0:00:05 > 0:00:08This is the Vickers machine gun,
0:00:08 > 0:00:10arguably one of the most efficient
0:00:10 > 0:00:13and effective machines ever invented.
0:00:13 > 0:00:18It was once subjected to an extraordinary test.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22A team of gunners fired more than five million rounds out of a single
0:00:22 > 0:00:25Vickers gun over the course of a week.
0:00:26 > 0:00:31Soldiers worked in pairs to keep up the rate of fire, with a third man
0:00:31 > 0:00:34shovelling up the piles of spent brass.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38At the end of the test, despite the huge toll on this machine gun,
0:00:38 > 0:00:43it was inspected and found to be fit for service in every respect.
0:00:43 > 0:00:48Quite simply, the Vickers is a marvel of 20th-century engineering.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51It's up there with the aeroplane and the computer,
0:00:51 > 0:00:56and yet it has just one purpose - to maim and to kill.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03From the moment our earliest ancestors began
0:01:03 > 0:01:06to wield primitive tools against one another,
0:01:06 > 0:01:08we've devoted huge ingenuity
0:01:08 > 0:01:11to developing ever-more-powerful weapons.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13To settle scores...
0:01:15 > 0:01:17..enforce our laws...
0:01:17 > 0:01:18defend ourselves...
0:01:18 > 0:01:21and wage war against our enemies.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26In this series, I'm going to trace the evolution of weapons in Britain
0:01:26 > 0:01:28over the past 1,000 years,
0:01:28 > 0:01:32from the Anglo-Saxons to the First World War.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38I'll learn just how this game-changing technology worked -
0:01:38 > 0:01:41the design secrets of our most important weapons.
0:01:43 > 0:01:44Look at that!
0:01:44 > 0:01:47It's absolutely hammered through that, hasn't it?
0:01:47 > 0:01:50But the journey from the sword to the machine gun is not as
0:01:50 > 0:01:52straightforward as you might think.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54What was the range of this?
0:01:54 > 0:01:5650 yards, if you were lucky.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58- And accuracy?- There wasn't any.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04And our weapons reveal much about our politics and society.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07As English people, we take in a hatred of crossbowmen.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10We take it in with our mothers' milk.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13They've decided the fate of nations and rulers.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18I think everybody who was in any position of power was fearful of
0:02:18 > 0:02:21assassination at the beginning of the 20th century.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24But they've also driven advances in science,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27technology and even medicine.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32It's impossible to ignore the bloody toll of weapons -
0:02:32 > 0:02:35the countless millions sent to their graves -
0:02:35 > 0:02:40but weapons also shaped our identity and defined our history.
0:03:03 > 0:03:10It's a cold evening in October 1916, on the front line at the Somme,
0:03:10 > 0:03:14and a young private is preparing to go out on a trench raid.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20These small-scale surprise attacks were a major feature
0:03:20 > 0:03:23of trench warfare during the First World War.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25They usually took place at night,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28with small groups venturing out into No Man's Land
0:03:28 > 0:03:31with the object of seizing papers and plans,
0:03:31 > 0:03:35knocking out a machine gun or even capturing German prisoners.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42But for these raids, which would involve fighting at close quarters,
0:03:42 > 0:03:46the soldiers wouldn't arm themselves with the standard-issue
0:03:46 > 0:03:49Lee Enfield rifle because, with or without a bayonet,
0:03:49 > 0:03:53they were simply too cumbersome for these narrow trenches.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56Instead, they would arm themselves with primitive,
0:03:56 > 0:04:00crude weapons known as trench clubs,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04weapons that seemed to have been recalled from our ancient history,
0:04:04 > 0:04:06as if by instinct.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11We know from testimonies of the Great War
0:04:11 > 0:04:14that these trench clubs saw action.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17One account, by a Private Harold Startin
0:04:17 > 0:04:21of the First Leicestershire Regiment, states that
0:04:21 > 0:04:24the first victim of his trench club was a sergeant
0:04:24 > 0:04:27in a Wurttemberg regiment.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30These are actual trench clubs
0:04:30 > 0:04:34made by regimental armourers behind the front lines.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37This is a trench mace.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40The head slides on and then is held in position
0:04:40 > 0:04:43by the action of wielding it.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49This is a wooden truncheon, embedded with studs from hobnail boots.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54And some trench clubs perhaps reflect the immediacy of war
0:04:54 > 0:04:59more than others, like this, a French fougue mace.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03This has been made by a desperate soldier in some haste.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06It's simply a hollowed-out grenade
0:05:06 > 0:05:09jammed onto the end of a spade handle.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13What these rudimentary combat tools emphasise is that,
0:05:13 > 0:05:17even in the midst of the most mechanised war of its day,
0:05:17 > 0:05:21men still relied on weaponry that was anything but modern.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25They are a stark reminder of how brutal,
0:05:25 > 0:05:29primal and personal hand-to-hand combat has always been.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35And if you think these trench clubs are anachronistic,
0:05:35 > 0:05:36take a look at this.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40This is a German flail,
0:05:40 > 0:05:45used in the latter stages of the First World War.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47It's particularly gruesome.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50The iron ball is incredibly heavy.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53Just one blow from this would have caused horrific injuries.
0:05:54 > 0:05:59It's a weapon that seems to have traversed history itself,
0:05:59 > 0:06:03as if it was lost or discarded on a medieval battlefield,
0:06:03 > 0:06:07only to be picked up again and brandished centuries later.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17But however crude this weaponry may seem to us today,
0:06:17 > 0:06:21its improvised design and effectiveness in close combat
0:06:21 > 0:06:25harked back to a remarkable period in the history of our weaponry,
0:06:25 > 0:06:31a period I'm now going to explore, when clubs, maces and flails
0:06:31 > 0:06:35were just three components of a medieval arms race.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39It was an age, quite literally, of cutting-edge technology.
0:06:40 > 0:06:41By the ninth century,
0:06:41 > 0:06:45weapons were not only helping us to defend ourselves,
0:06:45 > 0:06:49but also they were starting to actually define who we were.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54Our early tribes took their names from their chief weapons -
0:06:54 > 0:06:57the Angles from "angel", meaning a barb or a hook,
0:06:57 > 0:07:00and the Saxons from "seax", their trusty knife.
0:07:05 > 0:07:12In 878AD, the future of Anglo-Saxon England lay in the balance.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17Three of its four kingdoms - East Anglia, Mercia and Northumbria -
0:07:17 > 0:07:20had fallen to a large-scale Viking invasion.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27Only Wessex remained.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29But its ruler, King Alfred,
0:07:29 > 0:07:32had been routed from his winter fortress
0:07:32 > 0:07:36and had taken refuge in the Somerset marshlands.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39By Easter 878, Alfred's call to war
0:07:39 > 0:07:43had been answered by some 5,000 men from the fyrd,
0:07:43 > 0:07:47a militia drawn from commoners across Wessex,
0:07:47 > 0:07:51and he advanced to Ethandun in Wiltshire to face his enemy.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55The Vikings had overrun England with a fearsome arsenal.
0:07:55 > 0:07:56Once drawn to battle,
0:07:56 > 0:08:00they would first engage with volleys of these light spears
0:08:00 > 0:08:04and their sagas record instances of people throwing two at once.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06Then, to further distract the enemy,
0:08:06 > 0:08:08they'd hurl these things, franciscas,
0:08:08 > 0:08:12their throwing axes, before finally charging in,
0:08:12 > 0:08:17brandishing the most feared weapon of all - the great Dane axe.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29And what did the Anglo-Saxons have in response?
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Well, they had their seax, of course,
0:08:31 > 0:08:35but what they relied upon most in the face of a Danish attack
0:08:35 > 0:08:38was this - a shield.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43But their shield was not merely simple defensive armour.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46At its centre was a large metal boss,
0:08:46 > 0:08:49sometimes with a spike protruding,
0:08:49 > 0:08:53enabling the shield to be used as a weapon in its own right.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57And it was fashioned from two layers of linden wood,
0:08:57 > 0:09:00which made it light to carry and less inclined to split
0:09:00 > 0:09:03from the strike of a Viking axe.
0:09:05 > 0:09:10The battle at Ethandun was to last throughout the course of a day,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13with Alfred's select warriors - his thanes -
0:09:13 > 0:09:16withstanding repeated Viking surges,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19according to one contemporary scribe,
0:09:19 > 0:09:24"By forming a dense shield wall against the whole army of the pagans
0:09:24 > 0:09:28"and striving long and bravely".
0:09:28 > 0:09:29Brace!
0:09:38 > 0:09:40You could say that the future of England depended
0:09:40 > 0:09:43on the strength of their shield wall,
0:09:43 > 0:09:47because, once breached, defeat would have been inevitable.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51Everything depended on cohesion, endurance, stamina, discipline...
0:09:53 > 0:09:57..and a sounding horn guided each shield wall above the din of battle.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59DEEP HORN BLAST
0:09:59 > 0:10:01It would have been terrifying, trapped here,
0:10:01 > 0:10:04caught between these opposing forces,
0:10:04 > 0:10:08jabbing at unprotected faces and legs,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11seeking out necks and eyes.
0:10:11 > 0:10:12Gaah!
0:10:15 > 0:10:18The unbroken formation and huge momentum
0:10:18 > 0:10:21generated behind Alfred's shield wall
0:10:21 > 0:10:24rendered it into an overwhelming mass force,
0:10:24 > 0:10:29which drove the Vikings into retreat and ultimately surrender.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35Backed up with the cut and thrust of sharp blades,
0:10:35 > 0:10:39the shield wall demonstrated how defensive armour used en masse
0:10:39 > 0:10:42could be turned into an attacking weapon.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47Alfred may have repelled his pagan enemies and secured the future
0:10:47 > 0:10:51for his Anglecynn or English identity, but, soon,
0:10:51 > 0:10:56the steadfast Anglo-Saxon shield wall would be broken to pieces
0:10:56 > 0:10:58by man and beast combined.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01A new, unstoppable weapon -
0:11:01 > 0:11:02the mounted knight.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10The Anglo-Saxons had never fully developed the art of fighting on
0:11:10 > 0:11:16horseback, unlike the Normans, who, in 1066, under their leader William,
0:11:16 > 0:11:18Duke of Normandy,
0:11:18 > 0:11:21sought to pierce the Anglo-Saxon shield wall
0:11:21 > 0:11:25and challenge the English crown.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28For me, the great tapestry at Bayeux in Normandy,
0:11:28 > 0:11:31famous for its compelling depiction of the run-up
0:11:31 > 0:11:33to the Battle of Hastings,
0:11:33 > 0:11:36more than anything, serves as a roll of honour
0:11:36 > 0:11:39for these mounted warriors.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43The tapestry shows the very fabric of William's invasion force.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47Here, you've got trees being felled to build the hundreds of ships
0:11:47 > 0:11:49he'd need to cross the Channel.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53Then coats of mail being carried on poles,
0:11:53 > 0:11:56bundles of swords being carried on people's shoulders
0:11:56 > 0:11:59and carriages laden with helmets and spears.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04And as well as this enormous arsenal being assembled,
0:12:04 > 0:12:08the Normans' great contribution to medieval warfare
0:12:08 > 0:12:11is also here in abundance - the horse.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15Thousands of them packed tightly into their ships
0:12:15 > 0:12:18and their heads poking up just above the gunnels.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27Having landed his invasion force at Pevensey Bay on the Sussex coast,
0:12:27 > 0:12:32William advanced to face King Harold at Senlac Hill, outside Hastings.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37Harold's army consisted entirely of infantry,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40mainly housecarls, professional soldiers
0:12:40 > 0:12:43trained to handle a two-handed axe, which,
0:12:43 > 0:12:47if swung correctly, could cleave man and his horse in two.
0:12:49 > 0:12:54And here, towards the end of the tapestry, is the key scene -
0:12:54 > 0:12:57the point of impact between the two opposing sides,
0:12:57 > 0:13:02between the shield wall and the mounted, charging knight.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06The very moment in this transition in weaponry and warfare,
0:13:06 > 0:13:10caught for all time in a few strands of wool.
0:13:13 > 0:13:19Just as King Alfred's shield wall had held firm at Ethandun in 878,
0:13:19 > 0:13:24King Harold's now withstood repeated charges by the Norman cavalry,
0:13:24 > 0:13:27before William, curiously, ordered them back.
0:13:29 > 0:13:34Now, it's never been clear if this was a retreat or a ruse,
0:13:34 > 0:13:35but it worked.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38In a moment of over-confidence, the Anglo-Saxons,
0:13:38 > 0:13:43seeing the Normans retreat, broke their line and charged off downhill.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46But the Normans turned on their heel
0:13:46 > 0:13:49and ran the Anglo-Saxons into the ground.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59And then, from out of the sky, came that fabled arrow,
0:13:59 > 0:14:03said to have struck King Harold in the eye.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07Now, a close analysis of the linen shows that that arrow
0:14:07 > 0:14:09is in fact a later addition.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14So whether or not Harold was struck in the eye, we'll never know.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16His death certainly brought an end to the battle.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31This very long yarn remains a vivid record not only of medieval weaponry
0:14:31 > 0:14:36and its central role in the invasion and subsequent conquest of England,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39but also, as you can see from the lower frieze,
0:14:39 > 0:14:43it's a graphic catalogue of the horrific mutilations
0:14:43 > 0:14:46and injuries that these weapons could inflict.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52Many of these grim dismemberments on the field at Hastings were caused by
0:14:52 > 0:14:57a downward cutting blow delivered to the crown of the head -
0:14:57 > 0:14:59the favoured sword stroke of the Norman knight.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06But as William, now king, established control
0:15:06 > 0:15:10over all of England and consolidated the Anglo-Saxon infantry
0:15:10 > 0:15:12with his Norman knights,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15the might and martial skill of these mounted warriors
0:15:15 > 0:15:18started to trouble the Church.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21The Papacy began to consider how
0:15:21 > 0:15:24those who lived and died by the sword could be reconciled
0:15:24 > 0:15:26with the Christian faith.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30In 1095, Pope Urban II issued a call to arms
0:15:30 > 0:15:34to reclaim Jerusalem from Muslim control
0:15:34 > 0:15:38and thousands of warriors set out for the Holy Land
0:15:38 > 0:15:41as Militia Christi - Knights of Christ.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49The Pope's sanction of this first Crusade meant that, now,
0:15:49 > 0:15:51the mounted knight could achieve honour,
0:15:51 > 0:15:55piety and even spiritual merit by his sword.
0:15:55 > 0:16:01And these knights carried with them the very latest in sword technology.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04No longer for them the Saxon pattern-welded sword
0:16:04 > 0:16:07with its heavy, straight blade.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11But this, the arming sword...
0:16:11 > 0:16:17made using properly quenched, hardened and tempered steel.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20It's much longer, about 31 inches,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23but it's lighter because of this fuller, or groove,
0:16:23 > 0:16:26running down the centre of the blade.
0:16:26 > 0:16:32Now, although it's so much bigger, it's also so much easier to wield.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38In addition, the crossguard, or quillon -
0:16:38 > 0:16:39not present on the Saxon sword,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43but developed by the Normans to protect the hand,
0:16:43 > 0:16:48further rendered this weapon into a cruciform symbol,
0:16:48 > 0:16:51another reminder for the knights of their allegiance to God.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00As the sword developed and was modified,
0:17:00 > 0:17:03so too did the means and methods of wielding it.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10So, to try and get to grips with medieval swordsmanship,
0:17:10 > 0:17:12what better than a duel with my tutor-in-arms,
0:17:12 > 0:17:14Rupert Hamerton-Fraser?
0:17:21 > 0:17:25And he'll be teaching me from an original combat manual of the day.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31Rupert, tell me about this manuscript. What exactly is it?
0:17:31 > 0:17:35It's the Walpurgis Fechtbuch and it's the first
0:17:35 > 0:17:38extant example of medieval swordplay that we have in the world.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41Previously, it's all verbal descriptions
0:17:41 > 0:17:43or written descriptions.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45It's the first one where we've actually got pictures
0:17:45 > 0:17:49of the individual moves and how they can be countered.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53This, you can actually see how the sword is held and, from that,
0:17:53 > 0:17:55learn how to fight effectively.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57And the images here, it's not just that they're rare -
0:17:57 > 0:17:59they're also fascinating and very, very important.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03I mean, you clearly have someone who appears to be a monk and someone who
0:18:03 > 0:18:05appears to be really quite feminine.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08She does because she is, and that is because they are keying us into
0:18:08 > 0:18:11something in the cultural DNA of the time.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14The monk is seen as steadfast and upright,
0:18:14 > 0:18:17the woman represents cunning and strategy
0:18:17 > 0:18:22and the way they both use the blade refers back to this concept.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24Who would have actually used this manuscript?
0:18:24 > 0:18:26Who's it aimed at? Is it aimed at young adults,
0:18:26 > 0:18:28people who have suddenly been called up to fight?
0:18:28 > 0:18:30A mixture of both.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34But the depth in which it goes into the swordplay is ideal
0:18:34 > 0:18:37for training page to squire, squire to knight.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39Well, shall we recreate some of those positions
0:18:39 > 0:18:41- from that manuscript?- Yes.
0:18:45 > 0:18:46Rupert, take me through what we've got here.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51Well, we've got a sword, an arming sword, and we've got our bucklers.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53So the grip is vitally important.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56Grip strongly with the thumb and forefinger and very, very
0:18:56 > 0:18:59little pressure with the last two fingers -
0:18:59 > 0:19:01this gives you the wield of the blade.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03- It makes it much more manoeuvrable. - It does.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07- Whereas, if you grip, all you've got is the action of the arm.- Yeah.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10So, if you put the sword and buckler forward like that...
0:19:12 > 0:19:13Brilliant.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17And then I will step forwards and bring the blade under my arm.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19Now, your blade needs to point at me.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22It's threatening.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24I'm ready to go from this guard
0:19:24 > 0:19:28to parry or deflect your blade and then attack.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31I'm actually physically stepping in, pushing your blade away.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33Now, I've got an option here.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35I can either disengage and cut to your head
0:19:35 > 0:19:38or, while I've got your blade busy,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41I can step forwards again and punch you in the face with the buckler.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45And this is where swashbuckling comes from.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48Your buckler hangs on your swash, or sword belt,
0:19:48 > 0:19:50and you have the sword, so it's swash and buckling.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53That's interesting. I don't like either of those options.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56I don't want you to cut me in the head or punch me with the shield.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58Well, this is where the manual will teach you a counter.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01So, if we go back to where we were,
0:20:01 > 0:20:03I've got the blade here.
0:20:03 > 0:20:04I step forwards.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07Now, you know I've got two options,
0:20:07 > 0:20:11so you need to disengage your blade and then, behind your head,
0:20:11 > 0:20:13and stepping forward onto your other foot,
0:20:13 > 0:20:16and then striking forward with the buckler. So I have to retreat.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19- So I can hit you in the face with it.- Yes.- That's much better.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21So, this counterplay, this dance,
0:20:21 > 0:20:25leads you through the positions you see in the manual.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32Instantly, we're in another position from the manual.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34Yeah, we saw that one, didn't we, defending each other?
0:20:34 > 0:20:35And that's completely natural,
0:20:35 > 0:20:38so the weapons lead you to these positions.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46You see how, even after a short period of using the manual, you,
0:20:46 > 0:20:48who've never used these weapons before, albeit slowly,
0:20:48 > 0:20:51- are beginning to be able to use them effectively.- Yeah.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07During the course of the 12th century,
0:21:07 > 0:21:12the sword would be transformed from a versatile, close-combat weapon
0:21:12 > 0:21:14into one of mythic proportion
0:21:14 > 0:21:18and all because of the revival in literature
0:21:18 > 0:21:20of the most legendary sword of all.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45In 1136, a Welsh cleric named Geoffrey of Monmouth,
0:21:45 > 0:21:49whilst travelling through this part of South Wales,
0:21:49 > 0:21:53wrote a chronicle entitled Historia Regum Britanniae -
0:21:53 > 0:21:55The History Of The Kings Of Britain.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Geoffrey's chronicle was a clever weave of historical fact
0:21:59 > 0:22:01and high-blown fantasy,
0:22:01 > 0:22:05and it did a great deal to reignite the legend of King Arthur and
0:22:05 > 0:22:07his Knights of the Round Table,
0:22:07 > 0:22:09a legend encapsulated and thought of today
0:22:09 > 0:22:12for its mythical weapon, Excalibur,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15or Caliburnus, as Geoffrey called it.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19A sword which he tells us was forged on the isle of Avalon
0:22:19 > 0:22:22and would carve the souls from out of them with blood.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28Given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake,
0:22:28 > 0:22:31thus granting him the divine right to rule,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34Excalibur demonstrated just how highly
0:22:34 > 0:22:36the English venerated their swords.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42Other Western cultures had also bestowed their swords with names.
0:22:42 > 0:22:47The Vikings called theirs fotbitr, meaning "the leg-biter".
0:22:47 > 0:22:49Whilst the legendary sword of Charlemagne,
0:22:49 > 0:22:53said to change colour 30 times a day,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56was called Joyeuse, or "joyous".
