0:00:02 > 0:00:03BIRDSONG
0:00:03 > 0:00:05BELL TOLLS
0:00:05 > 0:00:10CHORISTER SINGS
0:00:10 > 0:00:13In early medieval France, the Count of Anjou
0:00:13 > 0:00:17became enthralled by a mysterious woman.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21They married and had several children.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25But the Count grew concerned
0:00:25 > 0:00:30because his wife always left church before Mass was celebrated.
0:00:32 > 0:00:33BELL TOLLS
0:00:33 > 0:00:34WIND WHISTLES
0:00:34 > 0:00:37One day he ordered his knights to stop her.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45But she pulled free and flew out through a window.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54The Countess of Anjou was never seen again.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57BELL TOLLS
0:00:57 > 0:01:02According to this legend, all 15 Plantagenet kings of England
0:01:02 > 0:01:05were descended from the demon Countess of Anjou.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07Her blood flowed in their veins.
0:01:07 > 0:01:08And over the centuries,
0:01:08 > 0:01:11this provided an explanation for the fierce temper,
0:01:11 > 0:01:16the bloody family feuds and the brutality of the Plantagenets.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Richard the Lionheart himself once declared defiantly,
0:01:19 > 0:01:23"From the Devil we came, and to the Devil we will go."
0:01:28 > 0:01:33In the medieval world, all politics was family politics,
0:01:33 > 0:01:39and the Plantagenet family dominated England for more than 300 years
0:01:39 > 0:01:43through some of the nation's most famous and infamous kings.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49King John. Henry V.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51Richard III.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56They were driven by dynastic ambition,
0:01:56 > 0:02:00striving to expand their power beyond their French homeland.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03In the process, the culture
0:02:03 > 0:02:06and politics of the British Isles were transformed...
0:02:07 > 0:02:11..England's distinctive system of justice was established,
0:02:11 > 0:02:13Parliament was born
0:02:13 > 0:02:17and the great Gothic cathedrals transformed the landscape.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25The Plantagenets developed
0:02:25 > 0:02:29a new style of warfare in their attempt to claim Scotland.
0:02:30 > 0:02:31They conquered Wales...
0:02:33 > 0:02:34..and half of Ireland.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41And their great royal castles hammered home their power.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46When the Plantagenets won the kingdom of England,
0:02:46 > 0:02:48it was shattered and lawless.
0:02:48 > 0:02:49Under their rule,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53it was transformed into one of the best governed states in Christendom.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58But their story is one of intrigue, conflict and violence.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01They fought their enemies but also turned on each other -
0:03:01 > 0:03:04sons made war on fathers, brothers betrayed brothers,
0:03:04 > 0:03:07powerful queens conspired.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10The future of Western Europe would be shaped by
0:03:10 > 0:03:14this extraordinary dynasty, this Devil's brood.
0:03:14 > 0:03:15BELL TOLLS
0:03:35 > 0:03:40The story of England's longest reigning dynasty begins here,
0:03:40 > 0:03:43in Anjou, western France.
0:03:44 > 0:03:4812th-century France was dominated by its great barons
0:03:48 > 0:03:49rather than by its nominal king.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54And these fertile farmlands of the Loire Valley
0:03:54 > 0:03:57were the domain of the Count of Anjou.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03In 1128, an enraged Princess arrived here.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06Her name was Matilda and she was the only surviving
0:04:06 > 0:04:10legitimate child of King Henry I of England, and his acknowledged heir.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14Her father had commanded her to marry a 15-year-old boy,
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Geoffrey, the oldest son of the Count of Anjou.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19Matilda was outraged.
0:04:19 > 0:04:20She was 26 years old,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23she was the granddaughter of William the Conqueror,
0:04:23 > 0:04:26she was the widow of the mighty Holy Roman Emperor.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28She always called herself "Empress".
0:04:28 > 0:04:31Geoffrey was the heir of a mere count.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38Matilda was notoriously wilful.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42But in the selection of a husband she had no say.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48Princesses were a powerful tool used by Europe's medieval dynasties
0:04:48 > 0:04:51to expand their territories.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54King Henry hoped that the arranged marriage at Le Mans Cathedral
0:04:54 > 0:04:57would produce a male heir,
0:04:57 > 0:05:01who would ultimately become Count of Anjou,
0:05:01 > 0:05:03Duke of Normandy
0:05:03 > 0:05:07and King of England.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11Things didn't go according to plan.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15Both Geoffrey and Matilda were proud and quarrelsome people,
0:05:15 > 0:05:18and, after a tumultuous year, they separated.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21But this was, above all, a political union
0:05:21 > 0:05:24and a reconciliation was soon imposed.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Matilda rejoined her teenage husband and performed her royal duty,
0:05:28 > 0:05:31giving him three sons in three years.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34This ended any doubts about the succession
0:05:34 > 0:05:38and also laid the foundations of a powerful new dynasty.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47Le Mans Museum contains
0:05:47 > 0:05:50the only surviving image of Geoffrey of Anjou.
0:05:52 > 0:05:53It once adorned his tomb.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02This plaque contains one of the earliest examples of heraldry -
0:06:02 > 0:06:05that system of vivid symbols through which the ruling families
0:06:05 > 0:06:10of Europe were beginning to proclaim their dynastic pride.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13The distinctive pattern of blue and white
0:06:13 > 0:06:15on the inside of Geoffrey's cloak is called "vair",
0:06:15 > 0:06:19representing the winter pelt of squirrels.
0:06:19 > 0:06:20And the golden lions on his shield
0:06:20 > 0:06:24were adopted by his descendants as the royal coat of arms
0:06:24 > 0:06:25and, ultimately,
0:06:25 > 0:06:30became one of the most familiar national symbols of England.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35Geoffrey was an energetic, intelligent man
0:06:35 > 0:06:37with golden-red hair.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40By all accounts he was handsome,
0:06:40 > 0:06:42and known as "Geoffrey the Fair".
0:06:44 > 0:06:47But he also had another name.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51It comes from the Latin for the broom plant.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54Planta genista.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Plantagenet.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02No-one knows for certain why Geoffrey was called Plantagenet.
