0:00:02 > 0:00:05This is the story of the invasions of the British Isles.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09Whoa!
0:00:10 > 0:00:13It's the story of the enemies we feared,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17it's the story of the fear of invasion itself,
0:00:17 > 0:00:22and of the idea that we Britons are somehow unique.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27There have been battles for Britain for millennia,
0:00:27 > 0:00:32from weapons like these Hurricanes to sticks and stone axes.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36Invasions come in many forms -
0:00:36 > 0:00:39mass migrations, immigrants bringing ideas
0:00:39 > 0:00:44and religions - all have shaped Britain and made it what it is.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46The farming invasion.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49- A fashion invasion. - The foodie invasion.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51Cheers.
0:00:51 > 0:00:57In this episode, there's Normans, Norse, and fantasists from Flanders.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59And the Spanish Armada hasn't even arrived yet.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04We love to believe in the island fortress.
0:01:04 > 0:01:10Shakespeare wrote of, "This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle".
0:01:11 > 0:01:15In Rule Britannia, we've never been defeated.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19Churchill called us, "The Island race".
0:01:21 > 0:01:23It's a story we all tell ourselves,
0:01:23 > 0:01:27but we all descend from people who came here from elsewhere,
0:01:27 > 0:01:29for one reason or another.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37This gap between that myth and the reality is a captivating tale,
0:01:37 > 0:01:39and never more so than in the centuries
0:01:39 > 0:01:42where we reached our period of peak invasion.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02The story starts in what is today a rather unremarkable field in
0:02:02 > 0:02:05southern England. It's grassy, it's on a slope,
0:02:05 > 0:02:09but something happened here in the 11th century that changed the
0:02:09 > 0:02:11history of Britain.
0:02:17 > 0:02:22The Battle of Hastings is lodged in our brains as the last great
0:02:22 > 0:02:23invasion of England -
0:02:23 > 0:02:27an idea that has become as much a part of our mythology
0:02:27 > 0:02:29as the white cliffs themselves.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33But it isn't even vaguely true.
0:02:33 > 0:02:40Since 1066, there have been at least 17 successful invasions of England,
0:02:40 > 0:02:42Wales and Scotland,
0:02:42 > 0:02:44and countless failed attempts.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48Some have led to changes of ruler, some were by invitation,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51others have been doomed from the start,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55but they all matter because we have been shaped as much by the battles
0:02:55 > 0:02:58we have lost as we have by the battles we have won.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05So the Norman Conquest wasn't the last, then,
0:03:05 > 0:03:07but it was the mother of them all.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13It wasn't just an English army that was defeated here,
0:03:13 > 0:03:15but an older English way of life.
0:03:17 > 0:03:22So much so that much of what we now think of as quintessentially English
0:03:22 > 0:03:27rose out of the blood and gore that once debased this nice, bland field.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34The person to thank for that transformation?
0:03:34 > 0:03:38A man of impeccable European origin and skill set.
0:03:38 > 0:03:43The descendant of a feared Viking lord - good at fighting.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47Relative of an English queen - good at giving orders.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52Born and brought up in present-day France -
0:03:52 > 0:03:54a flair for bureaucracy.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59Supposedly boorish, definitely illegitimate.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04The earliest sources describe him as William the Bastard.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08We know him as William the Conqueror.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16By the time William landed on the south coast of England,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19he had been fighting for much of his adult life.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25He didn't invade for a cause, but for something much more appealing -
0:04:25 > 0:04:27a crown.
0:04:27 > 0:04:32The English crown that he believed had been promised to him and then
0:04:32 > 0:04:34given to his rival, Harold, instead.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40In his armoury was the weapon that would prove to be decisive in his
0:04:40 > 0:04:43quest and become part of the mythology of this invasion.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52- Tell me about this bow.- Well, it's a basic hunting bow of 1066.
0:04:52 > 0:04:53It is made out of yew,
0:04:53 > 0:04:55one single piece of wood,
0:04:55 > 0:04:57and it's going to be good enough to put an arrow up over that hill.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59What sort of range would it have?
0:04:59 > 0:05:01I'd say about 100, 150 metres.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04Would you be able to hit anyone deliberately at that range?
0:05:04 > 0:05:08Depending on the wind, how good I am, possibly.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11But if I was going to aim for a large body of men,
0:05:11 > 0:05:13- I think I could hit one of them. - Let's give it a go.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15Pull out a sharp. There we are.
0:05:22 > 0:05:23Whoa!
0:05:23 > 0:05:26- Just missed.- Nearly.
0:05:26 > 0:05:27Go, go.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33- That was good! - That was good, very good.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37What sort of tactics did the archers use?
0:05:37 > 0:05:39Well, there's a very good one that is lob shotting.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41You put an arrow very high up in the air...
0:05:43 > 0:05:45..so they are going to have arrows coming straight out of the sun,
0:05:45 > 0:05:47coming vertically down on their heads.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52You can't keep your shield above your head
0:05:52 > 0:05:54and in front of you at the same time.
0:06:04 > 0:06:09Legend has it that one of the deadly Norman arrows did for King Harold,
0:06:09 > 0:06:10hitting him right in the eye.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17How do you think Harold died?
0:06:17 > 0:06:19Well, everyone says an arrow in the eye.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21We have seen knights wearing helmets,
0:06:21 > 0:06:23they have steel mail shirts like mine.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27There is no part of your body to be seen apart from your hands,
0:06:27 > 0:06:30your knees, your feet, and your eyes, and so...arrow in the eye?
0:06:32 > 0:06:35Well, if I had an arrow in my hand, that's not going to kill me,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38but an arrow in my eye is definitely going to kill me.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42- Good shot.- In the eye, I think.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46Now, that,
0:06:46 > 0:06:49- I reckon, proves I've got Norman blood.- You certainly have.
0:06:53 > 0:06:58The tale of the brilliantly accurate arrow in the eye is the story we
0:06:58 > 0:07:03tell ourselves, but one contemporary source suggests a very different story.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06It suggests something much more humiliating,
0:07:06 > 0:07:07sordid even,
0:07:07 > 0:07:11and describes Harold being hacked to death at the hands of the
0:07:11 > 0:07:13four Norman knights.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19The first, cleaving his breast through the shield with his point,
0:07:19 > 0:07:23drenched the earth with a gushing torrent of blood.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30The second smote off his head below the protection of the helmet
0:07:30 > 0:07:34and the third pierced the inwards of his belly with his lance.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38The fourth hued off his thigh and bore away the limb.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44His remains were then buried by the sea.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53This bloody act was just a taste of things to come.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55In the next few years,
0:07:55 > 0:07:59an older England, which was itself the result of countless migrations
0:07:59 > 0:08:05and invasions, would be obliterated from memory.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09This transformation has been passed down through the generations as the
0:08:09 > 0:08:12story of one man's ruthless ambition.
0:08:14 > 0:08:19After the battle, Duke William returns to camp with Bishop Odo.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21They are both weary after the terrible day.
0:08:23 > 0:08:24It begins already, brother.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28- What do you mean?- Many things -
0:08:28 > 0:08:30Taming the knights,
0:08:30 > 0:08:32keeping order,
0:08:32 > 0:08:35putting down rebellion,
0:08:35 > 0:08:37perhaps even controlling oneself.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43All these things a man must do when he exchanges a dukedom
0:08:43 > 0:08:45for a kingdom, sire.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49Well, it shall be done, Bishop!
0:08:51 > 0:08:52Now I have got it...
0:08:54 > 0:08:55..I shall hold it.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02I will bend them all to my will, the English and the Normans.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07I will build castles to keep this land in order.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11I will own every inch of England and my
0:09:11 > 0:09:14lords and barons must bow the knee
0:09:14 > 0:09:15for all they possess.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23William's campaign north has been
0:09:23 > 0:09:26described as a scorched earth policy.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31It turned into ethnic cleansing,
0:09:31 > 0:09:36as Anglo-Saxon landowners were driven out
0:09:36 > 0:09:37and new Norman landlords moved in.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44The castles they built were bigger, better, stronger,
0:09:44 > 0:09:48unlike anything England had seen before.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52And they said, "Not only have we defeated you,
0:09:52 > 0:09:54"but we are here to stay."
0:09:56 > 0:09:59They raised new churches and, of course,
0:09:59 > 0:10:03their churches were also unlike anything England had seen before...
0:10:04 > 0:10:09..taller, more ornate, superior,
0:10:09 > 0:10:11like this one in Barfrestone in Kent.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16In new churches like these,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20they would have given thanks for their good fortune in hitting the
0:10:20 > 0:10:23jackpot with England's rich and fertile land.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27But just how rich was it?
0:10:27 > 0:10:2920 years after the invasion,
0:10:29 > 0:10:32they ordered a massive stocktake to find out.
0:10:34 > 0:10:39There shall be a great book, as big as the Bible,
0:10:39 > 0:10:43and in it the clerks will set out all that lies in England,
0:10:43 > 0:10:45every farm, every fish pond,
0:10:45 > 0:10:46every horse and plough.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52In town after town, village after village,
0:10:52 > 0:10:56every source of wealth was recorded by Norman inspectors.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00The invaders referred to it as "the great survey".
0:11:00 > 0:11:02The conquered referred to their
0:11:02 > 0:11:05hellish day of reckoning as "Doomsday".
0:11:05 > 0:11:07And as the wealth was entered into giant ledgers,
0:11:07 > 0:11:10the name - Domesday Book - stuck.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15This very place is mentioned in the Domesday Book.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17Now, you might be surprised because it's so small,
0:11:17 > 0:11:19but that's exactly the point.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Everywhere was important enough for the Doomsday Book.
0:11:22 > 0:11:27It tells us that its value in 1066 was 50p,
0:11:27 > 0:11:31that its household consisted of one poor woman.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34And then, this is the really important bit, in 1086,
0:11:34 > 0:11:38the tenant in chief was not the Archbishop of nearby Canterbury,
0:11:38 > 0:11:42as you might suspect, it was Bishop Odo of Bayeux.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49The Normans recorded England's wealth in such detail,
0:11:49 > 0:11:50not out of curiosity,
0:11:50 > 0:11:53but so that they could raise taxes.
0:11:53 > 0:11:54It is mine!
0:11:56 > 0:11:59William the Taxman just doesn't have the same ring to it as
0:11:59 > 0:12:02William the Conqueror, but that's exactly what he was.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06And these were taxes to pay for his armies, to pay for his court,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09to line his own pockets.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13England's new rulers used the Domesday Book to estimate the wealth
0:12:13 > 0:12:14of their entire kingdom,
0:12:14 > 0:12:19and that knowledge helped transform England into one of the strongest
0:12:19 > 0:12:22and most cohesive countries in all of Europe.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37Gradually, the otherness of the Norman Invasion faded into memory.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42Their vocabulary worked its way into our language.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46Years later, those French words,
0:12:46 > 0:12:51those words of invaders, became terms that we used to describe the
0:12:51 > 0:12:56finer things in life - amorous, tranquil, or restaurant.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59But Anglo-Saxon words, on the other hand,
0:12:59 > 0:13:04were used to describe base things - like sweat or shit.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14Ever since then, the Norman Conquest has been the benchmark against which
0:13:14 > 0:13:17all other invasions have been measured.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21It's the reality on which the myth was founded.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34Ever wonder how we got here, to the point where we have a Parliament,
0:13:34 > 0:13:38where the most powerful people in the land are held to account,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41criticised and even publicly lampooned?
0:13:42 > 0:13:46Well, it has something to do with this next invasion.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50Exactly 150 years after the Normans landed,
0:13:50 > 0:13:55a remarkable invasion took place, an invasion by invitation.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01In the 13th century, Rochester Castle was
0:14:01 > 0:14:04one of the most important military bastions in the whole of England.
0:14:04 > 0:14:09If Rochester fell, well, London was only two days' march away.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14But, in 1216, a very curious incident happened just here,
0:14:14 > 0:14:16one which has been all but lost to history.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22The gates, designed to keep attackers and invaders out,
0:14:22 > 0:14:26were thrown open to an approaching French army
0:14:26 > 0:14:30and its leader, a French prince, was welcomed as a saviour.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40The invader in question? Meet Prince Louis.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43This is just one of a few pictures of him from the time.
0:14:43 > 0:14:49He was invited to invade to help get rid of the tyrant bad King John.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53And, thanks to the story of Robin Hood,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56we have lots of pictures of bad King John.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02King John's rule was so terrible that it echoes through the ages
0:15:02 > 0:15:06as a low point in England's bloody history.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10He is often described as the worst king England ever had
0:15:10 > 0:15:16and this 1922 silent film of Robin Hood isn't far off the mark.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20John was definitely fond of hanging people.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25He may well even have been a puppy snatcher.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31Don't even think about stealing a boar from his forest
0:15:31 > 0:15:34if you want to keep both eyes in your head.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38And if all that wasn't bad enough,
0:15:38 > 0:15:42after being excommunicated by the Pope,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45he even suspended the Church - all of it.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48Depriving his citizens of confession, mass, last rites
0:15:48 > 0:15:51and Christian burial was so tyrannical
0:15:51 > 0:15:56that people were even afraid to die in case they didn't go to heaven.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00England under John was a kind of living purgatory.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06King John's tyrannical rule brought him into direct conflict
0:16:06 > 0:16:08with many of his nobles.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12They tried to find ways to curb John's absolute power
0:16:12 > 0:16:16and asked him to sign a treaty called Magna Carta
0:16:16 > 0:16:19that set clear limits on his authority.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22At first, John agreed to do this.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25But then, he changed his mind
0:16:25 > 0:16:28and the patience of his barons ran out.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34They decided that England needed a new king.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36Prince Louis was the son of the French king
0:16:36 > 0:16:39and a direct descendant of William the Conqueror.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43He was 27, pious, brave and had proved himself as a military leader.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47The barons couldn't have found a starker contrast to John.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53In May of that year, he took up their invitation
0:16:53 > 0:16:57to invade and landed on the coast of Kent.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01A French army on English soil - again.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05But, this time, there was no battle like Hastings.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09Instead, they marched unopposed from the Isle of Thanet in Kent
0:17:09 > 0:17:12to Canterbury, Rochester, and on to London.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19So, how come most of us have never heard of this invasion?
0:17:20 > 0:17:24I've managed to track down one of the few historians
0:17:24 > 0:17:27who has delved into Louis's remarkable story.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31So, these images are from the manuscript of a chronicle
0:17:31 > 0:17:32written by Matthew Paris,
0:17:32 > 0:17:34who was actually writing in the 13th century,
0:17:34 > 0:17:37so they're almost contemporary,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40and they tell the story very well of what Louis was doing.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43So this is Louis arriving, this is him landing in England,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46and it shows that Louis had various different types of people with him.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48He had sailors to sail the boat,
0:17:48 > 0:17:51he had armed knights in his retinue,
0:17:51 > 0:17:54he also had lots of foot soldiers and engineers,
0:17:54 > 0:17:57which is very important when you want to take castles.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59And he also has administrators and clerics with him
0:17:59 > 0:18:01because he's intending to govern.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04And this figure here, as you say, stepping out of the boat first,
0:18:04 > 0:18:06this is probably meant to be Louis himself.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09And what's interesting about this is he's not wearing any armour
0:18:09 > 0:18:12and that's because Matthew Paris, when he drew this picture,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15was aware that, when Louis landed,
0:18:15 > 0:18:17he was not faced with an immediate battle.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21So, he's managed to get the whole story of Louis arriving in England
0:18:21 > 0:18:23- into this one picture. - Very clever.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28When he got to London, he was proclaimed king
0:18:28 > 0:18:30by the barons who had invited him,
0:18:30 > 0:18:34so there were cheering throngs of people in the streets.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36I mean, let's just think about that for a moment.
0:18:36 > 0:18:37Crowds of people cheering their new king,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40who is riding through the streets of London,
0:18:40 > 0:18:42and he is the son of the King of France.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44Now, that's unprecedented.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46But then, being proclaimed king in the street
0:18:46 > 0:18:48doesn't make you the king!
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Being the designated heir of the previous king doesn't make you king.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55What makes you king is having the crown put on your head
0:18:55 > 0:18:58and being anointed with holy oil.
0:19:00 > 0:19:01What happened to John?
0:19:01 > 0:19:04Well, he did the most useful thing that he could possibly have done
0:19:04 > 0:19:07at this point and he died unexpectedly.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10Now, you might think that this meant that Louis could get comfy
0:19:10 > 0:19:14in his new kingdom, but apparently not.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18John had an heir, a nine-year-old son called Henry.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22And, faced with the prospect of Louis taking over England,
0:19:22 > 0:19:26some of the nobles decided to crown Henry as king.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30And then they pulled a masterstroke.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35They offered to implement a new version of Magna Carta as well,
0:19:35 > 0:19:41and Louis's invasion suddenly looked rather redundant.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44So, this is a huge U-turn.
0:19:44 > 0:19:49The implementation of Magna Carta is what John went to war to prevent
0:19:49 > 0:19:54and now his associates are declaring their support for it.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56This was very, very clever.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59You wanted rid of John? He's dead, he's gone.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01- And you wanted Magna Carta. - You wanted Magna Carta? Here it is.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03Oh, and your new king is an innocent young boy
0:20:03 > 0:20:06who cannot possibly be blamed for any of the things
0:20:06 > 0:20:07that have happened before.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13I think, if it wasn't for Louis,
0:20:13 > 0:20:15we would never have heard of Magna Carta.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17So, King John was intent on burying it.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20He had already reneged on it.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22He had succeeded in getting the Pope to annul it
0:20:22 > 0:20:25and he was bent on revenging himself on the barons
0:20:25 > 0:20:28who had made him agree to it in the first place.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33Louis was offered 10,000 marks, a small fortune, to go away
0:20:33 > 0:20:39and to stop saying that he had ever been the rightful King of England.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43So, we have a French king we have never heard of,
0:20:43 > 0:20:45who lasted just 18 months,
0:20:45 > 0:20:48to thank for Magna Carta finally being implemented,
0:20:48 > 0:20:53which helped enshrine our right to democracy and free speech.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55Thank you, King Louis.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00It's such an amazing story.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02Why is it not so well-known?
0:21:02 > 0:21:05I think, basically, it was written out of the history books
0:21:05 > 0:21:07because later historians found it embarrassing.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10They found it embarrassing that England had got to the point
0:21:10 > 0:21:13where the best candidate for the throne
0:21:13 > 0:21:15was the son of the King of France.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19And so, when you look at the reigns of the kings of England
0:21:19 > 0:21:23on the lists that you see, it runs very smoothly from John to Henry III
0:21:23 > 0:21:26and Louis is just not there.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38The next invasion that intrigues me took place here,
0:21:38 > 0:21:43on the west coast of Scotland, in 1263.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49- FILM FOOTAGE:- For the first time,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52the saga of the mighty Viking hordes who swept across the world,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54breaking every commandment of heaven and Earth,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57as they put an age to the torch.
0:21:58 > 0:22:03What was it about? Pillage, plunder, conquest?
0:22:03 > 0:22:06Well, it was as much about trade as anything else.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12And it's an invasion that never really ended.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19Vikings first appeared in Britain in the eighth century
0:22:19 > 0:22:23and, from then on, they returned regularly.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27The Vikings didn't get to the west coast of Scotland
0:22:27 > 0:22:28until a little later
0:22:28 > 0:22:31but, when they did, they got up to their old tricks.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36This is a wonderful primary source,
0:22:36 > 0:22:39some images scratched onto a piece of slate that was found
0:22:39 > 0:22:42on a tiny island out there in the Firth of Clyde.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46Here we have a very unhappy-looking man, a monk,
0:22:46 > 0:22:48and he's being taken into captivity
0:22:48 > 0:22:51by this extraordinary figure in the centre,
0:22:51 > 0:22:55a huge, wild-haired, tall Viking.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59And beyond him is his unmistakable Viking ship.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04This man's been taken from his home to be sold in a Norse slave market.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08But if this sounds like the end of the world,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10well, it was only just the beginning.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16For 200 years, they raided and returned.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23- FILM FOOTAGE: - To a Viking, there was no life
0:23:23 > 0:23:26except life in battle.
0:23:27 > 0:23:33There was no death except death in battle.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40There were no women except women taken in battle.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46But by the 13th century,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49the wild bands of Pagan, slave-trading Vikings,
0:23:49 > 0:23:53so beloved of Hollywood, had become something more organised.
0:23:54 > 0:23:59A settled population of Norsemen, soldiers, traders and farmers,
0:23:59 > 0:24:03who were really quite at home on Scotland's islands.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07Who had sovereignty here?
0:24:07 > 0:24:10Well, in the 13th century, this was Norse territory,
0:24:10 > 0:24:14right from the Hebrides, the Western Isles, down through Kintyre,
0:24:14 > 0:24:17the Clyde islands, right down to the Isle of Man.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19People here owed allegiance to the Norwegian crown
0:24:19 > 0:24:22and not the Scottish one.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24At this time, relations were quite strained,
0:24:24 > 0:24:26particularly as the Scottish kingdom was growing in confidence.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28They wanted the Western Isles,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31they wanted the western part of Scotland back.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35This, of course, didn't go down very well back in Norway.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38There was a particularly bad raid by Alexander
0:24:38 > 0:24:42when he went to Skye and burned houses, burned villages,
0:24:42 > 0:24:43killed women and children,
0:24:43 > 0:24:45apparently had babies on the end of spears.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Really bad stuff, like atrocities.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50Of course, this is the Norwegian account.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52It might not quite have been as bad as that,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55but that didn't play well back in Norway, and Haakon,
0:24:55 > 0:24:58the king at the time, felt that he had to come here
0:24:58 > 0:25:02and make Scotland realise this was Norse territory.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Why? Well, hard as it is to imagine,
0:25:05 > 0:25:10this was near to the geographic centre of the Norse world.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13You can get a sense of it from these famous chess pieces.
0:25:13 > 0:25:19Made of walrus ivory, probably from Greenland, carved in Norway,
0:25:19 > 0:25:25transported to Scotland to sell possibly as far south as Ireland.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28This part of the world was a spaghetti junction of trade routes
0:25:28 > 0:25:31that were valuable and lucrative.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34One way or another, the fate of these islands
0:25:34 > 0:25:35just had to be decided.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39Were they to be the south-westernmost part of Norway,
0:25:39 > 0:25:42or the north-westernmost part of Scotland?
0:25:46 > 0:25:49The Norwegian King Haakon mustered what is said to be
0:25:49 > 0:25:53the biggest fleet ever to sail from Norway.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57In September, it gathered off the coast here at Cumbrae,
0:25:57 > 0:25:5930 miles west of Glasgow.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06Well, you had 120 ships, about 10,000 men, anchored off Arran.
0:26:06 > 0:26:12This was one of the largest invasion forces ever to face Scottish shores.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14And basically there were envoys going back and forth
0:26:14 > 0:26:15and they were negotiating,
0:26:15 > 0:26:20and Alexander III was basically being quite clever and quite wily.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23He knew that the Scottish forces couldn't meet Haakon at sea.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26He knew, if they landed, they would struggle with them as well.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29So, he was basically waiting for the Scottish weather to do
0:26:29 > 0:26:31what his own forces couldn't.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37What happened was, at the end of September, the weather did break.
0:26:37 > 0:26:38There was a massive storm,
0:26:38 > 0:26:41a very powerful storm, according to the sources.
0:26:41 > 0:26:42The fleet was in a bit of disarray.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44Some of them came and anchored off Cumbrae
0:26:44 > 0:26:46because it's a bit more sheltered.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50But five ships were actually run ashore on the Scottish side,
0:26:50 > 0:26:52to basically where Largs is now,
0:26:52 > 0:26:55and that's when the Scottish forces came in and pounced,
0:26:55 > 0:26:57and they kind of just faced each other off.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00And it ended up more being sort of, some sling stones were thrown,
0:27:00 > 0:27:04some arrows were shot, some insults were traded.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07So, there was no real victory. There was nothing decided.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10It's surprising the Norse didn't land their entire force.
0:27:10 > 0:27:11Well, this is the interesting thing.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14I think Haakon was here to make a statement with his force.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18He was saying, "We have sovereignty over the Innse Gall area,
0:27:18 > 0:27:21over the Hebrides, over Western Scotland. Look at my force."
0:27:21 > 0:27:24I don't think it was his intention to ever invade.
0:27:24 > 0:27:25Had he done that,
0:27:25 > 0:27:29I think he had the numbers to actually cause serious damage.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38Defeated by the weather, the Norsemen headed for safety.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Their king then died and their fleet never returned.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53What happened to this Norse territory after the battle?
0:27:53 > 0:27:56Well, basically, the change of allegiance to a Scottish king,
0:27:56 > 0:28:00or to a Norwegian King, to the people living on this side,
0:28:00 > 0:28:03didn't make that much difference to their everyday lives.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07And really, the Norse-Gael culture, the culture of the Innse Gall,
0:28:07 > 0:28:09the land of the foreigners, continued on.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12There was still this idea that this place is different,
0:28:12 > 0:28:16it was becoming Scots, and never really fully became Scots in a way.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22The Norse left their mark on the language, the landscape,
0:28:22 > 0:28:23and the culture.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32A kind of currency existed here that allowed Norse Scotland
0:28:32 > 0:28:36to take its place at the centre of the vast trade network.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39It was a bullion economy.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42Bullion made from plundered silver
0:28:42 > 0:28:46and turned into something called ring money.
0:28:50 > 0:28:51What are we making?
0:28:51 > 0:28:55We are making a Viking-age ring money bracelet,
0:28:55 > 0:28:58so that's this sort of thing.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01So, they would be used to be traded for
0:29:01 > 0:29:05food, goods, by the weight of the silver that was in them.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07- It was used as currency?- Yes.
0:29:07 > 0:29:09Show you the tapering.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11Now, that really does start to make it longer.
0:29:12 > 0:29:14And then, with a simple punch decoration,
0:29:14 > 0:29:17which seemed to have no purpose, really,
0:29:17 > 0:29:19other than to make them look pretty.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22- Is that the next stage? - That's the next stage of this.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25Place flat on the anvil and, with this hammer,
0:29:25 > 0:29:28give it a good thwack like that.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30- Right, let me have a go. - Yep, right, so...
0:29:30 > 0:29:32Don't hit your fingers.
0:29:35 > 0:29:36THEY LAUGH
0:29:38 > 0:29:39It's so difficult!
0:29:42 > 0:29:43Not bad.
0:29:45 > 0:29:47THEY CHUCKLE
0:29:47 > 0:29:49So, I've managed to take a silver bracelet
0:29:49 > 0:29:53and significantly devalue it with my own incompetence!
0:29:54 > 0:29:56We're now turning this into a bracelet
0:29:56 > 0:29:59by shaping it around our wooden former.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08So what do you think of my handiwork?
0:30:08 > 0:30:12Well, it doesn't really matter so long as it weighs the right amount,
0:30:12 > 0:30:14does it? So there we go, let's test it with the scales.
0:30:16 > 0:30:18And put the weight on the other side.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23- And there we go. - There we go. Perfect.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29So, thanks to the Norse presence on the islands and beyond,
0:30:29 > 0:30:33Scotland was exposed to a vast northern European market
0:30:33 > 0:30:35and a sophisticated trading system
0:30:35 > 0:30:38that would help to forge strong links with Scandinavia.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43Not a bad legacy for a bunch of invaders.
0:30:47 > 0:30:52Possibly one of our most audacious invasion stories
0:30:52 > 0:30:56is that of a total impostor, who managed to invade no fewer
0:30:56 > 0:31:01than three times, claiming to be the ruler of England.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04So what did it take to carry that off?
0:31:04 > 0:31:08Well, strange as it may seem, in 1496,
0:31:08 > 0:31:12all that it took was some fine silks and a passing resemblance
0:31:12 > 0:31:16to a missing prince to muster an invasion force large enough
0:31:16 > 0:31:19to send the entire country into a tizz.
0:31:19 > 0:31:21Aren't you forgetting something?
0:31:21 > 0:31:24What about all the people so desperate to turn the clock back
0:31:24 > 0:31:28they're willing to believe in pretty much anything?
0:31:33 > 0:31:38The story captivated huge TV audiences in the 1970s
0:31:38 > 0:31:42in a serialisation that featured the fresh-faced impostor as the puppet
0:31:42 > 0:31:46of a foreign power sent to make mischief in England.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50- Don't you know who I am? - No, my lord, I do not.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53Who are you, my lord?
0:31:53 > 0:31:56The situation arose at the end of the War of the Roses,
0:31:56 > 0:32:01when the House of York lost power to the Tudors, and Henry Tudor,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04Henry VII, took the throne.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09His kingdom was far from united, riven by divisive politics,
0:32:09 > 0:32:14self-interest and plots to restore the old rulers.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18Supporters of the House of York
0:32:18 > 0:32:20still longed to overthrow the Tudors
0:32:20 > 0:32:24and they pinned their hopes of doing this on two princes
0:32:24 > 0:32:26who had mysteriously vanished -
0:32:26 > 0:32:29Edward and Richard.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37Almost 15 years after his disappearance,
0:32:37 > 0:32:40Richard of York suddenly reappeared,
0:32:40 > 0:32:44determined to win back the throne for his family and their supporters.
0:32:49 > 0:32:53His first invasion was at Deal in Kent.
0:32:55 > 0:32:57Well, actually, Richard didn't invade himself.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01He stayed on board his ship and left all of his supporters
0:33:01 > 0:33:02to do the actual invading.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05150 of them waded ashore at the beach
0:33:05 > 0:33:09and then were promptly slaughtered by the town's garrison.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12As soon as Richard realised what was happening,
0:33:12 > 0:33:15he turned tail and fled for the sanctuary of Ireland.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23Richard then pitched up in Scotland at the court of James IV.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27Here I am. Will you hand me over?
0:33:27 > 0:33:29Never. I gave my word I'd protect you, Richard,
0:33:29 > 0:33:31and protect you I shall.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34Either to do mischief to the Tudors or to advance the aims
0:33:34 > 0:33:39of his European allies, or a delicious combination of both,
0:33:39 > 0:33:43James agreed to help this strange character invade England - again.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45It'll be the quickest capture of a kingdom
0:33:45 > 0:33:48since the devil first landed in Ireland.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50- Well, when do we start?- Tomorrow.
0:33:59 > 0:34:04James lent him a small Scottish army and a few German mercenaries
0:34:04 > 0:34:06and off they set, south.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09You know, this river may look beautiful,
0:34:09 > 0:34:14but it's as formidable a barrier as Hadrian's wall.
0:34:15 > 0:34:21But in early autumn, Richard waded across the Tweed and into England.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26The idea was that as soon as the Northumbrian nobles heard
0:34:26 > 0:34:31that Richard of York was invading, they would rise up to support him.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35But it was frankly wild and wishful thinking.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38Richard and his army marched south into England,
0:34:38 > 0:34:42destroying a handful of defensive towers along the way.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45But it soon became clear that, in this part of England,
0:34:45 > 0:34:50Richard and his cause were far less popular than he thought they were.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56Richard and his Scottish army went quietly home.
0:34:56 > 0:35:01On his return to Edinburgh, James grew tired of his guest
0:35:01 > 0:35:05and sent him back to Ireland on a ship called the Cuckoo.
0:35:10 > 0:35:12In Ireland, he did it again,
0:35:12 > 0:35:16rallying support amongst those who yearned to bring back the old world,
0:35:16 > 0:35:18and he set his sights on a place
0:35:18 > 0:35:21where the Tudors' power was tentative.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25- Show me Cornwall, John. - Here, your Grace.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27Well, it's a long way from London.
0:35:27 > 0:35:29But nearer than Scotland, your Grace.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31And my master begs that you march immediately.
0:35:33 > 0:35:38He roused his Cornish hosts by promising to end unfair taxation
0:35:38 > 0:35:40from distant London.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44He even proclaimed himself King Richard IV
0:35:44 > 0:35:46and, when news of that proclamation spread,
0:35:46 > 0:35:50that the old Yorkist claimant to the throne had returned,
0:35:50 > 0:35:51people flocked to him.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54His armies swelled to 6,000 men.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57They marched on Exeter and Exeter fell.
0:35:59 > 0:36:02But when Richard discovered that King Henry's army
0:36:02 > 0:36:07was nearby and planning an attack, he fled.
0:36:07 > 0:36:12The Cornish army surrendered and its leaders were executed.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16Richard was captured trying to reach the coast,
0:36:16 > 0:36:19taken to London and imprisoned in the Tower.
0:36:21 > 0:36:23Having invaded three times,
0:36:23 > 0:36:27having destabilised Henry VII's fledgling Tudor regime,
0:36:27 > 0:36:32having cost the Exchequer many millions to raise men to fight him,
0:36:32 > 0:36:35Henry still welcomed him to court.
0:36:35 > 0:36:42Educated, exotic, romantic and entirely fake, he fitted right in.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50After 18 months in captivity, he tried to escape,
0:36:50 > 0:36:54was caught and his hosts' patience finally ran out.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57On 23rd of November 1499,
0:36:57 > 0:37:01the man who had passed himself off as Richard the prince
0:37:01 > 0:37:04was taken to Tyburn gallows.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08He read a confession admitting his true identity
0:37:08 > 0:37:11and his true identity was remarkable.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13He was not a prince.
0:37:13 > 0:37:15He was not even a member of the House of York.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18He was an impostor.
0:37:18 > 0:37:22Grievously and wickedly I have claimed to be Richard, Duke of York,
0:37:22 > 0:37:25second son of King Edward IV.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29On my oath, I do now declare that all these claims and pretences
0:37:29 > 0:37:32are nothing but sinful lies.
0:37:32 > 0:37:34May God have mercy on my soul.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37His name was Perkin Warbeck.
0:37:40 > 0:37:42He was the assistant to a silk merchant,
0:37:42 > 0:37:46who wore his master's wares to display their beauty.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49He was the son of a merchant from Flanders.
0:37:49 > 0:37:55But whether or not he was the pawn of a foreign power or a chancer,
0:37:55 > 0:38:00a fantasist intent on power himself, he played his hand brilliantly.
0:38:00 > 0:38:05He found supporters and backers who longed for the old days
0:38:05 > 0:38:09and who were willing to suspend their belief to bring them back.
0:38:12 > 0:38:16Even if that meant pinning their hopes on a charlatan
0:38:16 > 0:38:18with a dodgy cause.
0:38:20 > 0:38:22Nobles are executed by beheading,
0:38:22 > 0:38:26but Perkin was hanged like a common thief.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32A miserable end for the man who tried to steal the crown.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46The Spanish Armada is one of those iconic invasion threats
0:38:46 > 0:38:51which contribute to the myth of an unassailable island Britain.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56But what we've forgotten is that many in England
0:38:56 > 0:38:58wanted this invasion to happen.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04Maybe even as many as 50%.
0:39:06 > 0:39:09The Spanish ships, 130 of them,
0:39:09 > 0:39:13came up the Channel to help land an army.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15The Spanish had been encouraged
0:39:15 > 0:39:18by Catholic nobles in England to invade.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22They wanted to overthrow their queen,
0:39:22 > 0:39:25the Protestant and unpopular Queen Elizabeth.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30But Elizabeth and her Navy were having none of it.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36If there's one painting I could choose to have above my fireplace,
0:39:36 > 0:39:38then this would be it.
0:39:38 > 0:39:42It's probably the moment in the Armada campaign
0:39:42 > 0:39:44when Britain saved herself from invasion.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48What's happening here is that the English have released
0:39:48 > 0:39:50a pack of fire ships onto the Spanish fleet,
0:39:50 > 0:39:53who were anchored at Calais.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56Now, there is simply nothing more frightening
0:39:56 > 0:39:59when you're on a sailing warship than being faced by a fire ship.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07They were quite large ships, packed with combustibles,
0:40:07 > 0:40:08anything that could burn,
0:40:08 > 0:40:11usually things that could explode,
0:40:11 > 0:40:13and they fell down on the Spanish.
0:40:13 > 0:40:14The Spanish were so terrified
0:40:14 > 0:40:18they cut their anchors and they fled from Calais.
0:40:18 > 0:40:20The British followed them like a pack of dogs.
0:40:30 > 0:40:34The story goes that Elizabeth went to an army camp near the coast
0:40:34 > 0:40:39to encourage her troops' efforts against the imminent invasion.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43The speech she made there has passed into legend
0:40:43 > 0:40:46and become a rousing monologue for generations of actors.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman...
0:40:52 > 0:40:56..but I have the heart and stomach of a king.
0:40:56 > 0:41:00And a king of England, too.
0:41:00 > 0:41:05And I think foul scorn that Parma or Spain
0:41:05 > 0:41:08or any Prince of Europe should dare
0:41:08 > 0:41:13to invade the borders of our realm.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15Pluck up your hearts.
0:41:15 > 0:41:17By your peace in camp and your valour in the field,
0:41:17 > 0:41:21we shall shortly have a famous victory.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23CHEERING
0:41:28 > 0:41:31The image of Elizabeth standing firm with her troops,
0:41:31 > 0:41:36committed to repelling the invader together, has stuck.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38But it was prime Tudor propaganda.
0:41:39 > 0:41:43By the time Elizabeth showed up to make this speech at Tilbury,
0:41:43 > 0:41:47the threat of imminent invasion had passed.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51The English fleet had already caught up with the Spanish and,
0:41:51 > 0:41:55in heavy conditions, engaged and defeated them.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58A storm had then scattered what remained of the Armada.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05Elizabeth was sharp and astute.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08There was something else that could carry the propaganda message.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11Coins would allow Elizabeth and her supporters
0:42:11 > 0:42:14to exploit the fear of invasion further.
0:42:15 > 0:42:17This is very exciting.
0:42:17 > 0:42:18What have we got in here?
0:42:18 > 0:42:21We've got a Dutch medal commemorating the defeat
0:42:21 > 0:42:23of the Spanish Armada.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26And when was this one made?
0:42:26 > 0:42:30So, this was made in 1588, immediately after the events,
0:42:30 > 0:42:35and it's sort of loaded with symbolism describing the defeat.
0:42:35 > 0:42:40So here we've got, in Hebrew, Jehovah, the name of God,
0:42:40 > 0:42:42coming out of a cloud with wind
0:42:42 > 0:42:45blowing the Spanish Armada into disarray.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48What's the link between Jehovah and the Spanish Armada?
0:42:48 > 0:42:51Well, the idea was that the storm which dispersed the Armada
0:42:51 > 0:42:55through the North Sea and then around the top of Scotland
0:42:55 > 0:43:00was actually a divine intervention on behalf of the Protestants.
0:43:00 > 0:43:02And the fabulous thing with coins, of course,
0:43:02 > 0:43:03is there's always more than one message.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06There is. There is another message on the other side,
0:43:06 > 0:43:09so what you've got is a Protestant church
0:43:09 > 0:43:13perched on a rock in the middle of a storm-tossed sea.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19And this is the Protestant faith
0:43:19 > 0:43:22resisting the forces of Catholic tyranny.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25How effective was this as propaganda?
0:43:25 > 0:43:29Well, the story it embodies becomes the real message.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32You've got sermons being preached,
0:43:32 > 0:43:35emphasising the importance of God's intervention
0:43:35 > 0:43:37and the Protestant win,
0:43:37 > 0:43:39and that story essentially becomes the norm.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41It becomes established fact.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44It's a wonderful thing you can pass on,
0:43:44 > 0:43:45so I'll pass the message on to you
0:43:45 > 0:43:48and you can then learn about the loss of the Armada.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51Loss of the Armada, and then I can spread the message to someone else,
0:43:51 > 0:43:54- so on it goes. - And how far did it go?
0:43:54 > 0:43:57Well, I mean, news of the Armada gets as far as India.
0:43:57 > 0:44:01There is mention at the Mogul court that they had noticed that Elizabeth
0:44:01 > 0:44:02had defeated the Spanish.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04Yeah.
0:44:07 > 0:44:12It was part of a concerted campaign in the aftermath of the Armada.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18A portrait shows how the triumph was officially recorded.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23This portrait of Elizabeth, painted just after the Armada,
0:44:23 > 0:44:26is an incredibly powerful piece of art
0:44:26 > 0:44:28and a very powerful piece of propaganda.
0:44:28 > 0:44:30Notice to the left on the window
0:44:30 > 0:44:34we have the English Navy bearing down on the Spanish Armada,
0:44:34 > 0:44:36those fire ships clearly visible.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39And through the window on the right, we have a stormy sea,
0:44:39 > 0:44:42we have the Spanish ships being wrecked on the rocks
0:44:42 > 0:44:44of Scotland and Ireland.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46To her right is an imperial crown
0:44:46 > 0:44:50and her hand rests possessively on a globe,
0:44:50 > 0:44:53her fingers resting just over the Americas.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56What's so fabulous about this painting
0:44:56 > 0:45:00is it leaves you in no doubt at all as to who rules the waves.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07Elizabeth turned the Armada and threat of invasion
0:45:07 > 0:45:10into a massive political coup.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13History remembers her as uniting England
0:45:13 > 0:45:17and the roughly 50% who were opposed to her, well,
0:45:17 > 0:45:19they're simply forgotten.
0:45:36 > 0:45:41The fear of invasion by sea is deeply embedded in our psyche.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50Living by the coast today might be highly desirable,
0:45:50 > 0:45:53but it wasn't always that way.
0:45:53 > 0:45:57Sometimes, the coast was the most dangerous place you could live.
0:45:57 > 0:46:01Why? Because of invasions and raids by pirates.
0:46:04 > 0:46:08Now, pirates aren't your classic invaders.
0:46:08 > 0:46:11Thanks to Hollywood, we think of them like this.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18As seafarers and plunderers, fighting amongst themselves,
0:46:18 > 0:46:22like in this glorious version of Blackbeard.
0:46:24 > 0:46:26The thing about pirates
0:46:26 > 0:46:30is that they always seem to be in far-flung locations,
0:46:30 > 0:46:34like the Spanish Main, or treasure islands.
0:46:34 > 0:46:38Arh, we got him trapped, Worley, trapped!
0:46:41 > 0:46:47But the early 17th century gave us a pirate who wasn't at all like that.
0:46:49 > 0:46:55This pirate practically crept into your home and snatched you away.
0:46:55 > 0:47:00He became a terrifying bogeyman and folk demon.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03Meet the Barbary Coast pirate.
0:47:10 > 0:47:14The Barbary pirate was a demon in the popular imagination.
0:47:14 > 0:47:18He was dark-skinned. He was unchristian.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22Their reputation was based around raids like that in Mount's Bay
0:47:22 > 0:47:24in Cornwall. One quiet Sunday,
0:47:24 > 0:47:26they slipped ashore and took
0:47:26 > 0:47:30an entire congregation from a church - 60 men,
0:47:30 > 0:47:35women and children - and sold them into slavery on the Barbary Coast.
0:47:36 > 0:47:41The Barbary Coast was the name given to the north coast of Africa.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45It stretched from Libya to Morocco.
0:47:45 > 0:47:50The pirate headquarters was the notorious city state of Sale
0:47:50 > 0:47:52in modern-day Morocco.
0:47:52 > 0:47:56There could be found the reason for their terrifying raids
0:47:56 > 0:47:58and coastal invasions -
0:47:58 > 0:48:00a bustling slave market.
0:48:06 > 0:48:10The slave trade was as lucrative as plunder and theft.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13Those with the rough hands would be sold at the slave market.
0:48:13 > 0:48:16Those with soft hands like mine would be ransomed.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19Women would be sold into harems.
0:48:19 > 0:48:21The Sale Rovers, as they became known,
0:48:21 > 0:48:23made the Barbary Coast infamous.
0:48:25 > 0:48:30Your best chance of ever seeing home again was if you were ransomed.
0:48:30 > 0:48:35Ransoming became a flourishing industry and no wonder.
0:48:35 > 0:48:39Pirates could ask for vast sums of money.
0:48:39 > 0:48:4250,000 pieces of eight?
0:48:42 > 0:48:47Try up to £300 in the case of the Barbary Coast raiders.
0:48:47 > 0:48:49Sums that only increased the likelihood
0:48:49 > 0:48:50that they would come back again.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56We tell ourselves the story that the Royal Navy
0:48:56 > 0:48:59were second to none, but, throughout the 17th century,
0:48:59 > 0:49:01the Coast of England and Ireland
0:49:01 > 0:49:05was a lucrative hunting ground for Sale Rovers
0:49:05 > 0:49:09and it led to one of the strangest invasions in Britain's history,
0:49:09 > 0:49:12one that has been reported in Turkish records,
0:49:12 > 0:49:14but not in our own.
0:49:15 > 0:49:20For five years, this island in the middle of the Bristol Channel
0:49:20 > 0:49:26became a Barbary Pirate HQ, a base for raids as far afield as Iceland.
0:49:30 > 0:49:34The bogeyman in chief was the pirate Jan Janszoon.
0:49:34 > 0:49:40Originally Dutch, in the parlance of the time, he turned Turk.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43To better be able to strike up and down the North European coast,
0:49:43 > 0:49:45he needed a base,
0:49:45 > 0:49:50so sleepy Lundy Island became part of a Barbary pirate kingdom -
0:49:50 > 0:49:53or so the story goes.
0:49:55 > 0:49:58This piracy was a bustling business,
0:49:58 > 0:50:02one known and feared in Britain's coastal communities,
0:50:02 > 0:50:05thanks in part to letters like this.
0:50:07 > 0:50:11"The ship was surprised by a Turkish man of war.
0:50:11 > 0:50:16"Matthew lost his whole estate and was taken to Sale in Barbary,
0:50:16 > 0:50:19"where the captain of the Turkish ship
0:50:19 > 0:50:22"sold him for 350 Barbary ducats.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25"He lives in misery in iron chains,
0:50:25 > 0:50:29"is forced to grind in the mill like a horse all day long.
0:50:30 > 0:50:35"He's fed on bread and water, and insufficient of that,
0:50:35 > 0:50:38"and is tortured to make him turn Turk.
0:50:40 > 0:50:45"A great ransom has been set on him, which, because of his losses,
0:50:45 > 0:50:47"he cannot procure."
0:50:50 > 0:50:52Trinity house to the Privy Council.
0:50:53 > 0:50:59They find that there are 12, 13 or 1,400 Englishman captives
0:50:59 > 0:51:05in Sale, all of the greatest part of them taken within 20 or 30 miles
0:51:05 > 0:51:08of Dartmouth, Plymouth and Falmouth.
0:51:08 > 0:51:12Writers complained the coast is not guarded by some handsome ships to
0:51:12 > 0:51:17defend the king's subjects and that our friends are not restrained from
0:51:17 > 0:51:21arming and aiding infidels.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26Spurred on by the lack of security around our shores,
0:51:26 > 0:51:29the Navy beefed up its defences.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32The spectre of the green flag of the Sale Rovers
0:51:32 > 0:51:36became a thing of the past around Britain's coast.
0:51:36 > 0:51:40Their raids became another forgotten chapter in our history.
0:51:40 > 0:51:44Why? Perhaps because the memory of them harassing Britain's coasts
0:51:44 > 0:51:50at will didn't exactly fit with the idea of Britannia ruling the waves.
0:51:58 > 0:52:02Possibly the most daring invasion of Britain
0:52:02 > 0:52:06came in the 1660s, from one of our closest neighbours -
0:52:06 > 0:52:08the Dutch Republic.
0:52:09 > 0:52:13This was an invasion that became known as England's Pearl Harbor
0:52:13 > 0:52:16and it was as much the result of English neglect
0:52:16 > 0:52:18as it was of Dutch courage.
0:52:22 > 0:52:26King Charles II was engaged in peace talks with the Dutch
0:52:26 > 0:52:29over wars in the colonies.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31But while talking peace,
0:52:31 > 0:52:34both sides were secretly still scheming.
0:52:35 > 0:52:37And when the talks stalled,
0:52:37 > 0:52:42the Dutch launched a surprise attack and caught the English Navy
0:52:42 > 0:52:44napping right here at their home dockyard
0:52:44 > 0:52:46on the River Medway in Kent.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51The majority of the English fleet was mothballed over here
0:52:51 > 0:52:53in front of the dockyard, but over here,
0:52:53 > 0:52:56on the morning of the sixth of June 1667,
0:52:56 > 0:53:00a fog bank rose, revealing England's worst nightmare.
0:53:04 > 0:53:07It was a vast Dutch task force...
0:53:09 > 0:53:13..62 frigates, 15 smaller vessels, 12 fire ships.
0:53:13 > 0:53:19And unarmed and unprotected, the English Navy was a sitting duck.
0:53:19 > 0:53:22With a dockyard full of undefended ships,
0:53:22 > 0:53:25the response of the Naval establishment was slow,
0:53:25 > 0:53:27if not complacent,
0:53:27 > 0:53:29and there was one reason for that -
0:53:29 > 0:53:32the Admiralty thought they had it covered.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36A huge defensive chain had been stretched across the river
0:53:36 > 0:53:40to make it impenetrable and to keep the fleet safe.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43This gives you a really good idea
0:53:43 > 0:53:45of what the chain would have been like.
0:53:45 > 0:53:49It's an enormous, it's about a metre long and maybe, what,
0:53:49 > 0:53:51two inches in diameter.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53It's an astonishing engineering achievement
0:53:53 > 0:53:56to have something like this in the 1660s
0:53:56 > 0:54:00and the force it would have taken to break a chain like this
0:54:00 > 0:54:01would've been unimaginable.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist and secretary to the Navy,
0:54:08 > 0:54:11recorded a vivid account of the entire affair
0:54:11 > 0:54:14and how it played out in London.
0:54:14 > 0:54:18"That all is safe as to the great ships against any assault,
0:54:18 > 0:54:21"the boom and chain being so fortified,
0:54:21 > 0:54:24"which put my heart into great joy."
0:54:26 > 0:54:29But Pepys' joy didn't last for long.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32The Dutch sent some heavy ships forward
0:54:32 > 0:54:35and their weight snapped the chain.
0:54:39 > 0:54:45"Ill news has come to court of the Dutch breaking the chain at Chatham,
0:54:45 > 0:54:47"which struck me to the heart."
0:54:51 > 0:54:56With the chain broken, fear of a full-blown invasion took hold.
0:54:56 > 0:55:01In nearby London, sheer selfish panic set in.
0:55:01 > 0:55:03The rich fled, taking whatever
0:55:03 > 0:55:06they could carry of their wealth with them.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12I presently resolved my father's
0:55:12 > 0:55:14and wife's going into the country and,
0:55:14 > 0:55:19at two hours' warning, they did go by the coach this day,
0:55:19 > 0:55:24with about £1,300 in gold in their night bag.
0:55:24 > 0:55:27The entire city is in a state of panic.
0:55:29 > 0:55:31The Dutch now pressed their advantage,
0:55:31 > 0:55:36putting troops ashore and sending fire ships towards the English ships
0:55:36 > 0:55:37in the dockyard.
0:55:39 > 0:55:42The scene vividly captured in the painting of the time.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48Here you can see it unfold,
0:55:48 > 0:55:53as some of the Navy's best ships and symbols of England's naval might
0:55:53 > 0:55:59are lost and carried home by the Dutch as trophies.
0:55:59 > 0:56:03It was a massive strategic and symbolic defeat for England,
0:56:03 > 0:56:06so why is it not so well-known?
0:56:06 > 0:56:10Especially as it is so well-documented.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17These are all Dutch paintings,
0:56:17 > 0:56:19from Dutch artists.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22British paintings of this event
0:56:22 > 0:56:24are few and far between.
0:56:36 > 0:56:39And with the Dutch in such command,
0:56:39 > 0:56:43it was open season on the source of England's naval power,
0:56:43 > 0:56:44the dockyard itself.
0:56:46 > 0:56:48A Dutch attack on this dockyard
0:56:48 > 0:56:51would have set back the English naval project
0:56:51 > 0:56:53by a decade, maybe more.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56At a stroke, they would have enjoyed unchallenged access
0:56:56 > 0:56:58to disputed colonies and foreign territories
0:56:58 > 0:57:01and they'd have grown rich in the process.
0:57:01 > 0:57:04But somehow Chatham dockyard was spared.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07The Dutch fleet moved on.
0:57:07 > 0:57:09And with this lucky escape,
0:57:09 > 0:57:12the Navy was able to piece itself back together.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17We might have all but forgotten this invasion now,
0:57:17 > 0:57:20but at the time it was a major mauling.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25Just the sort of thing best swept under the carpet.
0:57:35 > 0:57:38The fear of invasion,
0:57:38 > 0:57:42the invasions we have chosen to forget and the invasions
0:57:42 > 0:57:47that have enriched our lives have all shaped who we are.
0:57:50 > 0:57:54Since 1066, Vikings, Normans, French and Dutch forces
0:57:54 > 0:57:59had all invaded and, to an extent, held British territory
0:57:59 > 0:58:03and yet the idea of the British Isles as being uninvaded
0:58:03 > 0:58:06was about to become one of the founding myths
0:58:06 > 0:58:08of the newly born British Empire.
0:58:11 > 0:58:13In the next episode -
0:58:13 > 0:58:16the last ever invasion of the British mainland.
0:58:16 > 0:58:18It's a little-known story...
0:58:18 > 0:58:20Involving a middle-aged woman,
0:58:20 > 0:58:22a revolutionary Irish-American commander,
0:58:22 > 0:58:26some extremely incompetent French soldiers and this -
0:58:26 > 0:58:28a pitchfork.
0:58:28 > 0:58:32And the largest underground tunnels we've ever built
0:58:32 > 0:58:34to guard against invasion.
0:58:34 > 0:58:36I don't want to die in here.