0:22:56 > 0:23:00But Excalibur seemed to be the weapon personified,
0:23:00 > 0:23:03a sentient sword capable of its own actions,
0:23:03 > 0:23:05even of controlling its owner.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10The scores of medieval knights who read Geoffrey's chronicle
0:23:10 > 0:23:14and turned it into what amounted to a medieval best-seller
0:23:14 > 0:23:17identified strongly with the idea of a medieval knight
0:23:17 > 0:23:20empowered with a sword by divine providence.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24And none more so than William Marshal,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27said to be the greatest knight who ever lived.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37William Marshal was the true Lancelot of his age -
0:23:37 > 0:23:41a master swordsman who, in the words of one eyewitness,
0:23:41 > 0:23:46would hammer his weapon down on enemies like a blacksmith on iron.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51Born in southern England around 1147,
0:23:51 > 0:23:54Marshal was 12 or 13 when he was packed off
0:23:54 > 0:23:57to the Chateau de Tancarville in northern Normandy
0:23:57 > 0:23:59to be schooled in the art of war.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05Over the six years that Marshal spent here at Tancarville,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08he honed his military skills and outshone his rivals
0:24:08 > 0:24:12to become a peerless chevalier, or armed horseman.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15He'd also become a man of great honour,
0:24:15 > 0:24:20a paragon of the knightly code to which all true chevaliers aspired -
0:24:20 > 0:24:22known to us as chivalry.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28But aside from his proficiency with the sword,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30to fight effectively in the saddle,
0:24:30 > 0:24:33Marshal's fortunes would be founded on his ability
0:24:33 > 0:24:38to master a new weapon of engagement - the lance.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41The lance evolved from the spear,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44but unlike Marshal's forebears at the Battle of Hastings,
0:24:44 > 0:24:47who would have held theirs aloft to throw,
0:24:47 > 0:24:49the lance was held under the arm,
0:24:49 > 0:24:51in what was known as the couch position,
0:24:51 > 0:24:54an innovation which transferred all of the energy
0:24:54 > 0:24:57of a galloping, charging horse through the rider
0:24:57 > 0:24:59to his intended victim.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06And the best training for the lance came in mock battles
0:25:06 > 0:25:10on an impressive scale, called tourneys or tournaments,
0:25:10 > 0:25:14a form of extreme sports in which William Marshal
0:25:14 > 0:25:15secured his reputation.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24Knights would assemble in their hundreds
0:25:24 > 0:25:26here on the plains of Normandy,
0:25:26 > 0:25:29at tournaments staged to prove their prowess.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32They would line up in two long lines and then, at the sound of a horn,
0:25:32 > 0:25:34they would charge at each other,
0:25:34 > 0:25:37seeking first to unhorse their opponents with a lance
0:25:37 > 0:25:41before attempting to secure their submission in the ensuing melee.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48Fully armed, William Marshal launched into their ranks
0:25:48 > 0:25:51like a lion amongst oxen.
0:25:51 > 0:25:56Many said, "Who is this savage who so demolishes the men on our side?"
0:25:56 > 0:25:59They put every effort they could into doing Marshal harm
0:25:59 > 0:26:05and capturing him, but they dared not stand there and take his blows.
0:26:07 > 0:26:13The church condemned these medieval war games as detestable revels
0:26:13 > 0:26:16and, fearing that they were a persistent threat to public order,
0:26:16 > 0:26:20Henry II actually banned them in England.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23But here in Normandy, they weren't outlawed,
0:26:23 > 0:26:27providing the knightly class with an essential training for war.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39And we can still get a sense of the impact of a lance
0:26:39 > 0:26:43in a cavalry charge from the later incarnation of the tournament,
0:26:43 > 0:26:44the medieval joust.
0:26:51 > 0:26:52Well, I'm glad I'm not on that horse.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55But these are just for show.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58Imagine what it was like with one of those things bearing down on you.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05After the joust, I catch up with this knight in shining armour,
0:27:05 > 0:27:07Sir Bryn ap Cwrw,
0:27:07 > 0:27:09or Benedict Green, as he's normally known.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13What sort of speed are you hitting each other with on these horses?
0:27:13 > 0:27:16Or if you went back to warfare and you were imagining
0:27:16 > 0:27:18charging at another guy on a horse with a lance?
0:27:18 > 0:27:20A horse will go up to roughly 30mph,
0:27:20 > 0:27:23so in a combined charge where both sides have committed,
0:27:23 > 0:27:27you're looking at up to a 60mph impact.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32The tournament lance is obviously designed to break more easily,
0:27:32 > 0:27:35but the war lances would be a slightly slimmer version
0:27:35 > 0:27:37with a triangulated or diamond cross section head
0:27:37 > 0:27:39designed to penetrate plate steel.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41How effective was this armour?
0:27:41 > 0:27:44Is anything going to get through that at all?
0:27:44 > 0:27:45- Are you safe?- Totally safe.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49I mean, the chronicles suggest that a full lance at 90 degrees
0:27:49 > 0:27:52will go through it, and that arrows may penetrate it
0:27:52 > 0:27:54up to half a centimetre to a centimetre,
0:27:54 > 0:27:57but I'm not directly beneath it.
0:27:57 > 0:27:58There's a good pocket of air that means,
0:27:58 > 0:28:01that even if they do penetrate, they don't reach me.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04The lance evolves as a military term to both describe
0:28:04 > 0:28:07the military formation as well as the weapon,
0:28:07 > 0:28:10but also a knight and his immediate retinue
0:28:10 > 0:28:13that would fight in the early tournaments with William Marshal,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17but later became a core component of all military structures.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24Indeed, Marshal gains most of his fame fighting in his lance formation
0:28:24 > 0:28:27throughout Europe in tournaments for various kings,
0:28:27 > 0:28:28as did many other knights,
0:28:28 > 0:28:31and that is where the term "freelance" originates,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34this idea of knights whose arms and services
0:28:34 > 0:28:37were available to, essentially, the highest bidder.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49As a freelancer, Marshal would serve at the right hand
0:28:49 > 0:28:51of no less than five English kings,
0:28:51 > 0:28:57but his allegiance to one of them began on far from friendly terms.
0:28:57 > 0:29:03In 1189, in the contested realm of Angevin in northern France,
0:29:03 > 0:29:08Marshal's loyalty to Henry II led to a tense stand-off with Henry's
0:29:08 > 0:29:13hostile son and heir, none other than Richard Coeur de Lion -
0:29:13 > 0:29:14Richard the Lionheart.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20These two formidable figures faced up to each other
0:29:20 > 0:29:23outside the castle walls of Le Mans.
0:29:23 > 0:29:28But, in his haste, Richard lacked the necessary weapons for combat.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30The Lionheart did have his sword -
0:29:30 > 0:29:34which he'd named Excalibur - but Marshal, by contrast,
0:29:34 > 0:29:38had sword, shield and, most importantly, lance.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42And when Marshal spurred his horse forward, Richard exclaimed,
0:29:42 > 0:29:45"God's legs, Marshal, don't kill me!
0:29:45 > 0:29:49"That would be a wicked thing, since you find me here unarmed."
0:29:49 > 0:29:52Marshal realised this was no fair fight,
0:29:52 > 0:29:56high on a knight's code of honour, and he shouted back,
0:29:56 > 0:30:01"Indeed, I won't. Let the Devil kill you, I shall not do it."
0:30:01 > 0:30:03And at the last minute, he lowered his lance
0:30:03 > 0:30:06and drove it into Richard's mount.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10A mere flick of the wrist would have changed English history.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17The Lionheart would not forego his lance again in a hurry.
0:30:17 > 0:30:22And, once crowned king, and perhaps swayed by Marshal's prowess,
0:30:22 > 0:30:24Richard lifted the ban on tournaments in England.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30However, the lance and other hand-to-hand combat weapons
0:30:30 > 0:30:35would soon seem outdated in the face of a new form of medieval warfare.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38As castles began to appear in greater numbers
0:30:38 > 0:30:41and with increasingly heavier fortifications,
0:30:41 > 0:30:45so did the scope and scale of warfare change
0:30:45 > 0:30:49to now include castle sieges alongside pitched battles.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55And the methods for breaching castle walls,
0:30:55 > 0:30:59siege engines like the mangonel or the mighty trebuchet,
0:30:59 > 0:31:03would usher in a new age of long-range missile weaponry.
0:31:05 > 0:31:07But the weapon that really came to the fore
0:31:07 > 0:31:12during this new age of siege warfare was a sniper's weapon
0:31:12 > 0:31:16of great velocity and penetrative power - the crossbow.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22This weapon allowed a more detached method of killing.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25With a firing range of up to 300 yards,
0:31:25 > 0:31:28you no longer needed to look your aggressor in the eye.
0:31:30 > 0:31:34The crossbow comprised a bowed, horizontal lathe - or prod -
0:31:34 > 0:31:37mounted at the end of a wooden tiller,
0:31:37 > 0:31:39from which short, thick arrows,
0:31:39 > 0:31:41called bolts or quarrels, were fired.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46And to get a sense of this weapon's deadly effectiveness,
0:31:46 > 0:31:49I've sought out crossbowman Robin Knight,
0:31:49 > 0:31:52busy taking refuge in his castle bolthole.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55Robin, why were crossbows so effective in sieges?
0:31:55 > 0:31:59Because, as you can see, I'm standing in an embrasure.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02In front of me is an arch window, not very big.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04Outside of the embrasure,
0:32:04 > 0:32:08I'll be susceptible to missiles of one form or another
0:32:08 > 0:32:09coming over the top.
0:32:09 > 0:32:11So you can stay hidden with one of these?
0:32:11 > 0:32:16I'm safe, but I've got a whole field of fire out there.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19The attackers have got to scale those earthworks
0:32:19 > 0:32:22and there's me up here, shooting down,
0:32:22 > 0:32:24munching on me chicken leg and killing them.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28And what about the range? Can we easily hit something down there?
0:32:28 > 0:32:30Well, I can hit the grass.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32Let me have a go.
0:32:32 > 0:32:33OK, pin down.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37Drag the string back slowly.
0:32:40 > 0:32:42Bring it up to the firing position.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44- There we go. - I'll put the bolt in.- OK.
0:32:44 > 0:32:46Not that I don't trust you.
0:32:48 > 0:32:50Top half of the embrasure.
0:32:58 > 0:33:00If you had a mirror, you'd be able to see the glint in your eye
0:33:00 > 0:33:01that says you're seven years old.
0:33:03 > 0:33:05It's amazing how something so simple can be so deadly.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09That's terrifying enough. What about this one here?
0:33:09 > 0:33:11That one is a lot more substantial.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14Because of the heavier draw weight,
0:33:14 > 0:33:17you have a more intricate method of spanning it.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20Now, you need to get on your knees for this one.
0:33:20 > 0:33:22Jam the trigger with your hand,
0:33:22 > 0:33:23then wind it up.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26Oh, there it goes. I see it moving up.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29Oh, you can feel the tension of this thing building, can't you?
0:33:29 > 0:33:31Well, at the moment, I'm doing it with two fingers,
0:33:31 > 0:33:34but it's getting harder and harder.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36It must have been difficult using these on the battlefield
0:33:36 > 0:33:38cos they took so long to load.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41That's why you had a little lad with you carrying a pavise,
0:33:41 > 0:33:43which was a huge, great, wooden shield.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46And he would place it in front of the crossbowman
0:33:46 > 0:33:48when he was on his knees, like this, loading it.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50There you can see the nut rolling back.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52- LOUD CLUNK - Hear the trigger go?
0:33:52 > 0:33:54I did, I heard the click.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56And then we take this off.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00- And then you're ready to go? - And you're ready to shoot.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04Bring it up. Bolt's in, keep your thumb down.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06- OK.- Please.
0:34:06 > 0:34:08- I need my thumbs.- You do.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12Wow!
0:34:16 > 0:34:18That went miles, that one.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22So, although it does take longer to load, it is immensely more powerful,
0:34:22 > 0:34:23- isn't it?- It's worth the effort.
0:34:25 > 0:34:27However, during the 12th century,
0:34:27 > 0:34:32the crossbow was increasingly seen as a highly divisive weapon -
0:34:32 > 0:34:34a diabolical one, even,
0:34:34 > 0:34:38when it was deemed an instrument of the Devil by the Pope,
0:34:38 > 0:34:42who sought to ban its use against Christians.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45Well, you can clearly see how effective the crossbow was,
0:34:45 > 0:34:48so why was it such a controversial weapon back then?
0:34:48 > 0:34:52It was acceptable to batter somebody to death with a sword,
0:34:52 > 0:34:55but to kill a man with a crossbow? Not acceptable at all.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57Was it sort of seen as cheating or something?
0:34:57 > 0:35:01- What was wrong with it?- I suppose it was seen as cheating, yeah.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05Because, if I'm fighting you with a sword, we're four foot apart,
0:35:05 > 0:35:07we're hacking hell out of each other,
0:35:07 > 0:35:10and then some farmer's boy from wherever
0:35:10 > 0:35:13shoots you or me from 100 yards away?
0:35:13 > 0:35:17No, that's not chivalry.
0:35:17 > 0:35:22As English people, we take in a hatred of crossbowmen or crossbows,
0:35:22 > 0:35:24we take it in with our mothers' milk.
0:35:24 > 0:35:26We take it in with our porridge at breakfast.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29It's morally reprehensible.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39Untroubled by such moral concerns, and ignoring the papal ban,
0:35:39 > 0:35:43Richard the Lionheart employed large numbers of mercenary crossbowmen,
0:35:43 > 0:35:49principally, the Balestrieri from Genoa, famed for their expertise.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51And after returning from the third Crusade,
0:35:51 > 0:35:55Richard set his sights on another traditional enemy.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58To recover lost lands and seize new castles,
0:35:58 > 0:36:02he waged war on Philip II of France.
0:36:02 > 0:36:07In March 1199, Richard was three days into the siege of Chalus,
0:36:07 > 0:36:11a diminutive and apparently insignificant castle in Limousin,
0:36:11 > 0:36:14and it was on the point of collapse.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17It's garrison had been heavily depleted by Richard's crossbowmen
0:36:17 > 0:36:21and only one defender was visible on its walls,
0:36:21 > 0:36:24a young man named Peter Basilius.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28After supper one evening,
0:36:28 > 0:36:32the King strode out from his tent to inspect the progress of the siege.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36Richard was unarmoured and, more than anything,
0:36:36 > 0:36:39was amused by this lone defender with the crossbow,
0:36:39 > 0:36:42who had been seen using a saucepan as a shield.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45But in the dying light, Peter Basilius took aim,
0:36:45 > 0:36:50loosed a bolt towards the King, which, against all expectations,
0:36:50 > 0:36:54found its mark and struck Richard in the left shoulder.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02Richard tried to pull it out, but the shaft broke,
0:37:02 > 0:37:05leaving the head embedded in his flesh.
0:37:05 > 0:37:07A surgeon was summoned, who removed it,
0:37:07 > 0:37:12but not without carelessly mangling the King's arm in the process.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14In spite of herbs and dressing,
0:37:14 > 0:37:18the wound deteriorated and gangrene set in.
0:37:19 > 0:37:21When the castle fell, the lone crossbowman
0:37:21 > 0:37:25was brought before the King, now on his deathbed.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29But instead of ordering him to be killed, Richard said to him,
0:37:29 > 0:37:34"Live on and, by my bounty, behold the light of day."
0:37:34 > 0:37:37The greatest warrior-king of the Middle Ages,
0:37:37 > 0:37:39the valiant Richard the Lionheart,
0:37:39 > 0:37:43had been killed by the very weapon that he had championed.
0:37:45 > 0:37:49Richard's untimely death demonstrated why crossbows
0:37:49 > 0:37:51were so feared and revered.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54It took only one bolt to kill a king.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00And as for the pardoned crossbowman, well, chivalry only went so far,
0:38:00 > 0:38:02for as soon as Richard was dead,
0:38:02 > 0:38:08Peter Basilius was flayed alive and pulled apart by wild horses.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24Richard's successor, his brother, King John,
0:38:24 > 0:38:28spent most of his reign battling against his barons.
0:38:28 > 0:38:30And, like his brother before him,
0:38:30 > 0:38:34John too relied on foreign mercenary units of crossbowmen.
0:38:36 > 0:38:42In 1215, the rebel barons presented King John with "the great charter",
0:38:42 > 0:38:44the Magna Carta, to protect their rights
0:38:44 > 0:38:47and to hold the king to account.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49And within it, they called for the expulsion
0:38:49 > 0:38:54of all mercenary captains and their crossbowmen from the country
0:38:54 > 0:38:58in an attempt to deprive the King of his most reliable fighting force.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01King John signed the charter,
0:39:01 > 0:39:04but completely ignored the calls for the ban of crossbowmen.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08And the following year, after his death, his son, Henry III,
0:39:08 > 0:39:13not only continued to garrison his castles with large numbers of them,
0:39:13 > 0:39:16but he also set in motion the greatest period
0:39:16 > 0:39:20of weapons manufacture yet witnessed in England.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29Two munitions factories were set up -
0:39:29 > 0:39:33one inside the Tower of London and the other tucked away here
0:39:33 > 0:39:35at St Briavels in the Forest of Dean
0:39:35 > 0:39:39because of the large local deposits of iron ore,
0:39:39 > 0:39:42which could be smelted and forged into crossbow bolts,
0:39:42 > 0:39:44or quarrels, as they were technically known.
0:39:46 > 0:39:50In 1228, King Henry's chief quarrel maker, John Malemort,
0:39:50 > 0:39:53was sent here to begin work at a state-of-the-art forge
0:39:53 > 0:39:55within the bailey.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58"The King wills that quarrels shall be made with all speed
0:39:58 > 0:40:01"and kept here for his own use,"
0:40:01 > 0:40:04were his orders and Malemort set about making no fewer
0:40:04 > 0:40:06than 100 quarrels a day.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12Malemort's enormous stockpile of quarrels
0:40:12 > 0:40:16was then carefully packed into barrels and sent in long carts
0:40:16 > 0:40:20under armed guard to other strategically placed castles
0:40:20 > 0:40:21throughout the kingdom.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28This was weaponry on an industrial scale
0:40:28 > 0:40:32and such was its military value that the King's Great Arsenal,
0:40:32 > 0:40:35as St Briavels came to be known, was heavily fortified.
0:40:35 > 0:40:40It was given a new defensive ditch, three iron portcullises
0:40:40 > 0:40:43and this massive two-towered gatehouse behind me,
0:40:43 > 0:40:47built with huge spurs to prevent undermining in a siege.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57The forge at St Briavels may have long gone,
0:40:57 > 0:41:00but John Malemort's skill has been kept alive
0:41:00 > 0:41:04by master arrowsmiths like Hector Cole, who's giving me a glimpse
0:41:04 > 0:41:07of how this medieval munitions factory would have operated.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13That forge is roaring like a dragon.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23Is this very similar to the process
0:41:23 > 0:41:26- they would have used in the medieval period?- Oh, yes.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28Nothing has changed.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31The metal they would have been using would have been,
0:41:31 > 0:41:33more than likely, what we call phosphoric iron,
0:41:33 > 0:41:36which gives a little bit of extra hardness to the head
0:41:36 > 0:41:38when it's finished.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43St Briavels, obviously,
0:41:43 > 0:41:45was a specialist forge for making quarrels,
0:41:45 > 0:41:49so there would have been arrowsmiths working there full-time
0:41:49 > 0:41:52and there would have been a lot of them, at least 50 people.
0:41:55 > 0:41:57How many do you think they'd be able to make in a day?
0:41:57 > 0:42:00On the average, for a quarrelhead,
0:42:00 > 0:42:03you're talking about six minutes,
0:42:03 > 0:42:06if you're really going at it hammer and tongs, if you like.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13If they're working 12 hours a day, which they would,
0:42:13 > 0:42:14they were making thousands.
0:42:20 > 0:42:21That's amazing.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24One minute it was a big lump of solid iron and now it's...
0:42:24 > 0:42:28- Now it's quite delicate, isn't it? - Really, very much so.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32When your metal goes in the fire, your mind goes in with it,
0:42:32 > 0:42:35otherwise you're in serious trouble.
0:42:37 > 0:42:39- So, you're my hammer man. - Yes, I have my hammer.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42And you're going to just do a little bit of tidying.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44Let's give it a go.
0:42:46 > 0:42:47Now, you're going to heat it up
0:42:47 > 0:42:51- and you're going to hammer it on the far edge of the anvil again.- Yep.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56Every hammer blow that you make is important
0:42:56 > 0:43:00because it will alter the shape of the head when it's finished.
0:43:00 > 0:43:04The diamond shape will penetrate far better than the square shape
0:43:04 > 0:43:07when it hits armour or anything like that.
0:43:07 > 0:43:08Chainmail, will it go through chainmail?
0:43:08 > 0:43:10It would burst chainmail, yes.
0:43:14 > 0:43:16One reasonable quarrelhead.
0:43:16 > 0:43:17It's better than reasonable!
0:43:23 > 0:43:26There we go - a quarrel.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30A steaming, deadly weapon.
0:43:35 > 0:43:37John Malemort continued to supply the Crown
0:43:37 > 0:43:40with huge quantities of ammunition.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45In March 1277, the new king, Edward I,
0:43:45 > 0:43:49ordered 200,000 quarrels from St Briavels
0:43:49 > 0:43:52to equip crossbowmen for his first campaign
0:43:52 > 0:43:57against the rebellious Prince of Wales, Llewelyn ap Gruffudd,
0:43:57 > 0:44:00who had repeatedly refused to pay homage to him.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06Edward I would overrun the Welsh and contain them with the
0:44:06 > 0:44:10most powerful set of castles yet built in medieval Europe,
0:44:10 > 0:44:12and yet it was in his campaigns against them
0:44:12 > 0:44:15that he would witness the effectiveness
0:44:15 > 0:44:17of the Welsh guerrilla fighters,
0:44:17 > 0:44:20particularly the bowmen of Gwent in South Wales.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24These archers were long known for their proficiency
0:44:24 > 0:44:26with the heavy-draw-weight longbow,
0:44:26 > 0:44:29much lighter to wield than the crossbow
0:44:29 > 0:44:31and much quicker to reload, too.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34On average, an archer could get off five arrows
0:44:34 > 0:44:37for every single crossbow bolt.
0:44:37 > 0:44:41The bow had long been used by hunters and foresters,
0:44:41 > 0:44:45but, like the sword, it now began to be seen as a mythic weapon
0:44:45 > 0:44:50through stories that abounded about the elusive outlaw Robin Hood.
0:44:51 > 0:44:53Whatever their truth,
0:44:53 > 0:44:57these stories fuelled the rising status of the archer.
0:44:57 > 0:44:59King Edward immediately saw how the longbow,
0:44:59 > 0:45:01particularly that with a heavy draw weight,
0:45:01 > 0:45:04which enabled a far greater range,
0:45:04 > 0:45:08could be used to create a lethal infantry missile weapon.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11But his great innovation was to deploy not hundreds,
0:45:11 > 0:45:16but thousands of these archers alongside his men-at-arms.
0:45:16 > 0:45:21Archers had never been deployed in this way before by an English king.
0:45:24 > 0:45:29One archer who seems to have stepped straight out of the medieval forest
0:45:29 > 0:45:30is Mark Stretton.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33He's among the very few people today capable of handling
0:45:33 > 0:45:35a heavy-draw-weight longbow.
0:45:42 > 0:45:46Mark, bows and arrows have been around for thousands of years.
0:45:46 > 0:45:47Why was it in this period
0:45:47 > 0:45:50that everything suddenly changed in relation to the bow?
0:45:50 > 0:45:54Largely because, with this type of weapon,
0:45:54 > 0:45:55you can shoot at close range
0:45:55 > 0:45:59and you can shoot at long range very quickly.
0:45:59 > 0:46:01If you take it into modern warfare terms,
0:46:01 > 0:46:03you've got a sniper and you've got artillery.
0:46:03 > 0:46:05So you could change very quickly
0:46:05 > 0:46:08from having to shoot a knight advancing to you very close,
0:46:08 > 0:46:11and you've got no choice but to shoot the man,
0:46:11 > 0:46:14or you could shoot at long distance and almost, in a way,
0:46:14 > 0:46:18change the way that the knights rode, so almost like a sheepdog,
0:46:18 > 0:46:21you could hedge them in and bring them over to one side.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23Just by shooting a volley of arrows,
0:46:23 > 0:46:26you could change the whole course of the battle.
0:46:26 > 0:46:28It's such a beautiful object as well as a weapon of war.
0:46:28 > 0:46:30How are they made?
0:46:30 > 0:46:33Well, this bow is made out of yew wood
0:46:33 > 0:46:36and the reason this is so good is this is a natural lamination
0:46:36 > 0:46:40of wood, because the sap wood resists tension very, very well
0:46:40 > 0:46:42and the heart wood resists compression
0:46:42 > 0:46:46and that is the beauty of why yew was used, because it has a very,
0:46:46 > 0:46:49very good resistance to being pulled back. And when you let it go,
0:46:49 > 0:46:53it springs back so quickly that that is where the real power is.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55And so, the faster the string returns,
0:46:55 > 0:46:56the faster the arrow flies.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01You have quite a glint in your eye when you talk about bows.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03- Can you train me to do it? - We can have a go,
0:47:03 > 0:47:07but whether we'll be successful or not's another story!
0:47:11 > 0:47:13Well, this is an actual war bow.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16This is 140lbs at 32 inches.
0:47:16 > 0:47:18- That's 10st you're trying to drag back.- Right.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22- Put your hand up to that mark there. - Yeah.- Three fingers on the string,
0:47:22 > 0:47:23and let's see what you can do.
0:47:23 > 0:47:25And just simply pull it back towards my chin?
0:47:25 > 0:47:27Yeah, see how far you can pull it.
0:47:27 > 0:47:28Ooft!
0:47:28 > 0:47:30- I can get it back that far. - Well, perhaps we ought to try
0:47:30 > 0:47:32something a little lighter, do you think?
0:47:32 > 0:47:35OK, let's try something a little lighter.
0:47:35 > 0:47:37Oh, we've got this one, which is half its weight.
0:47:37 > 0:47:40This is 70lbs. Let's see what you can do with that.
0:47:40 > 0:47:42Let's hopefully be able to do something with this one.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45Oh, yeah, that's better, that's better.
0:47:45 > 0:47:46There we go. I can do that one.
0:47:46 > 0:47:47I think we'll try now with an arrow
0:47:47 > 0:47:50and we'll try and shoot at the target.
0:47:50 > 0:47:51OK, let's see what you can do.
0:47:54 > 0:47:56Boom!
0:47:56 > 0:47:57That's very good, actually.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59Shall we see how it compares with a real war bow?
0:47:59 > 0:48:00Yes, I can't wait.
0:48:10 > 0:48:11Wahey!
0:48:11 > 0:48:13- Let's go and have a look.- Yeah.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18We've actually gone through both sides with this one.
0:48:18 > 0:48:19Look at that!
0:48:20 > 0:48:22And that must have taken an enormous amount more energy
0:48:22 > 0:48:25- to have done that.- You can see how the mail is gripping the shaft.
0:48:25 > 0:48:27You've still gone through that far.
0:48:28 > 0:48:30But the real thing with the heavy war arrows,
0:48:30 > 0:48:33it's gone through two thicknesses and through the target that we were
0:48:33 > 0:48:36shooting at, which is quite a dense piece of material.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39So, if I now pull this one out,
0:48:39 > 0:48:41we've gone that far instead.
0:48:41 > 0:48:42Yeah, rather than that.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47So, it really is an extraordinary weapon, that, isn't it?
0:48:47 > 0:48:50Yeah, but, of course, you've got to understand, this is at close range.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53What we really want to see is what it's like when we shoot at long
0:48:53 > 0:48:56distance because that's when this weapon really comes into its own.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05With a lighter bow, you can probably do it with your arms,
0:49:05 > 0:49:07but with something like this, a true war bow,
0:49:07 > 0:49:09you've got to use your entire body.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12For something like this, which is so heavy,
0:49:12 > 0:49:15if you've not got a very strong skeletal frame,
0:49:15 > 0:49:18you could actually destroy yourself with the forces acting upon you.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33Right, so you've seen how far my arrow has gone
0:49:33 > 0:49:36and it's gone a good 220 yards, we're way up that bank there.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39And, of course, if you relate this to a battlefield situation,
0:49:39 > 0:49:41you're engaging the enemy at a greater distance
0:49:41 > 0:49:43and that gives you a huge advantage.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46Yeah, and seeing just one arrow fly into the sky was an awesome sight.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49It must have been extraordinary seeing hundreds, thousands of them.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52Oh, yeah. If you get thousands of archers all losing one arrow
0:49:52 > 0:49:55at once, you really would get a storm of arrows.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57The sky would be full of arrows and then they'd come raining in.
0:49:57 > 0:50:01It would really be like a rain of death hitting the knights
0:50:01 > 0:50:03and there's just no way you're going to get away from that,
0:50:03 > 0:50:05so that is why this was such a decisive weapon.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16The arrow storm unleashed by longbowmen may have helped Edward I
0:50:16 > 0:50:17to conquer the Welsh,
0:50:17 > 0:50:20but this weapon would really come to the fore during
0:50:20 > 0:50:25the wars of Scottish independence, around the turn of the 14th century.
0:50:31 > 0:50:34At the Battle of Falkirk in 1298,
0:50:34 > 0:50:37Edward's longbowmen picked off with relative ease
0:50:37 > 0:50:41the once-invincible formations of Scottish spearmen,
0:50:41 > 0:50:42called schiltrons.
0:50:43 > 0:50:48The Scots' leader, William Wallace, managed to escape the arrow storm,
0:50:48 > 0:50:51but was later captured and executed in London for treason.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55Hanged, drawn and quartered,
0:50:55 > 0:51:00his head was placed on London Bridge and his limbs sent north to Perth,
0:51:00 > 0:51:03Stirling, Newcastle and Berwick-upon-Tweed.
0:51:05 > 0:51:09It was here, on the old bridge over the River Tweed,
0:51:09 > 0:51:12that Edward I ordered one of Wallace's quarters,
0:51:12 > 0:51:14said to be his sword arm,
0:51:14 > 0:51:19to be strung up as a warning against further rebellion, but to no avail.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22For the next quarter of a century, Berwick,
0:51:22 > 0:51:24the most economically and strategically significant port
0:51:24 > 0:51:27in the Border wars, was fiercely contested
0:51:27 > 0:51:30in a series of raids and sieges,
0:51:30 > 0:51:33until it was eventually reclaimed by the Scots.
0:51:33 > 0:51:35But then, in 1333,
0:51:35 > 0:51:40it became the crucible for a decisive confrontation -
0:51:40 > 0:51:43one in which the longbow would come of age.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50In May of that year, the new King, Edward III,
0:51:50 > 0:51:51came to lay siege to Berwick
0:51:51 > 0:51:54and positioned himself just north of the town,
0:51:54 > 0:51:57on a 600ft rise called Halidon Hill.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02Here, I'm meeting Professor Matthew Strickland
0:52:02 > 0:52:06to find out how this became the real testing ground for the longbow.
0:52:08 > 0:52:12So, we've got Edward III up here, the Scots coming from the north.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15Edward knows they're going to come from the north,
0:52:15 > 0:52:17so they're really playing into his hands already.
0:52:17 > 0:52:18It's a trap. He sets a trap.
0:52:18 > 0:52:23Edward chose Halidon Hill because it dominated the approaches to Berwick.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26He drew up his army in three divisions,
0:52:26 > 0:52:28or battles, as they were known.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31Now, the key thing about Halidon, and what makes it such an important
0:52:31 > 0:52:33battle in the history of the longbow,
0:52:33 > 0:52:36is that he dismounted his knights to fight on foot,
0:52:36 > 0:52:40and each of his divisions was flanked by a wing of archers,
0:52:40 > 0:52:44sloping inwards, so that the incoming Scots were caught
0:52:44 > 0:52:46by enfilading shot from the longbowmen.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51- And was this new formation effective?- It was highly effective,
0:52:51 > 0:52:53particularly because of the use of the terrain
0:52:53 > 0:52:57because what happened was the Scots advanced down the slope.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00As they came down the slope, they realised that the bottom
0:53:00 > 0:53:03of the valley was marshy and boggy, so that broke up their progress.
0:53:03 > 0:53:07They then had to struggle up the hill behind us, towards the English
0:53:07 > 0:53:10positions, and this was something that Edward III was very good at.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13He'd choose the ground so that the approach looked easier
0:53:13 > 0:53:15than it actually was.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19As they're struggling up the slope, they're being pounded with arrows.
0:53:20 > 0:53:23Imagine these coming down in their thousands.
0:53:23 > 0:53:26One chronicler says, "As the Scots were advancing,
0:53:26 > 0:53:30"they turned their faces away as if walking into a storm of sleet,
0:53:30 > 0:53:32"so dense were the arrows striking them."
0:53:37 > 0:53:41By the time those who do reach the English men-at-arms get there,
0:53:41 > 0:53:43they're winded, they're tired, they're probably wounded
0:53:43 > 0:53:47and they're easily defeated by the English knights and men-at-arms.
0:53:47 > 0:53:49So how did this battle influence
0:53:49 > 0:53:51the bigger story of medieval warfare?
0:53:51 > 0:53:54The longbow was a weapon that had existed for many centuries.
0:53:54 > 0:53:56The weapon itself isn't new.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59What Halidon sees is the use, en masse,
0:53:59 > 0:54:01of this new tactical formation,
0:54:01 > 0:54:05which sees dismounted knights flanked by wings of archers,
0:54:05 > 0:54:08and the Scots are drawn in and destroyed.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11And it's this tactic that the English will use again and again
0:54:11 > 0:54:12in the Hundred Years' War.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18Edward III may have won his spurs at Halidon Hill,
0:54:18 > 0:54:22but he soon faced a new threat from King Philip VI of France.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26Keen to test his winning longbow tactics,
0:54:26 > 0:54:30Edward set sail for Normandy in July 1346
0:54:30 > 0:54:33with an army of over 10,000 men.
0:54:34 > 0:54:38Edward marched north, burning and pillaging everything in sight.
0:54:38 > 0:54:42He sought to engineer an encounter on his terms
0:54:42 > 0:54:44and on the terrain of his choosing.
0:54:44 > 0:54:48And here, at Crecy in the Somme, he found it.
0:54:53 > 0:54:54Taking command from a windmill,
0:54:54 > 0:54:58exactly here, where this watchtower now stands,
0:54:58 > 0:55:01Edward drew up his forces on this ridge behind me,
0:55:01 > 0:55:04hemmed in between the villages of Crecy and Wadicourt,
0:55:04 > 0:55:08with the intention of luring his enemy into a killing zone
0:55:08 > 0:55:09in the basin below.
0:55:11 > 0:55:15This would be the ultimate contest of rival weaponry,
0:55:15 > 0:55:19pitting longbow against crossbow, archer against archer.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23And so desperate was King Philip for victory
0:55:23 > 0:55:27that he ordered his 2,000 Genoese crossbowmen forward immediately,
0:55:27 > 0:55:30even though they were exhausted from a long march
0:55:30 > 0:55:33and without their defensive pavise shields,
0:55:33 > 0:55:36which had been left behind in the baggage train.
0:55:36 > 0:55:39Regardless, the Genoese crossbowmen loosed their bolts,
0:55:39 > 0:55:41but they fell inexplicably short.
0:55:43 > 0:55:47Now, it's always been a matter of conjecture why this happened.
0:55:47 > 0:55:48Some blame the wet weather,
0:55:48 > 0:55:50but the Genoese were professional crossbowmen
0:55:50 > 0:55:53and they would have kept their bowstrings waxed.
0:55:53 > 0:55:58Others say they were dazzled, firing into the sun, and simply misfired.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02But, for me, these explanations are all too simple.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05The fact is that Philip pushed them into a battle
0:56:05 > 0:56:07for which they were ill-prepared.
0:56:13 > 0:56:17Those men unskewered by the subsequent English arrow storm
0:56:17 > 0:56:20threw down their crossbows and fled,
0:56:20 > 0:56:22only to be trampled to death under the hooves
0:56:22 > 0:56:25of the advancing French cavalry.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38But the relentless rain of arrows was not the only cause of panic
0:56:38 > 0:56:41and confusion on this battlefield that day.
0:56:41 > 0:56:45One Italian witness wrote of the fearful effect
0:56:45 > 0:56:51of the fire that throws tiny balls to frighten and destroy horses.
0:56:51 > 0:56:55This was Edward's secret weapon that he had brought to France,
0:56:55 > 0:56:58concealed in carts - cannon -
0:56:58 > 0:57:02and this was their first appearance in pitched battle.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09Having mastered the deployment of the longbow,
0:57:09 > 0:57:13and with it transformed England into a formidable military power,
0:57:13 > 0:57:17Edward now sought to embrace new weapons technology
0:57:17 > 0:57:19in the form of gunpowder.
0:57:20 > 0:57:23The cannon may have been in its infancy at Crecy,
0:57:23 > 0:57:27but its psychological effect on the battle was profound.
0:57:30 > 0:57:33At Crecy, over the hiss of the English arrow storm
0:57:33 > 0:57:38had been heard the thunder of guns - a resounding new weapon of war.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44Edward's cannon gave birth to a new age of warfare,
0:57:44 > 0:57:47one in which the skill of a swordsman
0:57:47 > 0:57:49and the brute strength of an archer
0:57:49 > 0:57:53gave way to the simple lighting of a fuse or the pull of a trigger,
0:57:53 > 0:57:58and the whole business of killing became easier than ever before.
0:58:01 > 0:58:04Next time, I'll find out how a new range of weaponry,
0:58:04 > 0:58:06from cannons to muskets,
0:58:06 > 0:58:10was devised to exploit the explosive force of gunpowder.
0:58:10 > 0:58:14I'll explore the role it played at key moments in British history -
0:58:14 > 0:58:17the Gunpowder Plot and the English Civil War -
0:58:17 > 0:58:19and I'll tell the little-known story
0:58:19 > 0:58:23of the first-ever political assassination by firearm.