0:07:02 > 0:07:03One theory is that it's because
0:07:03 > 0:07:05he wore a sprig of the plant in his hat.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07But in any case,
0:07:07 > 0:07:09for over 300 years none of his descendants bore the name.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Kings don't need surnames.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15But it's proved a useful label for historians to describe
0:07:15 > 0:07:19that long line of monarchs who descended from Matilda
0:07:19 > 0:07:21and the young Geoffrey of Anjou.
0:07:24 > 0:07:2815 Plantagenets would be crowned kings of England,
0:07:28 > 0:07:30but they had to fight to win the throne.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35Henry I had named Matilda his heir.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39But when he died in 1135,
0:07:39 > 0:07:44the English throne was seized by Matilda's cousin - Stephen.
0:07:51 > 0:07:52The Plantagenets fought back.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55Geoffrey led a successful invasion of Normandy,
0:07:55 > 0:07:57which had been part of Henry I's dominions,
0:07:57 > 0:08:01while Matilda crossed the Channel to claim her crown.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04This started almost two decades of civil war.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07Government virtually collapsed and England descended
0:08:07 > 0:08:11into a period of bloody conflict, often called simply "The Anarchy".
0:08:17 > 0:08:19The Peterborough Chronicle describes England's fate
0:08:19 > 0:08:23as the Plantagenets fought to secure their birthright.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27"God and his saints slept.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32"Every powerful man built his castle and filled it with devils
0:08:32 > 0:08:34"and evil men.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41"They grievously oppressed the wretched people of the land.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44"They tortured them for their gold.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51"And when the people had no more to give, they plundered and burned."
0:08:59 > 0:09:03In the winter of 1142, the war turned against Matilda.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07Her cousin Stephen besieged her here in Oxford Castle.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10Her garrison held out for three months,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13but with their supplies running low, they were close to surrender.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21One wintry night, Matilda wrapped herself in a white cloak.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27Camouflaged against the heavy snow, she slipped out of a side gate.
0:09:29 > 0:09:34She crossed the frozen river in front of the castle
0:09:34 > 0:09:39and managed to pass unseen through the ranks of Stephen's army.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44Matilda trudged for seven miles through the frigid night.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49She eventually made it to the safety of Wallingford Castle.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Now she was free to continue her struggle.
0:09:52 > 0:09:57For another decade, civil war ravaged England.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59The fighting could only be brought to a stop
0:09:59 > 0:10:01when her eldest son came of age -
0:10:01 > 0:10:05a mail heir, a direct descendant of Henry I.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Matilda's son, Henry, was a charismatic young man
0:10:13 > 0:10:16who'd inherited Matilda's determination and temper...
0:10:18 > 0:10:20..along with Geoffrey Plantagenet's red hair,
0:10:20 > 0:10:23intelligence and boundless energy.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29Henry also inherited his parents' claims to the English throne
0:10:29 > 0:10:31and much of northern France.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35As a young man, he was granted Normandy.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39Later, he inherited Anjou.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44He then expanded Plantagenet territory again,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47through a profitable and unexpected marriage.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54This is the great hall of the ducal palace in Poitiers,
0:10:54 > 0:10:58home of the court of Aquitaine - that vast and wealthy principality
0:10:58 > 0:11:01that encompassed a quarter of the French lands.
0:11:02 > 0:11:03The Duke had an only child,
0:11:03 > 0:11:07a beautiful and well-educated daughter called Eleanor.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12When she was about 15, her father died unexpectedly.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17Eleanor of Aquitaine was now the greatest catch in Europe.
0:11:20 > 0:11:25The King of France, Louis VII, snatched the prize.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29But Louis couldn't hold on to Eleanor or Aquitaine.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33The King was a pious man,
0:11:33 > 0:11:37but his new queen was ambitious and worldly.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Eleanor once said, "I've married a monk not a monarch."
0:11:47 > 0:11:48And there was another problem.
0:11:48 > 0:11:49THUNDER RUMBLES
0:11:49 > 0:11:52The French king needed a son
0:11:52 > 0:11:56and Eleanor gave birth only to girls.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59After 15 years and two daughters,
0:11:59 > 0:12:02Louis persuaded the Church to declare the marriage void.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04THUNDER RUMBLES
0:12:07 > 0:12:09The great heiress was once again available.
0:12:09 > 0:12:14Suitors circled, eager to obtain her hand and her lands.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18But Eleanor was headstrong and independent.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20She was determined to marry the man
0:12:20 > 0:12:23who could help her fulfil her own dynastic ambitions -
0:12:23 > 0:12:24Henry Plantagenet.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36Eleanor sent word to Henry to meet her in Aquitaine.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41As she made her way there from Paris, Eleanor had to evade
0:12:41 > 0:12:46kidnappers, who wanted to marry her forcibly and lay claim to her lands.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58CHORISTER SINGING
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Henry and Eleanor married in a hastily arranged ceremony
0:13:03 > 0:13:05in Poitiers Cathedral.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09This was a scandalous marriage.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14Henry was 19, Eleanor around 30.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16And Eleanor's union with the King of France
0:13:16 > 0:13:19had been annulled only two months earlier.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25The French king had been outmanoeuvred by his ex-queen
0:13:25 > 0:13:27and Henry Plantagenet.
0:13:27 > 0:13:32He was humiliated by the scandal and he'd also lost half his territories.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36By inheritance, by conquest, and now by marriage,
0:13:36 > 0:13:40Henry had built up an enormous conglomeration of lands in France,
0:13:40 > 0:13:42and soon he and Eleanor would have four sons
0:13:42 > 0:13:45to secure the future of the dynasty.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49But the French king never forgave the Plantagenet upstart.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54CHORISTER SINGING
0:13:54 > 0:13:58The Plantagenets were still fighting for their birthright in England,
0:13:58 > 0:14:01but the dynasty was thriving.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08A decade after Henry and Eleanor's wedding,
0:14:08 > 0:14:12this cathedral was completely rebuilt in the new Gothic style
0:14:12 > 0:14:15sweeping across France.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19Structurally stronger, pointed arches
0:14:19 > 0:14:23allowed these dramatic, soaring vaults
0:14:23 > 0:14:25and vast windows.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32Henry and Eleanor graced the new cathedral
0:14:32 > 0:14:35with the gift of this wonderful east window.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38It's one of the oldest stained-glass windows in France.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51The royal couple are themselves depicted on it,
0:14:51 > 0:14:54along with their four sons, presenting their gift to God.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06It proclaims the piety of the Plantagenet dynasty
0:15:06 > 0:15:08and their family solidarity.
0:15:15 > 0:15:21Henry now set his sights on winning the greatest prize of all -
0:15:21 > 0:15:22the English crown.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37Crossing the Channel with a small army,
0:15:37 > 0:15:42Henry found England devastated by nearly two decades of the civil war
0:15:42 > 0:15:45between Stephen and Matilda's supporters.
0:15:49 > 0:15:54His arrival persuaded many barons to join the Plantagenet cause.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01Henry's and Stephen's armies confronted one another
0:16:01 > 0:16:03here at Wallingford Castle.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05These few mounds and walls are all that
0:16:05 > 0:16:08remain of one of the mightiest fortresses of medieval England.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12Stephen was besieging the castle
0:16:12 > 0:16:16and Henry had come to relieve Matilda's loyal forces.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18The armies faced one another across the river.
0:16:19 > 0:16:24A contemporary chronicle describes what happened next.
0:16:29 > 0:16:35"It was a terrible thing to see so many armed men with drawn swords,
0:16:35 > 0:16:38"ready to kill their relatives and fellow countrymen.
0:16:44 > 0:16:49"And so the chief men on each side shrank in horror from civil war...
0:16:51 > 0:16:54"..and the destruction of their kingdom."
0:17:02 > 0:17:04Because the two armies refused to fight,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07Stephen and Henry were forced to talk.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10According to the chronicles, they met outside the castle,
0:17:10 > 0:17:13one on either side of the stream.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17And eventually they came to an agreement.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20King Stephen would continue to rule,
0:17:20 > 0:17:22but he recognised Henry as his lawful heir.
0:17:24 > 0:17:25The very next year,
0:17:25 > 0:17:30Stephen was seized by a terrible pain in the gut and a flow of blood.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34The King was dead.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37The negotiations that began here would lead to more than three
0:17:37 > 0:17:40centuries of Plantagenet rule in England.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48On 19th December, 1154,
0:17:48 > 0:17:52Henry II became the first Plantagenet King of England.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00This French-speaking monarch now ruled a vast empire that
0:18:00 > 0:18:02stretched from the Scottish Borders...
0:18:05 > 0:18:07..to the Pyrenees.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17Henry's first priority was to restore peace and order.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26He tore down hundreds of the barons' castles.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33Then, to extend Plantagenet power across the country,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36Henry turned to the law.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44This manuscript, which is more than 800 years old,
0:18:44 > 0:18:48is one of the treasures of Balliol College, Oxford.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50It contains a text known as Glanvill,
0:18:50 > 0:18:54the earliest guide to the workings of the English law.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57It was written during the reign of Henry II
0:18:57 > 0:19:00and is one of the foundations of the English legal system.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02These are its opening words.
0:19:03 > 0:19:08"Royal power should not only be adorned with arms to fight rebels
0:19:08 > 0:19:13"and hostile peoples, but also with laws to rule its subjects in peace."
0:19:15 > 0:19:18Henry inherited a complex judicial system,
0:19:18 > 0:19:22where cases could be heard in a variety of local courts.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25In order to concentrate power in his own hands,
0:19:25 > 0:19:30Henry introduced swift and consistent royal justice,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33as set out here in Glanvill.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39Henry established central courts at Westminster,
0:19:39 > 0:19:43and sent newly-appointed royal justices on a circuit
0:19:43 > 0:19:44around the country.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49These circuit judges would meet regularly
0:19:49 > 0:19:53and agree to follow one another's decisions,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56thus ensuring common practice throughout England.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03A distinct method of law-making emerged.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07Laws now evolved through precedent as well as royal decree.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14Disputes over land were important in this agricultural society.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18Traditionally, they'd been determined by trial by battle,
0:20:18 > 0:20:22in which opponents exchanged blows to resolve the issue.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27Only the King could summon a body of men to give a verdict on oath,
0:20:27 > 0:20:31so royal justice could offer a new, non-violent, alternative,
0:20:31 > 0:20:35something not available in the baronial courts - trial by jury.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41"Every free man can retain his right in his tenement
0:20:41 > 0:20:45"and avoid the doubtful outcome of a duel.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47"When the 12 knights have been chosen,
0:20:47 > 0:20:49"they are to be summoned to come to court
0:20:49 > 0:20:54"to swear on oath which party has the greater right."
0:20:54 > 0:20:58This legal revolution was motivated by Henry's royal
0:20:58 > 0:21:00and dynastic ambitions,
0:21:00 > 0:21:03but it laid the foundations for the common law,
0:21:03 > 0:21:06the system that still governs legal practice
0:21:06 > 0:21:11and procedure in England and in the United States to this day.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16Henry's imposition of Plantagenet control
0:21:16 > 0:21:19alienated many English barons.
0:21:19 > 0:21:24It also provoked a power struggle between Crown and Church.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30It came to a head in a bitter conflict between Henry
0:21:30 > 0:21:33and one of his most loyal friends -
0:21:33 > 0:21:35Thomas Becket.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40Becket was the son of a London merchant who'd enjoyed
0:21:40 > 0:21:42an extraordinary rise to power.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45Henry had made him his chancellor, in charge of the day-to-day running
0:21:45 > 0:21:47of the government on the King's behalf,
0:21:47 > 0:21:50and he'd acquired enormous wealth.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52While Henry disdained luxury and pageantry,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55his chancellor revelled in it.
0:21:55 > 0:21:56But the two were close friends.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59William Fitzstephen, who later served as Becket's clerk,
0:21:59 > 0:22:04says that the two of them hunted, joked and played together like boys.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13The unexpected reverse in the friendship came in 1162,
0:22:13 > 0:22:17following the death of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
0:22:19 > 0:22:25The King was convinced that Becket would make an ideal replacement,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28someone who would support him in curtailing the judicial
0:22:28 > 0:22:30powers of the Church.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35Once Becket was in office, he immediately resigned
0:22:35 > 0:22:39as chancellor and devoted himself to the interests of the Church.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43The two of them soon clashed over the proper limits of priestly power.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47Becket supported the Church's view that the clergy should not be
0:22:47 > 0:22:50subject to King Henry's royal courts,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53but should be tried in special church courts where the worst
0:22:53 > 0:22:57punishment, even for rape or murder, was expulsion from the clergy.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05Becket refused to compromise.
0:23:05 > 0:23:10In fear of the King's wrath, he spent six years exiled in France.
0:23:13 > 0:23:18In 1170, he reached a form of reconciliation with the King
0:23:18 > 0:23:20and came home.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24But from the pulpit in Canterbury, he immediately began to
0:23:24 > 0:23:27excommunicate all who had crossed him.
0:23:30 > 0:23:35This news provoked an outburst of demonic Plantagenet fury.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39"I have brought up and raised some feeble, wretched men in my kingdom
0:23:39 > 0:23:40"who are not loyal to their Lord.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42"Whom they allow to be mocked
0:23:42 > 0:23:46"so shamefully by some low-born clergyman."
0:23:46 > 0:23:49Legend has simplified King Henry's words into,
0:23:49 > 0:23:51"Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?"
0:23:56 > 0:24:00Four knights decided they understood the King's wish.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07In Canterbury, they found Becket eating in the Bishop's Palace.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11Harsh words were exchanged.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16The Archbishop then made his way through these cloisters
0:24:16 > 0:24:18and into the cathedral.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30The four found Becket here, in the north transept.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32They attempted to drag him back outside,
0:24:32 > 0:24:34but the Archbishop clung to a pillar,
0:24:34 > 0:24:37calling them pimps and madmen. They struck out.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46The first blows felled Becket.
0:24:46 > 0:24:47Then one of the knights hit him
0:24:47 > 0:24:50with such force that he sliced off the top of his head.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56The sword itself shattered on the paving stones.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04The knights spread Becket's brains on the floor and ran off,
0:25:04 > 0:25:07one of them calling out, "This one won't rise again."
0:25:29 > 0:25:32Within days, stories began to circulate that Becket's
0:25:32 > 0:25:35blood had miraculous powers.
0:25:37 > 0:25:42Soon people with fevers, tumours, swollen legs,
0:25:42 > 0:25:47were being cured by a single drop.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50The Pope declared Becket a saint.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01Pilgrims came here in their thousands.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04They purchased little badges or tokens, like this one,
0:26:04 > 0:26:06and they would take these home and wear them
0:26:06 > 0:26:08on their clothes or on their hats.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13Or they might acquire flasks, like this,
0:26:13 > 0:26:17containing a tiny drop of Becket's blood diluted in water.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21And they would wear them around their necks for protection or
0:26:21 > 0:26:24even drink the water in the hope of a miraculous cure.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31These objects show that Becket was more successful in death than
0:26:31 > 0:26:32he had been in life.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Henry's expansion of Plantagenet power had turned many
0:26:51 > 0:26:53nobles against him,
0:26:53 > 0:26:57and Becket's murder shattered his reputation in France.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06Henry struggled to hold his sprawling empire together.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10He had limitless energy and was never in the same place for long.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12King Louis of France once said of him,
0:27:12 > 0:27:14"Now in England. Now in Normandy.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18"He must fly rather than travel by boat or horse."
0:27:18 > 0:27:20The French king was always eager to stir up
0:27:20 > 0:27:22dissension in the Plantagenet family.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26He was still furious about Eleanor's marriage to Henry.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29Complicating matters was Eleanor herself.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32She may have been Henry's queen, but she was not always his ally.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39In fact, the greatest threat to Henry
0:27:39 > 0:27:42came from his own wife and children.
0:27:47 > 0:27:52Henry and Eleanor had three daughters and five sons together.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55Four of the boys lived to adulthood.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58Henry,
0:27:58 > 0:27:59Richard,
0:27:59 > 0:28:00Geoffrey,
0:28:00 > 0:28:03and the youngest, and the King's favourite, John.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10After John's birth, Eleanor moved back to Aquitaine.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15She insisted her favourite son, Richard, be made Duke.
0:28:16 > 0:28:21Her scheme was to rule her homeland in his name.
0:28:21 > 0:28:26But Henry frustrated Eleanor and his teenage son.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32Plantagenet sons were impatient to exercise real power.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36They had been brought up to command, trained in deadly warfare,
0:28:36 > 0:28:40their political marriages often arranged in infancy.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43At the age of 20, Henry himself ruled of half of France
0:28:43 > 0:28:46and had been promised the throne of England.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48His sons were equally ambitious.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Henry and Eleanor's eldest son, Henry the Younger,
0:28:56 > 0:29:00sparked the first great Plantagenet family implosion.
0:29:01 > 0:29:06His father had agreed to let him be crowned joint King of England,
0:29:06 > 0:29:10but refused to trust him with any authority or independent income.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15Encouraged by Louis of France,
0:29:15 > 0:29:18young Henry raised a rebellion against his father.
0:29:20 > 0:29:24His younger brothers, Richard and Geoffrey, also joined the revolt.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31They were supported by disaffected French counts,
0:29:31 > 0:29:33and some of England's most powerful barons.
0:29:36 > 0:29:38Then Eleanor joined the fray.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45Medieval kings often face rebellious sons.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49A rebellious queen was less common and more shocking.
0:29:49 > 0:29:50So, when Eleanor was caught
0:29:50 > 0:29:53attempting to cross France to join her sons,
0:29:53 > 0:29:56Henry regarded this as the greatest betrayal of all.
0:29:56 > 0:29:58Perhaps even more shocking was the fact
0:29:58 > 0:30:00that she was disguised as a man.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17This is the ancient chapel of St Radegund...
0:30:19 > 0:30:21..carved into the cliffs
0:30:21 > 0:30:24below the Plantagenet fortress of Chinon in Anjou.
0:30:26 > 0:30:29It's been a place of worship since Roman times.
0:30:33 > 0:30:37In 1964, this 12th-century fresco
0:30:37 > 0:30:40was discovered under centuries of grime.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47It's widely agreed that they are the Plantagenets,
0:30:47 > 0:30:49and it could be significant that their cloaks have
0:30:49 > 0:30:51the same blue-and-white lining as we find
0:30:51 > 0:30:54on Geoffrey Plantagenet's funerary plaque.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56But it's not quite certain who they are.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59It could be Henry II and his four sons.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02The first crowned figure being Henry II
0:31:02 > 0:31:05and the other crowned figure being Henry, the young king,
0:31:05 > 0:31:07who was the only son of an English king
0:31:07 > 0:31:09to be crowned in his father's lifetime.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13But one scholar claims to see Eleanor of Aquitaine
0:31:13 > 0:31:15being led off into captivity in England...
0:31:17 > 0:31:20..where she was, in fact, held a prisoner by her husband
0:31:20 > 0:31:22for the next 16 years.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31GATE RATTLES
0:31:39 > 0:31:42With his formidable wife imprisoned in England,
0:31:42 > 0:31:45Henry did battle with the French king, the rebel barons
0:31:45 > 0:31:49and his own sons for 18 months.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54The rebels claimed that Thomas Becket,
0:31:54 > 0:31:56the new martyr, was on their side,
0:31:56 > 0:31:59and Henry sought to ward off the martyr's anger
0:31:59 > 0:32:02by a remarkable act of public atonement for the murder.
0:32:02 > 0:32:03At the height of the rebellion,
0:32:03 > 0:32:07the proud Plantagenet king came to Canterbury.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11Here, at the Westgate, he dismounted, removed his shoes
0:32:11 > 0:32:14and walked barefoot through the crowded streets.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29Henry made his way to the shrine of his murdered friend.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33He removed his cloak to reveal a hair shirt
0:32:33 > 0:32:38and submitted to being beaten bloody by the bishops and monks.
0:32:38 > 0:32:39BELL TOLLS
0:32:39 > 0:32:40WHIP CRACKS
0:32:44 > 0:32:48He spent the night prostrate on the bare stone floor.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53Henry's salvation came quickly.
0:32:53 > 0:32:58The very next day, his troops won a stunning victory over his enemies
0:32:58 > 0:33:00and soon they were all brought to submission.
0:33:00 > 0:33:04But Henry had been forced to abase himself before the clergy
0:33:04 > 0:33:07and recognise the authority of the Church.
0:33:07 > 0:33:11Tension between monarchy and church was never fully resolved.
0:33:11 > 0:33:13But the Plantagenet settlement with the Pope
0:33:13 > 0:33:15held for the next 350 years.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22There was no settlement between the Plantagenets
0:33:22 > 0:33:27and the French monarchy, despite a new king, Philip, taking the throne.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31He encouraged Henry the Younger and his brother Geoffrey
0:33:31 > 0:33:33to rebel again.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39This time, they attacked their brother Richard's Duchy of Aquitaine
0:33:39 > 0:33:42and occupied the city of Limoges.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50Henry II marched on the city
0:33:50 > 0:33:54and rode up to the walls, hoping to reason with his sons.
0:34:04 > 0:34:09Henry the Younger ordered archers to fire on his own father.
0:34:11 > 0:34:14An arrow narrowly missed the King.
0:34:20 > 0:34:25A few months later, young Henry was struck down with dysentery.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28To fight against your father, and against the King, was a sin
0:34:28 > 0:34:31and Henry believed that his illness was divine retribution.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36As an act of penance, he gave away all his possessions.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39He lay on a bed of ashes, dressed in a hair shirt,
0:34:39 > 0:34:42with a noose around his neck like a common criminal.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46Young King Henry died with nothing but the sapphire ring
0:34:46 > 0:34:50his father had sent him as a token of forgiveness.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53When he heard of the death of his eldest son,
0:34:53 > 0:34:55old King Henry said,
0:34:55 > 0:35:00"He cost me much, but I wish he lived to cost me more."
0:35:04 > 0:35:08Now it was Richard's turn to betray his father.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13And once again, the French king was the family traitor's ally.
0:35:16 > 0:35:21The two spent the summer pursuing the ageing Henry around France.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28They eventually besieged him here, in his birthplace, Le Mans.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37In order to deny his assailant supplies and a base,
0:35:37 > 0:35:40Henry ordered that the suburbs outside the city walls
0:35:40 > 0:35:44should be put to the torch, but the wind changed and the flames
0:35:44 > 0:35:47leapt over these ancient Roman walls into the city itself.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52Henry was forced to abandon Le Mans.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57Ill and exhausted, he had to submit to his treacherous son.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01But as he gave Richard the kiss of peace, he whispered in his ear,
0:36:01 > 0:36:06"God grant that I do not die until I have avenged myself on you."
0:36:16 > 0:36:21Too sick to walk, Henry was carried here to Chinon Castle.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26He was shown a list of those who had rebelled against him.
0:36:28 > 0:36:33At its head was the name of his youngest and favourite son.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38"Is it true," he said, "that John, my heart, whom I've loved
0:36:38 > 0:36:41"more than all my other sons, has abandoned me?"
0:36:42 > 0:36:47On 6th July, 1189, betrayed by his wife and every son,
0:36:47 > 0:36:51Henry, the first Plantagenet King of England, died.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53His last words are said to have been,
0:36:53 > 0:36:56"Shame, shame on a conquered king."
0:36:57 > 0:36:59BELLS TOLL
0:37:02 > 0:37:04The King of England's body was buried here
0:37:04 > 0:37:07in the Abbey of Fontevraud in Anjou.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12CHORAL SINGING
0:37:20 > 0:37:24The Plantagenets' future now lay in the hands of Richard...
0:37:25 > 0:37:28..a dynamic and bloodthirsty warrior.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37One of Richard's courtiers said he was furious in arms,
0:37:37 > 0:37:40rejoicing to travel only on bloodstained roads.
0:37:41 > 0:37:46But when he arrived here, to stand vigil over his dead father's body,
0:37:46 > 0:37:50he is said to have wept bitterly over the king he had betrayed.
0:37:51 > 0:37:55As he did so, blood began to pour from the dead king's nostrils.
0:37:56 > 0:37:58According to medieval beliefs,
0:37:58 > 0:38:02this was sure sign of the presence of a murderer.
0:38:05 > 0:38:07The traitorous son would become
0:38:07 > 0:38:10the great English hero Richard the Lionheart.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14But he could speak barely a word of English.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19He visited his kingdom only briefly for his coronation
0:38:19 > 0:38:21and, in the ten years of his reign,
0:38:21 > 0:38:23spent only six months in the country.
0:38:26 > 0:38:30The moment he became king, Richard had his mother, Eleanor,
0:38:30 > 0:38:34released from captivity and made regent of England.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40Richard, the favourite son, bestowed on his mother
0:38:40 > 0:38:43the power of doing whatever she wished in the kingdom.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47He himself regarded England primarily as a source of money
0:38:47 > 0:38:51to fund his wars to assert Plantagenet power in France
0:38:51 > 0:38:54or to win glory and spiritual merit on crusade.
0:38:54 > 0:38:59He once said, "I would sell London if I could find a buyer."
0:38:59 > 0:39:01BELLS RING
0:39:04 > 0:39:07Europe had been gripped by crusading fever
0:39:07 > 0:39:12since Jerusalem had fallen to Saladin's Muslim forces.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14The prestige of reclaiming the holy city
0:39:14 > 0:39:18was irresistibly appealing to the warlike new king.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23Philip of France also vowed to go on crusade.
0:39:25 > 0:39:30The two kings arranged to meet here, at Vezelay Abbey in Burgundy.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35The chronicle of the Third Crusade
0:39:35 > 0:39:37describes how these hills and valleys
0:39:37 > 0:39:41were filled with the tents and pavilions of two vast armies.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43It looked like a new city.
0:39:49 > 0:39:53Richard and Philip spent two days here planning the campaign.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59They considered their crusade an armed pilgrimage.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03Their hardships would earn them absolution for their sins.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12They swore a sacred oath agreeing to divide the spoils of war equally.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19The two great pilgrim armies then set out for the Holy Land.
0:40:22 > 0:40:27But on the way, the grand alliance forged here turned sour.
0:40:33 > 0:40:37In Sicily, Richard caused outrage by reneging
0:40:37 > 0:40:40on a childhood betrothal to the French king's sister.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44The old feud between the Plantagenets
0:40:44 > 0:40:48and the French monarchy was reignited.
0:40:48 > 0:40:53The armies then made their way separately to the Holy Land.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56Philip arrived first and joined a Christian siege
0:40:56 > 0:41:00of the strategically crucial port of Acre.
0:41:02 > 0:41:06The Plantagenet army arrived seven weeks later.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08Richard immediately assumed command
0:41:08 > 0:41:11and re-energised the faltering assault.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18Richard already had a reputation for ferocity
0:41:18 > 0:41:21and his name struck fear into the Muslims.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23"The King of England was a very powerful man,"
0:41:23 > 0:41:27wrote one of Saladin's officials, "A man of great spirit and courage."
0:41:27 > 0:41:32He'd fought many great battles and had a burning passion for war.
0:41:32 > 0:41:34Muslim mothers told their children,
0:41:34 > 0:41:36"Be good, or the King of England will get you."
0:41:37 > 0:41:39Within two months of his arrival,
0:41:39 > 0:41:43the city that had held out for two years surrendered.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51Once again, a French king was humiliated by a Plantagenet.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56Announcing his crusade complete, Philip returned to France.
0:41:59 > 0:42:00Richard fought on.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04But his arrogance turned many allies into enemies.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09After 18 months, Richard headed home,
0:42:09 > 0:42:15but en route, was captured and imprisoned by the Duke of Austria,
0:42:15 > 0:42:18one of the enemies he had made in the Holy Land.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27The Plantagenet empire was left in the hands of his mother
0:42:27 > 0:42:29and his younger brother John.
0:42:32 > 0:42:34It had always been difficult
0:42:34 > 0:42:37to fit the youngest Plantagenet son into the family plans.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40There had been no territories left to award John
0:42:40 > 0:42:44and he'd been nicknamed Lackland.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47Henry had finally managed to make him Lord of Ireland.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53But John wanted the English crown.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57He began plotting with Philip of France.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03In exchange for his backing, John agreed to hand him
0:43:03 > 0:43:06the strategically vital Vexin region,
0:43:06 > 0:43:09guarded by this great border fortress of Gisors.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11Gisors protected the gateway
0:43:11 > 0:43:14between the lands of the King of France in that direction,
0:43:14 > 0:43:17which began just beyond the castle walls,
0:43:17 > 0:43:20and Plantagenet Normandy with its capital at Rouen
0:43:20 > 0:43:23just a day's ride away in that direction.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26John was making a terrible mistake.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28By agreeing to surrender the Vexin,
0:43:28 > 0:43:31he was leaving Normandy defenceless.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36John and Philip did their best
0:43:36 > 0:43:39to make sure Richard stayed in his prison.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45But Eleanor was doing all she could to free her favourite son.
0:43:47 > 0:43:51Eventually, Eleanor managed to raise the enormous ransom,
0:43:51 > 0:43:5634 tons of silver, a king's ransom indeed.
0:43:56 > 0:43:58Philip sent John word -
0:43:58 > 0:44:01"Beware! The devil is loosed!"
0:44:06 > 0:44:09On Richard's return, John was forced to submit.
0:44:09 > 0:44:13Richard then set about re-conquering what John had lost.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18In 1197, Richard confronted Philip's army
0:44:18 > 0:44:20before the walls of Gisors.
0:44:25 > 0:44:27Richard is said to have ridden at the French
0:44:27 > 0:44:32just as a raving lion starved of food runs on his prey.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36As they fled, Philip and his knights crowded onto the bridge at Gisors
0:44:36 > 0:44:41in such numbers that it collapsed. 20 knights drowned.
0:44:41 > 0:44:43King Philip was dragged out alive,
0:44:43 > 0:44:46but was said to have "drunk of the river".
0:44:46 > 0:44:49Richard had Philip on the run.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59Richard had survived many savage campaigns far from home.
0:45:02 > 0:45:06But in the spring of 1199, his luck ran out.
0:45:13 > 0:45:18While laying siege to the castle of a rebellious baron in Aquitaine,
0:45:18 > 0:45:21he was struck by a crossbow bolt.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30Returning to his tent, he broke off the shaft,
0:45:30 > 0:45:35but the head was too deeply embedded in his shoulder. The wound festered.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38Richard wrote a last letter to his mother Eleanor
0:45:38 > 0:45:42asking her to come to him, but it was too late.
0:45:42 > 0:45:47His body was buried alongside his father in the abbey of Fontevraud.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50The heart of the lion, said to be "of great size",
0:45:50 > 0:45:53was interred in the Norman capital, Rouen.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04John was now the only surviving son of Henry and Eleanor.
0:46:06 > 0:46:10His older brother Geoffrey had died in 1186.
0:46:11 > 0:46:15But just as the English crown seemed in his grasp,
0:46:15 > 0:46:18he faced another contender for the throne,
0:46:18 > 0:46:22Geoffrey's teenage son Arthur.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27John quickly secured his coronation at Westminster.
0:46:27 > 0:46:32But yet again, the French king provoked a Plantagenet family feud
0:46:32 > 0:46:35by supporting Arthur's claim to the English crown.
0:46:37 > 0:46:42Wicked uncles are a common feature of medieval dynastic politics.
0:46:42 > 0:46:45Like John, they're usually younger brothers.
0:46:45 > 0:46:47They watch from the sidelines
0:46:47 > 0:46:51as an older brother attains the exalted position of king.
0:46:51 > 0:46:53But if that brother dies,
0:46:53 > 0:46:55it's understandable that they might think,
0:46:55 > 0:46:58"I could tolerate being subordinate to my older brother,
0:46:58 > 0:47:01"but not to my snotty-nosed nephew."
0:47:01 > 0:47:04And in this violent world, it's not surprising
0:47:04 > 0:47:09if the uncle sometimes decides that the nephew must be eliminated.
0:47:14 > 0:47:18In 1202, Arthur led an army into Anjou,
0:47:18 > 0:47:20hoping to capture his grandmother Eleanor.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26The great Plantagenet matriarch was now 80.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33John rushed to Anjou to free her
0:47:33 > 0:47:36and young Arthur was captured.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42No-one is certain what happened to Arthur after that.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46But a contemporary chronicler claims that Arthur's own jailer
0:47:46 > 0:47:48told him of the boy's fate.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50According to him,
0:47:50 > 0:47:53John at first kept his 16-year-old nephew a prisoner,
0:47:53 > 0:47:56but then one night, after dinner,
0:47:56 > 0:47:59when John was "drunk and full of the devil",
0:47:59 > 0:48:03he went to Arthur's cell and killed him with his own hands,
0:48:03 > 0:48:06then tied a huge stone around the corpse
0:48:06 > 0:48:09and tossed it into the River Seine.
0:48:15 > 0:48:17Philip of France refused to make peace with John
0:48:17 > 0:48:21until Arthur was handed over alive.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26He probably knew this was impossible.
0:48:29 > 0:48:34One by one, John lost the Plantagenets' French domains.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38In 1204, Philip conquered Plantagenet Normandy.
0:48:38 > 0:48:44After 300 years, it was now fully part of France once again.
0:48:44 > 0:48:49Soon, all that remained of the Plantagenets' continental empire
0:48:49 > 0:48:54was Gascony, a fragment of Eleanor's great Duchy of Aquitaine.
0:48:57 > 0:49:01Eleanor spent her final years here in Fontevraud Abbey.
0:49:01 > 0:49:03She lived to see her only surviving son, John,
0:49:03 > 0:49:07lose the great European empire she had founded and fought for.
0:49:07 > 0:49:09She died as the French king
0:49:09 > 0:49:12was closing in for his final assault on Normandy.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15She was buried here, alongside Henry,
0:49:15 > 0:49:18the husband she had betrayed,
0:49:18 > 0:49:22and Richard, the son she loved the most.
0:49:30 > 0:49:31With France lost,
0:49:31 > 0:49:34John was determined to tighten his grip on England.
0:49:37 > 0:49:39He dispossessed barons who opposed him,
0:49:39 > 0:49:44and exploited his royal powers to accumulate vast personal wealth.
0:49:48 > 0:49:53Like his father, John also resented Rome's power in his realm,
0:49:53 > 0:49:54and in 1206,
0:49:54 > 0:49:58he refused to accept the Pope's latest choice of Archbishop.
0:50:00 > 0:50:04In retaliation, the Pope deployed his most fearsome weapon.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07The kingdom of England was placed under an interdict.
0:50:07 > 0:50:11This meant that all church services in England were suspended.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14The churches and cathedrals stood empty.
0:50:14 > 0:50:17No baptisms or marriages could take place in church,
0:50:17 > 0:50:19the dead could not be buried in churchyards.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21No church bells were heard in England.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23And this lasted six years.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27For believers in a so-called "age of faith",
0:50:27 > 0:50:30this must have been deeply disturbing.
0:50:30 > 0:50:32But it made John rich.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41John hit back by confiscating the clergy's possessions.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44Here at Lincoln Cathedral, the Bishop received
0:50:44 > 0:50:48a letter from John, informing him that royal custodians would
0:50:48 > 0:50:52seize everything owned by clergy refusing to perform their duties.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00John had a malicious sense of humour.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03He ordered that all the priests' mistresses should be locked up
0:51:03 > 0:51:05and held to ransom.
0:51:05 > 0:51:09The King and the Pope eventually came to terms.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12John would accept the Pope's nominee as Archbishop -
0:51:12 > 0:51:16but he would keep all the money that he'd squeezed out of the Church.
0:51:21 > 0:51:23But John wanted MORE money.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27He was determined to fund an army
0:51:27 > 0:51:30to win back his Plantagenet birthright -
0:51:30 > 0:51:32the territories he had lost in France.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38His English barons didn't share his dynastic ambition,
0:51:38 > 0:51:40and were not enthusiastic.
0:51:41 > 0:51:45But John began to squeeze them dry,
0:51:45 > 0:51:48extracting what he needed through draconian taxes,
0:51:48 > 0:51:53and by exploiting the royal courts his father had established.
0:51:55 > 0:52:00John soon became richer than any English king before him.
0:52:03 > 0:52:05The hostility this provoked was compounded
0:52:05 > 0:52:08by John's reputation for lechery.
0:52:08 > 0:52:10He was accused of sleeping with the wives and daughters
0:52:10 > 0:52:12of his barons.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15He certainly fathered at least half a dozen illegitimate children.
0:52:15 > 0:52:18"He was too covetous of pretty women," wrote one contemporary,
0:52:18 > 0:52:21"and brought terrible shame to the great men of the land.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24"For this, he was much hated."
0:52:27 > 0:52:28John trusted no-one
0:52:28 > 0:52:32and made his barons hand over family members
0:52:32 > 0:52:34as hostages to guarantee their compliance.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39When one of his nobles, William de Braose,
0:52:39 > 0:52:41prepared to give up his sons,
0:52:41 > 0:52:46his wife remembered how the King had treated his own nephew.
0:52:48 > 0:52:50DOOR SLAMS
0:52:51 > 0:52:55William de Braose was the baron who had served as Arthur's jailer.
0:52:55 > 0:52:58His wife shouted at him, "I will not hand over my boys
0:52:58 > 0:53:00"to your lord, King John,
0:53:00 > 0:53:02"because he foully murdered his nephew, Arthur,
0:53:02 > 0:53:05"when he should have kept him in honourable captivity."
0:53:06 > 0:53:08The King's reaction was savage.
0:53:08 > 0:53:10De Braose managed to escape to France but John
0:53:10 > 0:53:14captured his wife and son and imprisoned them.
0:53:14 > 0:53:16He commanded that their food be stopped.
0:53:17 > 0:53:21After 11 days, they were found, starved to death.
0:53:22 > 0:53:24The son's cheeks had been eaten away
0:53:24 > 0:53:27by his ravenous mother.
0:53:27 > 0:53:31Plantagenet cruelty had sunk to new depths.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38John's invasion of France failed.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40In May 1215, many English barons
0:53:40 > 0:53:45renounced their allegiance to him and occupied London.
0:53:46 > 0:53:49They demanded a settlement, liberating the nobility
0:53:49 > 0:53:51from absolute royal power.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59In desperation, John agreed to accept the demands they made.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03The agreement was issued in a charter
0:54:03 > 0:54:05sealed at Runnymede.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10Magna Carta - the great charter -
0:54:10 > 0:54:14is one of the most famous documents in English history.
0:54:17 > 0:54:19Only four copies of the original issue
0:54:19 > 0:54:21are known to survive...
0:54:22 > 0:54:25..including this one, held at Lincoln Castle.
0:54:30 > 0:54:32To secure the Plantagenets on the throne,
0:54:32 > 0:54:36Henry II had concentrated power in the hands of the monarch.
0:54:36 > 0:54:41John's abuse of that power showed the dangers of leaving it unchecked.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44Magna Carta was the barons' response.
0:54:45 > 0:54:47Some of its clauses seem quite mundane,
0:54:47 > 0:54:50like the one fixing the level of death duties.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53But this was a royal power that John had exploited
0:54:53 > 0:54:55for financial gain.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58Other clauses have a more ringing tone.
0:54:59 > 0:55:03"No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, except by the lawful
0:55:03 > 0:55:06"judgment of his peers and by the law of the land.
0:55:07 > 0:55:12"To no-one will we sell, to no-one deny or delay
0:55:12 > 0:55:14"right and justice."
0:55:17 > 0:55:20All the clauses are based on the idea that
0:55:20 > 0:55:22there is a right way of doing things,
0:55:22 > 0:55:25enshrined in Magna Carta as the law of the land.
0:55:25 > 0:55:28The most important thing was that it bound both king
0:55:28 > 0:55:30and subject.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32Plantagenet dynastic ambition
0:55:32 > 0:55:35had provoked a new settlement between the monarchs
0:55:35 > 0:55:37and those they ruled.
0:55:42 > 0:55:45Magna Carta has become an emblem of liberty.
0:55:46 > 0:55:49But at the time it was a complete failure.
0:55:54 > 0:55:58The Pope called it, "Not only shameful and demeaning
0:55:58 > 0:56:01"but also illegal and unjust."
0:56:03 > 0:56:05At John's request, he annulled it.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10Once again, the Plantagenets plunged England
0:56:10 > 0:56:12into civil war.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15Many barons decided they would rather be ruled by
0:56:15 > 0:56:17the French than by John.
0:56:20 > 0:56:22The rebels offered the English throne
0:56:22 > 0:56:26to Prince Louis, son of the Plantagenets' perennial enemy -
0:56:26 > 0:56:28King Philip of France.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31In 1216, Louis landed on the English coast
0:56:31 > 0:56:34and was warmly welcomed by the rebels.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36Some celebrated his arrival
0:56:36 > 0:56:39as liberation from Plantagenet tyranny.
0:56:39 > 0:56:42The madness of slavery is over.
0:56:42 > 0:56:44Days of liberty have arrived.
0:56:44 > 0:56:47Happy days at last, after so many evils.
0:56:51 > 0:56:56In his 17-year reign, John had lost most of the Plantagenet empire.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00Now, the English crown was at stake.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11John led his mercenary army on a rampage,
0:57:11 > 0:57:14attacking rebel-held areas across southern England.
0:57:19 > 0:57:22In King's Lynn, he contracted dysentery
0:57:22 > 0:57:24but refused to rest.
0:57:26 > 0:57:29In October, John took a short cut here
0:57:29 > 0:57:32across the marshes of the Wash.
0:57:35 > 0:57:38The wagons carrying his vast accumulated treasures
0:57:38 > 0:57:41were cut off by the incoming tide.
0:57:44 > 0:57:46As the King looked on helplessly,
0:57:46 > 0:57:49men, horses and the treasure he'd acquired so ruthlessly
0:57:49 > 0:57:52were swallowed up by the quicksands.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56Exhausted and broken, John died three days later.
0:57:57 > 0:58:00In medieval Europe, the destinies of nations
0:58:00 > 0:58:03were determined by the lives and the deaths
0:58:03 > 0:58:04of their ruling dynasties.
0:58:04 > 0:58:08John's death plunged the Plantagenets into crisis.
0:58:09 > 0:58:12His son and heir, Henry, was a nine-year-old boy.
0:58:12 > 0:58:15Half the kingdom that he'd inherited was in the hands
0:58:15 > 0:58:18of the French prince, who was holding court in London.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21The future of the Plantagenet dynasty
0:58:21 > 0:58:23had never looked so bleak.
0:58:29 > 0:58:33In the next programme, The English Empire,
0:58:33 > 0:58:37the resurgent Plantagenets fight to expand their dominion
0:58:37 > 0:58:39across Wales and Scotland...
0:58:40 > 0:58:43..they attempt to win back France...
0:58:45 > 0:58:49..and Parliament is born in a Plantagenet golden age
0:58:49 > 0:58:51of pageants and chivalry.