0:00:02 > 0:00:09In the 17th century, this beautiful castle was taken over by the Leslie Clan.
0:00:09 > 0:00:15Above this gateway is the Leslie coat of arms, clearly proclaiming their status.
0:00:15 > 0:00:20But this castle is not in Leslie territory in Aberdeenshire or Fife,
0:00:20 > 0:00:25in fact, it's not even in Scotland, it's in Slovenia.
0:00:25 > 0:00:31From as early as the Crusades the Leslies made their names as warriors
0:00:31 > 0:00:37and many of them left Scotland seeking fame, fortune and glory.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42This is the amazing and untold story of how Clan Leslie
0:00:42 > 0:00:47played a major role in shaping the future of modern Europe and Scotland.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53In this series I'm going on a personal journey
0:00:53 > 0:00:58to reveal the extraordinary stories behind the great Clan names of history.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02Many Clans would seek glory on the battlefield
0:01:02 > 0:01:05but few would become as renowned and influential as the Leslies.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30In the 14th century, if you were an ambitious young warrior who wanted to get ahead,
0:01:30 > 0:01:37your top career choice was to become a soldier of the Church and leave Scotland.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41For a young man of a certain class, going on crusade
0:01:41 > 0:01:44was the best way of enhancing both your reputation
0:01:44 > 0:01:46and your prospects.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50Successful crusaders literally made a fortune.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58Going on crusade was an attractive option in the Middle Ages.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01Because you're able to demonstrate two things.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04one is personal piety, the sense of going on pilgrimage,
0:02:04 > 0:02:06but the second was also personal advancement.
0:02:07 > 0:02:14Going on crusade is a way of making a name and a reputation for yourself abroad.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16To an extent it could also be presented
0:02:16 > 0:02:18as a kind of medieval Club 18-30.
0:02:18 > 0:02:23It's a place to go and, basically, just create mayhem.
0:02:28 > 0:02:34It was from here, in Aberdeenshire, that two brothers in Clan Leslie - Walter and Norman -
0:02:34 > 0:02:42left Scotland in the 1350s to take part in the Holy War, to quell and convert the pagan hoards.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45As the younger sons of minor Scottish nobility,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48who stood to inherit nothing,
0:02:48 > 0:02:54the Leslie brothers realised that battling the enemies of Christ was their chance for fame and fortune.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57By the 14th century, The Crusades had shifted
0:02:57 > 0:03:02from the original focus of the Holy Land, to Eastern Europe.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05So when Walter and Norman left Scotland,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08they were destined for the Baltic Crusades.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12I've come to the heart of Leslie country,
0:03:12 > 0:03:17to meet historian Michael Penman to find out more about the Leslies
0:03:17 > 0:03:19as 14th-century holy warriors.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23Michael, this is absolutely fascinating, we've got a family tree of the Leslies here
0:03:23 > 0:03:31showing their origins and then, a few generations later, we've got our guys - we've got Walter and Norman.
0:03:31 > 0:03:32What sort of men were they?
0:03:32 > 0:03:35I think these two are pioneers.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37They're among the first generation of Scots that we know
0:03:37 > 0:03:39go on the Baltic Crusade in the 1350s.
0:03:39 > 0:03:44But they are clearly hard men, well brought up in the arts of war
0:03:44 > 0:03:47and two quite savvy, intimidating characters.
0:03:47 > 0:03:54Walter is someone who certainly gains a reputation as a hard man, as a warrior.
0:03:56 > 0:04:03The Baltic Crusades took place some 250 years after the first more famous crusades to Jerusalem.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Essentially these wars were Church-sanctioned land grabs,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11but Walter and Norman's official mission was to convert
0:04:11 > 0:04:15the Baltic and Eastern European heathens to Christianity.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19When they arrived in the Baltic region, what's essentially now known as Prussia,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22following a code of chivalry, they would be bound to do things
0:04:22 > 0:04:25like protect the innocent, protect women and children,
0:04:25 > 0:04:30protect churches and crusade against the pagan Lithuanians and the pagan Poles of the day.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34So in a sense they are putting their lives on the line, this is not a picnic,
0:04:34 > 0:04:39you're going to war, but what were the potential rewards for a life like that?
0:04:39 > 0:04:43Spiritually they're enormous. You are entitled to what is called a Plenary Indulgence -
0:04:43 > 0:04:46a pardon of all sins, in this worldly life.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50In material terms, too, there are huge gains to be made.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53You're allowed to take spoils of war, this is not frowned upon by the Church.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56So is it true to say that both Norman and Walter,
0:04:56 > 0:05:00because of the success that they enjoyed in The Crusades
0:05:00 > 0:05:05were able to come home to Scotland and really establish a firm base for the Leslies?
0:05:05 > 0:05:09Yes, definitely. Walter, I think, comes back to Scotland in the 1360s,
0:05:09 > 0:05:11probably an extremely wealthy man,
0:05:11 > 0:05:17and you have to assume that he's able to use some of his wealth to do things like build castles,
0:05:17 > 0:05:22develop his estates and certainly the success of generations of Leslies are able to build on that.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25So The Crusades are really a win-win situation for a young man.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29You save your soul, and you also improve your bank balance.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33Yes, provided you survive and you're able to come home and spend it.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36'And that was not always the case.'
0:05:36 > 0:05:39One of the Leslie brothers didn't come home.
0:05:39 > 0:05:46Norman died the ultimate chivalric death, in 1365, fighting on crusade.
0:05:46 > 0:05:53The successful return of his brother Walter, however, enabled the Leslies to become wealthier as a family
0:05:53 > 0:05:56and establish their credentials as fearsome warriors.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02But the Leslies didn't just prosper in Aberdeenshire.
0:06:02 > 0:06:10I've come to Fife, to Balgonie Castle, a Leslie estate bought with money made from foreign wars.
0:06:12 > 0:06:17Some 250 years after their ancestors first ventured abroad,
0:06:17 > 0:06:23the Leslies had once again looked to distant shores to make their mark, and take part in another holy war -
0:06:23 > 0:06:31The 30 Years' War - The great religious conflict, which engulfed Europe in the 17th century.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39The 30 Years' War is one of the greatest European conflicts.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42It's a war for the domination of central Europe.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47Much of Northern Europe had become Protestant but most of the South remained Catholic.
0:06:47 > 0:06:53The two sides would be locked in a bitter war for generations.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56The 30 Years' War is a fight for power,
0:06:56 > 0:07:01a fight to resist the re-Catholicisation of Europe.
0:07:01 > 0:07:08This titanic struggle that pitted Catholic against Protestant ravaged the continent,
0:07:08 > 0:07:12but from the bloody chaos, two members of Clan Leslie would emerge
0:07:12 > 0:07:17as hugely significant military leaders on either side of the conflict.
0:07:18 > 0:07:23Fighting on the Protestant side of the 30 Years' War was Alexander Leslie,
0:07:23 > 0:07:27who chose to serve the progressive and dynamic Swedish army.
0:07:29 > 0:07:30On the Catholic side,
0:07:30 > 0:07:37Walter chose to serve the vast and powerful Holy Roman Empire.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40The two men would never meet,
0:07:40 > 0:07:46but both would make their mark in Europe and Scotland in very different ways.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49Both of them see opportunities by entering military service.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54The classic example of people from the same family fighting against each other.
0:07:54 > 0:07:59Alexander Leslie would eventually make his home here, in Balgonie,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02but as a young man he realised
0:08:02 > 0:08:06that he'd have to look beyond Fife to fulfil his ambition.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10Alexander was illegitimate and had no family wealth to inherit.
0:08:10 > 0:08:15Becoming a professional soldier seemed his only chance to better himself
0:08:15 > 0:08:19and so, in 1605, he left Scotland.
0:08:19 > 0:08:24Alexander Leslie has little or no prospects in Scotland.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29His best prospects are service overseas and, being a Leslie,
0:08:29 > 0:08:34the tradition tends to be that they go into military service, he very much fits that tradition.
0:08:34 > 0:08:40When he first joined the Swedish service, Alexander Leslie was just another professional soldier.
0:08:40 > 0:08:46But his astonishing ability was quickly recognised and he was rapidly promoted through the ranks.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53Alexander fought in a series of brutal campaigns for the Protestant Swedes
0:08:53 > 0:08:56against the Holy Roman Empire.
0:08:56 > 0:09:01He gained a reputation as a talented commander and master tactician.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08As soon as he started fighting in Europe, he is a man on the rise
0:09:08 > 0:09:13and he's able to demonstrate that, you know, he is a soldier of the highest calibre
0:09:13 > 0:09:17and from there on, it is just a progressive rise up through the ranks.
0:09:17 > 0:09:22He is one of the major players in the 30 Years' War.
0:09:22 > 0:09:27The Swedish army was innovating technologically and tactically
0:09:27 > 0:09:28and he's participating in this.
0:09:29 > 0:09:35The experience that Alexander gained, by serving in the most sophisticated army in Europe,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38would prove to have important implications for Scotland.
0:09:38 > 0:09:44But for Alexander, the decision to fight overseas had transformed his fortunes.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48He had become one of the most famous commanders in Europe.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54Alexander Leslie rose through the ranks to be a man of great distinction,
0:09:54 > 0:09:58and recognised as such by the Swedish authorities.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03But the Protestant Swedes were not, however, the only side to benefit
0:10:03 > 0:10:06from the military scale of this warrior family.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10As Alexander Leslie flourished in the service of the Swedish Crown,
0:10:10 > 0:10:14another younger Leslie from a different branch of the family
0:10:14 > 0:10:21thrived in the service of its arch enemy, the Holy Roman Empire, centred here, in Vienna.
0:10:27 > 0:10:33Just a few years after Alexander Leslie had left Scotland, his kinsman, Walter,
0:10:33 > 0:10:37followed him overseas also to fight in the 30 Years' War.
0:10:37 > 0:10:42Walter however, had joined the army of the Catholic Holy Roman Empire.
0:10:42 > 0:10:49Walter shared the Leslie trait for military prowess and his talents brought him fame and fortune,
0:10:49 > 0:10:54but his route to success had followed a very different path.
0:10:54 > 0:11:00Whereas Alexander Leslie made his reputation as a great military commander,
0:11:00 > 0:11:03Walter Leslie made his reputation as an assassin.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11The assassination that made Walter's career
0:11:11 > 0:11:17was the murder of one of the leading commanders in Walter's own army, Albrecht von Wallenstein.
0:11:19 > 0:11:24The Emperor had discovered that Wallenstein had betrayed him, by negotiating with the enemy.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Wallenstein was declared a traitor.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31The Emperor is sitting in Vienna,
0:11:31 > 0:11:34decides that he wants Wallenstein caught dead or alive.
0:11:34 > 0:11:35Walter knows this,
0:11:35 > 0:11:39and he becomes involved in the plot to capture Wallenstein.
0:11:40 > 0:11:45In a bid to escape, Wallenstein fled to a secret hideout.
0:11:45 > 0:11:52But the Emperor had made it very clear that he wanted this traitor captured, whatever the consequences.
0:11:52 > 0:12:00Walter Leslie, leading a troop of Irish and Scots Dragoons, tracked Wallenstein down.
0:12:00 > 0:12:06First, Walter and his men quickly overwhelmed and then massacred Wallenstein's officers.
0:12:06 > 0:12:12Next, the treacherous commander himself was dragged from his bed and ruthlessly killed.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16It is a political assassination.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20Walter Leslie makes his career as a political assassin.
0:12:20 > 0:12:25For him, aiding your paymaster is the most important thing. There is not an issue of principle here,
0:12:25 > 0:12:30he's actually assassinating an enemy of his paymaster.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34Walter and his colleagues were not slow to brag about their conquest.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38Very quickly, they go off, the few hundred miles to Vienna
0:12:38 > 0:12:42and tell the Emperor what's happened, tell them that they were responsible.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46We've don't it, what are you going to give us for our heroic act?
0:12:46 > 0:12:53Walter Leslie rode into Vienna in triumph, with news that the traitor Wallenstein was dead.
0:12:53 > 0:12:59He was rewarded with the Office of Imperial Chamberlain and a seat on the Imperial Council of War,
0:12:59 > 0:13:02but yet more honours were to follow.
0:13:02 > 0:13:10On June 26th 1637, Walter Leslie was made a Count of the Holy Roman Empire.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13It demonstrates opportunities of this 30 Years' War,
0:13:13 > 0:13:18that you can go from being a very minor Scottish laird
0:13:18 > 0:13:22to becoming a major noble in the Holy Roman Empire.
0:13:24 > 0:13:29But Walter was not the only Leslie to secure foreign honours.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33His kinsman, Alexander, had been knighted by the Swedish monarch
0:13:33 > 0:13:38and appointed a field marshall, the highest possible military rank.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44He had now spent nearly 30 years serving in the Swedish army
0:13:44 > 0:13:49but Alexander's life was about to take a radical change of direction.
0:13:54 > 0:14:02I've come here to Kilchurn Castle in Argyll to find out how a deep-rooted sense of Clan loyalty
0:14:02 > 0:14:06led Alexander to give up his successful career abroad.
0:14:06 > 0:14:11Alexander had been illegitimate, almost certainly one of the reasons
0:14:11 > 0:14:14that had driven him to seek success overseas.
0:14:14 > 0:14:19But the allegiance he felt to the family, who had brought him up in place of his real parents,
0:14:19 > 0:14:23would play a major role in pulling him home.
0:14:23 > 0:14:28As a child Alexander Leslie was fostered to the wealthy Campbells of Glenorchy.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32The fosterage in the past was a common practice that secured
0:14:32 > 0:14:36powerful Clans like the Campbells the loyalty of lesser families.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41But Alexander's Campbell connections would have unexpected consequences
0:14:41 > 0:14:46both for his own personal story, and for the destiny of Scotland.
0:14:48 > 0:14:53It was the childhood years spent with the Campbells that historian Allan MacInnes believes
0:14:53 > 0:15:00influenced Alexander and convinced him to turn his back on a successful and lucrative career in Europe.
0:15:00 > 0:15:05It's very appropriate I suppose, Allan, that we've come here to a Campbell castle
0:15:05 > 0:15:10because Alexander Leslie was fostered to the Campbells when he was a young man.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14How common a practice was fosterage at that time in Scotland?
0:15:14 > 0:15:16It's a traditional Scottish practice,
0:15:16 > 0:15:19but with particular vitality in the Highlands,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22where ties of fosterage were the very cement of Clanship.
0:15:22 > 0:15:28It created binding ties of loyalty and, indeed, ties that would even lead to self-sacrifice in battle.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31It was like a form of elementary schooling.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34You progressed through that and were also trained in the arts of war,
0:15:34 > 0:15:38so Alexander Leslie would have cut his martial teeth fighting against the McGregors
0:15:38 > 0:15:41before he went off and fought in the 30 Years' War.
0:15:41 > 0:15:46It also became vitally important in shaping alliances which were life-lasting.
0:15:46 > 0:15:54You would send your sons off to different families to be raised and, not only would they be trained,
0:15:54 > 0:15:58but it would allow them to create a network.
0:15:58 > 0:16:04So this is something that will continue for the rest of Alexander Leslie's life.
0:16:04 > 0:16:10The deep connection, that Alexander felt to his foster family, was about to be tested.
0:16:10 > 0:16:17The 1630s saw Scotland engulfed in conflict, as King Charles I clashed with the Church of Scotland
0:16:17 > 0:16:23over reforms the Scots feared would bring a return to Roman Catholicism.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27When the King introduces a new prayer book for Scotland,
0:16:27 > 0:16:31you really are effectively lighting the blue touch paper,
0:16:31 > 0:16:38and this becomes almost like the fuse to the powder keg.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41It is the last thing that was needed
0:16:41 > 0:16:46to really explode the whole political establishment in Scotland in the face of the King.
0:16:48 > 0:16:53With Scotland sliding into Civil war, those in opposition to the King
0:16:53 > 0:16:57wanted to make sure that they gained the upper hand.
0:16:57 > 0:17:03But Covenanters, as they came to be known, wanted the best possible general for their army.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07They wanted Alexander Leslie.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11Luckily for them, they had the ultimate card to play.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15Leading the rebellion against the King were the Campbells -
0:17:15 > 0:17:19the family who had fostered Alexander as a young man.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23This bond of loyalty, do you think that would have been enough, in itself,
0:17:23 > 0:17:27to have brought Alexander Leslie back from a really successful career in Sweden
0:17:27 > 0:17:30to take part in the Covenanting War against the King?
0:17:30 > 0:17:32At the one level we have to give credit to his own principles -
0:17:32 > 0:17:34the belief that the Covenanting cause was just,
0:17:34 > 0:17:40but the Campbells were emerging, shall we say, as the radical leaders of the Covenanting movement,
0:17:40 > 0:17:45and its ties of fosterage would have been the factor that tilted the balance
0:17:45 > 0:17:51in moving Leslie away from Royalists support towards the Covenanters.
0:17:51 > 0:17:56Were they kind of demanding payback or was it a moral sense, do you think, that motivated him to say,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58yes, I will join you in your fight.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01It is the ties of family, ties of blood, ties of commitment.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05Unable to resist the pull of Clan loyalty,
0:18:05 > 0:18:09Alexander Leslie left behind his successful European career
0:18:09 > 0:18:13and returned to Scotland to join the Covenanters.
0:18:13 > 0:18:18But as Alexander prepared to go to war in Scotland to defend his Protestant beliefs,
0:18:18 > 0:18:22Count Walter Leslie was enjoying the benefits that came
0:18:22 > 0:18:25with being an important figure in the Holy Roman Empire.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34Walter had been rewarded with honours and titles for his loyalty.
0:18:34 > 0:18:40And it wasn't long before he'd acquired estates and lands in Bohemia and here in Slovenia.
0:18:45 > 0:18:50Sitting high above the town of Ptuj, in Eastern Slovenia, is remarkable evidence
0:18:50 > 0:18:54of Count Walter Leslie's success in this part of Europe.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58This magnificent castle was what Walter called home
0:18:58 > 0:19:04and is testimony to everything he'd achieved since leaving Scotland.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08I think he was a very talented guy, he spoke three or four languages
0:19:08 > 0:19:11without any problem and wrote in all of those as well.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15And he did very well from very unpromising beginnings.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22Walter certainly seems to have brought the weather with him
0:19:22 > 0:19:26but there are other reminders of Scotland here at Ptuj.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29Above the windows and above the doors and painted on the walls
0:19:29 > 0:19:34we find, everywhere, the Leslie coat of arms.
0:19:34 > 0:19:41Clearly, Walter was making a statement. By proclaiming his status and nobility he was saying,
0:19:41 > 0:19:43the Leslies are here to stay.
0:19:45 > 0:19:51But as Walter enjoyed status and success in Europe, his kinsman in Scotland,
0:19:51 > 0:19:55Alexander Leslie, was preparing to go to war against his King.
0:19:55 > 0:20:01Alexander was now General of the Scottish Covenanting army.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05He's almost like a talisman, if you like, here is the Great Commander, this is a man
0:20:05 > 0:20:09who has commanded armies on behalf of the King of Sweden,
0:20:09 > 0:20:11this is a man who has fought against the Emperor.
0:20:11 > 0:20:16People knew who he was, and many would actually want to have this man, fight with this man.
0:20:16 > 0:20:23The Covenanters had secured one of the most talented military minds in Europe as their general.
0:20:23 > 0:20:28But the army that Alexander took charge of was not of the calibre he was used to commanding.
0:20:28 > 0:20:34He knew that, to stand a chance of winning, he would need to make radical changes.
0:20:34 > 0:20:39Alexander set about transforming an outdated, ill-equipped
0:20:39 > 0:20:43and poorly trained army into a formidable fighting force.
0:20:43 > 0:20:48In the process, he would change the course of British military history.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55To find out how Alexander went about remodelling the Scottish army,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58I'm meeting military historian, John Sadler.
0:20:58 > 0:21:04Alexander Leslie, when he came back from Sweden, this is the kind of formation
0:21:04 > 0:21:07that he would have inherited in the Scottish army and he transformed it.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09- Indeed, exactly. - What was wrong with that?
0:21:09 > 0:21:11Essentially it was inflexible.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15He didn't provide commanders with the degree of tactical flexibility,
0:21:15 > 0:21:17on the battlefield, that they needed.
0:21:17 > 0:21:24It's a dense column formation, so it was slow moving, they would literally just crash through an enemy line.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26- Not very sophisticated. - It was a blunt instrument.
0:21:26 > 0:21:31In order for you to demonstrate how Alexander Leslie transformed the Scottish army,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34you'll have to break up this formation in the same way
0:21:34 > 0:21:37as he would have broken up the formations that he found here.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42That's exactly what... He would take these formations and say, "Right, lads, we're gonna do it this way."
0:21:43 > 0:21:49'Calling on the wealth of experience that he'd gained fighting in the 30 Years' War,
0:21:49 > 0:21:53'Alexander made the Scottish army the most efficient of its day.'
0:21:53 > 0:21:56I can see there's been a radical transformation already.
0:21:56 > 0:22:01Indeed, the scale of the revolution which was taking place in terms of tactics,
0:22:01 > 0:22:06is equal on scale to, say, the introduction of the tank into warfare in the 20th century.
0:22:06 > 0:22:11We've moved from these dense columnar formations which you looked at previously, to a much more...
0:22:11 > 0:22:18linear formation, where the real emphasis is now moving away from the pikemen towards the musketeers.
0:22:18 > 0:22:23Leslie is creating a situation whereby the killing power on the battlefield
0:22:23 > 0:22:27is with the Musketeers and they are so deployed to maximise the effectiveness of their fire.
0:22:27 > 0:22:33It's quite right, I think, to say that Leslie is the father of modern warfare in Britain.
0:22:33 > 0:22:40With his new modern army trained and drilled, Alexander was ready to go to war.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45As the Covenanters prepared to resist their King, there could be no doubt that
0:22:45 > 0:22:49Alexander Leslie's winning reputation was a vital boost to their morale.
0:22:49 > 0:22:56And the fact that he'd led one of the greatest armies in Europe was not lost on his enemies.
0:22:58 > 0:23:04That reputation was not some Court dignity, it is a hard-won reputation on the battlefield.
0:23:04 > 0:23:09To have somebody like Alexander Leslie as the grand strategist,
0:23:09 > 0:23:14it's a phenomenal coup for the Covenanters and really gives them the edge in the war.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19The Covenanters' first encounter with the Royal Army
0:23:19 > 0:23:24demonstrated the impact of Alexander Leslie's military reputation.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27On the night before the battle was to take place,
0:23:27 > 0:23:31Alexander invited the Royal Commanders to dinner
0:23:31 > 0:23:35and they were so impressed with how well-ordered and prepared his troops were
0:23:35 > 0:23:39that they signed a treaty, without a shot being fired.
0:23:39 > 0:23:45But Alexander was never a man to let his enemy get to know him too well.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49When the two armies next met, the Royalists hoped that, once again,
0:23:49 > 0:23:55a truce could be agreed before fighting broke out, but Alexander Leslie had other ideas.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01This time, Alexander did not extend an invitation to dinner.
0:24:01 > 0:24:09Instead, without warning, he attacked the Royal forces at Newburn and completely overwhelmed them.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18It was a resounding victory for the Covenanters.
0:24:18 > 0:24:23Alexander's leadership proved to be the decisive factor
0:24:23 > 0:24:27in the Covenanters securing success in their fight against the King.
0:24:27 > 0:24:34The wars and revolutions take their own course, but clearly Alexander Leslie is a man of British,
0:24:34 > 0:24:39not just Scottish, stature and is the most formidable general in the British Isles.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47Alexander Leslie's exploits had now made the Leslie name
0:24:47 > 0:24:49famous in Europe and Scotland.
0:24:49 > 0:24:55His kinsman Walter, however, would also make his mark on his homeland.
0:24:55 > 0:25:00Here in Aberdeenshire, a team of archaeologists are excavating Fetternear Palace,
0:25:00 > 0:25:02a Leslie family seat,
0:25:02 > 0:25:07where there's remarkable evidence that Walter sent some of his fortune back
0:25:07 > 0:25:08to lavishly remodel the building.
0:25:08 > 0:25:13Penny Dransart is the archaeologist leading the dig.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17Now, I suppose in many ways that the building we've got here, behind us,
0:25:17 > 0:25:21represents the very physical link between Walter on the Continent
0:25:21 > 0:25:23and the Leslies here in Aberdeenshire.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25Very much so.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28On the right, you see the Tower House
0:25:28 > 0:25:30which Walter knew as a young child,
0:25:30 > 0:25:36and the facade on the left is what his money was used to build.
0:25:36 > 0:25:42You have an enlargement and aggrandisement of the building and it was very much due to the income
0:25:42 > 0:25:45that Walter brought into the family.
0:25:46 > 0:25:52His Scottishness is important to him - he thinks, "I should be doing something to help my family."
0:25:52 > 0:25:58This building programme in Fetternear is built on the profits of overseas service.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02Scotland is littered with castles built on the profits of war.
0:26:02 > 0:26:07Why would Walter Leslie go to all the trouble and expense of sending money from the Continent
0:26:07 > 0:26:10back to the family he'd left behind in Aberdeenshire?
0:26:10 > 0:26:14I think it has to do with the importance of the family name.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18Belonging to a family was very important in the 17th century.
0:26:18 > 0:26:25One's strength was part of one's family connections, so as a group they acted together
0:26:25 > 0:26:31and they used the money that Walter sent them to build this structure that you see here.
0:26:31 > 0:26:37And to make it really magnificent as an expression of their family continuity.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44Walter never saw the grand palace that his money created.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48Fetternear is, however, testament to Walter's desire
0:26:48 > 0:26:53to ensure his family name would live on in Scotland.
0:26:53 > 0:26:58But to get a real sense of just how celebrated the Leslie name had become throughout Europe,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01I've come to the Benedictine Abbey in Vienna.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04CHORAL SINGING
0:27:08 > 0:27:13In 1667, Walter, the great servant of the Holy Roman Empire, died,
0:27:13 > 0:27:18and his body was brought here, to this magnificent church to be buried.
0:27:18 > 0:27:23Walter Leslie, the soldier of fortune, had come a long way.
0:27:23 > 0:27:28Up there, high in the church wall, is his coat of arms,
0:27:28 > 0:27:34proclaiming, for all to see, his importance and status as a Count of the Holy Roman Empire.
0:27:34 > 0:27:42The boy from Aberdeen had become a noble member of the Imperial establishment, and now, in death,
0:27:42 > 0:27:46he's become part of the fabric of this beautiful building.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Alexander Leslie lived his final years in Fife,
0:27:54 > 0:28:00and was buried here, in Markinch church in 1661.
0:28:01 > 0:28:07Since the 17th century, millions of Scots have ventured overseas to seek their fortune.
0:28:07 > 0:28:12The Leslies, with their spirit of adventure, were very much pioneers
0:28:12 > 0:28:15and their astonishing success abroad
0:28:15 > 0:28:20says much about the character of this extraordinary family.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24Alexander and Walter Leslie never met, but it seems to me
0:28:24 > 0:28:27that these two remarkable men,
0:28:27 > 0:28:30despite their political and religious differences,
0:28:30 > 0:28:34shared a deep-rooted loyalty to their homeland and,
0:28:34 > 0:28:37above all, to their clan.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:29:01 > 0:29:04E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk