0:00:04 > 0:00:08In the 13th century, an age of magic and witchcraft,
0:00:08 > 0:00:13whispers of a Chinese creation of extraordinary, fiery power
0:00:13 > 0:00:17reached an English scientist and monk, Roger Bacon.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21Bacon was a visionary.
0:00:21 > 0:00:26When he heard of this miraculous Chinese recipe for explosions,
0:00:26 > 0:00:30he simply couldn't help himself and he began to experiment.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36Early tests with the recipe produced little more than fireworks.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38But, in his Oxford laboratory,
0:00:38 > 0:00:42Bacon quickly grasped the horrific potential.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46And, realising the danger of the ideas in his experiments,
0:00:46 > 0:00:50he recorded them all in heavily disguised code.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53Others, though, were not so cautious.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56The recipe for explosions spread throughout Europe.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59The genie was out of the bottle.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03It would unlock the genetic secrets to an entirely new breed of weapon,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06beyond the wildest imaginings of medieval England.
0:01:06 > 0:01:12A potent mixture of charcoal, sulphur and saltpetre - gunpowder.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16HUGE EXPLOSION
0:01:18 > 0:01:21In this episode, I'll explore the explosive impact
0:01:21 > 0:01:25this devastating substance has had on our history.
0:01:26 > 0:01:27CANNON FIRES
0:01:27 > 0:01:31I'll find out how siege-breaking cannons harnessed the power of gunpowder.
0:01:34 > 0:01:35GUN FIRES IN SLOW MOTION
0:01:35 > 0:01:39I'll trace the impact of gunpowder weapons on the medieval battlefield.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43It's absolutely hammered through that.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47I'll tell the little-known story of the first-ever political
0:01:47 > 0:01:51assassination by firearm, and the truth behind one of the most
0:01:51 > 0:01:54notorious assassination attempts in British history.
0:01:54 > 0:01:55GUNS FIRE
0:01:55 > 0:01:58I'll examine the gunpowder weapons used to fight the bloody
0:01:58 > 0:02:04English Civil War - a conflict which saw the musket take centre stage.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06- Accuracy?- There wasn't any.
0:02:06 > 0:02:07PRESENTER LAUGHS
0:02:07 > 0:02:08SLOW MOTION FIRING
0:02:08 > 0:02:12And I'll tell the tale of one of the largest gunpowder bombs
0:02:12 > 0:02:14ever used against civilians.
0:02:15 > 0:02:1820,000 lbs of explosives packed on to a ship
0:02:18 > 0:02:21by an English naval commander.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24SLOW MOTION GUNFIRE
0:02:24 > 0:02:27At the root of all of these weapons of assassination,
0:02:27 > 0:02:32bloodshed and terror, from the siege cannon to the sniper's bullet,
0:02:32 > 0:02:36has been one substance that has changed the course of history.
0:02:36 > 0:02:37Gunpowder.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39LOUD EXPLOSIONS
0:02:59 > 0:03:01From the moment of its discovery,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04gunpowder's potential on the battlefield was obvious.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09It wasn't a huge leap from experimenting with gunpowder
0:03:09 > 0:03:14to harnessing its explosive force to fire a projectile.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17Once gunpowder was weaponised,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21a seven-century-long arms race had begun.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23But it started slowly.
0:03:24 > 0:03:29Europe's first picture of a cannon doesn't look too impressive -
0:03:29 > 0:03:32more likely to raise a smile than raze a city.
0:03:32 > 0:03:38Shaped like a vase, this 1326 pot of iron fired huge arrows and
0:03:38 > 0:03:40appears to be fixed to a tabletop.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47Arrows became rocks. Pots of iron became cannons.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51At first, bell-makers were called on to make cannons, but soon
0:03:51 > 0:03:56specialist metalworkers took over and cannons grew ever larger.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02And the target for these early artillery giants would be the
0:04:02 > 0:04:04walls of a besieged castle.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09One of the last surviving gunpowder weapons of this era
0:04:09 > 0:04:12is preserved in Edinburgh Castle.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19This monster of a cannon is known as Mons Meg.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22It was built in Flanders in 1449.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26It's a type of heavy gunpowder weapon called a bombard,
0:04:26 > 0:04:28and it was used to obliterate the walls of a castle
0:04:28 > 0:04:31and the morale of its garrison.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33This one belonged to King James II of Scotland,
0:04:33 > 0:04:37and it must have given him a bit of a swagger in his walk.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48Weapons like this meant that sieges which could have taken months
0:04:48 > 0:04:52or even years could now be over in a matter of weeks,
0:04:52 > 0:04:53or sometimes even days.
0:04:53 > 0:04:59They could throw huge 300 lb stone balls as far as two miles,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02but in reality these weapons were placed as close to the walls
0:05:02 > 0:05:05of an enemy castle as the commander would dare.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11You could imagine the terror spreading through a garrison
0:05:11 > 0:05:17as just 100 yards away, this monster was lined up against them.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19Castle walls were bombarded.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23The fierce heat generated by each explosion meant the cannon
0:05:23 > 0:05:26could only be fired a handful of times a day.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30It became dubbed the Great Iron Murderer.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36But there were drawbacks to cannons of this size.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41The six-ton beast took over 100 men and teams of oxen to move it,
0:05:41 > 0:05:44at a top speed of three miles a day.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46Hardly a rapid reaction force.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51Moving such cannons was so slow, it was often simpler
0:05:51 > 0:05:53to forge them outside the castle being besieged.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56And making them was no easy task.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03A cannon like this isn't made from a single piece of metal.
0:06:03 > 0:06:08Instead, Mons Meg is made out of 25 horizontal strips of iron,
0:06:08 > 0:06:13beaten together and then reinforced with 33 hoops over the top.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16It's just like making a barrel, hence the name.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21You can see here how the giant rings reinforced the barrel against
0:06:21 > 0:06:25the huge forces at work, and the reason we can see how
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Mons Meg was built is that this entire section blew off
0:06:28 > 0:06:33in the 1600s, when the gun was still fired on special occasions,
0:06:33 > 0:06:37and that is exactly the problem with weapons like these.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40When they went wrong, they went spectacularly wrong.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45King James II of Scotland was a seasoned and tough campaigner,
0:06:45 > 0:06:49who had to fight to keep hold of his kingdom from enemies on both
0:06:49 > 0:06:50sides of the border.
0:06:53 > 0:06:58One summer's day in 1460, the King lined up his impressive array of
0:06:58 > 0:07:03gunpowder artillery outside Roxburgh Castle, and settled in for a siege.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05The King was rather fond of cannons.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09He had all of the best and the very latest designs in his collection.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12And he'd spent an enormous amount of money to get them.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17James intended to fire a salute for his Queen.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23He stood close by as his men loaded a similar cannon to Mons Meg,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26nicknamed the Lion, and waited for them to fire.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30As the orders were given,
0:07:30 > 0:07:33the gunners ignited the powder and then disaster struck.
0:07:33 > 0:07:38The cannon exploded, sending shards of metal through the air.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41The curious King didn't stand a chance.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44One of his legs was blown in half, and he died on the spot.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48In these highly religious times,
0:07:48 > 0:07:51there was more than a whiff of the devil about this new
0:07:51 > 0:07:55technology that seemed to spit out fire and brimstone.
0:07:57 > 0:08:02Cannons were unpredictable, dangerous and cumbersome to use.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06But gradually the wild, magic gunpowder was tamed into
0:08:06 > 0:08:08something more practical.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12Whilst kings were trying to outgun each other with vast cannons,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16their troops were starting to find ways to use gunpowder that
0:08:16 > 0:08:19were somewhat more handy and portable.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26You might be tempted to think that these new wonder-weapons
0:08:26 > 0:08:30instantly turned the swords, spears and arrows of the medieval past
0:08:30 > 0:08:33into pointless relics, but in reality, for more
0:08:33 > 0:08:38than 200 years, firearms were just another weapon on the battlefield.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46A relic of this era washed up on the banks of the Thames in the 1990s.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50Its discoverer initially thought it was a ship's whistle.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55But when its true purpose was realised, it was sent here to
0:08:55 > 0:08:58a more appropriate home - the Armoury at the Tower of London.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Because this is a medieval handgun.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08The design of guns would one day determine the course of warfare,
0:09:08 > 0:09:10but not this one.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Handguns came in all different shapes and sizes,
0:09:14 > 0:09:19and this is a particularly small one, dating from around 1400.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22But it's made in exactly the same way as a cannon,
0:09:22 > 0:09:26so it's got reinforcing hoops which have been wrapped around
0:09:26 > 0:09:28the barrel to protect it from the high pressure
0:09:28 > 0:09:29of exploding gunpowder.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35This mini-Mons Meg was as unwieldy as its giant sister.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Originally it would have been attached to a long wooden pole
0:09:39 > 0:09:43or a metal arm, and then used hand-held or attached
0:09:43 > 0:09:46to something solid like a wall or a wagon, ready to fire.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Saltpetre, gunpowder's key ingredient,
0:09:52 > 0:09:54can keep something burning once lit.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59Medieval gunners used a wick soaked in saltpetre,
0:09:59 > 0:10:02called a match, to give fire to their gunpowder charge.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08To fire something like this, you would put the wooden pole
0:10:08 > 0:10:11under your arm, or even stick it in the ground.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13But then, because there is no trigger,
0:10:13 > 0:10:15you'd use your other hand
0:10:15 > 0:10:18to light a match, and then to ignite the gunpowder.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21Then, I guess, you hoped for the best.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25It fared poorly against the competition.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28A handgunner would be lucky to fire a shot a minute,
0:10:28 > 0:10:32even with two people - one to load and one to fire -
0:10:32 > 0:10:36during which time, the nearby longbow archer could have fired
0:10:36 > 0:10:38eight or nine arrows.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46To be honest, I think that using this would strike more fear
0:10:46 > 0:10:48into the heart of the user than his enemy.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55For now, the infantry gun was more novelty than threat.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59A knight could feel relatively safe inside his armour.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04But then, in the 16th century, it all changed.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09One monarch, Henry VIII,
0:11:09 > 0:11:13would oversee a huge shift in English warfare,
0:11:13 > 0:11:15from traditional chivalrous knights
0:11:15 > 0:11:18to a modern gunpowder army.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23The future lay in firearms.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30A new weapon had emerged and it was a game-changer.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33The handgun had evolved into the first truly effective
0:11:33 > 0:11:36battlefield gun - the matchlock arquebus.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43The days of holding a mini-cannon propped on a pole were over.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46The arquebus was one of the first weapons with a shape
0:11:46 > 0:11:49a modern infantryman would recognise.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53At a firing range in Doncaster,
0:11:53 > 0:11:56I've got the chance to test-fire an arquebus
0:11:56 > 0:11:59and find out why knights grew to fear it.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02Royal Armouries curator Jonathan Ferguson
0:12:02 > 0:12:03shows me how it works.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08OK, Sam, this is an arquebus.
0:12:10 > 0:12:111525, thereabouts.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14- Gosh.- Reproduction, this one, because we want to be able
0:12:14 > 0:12:17- to shoot it, of course. - It's incredibly beautiful,
0:12:17 > 0:12:18for such an early firearm, isn't it?
0:12:18 > 0:12:23So we know that Henry was trying to get gunpowder into his army.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26Oh, yeah. He was what we call an early adopter, these days,
0:12:26 > 0:12:29with technology of all sorts, especially guns.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32Why was this such a game-changer?
0:12:32 > 0:12:35- Well, the first thing that will strike you is the stock.- Yep.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38You have a stock. You can bring it up to your eye,
0:12:38 > 0:12:41either against the cheek or the shoulder, stabilise it
0:12:41 > 0:12:43and have a much greater chance of hitting what you are aiming at.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45And the other piece of magic
0:12:45 > 0:12:47is here. The pivoting lever
0:12:47 > 0:12:51will allow you to put your ignition source, your match,
0:12:51 > 0:12:54- straight into the priming powder... - And then, operated by the trigger.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56Trigger - the other key component.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59We are all used to firearms having a trigger. How else do you fire them?
0:12:59 > 0:13:02With this, it is, literally, a gentle touch.
0:13:02 > 0:13:03This is a very light trigger.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05It's almost like a target piece.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07It certainly looks and feels very sophisticated.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10It is not what I was expecting, for such an early firearm.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13We have to think about how technology is created
0:13:13 > 0:13:16and how it is adopted and how it, sort of, trickles down.
0:13:16 > 0:13:21So, this is for the army of the king and it is really top-end stuff.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24It's what the modern army would call "Gucci kit".
0:13:24 > 0:13:26How would these have been used on the battlefield?
0:13:26 > 0:13:29If you think, proportions-wise, if you have got to host
0:13:29 > 0:13:34an army of 22,000-23,000, you are only going to have about 1,200
0:13:34 > 0:13:38arquebusiers. So, 5% or something.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40That's not a huge proportion of your army.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43That is not ranks of guys firing on command.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45If you have a smattering of arquebusiers
0:13:45 > 0:13:47to, at least, disarray the oncoming cavalry.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50In terms of, you know, its influence upon history,
0:13:50 > 0:13:53what we really need to understand is whether a ball fired from
0:13:53 > 0:13:55an arquebus can penetrate armour.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02'My aim is to find out. Our target for the arquebus
0:14:02 > 0:14:07'will be a sheet of 2mm steel, acting as armour from Henry's era.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11'Will it survive a bullet from the arquebus?
0:14:11 > 0:14:12'I prime the weapon.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16'Next comes the bullet.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21'The ramrod compresses the mixture together.
0:14:23 > 0:14:28'Finally, we fix the burning wick, the match. Accounts of early gunners
0:14:28 > 0:14:32'say, after attaching the match, they would turn their face away,
0:14:32 > 0:14:36'like those waiting for a blood-letter to open a vein.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42'Finally, we expose the gunpowder, opening the primitive safety guard.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47'One 16th-century account says that, at this point, "Some gunners
0:14:47 > 0:14:51"would go pale and shake, like an old house".
0:14:54 > 0:14:55'Five centuries on,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58'I ready my finger on the trigger.'
0:15:00 > 0:15:01GUNSHOT
0:15:01 > 0:15:04'Will the armour withstand this weapon's attack?'
0:15:04 > 0:15:07GUNSHOT
0:15:08 > 0:15:10Right, let's see how I've done.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13- Mm. Could see the massive hole from back there.- Look at that!
0:15:13 > 0:15:16It's gone... It's absolutely hammered through that, hasn't it?
0:15:16 > 0:15:19It has deformed the metal. You can see round the edge.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21And it has punched a disc straight out of it, no problem at all.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25- You could do that from further back. - If you had been there in the 1520s,
0:15:25 > 0:15:30you can see why your faith would lie in firearms and not in armour.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33In Henry's, sort of, heyday, these things are more than capable
0:15:33 > 0:15:36of, not so much unhorsing, but blasting straight through,
0:15:36 > 0:15:41straight through the metal. Any clothing, obviously, as well,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44dragging that into the wound. Or going straight through you, even.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46These are tremendously powerful weapons.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48Mm. The days of armour were numbered.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51GUNSHOTS
0:15:51 > 0:15:54Just how numbered would be shown in one key battle.
0:15:54 > 0:16:00In early 1525, the young King Henry VIII received news
0:16:00 > 0:16:01from northern Italy.
0:16:01 > 0:16:06An army of 28,000 French knights was heading south,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09winning battle after battle against the Holy Roman Emperor.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13But at the Battle of Pavia, that all ended.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19The French armoured knights began their charge,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22but instead of the Emperor's terrified soldiers,
0:16:22 > 0:16:24they met a hail of bullets.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26GUNFIRE
0:16:26 > 0:16:29In four hours, the French army was destroyed,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32the knights' shining armour was ripped apart
0:16:32 > 0:16:34by the arquebusiers' bullets.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39The French king was forced to surrender and was taken prisoner.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45When Henry heard that the French had taken a pounding,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48he told the messenger, "You are like Saint Gabriel,
0:16:48 > 0:16:51"who announced the coming of Christ."
0:16:53 > 0:16:57Henry now raced to equip his forces with gunpowder weapons,
0:16:57 > 0:17:00as did all his European rivals.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Not all soldiers welcomed firearms.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12In Miguel de Cervantes' epic, Don Quixote,
0:17:12 > 0:17:16the hero calls them "devilish instruments, that allow
0:17:16 > 0:17:21"a cowardly, base hand to take away the life of the bravest cavalier".
0:17:21 > 0:17:25Nobility, courage, physical strength
0:17:25 > 0:17:28were no longer the keys to battlefield success.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31Where muscle power had ruled,
0:17:31 > 0:17:33chemical power took over.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39The enormous transition between medieval and Renaissance thinking
0:17:39 > 0:17:43about weaponry is best summed up by one these -
0:17:43 > 0:17:45one of Henry VIII's gun shields.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50It is a combination of ideas from across the ages,
0:17:50 > 0:17:54fused together. On the one hand, it's a medieval shield.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57It's made of wood and leather and it is covered in metal.
0:17:57 > 0:18:03But on the other, through the centre is a Renaissance matchlock pistol.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07And examples of these were found with the Mary Rose,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09alongside longbows.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12There was just one snag.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16Firing it required putting gunpowder and a lit match very close
0:18:16 > 0:18:19to your face. No wonder it didn't catch on.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27Henry wanted to be taken seriously by his fellow European monarchs
0:18:27 > 0:18:31and he embraced the latest weapons, to show he was their equal.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38Thanks to Henry, this new generation of weapons began to play
0:18:38 > 0:18:41an increasingly important role in English armies.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44There was still resistance to firepower, in favour of
0:18:44 > 0:18:48the traditional weapons that had kept the nation safe for centuries.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52But the country's addiction to gunpowder had begun,
0:18:52 > 0:18:56in the name of national security and the King's ego.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02Henry needed the protection that firearms afforded.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05He was a man with many enemies.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11The King's religious split with the Catholic Church in Rome
0:19:11 > 0:19:15meant England had adversaries throughout Europe.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20At the same time, the technology of firearms
0:19:20 > 0:19:23was becoming less primitive,
0:19:23 > 0:19:27with guns shrinking in size, whilst their reliability soared.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33Henry's descendants spent much of their lives
0:19:33 > 0:19:36in fear of a marksman's bullet.
0:19:38 > 0:19:39But where would it strike first?
0:19:41 > 0:19:43By the time of Queen Elizabeth I,
0:19:43 > 0:19:45England was isolated and paranoid -
0:19:45 > 0:19:47surrounded by sworn enemies.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50Plots and scheming were the order of the day.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52It was a time of secrecy and spies,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55as the fate of the country hung in the balance.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04For Elizabeth, events in Scotland added to this toxic mix,
0:20:04 > 0:20:07with a new and troubling development -
0:20:07 > 0:20:11the first political assassination by firearm.
0:20:13 > 0:20:1616th-century Scotland was a dangerous place
0:20:16 > 0:20:19to be in a position of power.
0:20:19 > 0:20:24Scottish politics could be brutal. Rivalries and feuds were often
0:20:24 > 0:20:26settled with violence.
0:20:28 > 0:20:33In 1570, James Stewart, Earl of Moray, was the Regent of Scotland,
0:20:33 > 0:20:36having ejected Mary, Queen of Scots from the throne.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40The Earl's rise to the top had brought him into conflict
0:20:40 > 0:20:43with another powerful family - the Hamiltons.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46After their defeat on the battlefield and their support
0:20:46 > 0:20:50for Mary, Queen of Scots, they became the deadly enemies
0:20:50 > 0:20:52of the Stewarts, and the humiliated Hamiltons vowed
0:20:52 > 0:20:54that the Earl had to go.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00The man chosen for the hit was James Hamilton
0:21:00 > 0:21:03and he planned an elaborate attack. He stalked the Earl for weeks,
0:21:03 > 0:21:06following him all the way from Perth to Stirling
0:21:06 > 0:21:09and then, at Linlithgow, he pounced.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17Hamilton heard whispers of the Earl's route through the town.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22Little did the Earl realise that he would travel right past the house
0:21:22 > 0:21:24of one of his deadliest enemies.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34Hamilton chose his position carefully,
0:21:34 > 0:21:37in a projecting gallery window of a family member's house
0:21:37 > 0:21:41that overlooked the Earl's route through the town.
0:21:41 > 0:21:42He was well prepared.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51The story goes that he hung a black sheet behind him, so his shadow
0:21:51 > 0:21:53would not be cast on the street.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59Then, he spread feathers on the floor,
0:21:59 > 0:22:01to muffle the sound of his movements.
0:22:13 > 0:22:14As the Earl rode by,
0:22:14 > 0:22:15Hamilton raised up his gun -
0:22:15 > 0:22:18a short-barrelled hunting carbine -
0:22:18 > 0:22:21he took aim...and fired.
0:22:24 > 0:22:25GUNSHOT
0:22:30 > 0:22:34The bullet's impact is captured in stained glass in Edinburgh's
0:22:34 > 0:22:36St Giles' Cathedral.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44Hamilton's shot hit the Earl in the stomach, causing panic and confusion
0:22:44 > 0:22:46amongst his entourage.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48But before they had realised what had happened,
0:22:48 > 0:22:50the gunman had fled the scene.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53His escape was well planned and he was never caught.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59The Earl managed to stumble to the house he was staying at,
0:22:59 > 0:23:01but he died that night.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07His assassination caused chaos in Scotland
0:23:07 > 0:23:10and made the English Court deeply uneasy.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15The incident highlighted just how vulnerable even the highest-ranking
0:23:15 > 0:23:17members of society were to the lone gunman.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21Even with their bodyguards all around them, an assassin could
0:23:21 > 0:23:25appear out of nowhere, pick his target off at a distance
0:23:25 > 0:23:28and then simply...vanish.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32What use were sword-wearing bodyguards
0:23:32 > 0:23:34against a determined sniper?
0:23:37 > 0:23:40The Queen and her ministers were, rightly, paranoid.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43Foreign rulers were trying to kill her and,
0:23:43 > 0:23:46as if the Earl's murder wasn't bad enough,
0:23:46 > 0:23:50a stealthy new invention made firearms an ever bigger threat
0:23:50 > 0:23:53to national security - the wheel lock mechanism.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01The wheel lock was a mechanical way of igniting gunpowder
0:24:01 > 0:24:04and it meant that you could make a practical one of these -
0:24:04 > 0:24:07a pistol - for the very first time.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09This is a German design
0:24:09 > 0:24:11and it dates from 1590.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16Like everything else created in the 16th century,
0:24:16 > 0:24:20there is an argument for the wheel lock having been the invention
0:24:20 > 0:24:22of Leonardo da Vinci.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24But the idea may well have come
0:24:24 > 0:24:26from German watchmakers.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29The mechanism worked a bit like a pocket watch.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32Inside here is a disc, with a serrated edge,
0:24:32 > 0:24:34which is attached to a spring.
0:24:34 > 0:24:35Now, that is wound up, using this
0:24:35 > 0:24:37with a key. Then...
0:24:38 > 0:24:39..you'd put a small charge
0:24:39 > 0:24:40of powder in here,
0:24:40 > 0:24:43put some iron pyrites in here...
0:24:44 > 0:24:47..and when you pull the trigger, the spring releases,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50the wheel spins round incredibly quickly, creating sparks,
0:24:50 > 0:24:52which ignites the charge
0:24:52 > 0:24:54and, then, the pistol fires.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57But unlike anything
0:24:57 > 0:24:59that had gone before,
0:24:59 > 0:25:01once a weapon like this had been wound up
0:25:01 > 0:25:05and primed, it could be pulled out and fired in a single movement.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08There was no waiting around for a lit match.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14But what made the wheel lock a particular nightmare
0:25:14 > 0:25:17for the Queen's homeland security is that, suddenly,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20guns could be made smaller than ever before,
0:25:20 > 0:25:24including tiny pistols, known as "pocket daggs",
0:25:24 > 0:25:26which could be easily hidden in clothing -
0:25:26 > 0:25:30the first truly concealable handguns.
0:25:35 > 0:25:41In 1584, a concealed wheel lock pocket dagg was used against
0:25:41 > 0:25:45the leading light in the Protestant Wars against Catholic Spain.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48The attack sent shock waves across Europe.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54The Dutch Prince of Orange, William the Silent,
0:25:54 > 0:25:56was the most powerful Protestant in Europe.
0:25:56 > 0:26:03The Spanish king, his sworn enemy, offered a reward of 25,000 crowns -
0:26:03 > 0:26:08about £750,000 today - to anyone who would kill him.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12A Catholic double-agent, greedy for the reward,
0:26:12 > 0:26:16attacked the Prince of Orange in his own castle.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20The assassin had bought the pistol off one of William's own servants
0:26:20 > 0:26:23that very day and had loaded it with three balls,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25to guarantee that it would finish him off.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28And then, stepping forward, as if to give the king a letter,
0:26:28 > 0:26:30instead, he drew his pistol
0:26:30 > 0:26:31and shot him.
0:26:33 > 0:26:34GUNSHOT
0:26:34 > 0:26:36There was nothing his bodyguards could do.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40That such a nonentity could kill one of the mightiest men
0:26:40 > 0:26:43in the world was beyond the pale.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46As the assassin told magistrates,
0:26:46 > 0:26:50like David, he had slain Goliath of Gath.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57Only a wheel lock could have enabled this to happen.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00If William could be murdered so easily - and at the orders
0:27:00 > 0:27:04of the Spanish king - then Elizabeth could be next.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07Not only was she now vulnerable out in public,
0:27:07 > 0:27:10but also in her own palaces.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14This was a weapon that embodied the religious mistrust,
0:27:14 > 0:27:15the paranoia,
0:27:15 > 0:27:16the fear,
0:27:16 > 0:27:17of the age.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29Religious extremism was at its height and there were hitmen
0:27:29 > 0:27:33prepared to attack Elizabeth, with little regard for their own safety.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39Elizabeth, herself, would detail her personal worries in a letter
0:27:39 > 0:27:41to the French Ambassador.
0:27:41 > 0:27:46"There are more than 200 men of all ages who,
0:27:46 > 0:27:50"at the instigation of the Jesuits, conspire to kill me."
0:27:52 > 0:27:53Throughout her reign,
0:27:53 > 0:27:57Elizabeth's court was desperate to shore up domestic security
0:27:57 > 0:28:01and tried to clamp down on concealable weapons.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05Several assassination attempts were foiled.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07Both security measures and luck
0:28:07 > 0:28:11kept Elizabeth's potential assassins at bay.
0:28:11 > 0:28:16But would her successor be as fortunate when the Crown's enemies
0:28:16 > 0:28:19were plotting something far more spectacular?
0:28:19 > 0:28:20EXPLOSION
0:28:20 > 0:28:24In 1603, when James I took the throne,
0:28:24 > 0:28:27England was a country of four million people.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31The Protestant king initially spoke of tolerance
0:28:31 > 0:28:35for the 40,000 Catholics, but was soon deporting Catholic priests.
0:28:37 > 0:28:42His clamp-down infuriated a group of radical Catholics.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46They decided to fight back, using a new form of weapon.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52The Houses of Parliament would be the target.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Back then, they called it "The Powder Treason".
0:28:59 > 0:29:02We call it The Gunpowder Plot.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07The prince of darkness behind the plot wasn't Guy Fawkes,
0:29:07 > 0:29:11but a man with a magnetic personality, named Robert Catesby.
0:29:11 > 0:29:15Now, the power of his charisma must have been extraordinary,
0:29:15 > 0:29:20for him to convince other men, like Guy Fawkes, to join his plot.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23He told them that, once James I was dead,
0:29:23 > 0:29:26there would be a Catholic uprising.
0:29:26 > 0:29:30This, despite the fact that Catholics were a tiny minority -
0:29:30 > 0:29:33just 1% of the population.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37They planned to blow up the Palace of Westminster
0:29:37 > 0:29:40during the Opening of Parliament on 5 November, 1605,
0:29:40 > 0:29:43using an enormous gunpowder bomb.
0:29:46 > 0:29:51Rather ironically, gunpowder was supposed to be under Crown control,
0:29:51 > 0:29:54but a recent, and unexpected, period of peace had to led to
0:29:54 > 0:29:58a surplus. And that meant that it was easy to get hold of gunpowder
0:29:58 > 0:30:00without it being missed.
0:30:00 > 0:30:05So, one by one, the plotters stacked up 36 barrels, big and small,
0:30:05 > 0:30:07in the undercroft, containing somewhere between
0:30:07 > 0:30:112,000 and 10,000 lbs of powder.
0:30:14 > 0:30:19Experts agree this was more than was needed for a successful blast.
0:30:19 > 0:30:21Some say twice as much.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24One says 25 times as much.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28This may have been intentional and symbolic,
0:30:28 > 0:30:31to annihilate not only the king and the government,
0:30:31 > 0:30:34but its records, its home
0:30:34 > 0:30:36and its history.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40An anonymous letter betrayed the plot. It was shown to the king
0:30:40 > 0:30:44four days before the attack was due.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46A key phrase caught James' eye.
0:30:46 > 0:30:50"They shall receive a terrible blow, this Parliament."
0:30:50 > 0:30:56The king, rightly, suspected a stratagem of fire and powder.
0:30:57 > 0:30:58The plot was unravelling.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02Apparently, Guy Fawkes was rumbled, not just once,
0:31:02 > 0:31:05but twice. Officials searching the undercroft
0:31:05 > 0:31:10came across what they described as "a tall and desperate fellow",
0:31:10 > 0:31:12standing next to a pile of firewood.
0:31:12 > 0:31:16Now, given the sensitivity of Fawkes' mission,
0:31:16 > 0:31:19his cover story left quite a lot to be desired.
0:31:19 > 0:31:20Assuming he was a servant,
0:31:20 > 0:31:23the officials asked him what he was doing there.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27He said that the wood belonged to his master, Thomas Percy -
0:31:27 > 0:31:30a known Catholic troublemaker.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35The plot was veering into a comedy of errors.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39Fawkes slipped away, but then a second shakedown was ordered.
0:31:39 > 0:31:44Now, the Keeper of the Palace of Westminster and his assistant,
0:31:44 > 0:31:46Edmund Doubleday, began searching.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53Fawkes was found again, that same night,
0:31:53 > 0:31:56close to midnight, in that same spot.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00But this time, carrying a lantern and wearing clothes to escape in.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03He said that his name was John Johnson.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05When the men tried to search him,
0:32:05 > 0:32:08Fawkes violently gripped Mr Doubleday.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12Doubleday went for his knife, but thought the better of it
0:32:12 > 0:32:15and managed to restrain the traitor.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18A search uncovered fuses and a pocket watch.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21And, thus, the plot, rather than the Houses of Parliament,
0:32:21 > 0:32:23was blown.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28Fawkes was brought before the King and the Privy Council
0:32:28 > 0:32:32and, when asked by one Scottish lord what he needed such an amount
0:32:32 > 0:32:37of gunpowder for, he replied, "To blow you Scottish beggars back
0:32:37 > 0:32:39"to your native mountains."
0:32:43 > 0:32:46The plot's mastermind, Robert Catesby, fled north,
0:32:46 > 0:32:50to his ancestral home and, then, in a particularly ironic twist,
0:32:50 > 0:32:54he was injured when he laid his gunpowder out to dry
0:32:54 > 0:32:58in front of his fire and an unlucky spark ignited it.
0:32:58 > 0:33:03But then, the sheriff's men came and Catesby's fate was sealed.
0:33:03 > 0:33:04There was a shoot-out
0:33:04 > 0:33:07and Catesby and many of the plotters were shot.
0:33:07 > 0:33:12Perhaps the greatest terrorist plot on English soil had failed.
0:33:17 > 0:33:19King and Parliament had a lucky escape,
0:33:19 > 0:33:22but soon, the hunt for the ingredients of gunpowder
0:33:22 > 0:33:25would help bring them into bitter conflict.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32Securing a steady supply of gunpowder was vital
0:33:32 > 0:33:35to the military ambitions of the state.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39In peacetime,
0:33:39 > 0:33:41demand for gunpowder dropped,
0:33:41 > 0:33:42but if war broke out,
0:33:42 > 0:33:45the king's officials were desperate to source it.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51Relying on foreign gunpowder meant risking the supply line being cut
0:33:51 > 0:33:56by enemies. Far better to source it on home soil.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03The king's ruthless approach to tracking down the ingredients
0:34:03 > 0:34:07of gunpowder would be a factor in the greatest clash between
0:34:07 > 0:34:10an English monarch and his subjects.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16The search took the authorities to some rather unusual places.
0:34:18 > 0:34:23Now, this isn't a tower or a fort or even a military building at all.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26It's a dovecote and, yet places like this were absolutely
0:34:26 > 0:34:30crucial to national security in the 17th century,
0:34:30 > 0:34:34because the floor, caked in animal dung and urine,
0:34:34 > 0:34:37was a vital source of potassium nitrate,
0:34:37 > 0:34:41better known as THE key ingredient of gunpowder -
0:34:41 > 0:34:42saltpetre.
0:34:44 > 0:34:49Other countries relied on caves used by bats for their saltpetre,
0:34:49 > 0:34:53but the king's problem was that he had no bat cave.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56Instead, the English were left scrabbling for chemical riches
0:34:56 > 0:34:57in slurry heaps.
0:35:02 > 0:35:06Saltpetre was considered an inestimable treasure
0:35:06 > 0:35:10and so the Crown commissioned gangs of workers to travel the length
0:35:10 > 0:35:11and breadth of the country,
0:35:11 > 0:35:14to excavate as much of it as they could find.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17They were known as saltpetre men.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21First, they would taste the soil.
0:35:21 > 0:35:27Soil with a cool, salty taste meant a black day for your property.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30Your floor could be dug up and requisitioned for the State.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35"The saltpetre men care not in whose houses they dig,
0:35:35 > 0:35:38"threatening men that, by their commission,
0:35:38 > 0:35:40"they may dig in any man's house,
0:35:40 > 0:35:44"in any room and at any time, which will prove
0:35:44 > 0:35:47"a great grievance to the country. If any oppose them,
0:35:47 > 0:35:52"they break up men's houses and dig by force."
0:35:52 > 0:35:58The saltpetre men became synonymous with the abuse of power.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02There was a list of unsavoury practices.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05They could commandeer wagons and demand carriage,
0:36:05 > 0:36:07wherever they wanted.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10They would hold landowners to ransom, threatening to churn up
0:36:10 > 0:36:13important land, unless they were paid bribes,
0:36:13 > 0:36:17and one group dug up the floors of poor tenants' houses
0:36:17 > 0:36:19on Christmas Day.
0:36:20 > 0:36:24The saltpetre men cast their opponents as "rebels",
0:36:24 > 0:36:27claiming their work was vital to the safety of the kingdom.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32The new king, Charles I, was famously oblivious
0:36:32 > 0:36:36toe the objections of his citizens and the march of the saltpetre men
0:36:36 > 0:36:40continued unabated. Nowhere escaped their attention.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47Despite this being a fervently religious age,
0:36:47 > 0:36:50one notorious saltpetre man, called Nicholas Stephens,
0:36:50 > 0:36:54was known for digging up churches.
0:36:56 > 0:36:57Why churches?
0:36:57 > 0:36:59Well, some sermons were very long
0:36:59 > 0:37:01and accounts claim parishioners
0:37:01 > 0:37:03were forced to relieve themselves
0:37:03 > 0:37:04on the floor.
0:37:05 > 0:37:07The protests of the congregation
0:37:07 > 0:37:10were met with laughter and lewd jokes.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12And when his practices were challenged,
0:37:12 > 0:37:14he simply waved his Royal Commission.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19"An Englishman's home is his castle",
0:37:19 > 0:37:22said a famous 17th-century politician.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24Yet, across the country,
0:37:24 > 0:37:26corrupt officials were sacking those very castles
0:37:26 > 0:37:29and pilfering their soil -
0:37:29 > 0:37:30all with the king's blessing.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34A fight was brewing of regal proportions.
0:37:37 > 0:37:42When Parliament issued its Grand Remonstrance against Charles I
0:37:42 > 0:37:47in 1641, on its list of complaints against his rule was the vexation
0:37:47 > 0:37:51and oppression that the digging of saltpetre caused.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54The actions of the saltpetre men were seen as evidence of a king
0:37:54 > 0:37:59abusing his power and trampling over the rights of his citizens.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02Rage was building.
0:38:02 > 0:38:04The commodity that had caused such grievance
0:38:04 > 0:38:07would now be used in anger.
0:38:12 > 0:38:16The gunpowder age had truly arrived on home soil.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25As the nation convulsed into the bitterness of civil war,
0:38:25 > 0:38:28soldiers were called up in greater numbers than England
0:38:28 > 0:38:32had ever seen before. This was to be our bloodiest conflict.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36In relation to the size of our population, the loss of life
0:38:36 > 0:38:39would be even greater than the First World War.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44Neither side could call on a standing army,
0:38:44 > 0:38:48just the county militias, known as "trained bands",
0:38:48 > 0:38:51and a small core of professional soldiers -
0:38:51 > 0:38:54veterans from the many wars in Europe.
0:38:54 > 0:38:59Conscription soon swelled their ranks, but loyalty was dubious
0:38:59 > 0:39:00and fluid.
0:39:05 > 0:39:11By 1642, the bitter realities of a war fought with guns and cannon
0:39:11 > 0:39:14were apparent, as king was pitted against parliament,
0:39:14 > 0:39:16friend against friend
0:39:16 > 0:39:19and family against family.
0:39:19 > 0:39:24During an attack on Wardour Castle in 1644, one Royalist soldier,
0:39:24 > 0:39:27named Hilsdean, was shot and mortally wounded.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30And as he lay dying, he realised he knew the man
0:39:30 > 0:39:32who had taken his life.
0:39:32 > 0:39:37It was his own brother, fighting for the parliamentary garrison.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45Britain's fields had seen many battles and wars over the years,
0:39:45 > 0:39:47but nothing like this.
0:39:47 > 0:39:52Long gone were the bows and arrows. A new technology had arrived
0:39:52 > 0:39:54to wreak havoc on the battlefield.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01This was combat for the gunpowder age.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05The Civil War was the first conflict on home soil where firearms
0:40:05 > 0:40:09were the main battlefield weapon and there was one, in particular,
0:40:09 > 0:40:11at the very centre of the fighting.
0:40:11 > 0:40:16A fearsome gun that took soldiers' firepower to an entirely new level.
0:40:16 > 0:40:17The musket.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19Troop...fire!
0:40:19 > 0:40:20GUNFIRE
0:40:22 > 0:40:25A heavyweight firearm, it was so unwieldy that early
0:40:25 > 0:40:28musketeers had to be physically strong to use it
0:40:28 > 0:40:31and were paid double wages.
0:40:31 > 0:40:35But lighter versions eventually became the everyman gun,
0:40:35 > 0:40:38less Gucci kit, more high street.
0:40:39 > 0:40:40The expensive arquebus
0:40:40 > 0:40:43had been for top gunners.
0:40:43 > 0:40:44Now, squaddies got
0:40:44 > 0:40:46their hands on a firearm.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50'I arranged to meet Master Gunsmith Robert Tilney,
0:40:50 > 0:40:53'to find out why the musket was so important.'
0:40:53 > 0:40:55English, Civil War,
0:40:55 > 0:40:58matchlock musket.
0:40:58 > 0:40:59Mmm.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05It's not very elaborate, is it? I'm not sure how impressed I am by this.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07Well, it certainly doesn't LOOK elaborate,
0:41:07 > 0:41:11but a major piece of technology.
0:41:12 > 0:41:13It has a trigger
0:41:13 > 0:41:17and it lowers the match by pulling it.
0:41:17 > 0:41:19The only clever bit,
0:41:19 > 0:41:22- this thing has got ergonomics. - Yeah.- It fits into your shoulder
0:41:22 > 0:41:25and when you put your face down on the cove,
0:41:25 > 0:41:28it positions our eye right down the barrel,
0:41:28 > 0:41:30so we can actually aim...
0:41:31 > 0:41:32..at what we want to shoot.
0:41:35 > 0:41:36It's very simple.
0:41:36 > 0:41:37We will have a quick look...
0:41:39 > 0:41:42..at the lock. The great thing about simple
0:41:42 > 0:41:44is people can't break it.
0:41:44 > 0:41:49- Ah!- If it's complicated and you give it to a Civil War squaddie,
0:41:49 > 0:41:51he will break it.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55That's where the trigger comes up.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58Like all wonderful technological inventions,
0:41:58 > 0:42:01- most of them are not that complicated.- That's the thing.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05- Yeah.- And there is very, very little to go wrong.
0:42:05 > 0:42:07What was the range of this?
0:42:09 > 0:42:11- 50 yards...- 50 yards.
0:42:11 > 0:42:13..if you were lucky.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15- And accuracy?- There wasn't any.
0:42:15 > 0:42:19So, what you need for accuracy is a nice tight fit. Mm.
0:42:19 > 0:42:20ECHOED RATTLING
0:42:20 > 0:42:23I could hear that rattling, as it went down.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26- And, of course...- It was like dropping a penny down a well.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29Exactly. And if it's rattling going down,
0:42:29 > 0:42:32- it's going to be rattling coming out.- Mm.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36In other words, you are not quite sure where it's going to go.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38So, loading it.
0:42:41 > 0:42:42You would have your match...
0:42:43 > 0:42:45..burning at both ends.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48In case one goes out, the other will still be burning.
0:42:48 > 0:42:50Now, according the manual,
0:42:50 > 0:42:53hold your match in three fingers of your left hand.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57Use your thumb and forefinger to steady your piece.
0:42:59 > 0:43:00Two burning matches.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06Use your ripostle, which has your powder charge in it,
0:43:06 > 0:43:09- and pour in the powder... - Near the burning match?!
0:43:09 > 0:43:10Near the burning match.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13And you have got 12 more of these, or you have 12, in total,
0:43:13 > 0:43:16- around your chest?- Hung about yourself.- Unbelievably dangerous.
0:43:16 > 0:43:17Massively so.
0:43:19 > 0:43:20Open your pan...
0:43:21 > 0:43:23..prime with more loose powder...
0:43:26 > 0:43:28..blow your loose powder away.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31HE BLOWS Gosh, you blow the loose powder...
0:43:32 > 0:43:36- ..with a match nearby.- Mm.- Yeah. - It's a recipe for disaster.- It is.
0:43:36 > 0:43:41We now have to refit the match, just the right amount,
0:43:41 > 0:43:44so that it will go into the pan.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48And then, open your pan....
0:43:50 > 0:43:51..and give fire.
0:43:54 > 0:43:56- Well, let's give it a go.- OK.
0:43:56 > 0:43:58Now, the exciting bit.
0:43:58 > 0:44:00Empty the ripostle.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05- It's a hell of a palaver, isn't it? - It's a hell of a palaver.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07Refit the match.
0:44:13 > 0:44:15GUNSHOT
0:44:19 > 0:44:21Whoof!
0:44:21 > 0:44:23BOTH LAUGH
0:44:23 > 0:44:25- There's a lot going on! - There's a lot going on!
0:44:25 > 0:44:28Makes you wonder just how accurate that is, at all.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31- Quite long and cumbersome, isn't it?- Yes.
0:44:31 > 0:44:33They are not user-friendly.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41Muskets could be churned out by ordinary blacksmiths.
0:44:41 > 0:44:45Accuracy, perfection and safety were sacrificed, in favour of volume
0:44:45 > 0:44:47of production.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51And with just a little bit of training, anyone could use one.
0:44:57 > 0:45:01To be a cavalryman, you had to learn to ride.
0:45:01 > 0:45:05To be a pikeman, you had to have strength and discipline.
0:45:05 > 0:45:09But an unskilled musketeer could be trained in just days
0:45:09 > 0:45:12and the tactics that were used were similarly basic.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21English armies developed a simple, but terrifying, musket tactic.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27Musketeers were massed in ranks and rather than fire as soon as
0:45:27 > 0:45:30the enemy came into range, the musketeers held off,
0:45:30 > 0:45:33even if they were being shot at themselves.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40Then, when the enemy was a matter of feet away,
0:45:40 > 0:45:42they fired all at once.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46The mass volley sent a huge wall of lead at the opposition,
0:45:48 > 0:45:51the shock halting the advance.
0:45:52 > 0:45:53But then, after just one shot,
0:45:53 > 0:45:58the musketeers closed the distance and fought hand-to-hand.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02The musket was two weapons in one.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05At the barrel end, it was a formidable gun, firing a musket ball
0:46:05 > 0:46:08as much as three-quarters of an inch across.
0:46:08 > 0:46:10Now, because it was incredibly heavy - it weighed as much
0:46:10 > 0:46:15as 15 lbs - the butt end could be an absolutely brutal club.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19In fact, musketeers would tend to use their muskets as a club
0:46:19 > 0:46:23instead of the swords they'd been issued with.
0:46:25 > 0:46:29Matchlocks were soon joined by flintlocks, that could be fired
0:46:29 > 0:46:33even faster, more safely and more reliably.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37Firearms were now the weapon of choice, whether for infantry
0:46:37 > 0:46:40or mounted soldiers.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43Battlefields had become a gunpowder hell.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48One witness wrote in 1644,
0:46:48 > 0:46:51"The thundering roar of our cannons from our batteries,
0:46:51 > 0:46:56"the thousands of musket balls flying at each other's faces,
0:46:56 > 0:46:59"like the driving hailstones from northern blasts...
0:47:01 > 0:47:02"..crying for blood."
0:47:07 > 0:47:09As the roar of a battle subsided,
0:47:09 > 0:47:11it was the cries for help that could be heard
0:47:11 > 0:47:14from the musket's victims across the field.
0:47:14 > 0:47:18The effects of the new gunpowder weapons were not just worrying
0:47:18 > 0:47:21military leaders, but also doctors.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26There were no field hospitals and no medical corps
0:47:26 > 0:47:29to come to the aid of the wounded.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33An injured soldier's best chance of survival was simply to seek out
0:47:33 > 0:47:36one of the few surgeons working on the battlefield.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39And then, to hope that he knew what he was doing.
0:47:44 > 0:47:48Surgeons were a breed apart from doctors.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50They had often started out as barbers -
0:47:50 > 0:47:54cutting hair then being associated with cutting limbs.
0:47:54 > 0:47:58But given the horrific nature of bullet wounds,
0:47:58 > 0:48:01the surgeon's knowledge and experience didn't necessarily even
0:48:01 > 0:48:04improve your chances of staying alive.
0:48:06 > 0:48:10One Royalist surgeon had great influence.
0:48:10 > 0:48:15Richard Wiseman drew on his experiences of battlefield surgery,
0:48:15 > 0:48:20sometimes at great risk to himself, to write a landmark medical text.
0:48:20 > 0:48:24He recorded both his successes and failures.
0:48:26 > 0:48:29Wiseman treated everything from ulcers and fractures
0:48:29 > 0:48:33to venereal diseases, but for the soldiers of the Civil War,
0:48:33 > 0:48:37what mattered most was his experience of gunshot wounds.
0:48:37 > 0:48:42Often surgeons working in the field had no experience of warfare.
0:48:42 > 0:48:46The injuries inflicted by muskets and pistols
0:48:46 > 0:48:48were complicated and hard to treat.
0:48:48 > 0:48:52There was barely any antiseptic and no general anaesthetic.
0:48:52 > 0:48:55Gunshot wounds could be more deadly
0:48:55 > 0:48:58than those inflicted by edged weapons
0:48:58 > 0:49:03and the surgery needed to treat them was more extreme.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06Gunshot wounds were something of a mystery for the medical profession.
0:49:06 > 0:49:10Wiseman records in his book how some of his fellow surgeons
0:49:10 > 0:49:14believed that gunpowder was poisonous and they mistook
0:49:14 > 0:49:17the bruising and powder burns around a wound for gangrene.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20That, of course, could lead to the wrong type of treatment,
0:49:20 > 0:49:23a potentially mistake for the victim.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26- MAN SCREAMS - Hold his leg down!
0:49:26 > 0:49:29Wiseman had learned the dangers of haemorrhaging.
0:49:29 > 0:49:31These were tricky injuries.
0:49:31 > 0:49:35"If such vessels do bleed upon the receipt of the wounds
0:49:35 > 0:49:39"and interrupt you in drawing out the extraneous bodies,
0:49:39 > 0:49:42"you must endeavour to suppress the bleeding,
0:49:42 > 0:49:46"for thereupon depends the life of your patient."
0:49:48 > 0:49:52Wiseman believed that the bullet and any shattered fragment of bone
0:49:52 > 0:49:54would have to be removed from the wound
0:49:54 > 0:49:56if the patient was to stand any chance,
0:49:56 > 0:50:00but often it wasn't the bullet itself which caused trouble,
0:50:00 > 0:50:03but it was the soldier's own clothing.
0:50:03 > 0:50:08Now, the bullet would take with it a fragment of material into the wound.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14And a soldier might have been wearing his clothes
0:50:14 > 0:50:16in filthy wartime conditions for months.
0:50:16 > 0:50:19Often the real killer was infection.
0:50:20 > 0:50:24Wiseman advised his fellow surgeons that
0:50:24 > 0:50:28"the bullet pierceth not any part without taking clothing with it,
0:50:28 > 0:50:31"which corrupt in the wound.
0:50:31 > 0:50:35"While any of the rags remain in the wound, it will never cure."
0:50:37 > 0:50:41The brutal trial and error of Civil War gunshot victims' treatment
0:50:41 > 0:50:47led to advances in ideas of infection control and hygiene.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50Wiseman was a skilful and intelligent medic
0:50:50 > 0:50:52and he eventually rose to become
0:50:52 > 0:50:55Charles II's personal Sergeant-Surgeon,
0:50:55 > 0:50:58but he was still a man forced to work within the limits
0:50:58 > 0:51:00of medical knowledge of his age.
0:51:00 > 0:51:04One of his recommendations for helping a gunshot wound to heal
0:51:04 > 0:51:06was to make the poultice...
0:51:06 > 0:51:07out of boiled puppies.
0:51:12 > 0:51:14The fires of the English Civil War
0:51:14 > 0:51:19forged the nation's armies into hardened fighting forces.
0:51:20 > 0:51:24Before the conflict, England's military reputation was poor,
0:51:24 > 0:51:28but nearly a decade of total war had changed that.
0:51:30 > 0:51:34Now, its army and navy emerged on to the international stage
0:51:34 > 0:51:38with the latest weapons, tactics and experience.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42The powers of Europe feared England once more.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47As England used gunpowder to create its empire,
0:51:47 > 0:51:49it now colonised countries
0:51:49 > 0:51:52with plentiful natural supplies of saltpetre.
0:51:52 > 0:51:55The much-loathed saltpetre men were out of business.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01But in the 1690s, England's future role as a global power
0:52:01 > 0:52:04was by no means assured.
0:52:04 > 0:52:08How far would its forces go to achieve supremacy?
0:52:11 > 0:52:12London's National Maritime Museum
0:52:12 > 0:52:15holds portraits of this era's heroes.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20This is Vice-Admiral John Benbow,
0:52:20 > 0:52:24as painted in 1701 by the artist Sir Godfrey Kneller.
0:52:25 > 0:52:30He was born around 1650, but his true origins remain lost
0:52:30 > 0:52:33in the chaotic fog of the English Civil War.
0:52:33 > 0:52:37Some people think that he was the son of a tragic Royalist martyr,
0:52:37 > 0:52:40others that he was the son of a simple tanner.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44Either way, it soon became clear, after he joined the Royal Navy,
0:52:44 > 0:52:49that this man had a special talent for warfare on the high seas.
0:52:51 > 0:52:55Benbow carved out a career in the decades of instability
0:52:55 > 0:52:57that followed the Civil War.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01He worked through five different regimes as an adventurer.
0:53:01 > 0:53:06He saw a wealth of combat, both as a trader and in the Navy,
0:53:06 > 0:53:10fighting off pirates or attacking England's enemies.
0:53:10 > 0:53:15It's clear from this portrait that Benbow was seen as a man of action.
0:53:15 > 0:53:17He is holding a hanger. It's an early type of naval sword,
0:53:17 > 0:53:23typical of the brutal close-quarters combat of fighting on ships
0:53:23 > 0:53:27and there is an air of menace in the way that he is brandishing it.
0:53:27 > 0:53:31This is a clear threat to anyone who would dare cross him.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35In the history books, he has gone down as a seafaring hero,
0:53:35 > 0:53:41a Nelson-type figure, but John Benbow was a man with a dark side.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44He was prepared to carry out his mission with utter ruthlessness
0:53:44 > 0:53:47and by any means possible.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52In the 1690s, England was at war with France.
0:53:52 > 0:53:57French privateers were targeting English merchant ships,
0:53:57 > 0:54:00once capturing over 90 in a single day.
0:54:02 > 0:54:06Demands for revenge arose along the English coast
0:54:06 > 0:54:08and the Admiralty knew the man for the job.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12They asked Benbow to launch a devastating attack
0:54:12 > 0:54:16against the civilian harbour of Saint-Malo,
0:54:16 > 0:54:19but how far were the English prepared to go
0:54:19 > 0:54:20to crush the will of the French?
0:54:22 > 0:54:25With a vast supply of gunpowder at his disposal,
0:54:25 > 0:54:28the only limit was Benbow's imagination.
0:54:29 > 0:54:31On 29th November, 1693,
0:54:31 > 0:54:36Benbow arrived here, off Saint-Malo, with a small fleet,
0:54:36 > 0:54:40which included a particularly murderous weapon for the assault,
0:54:40 > 0:54:44known as the machine vessel, or Infernal.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48It was a nightmarish creation, a 300-ton vessel,
0:54:48 > 0:54:51aptly named the Vesuvius,
0:54:51 > 0:54:56crammed with 20,000 lbs of gunpowder.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59That's double the amount used by Guy Fawkes.
0:55:00 > 0:55:06This was covered with pitch, straw, sulphur, mortars, incendiaries,
0:55:06 > 0:55:10grenades, bullets, cannonballs, broken glass and chain shot.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15It was the 17th-century equivalent of a nail bomb,
0:55:15 > 0:55:18but planted by the English state.
0:55:21 > 0:55:23It was Sunday evening and the people of Saint-Malo
0:55:23 > 0:55:27were oblivious to the impending threat bearing down on them.
0:55:27 > 0:55:31Just after 7:00, the Vesuvius was sailed in towards the harbour.
0:55:31 > 0:55:35Benbow's plan was simple - he'd sail that devilish ship
0:55:35 > 0:55:40up against these walls and blow that town to kingdom come.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45It was a high-risk gamble.
0:55:45 > 0:55:49The Vesuvius edged closer and closer to its target.
0:55:49 > 0:55:54The fuse was lit and Benbow must have felt victory within his grasp.
0:55:55 > 0:55:57But then fate intervened.
0:55:57 > 0:55:58On its final approach,
0:55:58 > 0:56:01the ship is said to have struck one of the rocks behind me...
0:56:03 > 0:56:08..and stuck fast, within pistol shot of the town walls.
0:56:08 > 0:56:12And then, sooner than anyone expected, it exploded.
0:56:22 > 0:56:23At this point,
0:56:23 > 0:56:27it was possibly the greatest man-made explosion in history.
0:56:27 > 0:56:30It was heard 100 miles away.
0:56:30 > 0:56:35One Frenchman claimed that 300 rooms in the town were destroyed,
0:56:35 > 0:56:39along with all the glass and earthenware for several miles.
0:56:40 > 0:56:44But Benbow's men were among the only casualties.
0:56:45 > 0:56:47Saint-Malo had been lucky.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50Despite an explosion terrible beyond description,
0:56:50 > 0:56:54no-one in the town was killed, though one witness said
0:56:54 > 0:56:58that there was no loss of life except a cat in a gutter,
0:56:58 > 0:57:02but if Vesuvius had detonated as Benbow had intended,
0:57:02 > 0:57:06the effect could have been cataclysmic.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11Benbow's weapon had failed, but the very fact that he had
0:57:11 > 0:57:15been allowed to carry out such an attack against a civilian harbour
0:57:15 > 0:57:19raises the interesting question of just how far the English state
0:57:19 > 0:57:23was prepared to go in the name of national security.
0:57:27 > 0:57:28By the end of the 17th century,
0:57:28 > 0:57:31the rare and cumbersome medieval bombard
0:57:31 > 0:57:35had evolved into an efficient and mass-produced cannon
0:57:35 > 0:57:38that was taken to sea in vast numbers,
0:57:38 > 0:57:41a weapon that would help the British carve out a maritime empire
0:57:41 > 0:57:44greater than the world had ever seen.
0:57:46 > 0:57:50Soon, ships with over 100 cannons, some able to fire
0:57:50 > 0:57:55more than a ton of cannonballs in a single broadside,
0:57:55 > 0:57:58extended Britain's superpower status.
0:57:58 > 0:58:01The Royal Navy had the best-made cannons
0:58:01 > 0:58:04powered by some of the most potent gunpowder in the world.
0:58:05 > 0:58:09Now gunpowder did not just influence the outcome of battles,
0:58:09 > 0:58:12but the rise and fall of empires.
0:58:16 > 0:58:18Next time, I'll see how
0:58:18 > 0:58:21the precision of British weapons increases
0:58:21 > 0:58:25and morality takes a back seat to military ambition.
0:58:25 > 0:58:28Soldiers now face the horror of a new invention -
0:58:28 > 0:58:30the machinegun.