0:00:08 > 0:00:11It's hard to imagine today that there was ever a time
0:00:11 > 0:00:14when England and France were more
0:00:14 > 0:00:15than two separate countries.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19But 700 years ago, our ruling classes
0:00:19 > 0:00:23had been bound by shared values,
0:00:23 > 0:00:26locked together by one culture
0:00:26 > 0:00:30in a marriage that had lasted 300 years.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35But in the mid 14th century, it had hit the rocks.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45What followed was the longest and bloodiest divorce in history.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52I'm going to tell the story of over 100 years of war
0:00:52 > 0:00:55when little England dared to challenge
0:00:55 > 0:00:57the mighty superpower that was France,
0:00:57 > 0:00:59and refused to give up.
0:01:00 > 0:01:05In the first 20 years of this war, King Edward III had humiliated
0:01:05 > 0:01:08the formidable French army in battle.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11He'd sacrificed the bonds once shared to win,
0:01:11 > 0:01:15and set England on a path from which there was no way back.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21Now I'll explore the impact that leaders like Richard II
0:01:21 > 0:01:26and Henry V had on the very foundation of society,
0:01:26 > 0:01:30and I'll show how this war shaped and changed us -
0:01:30 > 0:01:33helping make England what it is today.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50In this episode, the wheel of fortune turns full circle.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54England falls from glory into chaos
0:01:54 > 0:01:58until one king snatches the greatest military victory of the war,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02in a battle that would become synonymous with Englishness itself.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06And I'll reveal how, out of this turmoil,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09a uniquely English culture emerged.
0:02:26 > 0:02:31For 20 years England and France had been locked in a brutal struggle
0:02:31 > 0:02:34over possession of England's ancestral lands
0:02:34 > 0:02:38in Gascony and Normandy, and the English King Edward III's
0:02:38 > 0:02:41proclaimed right to the French crown.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45Edward had clawed his way to victory
0:02:45 > 0:02:49and at the battle of Poitiers, had achieved the unimaginable.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55The English had captured the French king,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58paraded him through the streets of London
0:02:58 > 0:03:01and bought him here in triumph.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11With their king held prisoner, the French had no choice
0:03:11 > 0:03:16but to sign a humiliating agreement known as the Treaty of Bretigny.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22The Treaty gave the English King full sovereignty,
0:03:22 > 0:03:24not just of his own territories,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27but over a massively enlarged Gascony, or Aquitaine.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33Nearly a third of the country was now ruled by the English.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38The document shows that France was forced to hand over
0:03:38 > 0:03:42swathes of territory that had been conquered
0:03:42 > 0:03:45by the great warrior king of England, Edward III.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48In this image, the two kings are holding hands
0:03:48 > 0:03:50in the presence of a cardinal,
0:03:50 > 0:03:55symbolising their new-found friendship.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57Once this document was signed,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00England and France were officially at peace.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05But that would mean something very different
0:04:05 > 0:04:07on either side of the Channel.
0:04:13 > 0:04:19For England, peace meant security and prosperity.
0:04:19 > 0:04:20And it wasn't just the king
0:04:20 > 0:04:23who could enjoy the rewards of victory.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25So did the knights who'd fought at his side.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30Medieval warfare was a profitable business,
0:04:30 > 0:04:34not just from plunder, but from the demand of ransoms
0:04:34 > 0:04:37on prisoners taken at the battlefield.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41England was fat with the spoils of war.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44That meant the nobility could indulge
0:04:44 > 0:04:47in passion projects like this.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52As a cultural historian,
0:04:52 > 0:04:56I'm fascinated by The Great Hall at Berkeley Castle.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59It was built by a veteran of the war, Lord Berkeley.
0:05:00 > 0:05:01Known as Thomas the Rich,
0:05:01 > 0:05:05this soldier was a collector of property and land.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10He had a household of more than 300 people,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13and owned over 15,000 horses.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23The fighting classes loved to express their status
0:05:23 > 0:05:26through extravagant gestures -
0:05:26 > 0:05:30Thomas filled one of his hunting parks not just with any old deer,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33but with purely albino ones.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45England at this time was rich, but she was also confident.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48And you can see that reflected in places like this.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52Berkeley Castle is a military structure,
0:05:52 > 0:05:55but it doesn't feel like a fortress.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57It was also about comfort.
0:06:01 > 0:06:02Throughout the country,
0:06:02 > 0:06:07the English nobility weren't just building castles but stately homes,
0:06:07 > 0:06:11as they revelled in their new-found sense of security.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18In the first round of the Hundred Years' War,
0:06:18 > 0:06:20England had come out on top.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25She'd reached the ideal medieval state -
0:06:25 > 0:06:28a popular and victorious king was in charge,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31with a contented and loyal nobility beneath him.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42In France, the situation was very different.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50With Jean II in captivity, there was no king in charge.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54The rudderless country, which had been the jewel of Europe,
0:06:54 > 0:06:56was dissolving into chaos.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01Ravaged by 20 years of war,
0:07:01 > 0:07:04it was now being overrun by terrifying bands
0:07:04 > 0:07:09of out-of-work English soldiers, known as freebooters.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13So, Ian, it wasn't very peaceful in France at this time, was it?
0:07:13 > 0:07:15It wasn't very peaceful at all.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19The fundamental point is it's very difficult in any age
0:07:19 > 0:07:22to disband an army. And it's exceptionally difficult
0:07:22 > 0:07:23in the 14th century.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26I mean, war had made these people what they were, really.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28It had given them a great opportunity
0:07:28 > 0:07:30and they want to carry on fighting.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33They ransack the countryside, they ransack towns,
0:07:33 > 0:07:34doing all manner of unspeakable things,
0:07:34 > 0:07:36and the French hate them,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39and no one really can get the numbers together to stop them.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41Incidentally they did actually fight each other,
0:07:41 > 0:07:43so they victimised each other too.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45These men don't have any principles, really.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Because they're not affiliated specifically with anyone.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50No, they're all in it for themselves.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52The only thing that gives them any cohesion is
0:07:52 > 0:07:55they tend to be led by strong knights,
0:07:55 > 0:07:58who take advantage of these freebooters
0:07:58 > 0:08:02to carry on a sort of illegal war in France,
0:08:02 > 0:08:03a sort of unofficial war,
0:08:03 > 0:08:06and that's sort of not disapproved of by Edward III.
0:08:06 > 0:08:07It's interesting, isn't it -
0:08:07 > 0:08:09peace doesn't really apply to this period.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11No, that idea of knightly leadership,
0:08:11 > 0:08:14that's embedded in society - you can't just turn it off
0:08:14 > 0:08:16because we happen to have had a peace treaty.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19These people believe in military endeavour
0:08:19 > 0:08:22and bravery as their raison d'etre.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24We think of peace as being a normal state of affairs,
0:08:24 > 0:08:27they thought of conflict as a normal state of affairs
0:08:27 > 0:08:29and if you could take advantage of conflict,
0:08:29 > 0:08:31you wanted to perpetuate that state.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41England had France at her mercy, but in April 1364,
0:08:41 > 0:08:45the death of a king would swing the balance of power.
0:08:48 > 0:08:53After eight years' captivity, Jean II died.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58According to the medieval conventions of chivalry,
0:08:58 > 0:09:00shared by England and France,
0:09:00 > 0:09:03only now could his eldest son step forward.
0:09:07 > 0:09:13Jean II's heir was Charles V. He was a scholarly and pious leader,
0:09:13 > 0:09:18but he had a steely determination to restore France's honour.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21Charles announced the Treaty of Bretigny void
0:09:21 > 0:09:24and declared war on England.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28Nine years of so-called peace were now over.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34The French King wasn't made for fighting.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37He was frail and plagued by mysterious illnesses.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41But he was determined to bring order to his country
0:09:41 > 0:09:43and to get the English out.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47To do that, he'd have to choose his generals wisely.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00In 1370, Charles made this man, Bertrand Du Guesclin,
0:10:00 > 0:10:05his commander in chief. In many ways it was an unusual decision.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09The post usually went to someone of the highest nobility, knightly
0:10:09 > 0:10:15in stature, manners and looks. Du Guesclin was none of those things.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21He was the son of a minor noble, short in stature
0:10:21 > 0:10:27and careless about his appearance. But Du Guesclin was exactly
0:10:27 > 0:10:32what Charles needed. He was a born fighter.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42The poet Jean de Cuvelier wrote that even
0:10:42 > 0:10:48when Du Guesclin was a child his parents despaired over his violence.
0:10:48 > 0:10:53Apparently he was always ready for a fight. He was a gang leader
0:10:53 > 0:10:57and organised his friends into rival groups.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03To fight this war, France had always stuck to the rules of chivalry,
0:11:03 > 0:11:05even when the English hadn't.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10But Charles was ready to do things differently.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14The French had learnt their lesson the hard way
0:11:14 > 0:11:17at the battles of Poitiers and Crecy.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21Now they refused to meet the English in pitched battle.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25Instead, Charles set Du Guesclin on a strategy of ambushes,
0:11:25 > 0:11:30night-time raids and scorched-earth tactics across English-held territories.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34This suited Du Guesclin perfectly.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Free from the chivalric conventions of the battlefield,
0:11:42 > 0:11:46he used English guerrilla tactics against the English.
0:11:52 > 0:11:57Within a year, he'd won back the provinces of Poitou and Saintonge.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04And Charles had another ace up his sleeve.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19In this war, control of the sea meant power.
0:12:21 > 0:12:26England couldn't defend her territories in France if she wasn't able to reach them.
0:12:30 > 0:12:35If Charles could gain custody of the Channel, he could squeeze the English out of France.
0:12:37 > 0:12:42By 1377, Charles had amassed an enormous fleet of ships
0:12:42 > 0:12:44which he sent charging across the sea.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48England had nothing to match it.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52And the French king wasn't stopping there.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00For Charles, it wasn't enough to simply drive the English
0:13:00 > 0:13:05out of France. He wanted to avenge the horrors their freebooters had wrought,
0:13:05 > 0:13:10and the best way to do that was to attack them on their own shores.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Charles understood that the art of war was changing.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20He launched a series of devastating raids on defenceless towns
0:13:20 > 0:13:22and villages along the south coast.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34I'm with Dr Susan Rose, an expert on this kind of total war.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40We have one account of a sea raid on a Cornish village.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46They would come in on one tide and get into the village,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49get the crossbowmen off, attack the village,
0:13:49 > 0:13:54set it on fire, and then, if there were ships in the harbour, tow them out.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58So they would do that between two tides, so in on the flood,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02- out on the ebb. That's six hours... - Gosh!
0:14:02 > 0:14:04..to create terror in the village,
0:14:04 > 0:14:07and of course, by the time they were leaving,
0:14:07 > 0:14:10the entire neighbourhood would have been in an uproar.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13And in this particular instance in Cornwall,
0:14:13 > 0:14:17they gathered on the cliffs on each side of the entrance to the harbour
0:14:17 > 0:14:21and were firing down, throwing rocks. But the galleys had
0:14:21 > 0:14:25the tide under them and could get out to sea and away.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28It sounds really quick. It must have been absolutely terrifying.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32They'd lost their homes, they'd lost their means of livelihood.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36They might have lost family members, then, of course, it would spread down
0:14:36 > 0:14:40the coast like wildfire. Everybody knew the French were coming, the French were coming.
0:14:40 > 0:14:45And then the commons petition the King. You know, "Our villages are in ruins,
0:14:45 > 0:14:49"our ships are gone. What are you doing about it?"
0:14:49 > 0:14:50And they get the answer,
0:14:50 > 0:14:56"Well, the King and the council will advise themselves," i.e. nothing!
0:15:06 > 0:15:09In fact, there was very little England could do.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15The once-triumphant country was now unable to defend herself.
0:15:18 > 0:15:24Behind this massive reversal of fortune is the mysterious story of one man's demise.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42The clues lie here at Westminster Abbey.
0:15:43 > 0:15:48While France was raiding the coast of England, the great warrior king,
0:15:48 > 0:15:53Edward III, had been on the throne for a staggering 50 years.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02Edward had been a brilliant strategist, both at home and abroad.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06It was his sheer force of will that had brought England glory.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11He was held up as the ideal of a medieval king...
0:16:13 > 0:16:19..described by the chronicler Walsingham as "benevolent, merciful and magnificent".
0:16:25 > 0:16:28But for the last ten years of his reign, Edward was
0:16:28 > 0:16:32far from the victorious leader that he'd once been.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36He'd lost control of his court and his men at arms. A rumour emerged
0:16:36 > 0:16:40that the king was senile and it stuck.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56For centuries to come, the king's senility was
0:16:56 > 0:16:58blamed for England's decline.
0:16:59 > 0:17:04But here, at the Abbey museum, a unique object tells a different story.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10I've come to look at it with historian Nigel Saul.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15So, Nigel, this is the funeral effigy of Edward III?
0:17:15 > 0:17:19Yes, that's right. What we're looking at is a death mask,
0:17:19 > 0:17:27a face of plaster cast, actually, from the king's face at the moment of his death,
0:17:27 > 0:17:32and it forms the head of this wooden funeral effigy,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35the earliest to survive,
0:17:35 > 0:17:39which would have been made so as to be placed on top of the coffin.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42So we're looking at the actual likeness of the king?
0:17:42 > 0:17:44That is why it's so remarkable.
0:17:44 > 0:17:49It's an extraordinarily macabre likeness because - look at it closely -
0:17:49 > 0:17:56the eyes are painted. The eyebrows, they were made from dog's hair.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00Remember that all the tomb effigies here at Westminster Abbey,
0:18:00 > 0:18:05they are merely idealised representations. This is authentic.
0:18:05 > 0:18:10We are looking at the face of the man exactly as he looked at the moment that he died.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12And what does this likeness show us, then?
0:18:12 > 0:18:15Something very important and remarkable.
0:18:15 > 0:18:16What we normally read
0:18:16 > 0:18:19is that the poor old boy went senile in his last years.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23It doesn't appear to have been senility in the conventional sense.
0:18:23 > 0:18:28It was a physical problem. When we look closely at the face,
0:18:28 > 0:18:30we see that the mouth is distorted -
0:18:30 > 0:18:33it's twisted down slightly on the left.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36Almost certainly he'd suffered a stroke,
0:18:36 > 0:18:38perhaps a succession of strokes.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42And this must have had a profound effect on the governance of the country, then?
0:18:42 > 0:18:46Yes, he was physically incapacitated, he was laid low.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50He was incapable of governing, so people took advantage of him.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52They were ripping him off.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55They were stuffing the medieval equivalent of five pound notes into
0:18:55 > 0:18:59brown paper envelopes, creaming off the money that should have gone into
0:18:59 > 0:19:05the war effort. So there was a lot of criticism of corruption at court.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08It was becoming merely a centre of sleaze and dishonour.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14In this conflict, the fortunes of both England
0:19:14 > 0:19:19and France were inextricably bound up with the character
0:19:19 > 0:19:20and strength of the man in charge.
0:19:26 > 0:19:33It was Edward's slow disintegration that had allowed Charles V to seize the advantage for France.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39To change that, England desperately needed a new leader.
0:19:44 > 0:19:49On the 21st of June 1377, Edward died.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53But the crisis continued.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58There was no heir to replace him.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05England's great hope, Edward's eldest son, the Black Prince,
0:20:05 > 0:20:07hero of the Battle of Poitiers,
0:20:07 > 0:20:10had died of dysentery the year before his father.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16Next in line to the throne was Edward's grandson, Richard,
0:20:16 > 0:20:18but he was just a ten-year-old boy.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27Just at the time when England most needed a strong king,
0:20:27 > 0:20:33the only option was for power to go to Richard's uncle, Edward's third son,
0:20:33 > 0:20:36the Duke of Lancaster, John of Gaunt.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41John of Gaunt would lead the country until Richard came of age.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46But this unpopular stand-in was not what England needed.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52The England he'd inherited wasn't an easy country to rule.
0:21:01 > 0:21:06Rumblings of social discontent were more dangerous than they might seem.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14England and France were living in the aftermath of the Black Death.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21It's thought that these bones at the church of St Leonard's
0:21:21 > 0:21:26in Kent were moved here to clear space in the overcrowded graveyard.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36In France, the social depravations of the disease were
0:21:36 > 0:21:40contained by King Charles's stable economy and clever leadership.
0:21:41 > 0:21:46In England, the hated John of Gaunt faced a near-impossible task.
0:21:48 > 0:21:56The plague had wiped out half the population, which meant half the tax revenue.
0:21:56 > 0:22:01England was already broke after years of mismanagement and war.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06John of Gaunt would have to find some way to make up the deficit.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14But raising taxes wasn't as easy as it had once been.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16The plague had changed the balance of power.
0:22:18 > 0:22:23Labourers were now in short supply. Those who had survived had begun to realise
0:22:23 > 0:22:27that they could command higher wages and better rights.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33The general population had more power than it had ever had before.
0:22:33 > 0:22:38Throughout the country, there were stirrings of social unrest
0:22:38 > 0:22:41as people began to question the status quo.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44The stage was set for a perfect storm.
0:22:47 > 0:22:52In June 1381, southern England was again under attack.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59Some 10,000 men thronged across the original London Bridge,
0:22:59 > 0:23:03but this had nothing to do with the French.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06This was an attack on England by the English.
0:23:06 > 0:23:12After years of plague, failed war, oppression and incompetence,
0:23:12 > 0:23:15the peasantry had had enough.
0:23:15 > 0:23:20They rose up in the largest mass rebellion in English history
0:23:20 > 0:23:21and marched on London.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34This was a class war led by a man from Kent,
0:23:34 > 0:23:39Wat Tyler, labelled by the aristocratic chronicler Froissart as,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42"A tiler of roofs and a wicked and nasty fellow."
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Together with a rebel priest, John Ball,
0:23:47 > 0:23:51he managed to unite discontented peasants and labourers.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54Their cause? To abolish serfdom
0:23:54 > 0:23:57and remove what they saw as the incompetent
0:23:57 > 0:24:01and corrupt traitors ruling in the name of the boy king, Richard.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09The trigger for the rebellion was the introduction of a new poll tax
0:24:09 > 0:24:12by the Chancellor, Archbishop Simon Sudbury.
0:24:12 > 0:24:18Now the rebels were after anyone connected with government, tax or law.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24John of Gaunt was an obvious target, but he was away in Scotland.
0:24:25 > 0:24:31The 14-year-old Richard was in the safest place in southern England, the Tower of London.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37With him was the man responsible for the poll tax, Simon Sudbury.
0:24:39 > 0:24:44If there was one man in England more hated than Gaunt, it was him.
0:24:45 > 0:24:50The terrified Sudbury had hidden in the chapel at the top of the White Tower.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08Apparently, here in St John's Chapel,
0:25:08 > 0:25:12Simon Sudbury offered up prayer after prayer.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14In his chronicles, Froissart wrote,
0:25:14 > 0:25:19"You can well imagine what a frightening situation it was for the King
0:25:19 > 0:25:26"and those with him, with those evil men yelling and shouting outside like devils."
0:25:31 > 0:25:34Tyler's men believed that their concerns would be met
0:25:34 > 0:25:37if they could only speak to the King himself.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44On the 14th of June, Richard was sent out to hear their requests.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48As he did so, the impossible happened.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54For the first time in English history, a mob broke into the tower.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58They forced their way into the chapel
0:25:58 > 0:26:02and found the terrified Chancellor.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06Sudbury was dragged from the building.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18In the Suffolk village of Sudbury,
0:26:18 > 0:26:22some remarkable evidence of what happened next still survives.
0:26:24 > 0:26:29I've come to see it for the first time with Professor Caroline Wilkinson.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41This is our little hole in the wall.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43SHE LAUGHS
0:26:46 > 0:26:50Oh, my gosh! Wow!
0:26:50 > 0:26:54So, this is the head of Simon of Sudbury.
0:26:54 > 0:26:59Oh, my goodness! So this is the man that was at the heart
0:26:59 > 0:27:01of the Peasants' Revolt, the Lord Chancellor.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05- It's an incredible thing.- It is. - It's mummified?
0:27:05 > 0:27:09Yes, so you can see it's not just skeletal. Mostly on this side and the base,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12you can see this mummified soft tissue.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15- Oh, my goodness!- So you kind of can see the nose.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18You can't really see the lips, but you can see some shapes.
0:27:18 > 0:27:19So can we get him out?
0:27:19 > 0:27:23We can. And you can touch him, if you like. I've got another pair of gloves.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Oh, wow! OK.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29This will be an experience.
0:27:31 > 0:27:37OK, so now you can see this bit of cheek
0:27:37 > 0:27:42that's bending in over the lower jaw.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45We've got this pretty well-preserved ear, or most of an ear.
0:27:47 > 0:27:52- Have you got it?- I have.- It doesn't show exactly what he looked like,
0:27:52 > 0:27:54but it's enough to give you a sense of the person.
0:27:54 > 0:28:00You can feel the texture of the skin through the gloves. It's absolutely incredible.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03- Oh, my goodness. I'm going to hand it back.- OK.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06So what can we tell about what happened to him?
0:28:06 > 0:28:12Well, the interesting thing about Simon's remains is that we can see here the cervical vertebrae,
0:28:12 > 0:28:16and you can see that it's been cut. So you can see this surface here...
0:28:16 > 0:28:20- Oh, yes!- ..where you can see the inside of the bone rather than the outside surface,
0:28:20 > 0:28:24so it's sliced through here, sliced through the spinous process,
0:28:24 > 0:28:28and partially severed the body, which is this round part of the vertebra,
0:28:28 > 0:28:34so what that suggests is that we've got a blow from behind him,
0:28:34 > 0:28:39from the right-hand side, swinging into the neck and partially severing
0:28:39 > 0:28:44the neck, so this blow stopped and didn't go all the way through the neck.
0:28:44 > 0:28:49So he's beheaded but what this seems to suggest is that it wasn't a clean cut?
0:28:49 > 0:28:51No, it certainly doesn't look that way.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55It must have taken more than one blow to decapitate him.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57What happened once he died?
0:28:57 > 0:29:01The story is that his head was put onto a spike on London Bridge
0:29:01 > 0:29:04and then, apparently, the people of Sudbury went and rescued the head
0:29:04 > 0:29:07- and brought it back to the church. - Wow!
0:29:08 > 0:29:11It seems poll taxes never worked for anyone.
0:29:12 > 0:29:17Sudbury's head is a potent symbol of how England was changing.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28400 years before the French Revolution,
0:29:28 > 0:29:32this Peasants' Revolt shook the nobility of England to its core.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39The time had come for the uprising to be stopped
0:29:39 > 0:29:42and it would fall to the boy Richard to do it.
0:29:45 > 0:29:46The King, with his men at arms,
0:29:46 > 0:29:51rode out to the grounds of St Bartholomew's Church in Smithfield.
0:29:53 > 0:29:57What happened here was the first great test of Richard II
0:29:57 > 0:30:00and arguably his most important battle.
0:30:01 > 0:30:08The 14-year-old king met Wat Tyler and his followers, supposedly to address their concerns.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13This is the classic image of that confrontation.
0:30:13 > 0:30:18It seems that Wat Tyler was surrounded by the King's knights
0:30:18 > 0:30:22and stabbed in the neck and the stomach.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24Richard, in a moment of quick-thinking,
0:30:24 > 0:30:28rode into the middle of the rebel throng, who didn't yet know
0:30:28 > 0:30:33that their leader was dead and declared, "You shall have no captain but me.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36"Just follow me to the fields without
0:30:36 > 0:30:38"and then you can have what you want."
0:30:39 > 0:30:45The rebels, convinced that Richard would keep his word, left London and dispersed.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49They had, of course, been duped.
0:30:52 > 0:30:56The ringleaders of the uprising were hunted down and hanged,
0:30:56 > 0:30:59and hundreds of their followers were imprisoned.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03The nobility ruthlessly re-imposed their power.
0:31:03 > 0:31:10Professor Caroline Barron has researched the impact of the Peasants' Revolt.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13Caroline, was it inevitable that the Peasants' Revolt would fail?
0:31:13 > 0:31:18Yes, but it had a very strong shock effect on the governing classes
0:31:18 > 0:31:25who had no idea that ordinary peasants could send
0:31:25 > 0:31:31letters to each other, communicate and organise something so massive.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35And in that sense, I think we could draw a parallel with 9/11,
0:31:35 > 0:31:41because the attack on the World Trade Center
0:31:41 > 0:31:48was highly organised and I think it really took the world by surprise
0:31:48 > 0:31:51that people who, perhaps none of us had paid much attention to
0:31:51 > 0:31:56or didn't think were very sophisticated or technically very sophisticated,
0:31:56 > 0:31:58were actually able to achieve something so remarkable
0:31:58 > 0:32:02and so devastating. So in that sense, the shock effect was the same.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04So it affects the medieval mind?
0:32:04 > 0:32:07Yes. It didn't achieve anything in practical terms for those
0:32:07 > 0:32:11who took part, but what it did achieve was it made
0:32:11 > 0:32:14the imposition of extra taxation much more difficult, obviously,
0:32:14 > 0:32:20after that, and they inevitably made the governing classes
0:32:20 > 0:32:26take account of the wishes, the needs, the ambitions
0:32:26 > 0:32:29of a whole group of people they'd probably not really considered before.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34As the bond with their French counterparts broke down,
0:32:34 > 0:32:40the English nobility faced the challenge of a new relationship with their own people.
0:32:44 > 0:32:50It hasn't got the legendary status of Poitiers or Agincourt,
0:32:50 > 0:32:56but for me, the Peasants' Revolt is one of the defining battles of the 14th century.
0:32:56 > 0:33:02The people had spoken and future kings would ignore them at their peril.
0:33:05 > 0:33:10The French had made full use of England's internal distractions.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13By the time Charles V died, to be replaced by his son,
0:33:13 > 0:33:17Charles VI, all that remained of the lands the English
0:33:17 > 0:33:21saw as their rightful heritage was a small area around Bordeaux
0:33:21 > 0:33:25and the tiny corner of Calais.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28To regain both their ancestral rights
0:33:28 > 0:33:33and their honour in France, England's only hope was the 22-year-old King Richard.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39In 1389, he'd announced that he was taking control of the government
0:33:39 > 0:33:40instead of John of Gaunt.
0:33:42 > 0:33:47At last the rightful king, the grandson of Edward III, was in charge.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52Surely he could change England's fortunes.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04Here at the National Gallery is a piece of medieval art which
0:34:04 > 0:34:10gives us a unique insight into the kind of king Richard II would be.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12This is the Wilton Diptych.
0:34:12 > 0:34:17It's one of the finest pieces of medieval art in the world.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20It's particularly remarkable because it was commissioned
0:34:20 > 0:34:25by King Richard himself as his portable altarpiece.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29I can just imagine him kneeling in front of it as he prayed.
0:34:47 > 0:34:51As an artwork itself, the diptych is special.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54It's exceptionally well-executed and detailed.
0:34:55 > 0:35:00If you look at the King's crown, the gold leaf has been punched
0:35:00 > 0:35:04with minute dots to give it greater texture
0:35:04 > 0:35:07and then the paint has been applied for pearls,
0:35:07 > 0:35:11raised up from the surface to give it a three-dimensional quality.
0:35:15 > 0:35:21The Wilton Diptych is a personal piece of art. It shows how Richard saw himself.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28For him, kingship was a divinely-given right.
0:35:28 > 0:35:33He's even had the angels portrayed wearing his symbol, the white hart.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41The intricate details of the diptych tell us
0:35:41 > 0:35:44something else about Richard's reign.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47Richard is wearing not just his own heraldry,
0:35:47 > 0:35:51but also the collar of the King of France, Charles VI.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55He's shown in the company of three saints -
0:35:55 > 0:35:59John the Baptist, Edward the Confessor and Edmund the Martyr.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04But there's one saint who's notably absent -
0:36:04 > 0:36:07St George, the warrior saint.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09The message is clear and it would have
0:36:09 > 0:36:13filled the military elite of England with horror.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16Richard was a king who loved peace.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25Luckily for Richard, across the Channel, his new counterpart,
0:36:25 > 0:36:30Charles VI, who would become known as Charles the Mad, was equally unambitious.
0:36:32 > 0:36:38Neither king had an appetite for war, and in 1389, they agreed a truce.
0:36:42 > 0:36:47The war might be on hold, but England and France were still growing apart.
0:36:47 > 0:36:49England was finding her own identity.
0:36:53 > 0:36:58For the last three centuries, the English nobility had spoken French.
0:36:58 > 0:37:03English was a lesser language, spoken only by the so-called "ordinary people".
0:37:05 > 0:37:10In the 1380s, it became increasingly fashionable to speak English.
0:37:10 > 0:37:15And this delicate parchment is a symbol of that change.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19For me, it's one of the defining objects of our history.
0:37:21 > 0:37:26And it opens, "Here beginneth the book of the Tales Of Canterbury."
0:37:28 > 0:37:30It's the oldest surviving copy
0:37:30 > 0:37:35of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and it's known as the Hengwrt manuscript.
0:37:42 > 0:37:48This 600-year-old manuscript was created by a scribe working directly for the poet.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54Geoffrey Chaucer was the son of a merchant,
0:37:54 > 0:37:58but he had close links with the nobility and served in Richard's court.
0:38:02 > 0:38:05You'd expect high-status poetry like this to be written in French,
0:38:05 > 0:38:10but instead it's written in the language of the populace,
0:38:10 > 0:38:12the vernacular, English.
0:38:13 > 0:38:17In 1384, the Bible had been translated into English.
0:38:19 > 0:38:22And by the end of the 14th century, French would all but disappear.
0:38:24 > 0:38:28Everyone in England would speak English.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33It's not just the language that's important,
0:38:33 > 0:38:36it's also the style in which it's written.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39Just look at this bit. Here's Chaucer on women.
0:38:39 > 0:38:41READS TEXT
0:38:49 > 0:38:53- TRANSLATES:- You super wives, stand at defence,
0:38:53 > 0:38:56since you are strong like a great camel.
0:39:01 > 0:39:06Chaucer's pugnacious style came to be seen as quintessentially English.
0:39:06 > 0:39:11The witty satire seemed to epitomise England's growing sense
0:39:11 > 0:39:16of identity as a feisty, independent nation.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24It wasn't just in literature
0:39:24 > 0:39:27that an English national identity was flourishing.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33Before the war, England had looked to France
0:39:33 > 0:39:36as an arbiter of architectural style and taste.
0:39:40 > 0:39:45Since 1066, English architecture was dominated by the Norman style.
0:39:45 > 0:39:49You can see it here, in the nave of Gloucester Cathedral
0:39:49 > 0:39:51in these fat, strong columns.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55Norman architecture was all about the practical,
0:39:55 > 0:39:56keeping the building up.
0:40:00 > 0:40:04But as you step around this corner, just look at this.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19This is what happened
0:40:19 > 0:40:21when the English began to break away from France.
0:40:32 > 0:40:36Instead of copying French architecture, we developed our own.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42This is English Perpendicular Gothic.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46The building's structure is hidden behind delicate stonework.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54You've got these straight lines and much more emphasis
0:40:54 > 0:40:57on the vertical thrust upwards of the building.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03It's no longer supported by squat columns,
0:41:03 > 0:41:05but spanned by flying buttresses.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14Created in the shadow of the Black Death,
0:41:14 > 0:41:18this perpendicular style was an attempt to lift
0:41:18 > 0:41:23the desperate prayers of those below upwards to the heavens.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38English masons became some of the best in Europe.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42They also created this elaborate latticed stonework
0:41:42 > 0:41:44known as fan vaulting.
0:41:46 > 0:41:48This distinctive English style
0:41:48 > 0:41:51was soon being copied by the French.
0:41:54 > 0:41:59This time of peace became an era of English self-expression
0:41:59 > 0:42:02and artistic magnificence.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15But there was a problem with Richard's reign.
0:42:17 > 0:42:19I think it's best demonstrated
0:42:19 > 0:42:22by a remarkable document at the National Archives.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27This is Richard's treasure roll,
0:42:27 > 0:42:31a record of all the precious objects he had accumulated.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36The things described are all gold, silver or bejewelled.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39This is just a third of it.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42When it's fully open it's 28 metres long.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47It's the longest surviving treasure roll
0:42:47 > 0:42:51for any Medieval English king and it lists the modern equivalent
0:42:51 > 0:42:55of over a billion pounds' worth of trinkets, ornaments and jewellery.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03Richard's spending made him unpopular with the people.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07They understood when their taxes were being used by a king
0:43:07 > 0:43:10to wage war on the French. As we've seen,
0:43:10 > 0:43:14there were benefits to be had from military success.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17But Richard wasn't spending money on war.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20To the people, it seemed he was indulging
0:43:20 > 0:43:23his personal pleasures at public expense.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29But Richard had a bigger problem than the people.
0:43:30 > 0:43:37In 1397, he clashed with a group of nobles who opposed the peace.
0:43:37 > 0:43:42Among them his cousin, the son of John of Gaunt, Henry Bolingbroke.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45Unable to accept any challenge to his authority,
0:43:45 > 0:43:50Richard had Henry exiled to France, but he didn't stop there.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55A year later, when John of Gaunt died,
0:43:55 > 0:43:58Richard extended Bolingbroke's exile
0:43:58 > 0:44:02and seized the inheritance left to him by his father.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04Richard had gone a step too far.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18What happened here in August 1399
0:44:18 > 0:44:23would change the course of the war and English history.
0:44:30 > 0:44:32At Conwy Castle in North Wales,
0:44:32 > 0:44:35Richard paid the price for his tyrannical behaviour.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43Henry Bolingbroke had come back to England with an army,
0:44:43 > 0:44:46determined to reclaim the vast family wealth
0:44:46 > 0:44:49stolen from him by his cousin Richard.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54But Henry was to go much further than that.
0:44:59 > 0:45:01Henry found that across the country,
0:45:01 > 0:45:04support for the ineffective King Richard had gone.
0:45:04 > 0:45:09Froissart claimed that the population of London hated him so much
0:45:09 > 0:45:13that every time they mentioned his name they added,
0:45:13 > 0:45:16"Damn and blast the dirty bugger."
0:45:19 > 0:45:21Richard was so unpopular,
0:45:21 > 0:45:26Henry realised there was more within his grasp than just his inheritance.
0:45:28 > 0:45:32The most powerful nobles in England were declaring their loyalty to him.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36If he could track Richard down,
0:45:36 > 0:45:39Henry could force him to hand over the crown.
0:45:44 > 0:45:48Richard, who was in hiding here, knew the net was closing in.
0:45:48 > 0:45:53In a last desperate effort he agreed to meet Henry's negotiator,
0:45:53 > 0:45:54the Duke of Northumberland.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04In this very chapel, Northumberland swore an oath on ancient relics
0:46:04 > 0:46:07that he and Bolingbroke meant Richard no harm
0:46:07 > 0:46:10and that it was safe for him to leave the castle.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14But it was a trap.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21The minute Richard set foot outside of the castle,
0:46:21 > 0:46:23he was seized by Northumberland's men
0:46:23 > 0:46:25and taken in triumph to Henry.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30Richard, this man who had believed so completely
0:46:30 > 0:46:35in the invincibility of kingship, had no choice but to step down.
0:46:38 > 0:46:42Richard had failed to realise that in England the Peasants' Revolt
0:46:42 > 0:46:45had changed what it meant to be king.
0:46:45 > 0:46:49While France would endure the follies of their ineffective monarch,
0:46:49 > 0:46:52the people and parliament of England
0:46:52 > 0:46:57crowned the audacious Bolingbroke Henry the IV.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10Richard's reign of peace was over.
0:47:10 > 0:47:14A year later he died alone in Pontefract Castle,
0:47:14 > 0:47:19starved to death at his cousin Henry's command.
0:47:27 > 0:47:32Henry had got what he wanted, but the crown had lost its sanctity.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36Henry's 14-year reign was marred by continual plots against him
0:47:36 > 0:47:39and opposing claims to the throne.
0:47:42 > 0:47:44Beset by internal conflict,
0:47:44 > 0:47:49the glory that had seemed within Henry's grasp melted away.
0:47:50 > 0:47:55And with it, any hope of resuming the war with France.
0:47:58 > 0:48:00When he died in 1413,
0:48:00 > 0:48:04he told his son that the crown had never been his.
0:48:07 > 0:48:10That son, who in Shakespeare's legend
0:48:10 > 0:48:14was already trying on the crown as his father lay dying,
0:48:14 > 0:48:17would become an icon of English history - Henry V.
0:48:23 > 0:48:27Henry seemed to be everything England needed.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30He was popular with both the court and the people
0:48:30 > 0:48:33and had had the sort of upbringing
0:48:33 > 0:48:36almost designed to make him the perfect king.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41Even as a young prince,
0:48:41 > 0:48:44Henry was out defending challenges to his father's crown.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47There's one account that really sums this up for me.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50It was written by the King's own surgeon.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54It describes the aftermath of the Battle of Shrewsbury.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57The 16-year-old Henry took an arrow to the face.
0:48:57 > 0:49:02It lodged itself six inches deep into the skull.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06The surgeon's report describes how he had to enlarge
0:49:06 > 0:49:09the space around the arrowhead using probes
0:49:09 > 0:49:13so he could get right underneath it and pull it out.
0:49:13 > 0:49:16This was all conducted without anaesthetic.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20Henry must have been scarred for life.
0:49:20 > 0:49:24It's perhaps why the only portrait of him that survives
0:49:24 > 0:49:26shows just his left side.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30This was the kind of leader England had been waiting for.
0:49:32 > 0:49:34But Henry was the son of a usurper
0:49:34 > 0:49:38and that shadow hung over his entire reign.
0:49:38 > 0:49:44He was determined to prove the validity, the divinity
0:49:44 > 0:49:49of his kingship and for me it's that drive, that inner conflict
0:49:49 > 0:49:55that would dictate the course of history for decades to come.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59Henry would have to earn his right to kingship.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02Although much had changed in England,
0:50:02 > 0:50:06there was still only one way to prove his legitimacy.
0:50:06 > 0:50:10Henry re-launched the war with France.
0:50:14 > 0:50:19By now, the French king Charles the Mad was living up to his name
0:50:19 > 0:50:21having tried to kill his own council
0:50:21 > 0:50:24in the first of many bouts of insanity.
0:50:26 > 0:50:28The chaos that had ensued was too good
0:50:28 > 0:50:30an opportunity for an English king to miss.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36It was from here at Portchester Castle that Henry
0:50:36 > 0:50:39launched his invasion of France.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41On Sunday 11th August,
0:50:41 > 0:50:441,500 ships set sail across the Channel.
0:50:44 > 0:50:48It was a fleet 12 times the size of the Spanish Armada.
0:50:49 > 0:50:55On board were some 8,000 archers and 2,000 men at arms.
0:50:55 > 0:50:59Henry knew that to secure his position this had to be
0:50:59 > 0:51:03not just his war, or even his knights' war, but England's war.
0:51:03 > 0:51:08He turned this into a campaign about national honour and prestige.
0:51:11 > 0:51:15Some accounts say Henry's ship was emblazoned with heraldry.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19On the main sail was the royal coat of arms.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22It was changed at the beginning of the 100 Years War
0:51:22 > 0:51:27by Edward III to show not just the three lions of England,
0:51:27 > 0:51:30but also the fleur-de-lis of France.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33And on the rear deck flew the banner of St George.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39Henry was going to restore King Edward's conquests.
0:51:39 > 0:51:43But more than that, he was going to prove that God
0:51:43 > 0:51:47was on his side and on the side of the English.
0:51:49 > 0:51:54What happened next has gone down in history as one of the greatest
0:51:54 > 0:51:57and most miraculous of Medieval victories.
0:52:02 > 0:52:04But it could have been very different.
0:52:06 > 0:52:10Henry had landed in Harfleur. His aim was to take the town
0:52:10 > 0:52:13and use it as base from where he could conquer Normandy
0:52:13 > 0:52:16and strike down river at Paris.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23But Harfleur proved hard to break.
0:52:23 > 0:52:27It took six weeks of bloody siege to gain control of the town.
0:52:28 > 0:52:30Henry faced disaster - his losses were
0:52:30 > 0:52:35so great he was forced to abandon his original plan.
0:52:35 > 0:52:41His council advised that his only option was to sail back to England.
0:52:42 > 0:52:45But Henry wasn't about to leave France with nothing.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49He proposed that his exhausted army,
0:52:49 > 0:52:52by now ridden with dysentery and disease,
0:52:52 > 0:52:56would embark on a chevauchee, a raid through the countryside,
0:52:56 > 0:52:59160 miles towards English-held Calais.
0:53:02 > 0:53:05There were rich pickings to be had,
0:53:05 > 0:53:08but after three months, Henry had lost a third of his men.
0:53:08 > 0:53:11And he hadn't realised that his every move
0:53:11 > 0:53:15was being tracked by the French as they managed to gather
0:53:15 > 0:53:18one of the largest armies of the war.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26They finally caught up with him about 35 miles from Calais
0:53:26 > 0:53:29outside this small village - Agincourt.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36Historian Ian Mortimer is an expert on the battle that followed.
0:53:39 > 0:53:41This was such a historically important site.
0:53:41 > 0:53:46This is the very place - this is the place where English history is made,
0:53:46 > 0:53:50150 yards over there, you've got the mass grave of the French victims
0:53:50 > 0:53:55of the battle and this is the spot between where two armies were drawn up.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58Down there, right across the battlefield over there
0:53:58 > 0:54:00is where the English archers
0:54:00 > 0:54:03and men at arms had lined up ready to face the French.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05The French were up there, towards the top of the hill,
0:54:05 > 0:54:10waiting for the English to move north because they knew they wanted to get to Calais and to safety.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13And for a long time, it looked like nothing was going to happen.
0:54:13 > 0:54:16English drawn up, the French just held them back.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18And then Henry made an amazing decision,
0:54:18 > 0:54:21because normally English archers had won battles
0:54:21 > 0:54:24by waiting to be attacked and as the army charged towards you,
0:54:24 > 0:54:25then you shot them.
0:54:25 > 0:54:28But in this case, he bought all the army forward
0:54:28 > 0:54:31and that's when the battle really began.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34The English attacked the larger army of the French.
0:54:43 > 0:54:45Henry's decision seemed like insanity.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49But these were two very different armies.
0:54:52 > 0:54:55Henry's was modelled on Edward III's,
0:54:55 > 0:54:58made up largely of skilled soldiers of all classes,
0:54:58 > 0:55:01fighting for one national cause.
0:55:01 > 0:55:04The French force was led by knightly men at arms,
0:55:04 > 0:55:09many from independent duchies, they were unified only by the ties
0:55:09 > 0:55:13of chivalry, the code of conduct they had always fought by.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24It rained the night before the battle, which was a major factor.
0:55:24 > 0:55:27The French tried to do what they do best, which is charge.
0:55:27 > 0:55:29The ground was too boggy, it was too messy
0:55:29 > 0:55:32and they basically slipped and the horses careered into each other.
0:55:32 > 0:55:35They were slowed by the mud and the English archers were able
0:55:35 > 0:55:38to get close enough to shoot their arrows and kill the frontline.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42And that's crucial because the French had put all their best knights,
0:55:42 > 0:55:45their grandest men right at the front of the army.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47So English archers, peasants,
0:55:47 > 0:55:50were shooting the great men of France from the moment go.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53The people behind couldn't draw their swords and support them,
0:55:53 > 0:55:57they couldn't charge either, so the entire charge was basically stopped.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59They're just ploughing into this line
0:55:59 > 0:56:01and the English can just take them out then?
0:56:01 > 0:56:04Absolutely. The French charging knights have no reverse gear.
0:56:04 > 0:56:08They can't suddenly go back and it really became a scrum in which
0:56:08 > 0:56:10Englishmen were killing trapped Frenchmen.
0:56:10 > 0:56:12A lot of Frenchmen actually suffocated
0:56:12 > 0:56:15under the weight of their comrades on top of them.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18But at the end of the day, it was a victory that Henry had no
0:56:18 > 0:56:21right to expect because his men were demoralised and weak.
0:56:21 > 0:56:26He had fewer soldiers and he was very, very lucky.
0:56:26 > 0:56:30Lucky and he is a good military leader, isn't he?
0:56:30 > 0:56:32He gets involved in this himself.
0:56:32 > 0:56:36It's Henry who keeps everybody together - sheer force of will.
0:56:36 > 0:56:38He's a most incredible man.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41I think he's quite a cold man. I think the golden-boy image
0:56:41 > 0:56:45you get from Shakespeare is very misleading,
0:56:45 > 0:56:47but he really is as brave as people think he is.
0:56:47 > 0:56:51He's an extraordinary character when you look at him up close.
0:56:56 > 0:57:01In these blood-soaked fields, Henry the son of the usurper,
0:57:01 > 0:57:04achieved what he'd set out to do.
0:57:10 > 0:57:16The cream of French nobility lay dead, cut down in their prime.
0:57:19 > 0:57:22Now no one could deny Henry the English crown...
0:57:26 > 0:57:29..and with that his claims in France.
0:57:35 > 0:57:38Henry had proved the divine right of his kingship -
0:57:38 > 0:57:44God was on his side, and on the side of England, united behind him.
0:57:44 > 0:57:48He had turned a feudal struggle for territories
0:57:48 > 0:57:51into a nationalistic war for supremacy.
0:57:55 > 0:58:00Next, the 100 Years War becomes a battle for the moral high ground.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06Henry continues his invasion of France
0:58:06 > 0:58:09and claims the French crown for his son.
0:58:10 > 0:58:12France finally strikes back,
0:58:12 > 0:58:17united behind a peasant girl who would become a saint.
0:58:41 > 0:58:45Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd