:20:50and how every bit of life affects that in the four years prior.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52At the end of the day, it is all about winning.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55But Olympic success still calls
0:20:55 > 0:20:57for a touch of the old "Cavalier" spirit.
0:21:02 > 0:21:03When I get on the water,
0:21:03 > 0:21:07there's got to be a bit of me that's a bit of a loose cannon,
0:21:07 > 0:21:09and you've just got to go out and do crazy things,
0:21:09 > 0:21:14cos if you don't, you'll never achieve your personal best.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18I think it's fascinating the way most sports teams require
0:21:18 > 0:21:21a combination of Roundhead and Cavalier.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24The England rugby team, for example, requires the Roundhead,
0:21:24 > 0:21:27Jonny Wilkinson, to kick the ball through the post
0:21:27 > 0:21:31with metronomic efficiency, but it also needs those extraordinary,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34flamboyant figures on the wing, who can suddenly carve through.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38I think it's the same of all sports, and perhaps it's true of all teams.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42You need a Boycott, but you also need to have a Kevin Pietersen.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49On June 14th, 1645,
0:21:49 > 0:21:53Roundhead discipline was put to the test at Naseby, in Northamptonshire.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58The New Model Army prepared to confront the Cavalier forces.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04Prince Rupert began the battle with another thunderbolt charge.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08At Naseby, Prince Rupert was on the Royalist right wing.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13He charged and scattered the Parliamentary left wing.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17But made the same mistake as at Edgehill.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19His men scattered off in all directions,
0:22:19 > 0:22:22plundered the baggage train,
0:22:22 > 0:22:24and were not much use for the rest of the battle.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30Cromwell's new, well-drilled cavalry were now ready to be deployed
0:22:30 > 0:22:32with devastating effect.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36On the right wing, Cromwell charged home,
0:22:36 > 0:22:40scattered the Royalist left wing,
0:22:40 > 0:22:44and then got his men to come to the assistance of the cavalry,
0:22:44 > 0:22:48and then charge into the flank of the Royalist infantry,
0:22:48 > 0:22:50and win the Battle of Naseby.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Naseby annihilates the King's own army,
0:22:57 > 0:23:00it destroys a body of men he had built up over three years.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02And he never manages to rebuild it.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05It is the knockout blow of the English Civil War.
0:23:07 > 0:23:08By October 1647,
0:23:08 > 0:23:11the King was imprisoned,
0:23:11 > 0:23:13and the Cavaliers were in disarray.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17Roundhead forces were camped just outside the capital, here in Putney.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22The more radical Roundheads were now demanding their reward
0:23:22 > 0:23:25- a more equal society.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27They became known as the Levellers.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33These people wanted reform of the law,
0:23:33 > 0:23:37religious toleration, reform of election procedure.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40They wanted the soldiers who'd fought for parliament
0:23:40 > 0:23:42to be rewarded in some way.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44These were not mercenaries.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47These were, in the language of the day, developing "citizens".
0:23:47 > 0:23:50- Second colour, yes?- ALL: Yes.
0:23:50 > 0:23:55- Who's going to be second colour? - Alex.- No, we'll sort that out...
0:23:55 > 0:23:58Today, the 21st century Roundheads are following tradition,
0:23:58 > 0:24:01by voting for their commanding officer.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03You've got advice...
0:24:03 > 0:24:05It's important to have democracy,
0:24:05 > 0:24:07because the Royalists had dictatorship,
0:24:07 > 0:24:08and it didn't work.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11ALL: Aye.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15Inspired by radicals like John Lilburne,
0:24:15 > 0:24:17the Levellers published their demands for human rights
0:24:17 > 0:24:19and democratic reform
0:24:19 > 0:24:22in a manifesto called The Agreement Of The People.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26It's a radical vision of England.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29It's an England, eventually, in which he would like to see
0:24:29 > 0:24:33a greater extension in democracy. Voting rights for certain men.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38Men, not women, one should add. Not servants, not beggars.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40Religious toleration.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43This is the type of England Lilburne would like to see.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49It was a fascinating and fabulous moment in British history.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55The Levellers, by The Agreement of the People
0:24:55 > 0:24:58were proposing a bill of rights
0:24:58 > 0:25:02that would give individuals,
0:25:02 > 0:25:07autonomous individuals, certain rights against government.
0:25:07 > 0:25:12So that is a very important, profoundly important idea today.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18But the Roundhead forces were divided.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22Even a committed Parliamentarian like Cromwell
0:25:22 > 0:25:26feared the Levellers' egalitarian demands would lead to anarchy.
0:25:28 > 0:25:33For 13 days, here in the Church of St Mary in Putney,
0:25:33 > 0:25:36the two sides took part in a great debate
0:25:36 > 0:25:38about the future of the nation.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42The position of the generals was put by Cromwell's son-in-law,
0:25:42 > 0:25:46Henry Ireton, who said the vote should be restricted
0:25:46 > 0:25:49to those who traditionally had it.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53To the people who had a stake in the country, who owned a piece of land.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56From his point of view, this was only right and proper.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59Why should you have a say in government
0:25:59 > 0:26:02if you don't own anything, if you're poor?
0:26:02 > 0:26:05If you're beholden to a people who are more powerful than you,
0:26:05 > 0:26:08they will influence the way that you vote.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10This is a profound moment.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13There had been popular rebellions before in English history.
0:26:13 > 0:26:18These had been about particular issues - food, taxation -
0:26:18 > 0:26:24but not about a right to have a say in how government is chosen.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30The Levellers began a debate about citizenship and democracy
0:26:30 > 0:26:34that continues in modern Britain, and across the world.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40It was John Lilburne who said famously,
0:26:40 > 0:26:44that although we may die, our ideas will live on,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47and it will be for later generations to implement them.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53And, after all, this is what we are about today.
0:26:53 > 0:26:58I always laugh about the Conservatives who dismiss
0:26:58 > 0:27:02the European Convention on Human Rights,
0:27:02 > 0:27:04because it goes back to these times
0:27:04 > 0:27:06when torture was abolished,
0:27:06 > 0:27:10when religious freedom - comparatively - was permitted,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14when parliament was sovereign, when we were working out democracy.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17These rights go back to Cromwell and the Levellers,
0:27:17 > 0:27:19who argued them in this little Putney church.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24With the King in prison, the Roundheads could now
0:27:24 > 0:27:26set about moulding the nation in their own image.
0:27:27 > 0:27:33But playful Cavalier traditions were deeply rooted in British life.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37- Give me an 'O'.- ALL: O! - Give me an 'N'.- ALL: N!
0:27:37 > 0:27:38- Give me an 'I'.- ALL: I!
0:27:38 > 0:27:40- And an 'O'.- ALL: O!
0:27:40 > 0:27:45- And an 'N'.- ALL: N!- Onion! - CHEERING
0:27:45 > 0:27:48Here in Newent, Gloucestershire, the Roundhead struggle
0:27:48 > 0:27:52to crush the town's Cavalier spirit has never been forgotten.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57There's still remains of the Cavalier/Roundhead rivalry.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59Gloucester being a Roundhead stronghold,
0:27:59 > 0:28:02and the rural area surrounding being Cavalier.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04There was fighting going on.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06There was a battle around here,
0:28:06 > 0:28:09and it can take hundreds of years for that to wear off.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14SHOUTING
0:28:14 > 0:28:19Every year, the people of Newent reaffirm their Cavalier spirit
0:28:19 > 0:28:22with the pleasures of the 850-year-old Onion Fayre.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26- CHEERING - Who won?
0:28:26 > 0:28:29ALL: Five, four, three,
0:28:29 > 0:28:32- two, one.- Go!
0:28:32 > 0:28:37The climax of this festival is the World Onion-Eating Championship.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39Put your hands in the air when you're finished, lads,
0:28:39 > 0:28:42and open your mouths for the judges.
0:28:42 > 0:28:43CHEERING
0:28:50 > 0:28:52LOUD CHEERING
0:28:55 > 0:28:57I've been practising nearly all week.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00This is the fourth year now I've won it.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04That was my slowest time ever.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08Thank you very much. See you all again, hopefully, next year.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11I've got to be Cavalier, without a doubt.
0:29:11 > 0:29:16You have only got to look at today. The party atmosphere, the fun everybody is having.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19I couldn't imagine that under Cromwell.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23Puritans were not really in favour of fun.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26The Puritans felt that a lot of popular behaviour
0:29:26 > 0:29:28was bad for the people themselves, even if they liked doing it.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31Their approach was to do what was good for the people,
0:29:31 > 0:29:33not necessarily what the people merely wanted.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41But the Roundheads were confronted by a pleasure-loving people.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45And they were never happier than when they were getting drunk.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48Puritans pretty much find drunkenness a despicable
0:29:48 > 0:29:50form of immodesty.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54Drunkenness allows your sins to come to the fore.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56Drunkenness means you're out of control,
0:29:56 > 0:29:58and you can't act in a godly way.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02So, for the Puritan, the alehouses are these great sites of sinfulness,
0:30:02 > 0:30:04and have to be policed and disciplined.
0:30:07 > 0:30:12I don't know what makes the English a nation of binge drinkers.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14There is something about the inhabitants of this island
0:30:14 > 0:30:17which means we want to drink too much,
0:30:17 > 0:30:22and not just get amusing with it, but actually pick a fight with it.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25Of course, the Roundheads were terribly disapproving
0:30:25 > 0:30:29about alcohol, because it is fundamentally pretty anti-social.
0:30:29 > 0:30:33Drunken British people are absolutely appalling.
0:30:35 > 0:30:37Where the Cavaliers have won,
0:30:37 > 0:30:43is that, I think, most of the British population,
0:30:43 > 0:30:47whatever their political beliefs, actually,
0:30:47 > 0:30:51feel they have the right to get drunk if they want to.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53They have the right to eat what they want to,
0:30:53 > 0:30:57even if it makes them fat, they have the right not to go for a run.
0:30:57 > 0:30:59That's their business.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02They're perfectly happy with the government saying,
0:31:02 > 0:31:04"You can't get drunk and then drive."
0:31:04 > 0:31:09That's absolutely fine, but not, "You can't get drunk."
0:31:09 > 0:31:13Perhaps that's the line between Roundhead and Cavalier.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23In 1648, the Roundheads turned their attention
0:31:23 > 0:31:26to one of the most popular forms of public entertainment,
0:31:26 > 0:31:28the theatre.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31Parliament issued an order for the "utter suppression
0:31:31 > 0:31:35"and abolishing of all stage-plays."
0:31:35 > 0:31:38Puritans were very suspicious of the theatre,
0:31:38 > 0:31:40and almost everything involved with it.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44They thought some of the plots were dealing with unsuitable subjects.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47Violence, or bawdy comedy, they didn't like that.
0:31:47 > 0:31:49They strongly disapproved of the actors -
0:31:49 > 0:31:52the fact that all the female roles were taken
0:31:52 > 0:31:54by young boys in drag, essentially,
0:31:54 > 0:31:57and they said the emotions being created on stage were, of course,
0:31:57 > 0:32:00artificial and false emotions - that was bad.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02And finally they disapproved of the audiences,
0:32:02 > 0:32:05that different ages and sexes were jumbled together,
0:32:05 > 0:32:09and that theatres attracted pickpockets and prostitutes.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16The Roundhead mission to control the people's pleasures
0:32:16 > 0:32:20unleashed a culture war between high-minded Puritans
0:32:20 > 0:32:22and populist Cavaliers.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24It continues to this day.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29The Cavalier culture has absolutely won out, as far as the arts go,
0:32:29 > 0:32:30and erm...
0:32:30 > 0:32:35It is sort of pushing out high art by popular art.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40I feel deeply oppressed by what I see
0:32:40 > 0:32:43when I run through the programmes on the television.
0:32:43 > 0:32:47Oh! Watch it!
0:32:47 > 0:32:53What I suspect about the drama is that it's facile, mostly.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56It's designed to please.
0:32:56 > 0:32:57It knows that it has to please
0:32:57 > 0:33:01the greatest possible number of the population.
0:33:01 > 0:33:03Oh, that dirty, disgusting monster!
0:33:03 > 0:33:07There's a kind of run of repeated gestures,
0:33:07 > 0:33:11and repeated emotions, which people satisfy themselves on,
0:33:11 > 0:33:18like sausage in a bun, or ice cream.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26Those things are OK, but too much of them isn't good for your life,
0:33:26 > 0:33:29I feel, being a Roundhead.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35I think that this is a very old contest
0:33:35 > 0:33:39between the Roundhead critic of frivolity
0:33:41 > 0:33:43and the Cavalier enjoyer of it.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48- Welcome to Downton.- Lady Grantham, this is so kind of you.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52Not at all, Duke. We're delighted you could spare the time.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54Very popular shows, of any kind,
0:33:54 > 0:33:56bring out a sort of anger
0:33:56 > 0:34:01among a certain kind of journalist.
0:34:01 > 0:34:03I don't know what it is, quite.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09Sometimes, you could say it's envy of the fact that their message
0:34:09 > 0:34:12is reaching so few, and this other message,
0:34:12 > 0:34:15which they consider worthless, is reaching so many.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18That may be a good part of it.
0:34:18 > 0:34:24But certainly, there is a Roundhead anger
0:34:24 > 0:34:28at the extent of popular culture's reach.
0:34:28 > 0:34:33But I don't think that's ever going to change.
0:34:33 > 0:34:35Mama, may I present Matthew Crawley and Mrs Crawley.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37My mother, Lady Grantham.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41What should we call each other?
0:34:41 > 0:34:45We could always start with "Mrs Crawley" and "Lady Grantham".
0:34:49 > 0:34:51As the Puritan revolution unfolded,
0:34:51 > 0:34:55the Roundhead parliament was still being challenged by Cavaliers
0:34:55 > 0:34:57demanding the King's release from prison.
0:34:59 > 0:35:04In 1649, Cromwell took action to assert Parliament's supremacy.
0:35:04 > 0:35:09He put the King on trial for treason and war crimes against the people.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13Putting the King on trial was almost inconceivable.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15It is unthinkable.
0:35:15 > 0:35:17Kings have been killed on the battlefield,
0:35:17 > 0:35:19kings have been assassinated.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22But trying a monarch - a divinely appointed king,
0:35:22 > 0:35:25the power that exists by God's authority -
0:35:25 > 0:35:29trying a king by authority of the people is almost unprecedented.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35On the morning of January 20th, 1649,
0:35:35 > 0:35:39Charles I was marched into Westminster Hall.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43Up to 10,000 people watched
0:35:43 > 0:35:47as the Roundhead Solicitor General John Cook and his team
0:35:47 > 0:35:50prepared to make legal history.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53What they do is make an argument that separates the office of the King
0:35:53 > 0:35:55from the person of the King,
0:35:55 > 0:35:59and what they are prosecuting is a wilful, wicked tyrant -
0:35:59 > 0:36:02an individual not a king.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07Everyone was aware of what an ominous moment it was
0:36:07 > 0:36:11and what an iconic moment it was in British history.
0:36:11 > 0:36:16It was the symbol of the end of absolute power.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20And there's a telling moment. This is the King,
0:36:20 > 0:36:24the man who is used to having his every whim served.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28At some point, the silver top of his cane
0:36:28 > 0:36:30falls off and rolls to the floor.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34The King expects somebody else to pick it up
0:36:34 > 0:36:37but he's instructed to pick it up himself.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39And at that little moment, I think,
0:36:39 > 0:36:41we can see the theatre of power that's going on.
0:36:45 > 0:36:49These days, we've found a way
0:36:49 > 0:36:52to put heads of state on trial
0:36:52 > 0:36:55for a particularly heinous crime,
0:36:55 > 0:36:57a crime against humanity,
0:36:57 > 0:37:01against which their immunity does not operate.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06And so Milosevic, Saddam Hussein,
0:37:06 > 0:37:11Charles Taylor, Karadzic, and so forth,
0:37:11 > 0:37:13will be prosecuted
0:37:13 > 0:37:18on the basis that John Cook took the first nervous step
0:37:18 > 0:37:22to bring down an all-powerful head of state,
0:37:22 > 0:37:26namely on the grounds of their commission
0:37:26 > 0:37:30of a crime against humanity, a crime against their own people.
0:37:35 > 0:37:40After a seven-day trial the King was found guilty.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43He would be executed here,
0:37:43 > 0:37:46outside the banqueting hall of Whitehall Palace.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52So January 30th, just before two o'clock,
0:37:52 > 0:37:55a very nervous, anxious Charles I stepped out onto the scaffold,
0:37:55 > 0:37:57having said farewell to his family.
0:38:02 > 0:38:04And a few moments later, the axe fell.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07SCREAMING
0:38:08 > 0:38:12Around the gathered crowd, people reacted by fainting,
0:38:12 > 0:38:16women miscarried. There was tremendous horror.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18But that horror reverberated around the kingdom.
0:38:18 > 0:38:22It was as if a great cataclysm in a sense of order had happened.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25Like the twin towers, like those planes smashing into them,
0:38:25 > 0:38:28there's a sudden horror and chaos.
0:38:31 > 0:38:36The Roundheads now abolished the monarchy and the House of Lords.
0:38:37 > 0:38:39An English republic was established.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46The Roundhead revolution intensified.
0:38:49 > 0:38:50The King had encouraged
0:38:50 > 0:38:53the installation of ornate stained-glass windows
0:38:53 > 0:38:55in churches all over the country.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59The Roundheads were now determined to smash them
0:38:59 > 0:39:03as they imposed their own austere form of Protestantism.
0:39:03 > 0:39:05Charles loved ritual,
0:39:05 > 0:39:06he loved beauty,
0:39:06 > 0:39:09he loved holiness as a sort of experience
0:39:09 > 0:39:11that brought someone closer to God,
0:39:11 > 0:39:17whereas Puritans loved the idea of plain, unadorned, simple -
0:39:17 > 0:39:19no stained glass in their churches.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24In 1651, the Roundheads went into action
0:39:24 > 0:39:27here at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31The orders from the newly-installed dean
0:39:31 > 0:39:33are written in the church records.
0:39:33 > 0:39:38"All pictures representing God, good or bad angels, or saints,
0:39:38 > 0:39:41"shall be forthwith taken down out of our church windows."
0:39:41 > 0:39:44Well, when the windows were taken out,
0:39:44 > 0:39:47they were laid out on the floor
0:39:47 > 0:39:50and one of the canons who was appointed by Cromwell
0:39:50 > 0:39:52was so against them being preserved
0:39:52 > 0:39:54that he furiously stamped up and down on it,
0:39:54 > 0:39:56destroying most of the glass.
0:40:05 > 0:40:09Only one out of the 20 stained-glass windows
0:40:09 > 0:40:11survived the Roundhead assault,
0:40:11 > 0:40:15perhaps because it contains a powerful Roundhead message.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19The prophet Jonah is on his way to warn the people of Nineveh
0:40:19 > 0:40:22that they must give up the pleasures of the flesh
0:40:22 > 0:40:24or face the wrath of God.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36It's fantastic. I think it's got so much more detail
0:40:36 > 0:40:39than any other stained-glass window in the cathedral
0:40:39 > 0:40:41and every time you look at it, you see something new,
0:40:41 > 0:40:45there's always something that sticks out that you've never seen before.
0:40:54 > 0:40:56For centuries, the smashed stained-glass windows
0:40:56 > 0:40:58were thought to have been totally destroyed.
0:41:00 > 0:41:05But 13 years ago, the verger spotted something in a pile of rubbish
0:41:05 > 0:41:08that was being cleared out of a coal hole.
0:41:08 > 0:41:10It was like discovering buried treasure.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13It was amazing.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17You think, "What have I found?"
0:41:17 > 0:41:20If you look at the glass without light behind it,
0:41:20 > 0:41:24it looks just like a piece of slate, almost.
0:41:24 > 0:41:27But then when I show it to the light...
0:41:27 > 0:41:30This is the first piece of glass I found.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32You can imagine my surprise!
0:41:33 > 0:41:36We've probably most likely got Christ
0:41:36 > 0:41:38disputing with the Doctors of Divinity
0:41:38 > 0:41:43and all we have here are some of the doctors in that scene.
0:41:43 > 0:41:45The central figure, which will have been Christ,
0:41:45 > 0:41:46will have been destroyed at the time.
0:41:46 > 0:41:52So it's very unlikely that there'll be any images of Christ left.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58ALL CHANT: Rooster! Rooster! Rooster!
0:42:01 > 0:42:06In 1653, Cromwell was confirmed as head of state,
0:42:06 > 0:42:12Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.
0:42:12 > 0:42:16His government intruded ever more deeply into people's lives
0:42:16 > 0:42:19and passed a law to make Sunday
0:42:19 > 0:42:22a day of worship and quiet contemplation.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27Sunday should be hanging out with the guys, having a good time,
0:42:27 > 0:42:29drinking a few drinks, watching some football.
0:42:29 > 0:42:33There are enough things we're not allowed to do during the rest of the week,
0:42:33 > 0:42:36so we deserve to do something we want to do on a Sunday.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38Definitely not sitting in church and thinking.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41BELL CHIMES
0:42:44 > 0:42:47The Puritans wanted the whole of the Lord's day, as they called it,
0:42:47 > 0:42:50to be devoted to religion alone, exclusively,
0:42:50 > 0:42:54and they pushed through a series of ordinances and parliamentary acts
0:42:54 > 0:42:56banning all the things of which they disapproved,
0:42:56 > 0:43:00so that every conceivable activity pretty well was prohibited.
0:43:05 > 0:43:07Hundreds of activities were banned.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11It was forbidden to ride a horse...
0:43:11 > 0:43:15sit on your own threshold...
0:43:15 > 0:43:18or even to knit on a Sunday.
0:43:21 > 0:43:23Where Puritans were in control locally,
0:43:23 > 0:43:25they enforced these restrictions very tightly indeed,
0:43:25 > 0:43:28and one remarkable case in a village not far from here -
0:43:28 > 0:43:29Barnsley in Gloucestershire -
0:43:29 > 0:43:35two village women were put in the stocks merely for having gone for a Sunday afternoon stroll,
0:43:35 > 0:43:37even though they had already attended
0:43:37 > 0:43:39two church services that morning.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44Roundhead values would define the British Sunday
0:43:44 > 0:43:47well into the 20th century.
0:43:47 > 0:43:51Strict licensing laws, shops closed,
0:43:51 > 0:43:54no sporting fixtures - an obligatory day of rest.
0:43:56 > 0:43:58Sunday...
0:43:59 > 0:44:02Without a doubt, the worst day of the week.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07Everything was shut and the transport didn't run very much.
0:44:07 > 0:44:09You were not allowed to do anything.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14Church in the morning, walk to the zoo - wow -
0:44:14 > 0:44:16Sunday lunch, nothing.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20My father said he had to read books
0:44:20 > 0:44:23about the holy deaths of little children
0:44:23 > 0:44:25and the little children would lie in their beds and die
0:44:25 > 0:44:28and the angels would come down and take them to heaven.
0:44:28 > 0:44:32And my father said it was absolutely awful, but this was how it was.
0:44:32 > 0:44:34Just like hell.
0:44:34 > 0:44:38So I can't really support Cromwell and the repression of Sunday sports.
0:44:49 > 0:44:53In August 1994, the Sunday Shopping Act
0:44:53 > 0:44:58brought 300 years of Roundhead Sundays to an end.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00I think if our Roundhead forebears
0:45:00 > 0:45:02could see what we've done to Sundays,
0:45:02 > 0:45:06they'd be spinning in their graves like fury.
0:45:06 > 0:45:10You can hear their bucket top boots hitting the top of the coffin, just like this.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13Because we have 100% ruined Sunday
0:45:13 > 0:45:16compared to everything that they believed in.
0:45:16 > 0:45:20I would like Sunday to be a quiet day.
0:45:20 > 0:45:24I would like everything to stop on a Sunday, as it used to,
0:45:24 > 0:45:28for people to be able to spend the day with their families,
0:45:28 > 0:45:32for the church bells to ring out across the land,
0:45:32 > 0:45:35and for there to be an active interest in church.
0:45:35 > 0:45:37That is what I would like to see.
0:45:37 > 0:45:41It's not what I'm going to see in my lifetime.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45We fear Sunday, I think.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48That's the problem that we've got -
0:45:48 > 0:45:51we fear Sunday because it is a void.
0:45:51 > 0:45:55If we're not careful, we might have to sit still,
0:45:55 > 0:46:00be quiet and think about stuff, and this is the thing that none of us
0:46:00 > 0:46:02let ourselves do any more.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04And, of course, for the Puritans
0:46:04 > 0:46:06that's exactly what you should do on a Sunday.
0:46:06 > 0:46:13You should use it as an opportunity to explore your mind,
0:46:13 > 0:46:14explore your spirituality.
0:46:19 > 0:46:23Sunday had now been claimed for the Roundheads.
0:46:23 > 0:46:25At the same time, they also passed a law
0:46:25 > 0:46:28to abolish the celebration of Christmas.
0:46:30 > 0:46:32Puritans strongly disapproved of Christmas.
0:46:32 > 0:46:36They pointed out that there was no evidence that Christ was born on that particular day.
0:46:36 > 0:46:38They pointed out too
0:46:38 > 0:46:41that it had its origins as a Pagan mid-winter festival
0:46:41 > 0:46:43and they strongly disapproved of the fact
0:46:43 > 0:46:46that it had been turned into a general occasion for feasting,
0:46:46 > 0:46:49merry-making, drinking, general profanity.
0:46:49 > 0:46:51All those things were wrong in their eyes.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56How miserable can you be?
0:46:56 > 0:46:59How miserable can you be
0:46:59 > 0:47:01that you do away with Christmas?
0:47:03 > 0:47:05That should say it all about Oliver Cromwell!
0:47:05 > 0:47:09I don't know how people can admire Cromwell!
0:47:09 > 0:47:11# Have a holly jolly Christmas
0:47:11 > 0:47:15# It's the best time of the year
0:47:15 > 0:47:18# I don't know if there'll be snow... #
0:47:18 > 0:47:21The Cavaliers fought back.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24They circulated pamphlets
0:47:24 > 0:47:27attacking the Puritan assault on the old Christmas.
0:47:28 > 0:47:30People hated the fact Christmas was abolished
0:47:30 > 0:47:34and even more hated the idea that they were supposed to treat it simply as another working day,
0:47:34 > 0:47:39and, for the most part, they refused to accept that new regulation.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43Despite the full force of the Roundhead state,
0:47:43 > 0:47:46Cromwell failed to crush the Cavalier spirit of Christmas.
0:47:50 > 0:47:55What you see now is a Christmas which is almost entirely Pagan.
0:47:55 > 0:47:58Bringing in Christmas trees, giving of gifts, lighting candles,
0:47:58 > 0:48:01all of that - this is the very much older history
0:48:01 > 0:48:04that Cromwell couldn't eliminate.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09The Roundheads have been absolutely defeated on Christmas.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12I think Jesus may have been defeated on Christmas.
0:48:13 > 0:48:17HUNTING HORN SOUNDS
0:48:25 > 0:48:28It's like a cavalry charge, and it's every man for himself.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31You have to be an adrenaline junkie to do it. You really do.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35In the early 21st century,
0:48:35 > 0:48:39there was a new stand-off between Roundheads and Cavaliers.
0:48:45 > 0:48:49In 2004, demonstrators invaded Parliament
0:48:49 > 0:48:53to protest against the passing of the Hunting Act,
0:48:53 > 0:48:55which outlawed hunting foxes with hounds.
0:48:58 > 0:49:02And the two tribes went to war once more.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06I think very much that those of us who support hunting see themselves,
0:49:06 > 0:49:11and probably rightly, as the descendants of the Cavaliers.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20Certainly, the rank and file of the Parliamentarians,
0:49:20 > 0:49:23if they were alive today, they would be hunt saboteurs.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29The Atherstone Hunt in Leicestershire
0:49:29 > 0:49:30is one of the oldest in Britain.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35A loophole in the law permits them to continue running with hounds,
0:49:35 > 0:49:39but only if a bird of prey is used for the kill.
0:49:42 > 0:49:44Parliament has set out to ban hunting,
0:49:44 > 0:49:48and that makes us a criminal. Should we kill a fox, we are a criminal.
0:49:50 > 0:49:52Here we are.
0:49:52 > 0:49:55There's absolutely loads of kit in this little bag.
0:49:55 > 0:50:00From hats to gloves to nets...
0:50:00 > 0:50:03Members of the League Against Cruel Sports
0:50:03 > 0:50:06are now keeping close watch on hunts across Britain.
0:50:06 > 0:50:10If the hunt is breaking the law, then with a bit of luck
0:50:10 > 0:50:12we'll get good evidence, to catch them, possibly,
0:50:12 > 0:50:16with their pants down, you know, by being hidden.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23I think it's important that Parliament's will is upheld,
0:50:23 > 0:50:28simply because if you believe in democracy, the law is the law.
0:50:28 > 0:50:34And if we start choosing which law we want to abide by,
0:50:34 > 0:50:38then we will soon slip into anarchy and civil unrest.
0:50:38 > 0:50:40HUNTING HORN SOUNDS
0:50:41 > 0:50:45A Roundhead Britain? Haven't we just lived through it?
0:50:45 > 0:50:48People being told what they can and cannot do,
0:50:48 > 0:50:50limitations on all our activities.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54And I don't just mean hunting - there are plenty of other activities
0:50:54 > 0:50:58that were limited by Mr Blair and his friends.
0:50:58 > 0:51:03I'm afraid I think that modern Britain is decidedly Roundhead
0:51:03 > 0:51:05because I measure that by,
0:51:05 > 0:51:09"How much intrusion do we have from the state in our daily lives?"
0:51:09 > 0:51:12Oh, and they try to protect us against ourselves
0:51:12 > 0:51:15like very good Roundheads.
0:51:15 > 0:51:17To play conkers, you must put goggles on,
0:51:17 > 0:51:21don't do the backstroke in swimming baths in case you crack your dear little head at the end of it -
0:51:21 > 0:51:24all with the force of law!
0:51:24 > 0:51:27Oh, Cromwell would have loved it.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29He would have loved it.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32# ..But he will have a right
0:51:32 > 0:51:36# To be a pilgrim. #
0:51:38 > 0:51:40For all men and women of good will,
0:51:40 > 0:51:44and especially for thy servant Oliver Cromwell...
0:51:44 > 0:51:47ALL: We give thee thanks, O God.
0:51:47 > 0:51:53For all associated with him in the struggle for liberty,
0:51:53 > 0:51:55justice and truth...
0:51:55 > 0:51:58ALL: We give thee thanks, O God.
0:51:58 > 0:52:03Oliver Cromwell ruled as Lord Protector for nearly five years
0:52:03 > 0:52:07until his death on September the 3rd, 1658.
0:52:07 > 0:52:09Every year on this day,
0:52:09 > 0:52:13the Cromwell Association gathers to mark the anniversary.
0:52:15 > 0:52:16Cromwell is one of the great Britons
0:52:16 > 0:52:19and, indeed, at the end of the last millennium
0:52:19 > 0:52:22when they had various polls, he did make the top ten.
0:52:22 > 0:52:24He didn't come first, unfortunately,
0:52:24 > 0:52:26but he is one of the formative influences
0:52:26 > 0:52:29in English and British history, for good and ill.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32He's still a controversial person. He should still be remembered.
0:52:34 > 0:52:37Cromwell was a great man. A greatly great man.
0:52:37 > 0:52:41He bestrides English history like a colossus.
0:52:41 > 0:52:46I mean, the time of his rule is usually whited out,
0:52:46 > 0:52:48because he's the only non-royal,
0:52:48 > 0:52:50which makes him, of course,
0:52:50 > 0:52:55enormously important and infinitely superior to any of the royals.
0:52:57 > 0:52:59I have no instinct towards vandalism at all
0:52:59 > 0:53:03except when I pass Oliver Cromwell's statue outside the House of Commons
0:53:03 > 0:53:05and I dearly wish I could push it over.
0:53:12 > 0:53:15The conflict goes on.
0:53:15 > 0:53:17But even the Cromwell Association
0:53:17 > 0:53:19has called a truce with the monarchy.
0:53:22 > 0:53:27We pray for our Queen and for all who are called at this time
0:53:27 > 0:53:31to serve the state and lead the people.
0:53:31 > 0:53:36'I don't think there is a contradiction in having prayers for both,'
0:53:36 > 0:53:38the protector who was a regicide
0:53:38 > 0:53:40'and having a prayer for the reigning monarch.'
0:53:40 > 0:53:42Amen.
0:53:42 > 0:53:44The impact of the Civil War,
0:53:44 > 0:53:47the tide of blood, the regicide, all the overturning,
0:53:47 > 0:53:50had a lasting effect on the British and the English psyche.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53It makes us shy away from civil war, it makes us shy away from extremism.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56So we're a broad church, and we're inclusive.
0:53:58 > 0:54:03Within two years of Cromwell's death, the monarchy was restored.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05MUSIC: God Save The Queen
0:54:07 > 0:54:09A Cavalier triumph.
0:54:09 > 0:54:13But the new constitution placed significant limits on royal power.
0:54:15 > 0:54:19The Roundheads had put Britain on the road to parliamentary democracy.
0:54:22 > 0:54:26If we look at the 21st century, I think we are a republic in all but name.
0:54:26 > 0:54:29Of course, we have a Queen,
0:54:29 > 0:54:33we will soon have King Charles III...
0:54:35 > 0:54:38..but in fact they have no power
0:54:38 > 0:54:42and I think this is the legacy of the Roundheads.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54Over 350 years after the Civil War came to an end,
0:54:54 > 0:54:59Roundhead values have even infiltrated the Royal Family.
0:55:00 > 0:55:05The Queen herself, it seems to me, is by instinct a sort of Roundhead -
0:55:05 > 0:55:06dutiful, she knows the rules,
0:55:06 > 0:55:09she abides by a code of behaviour that is very precise
0:55:09 > 0:55:13and very austere, in some ways.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15I mean, she lives a sort of very careful life.
0:55:15 > 0:55:19Whereas Prince Charles, it seems to me, is sort of King Charles again.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22There is somebody, we understand, to put toothpaste on his toothbrush.
0:55:22 > 0:55:25This is a man who probably does deep down believe
0:55:25 > 0:55:27in the divine right of kings.
0:55:28 > 0:55:30Centuries of conflict
0:55:30 > 0:55:33have had a surprising effect on the British character.
0:55:33 > 0:55:38It now seems there's a little bit of Roundhead and Cavalier in us all.
0:55:43 > 0:55:46In some ways, it's a strangely self-defining aspect
0:55:46 > 0:55:50of our politics that people feel they are slotted into one or the other
0:55:50 > 0:55:53and then spend quite a lot of time trying to break the mould.
0:55:53 > 0:55:55I think fascinatingly at the moment we probably have
0:55:55 > 0:55:59a prime minister who is, by instinct, a Cavalier,
0:55:59 > 0:56:02but realises that the whole Bullingdon Club,
0:56:02 > 0:56:06"let your hair down" person who is kind of born to rule
0:56:06 > 0:56:11is a very dangerous aspect of his perhaps unfair public persona.
0:56:11 > 0:56:13So Cameron spends a great deal of his time,
0:56:13 > 0:56:16I think, trying to play down the Cavalier aspects of his image
0:56:16 > 0:56:19and trying to play up the Roundhead ones.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22Conversely, Ed Miliband seems to me to be probably a natural Roundhead.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25He is somebody who seems to me to have a very clear and crisp set of ideas
0:56:25 > 0:56:27of where he wants to go.
0:56:27 > 0:56:29On the other hand, he's fighting the perception
0:56:29 > 0:56:31that actually he's very boring.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35I think the Cavaliers did win.
0:56:35 > 0:56:39We have a society which is a pyramid of snobbery and wealth.
0:56:39 > 0:56:42That seems to me a Cavalier Britain.
0:56:46 > 0:56:49We are definitely getting more Cavalier.
0:56:49 > 0:56:51We are now getting more Cavalier.
0:56:51 > 0:56:53And that's not a good thing.
0:56:54 > 0:56:59There are no Roundheads telling you what to do and what not to do,
0:56:59 > 0:57:02you are encouraged to be a Cavalier and just get on with it on your own.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05But, actually, most people are now suddenly realising
0:57:05 > 0:57:08that you've got to have a bit of Roundhead backbone
0:57:08 > 0:57:10in your Cavalier existence
0:57:10 > 0:57:12or else it all implodes.
0:57:14 > 0:57:15Over the last few decades
0:57:15 > 0:57:19we've probably become a more Roundhead society.
0:57:19 > 0:57:21I think we are much more carefully controlled,
0:57:21 > 0:57:23there are many more CCTV cameras around
0:57:23 > 0:57:27that I think Oliver Cromwell and his like would certainly have approved of.
0:57:27 > 0:57:30On the other hand, I think, as a reaction to that,
0:57:30 > 0:57:34when the Cavalier spirit breaks out, it breaks out with all feathers on.
0:57:34 > 0:57:38And so I think in a way we've probably become more extreme
0:57:38 > 0:57:41in both aspects of the national character.
0:57:41 > 0:57:42Roundhead...
0:57:44 > 0:57:46..or Cavalier?
0:57:46 > 0:57:48The battle continues.
0:58:11 > 0:58:14Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd