0:00:08 > 0:00:09600 years ago,
0:00:09 > 0:00:14the mountains and valleys of Wales rang with the sound of war.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24For one tantalising moment,
0:00:24 > 0:00:28Wales stood on the threshold of freedom and independence.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33After five years of armed resistance against English rule,
0:00:33 > 0:00:36the Welsh people did the unthinkable.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44A Welsh army, ten thousand strong,
0:00:44 > 0:00:46invaded England.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52It was a decisive moment in a vicious struggle for Wales
0:00:52 > 0:00:54between the English king, Henry IV,
0:00:54 > 0:00:58and the leader of the last great Welsh rebellion, Owen Glendower.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04I've come here with my son Dan to find out what happened.
0:01:04 > 0:01:10I'll be looking at the strategies the two military leaders used to try and outwit each other.
0:01:10 > 0:01:15And I'll be looking at what life was like for the ordinary people caught up in these violent events.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23- WELSH ACCENT: - A fire has been lit that cannot go out.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26We will smash all these laws and chains that hold us down.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33I'll be looking at medieval armour,
0:01:33 > 0:01:38tactics and weapons of mass destruction.
0:01:41 > 0:01:46We'll be tracing the story of a decade of Welsh defiance.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50It lasted longer than any Welsh rebellion ever
0:01:50 > 0:01:54and it brought English rule to its knees.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56It was the battle for Wales.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26By the year 1400, England had ruled Wales for a century.
0:02:33 > 0:02:38The Welsh people had suffered every kind of indignity and brutality
0:02:38 > 0:02:42at the hands of the English occupiers.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49Even though the English and Welsh lived side by side,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53governed by the same parliament, they were treated differently in law.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58There were restrictions on how much beer and mead the Welsh could brew.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01They weren't allowed to own land within ten miles of a town.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05If they wanted to carry arms, they had to swear loyalty to the king.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10There were even local taxes that the Welsh did have to pay and the English didn't.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12It was racial apartheid.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16They made it very clear from the laws that we, er,
0:03:16 > 0:03:21were no more than dogs or pigs or rats or whatever lowly creatures to them, you know.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24I hate the English. I hate what they've done to Wales
0:03:24 > 0:03:27and I hate the way they've made the Welsh people feel.
0:03:34 > 0:03:39This oppressed nation was about to explode into open rebellion.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42All it needed was a leader.
0:03:46 > 0:03:51That leader, the greatest hero in Welsh history,
0:03:51 > 0:03:55was to emerge from a dispute over a small piece of land.
0:03:56 > 0:04:04In 1400, a Welsh noble had some of his land here in north-east Wales seized by an English neighbour.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08The Welshman appealed to Parliament in London for his land back,
0:04:08 > 0:04:13but Parliament threw out his appeal and insulted him and all Welshmen
0:04:13 > 0:04:17by saying, "What care we for these barefoot rascals?"
0:04:17 > 0:04:21The English parliament had picked on the wrong man.
0:04:24 > 0:04:29This was one Welshman who would not accept insult and rejection.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32His name was Owen Glendower
0:04:32 > 0:04:35and he vowed to take revenge.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40Little is known about how he looked.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44He was 40 years old and descended from Welsh royalty.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46He knew the English well.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50He'd studied law in London and fought in their army.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53He was a respected military commander -
0:04:53 > 0:04:57ideal credentials for a good rebel leader.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04Glendower became a magnet for other Welsh nobles.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07He was a leader they could follow.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10On the 16th of September 1400,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12at his grand fortress home,
0:05:12 > 0:05:16they proclaimed him Owen Glendower, Prince of Wales.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20It was an act of the utmost defiance.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23For the last 100 years, the title of Prince of Wales
0:05:23 > 0:05:26had been reserved for the eldest son of the King of England.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33Glendower had seized back the title
0:05:33 > 0:05:36and now he intended to seize back Wales.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39It would be no easy task.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52For 100 years, the kings of England had suppressed the Welsh
0:05:52 > 0:05:56by establishing great fortresses like this one at Harlech.
0:05:56 > 0:06:02These English-controlled castles, and the towns that surrounded them, formed an iron ring around Wales.
0:06:04 > 0:06:09The castles at Conwy, Beaumaris in Anglesey, Carmarthen and Harlech
0:06:09 > 0:06:13are as elaborate as any strongholds in 14th-century Europe,
0:06:13 > 0:06:18and there are scores of other castles around the coast of Wales,
0:06:18 > 0:06:21up the middle of it and along the border with England.
0:06:21 > 0:06:27There are more castles to this day per square mile in Wales than anywhere else in the world.
0:06:35 > 0:06:42Every castle housed a garrison of English soldiers to enforce the law and keep the Welsh at bay.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50Those who had proclaimed Owen Glendower Prince of Wales
0:06:50 > 0:06:54signed up to a campaign to drive the English out.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59A fight back was about to begin.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07The rebels' first target was Rhuthun in north-east Wales.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20Glendower chose Rhuthun with good reason.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23It was the home of the English lord who'd stolen Glendower's land,
0:07:23 > 0:07:27and also it had many English settlers.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31The 18th of September 1400
0:07:31 > 0:07:36was a day that Lord Rhuthun and his town would never forget.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43Owen Glendower led 250 rebels into the town
0:07:43 > 0:07:46and created mayhem.
0:07:57 > 0:08:03They set fire to the town, and in the chaos they stole valuables, food, weapons and livestock.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15Only three buildings were left standing, including the castle.
0:08:15 > 0:08:20The damage amounted to £12,000, many millions in today's money.
0:08:23 > 0:08:28For Owen Glendower's men, the rebellion had got off to a good start.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31To at last get back...
0:08:31 > 0:08:33take something back,
0:08:33 > 0:08:37take back, after all, what was ours, what they'd taken from us,
0:08:37 > 0:08:38was fantastic.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45I just felt proud to be part of the, er, the start of something,
0:08:45 > 0:08:49you know. Um, the people looked at us as heroes.
0:08:53 > 0:08:59News of the attack spread like wildfire and supporters flocked to Glendower's side.
0:09:03 > 0:09:09Over the next week, the Welsh rebel forces burned and raided another seven towns over north-east Wales,
0:09:09 > 0:09:12from Denbigh to Oswestry, here.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15It was a scorched-earth policy
0:09:15 > 0:09:19focusing on the English-controlled settlements dominated by the castles.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24And, er, the thing was
0:09:24 > 0:09:27there weren't so many of us, really,
0:09:27 > 0:09:30but the next time we had a major engagement,
0:09:30 > 0:09:35there were ten times as many people turning out under Glendower to fight the English.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39We just wanted to fight for Wales and to follow Glendower.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43Even learned men as far away as Oxford were coming back.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47They even caught some of them plot, plot, plotting in the privy
0:09:47 > 0:09:51and they locked them up, you know, as spies.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58Glendower's rebellion sent shock waves through Wales
0:09:58 > 0:10:02and there was widespread panic amongst the English there.
0:10:02 > 0:10:07The isolated castle garrisons sent out pleas for reinforcements.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11Henry IV, King of England, was not amused.
0:10:15 > 0:10:20Henry IV had seized the throne by force in 1399,
0:10:20 > 0:10:23the year before the Welsh rebellion started.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27He was a tall and athletic man in his mid-thirties.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30His position was far from secure.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33There was already unrest in Ireland and Scotland
0:10:33 > 0:10:37and the last thing Henry needed was trouble in Wales.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42Owen Glendower's raids and his claim to be Prince of Wales
0:10:42 > 0:10:45were a direct threat to the English crown.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50King Henry had to take action before the rebellion could spread too far.
0:10:54 > 0:10:59Henry IV was determined to crush Owen Glendower.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01He declared war on the Welsh rebels.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11Within weeks of Glendower's first attacks, King Henry led an army
0:11:11 > 0:11:14into the north-east of Wales.
0:11:27 > 0:11:32Henry's army was well-equipped with supplies of food and weapons.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36The soldiers wore as much protective clothing as they could afford -
0:11:36 > 0:11:40a padded jacket, leather jerkin or chain mail.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43But only the wealthiest knights had full suits of armour.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46One, two, three.
0:11:48 > 0:11:5040 kilos of armour.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52The heaviest thing I've ever worn.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56- What would a suit of armour cost now? - A nice harness of armour,
0:11:56 > 0:11:59the price of a top-of-the-range sports car today.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01- Really?- That sort of cost.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05The top-of-the-range suit of armour in 1400
0:12:05 > 0:12:07compares to a Ferrari today.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09What, er, covers the...
0:12:11 > 0:12:14- ..important area?- Ah, right.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17- Well, not a lot in this case. - Really?
0:12:17 > 0:12:20Is that usually the...?
0:12:20 > 0:12:22- Ready.- Thank you, my good squire.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25ARMOUR CLANKS
0:12:25 > 0:12:32With all this clanking noise, I have no chance of sneaking up on my enemy by surprise, but I do feel safe.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36In fact, if I was in a battle, I'd feel pretty indestructible.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39In order to talk to anyone, I've got to raise the visor like this.
0:12:39 > 0:12:45Before battles, commanders would ride in front of their troops and give instructions or motivate them.
0:12:45 > 0:12:50They'd raise their visor to do it. That's where the salute comes from.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00With their armour and weaponry in plentiful supplies,
0:13:00 > 0:13:06Henry's warriors were far better equipped than Glendower's band of Welsh rebels.
0:13:08 > 0:13:13The disadvantage was that they had to follow the main route through Wales.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16This put them out in the open.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25I'm in cover behind the ridge. Anyone in the valley can't see me well,
0:13:25 > 0:13:27so I can keep an eye on them.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34These Welsh mountain tracks are appallingly bumpy, even today,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37and in the valleys they were a boggy morass,
0:13:37 > 0:13:41so moving an army like this along in the old medieval days
0:13:41 > 0:13:45would have been an appalling task and vulnerable to ambush.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51Glendower's men could travel easily. They didn't need to carry supplies
0:13:51 > 0:13:56as they had friendly bases across the country. They were fighting on friendly territory.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58Whereas Henry IV's army - Dad -
0:13:58 > 0:14:01were fighting in a foreign land and had to carry everything with them.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15Well, Dan, I'm trundling along. I can't see you. Are you up there?
0:14:15 > 0:14:19Yeah, I've been keeping tabs on your Blitzkrieg-like progress.
0:14:19 > 0:14:25I'm only about 50 metres away from you, so it just shows how close you can get without being seen
0:14:25 > 0:14:28- in this terrain.- I'm not surprised.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30I feel extremely vulnerable here
0:14:30 > 0:14:36and I can imagine behind me scores of other wagons and knights in armour and goodness knows what.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38We must be a very easy target.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41It strikes me that I could ambush you by cutting in front of you,
0:14:41 > 0:14:45or if there were any stragglers, I could pick them off at the back.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49I'm doing my best to control the stragglers, but it's quite tricky.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52They're looking forward to their drink at lunch.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55It would be hard to straggle at that pace, Dad.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05Glendower's tactics played to his strengths.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14Time and again, he avoided confronting the powerful army.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23He struck like lightning,
0:15:23 > 0:15:27only targeting stragglers and small convoys of soldiers.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35They stole whatever they needed - food, weapons and money -
0:15:35 > 0:15:39before melting back into the countryside.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45The effect on the English was demoralising.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47- ENGLISH ACCENT: - Tricky bastard.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51We're fighting a different kind of enemy, fighting a man
0:15:51 > 0:15:54who's kind of reinventing the rules.
0:15:58 > 0:16:04They hide, they skulk, they stab you in the back, rather than stand up and fight you proper.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08I think they're savages. They're worse than the Scots.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17Even nature seemed to favour Glendower.
0:16:17 > 0:16:22The weather that Henry's army seemed to encounter every time it went into Wales was dreadful,
0:16:22 > 0:16:27and it was said that Glendower must be a magician to have engineered such extraordinary weather.
0:16:27 > 0:16:33Once, Henry was asleep in his tent and the thing collapsed, so awful was the rain and the wind,
0:16:33 > 0:16:37and only because he was wearing his armour did Henry survive.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43Henry took his army into Wales many times.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46Each time, Glendower outwitted him.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49The English king was losing face.
0:16:50 > 0:16:56Henry's failure only underlined Glendower's success, and the rebellion simply gathered strength.
0:16:56 > 0:17:02Henry returned to London, but he was not going to let the Welsh humiliate him and get away with it.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19In desperation, he turned to another weapon - the law.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23In the new year of 1401,
0:17:23 > 0:17:27the Welsh were subjected to even more draconian legislation.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30Now they weren't allowed to hold public office.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34If a stranger stayed overnight, they had to ask permission,
0:17:34 > 0:17:37and they couldn't marry an English person.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40Amongst the Welsh, there was fear of genocide.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45Welsh people could be killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49There was one instance, a friend of mine was in town,
0:17:49 > 0:17:53visiting his girlfriend who just happened to be English,
0:17:53 > 0:17:57and he decided to stay with her as, you know, most men would,
0:17:57 > 0:17:59and he was caught in town that night
0:17:59 > 0:18:02and was executed, just for being Welsh.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10The increased oppression only fuelled Glendower's rebellion.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15Supporters were flocking to him and his raids spread all across Wales.
0:18:15 > 0:18:21After two years, there were very few English-controlled castles and towns that were left unscathed.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30Wales was becoming ungovernable.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34Law and order broke down and taxes were not being paid,
0:18:34 > 0:18:38neither to the King, nor to the local English landowners.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46Their property ransacked, their farms abandoned,
0:18:46 > 0:18:49their workers gone to join Glendower -
0:18:49 > 0:18:52no wonder the English landlords were angry.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56One of them had had enough.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Sir Edmund Mortimer.
0:19:06 > 0:19:11At just 25, Mortimer was a powerful English knight,
0:19:11 > 0:19:16a cousin of the king, with lands all along the Welsh-English border.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20When Glendower attacked his lands, he decided to fight back.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28He raised an army to hunt down Glendower.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44Mortimer finally found Glendower at Pilleth in mid-Wales.
0:19:52 > 0:19:57On the 22nd of June 1402, the peace of this valley was shattered.
0:20:00 > 0:20:062,000 English soldiers were on the march, headed by Sir Edmund Mortimer.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09He was determined to crush the Welsh rebels.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21But Owen Glendower was prepared. He had a new strategy.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29After two years of small-scale raids and attacks,
0:20:29 > 0:20:32his rebel forces were now a disciplined army
0:20:32 > 0:20:36and they were ready to take on the English army face to face.
0:20:37 > 0:20:43Glendower was waiting for Mortimer here in the hilly terrain on the Welsh-English border,
0:20:43 > 0:20:47near the village of Pilleth, just inside Wales.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50He chose the hill of Bryn Glas over there.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55It's a very steep slope with a valley off to the right there.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58He wanted to use the contours of the hill to good effect.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01Here's Bryn Glas on the map case.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Glendower had about 1,500 men
0:21:04 > 0:21:08and some of them he positioned in the valley -
0:21:08 > 0:21:10perhaps half of his entire force.
0:21:10 > 0:21:16Behind here, they were completely invisible to the advancing English.
0:21:18 > 0:21:23The 2,000 men in Mortimer's army approached the bottom of the hill.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27All they could see was an army of about 750 men,
0:21:27 > 0:21:31the rest of Glendower's troops, up above them.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35What we saw, we saw...
0:21:35 > 0:21:39a small, disorganised, badly armed...rabble,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42two thirds of the way up this hill.
0:21:45 > 0:21:50The soldiers of Mortimer's army at the bottom of the hill felt like they should have had the advantage.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54They were outnumbering Glendower's men on top by about three to one.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56But this ground favoured the Welsh.
0:21:56 > 0:22:01This hillside is an extraordinary place to try and have a battle. The gradient is about one in four.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05I'm getting pretty exhausted walking up it, and I'm not carrying
0:22:05 > 0:22:08any chain mail or weapons.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11Just getting up here would have been quite a challenge.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Despite this, Mortimer must have believed he could win,
0:22:17 > 0:22:22because the Welsh guerrilla army had little experience of open warfare.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26Glendower must have believed that HE could win,
0:22:26 > 0:22:30because he had the high ground, and that favoured his archers.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36Archery was almost like a religion in the Middle Ages.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39With no standing professional army,
0:22:39 > 0:22:44the king had to rely on all his subjects being armed and trained in case he needed to use them in war.
0:22:44 > 0:22:50Archery was compulsory. In fact, other activities like football were banned,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53so that archery wasn't just a sport, it was a national duty.
0:22:53 > 0:22:58But the pull weight needed to use one of these longbows is enormous
0:22:58 > 0:23:02and it took a lifetime of training to become a professional bowman.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06Boys as young as seven trained with rocks to build their muscles.
0:23:06 > 0:23:11Medieval skeletons of bowmen have been found and they have hugely overdeveloped bones and muscles
0:23:11 > 0:23:15in their shoulders and arms. They must have been formidable men.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22The longbow was the medieval weapon of mass destruction,
0:23:22 > 0:23:26able to shoot further and faster than anything else on the battlefield.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29We tried them out at an archery club in South Wales.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31Ooh!
0:23:31 > 0:23:34Right through the bull's-eye...
0:23:36 > 0:23:38Not bad. In the black.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41Archery is a great leveller.
0:23:46 > 0:23:51In skilled hands, a longbow arrow can travel 250 metres.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55To see just how devastating longbows can be, we conducted an experiment.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00We've got 40 archers aiming into a target area representing the ranks of the enemy.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02We've got just one minute.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04Archers ready.
0:24:06 > 0:24:07Draw.
0:24:10 > 0:24:11Shoot.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21Not a bad one there, Dad.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25I think I've got mine on the wrong side of the bow.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30- There we go.- Oh, nice!
0:24:36 > 0:24:39- I think I've pulled a muscle in the back of my neck.- What?
0:24:39 > 0:24:43- You poor guy.- Well, it's a tough life being a bowman.
0:24:45 > 0:24:46Stop.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52- How many did you get off?- Nine, but they were carefully aimed...
0:24:52 > 0:24:55I got 11, carefully aimed too.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59The results ranged from eight to 21,
0:24:59 > 0:25:03and the average was 12 arrows per archer.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08- This is terrifyingly effective, Dan, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10There's a good 100 arrows in the box.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13Absolutely. It's frightening to look at, isn't it?
0:25:13 > 0:25:18You hardly see a space where a person would have been standing
0:25:18 > 0:25:21who wouldn't have been hit.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25I mean, here, someone might have been lucky. Right here, perhaps.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28But then a metre to the side, you're dead or wounded.
0:25:28 > 0:25:33You're talking about 6,000 archers firing 12 a minute. That's what?
0:25:33 > 0:25:35- 72,000.- 70,000.
0:25:35 > 0:25:40- 72,000...- 72,000 arrows per minute landing on the enemy.
0:25:40 > 0:25:45Unbelievable. Look at this devastation. 72,000 in a minute!
0:25:52 > 0:25:55On Thursday the 22nd of June 1402,
0:25:55 > 0:26:00Mortimer and Glendower lined up their armies at Pilleth.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05It would be one of the first ever battles of longbow against longbow on British soil.
0:26:08 > 0:26:14The archers prepared to fight by sticking the arrows in the ground in front of them.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18The arrowheads picked up germs from the soil, made even more toxic
0:26:18 > 0:26:21because men went to the toilet there.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25If the arrow didn't kill outright, it could lead to death by infection,
0:26:25 > 0:26:28an early form of biological warfare.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36Glendower's archers up on the hill were ready and waiting.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47Then the Battle of Pilleth began.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54Pull.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10ARROWS TWANG
0:27:15 > 0:27:17SWISHING
0:27:19 > 0:27:22This noise just...
0:27:22 > 0:27:25just grew. It were like, er...
0:27:25 > 0:27:28It were like a swarm of bees.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45That was all you could hear, the sound of them going through the air and someone screaming.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48And the sky just...turned black.
0:27:53 > 0:28:00The significance of the slope immediately began to tell, and it gave the Welsh a massive advantage.
0:28:00 > 0:28:06Their arrows shot downhill travelled further than the English arrows shot uphill.
0:28:06 > 0:28:11The English were taking all the casualties. The Welsh were safely out of range.
0:28:16 > 0:28:22The Welshmen on top of the hill could see that Owen Glendower's plan was working.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27We were just laughing at them, because they couldn't reach us at all,
0:28:27 > 0:28:31and that was exactly what we wanted because that was the plan.
0:28:34 > 0:28:40The remainder of Glendower's men, hidden in the valley, had to sit tight.
0:28:44 > 0:28:49We'd been told to wait for the signal, so all we could hear
0:28:49 > 0:28:52was arrows flying through the air and a battle beginning.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01The English archers were taking a pounding.
0:29:03 > 0:29:08To win the battle, Mortimer would have to change tactics and take the fight to Glendower.
0:29:12 > 0:29:18The English knights and men-at-arms waited impatiently behind their archers for the order to advance.
0:29:28 > 0:29:32Then the whole army scrambled up the steep slope into the storm of arrows.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35It was murderous.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44Men were just falling all around us
0:29:44 > 0:29:47and people just started cursing Mortimer.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52The battle had begun badly for Mortimer and was about to get worse.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54In order to swell his ranks,
0:29:54 > 0:29:58he had recruited some of his archers from Wales.
0:29:58 > 0:30:00It was to be his undoing.
0:30:02 > 0:30:08Mortimer may still have trusted to his superior numbers, but then disaster struck.
0:30:08 > 0:30:15His own Welsh archers on the left flank of his English army suddenly delivered a lethal blow.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17Without warning, they mutinied.
0:30:23 > 0:30:29They turned on their own ranks and loosed off their arrows at the English infantry.
0:30:36 > 0:30:41I'd been fighting with them for weeks and these bastards turn on us.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49We don't know why the archers did it.
0:30:49 > 0:30:54Maybe there were double agents in the English camp and the whole thing was prearranged,
0:30:54 > 0:30:58or the archers may have recognised Glendower's military superiority
0:30:58 > 0:31:01and changed sides for self-preservation.
0:31:01 > 0:31:06Either way, the effect of those point-blank volleys shattered Mortimer's army.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10Glendower's men up on the hill saw their chance and charged.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29Now there was just ferocious hand-to-hand combat,
0:31:29 > 0:31:31one man against another.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46Grand strategy had no place here.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50It was just individuals fighting for survival
0:31:50 > 0:31:52with every fibre of their being.
0:32:04 > 0:32:08Your world kind of shrinks. All you've got is...
0:32:08 > 0:32:12the person right in front of you and the people to the side of you.
0:32:12 > 0:32:14You don't know what else is happening.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17All that matters to you is getting through the next few seconds.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22And because there were no uniforms,
0:32:22 > 0:32:26you didn't always know if you were killing your own men or not.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28Just hack your way through people.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32You just make use of what weapons you have.
0:32:37 > 0:32:42This evil-looking weapon is called a billhook. You could use it as a spear
0:32:42 > 0:32:45or bring this point down on somebody's head,
0:32:45 > 0:32:49or you could exploit the area between the helmet and the breastplate,
0:32:49 > 0:32:52slip this round the back of somebody's neck and pull.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58The flail was for crushing injuries.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02An axe could cut through chain mail.
0:33:03 > 0:33:07Swords were used, but not for the fancy swordplay in the movies.
0:33:07 > 0:33:11They were good for hacking, breaking bones and immobilising people.
0:33:14 > 0:33:16You could hold them like this
0:33:16 > 0:33:20and bring this heavy part down on the top of somebody's head.
0:33:21 > 0:33:26If you hit them hard enough, it drove their spinal column into their brain.
0:33:30 > 0:33:36Injured men on the ground were finished off by the archers, who now had a new role.
0:33:38 > 0:33:43You'd sling your bow on your back and then take out your dagger. I'd got a little thin dagger.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47And you just go to the wounded men lying on the ground
0:33:47 > 0:33:50and you finish them off. If they've got armour on,
0:33:50 > 0:33:53you find a gap in the armour where you can slide the dagger in.
0:33:54 > 0:33:59You look for any sort of weakness in the armour, just stabbing them anywhere vulnerable
0:33:59 > 0:34:03like the ear or in the armpit, the groin, the backside,
0:34:03 > 0:34:05just go round, finishing them off.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12It was just total carnage.
0:34:14 > 0:34:18Everywhere you looked, someone was killing someone else.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22People were screaming, knives were going in and blood was coming out.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26There's this fear inside you that's driving you on.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30All you can hear is yourself breathing hard, your heart's racing,
0:34:30 > 0:34:33and just keep yourself alive,
0:34:33 > 0:34:35just keep going, just keep hacking.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57Glendower had the upper hand from the start.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59He had chosen the high ground,
0:34:59 > 0:35:02his archers had inflicted heavy casualties
0:35:02 > 0:35:06and then his enemy's crack troops had mutinied.
0:35:06 > 0:35:10Now he was about to play his trump card.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18Remember, all this time, Owen Glendower had a group of men
0:35:18 > 0:35:21deep in the valley, beside the hill.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24Now they moved into the attack.
0:35:24 > 0:35:26We ambushed them. That's what we're good at.
0:35:26 > 0:35:28They didn't see us coming.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34Glendower is a genius from the first to the last
0:35:34 > 0:35:37and that was a great example of how good he was on a battlefield.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44From out of nowhere, they raced up over the brow of the slope
0:35:44 > 0:35:47and fell on the exhausted remnant of Mortimer's army.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56The English were outnumbered and outclassed.
0:35:56 > 0:36:01Owen Glendower's rebel army had won the battle of Pilleth.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10Their first major victory
0:36:10 > 0:36:12in open warfare.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31Like a...charnel house.
0:36:32 > 0:36:37Confusion of...of mud and...
0:36:37 > 0:36:39and blood
0:36:39 > 0:36:41and just bodies all over the place.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44English bodies, mainly.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46My friends.
0:36:48 > 0:36:53At the end of that June day, over 800 bodies lay on this slope,
0:36:53 > 0:36:56most of them English.
0:36:56 > 0:37:01The Welsh ransomed corpses, a particularly gruesome practice. But there was worse.
0:37:05 > 0:37:10One account of the battle said that local Welsh women came and mutilated the bodies of the English.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14They cut off their penises and stuffed them into the men's mouths.
0:37:17 > 0:37:22If true, it was a brutal act of martial humiliation by the Welsh,
0:37:22 > 0:37:27or it may be the story was invented by the English to portray the Welsh as savages.
0:37:27 > 0:37:32Either way, the battle of Pilleth was a monumental victory for the Welsh.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37We'd done raids, little skirmishes,
0:37:37 > 0:37:41but this was an open battle against an English army and we won.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44We found that we could beat the English in open warfare.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52Many of the dead were buried on this hillside.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56A hundred years ago, huge quantities of human bones were discovered
0:37:56 > 0:38:01and that cluster of wellingtonia trees was planted to mark the spot.
0:38:01 > 0:38:07This crushing Welsh victory here at Pilleth, only a few miles from the English border,
0:38:07 > 0:38:09was Glendower's greatest success yet
0:38:09 > 0:38:13in two years of struggle to restore Welsh freedom.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15Mortimer, the English army commander,
0:38:15 > 0:38:18was captured and held for ransom.
0:38:18 > 0:38:23Wealthy prisoners were often sold back for money to help buy arms and foodstuffs.
0:38:23 > 0:38:28But as things turned out, Mortimer's value wouldn't be measured in money.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31He would be of far more use to Glendower than that.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39Mortimer was taken into Glendower's heartland,
0:38:39 > 0:38:42into the impenetrable landscape of Snowdonia,
0:38:42 > 0:38:44where he'd be hidden from the king.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48But Glendower needn't have bothered.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52The king had no intention of paying the ransom.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57The fact was, it rather suited Henry
0:38:57 > 0:39:00to have Mortimer locked away in deepest Wales.
0:39:00 > 0:39:05Mortimer's family had a stronger claim to the throne than he did.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08So the king decided not to pay Mortimer's ransom.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11He could hardly have made a bigger mistake.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14Mortimer, abandoned by the king,
0:39:14 > 0:39:18promptly declared his allegiance to Glendower and married his daughter.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21It was a spectacular U-turn
0:39:21 > 0:39:24and it would transform Glendower's fortunes.
0:39:25 > 0:39:29Because Mortimer had some influential connections.
0:39:29 > 0:39:34His sister was married to one of the most powerful knights in England,
0:39:34 > 0:39:37Sir Henry Percy, known as Hotspur.
0:39:37 > 0:39:42In his mid-thirties, Hotspur had fallen out with the English king
0:39:42 > 0:39:46and now hated Henry as much as did Mortimer and Glendower.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52Through Mortimer, Hotspur and Glendower started secret talks
0:39:52 > 0:39:55about how they could work together.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59We don't know the detail of their plan, but from what followed
0:39:59 > 0:40:04it seems they decided to join forces and together bring down the King.
0:40:04 > 0:40:08Our army and his army joining together, we could be unstoppable.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11You know, this could be the start of a free Wales.
0:40:19 > 0:40:25Hotspur's first move was to raise an army of 10,000 Englishmen and Welshmen.
0:40:32 > 0:40:36His first target was a town right on the Welsh-English border.
0:40:45 > 0:40:49Hotspur had chosen Shrewsbury with good reason.
0:40:49 > 0:40:54This was the base of the King's son, the official Prince of Wales.
0:40:59 > 0:41:04Prince Hal was only 16, but already a courageous young warrior.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08He was now in command of a garrison of 1,500 men
0:41:08 > 0:41:13with a brief from his father, the King, to quell Owen Glendower's rebellion.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23If Hotspur could capture Shrewsbury and the Prince of Wales,
0:41:23 > 0:41:27it would be a blow to King Henry and a boost to Owen Glendower.
0:41:29 > 0:41:33Hotspur must have thought that taking this town would be easy.
0:41:33 > 0:41:37His army was six times the size of Hal's garrison.
0:41:37 > 0:41:39But as Hotspur approached,
0:41:39 > 0:41:43he was shocked to find King Henry had come to his son's rescue
0:41:43 > 0:41:45with a large army.
0:41:45 > 0:41:49Hotspur now faced a far more powerful enemy than he'd expected.
0:41:49 > 0:41:55But instead of retreating and waiting until he could meet up with Owen Glendower,
0:41:55 > 0:41:57Hotspur decided to stand and fight.
0:42:02 > 0:42:07The battle that followed promised a tantalising prize.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09If Hotspur won,
0:42:09 > 0:42:13Henry IV would lose the throne of England. If that happened,
0:42:13 > 0:42:18Glendower would be within reach of his goal of Welsh independence.
0:42:18 > 0:42:24For Glendower, the battle of Shrewsbury could be the decisive step in the battle for Wales.
0:42:27 > 0:42:31This is where the battle of Shrewsbury was fought,
0:42:31 > 0:42:33three miles north-east of the town,
0:42:33 > 0:42:37a wide, flat plain with just one rise on the landscape.
0:42:40 > 0:42:44On July 20th, Hotspur spotted that ridge over there
0:42:44 > 0:42:46and positioned his army on it.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50They stretched half a mile along that ridge, facing south.
0:42:50 > 0:42:55He felt that gave him a strong defensive position, looking down across the plain.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58Here is that ridge.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01Hotspur had 6,000 archers.
0:43:01 > 0:43:05He placed them along the front and the sides, about seven deep,
0:43:05 > 0:43:08and behind and between the archers
0:43:08 > 0:43:12he placed his 4,000 infantry - 10,000 men altogether.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14Shortly after Hotspur arrived,
0:43:14 > 0:43:19King Henry and Prince Hal arrived with their two royal armies.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23King Henry's army, also 10,000 strong,
0:43:23 > 0:43:26took up their position facing Hotspur.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29Henry's son, Prince Hal, put his smaller force
0:43:29 > 0:43:32on the left flank, further back.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38At four o'clock in the afternoon
0:43:38 > 0:43:41on the 21st of July, a battle began.
0:43:52 > 0:43:55Hotspur's archers were more experienced
0:43:55 > 0:43:57and they were on the higher ground.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00They unleashed an overwhelming volley of arrows.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05One description written at the time
0:44:05 > 0:44:10says that men fell like apples in autumn when stirred by the west wind.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13It was too much for the king's men.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18The royalist archers began to retreat back down the hill,
0:44:18 > 0:44:22but they ran slap-bang into their own advancing foot soldiers
0:44:22 > 0:44:25who were still obeying the king's orders to attack. It was chaos.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28Within minutes, the entire royalist line was in disarray
0:44:28 > 0:44:30and retreating back down the hill.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38Men all around me were falling
0:44:38 > 0:44:42and I just started to pray, really, pray and run.
0:44:42 > 0:44:47Hotspur's men up here saw this, roared their battle cry and charged.
0:44:59 > 0:45:04The ensuing struggle was as vicious as any in medieval history,
0:45:04 > 0:45:08a brutal free-for-all that went on for three hours.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12In the carnage, men were mutilated, beheaded and disembowelled.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17The locals said this field was obscured by a red cloud,
0:45:17 > 0:45:21the red clay soil combined with sweat and blood.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29With both armies now locked in close-fought combat,
0:45:29 > 0:45:31Hotspur seemed to be winning.
0:45:31 > 0:45:36But now the Prince of Wales's army, on the left there, made a move
0:45:36 > 0:45:39which would swing the battle decisively in favour of the king.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49Hal wheeled his troops up to the tip of the melee
0:45:49 > 0:45:53and launched them at the exposed end of Hotspur's line.
0:45:53 > 0:45:57Now Hotspur's army was under fire from both sides.
0:46:01 > 0:46:04Hotspur himself fought on bravely,
0:46:04 > 0:46:06but then disaster struck.
0:46:08 > 0:46:11He'd been injured and was lying on the ground, gulping for air,
0:46:11 > 0:46:15when an enemy arrow struck him in the mouth and killed him.
0:46:15 > 0:46:18The shocking news swept across the field
0:46:18 > 0:46:21and Hotspur's men knew it was over.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39Within hours, the battle was over.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41Henry had won.
0:46:41 > 0:46:46Owen Glendower had lost a powerful ally and a great opportunity.
0:46:46 > 0:46:50Nevertheless, in Wales, his army was stronger than ever.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00His Welsh rebel army, now 8,000 strong,
0:47:00 > 0:47:04was driving the English occupiers out.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07Glendower was winning the battle for Wales.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21In a series of spectacular raids and sieges,
0:47:21 > 0:47:26the Welsh rebels took towns and castles like Harlech and Aberystwyth.
0:47:26 > 0:47:30The capture of these great bastions of English power
0:47:30 > 0:47:34was a huge boost to the rebellion and further depressed English spirits.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38By 1404, Owen's men controlled nearly the whole of Wales.
0:47:38 > 0:47:42The dream of independence was within reach.
0:47:49 > 0:47:54Owen Glendower based himself here in Harlech Castle with his family.
0:47:54 > 0:47:58In the space of just five years, he'd transformed himself
0:47:58 > 0:48:02from rebel leader to the sovereign head of an independent country.
0:48:02 > 0:48:07He held parliaments attended by the aristocracy from all over Wales,
0:48:07 > 0:48:12and he won recognition from Scotland, Ireland and France.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16But the recognition he didn't get was the one that mattered to him,
0:48:16 > 0:48:18from England's king.
0:48:18 > 0:48:22So Glendower decided to change tactics completely
0:48:22 > 0:48:25and to take the battle to Henry.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29And he soon found himself a ready-made ally to help him...
0:48:29 > 0:48:30France,
0:48:30 > 0:48:32England's oldest enemy,
0:48:32 > 0:48:36became Wales's new best friend.
0:48:37 > 0:48:42The Franco-Welsh alliance was cemented in south-west Wales.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52In July 1405,
0:48:52 > 0:48:56Glendower began his most ambitious military campaign ever.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58He persuaded his allies in France
0:48:58 > 0:49:03to send a fleet of ships here, to the port of Milford Haven.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12The ships were packed with over 2,500 men.
0:49:12 > 0:49:16Some of the knights had brought their plate armour and their horses.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19They were driven by dreams of chivalry.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22They wanted to go to a foreign land, make a name for themselves,
0:49:22 > 0:49:24and return with a pile of plunder.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31When the French finally arrived here in Milford Haven,
0:49:31 > 0:49:36they were met by a Welsh army 10,000 strong. It must have been an extraordinary sight.
0:49:36 > 0:49:42Then the biggest army Glendower had ever commanded headed east to the English border.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47Glendower and the French cut their way through South Wales.
0:49:47 > 0:49:49They marched on east,
0:49:49 > 0:49:52raiding and pillaging for food,
0:49:52 > 0:49:56and then, at the end of August 1405,
0:49:56 > 0:50:00in an extraordinary but little-known moment in British history,
0:50:00 > 0:50:03the Welsh army invaded England.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08We could barely believe that we were invading England.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12Instead of the other way around, we were invading England.
0:50:18 > 0:50:22The king acted swiftly to block this new threat to his regime.
0:50:22 > 0:50:24He gathered an army and headed west
0:50:24 > 0:50:27and the two armies met here,
0:50:27 > 0:50:30just 12 miles north of Worcester.
0:50:30 > 0:50:35King Henry's forces were spread along Abberley Hill over there,
0:50:35 > 0:50:38his battle line probably about half a mile long.
0:50:38 > 0:50:42And they faced down the slope and across this valley here,
0:50:42 > 0:50:46about a mile wide, to Woodbury Hill over there to the west.
0:50:46 > 0:50:51There were Owen Glendower's Welsh forces with their French allies.
0:50:54 > 0:50:58On the map case, I'm just here on the plain between the two hills,
0:50:58 > 0:51:02one over here to the east and one over here to the west.
0:51:02 > 0:51:04Over here, King Henry's forces,
0:51:04 > 0:51:08across the plane, Glendower's forces with his French allies.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21On these tranquil Worcestershire hills,
0:51:21 > 0:51:26two mighty armies faced each other, some 10,000 men in each camp.
0:51:32 > 0:51:36The Welsh had never pressed so far into England.
0:51:38 > 0:51:41They now struck at the very heart of King Henry's realm.
0:51:41 > 0:51:45The stakes could not have been higher.
0:51:46 > 0:51:52We were expecting the biggest battle ever, because we had the French and the Welshies facing up against us -
0:51:52 > 0:51:54a chance for revenge on them both.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00The next morning, they prepared for battle,
0:52:00 > 0:52:05but neither the king nor Glendower wanted to make the first move.
0:52:11 > 0:52:13It was just tense.
0:52:13 > 0:52:17At any moment, we could be asked to run down into the valley
0:52:17 > 0:52:20and fight the English, but this didn't happen.
0:52:21 > 0:52:26Both sides had very powerful defensive positions, and that was the problem.
0:52:26 > 0:52:31Both were well placed to defend themselves, not to attack.
0:52:31 > 0:52:36Each side was reluctant to lose the advantage of the high ground to attack the other.
0:52:36 > 0:52:40As the week went on, the tension became unbearable.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44There was only so much you could do. Sharpen your weapon and then what?
0:52:44 > 0:52:47By the end of the week, it was beyond a joke.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50We just wanted the battle to begin.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54Henry had one huge advantage -
0:52:54 > 0:52:56this was England
0:52:56 > 0:53:00and he controlled the territory that surrounded his enemy's position.
0:53:00 > 0:53:03Knowing that an army marches on its stomach,
0:53:03 > 0:53:08he blocked off all the supply routes to the Welsh camp on Woodbury Hill.
0:53:08 > 0:53:10It was under siege.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14We hadn't had food for days
0:53:14 > 0:53:17and people were squabbling over scraps of food.
0:53:24 > 0:53:26Everyone felt desperate,
0:53:26 > 0:53:29tired, hungry,
0:53:29 > 0:53:31just completely worn out.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40All the hope and hearts just crumbled away
0:53:40 > 0:53:42and...
0:53:44 > 0:53:47..it was very sad.
0:53:47 > 0:53:52As the days dragged on, the large Franco-Welsh army began to starve.
0:53:52 > 0:53:57They'd marched 150 miles from Milford Haven in all weathers
0:53:57 > 0:54:01and now they'd spent a week on a cold hillside in enemy territory.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04It was as though we were being...
0:54:04 > 0:54:07gnawed at, bit by bit.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12I wanted to fight. I did want to fight.
0:54:12 > 0:54:14This wasn't the way for us to lose.
0:54:14 > 0:54:17If we'd have lost, we could have lost in a battle,
0:54:17 > 0:54:20but this was just demoralising.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23It just made us feel useless.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33As the sun rose on the eighth day,
0:54:33 > 0:54:37Henry got wind of conditions in the enemy's camp.
0:54:37 > 0:54:39He realised that he had won.
0:54:39 > 0:54:43He'd starved his enemy out and Glendower was no longer a threat.
0:54:43 > 0:54:48Henry stood his troops down and he himself went off to Worcester.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51His beleaguered opponents, the Franco-Welsh army
0:54:51 > 0:54:56which had marched into England days earlier, struck camp and marched back to Wales.
0:54:58 > 0:55:01Glendower had squared up to King Henry
0:55:01 > 0:55:04but had failed to engage him in battle.
0:55:04 > 0:55:08The two men would never face each other again.
0:55:12 > 0:55:14Glendower's grand plan,
0:55:14 > 0:55:17which just for a moment had looked achievable,
0:55:17 > 0:55:19was now in ruins.
0:55:25 > 0:55:28Back in Wales, Owen Glendower's men fought on in the hills
0:55:28 > 0:55:31for four more years,
0:55:31 > 0:55:33but the rebellion began to crumble
0:55:33 > 0:55:36and only the most committed stayed on.
0:55:36 > 0:55:41The money to pay for other Welsh fighters had dwindled
0:55:41 > 0:55:45and many now began to accept offers of pardon from the English.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48They could tell that after all the years of fighting,
0:55:48 > 0:55:51the rebellion was a spent force.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55They were, um, five amazing years of my life,
0:55:55 > 0:55:58fighting with Owen Glendower and...
0:55:58 > 0:56:02just nearly becoming a free nation...
0:56:02 > 0:56:04Um...
0:56:04 > 0:56:07but it wasn't meant to be.
0:56:07 > 0:56:12King Henry's garrison troops gradually took back the castles
0:56:12 > 0:56:14and the towns,
0:56:14 > 0:56:20and by 1408, the King had reasserted English control over Wales.
0:56:21 > 0:56:24The final blow to Glendower came in February 1409.
0:56:24 > 0:56:29At the age of 50, exhausted after a decade of rebellion,
0:56:29 > 0:56:32he finally lost his beloved Harlech Castle.
0:56:32 > 0:56:38His wife, daughters and granddaughters were seized and imprisoned in the Tower of London.
0:56:38 > 0:56:40Glendower himself was never captured
0:56:40 > 0:56:44and he soon disappeared from public view.
0:56:49 > 0:56:52He was said to be roaming the Welsh hills,
0:56:52 > 0:56:55a broken man.
0:56:55 > 0:56:57No-one knows when or where he died.
0:56:58 > 0:57:02Some say that, like King Arthur, one day he will return.
0:57:04 > 0:57:09No other native Prince of Wales has ever come forward,
0:57:09 > 0:57:13and though there are those to this day who demand a separate Wales,
0:57:13 > 0:57:16nobody has made a serious attempt
0:57:16 > 0:57:19to seize back Welsh independence by force.
0:57:24 > 0:57:28For information about all the events, activities and places to visit
0:57:28 > 0:57:30connected with these battlefields,
0:57:30 > 0:57:34go to bbc.co.uk/history
0:57:34 > 0:57:36Find out about leaders and strategies
0:57:36 > 0:57:39and try being a military commander
0:57:39 > 0:57:41in our new interactive game.
0:57:43 > 0:57:47What were the English doing, attacking straight up that hill?
0:57:47 > 0:57:50Well, you would, wouldn't you? There's a...
0:57:54 > 0:57:57In the next programme, how England took on
0:57:57 > 0:58:00the world's greatest superpower.
0:58:00 > 0:58:04In 1588, Spain launched a massive invasion fleet
0:58:04 > 0:58:06against the British Isles.
0:58:06 > 0:58:08For the Spanish, it was a crusade
0:58:08 > 0:58:11against an island of pirates and heretics.
0:58:11 > 0:58:15For the English, it was a battle of survival
0:58:15 > 0:58:17against the mighty Spanish Armada.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20Subtitles by BBC Broadcast 2004
0:58:20 > 0:58:22E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk