0:00:14 > 0:00:17'It's clear that many of us in Britain are in love with the past.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24'Whether it's swordcraft or Spitfires,
0:00:24 > 0:00:28'mead or musket training, we relish harking back.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33'But it's not so much history we're in love with
0:00:33 > 0:00:35'as something rather less true...
0:00:35 > 0:00:38'but just as powerful.
0:00:38 > 0:00:39'The olden days.'
0:00:39 > 0:00:42Mention "the olden days" to any child
0:00:42 > 0:00:45and they'll know exactly what you mean.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48It's a precise historical period dating back from
0:00:48 > 0:00:53when their parents were children to about 10,000 years BC.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57It's the vast realm of everything that's supposedly gone before.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59Some of it is in black and white,
0:00:59 > 0:01:01some of it's in glorious technicolour,
0:01:01 > 0:01:05and a lot of it is slightly out of focus.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08But, even when we grow up as adults in this country, many of us
0:01:08 > 0:01:12retain that deep fascination for a heightened, idealised,
0:01:12 > 0:01:15imagined past - including me.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18BARKED MILITARY COMMANDS
0:01:23 > 0:01:27'In this series, I'll be enjoying the very best of the olden days...
0:01:30 > 0:01:33'..as seen in our art, our literature,
0:01:33 > 0:01:37'and our occasionally delusional collective consciousness.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43'I'll be looking at two of our oldest, greatest heroes.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47'Our need for colourful, time-honoured tradition.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52'And our deep love for the countryside of yesterday.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57'But I do have a warning for you.'
0:02:01 > 0:02:04The olden days has the best characters
0:02:04 > 0:02:08and the best stories, though not necessarily the best facts.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10It's the place for myths and legends,
0:02:10 > 0:02:14for that grey area between truth and fiction.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19It's often what we want to believe happened rather than what
0:02:19 > 0:02:22really happened, and it's quite often what the person writing
0:02:22 > 0:02:25the history is very keen for us to believe.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31'But the extraordinary thing about the olden days is that
0:02:31 > 0:02:34'they've always been alive and active,
0:02:34 > 0:02:39'creative and influential, and very much in the here and now.'
0:03:04 > 0:03:09It's odd but true that we're pretty familiar with our deepest past.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14And, though they're known as the Dark Ages,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18it's amazing how vividly we still connect to the stories
0:03:18 > 0:03:23of Celts, Anglo-Saxons, and Vikings - to that vast and vague epoch
0:03:23 > 0:03:31between the Romans leaving in 410 AD and the Normans arriving in 1066.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36The thing about going back to the mists of time
0:03:36 > 0:03:38is that they're pretty misty.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42Information about the Dark Ages is in short supply,
0:03:42 > 0:03:46so we can fill in the gaps with our imagination,
0:03:46 > 0:03:49furnishing these very olden days
0:03:49 > 0:03:54with a cast of wizards, dragons and charismatic warrior kings.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01It's to two characters in particular
0:04:01 > 0:04:04that we have returned again and again.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09The first, King Arthur, probably never existed.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17The second, Alfred the Great, was certainly real,
0:04:17 > 0:04:21but was reinvented to suit the needs of every age.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28These two very different Dark Age kings are pillars
0:04:28 > 0:04:32of our national story, our foundation myth.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37Out of their heroic deeds, and the round tables
0:04:37 > 0:04:42and the burnt cakes, emerges the idea of Britain itself.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57Everyone knows Arthur - or so they think.
0:04:57 > 0:05:02His story has swirled around for at least a thousand years.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06But where did the tales of Arthur actually start?
0:05:08 > 0:05:13'The very earliest references are a few obscure fragments depicting him
0:05:13 > 0:05:17'as a wild Celtic warlord from Wales in perhaps the early 6th century.'
0:05:19 > 0:05:22But the figure we know - a king conceived here, in Tintagel,
0:05:22 > 0:05:23in Cornwall...
0:05:26 > 0:05:29..a king with a band of brave knights
0:05:29 > 0:05:31and a magical ally called Merlin,
0:05:31 > 0:05:36was created in the traumatic aftermath of the Norman Conquest.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42And that's because it's when things change the most
0:05:42 > 0:05:45that the past becomes most inspiring.
0:05:47 > 0:05:52"Arthur put on a leather jerkin worthy of so great a king.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56"On his head he placed a golden crest
0:05:56 > 0:05:58"carved in the shape of a dragon.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03"He girded on his peerless sword, called Caliburn,
0:06:03 > 0:06:08"which was forged in the Isle of Avalon. A spear called Ron
0:06:08 > 0:06:13"graced his right hand, long, broad and thirsty for slaughter."
0:06:15 > 0:06:19The man who penned Arthur's story was a monk,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22Geoffrey of Monmouth, in the year 1136.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25His book was called History Of The Kings Of Britain,
0:06:25 > 0:06:28yet Geoffrey didn't claim to have written it.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30Cleverly, he claimed to have translated it,
0:06:30 > 0:06:35from a very old book in the British tongue, which he'd been given.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39No-one has ever found this very old book, probably because it
0:06:39 > 0:06:44doesn't exist, but Geoffrey was very keen to claim it as a source
0:06:44 > 0:06:49to make his history seem more ancient, more venerable, more true.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52He wanted to create the authentic account of a glorious,
0:06:52 > 0:06:54but vanished, age.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02Geoffrey recounted that it was Brutus of Troy, no less,
0:07:02 > 0:07:06who'd first led the perilous voyage to distant Albion,
0:07:06 > 0:07:12to defeat its giants and rename it Britain - after himself.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15You'll find Julius Caesar in Geoffrey's history,
0:07:15 > 0:07:19not to mention King Lear - and even Old King Cole.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22But the character that really grabbed the hearts and minds
0:07:22 > 0:07:26of the newly arrived Normans was Celtic King Arthur.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33The Normans wanted to feel that they belonged in Britain,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35that they were part of the story,
0:07:35 > 0:07:38so they weren't interested in Anglo-Saxon heroes -
0:07:38 > 0:07:41these were the people they'd just conquered,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44the people who they could see digging ditches and feeding swine
0:07:44 > 0:07:46outside their castle walls.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50But when Geoffrey of Monmouth came up with an obscure Celtic hero
0:07:50 > 0:07:52from hundreds of years before,
0:07:52 > 0:07:56who'd actually taken on the Saxon invaders at the time,
0:07:56 > 0:07:59then this was ideal for the new rulers.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04And it proved surprisingly popular amongst their Anglo-Saxon subjects,
0:08:04 > 0:08:07because for them the story was all about a local hero
0:08:07 > 0:08:11resisting cruel, tyrannous, foreign invaders.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16So Arthur became a shared British hero from a safely distanced
0:08:16 > 0:08:23but romanticised past - the mystical, magical olden days.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31'Even at the time, this was all too much for rival historians.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36'William of Newburgh's History Of English Affairs
0:08:36 > 0:08:40'was far more factual, but far less popular.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45'He said of Geoffrey, "It's quite clear that everything
0:08:45 > 0:08:47'"this man wrote was made-up.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51'"Only a person ignorant of ancient history would have any doubt
0:08:51 > 0:08:54'"about how shamelessly and impudently he lies
0:08:54 > 0:08:56'"in almost everything."
0:08:58 > 0:09:01'It's the historian's classic complaint. You may have the truth
0:09:01 > 0:09:06'on your side, but if your story's dull, no-one will want to read it.'
0:09:12 > 0:09:16Thanks to Geoffrey of Monmouth's lead, Arthur flourished.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20European poets in the 12th century turned him into the leading man
0:09:20 > 0:09:23of their chivalric romances.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28But there was an English king whose claims to hero status
0:09:28 > 0:09:31far outweighed Arthur's - and he was real.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38This was the Christian monarch who, in 878 AD,
0:09:38 > 0:09:42defeated the Great Heathen Army of the Vikings,
0:09:42 > 0:09:47who united Anglo-Saxon kingdoms into what would become England itself.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51- Hello, Jane.- Ian, how nice to see you. Welcome to St Mary's.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54Very nice to meet you. Thank you. Where's the jewel?
0:09:54 > 0:09:56We've put the jewel out for you in the Lady Chapel.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00'In the 17th century, an artefact was found in a field
0:10:00 > 0:10:04'here in Somerset, which sheds some light on this Dark Age king.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10'A replica of this priceless treasure is kept at St Mary's.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17'On the front, seen through rock crystal, is an enigmatic,
0:10:17 > 0:10:18'enamelled figure.'
0:10:20 > 0:10:24It appears to be a middle-aged man with fair hair, without a beard,
0:10:24 > 0:10:27slightly boss-eyed, wearing green,
0:10:27 > 0:10:32and his image set in this fantastic ornate jewelled item,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35which is called an aestal, which is a pointer.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38There was a stick like this here, but it's rotted away,
0:10:38 > 0:10:41and it's used for pointing out passages in scripture,
0:10:41 > 0:10:45the important bits - you point like this.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47The clue to who made this aestal
0:10:47 > 0:10:50comes with its inscription in filigree gold.
0:10:50 > 0:10:55It says "Aelfred" - which is Alfred, Alfred the Great -
0:10:55 > 0:10:59"Aelfred mec heht gewyrcan".
0:10:59 > 0:11:02"Alfred had me made" - which he did.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06He had these made, and gave them out to various churches
0:11:06 > 0:11:09in order to spread the gospel.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13The figure in the jewel might be Christ,
0:11:13 > 0:11:17he might be a symbol of learning or wisdom.
0:11:17 > 0:11:22Tantalisingly, some have suggested he might even be Alfred himself.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26Whoever he is, it's one of the very few objects
0:11:26 > 0:11:31we have that provides a direct, tangible link to Dark Age Alfred.
0:11:31 > 0:11:36The man who rallied the English, the man who defeated the Vikings,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39the man who subsequent Victorian historians would say was
0:11:39 > 0:11:42the most perfect character in history.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46The trouble is, it doesn't matter how perfect you are
0:11:46 > 0:11:48if everyone forgets you.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53He's become rather obscure as a figure, hasn't he?
0:11:53 > 0:11:56I mean, there was a period when everyone knew who he was.
0:11:56 > 0:11:57Do you think that's true anymore?
0:11:57 > 0:11:59No, I think you're probably right.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03But the Alfred Jewel, particularly here,
0:12:03 > 0:12:05is held in great respect.
0:12:05 > 0:12:06But as a figure himself,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09yes, he does seem to get lost in the midst of time.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11I couldn't help noticing this, that the niche...
0:12:11 > 0:12:13You've spotted it, yes.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15..where Alfred used to be,
0:12:15 > 0:12:18there's now a plaque that says "Diana, Princess of Wales".
0:12:18 > 0:12:22Mm. I mean, that shows how fickle history is.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25- Another piece...another piece of history.- Yeah.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27So, in a sense, the public moves on, doesn't it?
0:12:27 > 0:12:30- Yes, yes, it does. - Finds other heroes.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37This is the heart of Wessex, the kingdom that Alfred saved.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40In fact, you could argue that he saved the whole of England.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43Not only did Alfred repel the Vikings,
0:12:43 > 0:12:47he reorganised the army, drafted a new legal code,
0:12:47 > 0:12:51and put learning at the heart of his kingdom - not, perhaps,
0:12:51 > 0:12:55as exciting as pulling a sword from a stone, but rather more useful.
0:12:55 > 0:13:00Here was a real monarch with a genuine political, legal
0:13:00 > 0:13:02and cultural legacy.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06But people preferred fairy-tale Arthur to workaday Alfred.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08There's gratitude for you.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18That's the fabulous quality of the olden days -
0:13:18 > 0:13:23they really are a great cabinet of curiosities.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26Just about everything and anything can be drawn out to suit
0:13:26 > 0:13:30the current times - or tucked away again.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35So, while Anglo-Saxon Alfred was consigned to obscurity,
0:13:35 > 0:13:39Celtic Arthur underwent another upgrade.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44Already transformed from obscure Welsh warlord into Geoffrey's
0:13:44 > 0:13:49superhero king, and then Europe's leading man,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52he was about to change again,
0:13:52 > 0:13:55becoming not just heroic, but holy.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01Arthur was now on a mission from God, questing for nothing less
0:14:01 > 0:14:06than the Holy Grail, the very cup Jesus drank from at the Last Supper.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10And the transformation happened
0:14:10 > 0:14:13at one of the most magical sites in England.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17Welcome to Glastonbury Abbey.
0:14:17 > 0:14:22My name is Leofric and I am one of the abbot's tithesmen.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26I'd like to start off my tour by first of all talking about
0:14:26 > 0:14:31the legend saying that Joseph of Arimathea came to Glastonbury Abbey.
0:14:31 > 0:14:36Joseph of Arimathea is meant to have been Jesus' great uncle.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41Now, Joseph brought with him a very special treasure.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44Many people say that Joseph would have brought the Holy Grail with him,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47and that when he gets here he buries this cup
0:14:47 > 0:14:51in the ground to prevent anyone from getting their hands on it,
0:14:51 > 0:14:54for using it for any evil means or anything like that.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01'Now, sceptical historians might consider it a touch implausible
0:15:01 > 0:15:05'that Christendom's holiest relic should fetch up in Somerset,
0:15:05 > 0:15:09'particularly since no-one had ever found it again.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15'And yet it was extremely well known that in the olden days,
0:15:15 > 0:15:20'Arthur and his knights had actually felt its holy presence right here,
0:15:20 > 0:15:24'which made Arthur the obvious saviour for the monks
0:15:24 > 0:15:27'of Glastonbury Abbey when, in 1184,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30'their monastery was ravaged by fire.'
0:15:31 > 0:15:35It was a half-timber, half-stone building with a thatched roof,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38so it's going to burn very quickly indeed, so there's not much left.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41And they have just built this beautiful chapel over here,
0:15:41 > 0:15:43so they're obviously a bit strapped for cash,
0:15:43 > 0:15:46and they think finding a wonderful relic is going to reinvigorate
0:15:46 > 0:15:48the trade and they'll get more rich benefactors,
0:15:48 > 0:15:51more people want to come and visit their monastery.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57'By an extraordinary coincidence, in their hour of darkest need,
0:15:57 > 0:15:59'one of the monks had a vision.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04'It told him that King Arthur himself was buried nearby.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09'They hastily began digging - sensibly enough in the cemetery -
0:16:09 > 0:16:12'and, would you believe it, they found some bones(!)
0:16:15 > 0:16:19'The bones of the great King of Camelot and his beloved wife.'
0:16:22 > 0:16:25Gerald of Wales was a medieval chronicler who'd been rather
0:16:25 > 0:16:29sniffy about Arthur - until he peered inside the grave
0:16:29 > 0:16:33with his own eyes and he was miraculously converted.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35This is what he wrote he saw.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40"A coffin made from a hollowed-out oak with two bodies in it,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43"deep in the earth at Glastonbury.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45"And on top of the grave there was a lead cross
0:16:45 > 0:16:47"with an inscription on it."
0:16:47 > 0:16:51And Gerald not only read the inscription, but he felt the letters
0:16:51 > 0:16:53with his fingers, and this is what it said.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56"Here lies buried the renowned
0:16:56 > 0:17:01"King Arthur, with Guinevere his second wife, in the Isle of Avalon."
0:17:01 > 0:17:02Proof!
0:17:04 > 0:17:06Did the monks consciously think,
0:17:06 > 0:17:09"We've got the Grail, there are some stories
0:17:09 > 0:17:13"connected with the Grail, with Arthur, let's find Arthur"?
0:17:13 > 0:17:15It may have been, yes - "We desperately need money,
0:17:15 > 0:17:18"the best way to do it is to find a very famous individual.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21"Who has everyone heard of in England at the time
0:17:21 > 0:17:23"and who's popular kind of in the culture at the time? Arthur."
0:17:27 > 0:17:31'One thing's for sure - this handy discovery of a legendary
0:17:31 > 0:17:36'hero at just the right time certainly paid dividends.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40'The abbey was rebuilt as cash flooded in from all the new
0:17:40 > 0:17:42'visitors flocking to Glastonbury.'
0:17:44 > 0:17:49And the town has been trading on its reputation as a mystic
0:17:49 > 0:17:51wonderland ever since.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06I'd like to go back now to the real olden days -
0:18:06 > 0:18:08way back to the late 1970s -
0:18:08 > 0:18:12a golden age when I was an English student.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18Yes, there were Arthurian romances to read.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22But at university I learnt that, in the history of the English language,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25Arthur plays second fiddle to Alfred.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31This is my Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Reader - a selection of texts
0:18:31 > 0:18:34written in the original Anglo-Saxon that we had to
0:18:34 > 0:18:37study as part of the course at Oxford.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41And one of the pieces was Pope Gregory's Pastoral Care.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45And it was hugely influential in England, largely because
0:18:45 > 0:18:51we think it was the first book ever translated from Latin into English.
0:18:51 > 0:18:56And the person who translated it was "Alfred Kuning" - King Alfred.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03'Alfred believed in education, and, as so few people understood Latin,
0:19:03 > 0:19:08'he translated the most important works into Anglo-Saxon English.'
0:19:08 > 0:19:11He wrote - and if you'll forgive the accent -
0:19:11 > 0:19:16"Fordy me dyncd betre, gif iow swae dyncd,
0:19:16 > 0:19:18"daet we eac sumae bec,
0:19:18 > 0:19:23"da de niedbedearfosta sien eallum monnum to wiotonne."
0:19:23 > 0:19:28He says he wants translated some books that are most
0:19:28 > 0:19:33needful for men to know, so they can read them in their own language.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37'And that is a pretty progressive thought from the so-called
0:19:37 > 0:19:39'Dark Ages.'
0:19:45 > 0:19:49So, for early scholars, Alfred was always a hero, even though
0:19:49 > 0:19:53the rest of the medieval world had largely forgotten him.
0:19:58 > 0:19:59Perhaps that's why,
0:19:59 > 0:20:04when a crisis hit the newly formed University College at Oxford,
0:20:04 > 0:20:09it wasn't the spirit of Arthur the fellows summoned, it was Alfred.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13So what exactly are we looking at?
0:20:13 > 0:20:17We're looking at a piece of parchment written in the 1380s and
0:20:17 > 0:20:21it records a great big legal dispute involving University College.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25We had acquired some land in the 1360s and the descendants of the
0:20:25 > 0:20:28original vendor claimed that there was an error in the small print.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31And this was a big error,
0:20:31 > 0:20:34because if we lost the land we'd lose two-fifths of our income.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37'With the dispute going against them,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40'the fellows of University College had a brainwave.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44'They wrote this craftily penned petition to the King,
0:20:44 > 0:20:49'Richard II, asking him to intervene in the legal dispute.'
0:20:50 > 0:20:53So, "to the most excellent, redoubtable and reverend lord,
0:20:53 > 0:20:58"our King, and his most wise council, your pauper petitioners,
0:20:58 > 0:21:01"the master and scholars of your college first founded
0:21:01 > 0:21:04"by your noble ancestor King Alfred."
0:21:04 > 0:21:08What you've got to imagine is, there's Richard II, probably getting
0:21:08 > 0:21:10a whole lot of petitioners around him, and someone says,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13"Your Majesty, look, this is a place that was founded
0:21:13 > 0:21:15- "by King Alfred, your ancestor, sire."- Ahh.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17Richard, who's a teenager, at this point says, "Ooh,
0:21:17 > 0:21:19"this sounds fun, I want to have a look."
0:21:19 > 0:21:22Why did using Alfred's name appeal to Richard?
0:21:22 > 0:21:25Well, Richard was something of a genealogy geek
0:21:25 > 0:21:26among English monarchs.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30I think it's part of his wanting to project himself as very
0:21:30 > 0:21:33monarchic, very regal, very much the monarch, and as part of that
0:21:33 > 0:21:36it's kind of, "look at all my great line of ancestors".
0:21:36 > 0:21:40Alfred is suitable, he's appropriate as a monarch
0:21:40 > 0:21:44and as a founder but, unfortunately, he didn't found the college, did he?
0:21:44 > 0:21:45He didn't at all.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48We were really founded by a guy called William of Durham,
0:21:48 > 0:21:51who was a theologian at Paris, a very splendid man,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54but he's not exactly famous, is he?
0:21:54 > 0:21:58So, despite the fact that this petition is beautifully presented,
0:21:58 > 0:22:00it's nicely written by a scribe,
0:22:00 > 0:22:03- they've just made it up, haven't they?- Yes.
0:22:03 > 0:22:04All of it.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07- Yes, but it worked.- It worked!
0:22:07 > 0:22:10We keep the property, and it's all sorted.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13So, actually, King Alfred was a very good chum to us.
0:22:13 > 0:22:18Is there no sense of irony amongst the scholars about the fact that,
0:22:18 > 0:22:23as a centre of academic excellence, their founding myth is...nonsense?
0:22:23 > 0:22:28I have this slight feeling about the people that created this -
0:22:28 > 0:22:31they thought, surely, we MUST be this ancient,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34surely we must be founded by King Alfred.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37And you get this again and again, if you look at kind of...the kind
0:22:37 > 0:22:41of bogus histories that you see for other institutions, like Cambridge,
0:22:41 > 0:22:44or, indeed, Parliament, it's kind of they wish it so, that they want...
0:22:44 > 0:22:45And, therefore, it is.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48They go back to the olden days, even older olden days,
0:22:48 > 0:22:49if they possibly can.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53And Alfred is about as olden as the university needed?
0:22:53 > 0:22:55He was, he'll do nicely. Yes.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02And the rest, as they say, is history - even when it isn't.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08Alfred was co-opted as founder of the entire university.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13'I may have mentioned at the beginning that the stories
0:23:13 > 0:23:15'of history can prove powerful -
0:23:15 > 0:23:18'even when they have little connection with the truth.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21'And this turns out to be especially the case
0:23:21 > 0:23:24'when one is dealing with Oxford-educated lawyers.'
0:23:31 > 0:23:35So, in the later Middle Ages, Alfred continued to have
0:23:35 > 0:23:38fans among the bookish elite.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42But it was dashing Arthur who remained the crowd-pleaser.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46At the end of the 15th century, hand-written manuscripts gave way
0:23:46 > 0:23:49to print in an information revolution.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55And one of the very first bestsellers to spring from the new
0:23:55 > 0:24:00printing presses was a sensational new telling of the Arthur story.
0:24:03 > 0:24:08Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur was a very different Arthur,
0:24:08 > 0:24:10for different, darker times.
0:24:12 > 0:24:17England had just emerged from bloody civil war - the War of the Roses.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23Malory wrote his epic romance while in jail.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26No wonder his Arthur is characterised less by Christian
0:24:26 > 0:24:32derring-do than by betrayal, sexual intrigue, and death.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36In Malory's version, the treacherous Sir Mordred
0:24:36 > 0:24:39is Arthur's own illegitimate son,
0:24:39 > 0:24:42and he gets his revenge on his father by attempting
0:24:42 > 0:24:45to marry Arthur's queen, Guinevere,
0:24:45 > 0:24:48and stealing his kingdom from him.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51Everyone you love ends up dead.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55And Malory himself had seen his country torn in two
0:24:55 > 0:24:59by the dynastic feuding between the houses of York and Lancaster.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03And all his anguish and all the tragedy of that time is
0:25:03 > 0:25:06channelled into this Le Morte D'Arthur,
0:25:06 > 0:25:10one of the most influential works in English literature.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17"When Sir Mordred felt that he had his death wound
0:25:17 > 0:25:20"he smote Arthur with his sword.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22"The sword pierced the helmet.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26"And therewithal Sir Mordred fell stark dead.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31"And the noble Arthur fell in a swoon to the earth."
0:25:33 > 0:25:35Malory's story was to become the basis
0:25:35 > 0:25:39for every subsequent Arthurian tale,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41from childhood classics
0:25:41 > 0:25:45to television adaptations and big-budget movies.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55Back in the 16th century, Arthur's popularity
0:25:55 > 0:25:59made him extremely useful to a new young king.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04In 1509, when Henry VIII came to the throne,
0:26:04 > 0:26:09the Welsh Tudors were seen by many as recent upstarts.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13So they claimed Arthurian descent to bolster their legitimacy.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18Some sort of relic linking Henry to King Arthur
0:26:18 > 0:26:21would be absolutely ideal.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25Unfortunately, the Grail was safely buried somewhere in Glastonbury,
0:26:25 > 0:26:27so what else might there be?
0:26:29 > 0:26:30Well, how about this?
0:26:30 > 0:26:35This extraordinary one and a quarter tonne oak phenomenon
0:26:35 > 0:26:39had long been one of Winchester's greatest attractions.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42King Arthur's Round Table,
0:26:42 > 0:26:46where King Arthur had presided over the ideal court at Camelot.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50And the knights had sat there, Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad,
0:26:50 > 0:26:54Sir Gawain, Sir Bors, Sir Percival, the evil Sir Mordred.
0:26:57 > 0:27:02In 1522, Henry threw an extravagant, Arthurian-themed party,
0:27:02 > 0:27:07inviting the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, to this very hall.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12Henry VIII was determined to impress his royal friend,
0:27:12 > 0:27:15so he gave the table a complete makeover.
0:27:15 > 0:27:16He had it painted
0:27:16 > 0:27:21and he put his own emblem, the Tudor Rose, smack in the middle.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24He also included a portrait of Arthur,
0:27:24 > 0:27:28who looks remarkably like... Henry VIII.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32It wasn't subtle, but Henry didn't do subtlety.
0:27:32 > 0:27:37His message was clear. He was the heir to Arthur.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43Though the Arthurian table was pure fantasy,
0:27:43 > 0:27:47the parallels between Henry's court and Camelot were not.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53Like Arthur, Henry's love life was far from simple.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56His divorce from Catherine of Aragon
0:27:56 > 0:27:59led to the break with the Roman Catholic Church.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02Which, in turn, led to the English Reformation.
0:28:02 > 0:28:07Which, in turn, led to the re-emergence...of Alfred.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14The 16th century was a time of national trauma
0:28:14 > 0:28:20as Catholics and Protestants died, and killed, for their beliefs.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22SCREAMING
0:28:22 > 0:28:23Iconoclastic Protestants
0:28:23 > 0:28:27would have melted down the Holy Grail, not revered it.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29Arthur was out.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33Alfred was in.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36He became a figurehead for the Protestants,
0:28:36 > 0:28:41cunningly reinvented to legitimise their religious revolution.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44This would be the most audacious piece
0:28:44 > 0:28:47of historical manipulation yet.
0:28:49 > 0:28:50BIRDSONG
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Protestants wanted to have a more direct line to God,
0:28:56 > 0:28:59to be able to read scripture in their own language.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04This was revolutionary stuff.
0:29:04 > 0:29:09And if there's one thing we British don't much like...it's revolution.
0:29:10 > 0:29:13An ancient king who shared their values
0:29:13 > 0:29:18would make England's new religious establishment seem far less radical.
0:29:18 > 0:29:21And Alfred, we remember from our Anglo-Saxon Reader,
0:29:21 > 0:29:24had translated religious works into English.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29Alfred took what was a...
0:29:29 > 0:29:32religion which expresses itself mostly in the Latin,
0:29:32 > 0:29:36and he turns it into something available in English,
0:29:36 > 0:29:39for English priests, for English-educated laity,
0:29:39 > 0:29:41for English courtiers.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44Most people would have imagined that the first English versions
0:29:44 > 0:29:46of anything in the Bible were much, much later.
0:29:46 > 0:29:50- I think they would be surprised to find out that it was Alfred who did it.- Yes.
0:29:50 > 0:29:56He respected the English language in ways that were never the case
0:29:56 > 0:30:00at the time in other parts of Europe with their own native tongues
0:30:00 > 0:30:03and definitely believed that English people
0:30:03 > 0:30:06deserved to have their religion brought to them
0:30:06 > 0:30:09in the language that they lived in.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13And that resonated very, very strongly, of course, with the Protestant mission.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21The man who realised Alfred might be effectively "spun"
0:30:21 > 0:30:26to give the new Protestant nation the historical pedigree it lacked
0:30:26 > 0:30:31was Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury under Elizabeth I.
0:30:33 > 0:30:37Parker dug out an ancient biography of the Anglo-Saxon monarch
0:30:37 > 0:30:41which had been written by one of Alfred's own courtiers,
0:30:41 > 0:30:43a bishop called Asser.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46Asser did his royal master proud.
0:30:46 > 0:30:51He presents Alfred as the supremely accomplished monarch.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55He defeats the Vikings, he rebuilds London,
0:30:55 > 0:30:57he reorganises the tax system.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00And he still has time to learn Latin in the evenings.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04This is less biography than hagiography.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08The problem for Alfred is that he's too perfect,
0:31:08 > 0:31:11he's in danger of being dull.
0:31:11 > 0:31:16We crave a moment of fallibility, a hint of weakness, a human touch.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19One good story would do it.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23And that is where Archbishop Parker comes in again.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29"The king was sitting by the hearth, preparing his bow and arrows
0:31:29 > 0:31:32"and other weapons of war.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35"When the wretched woman saw the cakes burning,
0:31:35 > 0:31:40"she ran in, abusing the unconquered King saying, 'Ah, you man!
0:31:40 > 0:31:44"'When you saw the cakes burning, why were you too lazy to turn them?
0:31:44 > 0:31:47"'For you're glad enough to eat them all hot!'
0:31:47 > 0:31:52"Now that unlucky woman little thought that he was King Alfred."
0:31:54 > 0:31:57The burnt cake story hadn't been in Asser originally,
0:31:57 > 0:31:59but Parker slipped it in,
0:31:59 > 0:32:04having come across it in another, later, even more obscure manuscript.
0:32:05 > 0:32:07Alfred's culinary cock-up
0:32:07 > 0:32:11soon became one of the most popular stories of the age
0:32:11 > 0:32:14and Alfred one of our most popular kings.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17The reinvention was more successful
0:32:17 > 0:32:20than Parker could ever have foreseen.
0:32:21 > 0:32:26This new, old king, perfect for the Protestant age,
0:32:26 > 0:32:28would, from the 17th century on,
0:32:28 > 0:32:32be known by all Britons as Alfred the Great.
0:32:42 > 0:32:46All stories need a hero and the national story is no exception.
0:32:46 > 0:32:49When I was a child British history
0:32:49 > 0:32:53was a seamless narrative of British heroes in stirring tales.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56And I didn't bother much then about the accuracy of the sources
0:32:56 > 0:33:00or whether they existed at all, I just responded to the characters.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02And I wasn't entirely wrong,
0:33:02 > 0:33:05because as I've got older I've realised
0:33:05 > 0:33:08that the important thing about heroes is not so much who they are,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11but who we need them to be.
0:33:11 > 0:33:13We talk about looking up to heroes,
0:33:13 > 0:33:15but we're actually projecting onto them
0:33:15 > 0:33:17our current obsessions and passions.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24It's this malleable quality that means Alfred could serve
0:33:24 > 0:33:28so many different ages in so many different ways.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31In the 18th century,
0:33:31 > 0:33:35Britain was embracing enlightenment, not enchantment,
0:33:35 > 0:33:38- science, not superstition. - CROWS CAW
0:33:38 > 0:33:43Alfred, though now nearly 900 years old, was still going strong,
0:33:43 > 0:33:46and about to be reinvented again
0:33:46 > 0:33:49for a whole new generation of political players.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56King George II loved the army,
0:33:56 > 0:34:00he was the last British king to lead troops into action,
0:34:00 > 0:34:03he wanted to see Britain on the battlefield,
0:34:03 > 0:34:05preferably slaughtering the French.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12But his son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, had other plans.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15He had a vision of Britain conquering the globe
0:34:15 > 0:34:18from the high seas.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22Frederick hated his father and everything he stood for.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29So he set up a rival court here at Cliveden in Buckinghamshire,
0:34:29 > 0:34:32with his allies The Patriots.
0:34:33 > 0:34:37So to be a Patriot means that you espouse the sort of true values
0:34:37 > 0:34:42of Englishness, which at this time are seen as Protestantism,
0:34:42 > 0:34:46liberty, commercial expansion and a sort of maritime navy.
0:34:46 > 0:34:51Alfred becomes The Patriots' idea of what a true king should be.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54So he's charismatic, he's dynamic,
0:34:54 > 0:34:57he appeals to his people, most importantly, he's visible.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00The young Frederick, who is the young Prince of Wales,
0:35:00 > 0:35:03he's got new ideas, he wants a new way of looking at things,
0:35:03 > 0:35:06why does he go backwards to Alfred?
0:35:06 > 0:35:11Innovation and modernity is a dirty word in the 18th century,
0:35:11 > 0:35:13because it implies a sort of creativity,
0:35:13 > 0:35:16a playing fast and loose with the rules,
0:35:16 > 0:35:19whereas what you need to do is you need to be able to paint innovation
0:35:19 > 0:35:23as restoration of a previous idea.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27These chaps, The Patriots, they find in Alfred a mirror and an image
0:35:27 > 0:35:30of everything that they want themselves to be.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33And that's his power, that's his potency.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37What you see is these men looking back into the English past
0:35:37 > 0:35:41to find what they want the future to look like.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49Frederick decided to make some noise about Alfred.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53Music and theatre were the mass media of the age,
0:35:53 > 0:35:57an ideal way to transmit a political message.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01So in 1740 Frederick commissioned the composer Thomas Arne
0:36:01 > 0:36:07and the poets David Mallet and James Thomson to write Alfred, A Masque.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10This would show his father what a true king should be.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46It is an eccentric piece of work.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50The action principally revolves around a blind bard,
0:36:50 > 0:36:54a couple of fairies and some peasants spouting political slogans.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01It would probably have been long forgotten
0:37:01 > 0:37:05were in not for one rather memorable tune.
0:37:05 > 0:37:10# When Britain first, at Heaven's command... #
0:37:13 > 0:37:16Alfred had built a few ships
0:37:16 > 0:37:19and fought a few sea battles against the Vikings,
0:37:19 > 0:37:23but once Frederick and his songwriters had finished with him
0:37:23 > 0:37:27he'd become the founder of the all-conquering Royal Navy.
0:37:27 > 0:37:32# This was the charter, the charter of the land
0:37:32 > 0:37:39# And guardian angels sang this strain
0:37:39 > 0:37:41ALL: # Rule, Britannia
0:37:41 > 0:37:44# Britannia rule the waves
0:37:44 > 0:37:53# Britons never, never, never will be slaves! #
0:37:53 > 0:37:55APPLAUSE
0:37:58 > 0:38:00ALL: # Rule, Britannia
0:38:00 > 0:38:03# Britannia rule the waves
0:38:03 > 0:38:04# Britons... #
0:38:04 > 0:38:08Rule Britannia became Britain's unofficial national anthem.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12And 270 years later there's nothing more patriotically,
0:38:12 > 0:38:16tub-thumpingly British than this hymn to Alfred and the sea.
0:38:16 > 0:38:25# Britons never, never, never will be slaves! #
0:38:25 > 0:38:27CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:38:39 > 0:38:45As the 19th century dawned, Alfred's star remained high,
0:38:45 > 0:38:49but in an age of Romanticism Arthur would be born again.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55His new birthplace, from where he would reconquer the world,
0:38:55 > 0:38:59was his alleged original home, Wales.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04The great heyday of South Wales industrial might
0:39:04 > 0:39:07is itself an olden-days memory now,
0:39:07 > 0:39:11its mines and factories overgrown ruins.
0:39:16 > 0:39:18But in the early 19th century
0:39:18 > 0:39:21Wales was undergoing a staggering transformation.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28Many people worried that, because of industrialisation,
0:39:28 > 0:39:30an ancient culture was going up in smoke.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36Some of those who were most concerned
0:39:36 > 0:39:39were the very people who were driving change.
0:39:39 > 0:39:43Lady Charlotte Guest was an Englishwoman,
0:39:43 > 0:39:47the wife of one of the most successful iron makers in Wales.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50In 1837, she began translating
0:39:50 > 0:39:55a series of Medieval Welsh tales, the Mabinogion.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57Arthurian legends were at its heart.
0:40:00 > 0:40:05"Then said Arthur, it were well for thee, Gwrhyr Gwalstawt Ieithoedd,
0:40:05 > 0:40:09"to go upon this quest, for thou knowest all languages
0:40:09 > 0:40:12"and art familiar with those of the birds and the beasts.
0:40:12 > 0:40:16"And as for you, Kai and Bedwyr, I have hope of whatever
0:40:16 > 0:40:19"adventure ye are in quest of, that ye will achieve it."
0:40:24 > 0:40:28What's different about this Arthur that we have in the Mabinogion,
0:40:28 > 0:40:30compared to the Arthur that we've been presented with before?
0:40:30 > 0:40:36What's new is the claim for Arthur
0:40:36 > 0:40:42and Arthurian romance as the Welsh contribution to European literature,
0:40:42 > 0:40:44the cradle, if you like,
0:40:44 > 0:40:47of something which did actually affect
0:40:47 > 0:40:49the whole of European literature.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52There's presumably an audience that is happy to think,
0:40:52 > 0:40:57"Well, Arthur was properly Welsh, he's ours and we started everything."
0:40:57 > 0:41:00There is certainly an audience that's very happy to think that, indeed.
0:41:00 > 0:41:04Why, in this period, when everyone seems to be looking forward,
0:41:04 > 0:41:08there's a huge industrial revolution going on,
0:41:08 > 0:41:11why is there this desire to look backwards?
0:41:11 > 0:41:13It's such a period of rapid change.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17The demographics of this part of Wales are changing so quickly.
0:41:17 > 0:41:22Old community structures are being broken up, language is shifting.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24When things happen too quickly around you,
0:41:24 > 0:41:28people reach into the past for some kind of security,
0:41:28 > 0:41:33the idea of things being more under control in the olden days,
0:41:33 > 0:41:36things being simpler and easier.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38It's ironic, isn't it,
0:41:38 > 0:41:42that the English wife of an English industrialist
0:41:42 > 0:41:46is trying to help the Welsh rediscover their very early roots.
0:41:46 > 0:41:48That's it to some extent,
0:41:48 > 0:41:52but they just love knights, they love dressing up.
0:41:52 > 0:41:57They like suits of armour. They've got suits of armour all over their houses! I mean, what can you do?
0:42:00 > 0:42:04Wales was having a big olden-days moment.
0:42:04 > 0:42:07For centuries its language and literature
0:42:07 > 0:42:10had been overshadowed by a dominant England tradition.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15But now the Welsh were fighting back,
0:42:15 > 0:42:20keen to prove that their culture was just as "olden" as anyone else's.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25So they revived the tradition of Eisteddfods,
0:42:25 > 0:42:29celebrations of music and storytelling
0:42:29 > 0:42:31from the time of the Medieval bards.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34And then they looked even further back,
0:42:34 > 0:42:37summoning up a tradition of pre-Roman Druids.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42This footage is from 1926,
0:42:42 > 0:42:46by which time these festivals had become a national institution.
0:42:46 > 0:42:52Here's the future George VI and the Queen Mother joining in the fun.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54All these would-be Druids needed
0:42:54 > 0:42:58were appropriately ancient sites to meet in.
0:43:00 > 0:43:04Guess the date of construction of this circle of standing stones.
0:43:04 > 0:43:073,000 BC? 2,000 BC?
0:43:07 > 0:43:101,000 BC?
0:43:10 > 0:43:12Try 1850.
0:43:12 > 0:43:18It was put up by a local enthusiast for all things Druidy.
0:43:18 > 0:43:22And he arranged his stones around a natural phenomenon,
0:43:22 > 0:43:25an old glacial boulder in the middle there.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28But the circle of stones, the design,
0:43:28 > 0:43:32was modelled on a genuinely old circle of stones
0:43:32 > 0:43:34at Avebury in Wiltshire.
0:43:34 > 0:43:39Once it was put up this did, indeed, become a place where Eisteddfods were held.
0:43:39 > 0:43:44And it became a tradition that after you'd held a national Eisteddfod
0:43:44 > 0:43:48in one place you left behind a circle of stones,
0:43:48 > 0:43:50some actually made of stone
0:43:50 > 0:43:54and in latter days they were actually made of plastic.
0:43:54 > 0:44:00So, oddly enough, Wales does now have a genuine heritage of mystical,
0:44:00 > 0:44:03Druidical standing-stone circles
0:44:03 > 0:44:07that dates all the way back... to the 19th century.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14The Celtic past was influential well beyond Wales.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16Artists like Gustav Dore
0:44:16 > 0:44:20and Aubrey Beardsley produced works inspired by Tennyson's
0:44:20 > 0:44:24monumental Arthurian cycle of poems, The Idylls Of The King.
0:44:27 > 0:44:31Some of the very first photographs, produced by Julia Margaret Cameron,
0:44:31 > 0:44:37were portraits and entire tableaux inspired by Tennyson's tales.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44And the pre-Raphaelite painters revelled in Arthurian scenes,
0:44:44 > 0:44:47with their themes of chastity and sensuality,
0:44:47 > 0:44:51romance, chivalry and a sense of mission.
0:44:55 > 0:44:58But Arthur wasn't the 19th century's only muse.
0:44:58 > 0:45:02There was another story that was endlessly reproduced,
0:45:02 > 0:45:06Alfred's kitchen catastrophe.
0:45:06 > 0:45:10This is the classic version of the Alfred-burns-the-cakes scene
0:45:10 > 0:45:14done by David Wilkie in 1806.
0:45:14 > 0:45:18Painters loved doing this particular scene. And one of the reasons
0:45:18 > 0:45:23was it's a historical painting but there's a chance to do some comedy.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27And so Alfred is depicted, literally, with a red face.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30He is embarrassed at having made a fool of himself.
0:45:30 > 0:45:34And the wife, who is furious and upset, upbraids a man who,
0:45:34 > 0:45:37though she doesn't know it, is actually the King.
0:45:37 > 0:45:42The man, interestingly, has a sort of half-smile on his face
0:45:42 > 0:45:45and he's looking complicitly at Alfred.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49"Men, we burn cakes, what do you expect?"
0:45:51 > 0:45:56The depiction of Alfred is changing at this period.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58This is a more democratic age
0:45:58 > 0:46:03and therefore this picture shows him going amongst his people.
0:46:03 > 0:46:05When he's scolded by the woman
0:46:05 > 0:46:08he doesn't say, "Do you know who I am? I'm the King,"
0:46:08 > 0:46:11he accepts the scolding and he learns from it.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14And, therefore, Alfred here is a king
0:46:14 > 0:46:17who has to acquire the common touch,
0:46:17 > 0:46:20a king who has to work out how to co-exist
0:46:20 > 0:46:23even with the most humble of his subjects.
0:46:29 > 0:46:32With the British Empire spread across the globe,
0:46:32 > 0:46:35the Victorians became ever more confident
0:46:35 > 0:46:37about their historical self-definition
0:46:37 > 0:46:40and their national myth making.
0:46:40 > 0:46:41For the first time,
0:46:41 > 0:46:48there was space for Arthur and Alfred to share the limelight.
0:46:48 > 0:46:50WOMAN SIGHS
0:46:50 > 0:46:53With his retinue of knights and bevy of damsels,
0:46:53 > 0:46:57Arthur captured sentimental Victorian hearts.
0:46:57 > 0:47:02Alfred, on the other hand, appealed to something more muscular.
0:47:02 > 0:47:04MAN GRUNTS
0:47:04 > 0:47:07The Victorians were happy to believe Alfred had founded
0:47:07 > 0:47:10most of the institutions they held dear,
0:47:10 > 0:47:17public schools, universities, Parliament, the law, the military.
0:47:17 > 0:47:19Alfred was the founding father,
0:47:19 > 0:47:24the embodiment of everything that was "great" about Great Britain.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26CHEERING
0:47:28 > 0:47:32And so the 1,000th anniversary of Alfred's death
0:47:32 > 0:47:35was a perfect moment for the good people of Winchester,
0:47:35 > 0:47:38ancient capital of Wessex, to honour him properly.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47This was the 1901 millenary.
0:47:47 > 0:47:52Actually, the anniversary was two years earlier in 1899
0:47:52 > 0:47:54and they'd got the date wrong.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57But no matter,
0:47:57 > 0:48:01it was one of those slightly bonkers occasions at which we British excel.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11It's obviously a genuinely popular event,
0:48:11 > 0:48:14there are people hanging out the windows, lining up on the roofs.
0:48:14 > 0:48:16Everybody in Winchester had a day off.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19There were special trains bringing people down from London.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22It is meant to be a sort of hugely popular event
0:48:22 > 0:48:26to make everybody feel part of the British Empire.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31So that's a Highland regiment, I would think, there.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35Yes, yes, that's right. There are a lot of different units
0:48:35 > 0:48:38both from the army and the navy taking part.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41And some of them had been released from service in the Boer War,
0:48:41 > 0:48:43because it was just felt so important.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46- What, to be here?- To be here. - Rather than on the battlefield.
0:48:46 > 0:48:48Rather than... Yeah, yeah.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50- And there's the statue.- Oh, yes, I love this one.
0:48:50 > 0:48:55Yes, this is one of my favourite ones, because you've got the sculptor Hamo Thornycroft on the left
0:48:55 > 0:48:59- and you can see just how big the statue is.- Hmm.
0:48:59 > 0:49:01- And he got damaged.- Yes, he did.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04It slipped at one point and his nose got damaged.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07This isn't what you'd expect from Victorian engineering.
0:49:07 > 0:49:11No! No. Well, you can see it does look a bit ramshackle,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14but they know what they're doing.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16You can see he's holding up his sword in a way
0:49:16 > 0:49:18that would really be rather dangerous.
0:49:18 > 0:49:23- He's making a cross with the hilt. - Yes, the sword turned into a crucifix.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26He is fighting on behalf of Christianity,
0:49:26 > 0:49:31so he's a sort of Christian military hero. So he ticks all the boxes.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40Unveiling the statue, the former Prime Minister Lord Rosebery
0:49:40 > 0:49:46did, however, concede that "the Alfred we reverence may well be
0:49:46 > 0:49:52"an idealised figure...an effigy of the imagination".
0:49:56 > 0:49:58He'd hit the nail on the head.
0:49:58 > 0:50:01The Victorians weren't really saluting Alfred's triumphs,
0:50:01 > 0:50:03they were saluting their own.
0:50:06 > 0:50:08BIRDSONG
0:50:10 > 0:50:12As the 20th century opened,
0:50:12 > 0:50:15Alfred's transformation from historical figure
0:50:15 > 0:50:19to "effigy of the imagination" was complete.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24The poet GK Chesterton explained.
0:50:24 > 0:50:28"King Alfred is not a legend in the sense that King Arthur may be a legend,
0:50:28 > 0:50:32"in the sense that he may possibly be a lie.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36"But he is a legend in this broader and more human sense,
0:50:36 > 0:50:40"that the legends are the most important things about him."
0:50:44 > 0:50:49In 1911, Chesterton published the last great epic English poem,
0:50:49 > 0:50:53The Ballad Of The White Horse, and Alfred was its hero.
0:50:53 > 0:50:58It was Alfred who had supposedly cut the ancient white horse
0:50:58 > 0:51:00into the chalk at Uffington,
0:51:00 > 0:51:05even though it actually predated him by more than a thousand years.
0:51:05 > 0:51:10In the poem the horse becomes a symbol of England itself.
0:51:10 > 0:51:14Alfred is captured, the horse is left unkempt,
0:51:14 > 0:51:20but in victory he becomes its caretaker, clearing it of weeds.
0:51:20 > 0:51:24This custodial spirit, the poem cautions,
0:51:24 > 0:51:28would always be needed to defend Britain in times of danger.
0:51:33 > 0:51:3730 years later, when Britain's skies were dark with enemy planes
0:51:37 > 0:51:42and the horse itself was hidden to disorientate German pilots above,
0:51:42 > 0:51:46an extract of the poem was printed in The Times.
0:51:46 > 0:51:48AIR RAID SIREN
0:51:49 > 0:51:53"I tell you naught for your comfort, yea, naught for your desire,
0:51:53 > 0:51:58"save that the sky grows darker yet and the sea rises higher.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03"Night shall be thrice night over you, and heaven an iron cope.
0:52:03 > 0:52:09"Do you have joy without a cause, yea, faith without a hope?"
0:52:11 > 0:52:16In the Times article of 1941, not only was the poem quoted
0:52:16 > 0:52:19but Alfred was directly invoked by the newspaper.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23It carries a report of a great meeting
0:52:23 > 0:52:25between ministers of the United Kingdom
0:52:25 > 0:52:29and a string of countries that have been invaded by the Nazis.
0:52:29 > 0:52:33The Times says, "The spirit of the gathering
0:52:33 > 0:52:36"was that of Alfred in Athelney
0:52:36 > 0:52:39"and the speech delivered by Mr Churchill,
0:52:39 > 0:52:41"so far from betraying apprehension
0:52:41 > 0:52:46"or awe at the vast forces of tyranny now trampling over Europe,
0:52:46 > 0:52:52"referred to the German Fuhrer only in terms of burning scorn."
0:52:52 > 0:52:55Churchill would have loved the comparison to Alfred.
0:52:55 > 0:52:59He was bought up in the great heyday of the Victorian Alfred cult
0:52:59 > 0:53:03and would have thought of him as the greatest Englishman of all time.
0:53:03 > 0:53:08Just as we always invoke Churchill, they always invoked Alfred.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12And here they are again. Britain is alone, encircled by its enemies
0:53:12 > 0:53:16and fighting a war that seems impossible to win.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18So the great Anglo-Saxon warrior
0:53:18 > 0:53:22is summoned up to inspire not only his own countrymen
0:53:22 > 0:53:25but all free people in their hour of need.
0:53:29 > 0:53:31That was Alfred's high point.
0:53:31 > 0:53:36After the war, in more uncertain times, such a self-confident king
0:53:36 > 0:53:38no longer appealed.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43Unlike the more complex and more equivocal Arthur.
0:53:43 > 0:53:45ALL CHANT: ..and hear us now
0:53:45 > 0:53:48Confirming this our scared vow We swear...
0:53:48 > 0:53:53Since the days of the Grail, Arthur had been associated with mysticism.
0:53:53 > 0:53:59As Britain experienced a wave of counter-culture at the end of the 20th century,
0:53:59 > 0:54:02he was reinvented once more.
0:54:02 > 0:54:05Dark Age Arthur became New Age Arthur.
0:54:07 > 0:54:11ALL: Heart to heart and hand in hand
0:54:11 > 0:54:14Mark, O Spirit, and hear us now
0:54:14 > 0:54:17Confirming this, our most sacred vow.
0:54:17 > 0:54:20So...how do I address you?
0:54:20 > 0:54:23Anyway you like, so long as it's not too early in the morning.
0:54:23 > 0:54:27Seriously though, my name is actually Arthur Uther Pendragon.
0:54:27 > 0:54:29I'm generally known as King Arthur,
0:54:29 > 0:54:34and I'm a senior Druid from Stonehenge and here in Glastonbury.
0:54:34 > 0:54:36So is Arthur all right?
0:54:36 > 0:54:38Oh, Arthur is absolutely fine.
0:54:38 > 0:54:41But you've got to remember there's three Arthurs,
0:54:41 > 0:54:44there's three Arthurian ages.
0:54:44 > 0:54:50There's a pre-Roman archetypal Welsh, there's a post-Roman Dark Age British
0:54:50 > 0:54:53and there's a post-Thatcher and I'm the post-Thatcher.
0:54:53 > 0:54:54IAN LAUGHS
0:54:54 > 0:54:58Right. Are you literally an embodiment of Arthur?
0:54:58 > 0:55:03I believe... I believe I am. The same spirit dwells within.
0:55:03 > 0:55:05But I'm not out to convince anyone
0:55:05 > 0:55:07that I'm a reincarnation of King Arthur,
0:55:07 > 0:55:11I'm just out to say, were King Arthur here now, this is what he'd be doing.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13And it obviously is, because it's what I do.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16- Anything specific at the moment? - Erm...
0:55:16 > 0:55:19- Any issues that...- Yes, specific at the moment.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22- ..Arthur's particularly worried about?- Yeah, well, what we are doing
0:55:22 > 0:55:27is we're marching with the people and the trade unions and we're marching against this government,
0:55:27 > 0:55:31because we are against their austerity measures
0:55:31 > 0:55:35that are designed to claw back money from those who can least afford it
0:55:35 > 0:55:38to prop up to those who least need it.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40He always fights for the underdog
0:55:40 > 0:55:43and he always fights for what is fair.
0:55:43 > 0:55:47Right and fair or, as I call it, truth, honour and justice.
0:55:47 > 0:55:49It makes you sound like Batman.
0:55:49 > 0:55:51THEY LAUGH
0:55:51 > 0:55:54- I've got the cloak! - THEY LAUGH
0:56:00 > 0:56:03There seems little doubt that Arthur will go on and on.
0:56:04 > 0:56:09He's spawned video games, TV series and films.
0:56:09 > 0:56:12And today you can even experience him
0:56:12 > 0:56:15through the medium of online gambling.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18The fictional king that Geoffrey of Monmouth
0:56:18 > 0:56:21wrote about nearly a thousand years ago
0:56:21 > 0:56:25is now a money-spinning global brand.
0:56:32 > 0:56:36Factual Alfred will always be more prosaic.
0:56:36 > 0:56:39But he is one of the leading poster boys
0:56:39 > 0:56:42on Michael Gove's Great British history curriculum.
0:56:44 > 0:56:48And he continues to speak from beyond the grave.
0:56:48 > 0:56:50Oh, wow!
0:56:50 > 0:56:52800 years after canny monks at Glastonbury
0:56:52 > 0:56:55dug up their royal treasure trove,
0:56:55 > 0:56:58historical societies and TV documentaries
0:56:58 > 0:57:01are still playing the same game.
0:57:01 > 0:57:05Imagine, the possibility as we stand here is that, you know,
0:57:05 > 0:57:11the life and the legend of Alfred the Great comes down to this.
0:57:11 > 0:57:14The actual pelvis of King Alfred.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17Possibly.
0:57:17 > 0:57:19Or...possibly not.
0:57:22 > 0:57:26The point is, our need to connect with these ancient heroes
0:57:26 > 0:57:28is still strong.
0:57:28 > 0:57:33They continue to help us define ourselves.
0:57:34 > 0:57:39And this process of historical makeover will undoubtedly continue.
0:57:39 > 0:57:45We will be long gone, but new Arthurs and Alfreds will emerge.
0:57:48 > 0:57:53As our cycles of need for historical escapism or realism continue,
0:57:53 > 0:57:56Arthur is still seen everywhere,
0:57:56 > 0:57:58whereas Alfred is back in the library.
0:57:58 > 0:58:02But in the past both of our Dark Age superheroes
0:58:02 > 0:58:07have been used to comfort, inspire or negotiate change in Britain
0:58:07 > 0:58:09and may well be again,
0:58:09 > 0:58:14because, looking forwards, my guess is we'll keep looking backwards.
0:58:14 > 0:58:17The olden days always have a future.
0:58:26 > 0:58:30I'm now looking forward...
0:58:30 > 0:58:33to more looking back next time,
0:58:33 > 0:58:35when I'll be discovering how modern Britain
0:58:35 > 0:58:40is a product of the Victorian obsession with the Middle Ages.
0:58:40 > 0:58:42Clear?