0:00:08 > 0:00:12It's hard to imagine today that there was ever a time when England and France
0:00:12 > 0:00:16were more than two separate countries.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19But 700 years ago, our ruling classes were bound
0:00:19 > 0:00:25by a shared set of values, codes of behaviour and language,
0:00:25 > 0:00:28locked together by one culture
0:00:28 > 0:00:32in a marriage that had lasted 300 years.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36But in the mid-14th century, it 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 > 0:00:57when little England dared to challenge the mighty superpower that was France
0:00:57 > 0:01:00and refused to give up.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04We've seen how, over 70 years of war,
0:01:04 > 0:01:08the bonds between England and France had been eroded
0:01:08 > 0:01:11and how out of chaos and revolution,
0:01:11 > 0:01:14a uniquely English identity emerged.
0:01:17 > 0:01:23Now I'll explore why this was not enough for the great English King Henry V,
0:01:23 > 0:01:27who wanted nothing less than the crown of France.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31And I'll show how this war shaped and changed us,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34helping make England what it is today.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48In this final chapter of the story,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51the war becomes a battle for national supremacy
0:01:51 > 0:01:54and a fight for the moral high ground.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57Henry V claims God is on HIS side,
0:01:57 > 0:02:03until the French harness the power of a peasant girl who would become a saint.
0:02:14 > 0:02:20In 1415, the English were celebrating their greatest victory of the war.
0:02:20 > 0:02:26At the Battle of Agincourt, the French nobility had been decimated by King Henry V.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31Remarkably, here at the National Archives,
0:02:31 > 0:02:35detailed evidence of Henry's campaign still survives.
0:02:35 > 0:02:40As a cultural historian, I'm fascinated by what it can tell us about his reign.
0:02:41 > 0:02:47These beautifully preserved 600-year-old documents are contracts.
0:02:47 > 0:02:53They're employment contracts between King Henry V and the soldiers that he hired.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58So, here it says, "This is an indenture
0:02:58 > 0:03:04"made between the King of England and hundreds of archers."
0:03:06 > 0:03:11And if we look further through these documents, there's a list of them all.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16It's amazing to see these names.
0:03:16 > 0:03:21This roll call of English heroes who were on that battlefield.
0:03:24 > 0:03:30Each of these men was individually contracted to serve the King.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33"Sent from the King, Henry."
0:03:33 > 0:03:38There's no record of any earlier Kings ever doing this.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43Henry oversaw every detail of his campaigns.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47The contracts are a testimony to his meticulous planning.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51But that wasn't what won him the battle.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55It was determination and unbridled ambition.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Henry was the son of a usurper.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04His father had killed the rightful King to seize the crown.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10When Henry took to the throne in 1413,
0:04:10 > 0:04:14he'd had to prove his right to be King
0:04:14 > 0:04:17and at Agincourt, he'd done just that.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23On his return to London, Henry was greeted in triumph
0:04:23 > 0:04:26on a victory procession through the city.
0:04:26 > 0:04:33The celebratory mood was no doubt helped by the fact that the water conduits were filled with wine.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38By all accounts, this was one of the greatest pageants in medieval history.
0:04:38 > 0:04:43But for Henry, it wasn't the end. It was just the beginning.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Agincourt had made his reputation,
0:04:47 > 0:04:53but it hadn't won back any of the ancestral lands the English saw as rightfully theirs.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56Since the great victories of Edward III,
0:04:56 > 0:05:00these had eroded to just Gascony, Ponthieu and Calais.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Now Henry wanted them back.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09After two years' careful preparation,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12he was on his way to France again...
0:05:14 > 0:05:17..with an army of 10,000 men.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21They landed on the beaches of Normandy,
0:05:21 > 0:05:25just as his great-grandfather had done 70 years earlier.
0:05:27 > 0:05:32But unlike Edward III, who'd come to Normandy to burn and raid it,
0:05:32 > 0:05:35Henry was here to conquer it all,
0:05:35 > 0:05:38and he would do it city by city.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42The onslaught began in the wealthy town of Caen.
0:05:44 > 0:05:49Caen was well-fortified, but Henry immediately found a strategic opportunity.
0:05:51 > 0:05:57Outside the city walls stand two tall abbeys which he seized on arrival.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01The towers of the abbeys were much higher than the walls of the city,
0:06:01 > 0:06:05and, by taking these, the English could fire down on the defenders.
0:06:05 > 0:06:11For three weeks, the citizens of Caen held out, refusing to surrender.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16But on the 4th of September, the walls were breached and the city fell.
0:06:19 > 0:06:26With a characteristic show of piety, Henry went to one of the abbeys to pray.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29But he had another, more symbolic, reason for coming here.
0:06:39 > 0:06:45The Abbaye-aux-Hommes contains a vital clue to what Henry had planned for France.
0:06:50 > 0:06:56It's the burial place of a King famous for conquest and occupation -
0:06:56 > 0:07:00William the Conqueror.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03I'm here with historian Anne Curry.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07Henry came here to see the tomb of William the Conqueror.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10In many ways, he was trying to resurrect the idea
0:07:10 > 0:07:14of a duchy of Normandy.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16And in some ways too, it's a Norman conquest in reverse.
0:07:16 > 0:07:23Henry started to give out lands to his followers, to his brothers, to his leading commanders.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27He gave houses to London merchants so that they'd encourage cross-Channel trade.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31So, it went much further than the Norman conquest itself.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35It's very clever in terms of securing people's loyalty.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38It is indeed and it also generates a long-term investment.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42Obviously, Henry couldn't spend all his time here, but he was certain
0:07:42 > 0:07:47that those to whom he'd given lands would be able to do that. He wanted a permanent settlement in Normandy,
0:07:47 > 0:07:50a colonisation, if you like, of the duchy.
0:07:51 > 0:07:57Henry's campaign was unlike any that had gone before it.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01His aim was the annexation of the entire province of Normandy.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06Within 11 months of the fall of Caen,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09he'd taken nearly half of it,
0:08:09 > 0:08:15and France, once the superpower of Europe, had done nothing to stop him.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19Behind this failure to act was a fundamental change
0:08:19 > 0:08:23that had happened in England, but not in France.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28In England, with the Peasants' Revolt of 1381
0:08:28 > 0:08:31and the usurpation of Richard II,
0:08:31 > 0:08:34the nature of kingship had changed.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37English Kings were now held to account.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42But in France, the sanctity of kingship had never been challenged.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44No King had yet been deposed.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50This meant the French were now stuck with King Charles VI, who was mad.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56He spent long periods of time believing he was made of glass.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00He wore reinforced clothing and allowed no-one to touch him.
0:09:00 > 0:09:06His 38-year reign had seen France descend into civil war.
0:09:06 > 0:09:12The country was being torn apart by two royal factions, vying for power,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15locked in a blood feud.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19They were too busy fighting each other to fight the English.
0:09:19 > 0:09:26On one side were supporters of the mad King's son, the Dauphin, known as Orleanists.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30And on the other, the Burgundians, led by the King's cousin,
0:09:30 > 0:09:33the hugely wealthy Duke of Burgundy.
0:09:40 > 0:09:46The Duke, known as John the Fearless, was the most powerful man in the country.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54In central Paris, a section of his grand palace still remains.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59It gives us a unique insight into the man.
0:10:02 > 0:10:07According to legend, the Duke of Burgundy slept in a tiny room
0:10:07 > 0:10:12in the top of this tall tower to avoid assassination attempts.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18The Duke had made plenty of enemies.
0:10:18 > 0:10:24Merciless in his quest for power, he'd even had the King's own brother murdered.
0:10:24 > 0:10:29And these sadistic tendencies were paired with virtually limitless resources.
0:10:31 > 0:10:36John the Fearless had control of Paris, and with it the royal treasury,
0:10:36 > 0:10:41which he plundered frequently to finance his own political ambitions.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45This man would have been a formidable enemy to Henry V.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50But he had other interests which, for now, worked in Henry's favour.
0:10:50 > 0:10:57The Duke of Burgundy was pro-English because his province of Flanders had close trade links with England.
0:10:57 > 0:11:03You can see this represented symbolically on this magnificent ceiling at his home.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05The solid oak tree of Burgundy
0:11:05 > 0:11:10has the hops of Flanders wrapped around it, symbolising that bond.
0:11:10 > 0:11:17It's easy to see this ceiling as a metaphor for the entangled web of the Duke's loyalties.
0:11:17 > 0:11:23And if it suited him, he'd rather fight his own countrymen than the King of England.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28His obsession with his own interests meant that the English, the old enemy,
0:11:28 > 0:11:32were now running amok throughout Normandy unchallenged
0:11:32 > 0:11:35and the capital was paralysed.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42The chronicler Christine de Pizan was one of the few people
0:11:42 > 0:11:47to recognise how dangerous this internal conflict was.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51Christine was appalled at the divisions within France,
0:11:51 > 0:11:56and when the civil war broke out, she wrote to the King's wife, Queen Isabeau,
0:11:56 > 0:12:01asking her to heal the sickness and division in the kingdom.
0:12:01 > 0:12:07She wrote, "The kingdom will be destroyed if it is divided amongst itself."
0:12:08 > 0:12:11Christine was right.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15Henry was fully exploiting France's vulnerability.
0:12:15 > 0:12:20By the winter of 1418, he had reached the town of Rouen.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27Capital of the province, Rouen was Normandy's last, great hope.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33The townspeople had retreated inside the city's walls,
0:12:33 > 0:12:39which stretched for five miles and were defended by 60 towers, believed to be unbreachable.
0:12:46 > 0:12:52They would have had everything they needed within the walls of the city to withstand siege.
0:12:52 > 0:12:57They had destroyed the suburbs and taken everything that was edible and useful inside the walls.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05As Henry launched his attack, the people of Rouen held out,
0:13:05 > 0:13:09convinced the Duke of Burgundy would come to their rescue.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13Of course, he never did.
0:13:13 > 0:13:19After four months of relentless siege, which dragged on into a freezing winter,
0:13:19 > 0:13:23the people of Rouen faced starvation.
0:13:24 > 0:13:2912,000 of their poorest and weakest were said to have been forced out of the city,
0:13:29 > 0:13:36becoming trapped in a sodden no-man's-land between the walls and the English lines.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42This was brutal even by medieval standards.
0:13:42 > 0:13:47One chronicler, John Page, said that the English soldiers
0:13:47 > 0:13:52took such pity on these poor people that they gave them their own bread.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56Henry himself wasn't distracted by such niceties.
0:13:59 > 0:14:04Furious that Rouen wouldn't give in, he continued to turn the screws on the town.
0:14:06 > 0:14:12And the medieval siege had become more terrifying than ever, as these illustrations reveal.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17This book of silverpoint drawings dates from the 1480s,
0:14:17 > 0:14:24but it's an incredible document on the campaign and the way it was conducted.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28Henry had replaced his catapults, trebuchets and scaling ladders
0:14:28 > 0:14:32with something far more destructive - cannons.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38The introduction of gunpowder was changing the nature of warfare
0:14:38 > 0:14:44and just like his great-grandfather, Edward, Henry could see the value of new technology.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51'If you think about the psychological impact on the townsmen, townswomen,
0:14:51 > 0:14:55'of a city like Rouen that is being besieged for month after month.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57'The roar of cannon.'
0:14:57 > 0:14:59Fire!
0:15:00 > 0:15:03Added to that, not only the terror of these gunshots,
0:15:03 > 0:15:07also the terrible wounds inflicted by these early cannonballs,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10whether iron, stone, lead shot.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14To see people mutilated and killed by this - it adds a new level of horror
0:15:14 > 0:15:17to the medieval battlefield, which was already a terrible place.
0:15:17 > 0:15:23The sound of the arrows whistling overhead has been replaced with these enormous bangs.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26There is a spiritual aspect to it. Hell is on earth.
0:15:32 > 0:15:37After six months of siege, Rouen surrendered.
0:15:37 > 0:15:42With the fall of that mighty city, the rest of Upper Normandy followed.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46Henry's conquest of the province was complete.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49Normandy belonged to the English.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53Its fertile lands were distributed amongst his men.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57Its towns garrisoned by English soldiers.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01But Henry wasn't stopping there.
0:16:01 > 0:16:06By the spring of 1419, his army was just 17 miles from Paris.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13This was the domain of John the Fearless, the Duke of Burgundy.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17He controlled the city and its treasury.
0:16:17 > 0:16:23The Duke may have let Normandy fall, but he wouldn't do the same with Paris.
0:16:25 > 0:16:30Distasteful as it might be, he'd have to make peace with the Orleanists.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Only together could they take on the English.
0:16:36 > 0:16:42The peace negotiations took place on a gated bridge at Montereau, not far from Paris.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45Both ends were locked and barricaded,
0:16:45 > 0:16:50while ten delegates from each side, including the Duke, parleyed.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57But the Orleanists weren't quite ready to bury the hatchet.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00At least, not metaphorically.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03John the Fearless was set upon,
0:17:03 > 0:17:07his right hand cut off to stop him raising it to the devil,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10then his head split open with an axe.
0:17:12 > 0:17:18The Orleanists had got their revenge, but it would come at a terrible price.
0:17:21 > 0:17:26The one person that could have saved the country was now dead.
0:17:26 > 0:17:32It was later said that the English entered France through a hole in the Duke of Burgundy's skull.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37This couldn't have gone better for Henry.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40Not only had the French failed to unite against him,
0:17:40 > 0:17:44but he was to gain a valuable new ally with a thirst for revenge.
0:17:45 > 0:17:52One witness to the Duke of Burgundy's death was his 23-year-old son, Philip.
0:17:52 > 0:17:58Philip was a temperamental young man, more interested in fashion than politics.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02But the murder of his father put fire in his belly.
0:18:03 > 0:18:08Fuelled by hatred of the Orleanists, he made an alliance with the English King,
0:18:08 > 0:18:12promising to help him conquer the country.
0:18:12 > 0:18:17This unlikely partnership put Henry at the height of his powers.
0:18:17 > 0:18:22Without any fighting, he'd more than doubled the lands in his control,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25which now included Paris.
0:18:32 > 0:18:38Henry was now in the position to do what no English King had managed before.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42He wanted nothing less than the crown of France.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46This was to be diplomatically agreed,
0:18:46 > 0:18:53but no-one could ignore the 10,000 English soldiers poised at the gates of Paris.
0:18:56 > 0:19:01At the Cathedral of Troyes, Henry's new allies were gathered.
0:19:01 > 0:19:06The insane King was made to disown his son and heir, the Dauphin,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09and Queen Isabeau declared him illegitimate,
0:19:09 > 0:19:12the son of one of her many lovers.
0:19:18 > 0:19:23Henry had set the stage for the ultimate humiliation of France.
0:19:26 > 0:19:31Up there on the high altar, Henry sealed a treaty in front of God
0:19:31 > 0:19:36and a huge assembly of English, French and Burgundian nobles
0:19:36 > 0:19:41that the kingdom of France should fall to himself and his bodily heirs
0:19:41 > 0:19:46in perpetuity after the death of the old mad King Charles VI.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54When Charles died, Henry V, King of England,
0:19:54 > 0:19:58would also become King of France.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10England had laid claim to the French crown before,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13but this was different.
0:20:13 > 0:20:18So, Anne, Henry's achievement was extraordinary. How seriously did he take it?
0:20:18 > 0:20:21Henry V took the Treaty of Troyes very seriously indeed.
0:20:21 > 0:20:26Not only did it make him heir to the French throne, it made him Regent of France, as well.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29That meant he was responsible for everything in France,
0:20:29 > 0:20:32for its money system - there'd been tremendous devaluation...
0:20:32 > 0:20:37There was also the problem of effecting the law after a period of civil war,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40of trying to create peace, of restoring some people to lands
0:20:40 > 0:20:45that previously he'd confiscated, because now, he was, effectively, ruler of France
0:20:45 > 0:20:49and trying to create peace as well as to keeping the enemy at bay.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55After the treaty was sealed, so too was a union of the royal bloodlines.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02Henry was solemnly betrothed to the beautiful Catherine of Valois,
0:21:02 > 0:21:09the King's 18-year-old daughter, and they were married just 12 days later to great celebrations.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17But not everyone in France was celebrating.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20The country was still divided.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23The Treaty of Troyes meant nothing to the Orleanists
0:21:23 > 0:21:28and their leader, the Dauphin, who they still believed was the rightful heir.
0:21:32 > 0:21:38The Dauphin, Charles, at just 17, was timid and insecure,
0:21:38 > 0:21:41racked with doubts over his own legitimacy.
0:21:41 > 0:21:46He was said to be highly superstitious and obsessed with astrology.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50Far from a commanding military leader.
0:21:51 > 0:21:56The Dauphin could only look on as Henry stole his inheritance.
0:22:00 > 0:22:06In September 1420, the English King made his ceremonial entry into Paris.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10That Christmas, he lodged at the Louvre.
0:22:12 > 0:22:19This was the beginning of an English occupation of the French capital that would last for 15 years.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27There's no doubt that Henry would have come here to Sainte-Chapelle,
0:22:27 > 0:22:30the private chapel of the French monarchy.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49In Henry's day, this place was internationally renowned
0:22:49 > 0:22:52as a building-sized reliquary,
0:22:52 > 0:22:56custom-made to house the most important relics in medieval Christendom -
0:22:56 > 0:22:59those associated with Christ himself.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02The crown of thorns, the lance that pierced his side,
0:23:02 > 0:23:05and fragments of the True Cross itself.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07Although the relics themselves aren't here any more,
0:23:07 > 0:23:10the evidence that they were is all around us.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15This was a chapel befitting of a superpower.
0:23:15 > 0:23:20Now Henry, an English King, was heir to its invaluable relics
0:23:20 > 0:23:24and all that they symbolised.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28To be in possession of the relics of the Passion
0:23:28 > 0:23:30signified divine favour.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34The French monarchs had always been styled "most Christian of Kings",
0:23:34 > 0:23:37"Rex Christianissimus".
0:23:37 > 0:23:41There's something else that Henry would have been aware of
0:23:41 > 0:23:44as he surveyed his inheritance here in Sainte-Chapelle,
0:23:44 > 0:23:49and that's the incredible mystique that French kingship was shrouded in.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52The fact that the Kings were anointed with holy chrism.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55They could trace their line back to Charlemagne.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58All of this really would have made an impression on Henry.
0:24:07 > 0:24:12The Treaty of Troyes put all this in Henry's grasp.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14But there was a catch.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18In exchange for what he'd been granted,
0:24:18 > 0:24:24Henry now had to conquer all the territories of the Burgundians' rivals, the Orleanists,
0:24:24 > 0:24:28and those of the now disinherited Dauphin.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38At home, they knew this would come at a cost.
0:24:38 > 0:24:43Henry's ambition would lock the English into decades of war.
0:24:50 > 0:24:55Here in the National Archives, there's a document that sheds light
0:24:55 > 0:24:56on what Henry's subjects
0:24:56 > 0:24:58actually thought
0:24:58 > 0:25:02and what Englishmen felt about their King's overseas adventures.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07These are parliamentary records from 1420.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14What's so revealing is Parliament's concern for good governance at home.
0:25:14 > 0:25:19What they want from their King is that he's a law-maker, a decision-maker
0:25:19 > 0:25:21and that he is present in England.
0:25:21 > 0:25:26And, most importantly, that they would not be subject to laws from France.
0:25:27 > 0:25:32Above all, there was concern about who was going to pay for Henry's campaign.
0:25:32 > 0:25:37He promised the English Parliament that all the costs of the conquest
0:25:37 > 0:25:40would be raised from the occupied lands.
0:25:40 > 0:25:45That's why, for the next eight years, there were no direct taxes in England, to pay for the war.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48All the money came from Normandy.
0:25:52 > 0:25:57As Henry's men pushed south, sweeping aside the Dauphin's army,
0:25:57 > 0:26:02there was one corner of northern France that still held out.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05The tiny island of Mont-Saint-Michel
0:26:05 > 0:26:07and its great fortified abbey.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11For three years, it had defied capture.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17When you come here, it's easy to see why.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20The abbey's built on a granite outcrop, it's walls are sheer
0:26:20 > 0:26:25and the holy island itself is only accessible for a short period at low tide.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30The abbot here, Robert Jolivet, defected to Henry in 1420,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33but Mont-Saint-Michel's garrison didn't.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36This infuriated the English King.
0:26:38 > 0:26:44Henry even ordered the construction of a giant wooden fort, out there on the sands,
0:26:44 > 0:26:48to prevent French ships from resupplying the garrison here.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51But the island still held out.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56This was more dangerous than it might seem.
0:26:56 > 0:27:02The abbey was dedicated to St Michael, the Dauphin's personal saint.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05It had become a symbol of French resilience.
0:27:07 > 0:27:12And the longer it held out, the more potent that became.
0:27:14 > 0:27:19The heroic French resistance and the news that their saint, St Michel,
0:27:19 > 0:27:23had protected the garrison would be spread throughout all of France,
0:27:23 > 0:27:27even to the smallest villages.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31Henry's men remained outside the abbey for ten long years.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35But he never would be able to take it.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45Henry left a trail of savage destruction through the Dauphin's lands.
0:27:45 > 0:27:50Ahead of him, the Orleanists lived in terror of the barbaric English.
0:27:51 > 0:27:57But in 1422, Henry would pay the price for five years in the field.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05He was fatally ill with dysentery, contracted during a siege.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10Here at the castle of Vincennes,
0:28:10 > 0:28:14Henry V, the great King of England and heir to the throne of France,
0:28:14 > 0:28:19gave his last instructions on how his kingdom was to be governed after his death.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24His brother, John, Duke of Bedford, was to be Regent in France,
0:28:24 > 0:28:31while his youngest brother, Humphrey, was to be his subordinate in England.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34Henry gave three clear commands to his brothers.
0:28:34 > 0:28:40Firstly, they were to continue fighting until the Treaty of Troyes was accepted throughout France.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44Secondly, they were to maintain the alliance with the Duke Of Burgundy.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48Finally, they were never to give up the lands they had conquered.
0:28:53 > 0:28:58It was here on the 31st of August, 1422, that Henry died,
0:28:58 > 0:29:01aged 35.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05He was buried at Westminster Abbey.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08He never did become King of France.
0:29:11 > 0:29:16In a cruel twist of fate, the mad King Charles, 19 years his senior,
0:29:16 > 0:29:18outlived him,
0:29:18 > 0:29:22dying just seven weeks after Henry.
0:29:26 > 0:29:33The new heir to the two thrones was Henry's son, just a nine-month-old child.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41'I'm with Juliet Barker, an expert on Henry's reign.'
0:29:41 > 0:29:47So, now, there's this situation which all people fear - a royal minority.
0:29:47 > 0:29:52A royal minority is probably the most dangerous situation you can have
0:29:52 > 0:29:53as a medieval monarch,
0:29:53 > 0:29:56because you have this big vacuum in the centre of power.
0:29:56 > 0:30:01Everything depends on the monarch and if the monarch isn't in charge,
0:30:01 > 0:30:06and is subject to all these people trying to muscle in and seize power for themselves,
0:30:06 > 0:30:09then the whole system of government can collapse.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11What's different about this minority
0:30:11 > 0:30:17is that you have the King's brothers, Henry V's brothers, who are there to protect his legacy,
0:30:17 > 0:30:22and what they want is for Henry VI to succeed as King of England, but also King of France.
0:30:22 > 0:30:26And they take Henry V's legacy and they run with it.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30They don't stop the conquest of France. It doesn't stop with Henry V's death.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36The new Regent of France was Henry's brother, John, Duke of Bedford.
0:30:40 > 0:30:44For seven long years, he would continue the war against the Dauphin.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48And these years were some of England's most successful.
0:30:52 > 0:30:57It was Bedford that would ultimately bear the burden of the deal Henry had done.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04He was a remarkable man, a supreme strategist and commander.
0:31:04 > 0:31:10But also a diplomat. He managed to maintain the crucial alliance with the Duke of Burgundy.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14He even married the Duke's sister to secure the deal.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18Together, by 1429, the English and the Burgundians
0:31:18 > 0:31:21had reached the town of Beaugency.
0:31:21 > 0:31:27Now Bedford's aim was to take the Dauphin's lands beyond the River Loire
0:31:27 > 0:31:31and link up with England's ancestral territory of Gascony.
0:31:35 > 0:31:38This would be a deathblow to the hapless Dauphin
0:31:38 > 0:31:42and force him to finally accept the treaty.
0:31:44 > 0:31:49Just over there is Beaugency Castle, a stronghold on the banks of the Loire.
0:31:49 > 0:31:54And from up here in the tower, you get a great view down on the river.
0:31:54 > 0:32:00In 1429, everything on this side, on the north bank, was English territory, including the castle.
0:32:00 > 0:32:05While over there on the south side, it was French.
0:32:06 > 0:32:11Just a few miles upstream is the city of Orleans, the Dauphin's key stronghold.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16The town had been under siege for six months,
0:32:16 > 0:32:20the people of Orleans on the point of giving up.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25But then, on the 3rd of May, something incredible happens.
0:32:25 > 0:32:31On the other side of the river, a relieving army of several thousand men sent by the Dauphin
0:32:31 > 0:32:36appears before Orleans, and at its head, dressed in a suit of armour,
0:32:36 > 0:32:40is not the Dauphin but a 17-year-old girl.
0:32:43 > 0:32:47The Dauphin had found a secret weapon.
0:32:47 > 0:32:52An illiterate shepherdess who claimed to have heard the voice of God -
0:32:52 > 0:32:54Joan of Arc.
0:32:55 > 0:33:01This was exactly the kind of spiritual intervention the Dauphin needed.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08I have in front of me the Vigiles of Charles VII,
0:33:08 > 0:33:14a late 15th-century manuscript that records his deeds as both Dauphin and King.
0:33:14 > 0:33:21Within its pages, the illuminations also tell the dramatic story of Joan's life.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28Joan of Arc was a peasant girl from Domremy in eastern France.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32In her home village, she heard the voices of St Michael and other saints
0:33:32 > 0:33:36commanding her to rid France of the English.
0:33:39 > 0:33:43When Joan was brought before the Dauphin, he saw an opportunity.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50Endless defeats had left his fragile reputation in tatters.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54But with her direct line to God,
0:33:54 > 0:33:59Joan could become not just a spiritual figurehead, but a military leader.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03What fascinates me most about this series of illuminations
0:34:03 > 0:34:07is that we really get a sense of Joan's dual nature.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10When we see her being taken off to have her virginity tested,
0:34:10 > 0:34:14she's got this lovely long womanly hair, she's all dressed in pure white,
0:34:14 > 0:34:20whereas when you turn to a later image, what you see is Joan sat alongside the King,
0:34:20 > 0:34:24as his right-hand man, all in her armour and military attire.
0:34:24 > 0:34:30It's recorded that the Dauphin spent a small fortune on a custom-made suit of armour for Joan.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36Through her, the Dauphin would reclaim the divine support
0:34:36 > 0:34:39the English considered their right.
0:34:39 > 0:34:43His army would become the holy one.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47Joan was seen as the moral saviour of the French army.
0:34:47 > 0:34:52Here she's shown driving prostitutes away from the soldiers' camp.
0:34:52 > 0:34:58And around that time, a letter of intent was sent to the English positions at Orleans.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01These are believed to be Joan's own words.
0:35:01 > 0:35:06"You, Duke of Bedford, who call yourself Regent of the kingdom of France.
0:35:06 > 0:35:10"You, William Pole, Count of Suffolk. John, Lord Talbot.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14"Surrender to the maid who is sent here by God.
0:35:14 > 0:35:19"She is come here by God's will to reclaim the blood royal."
0:35:22 > 0:35:27On the 3rd of May, Joan led an army of 4,000 men to Orleans.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30After five days of hand-to-hand combat,
0:35:30 > 0:35:35the English were forced to lift the siege on the town and abandon it.
0:35:36 > 0:35:41With this victory, the legend of Joan of Arc was born.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49I'm with her biographer, historian Olivier Bouzy.
0:36:20 > 0:36:26With this boost to their morale, French armies swept down the Loire and reached Beaugency.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32The English garrison at the castle surrendered and fled north,
0:36:32 > 0:36:35but the French were in hot pursuit.
0:36:35 > 0:36:40At Patay, just a few kilometres away, the English decided to stand and do battle.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47England's archers hadn't been defeated on the battlefield
0:36:47 > 0:36:49for over 80 years.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54These low-born heroes had bent the rules of chivalry
0:36:54 > 0:37:00to crush the French nobility at the great battles of Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt.
0:37:03 > 0:37:09But here at Patay, the French heavy cavalry simply ran them down
0:37:09 > 0:37:11before they could take position.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17The Dauphin had won his first great victory.
0:37:19 > 0:37:21Thousands of archers died.
0:37:22 > 0:37:27And the myth of the English longbow's invincibility was destroyed.
0:37:29 > 0:37:36For the chronicler Christine de Pizan, this reversal of fortunes was all down to the maid.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41I love these lines. "In 1429, the sun began to shine again.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44"Oh, what honour for the female sex.
0:37:44 > 0:37:49"It is perfectly obvious that God has special regard for it,
0:37:49 > 0:37:53"when all these wretched people who destroyed the whole kingdom,
0:37:53 > 0:37:56"now recovered and made safe by a woman.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00"Something that 5,000 men could not have done."
0:38:01 > 0:38:04While the English were in total disarray,
0:38:04 > 0:38:09the Dauphin, Joan and their armies made a 100-mile dash through English territories
0:38:09 > 0:38:14to recapture the city of Reims, where the Dauphin was crowned -
0:38:14 > 0:38:16Charles VII, King of France.
0:38:18 > 0:38:22In the war of symbols, it didn't get better than this.
0:38:22 > 0:38:27France now had a legitimate King, anointed, like all others before him,
0:38:27 > 0:38:30with the mystical oil of clovis.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33According to the chronicler Monstrelet,
0:38:33 > 0:38:38the French now believed that God had turned against the English.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43Bedford had never faced a bigger threat.
0:38:45 > 0:38:51John, Duke of Bedford's greatest fear is he will lose the support of his French subjects en masse.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55So, he wastes no time in shipping his nephew, King Henry,
0:38:55 > 0:39:02now just nine years old, across the Channel to have him crowned too. He cannot be outdone by Charles.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08But as Bedford planned the coronation, his luck changed.
0:39:08 > 0:39:13Joan of Arc was captured and sold to him by the Burgundians.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17This was his opportunity.
0:39:18 > 0:39:23Bedford knew that if he could prove Joan to be a heretic,
0:39:23 > 0:39:28he could destroy the new-found legitimacy of the Dauphin, now King Charles VII.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32Joan was put on trial as a witch.
0:39:32 > 0:39:34This is a copy
0:39:34 > 0:39:36of the official Latin trial record.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39There were French minutes taken also,
0:39:39 > 0:39:42but it is in the standard format of a heresy trial.
0:39:42 > 0:39:48- The majority of the trial, then, it is couched in theology and religious arguments.- Very much so, yes.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52Yes. The English and their supporters in France are very keen to do that.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55And it's conducted in really proper fashion.
0:39:55 > 0:40:01There are no English clergy involved. It is French trial for heresy and it follows the proper pattern of that.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05I think for Joan, too, it is a religious trial.
0:40:05 > 0:40:10She says that she loves her banner 40 times more than her sword.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13She sees herself as a religious leader.
0:40:13 > 0:40:19We have a portrayal of her here in the register of the Paris Parliament.
0:40:19 > 0:40:23This is the first known attempt to draw a picture of Joan.
0:40:23 > 0:40:28It's drawn by the Anglo-Burgundians. You can see her there with her banner, with "Jesus" on it,
0:40:28 > 0:40:32"Jesus Maria", which would have been the full legend on it.
0:40:32 > 0:40:39But what's really important about all of this, it's not just a trial of Joan, it's a trial of Charles VII.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42The argument the English were trying to put forward
0:40:42 > 0:40:46was that he had become King by intervention of the devil, not of God,
0:40:46 > 0:40:50and therefore, he was not the legitimate King of France.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53It was all really to denigrate him, to destroy his reputation.
0:40:53 > 0:40:57- So, by Joan being burnt for heresy...- Correct.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01It was almost as good as declaring Charles himself a heretic.
0:41:03 > 0:41:08The final and public destruction of Joan's reputation was to follow.
0:41:11 > 0:41:15So, this is where she was burnt, here in the market place?
0:41:15 > 0:41:17It was, absolutely.
0:41:17 > 0:41:23It had to happen before Bedford could take the young King Henry VI up to Paris for coronation.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26She was tied to the bouche, to the pyre.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30She would have been high up, so people could see her there.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34And it's said that someone gave her a small cross to hold.
0:41:34 > 0:41:39It's also the case that they put the fire out and then started it again,
0:41:39 > 0:41:42so that first of all, they could show she was dead, and then afterwards
0:41:42 > 0:41:48to destroy any chance of relics being found of Joan later.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51So, in many ways, it's crushing any future honouring of her.
0:41:51 > 0:41:58Absolutely. It's a real destruction of her. A real sign that God is on the side of the English, really.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01FLAMES ROAR AND CRACKLE
0:42:03 > 0:42:09Ironically, it was Joan's trial that meant there was a lasting record of her deeds,
0:42:09 > 0:42:12from which her legend would grow.
0:42:17 > 0:42:22With Charles discredited, the Duke of Bedford could make his move.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26On the 16th of December 1431,
0:42:26 > 0:42:31the ten-year-old Henry VI was crowned "Rex Christianissimus",
0:42:31 > 0:42:36"most Christian King of France", over there in Notre Dame Cathedral.
0:42:36 > 0:42:42This was the first and only time an English monarch would hold both crowns.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48The English had fought for 91 years for this moment.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51But Bedford had been forced to compromise.
0:42:53 > 0:42:58Tradition demanded that French coronations take place in the cathedral of Reims.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01But that was in the hands of Charles.
0:43:01 > 0:43:06The young King Henry had been crowned at Notre Dame in Paris.
0:43:45 > 0:43:51The coronation had none of the symbolic potency Bedford needed to revive support for the English.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57His task became ever more arduous.
0:43:57 > 0:44:01The English in France were massively overstretched.
0:44:01 > 0:44:06Normandy could no longer fund the conquest.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09And they now faced an ever more confident enemy,
0:44:09 > 0:44:12led by the new King Charles.
0:44:13 > 0:44:19After four more years fulfilling his brother's wishes, Bedford could do no more.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23In September 1435, he died.
0:44:28 > 0:44:34What's amazing about John, Duke of Bedford is his commitment to the cause, to the family silver.
0:44:34 > 0:44:38No-one did more to foster good relations with France than him.
0:44:38 > 0:44:42He genuinely loved the place, and particularly his adopted city of Rouen.
0:44:42 > 0:44:48He built his house here and, when he died, he chose to be buried here in Rouen Cathedral
0:44:48 > 0:44:51and not in Westminster Abbey.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55With Bedford's death came further disaster.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59England's crucial alliance collapsed.
0:44:59 > 0:45:05Sworn enemies Philip, the Duke of Burgundy, and King Charles VII, joined forces.
0:45:09 > 0:45:13After 28 years, France was finally united.
0:45:13 > 0:45:18Anyone found using the names "Burgundian" or "Orleanist"
0:45:18 > 0:45:22were to have their tongue pierced through with a red-hot iron.
0:45:22 > 0:45:26Now the French wanted the English out.
0:45:29 > 0:45:34In February 1436, they reclaimed Paris,
0:45:34 > 0:45:38driving the English occupiers from their city.
0:45:40 > 0:45:46Now, after 15 years, the sacred Sainte-Chapelle was back in French hands.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53If England were to keep any lands in France,
0:45:53 > 0:45:56they needed to fight back.
0:45:57 > 0:46:02All eyes turned on the young King, who would shortly come of age.
0:46:02 > 0:46:06Would he be a lion like his father and, as King of France,
0:46:06 > 0:46:11throw his all into protecting the inheritance that so much blood had been shed for?
0:46:13 > 0:46:16Henry VI was England's only hope,
0:46:16 > 0:46:21but it soon become apparent that he had no intention of waging war.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27This is King's College Chapel in Cambridge,
0:46:27 > 0:46:32begun by Henry in 1446 and finished some 100 years later.
0:46:32 > 0:46:36It really is an incredible structure.
0:46:45 > 0:46:49Although Henry died before King's College Chapel was completed
0:46:49 > 0:46:55in his will he left clear instructions about its dimensions and how it should look.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58It states, "The chapel shall contain in length
0:46:58 > 0:47:03"288 feet of a side without any aisles.
0:47:03 > 0:47:09"And all the wideness of 40 feet. Being in height 90 feet.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12"Embattled, vaulted and buttressed."
0:47:23 > 0:47:25Magnificent as the chapel is,
0:47:25 > 0:47:31it's also symbolic of everything that was going wrong with Henry VI's reign.
0:47:31 > 0:47:34This is where the money's going.
0:47:34 > 0:47:40It's not going to maintain run-down garrisons and defences in Normandy, or to repair castle walls.
0:47:40 > 0:47:45It's paying master masons to design and build this chapel
0:47:45 > 0:47:48and its sister foundation at Eton.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53Ironically, the inspiration for this was French -
0:47:53 > 0:47:55the bright, open space of Sainte-Chapelle,
0:47:55 > 0:47:59which Henry had seen as a boy during his stay in Paris.
0:48:01 > 0:48:05Though he couldn't rival his father in being a warrior King,
0:48:05 > 0:48:08Henry VI could equal him in his piety,
0:48:08 > 0:48:11in his profound devotion to God.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14And this was really all he was concerned about.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17"Rex Christianissimus" he probably was,
0:48:17 > 0:48:21but any medieval King that could not also wield a sword
0:48:21 > 0:48:24would pay a high price for his failing.
0:48:27 > 0:48:29Why isn't Henry VI interested?
0:48:29 > 0:48:34He's a Lancastrian King, but he doesn't want to go to war like his father.
0:48:34 > 0:48:36Henry VI is protected by his uncles.
0:48:36 > 0:48:41Nobody dares let him go out to fight, in case he's killed or injured.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44So, they put him in cotton wool and they look after him.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47He's brought up in a court without a father figure.
0:48:47 > 0:48:53He's brought up by clerics and by his mother too, and he is a very religious man.
0:48:53 > 0:49:00His piety's been overplayed. But he is somebody who is determined that peace is more important,
0:49:00 > 0:49:03and that peace and bringing peace is his God-given duty.
0:49:03 > 0:49:08And he thinks that's more important than defending his realm militarily.
0:49:08 > 0:49:13He's one of the only medieval Kings who never led his army into battle ever.
0:49:13 > 0:49:18From a very young age, he was accustomed to taking advice from people
0:49:18 > 0:49:21and not exerting his own will.
0:49:21 > 0:49:25And I think you find that he's a very naive man
0:49:25 > 0:49:28and also one who changed his mind all the time.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31He didn't have a focus in his whole approach to things.
0:49:31 > 0:49:35Henry's solution to bring peace to France
0:49:35 > 0:49:39harked back to the prewar relationship between the two countries.
0:49:39 > 0:49:45He would marry Margaret of Anjou, Charles VII's niece.
0:49:45 > 0:49:47I love this book!
0:49:47 > 0:49:55This is the huge Shrewsbury Book, a collection of romances and treatises,
0:49:55 > 0:50:01presented by John Talbot, the Earl of Shrewsbury, to Margaret of Anjou
0:50:01 > 0:50:06on the occasion of her betrothal to Henry VI in 1444.
0:50:07 > 0:50:13A veteran of the war, John Talbot was one of the Crown's most loyal warriors.
0:50:13 > 0:50:19These first two pages perfectly encapsulate the political situation at the time.
0:50:20 > 0:50:25Henry thought his marriage would cement peace with Charles VII
0:50:25 > 0:50:29and secure his remaining territories in France.
0:50:29 > 0:50:34The illustration shows the two royal lines, Plantagenet and Valois,
0:50:34 > 0:50:37united by Henry VI.
0:50:37 > 0:50:42So keen was Henry to have this marriage that under the Truce of Tours,
0:50:42 > 0:50:49he was prepared to give away the entire French province of Maine, which caused uproar at court.
0:50:49 > 0:50:55What's more, Henry had massively underestimated his counterpart across the Channel.
0:50:55 > 0:51:01Charles VII had come a long way, shaped and changed by years of war.
0:51:02 > 0:51:05The Dauphin is an extraordinary character.
0:51:05 > 0:51:12He starts off his reign being a real, complete nonentity, very much like Henry VI had been.
0:51:12 > 0:51:16But, gradually, over the years, he develops this absolute cunning
0:51:16 > 0:51:19and is able to manipulate people,
0:51:19 > 0:51:24and so all his efforts are directed at winning over the Duke of Burgundy from the English alliance,
0:51:24 > 0:51:30winning over the Duke of Brittany, and he builds a whole circle of people around him
0:51:30 > 0:51:35who all think he's going to give them more than an English alliance is going to do.
0:51:35 > 0:51:40- So, an excellent diplomat?- He had extraordinary diplomatic skills.
0:51:40 > 0:51:45The other thing that Charles VII is really good at is choosing good men to be around him.
0:51:45 > 0:51:49And I think that's where he excels in choosing wise counsellors,
0:51:49 > 0:51:55who put in force these new ways of running the army, making it more efficient, more powerful.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59And he invests heavily in the new artillery.
0:51:59 > 0:52:05And that will transform his abilities and capabilities as a fighting monarch.
0:52:08 > 0:52:13Charles had no intention of making peace with the English.
0:52:13 > 0:52:17Now he was creating the most advanced army in Europe,
0:52:17 > 0:52:20equipped with the very latest in hi-tech artillery,
0:52:20 > 0:52:24by his new master gunner, Jean Bureau.
0:52:24 > 0:52:26Particularly from the 1440s,
0:52:26 > 0:52:30Charles places a great deal of emphasis on an artillery train,
0:52:30 > 0:52:33because, remember, the war of reconquest against the English
0:52:33 > 0:52:37is one primarily of siege, so it's very important for the French to build up their siege train.
0:52:37 > 0:52:42And Charles employs Jean Bureau and his younger brother, Gaspar, the Bureau brothers,
0:52:42 > 0:52:45who are the masters of the French artillery train.
0:52:45 > 0:52:49These men seem to have been extremely competent not only as military engineers,
0:52:49 > 0:52:56but also as masters of logistics. They seem to have been responsible for standardisation in the guns.
0:52:56 > 0:53:02They seem to have been responsible for increasing introduction of iron shot rather than stone shot.
0:53:02 > 0:53:04Have a care!
0:53:04 > 0:53:06Oh, my God!
0:53:06 > 0:53:08That is stone shot. That is sandstone.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12They used to use sandstone, marble, anything they could easily carve.
0:53:12 > 0:53:18If you think about the logistics, a mason has to carve that ball with a wooden template.
0:53:18 > 0:53:24- This is much easier to produce and the hitting power of that... - Oh, a lot more hitting power.
0:53:24 > 0:53:25CANNON FIRES
0:53:25 > 0:53:27Have a care!
0:53:27 > 0:53:31The King of France has at his disposal the powder, the munitions,
0:53:31 > 0:53:36the transport, the logistics, as well as a large number of siege guns.
0:53:36 > 0:53:38CANNON FIRES
0:53:39 > 0:53:43In 1449, Charles, once the underdog,
0:53:43 > 0:53:47now launched 30,000 troops on Normandy.
0:53:47 > 0:53:51In many towns, the native Normans opened the gates with no resistance.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54They'd had enough of English rule.
0:53:55 > 0:53:57Caen fell.
0:53:57 > 0:53:59So did Rouen.
0:53:59 > 0:54:04Charles was turning Henry V's tactics on the English,
0:54:04 > 0:54:07systematically driving them out.
0:54:09 > 0:54:14The whole English province collapsed under attack from Charles' armies,
0:54:14 > 0:54:19culminating in a catastrophic defeat for England at Formigny,
0:54:19 > 0:54:22near the Normandy coast, in 1450.
0:54:22 > 0:54:28There was widespread fear that the French would now invade England.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32And as the Channel ports flooded with out-of-work soldiers,
0:54:32 > 0:54:37these rumblings of social unrest would become political revolution.
0:54:40 > 0:54:46After just one year, all that was left was Gascony.
0:54:47 > 0:54:52It was here where the war had started over 100 years earlier.
0:54:52 > 0:54:56And after all the years of bloodshed and carnage,
0:54:56 > 0:54:58all the land grabs and betrayals,
0:54:58 > 0:55:03all the marriages and treaties, this is where it would finally end.
0:55:03 > 0:55:07And it would end the medieval way, with a great battle.
0:55:08 > 0:55:13Here, in the fields around Castillon, the two armies met.
0:55:13 > 0:55:18Outnumbered almost two to one, the English were led by veteran of the war,
0:55:18 > 0:55:21the ever-loyal knight, John Talbot.
0:55:22 > 0:55:25He'd been released after the surrender of Rouen,
0:55:25 > 0:55:30on the condition that he would never again bear arms against France.
0:55:30 > 0:55:34But he'd still volunteered for this last stand.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42Talbot remained true to his pledge of not wearing armour,
0:55:42 > 0:55:46but he directed the English attack, riding on a great warhorse
0:55:46 > 0:55:53and urging his men forward in an impetuous and uncoordinated charge on the French positions.
0:55:55 > 0:56:00And Talbot hadn't counted on the new French army led by Jean Bureau.
0:56:02 > 0:56:04The English archers were taken by surprise.
0:56:04 > 0:56:10Mown down, not by arrows, but by the small arms fire of Bureau's new guns.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15Talbot himself was found trapped under his fallen horse
0:56:15 > 0:56:18and finished off by a French archer's axe.
0:56:24 > 0:56:28This stone marks the spot where Talbot's body was found.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31It's said that his body was stripped of its armour
0:56:31 > 0:56:35and his face was mutilated beyond recognition.
0:56:35 > 0:56:38But one of his stewards knew that he'd had two teeth removed,
0:56:38 > 0:56:42so by feeling around within the gums of the blooded skull,
0:56:42 > 0:56:45he was able to identify the corpse.
0:56:49 > 0:56:52For me, this place is full of irony,
0:56:52 > 0:56:56because right back at the beginning, over 100 years earlier,
0:56:56 > 0:57:00it was the arrows of the humble English archers that ensured England's success
0:57:00 > 0:57:03against the invincible French knights.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06Now the French had learnt their lesson well,
0:57:06 > 0:57:11for it was French guns in the hands of their low-born master gunner
0:57:11 > 0:57:14that finished off England's great noble soldier.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21With this defeat, Gascony was lost.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25The Hundred Years' War was over.
0:57:26 > 0:57:32It had been a long and bloody divorce and one that still resonates today.
0:57:32 > 0:57:37Both sides had emerged profoundly changed and very different.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40What had started as a dynastic dispute
0:57:40 > 0:57:44ended up as a protracted struggle for national identity.
0:57:46 > 0:57:49For France, victory had come at a high price.
0:57:49 > 0:57:53English invasion, plague, famine and banditry
0:57:53 > 0:57:56had cost two-thirds of the population.
0:57:58 > 0:58:02But war had ultimately united France.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07And she had reclaimed her place as the superpower of Europe.
0:58:11 > 0:58:13England had been left counting the cost.
0:58:13 > 0:58:20The Crown was virtually bankrupt. There was widespread dissent among the people and the nobility.
0:58:20 > 0:58:24But they now shared the same language
0:58:24 > 0:58:27and a culture that was distinctly English.
0:58:27 > 0:58:32The seeds had been sown for the country we recognise today.
0:58:32 > 0:58:34And without French lands,
0:58:34 > 0:58:37England was now part of an island nation,
0:58:37 > 0:58:42something that would shape our outlook for centuries to come.
0:59:00 > 0:59:03Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd