0:00:02 > 0:00:04BIRDS CALL, OARS SWEEP
0:00:19 > 0:00:22DAVID DIMBLEBY: A cold winter's morning before daybreak
0:00:22 > 0:00:24on the River Thames.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29On a day like this, in 1834,
0:00:29 > 0:00:34a lost treasure was to re-emerge.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44A gang of workers were starting another day
0:00:44 > 0:00:46on the banks of the Thames.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49It was dirty, unappealing work.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52Their job was to demolish the old London Bridge
0:00:52 > 0:00:55and clearing away all this sludge and muck.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58Filthy work at the best of times.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02But on this particular day,
0:01:02 > 0:01:06they made an astonishing discovery.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14HE GRUNTS
0:01:30 > 0:01:33What they had discovered, to their amazement,
0:01:33 > 0:01:38was a bronze head of the Roman Emperor Hadrian,
0:01:38 > 0:01:41part of a great statue of the emperor...
0:01:43 > 0:01:48..all its fine detail beautifully preserved.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51The hair, the eyebrows, the eyes, this great nose
0:01:51 > 0:01:53and the chin,
0:01:53 > 0:01:56part of a beautiful statue.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02And this is where our story begins.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10From the Roman occupation of 2,000 years ago
0:02:10 > 0:02:12to our own day...
0:02:14 > 0:02:17..the story of Britain is revealed through art.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24These are the greatest treasures of our nation,
0:02:24 > 0:02:30objects of beauty which give a glimpse into the British soul.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35Many treasures will be familiar.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38But others are hidden.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45Some have even left our shores,
0:02:45 > 0:02:49scattered to the four corners of the earth.
0:02:54 > 0:03:00This is the story of the Seven Ages of Britain.
0:03:49 > 0:03:50Rome.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55The heart of the mighty empire that conquered nearly all Europe.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02It was Rome that would bring order
0:04:02 > 0:04:05to the barbarian chaos of the British Isles.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28TRANSLATION FROM ITALIAN:
0:04:42 > 0:04:44Fish and chips!
0:04:46 > 0:04:47Bye!
0:05:07 > 0:05:12The Romans first invaded Britain in 55 BC.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16But it would be another 90 years
0:05:16 > 0:05:18before there was a full-scale conquest,
0:05:18 > 0:05:19under the Emperor Claudius.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Among all the glorious monuments in Rome
0:05:31 > 0:05:34celebrating the great conquests of the Roman Empire,
0:05:34 > 0:05:38there's only one trace left of the conquest of Britain.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41And it's this tiny fragment
0:05:41 > 0:05:44of a big inscription which was put up on a triumphal arch
0:05:44 > 0:05:49to commemorate Claudius's taking the surrender of 11 British kings.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51You can just see the word "Reges Brit".
0:05:51 > 0:05:53And it cuts off there. 11 British kings.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57And saying that he brought the barbarians from across the ocean -
0:05:57 > 0:05:59that's the English Channel -
0:05:59 > 0:06:01he brought the barbarians from across the ocean
0:06:01 > 0:06:03under the authority of Rome.
0:06:09 > 0:06:15The Roman Empire was all about using power to impose order.
0:06:19 > 0:06:25Nothing captures the Roman vision better than the Pantheon,
0:06:25 > 0:06:27a temple to all the gods.
0:06:33 > 0:06:39This is the finest example of Roman art still standing in the city.
0:06:55 > 0:07:00One of the reasons the Romans had such a huge impact on Britain
0:07:00 > 0:07:04was that they, for the first time, gave us a sense of identity
0:07:04 > 0:07:05by becoming part of the Roman Empire.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09Every conquered territory had a female figure to represent it,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12and we had Britannia for Britain.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15And the coins of the second century AD
0:07:15 > 0:07:18had this portrait of Britannia on one side.
0:07:18 > 0:07:23Some say she's in mourning after defeat at the hands of the Romans.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25Some say she's at peace.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29But there it is - the enduring image of Britannia,
0:07:29 > 0:07:33which turns up, lo and behold, on our own 50 pence piece today.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35The Queen's head on one side
0:07:35 > 0:07:36and, on the other, Britannia.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38A rather different Britannia, this one.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42This is Britannia ruling the waves with her trident and her shield.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52One early and almost forgotten sculpture of Britannia
0:07:52 > 0:07:55can be found in what was once the eastern corner
0:07:55 > 0:07:57of the Roman Empire.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08In the first century AD,
0:08:08 > 0:08:13the city of Aphrodisias was famous for the brilliance of its artists.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28The fine marble quarried nearby allowed sculptors
0:08:28 > 0:08:32to capture the beauty of the human form.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49This is a stupendous collection of sculptures,
0:08:49 > 0:08:53all very lively, of Roman myths, of gods and goddesses.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56But the one I've come to see is this one over here.
0:08:56 > 0:09:01This is the story of how Rome conquered Britain
0:09:01 > 0:09:04told here, hundreds of miles away from Britain,
0:09:04 > 0:09:08as a way of demonstrating to everybody that Rome ruled us
0:09:08 > 0:09:10and had defeated us.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12This is the figure of Britannia.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16And we know it because it says over on the right there in Greek letters
0:09:16 > 0:09:17"Bretannia".
0:09:17 > 0:09:19And on this side,
0:09:19 > 0:09:24"Tiberius Claudius Caesar" - the Emperor Claudius.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28Britannia is shown in despair, perhaps pleading for her life,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31knowing she's about to be slaughtered,
0:09:31 > 0:09:36looking like a barbarian, her hair all straggling round,
0:09:36 > 0:09:39her face looking miserable, bare-breasted.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42He, on the other hand, the conqueror with his helmet,
0:09:42 > 0:09:44his right hand raised.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46There would have been a sword probably in the right hand.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49His left hand pulling her hair back,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51as though to cut her throat.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54He's got his fist there on her hair, pulling it back.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58And, important, his knee resting on her thigh,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00pinning her down to the ground.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03She's the victim, either about to be raped or to be killed.
0:10:03 > 0:10:09In any event, that is Britain, defeated by Rome.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14So much for "Britons never, never shall be slaves."
0:10:14 > 0:10:20This is how Britannia began - under the heel of the Roman Empire.
0:10:40 > 0:10:45It's not immediately obvious what Britain - cold and wet -
0:10:45 > 0:10:49had to offer Romans from the warm Mediterranean.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53But one attraction was our buried treasure.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05Where the Romans thought there was wealth to be found,
0:11:05 > 0:11:09they plundered to the far limits of their empire.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12This is Dolaucothi in West Wales,
0:11:12 > 0:11:16and with that ingenuity and energy for which they were famous,
0:11:16 > 0:11:20the Romans actually built here a seven-mile aqueduct,
0:11:20 > 0:11:22right across these hills.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26You can still just trace the line of it going into the woods there.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31And over there, there was a huge cistern
0:11:31 > 0:11:35that held up to 2,000,000 gallons of water.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38And when it was full, they opened the gates, the water
0:11:38 > 0:11:43flooded down into the valley, sweeping away trees and bushes
0:11:43 > 0:11:47and all the earth, and uncovering what they were really looking for.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51Quartz. Quartz, which contained gold.
0:12:13 > 0:12:19Some of the old Roman mining tunnels remain deep under the hillside.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27They're beautifully cut, these tunnels.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Very damp, dripping all the time with water.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33They had to get the water out so they didn't flood.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37Slaves would have done the work, of course, not the Romans themselves.
0:12:37 > 0:12:38And you can see here, they say,
0:12:38 > 0:12:44the marks where they've cut the rock with chisels, chiselled it away -
0:12:44 > 0:12:48there we are, the marks there - to open up the space.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51Because what they were looking for were these seams of quartz,
0:12:51 > 0:12:54here is one, this whiter rock there.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59It runs up here, see, right the way up there,
0:12:59 > 0:13:03and disappears up into the roof of the cave.
0:13:03 > 0:13:08And the technique they used was very ingenious, very simple.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11It was to build fires.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15And here, on this bit of rock here, they say these are the scorch marks
0:13:15 > 0:13:19left by the fires that were built to extract the quartz.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21They built fires until it was really hot
0:13:21 > 0:13:26and then suddenly dashed water onto it, so that it burst, split open.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29They could then take the quartz away.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33Dangerous work. I wouldn't want to do it.
0:13:44 > 0:13:49A ton of good quality quartz produced under an ounce of gold.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53But it was valuable, because of course gold doesn't deteriorate,
0:13:53 > 0:13:57and the Romans wanted it to make coins and make jewellery.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59In fact, in the 1880s,
0:13:59 > 0:14:01they found - this is a replica of it -
0:14:01 > 0:14:06they found this very beautiful little brooch made from gold from here,
0:14:06 > 0:14:11because it's got a slightly pinkish colour that distinguishes Welsh gold.
0:14:12 > 0:14:20All that effort, those hundreds of people working, just to produce this.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43Over the centuries,
0:14:43 > 0:14:47hundreds of treasures from Roman Britain have been uncovered.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49And the best have ended up here.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Sometimes, it's quite by chance that things are discovered that
0:15:22 > 0:15:25give us an idea of what life was like under the Romans.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28This great collection of silver was
0:15:28 > 0:15:32found by a farmer during the Second World War ploughing his field.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35He literally struck a piece of silver and discovered all this.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38He took it back to his farmhouse,
0:15:38 > 0:15:41and it's said he even used to eat his Christmas dinner off it.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45It wasn't until just after the war that he finally revealed
0:15:45 > 0:15:48he had it and it came here to the British Museum.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52And this is the great centrepiece of it all, the Oceanus Dish,
0:15:52 > 0:15:59a wonderful celebration of life and pleasure and enjoyment and music.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03At the heart of it, Oceanus, the god of the oceans,
0:16:03 > 0:16:07with his dolphins in his hair and a beard made of seaweed
0:16:07 > 0:16:11and various figures around of a seafaring kind.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14But the real party begins beyond.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16This was obviously used for celebration.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19All the way round, figures dancing. There is Pan.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24With his pipes. Wicked Pan.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28And over here, Hercules, you can see him with his club.
0:16:28 > 0:16:33And everywhere there are swirling, dancing men and women really having
0:16:33 > 0:16:40a ball, celebrating and drinking and dancing, and beautifully done, these
0:16:40 > 0:16:46swirling clothes, up on their toes, men with their hands in the air.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49Full of life and vitality and vivacity.
0:16:55 > 0:17:00This is absolutely singing with life.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25The Romans changed the face of England.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38They introduced a way of life imported from Italy.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45Luxurious villas decorated with beautiful mosaics.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53Nothing's left of the walls or the ceiling of the villa,
0:17:53 > 0:17:55but that doesn't matter
0:17:55 > 0:17:58because what really counts here at Bignor are the floors -
0:17:58 > 0:18:03made 1,700 years ago, tiny pieces of stone put together.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06And they are by far the best mosaics in Britain
0:18:06 > 0:18:10and, according to experts, among the most magnificent in the Roman world.
0:18:33 > 0:18:39This scene is of gladiators fighting or practising fighting
0:18:39 > 0:18:41with an umpire or a teacher.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45And they could've seen the real thing at the Roman city of Chichester.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47And if you look here, there's one gladiator
0:18:47 > 0:18:51who has the trident and the dagger,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54and the other with a sword and a shield.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56And the reason it's so fine
0:18:56 > 0:18:59is because the actual pieces of mosaic are tiny.
0:18:59 > 0:19:05They're made either of stone or of clay or of glass.
0:19:05 > 0:19:10And the frieze is supporting this most beautiful Venus.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12Wonderful, subtle colours.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15A lovely piece of work.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26It's interesting that this villa wasn't lived in by Romans.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30It was lived in by British people, British farmers.
0:19:30 > 0:19:31Rich, of course -
0:19:31 > 0:19:35prosperous people aping the habits of the conqueror.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37And they got all the advantages.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39They got central heating.
0:19:39 > 0:19:40They got baths.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42But, I mean, who on earth would live
0:19:42 > 0:19:45in an Italian villa in the British climate?
0:19:45 > 0:19:46Nobody does these days.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50There is one rather interesting concession to the British weather
0:19:50 > 0:19:53and that's this mosaic of winter.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55You can tell it's winter
0:19:55 > 0:19:58because of the leafless branch of the tree there.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02And the figure is wearing - and this is what's curious -
0:20:02 > 0:20:04what's called "birrus Britannicus",
0:20:04 > 0:20:10a special kind of British-made cloak of heavy, oiled wool
0:20:10 > 0:20:13which at this time had become so popular
0:20:13 > 0:20:15it was sold all over the Roman Empire.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18And the Emperor actually put a fixed price on it
0:20:18 > 0:20:20and charged tax on it.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23Well, you wouldn't want to go out in a British winter, would you,
0:20:23 > 0:20:28without a birrus Britannicus on. You'd be very stupid.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55At the start of the 5th century,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58the Roman Empire began to disintegrate.
0:21:02 > 0:21:07Britain found herself undefended, open to attack.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11And attacks came quickly,
0:21:11 > 0:21:13not just by one people,
0:21:13 > 0:21:15but by many.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30"Hwaet!
0:21:30 > 0:21:32"We Gardena in geardagum,
0:21:32 > 0:21:37"peodcyninga, prym gefrunon, hu oa aepelingas ellen fremedon."
0:21:37 > 0:21:39I'm trying to speak Anglo-Saxon.
0:21:39 > 0:21:44It was the language spoken 1,500 years ago here in England
0:21:44 > 0:21:47and it forms the basis of the English we speak today.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49And those lines are taken
0:21:49 > 0:21:52from one of the great Anglo-Saxon poems, Beowulf -
0:21:52 > 0:21:57not a love story, but a story of great warriors and battles,
0:21:57 > 0:22:00the kind of tale you'd tell round a blazing fire
0:22:00 > 0:22:02in the great hall on a dark night.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05Anglo-Saxon tales are often set
0:22:05 > 0:22:08in the sort of frozen wastes of the wintry north,
0:22:08 > 0:22:11because it was from Denmark and Germany
0:22:11 > 0:22:14that these new invaders came.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21The Anglo-Saxons were the next powerful influence on our country
0:22:21 > 0:22:23after the Romans.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25They gave us our language,
0:22:25 > 0:22:29and a kind of stubbornness of attitude, perhaps,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32which still forms part of our national character today.
0:22:55 > 0:22:56In the 6th century,
0:22:56 > 0:23:01the River Deben was the heartland of a powerful Anglo-Saxon king.
0:23:08 > 0:23:13On his death, the fields of Sutton Hoo above the river
0:23:13 > 0:23:17were turned into his royal burial ground.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33This is a beautiful spot,
0:23:33 > 0:23:37this golden heathland under this great East Anglian sky.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40But you need to use a bit of imagination to bring it alive.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43We're up above the River Deben here,
0:23:43 > 0:23:46that highway of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50And it was up here that they dragged a boat from the river,
0:23:50 > 0:23:52laid the king to rest
0:23:52 > 0:23:56surrounded by his household goods and precious jewels,
0:23:56 > 0:23:58everything that he'd need in the afterlife.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07What a great place to bury a king.
0:24:22 > 0:24:27In 1938, work began excavating the burial ground.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31The finds were astonishing.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34- Look at that.- Beautiful, isn't it?
0:24:34 > 0:24:36Extraordinary.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40'Molly Bevan's family owned the land
0:24:40 > 0:24:42'and she was here during the dig.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46'Even at 102, she remembers it well.'
0:24:46 > 0:24:50It was absolutely amazing.
0:24:50 > 0:24:55You couldn't believe it, because it looked so huge.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01There were quite a lot of people, I don't know how many,
0:25:01 > 0:25:03I couldn't tell you now,
0:25:03 > 0:25:07digging or brushing. In fact,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10I saw one fellow with a toothbrush doing something.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17I used to spend most of the day there
0:25:17 > 0:25:22just being amazed to see what they would find next.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33DAVID: It looks rather crumpled there, doesn't it?
0:25:33 > 0:25:34It does, yes.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38Did everything come up rather crumpled and dirty?
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Everything came up with mud all over it.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43So you never saw real gold?
0:25:43 > 0:25:46No, I never saw it until I went to the British Museum.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50- Did they look good? - They looked all right!
0:25:58 > 0:26:01- It's tantalising, seeing it like this.- It is.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04It's a funny business, because this is all happening
0:26:04 > 0:26:07just as we were about to go to war, wasn't it?
0:26:07 > 0:26:13Yes, it was 1939, and war was talked of all the time.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49This is the king's helmet,
0:26:49 > 0:26:55which has become the most powerful symbol of the Anglo-Saxon era.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58It's very, very fine and subtle
0:26:58 > 0:27:04because the nose and the eyebrows are actually a bird.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08The eyebrows are the wings.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12The tail of the bird makes this very neat little moustache,
0:27:12 > 0:27:14and if you look underneath,
0:27:14 > 0:27:16there are two holes, two nostrils,
0:27:16 > 0:27:19so the person wearing it could actually breathe.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21The bird's head is here,
0:27:21 > 0:27:24and he's facing this dragon,
0:27:24 > 0:27:28which makes the crest of the helmet, with these wonderful teeth.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35For my money, though, these are really, really beautiful.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39They're so fine, delicate, intricate.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42This is a shoulder clasp.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45It had a pin that went through the middle.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49So that would be on one side of a cloak, that on the other.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51It would hold the two parts of a cloak together.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55This is made of blue glass
0:27:55 > 0:27:58and garnets that were probably imported
0:27:58 > 0:28:00from Afghanistan or India.
0:28:00 > 0:28:06Not only that, the gold is actually itself cut in a kind of crisscross,
0:28:06 > 0:28:09so you get this pattern showing through the garnets.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14And then there's this. This is a belt buckle.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17Very simple - you can see the buckle-end here
0:28:17 > 0:28:21and an intricate abstract pattern.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23When you look very closely,
0:28:23 > 0:28:26you can see serpents writhing within it.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31Anglo-Saxons were very keen on their animals,
0:28:31 > 0:28:35and, my goodness, there are animals on this.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38Now, this is the top of a purse. It was a leather purse.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41And here there's a figure of a man,
0:28:41 > 0:28:44and he's fending off two wolves.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50All three of them look as if they could've been made 100 years ago.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52They're in such perfect condition.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09BIRDS CHIRP
0:29:24 > 0:29:29In the year 563, Christianity arrived in Britain.
0:29:36 > 0:29:41The new faith, which had briefly flourished under the Romans,
0:29:41 > 0:29:43would transform art.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45Pick it up there on the starboard side.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48OK, keep it together there, folks.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51St Columba, an Irish monk,
0:29:51 > 0:29:55sailed across the Irish Sea with 12 disciples
0:29:55 > 0:29:58in a boat made from animal skins.
0:29:58 > 0:30:00OK, keep it together there, folks.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02We've got a wind against us.
0:30:02 > 0:30:08Today, Captain Ivor and his crew make that trip in homage to Columba.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17How long would it have taken him, that journey across from Ireland?
0:30:17 > 0:30:21Well, it's 100 miles, so, rowing and stopping,
0:30:21 > 0:30:24you would be looking at three or four days, given good weather.
0:30:26 > 0:30:29At the time, was it a very daring passage to make?
0:30:29 > 0:30:32Was there a lot of traffic between Ireland and Scotland?
0:30:32 > 0:30:34There would have been a lot of traffic.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37The sea to a lot of people nowadays would be a forbidding place,
0:30:37 > 0:30:40but in those times, it was a highway.
0:30:42 > 0:30:47It was more dangerous to travel inland because, well, certainly
0:30:47 > 0:30:52in Ireland, the thick wooded areas, and I suppose bandits etc.
0:30:52 > 0:30:54So the highway was the seaway.
0:30:54 > 0:30:58And are you religious people, or do you do it for fun?
0:30:58 > 0:31:00Some of us would be religious people.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04We still do it for fun, even though we're religious!
0:31:10 > 0:31:13St Columba and his monks chose to settle here,
0:31:13 > 0:31:15on the island of Iona.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20Thank you very much indeed. That was wonderful.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23Goodbye.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34St Columba was such a powerful inspiration
0:31:34 > 0:31:37that Christianity spread from here across Scotland
0:31:37 > 0:31:39and into Northern England.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41And wherever it went,
0:31:41 > 0:31:45it's left behind this powerful symbol of the stone cross.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47This one is from the 8th century.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51Now, new religions often build on the old.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55And some say that this circle, which is typical of the Celtic cross,
0:31:55 > 0:31:59actually is sending a message out about the power of the sun,
0:31:59 > 0:32:01an old pagan message.
0:32:03 > 0:32:04Round the front...
0:32:04 > 0:32:08It's very, very faded, this. It's rather difficult to see.
0:32:08 > 0:32:09But then, it is very, very old.
0:32:09 > 0:32:14In the top there, the Virgin and child.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23Below that, what's said to be David playing a harp
0:32:23 > 0:32:26and another figure playing a flute.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29Four more figures that nobody knows what they are.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31And then more decoration down here.
0:32:33 > 0:32:38But what's really moving, striking, about crosses like this
0:32:38 > 0:32:41is that they were a focal point for the new religion.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43They stood often in wild places
0:32:43 > 0:32:46where there were no churches, no monasteries,
0:32:46 > 0:32:50just this cross, standing as a place
0:32:50 > 0:32:53to pray, to worship,
0:32:53 > 0:32:56maybe to have sermons read.
0:32:56 > 0:33:01But wherever they went, they stood as symbols of the new religion.
0:33:20 > 0:33:25As Columba's monks, preaching conversion, headed south,
0:33:25 > 0:33:30St Augustine arrived in England and worked his way north.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41The two missions met in Northumbria,
0:33:41 > 0:33:45which would become a centre of monastic learning
0:33:45 > 0:33:47renowned throughout Europe.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58Nowadays, we think of monasteries as places to retreat from the world.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02But in the 7th century, monasteries were the world.
0:34:02 > 0:34:03They were rich and powerful,
0:34:03 > 0:34:07they had a lot of land, they had political influence.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10They admittedly looked after the poor and were places to pray,
0:34:10 > 0:34:13but they were also centres of knowledge.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16They had libraries, books.
0:34:16 > 0:34:20This one, Wearmouth-Jarrow, was among the most famous.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30It was here that one of Britain's greatest treasures was created -
0:34:30 > 0:34:34the work of many monks over many years,
0:34:34 > 0:34:37an object lost from English history,
0:34:37 > 0:34:39because no sooner was it completed
0:34:39 > 0:34:42than it was sent away from these shores.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52BELLS RING IN DISTANCE
0:35:00 > 0:35:02OPERATIC ARIA PLAYS
0:35:16 > 0:35:19In AD 716,
0:35:19 > 0:35:23the abbot of Wearmouth-Jarrow started on a journey to Italy
0:35:23 > 0:35:24to deliver in person
0:35:24 > 0:35:27a gift to the Pope in Rome.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31But the abbot died en route.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35And today his gift is one of the most precious objects
0:35:35 > 0:35:37in Renaissance Florence.
0:35:45 > 0:35:47THEY SPEAK ITALIAN
0:36:21 > 0:36:25This is the oldest complete Bible in the world.
0:36:25 > 0:36:30And it was made in England by the monks of Wearmouth-Jarrow.
0:36:30 > 0:36:35The cover's new. The thing is huge, almost a foot deep.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38It weighs 75 pounds.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40And if I can open it...
0:36:45 > 0:36:49..this beautiful text in columns,
0:36:49 > 0:36:50one, two...four columns.
0:36:50 > 0:36:52Written on skin.
0:36:52 > 0:36:55500 sheep to make this Bible.
0:36:55 > 0:37:00And here, diagrams showing how the whole Bible is laid out,
0:37:00 > 0:37:01the pattern they've used.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06And then, at the very front,
0:37:06 > 0:37:09this beautiful...
0:37:09 > 0:37:11If I can turn it very delicately...
0:37:11 > 0:37:14This beautiful illuminated painting
0:37:14 > 0:37:18of a scribe sitting in his study,
0:37:18 > 0:37:21writing the Bible...
0:37:23 > 0:37:26..with books behind him, with his inkwell there...
0:37:28 > 0:37:30..with a knife for making corrections.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33And the whole thing is most wonderfully painted.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36The colours are alive still.
0:37:36 > 0:37:37The pink of the books,
0:37:37 > 0:37:42the deep mahogany colour of the library cupboard, the shelves there.
0:37:44 > 0:37:48His robe in a red, with green.
0:37:48 > 0:37:50The gold of the halo.
0:37:50 > 0:37:54All done by craftsmen in Northumberland.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00700 or so pages later,
0:38:00 > 0:38:04you come towards the end of the Old Testament
0:38:04 > 0:38:09and arrive at the New Testament, and, once again...
0:38:11 > 0:38:16..this beautiful page, illuminated, of Christ in majesty,
0:38:16 > 0:38:19with two angels,
0:38:19 > 0:38:26and with the evangelists - Matthew, Mark, with the lion, Luke and John.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32And the whole thing is singing, coming out of the page,
0:38:32 > 0:38:35as though it was freshly done yesterday.
0:38:35 > 0:38:40The lovely turquoise, the darker blue inside, the pattern around.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43The extraordinary thing is that, for centuries,
0:38:43 > 0:38:47they thought this work was done by Italian artists, that it
0:38:47 > 0:38:50was inconceivable it could have been done by English artists.
0:38:50 > 0:38:56But the experts are all now agreed that this is indeed English work.
0:38:56 > 0:39:02This is a fine example of Britain being part of Europe,
0:39:02 > 0:39:04part of the culture of Europe,
0:39:04 > 0:39:061,300 years ago.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46The British Isles was emerging
0:39:46 > 0:39:48as a cultural force in its own right.
0:39:48 > 0:39:54But at the end of the 8th century, it all came under threat.
0:40:01 > 0:40:04Nordic invaders - the Vikings -
0:40:04 > 0:40:09sailed across the North Sea to plunder Britain's riches.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28The Vikings spread out across a terrified land,
0:40:28 > 0:40:31raping, pillaging, burning as they went.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34The monks of Iona all murdered.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38The kings of Northumberland and East Anglia captured
0:40:38 > 0:40:41and their lungs ripped from their living bodies.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44The King of Mercia so terrified he fled.
0:40:44 > 0:40:46Only the kingdom of Wessex,
0:40:46 > 0:40:50which stretched from here in Oxford right down to the West Country,
0:40:50 > 0:40:52was still just about safe.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55At this moment, a new prince came to the throne.
0:40:57 > 0:41:02His name was Alfred of Wessex, Alfred the Great.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13Inside the Ashmolean Museum,
0:41:13 > 0:41:18there's a tiny treasure that reveals Alfred's brilliance as a leader
0:41:18 > 0:41:21and the loyalty he inspired.
0:41:28 > 0:41:33This beautiful object is the Alfred Jewel.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38It's the most exquisite object.
0:41:40 > 0:41:42It's in the shape of a beast at the front here,
0:41:42 > 0:41:46and then this lozenge shape which has got crystal on the top.
0:41:46 > 0:41:53And inside, the figure of a sort of man holding two flowers,
0:41:53 > 0:41:56symbolising sight -
0:41:56 > 0:41:59clarity of vision, if you like.
0:41:59 > 0:42:04And the beast symbolising the dangers that face Britain.
0:42:04 > 0:42:11And round it, the words, "Alfred ordered me to be made."
0:42:11 > 0:42:14Now, what on earth would he have done that for?
0:42:14 > 0:42:17The answer is that these, it's thought,
0:42:17 > 0:42:20were given to people in his kingdom
0:42:20 > 0:42:23as tokens of loyalty,
0:42:23 > 0:42:27of their loyalty to him and his to them,
0:42:27 > 0:42:30to try and restore a kind of balance and order
0:42:30 > 0:42:32against the marauding Vikings.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36As an object, it could've just been a jewel given as a token and kept.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40Some say it could've had a stick coming out of here
0:42:40 > 0:42:42and be used as a pointer for reading books.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47Whatever the use of the jewel, it's clearly a sign
0:42:47 > 0:42:50of considerable political nous on Alfred's part,
0:42:50 > 0:42:54because this was a token of his loyalty to you
0:42:54 > 0:42:58if you were prepared to give loyalty back to him.
0:43:08 > 0:43:13Under Alfred's leadership, the Viking threat was contained.
0:43:17 > 0:43:19But peace could only be preserved
0:43:19 > 0:43:22if people were willing to learn from the past.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28Alfred may have saved his kingdom,
0:43:28 > 0:43:32but he was in despair about the sorry state into which it had fallen.
0:43:32 > 0:43:33He was particularly worried
0:43:33 > 0:43:36that learning had gone into complete decline.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38He said in the old days people used to read Latin,
0:43:38 > 0:43:40they could understand the important books
0:43:40 > 0:43:43that, in his words, it was needful for people to know,
0:43:43 > 0:43:46and he was determined to do something about it.
0:43:46 > 0:43:48And he took radical action.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51We know all this because of this book.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57This is the oldest book in the English language
0:43:57 > 0:44:01and it's a translation by Alfred himself
0:44:01 > 0:44:06of a book written by Pope Gregory called Pastoral Care.
0:44:09 > 0:44:11It's written in Old English
0:44:11 > 0:44:17and, actually, it's incomprehensible, except to the expert.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20I can't read even a word of it.
0:44:22 > 0:44:25It's a sort of tract about leadership.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28It explains how, if you're a leader, you should behave,
0:44:28 > 0:44:32how you should deal with problems, how you shouldn't become arrogant,
0:44:32 > 0:44:34how you should be humble - all those sort of things.
0:44:36 > 0:44:40He was very worried that people in the past had had wisdom
0:44:40 > 0:44:42and somehow it had got lost.
0:44:44 > 0:44:48He starts it, if I can just turn - I have to be very careful here -
0:44:48 > 0:44:50to this front page.
0:44:50 > 0:44:52He starts with this introduction,
0:44:52 > 0:44:57and what he's saying is, "I want this distributed to all the bishops
0:44:57 > 0:45:00"and I want it read to the people.
0:45:00 > 0:45:04"I want people to learn and understand."
0:45:10 > 0:45:12SEAGULLS SQUAWK
0:45:12 > 0:45:15HORN BLOWS
0:45:26 > 0:45:29'Alfred's peace was not to last.
0:45:29 > 0:45:33'England was to be conquered one last time.'
0:45:46 > 0:45:50Normandy was the domain of a powerful duke,
0:45:50 > 0:45:52William the Bastard,
0:45:52 > 0:45:56known to us today as William the Conqueror.
0:46:07 > 0:46:111066 is one of the easier dates to remember in British history -
0:46:11 > 0:46:14William the Conqueror's invasion of England.
0:46:14 > 0:46:16But what kind of man was it
0:46:16 > 0:46:19who undertook such an extraordinary enterprise?
0:46:19 > 0:46:21He wasn't like Alfred the Great -
0:46:21 > 0:46:24he wasn't interested in literature and fine jewellery.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27No, his passion is defined by something quite different.
0:46:27 > 0:46:29By this.
0:46:29 > 0:46:31Stone.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33And not just any old stone,
0:46:33 > 0:46:38but the very special stone that comes from his home town of Caen.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49When the young William became Duke of Normandy,
0:46:49 > 0:46:52he set about rebuilding Caen.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01He built a vast castle.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09And he built churches and abbeys...
0:47:10 > 0:47:15..all with the easy-to-cut, cream-coloured stone of Caen.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30But the most impressive of William's buildings
0:47:30 > 0:47:33is the Abbaye aux Hommes - the Abbey for Men.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44The style of this building is called Romanesque -
0:47:44 > 0:47:47literally, like the architecture of ancient Rome,
0:47:47 > 0:47:52with its great monumental pillars, the arches on the top.
0:47:52 > 0:47:56What William was using it for was to say, "In all its magnificence,
0:47:56 > 0:48:01"it shows I have taken charge of Normandy, built here a great state."
0:48:04 > 0:48:08In the summer of the fateful year of 1066,
0:48:08 > 0:48:13this abbey had been consecrated, an abbot appointed here, freeing
0:48:13 > 0:48:18William to focus on what was to be the boldest enterprise of his reign.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21Perhaps we in England were a little bit distracted
0:48:21 > 0:48:24by attacks from across the North Sea to fully understand
0:48:24 > 0:48:26the meaning of buildings like this.
0:48:26 > 0:48:31If we had, we'd have had some inkling of what was about to hit us.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48This is the Bayeux tapestry.
0:48:48 > 0:48:53It was commissioned to celebrate William's conquest of England.
0:48:53 > 0:48:57And it begins with the events that led up to it.
0:48:57 > 0:49:01The death of Edward the Confessor, King of England,
0:49:01 > 0:49:04and the succession of a new king, Harold.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12It's magical to be taken back 1,000 years
0:49:12 > 0:49:15in this dark chamber,
0:49:15 > 0:49:18to see history spelt out for you.
0:49:18 > 0:49:2370 metres long, right down to the end, right round and the back,
0:49:23 > 0:49:26and the story very vividly told.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30But at the same time, along the friezes, top and bottom,
0:49:30 > 0:49:32wonderfully vivid pictures,
0:49:32 > 0:49:35some of them of Aesop's fables, some of little stories,
0:49:35 > 0:49:38some nobody knows what they are.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41Little details of farming life here -
0:49:41 > 0:49:44ploughing, sowing
0:49:44 > 0:49:46and a man killing birds with a sling.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49It's not strictly speaking a tapestry.
0:49:49 > 0:49:55It's actually needlework, sewn with wool onto linen.
0:50:00 > 0:50:02I suppose the story that we know best
0:50:02 > 0:50:06begins with the death of Edward the Confessor
0:50:06 > 0:50:09and his burial in Westminster Abbey.
0:50:09 > 0:50:14Westminster Abbey here with the hand of God blessing it.
0:50:15 > 0:50:21And here, Harold receiving the crown, with his orb and his sceptre.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23People looking on.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27And then spies come across and explain to William in Normandy
0:50:27 > 0:50:31what's happened in England - that Harold has seized the crown.
0:50:31 > 0:50:34And here he orders ships to be built for an invasion,
0:50:34 > 0:50:37so the first thing, to cut down the trees
0:50:37 > 0:50:39and start building the ships.
0:50:42 > 0:50:47Putting aboard suits of chain mail, needing two men to carry them.
0:50:48 > 0:50:50And spears, arrows.
0:50:51 > 0:50:57And the last stage is to get the horses on board these longships.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00Very tricky, and they don't look particularly happy.
0:51:01 > 0:51:05The boats set sail, they cross over to Pevensey...
0:51:07 > 0:51:09..land safely at Pevensey, go ashore,
0:51:09 > 0:51:11and then the real task begins.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14But first the army has to be fed.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17There's a tureen there being boiled,
0:51:17 > 0:51:20they're sort of chicken kebabs, they look like,
0:51:20 > 0:51:24and here, William feasting with his men.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27And then they're preparing for war.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30They build a castle of wood at Hastings.
0:51:30 > 0:51:34William's followers set light to some of the Anglo-Saxon houses.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38A woman leading her child away from her burning house.
0:51:38 > 0:51:43And then battle commences - quite slowly to start with,
0:51:43 > 0:51:46with the cavalry charging against Harold's forces.
0:51:50 > 0:51:52Heads chopped off, hands chopped off,
0:51:52 > 0:51:55and the battle rages all day long.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07In the confusion of the battle,
0:52:07 > 0:52:09as swords and axes clang against shields,
0:52:09 > 0:52:14a dangerous rumour sweeps William's army that he has been killed.
0:52:14 > 0:52:16So what does he do?
0:52:16 > 0:52:20He turns round in his saddle, lifts his helmet off
0:52:20 > 0:52:24and shows himself to his troops,
0:52:24 > 0:52:26and the battle goes on.
0:52:34 > 0:52:40And then we come to the famous design of Harold with the arrow in his eye.
0:52:42 > 0:52:44Nobody quite knows whether that is what happened.
0:52:44 > 0:52:46And here, slaughtered.
0:52:51 > 0:52:55I've seen this many times. Every time I see it, I have to say,
0:52:55 > 0:53:00it just brings the whole story of William's invasion of England alive.
0:53:00 > 0:53:02You really feel here... Because this was done by people
0:53:02 > 0:53:05living only a few years after the event,
0:53:05 > 0:53:09you really feel the power and the passion that went into it.
0:53:09 > 0:53:14It's a completely magical work of art.
0:53:34 > 0:53:36'It used to be thought that the Bayeux Tapestry was
0:53:36 > 0:53:39'made by craftsmen from Normandy.
0:53:39 > 0:53:42'But it is now generally accepted that it was
0:53:42 > 0:53:48'made by nuns in Canterbury, working on the orders of their new masters.'
0:53:48 > 0:53:50HE SPEAKS FRENCH
0:53:53 > 0:53:55Ah, non!
0:54:26 > 0:54:29Merci. Au revoir, merci.
0:54:43 > 0:54:46William's rule would transform England.
0:54:48 > 0:54:53The customs and habits of Normandy swept away the Anglo-Saxon past.
0:54:55 > 0:54:59French would become the language of power and influence.
0:55:01 > 0:55:04And to stamp his authority from the first,
0:55:04 > 0:55:06William began building,
0:55:06 > 0:55:09just as he had in Normandy.
0:55:24 > 0:55:29The White Tower in London, one of our most famous buildings.
0:55:29 > 0:55:33It's come to symbolise Britain and Britishness,
0:55:33 > 0:55:36but it began life as nothing of the sort.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38This was a symbol of Norman conquest,
0:55:38 > 0:55:42an astonishing building on a scale that hadn't been seen
0:55:42 > 0:55:45since the Roman conquest 1,000 years before.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48The message -
0:55:48 > 0:55:53"Here we are. Here we stay. Resistance is futile."
0:56:16 > 0:56:18This is William's chapel at the heart of the tower.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21It's more like a prison keep than a church.
0:56:23 > 0:56:27But the interesting thing is the stone it's built of,
0:56:27 > 0:56:30which is used right through the tower, this white stone,
0:56:30 > 0:56:36easily carved, good for making these tops to the columns...
0:56:38 > 0:56:43This is William's favourite stone, brought from Caen in Normandy.
0:56:44 > 0:56:46It's not enough just to accept
0:56:46 > 0:56:51Norman nobility, Norman clergy, the French language -
0:56:51 > 0:56:55William was insisting we accepted his buildings too,
0:56:55 > 0:56:59and even the very materials they were made of.
0:57:08 > 0:57:12It's not much fun being conquered, and for Anglo-Saxon England,
0:57:12 > 0:57:14the effect of the Norman conquest was devastating.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17It was the end of life as they knew it. It wasn't just having
0:57:17 > 0:57:20to give up all their land, learn a different language,
0:57:20 > 0:57:21adopt a different style.
0:57:21 > 0:57:25It was that everything that went before was treated as inferior,
0:57:25 > 0:57:28and we know now that that wasn't true.
0:57:28 > 0:57:31We've seen a thousand years of treasures,
0:57:31 > 0:57:33everything from helmets and shields
0:57:33 > 0:57:35to jewels and illuminated manuscripts,
0:57:35 > 0:57:41a time of ingenuity and originality and imagination -
0:57:41 > 0:57:44an era to celebrate.
0:57:54 > 0:57:58In the next age - knights in shining armour.
0:57:59 > 0:58:02Saints and miracles.
0:58:04 > 0:58:07Royal splendour.
0:58:09 > 0:58:11It's the age of worship.
0:58:31 > 0:58:34Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd