0:00:19 > 0:00:21Caversham Manor in Berkshire.
0:00:23 > 0:00:24The year is 1219.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30William Marshall is the most powerful knight in the land
0:00:30 > 0:00:32and Regent of England.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37The 11-year-old boy at his bedside
0:00:37 > 0:00:41is the fourth Plantagenet king to rule England -
0:00:41 > 0:00:42Henry III.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50The Plantagenets were a French Dynasty, who ruled England
0:00:50 > 0:00:52and much of France for 50 years.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00But Henry's father, King John, had lost most of their lands in France.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05And when Henry came to the throne at the age of nine,
0:01:05 > 0:01:08half of England was under French occupation.
0:01:10 > 0:01:15William Marshall had sworn to protect the young king.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18"Even if the whole world abandons the boy," he said,
0:01:18 > 0:01:20"I will not fail him."
0:01:23 > 0:01:26William Marshall kept his word. He defeated the French,
0:01:26 > 0:01:30fought off the rebellious English barons, and ensured
0:01:30 > 0:01:33that the young Plantagenet would hold on to his crown.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40But now, William Marshall was dying
0:01:40 > 0:01:44and the fate of the Plantagenets rested on the shoulders of a child.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50Many predicted disaster.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54Instead, something remarkable happened.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02The Plantagenet dynasty not only survived, it grew stronger.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07Under their rule, over the next 150 years,
0:02:07 > 0:02:09medieval England reached its peak.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14Parliament was born
0:02:14 > 0:02:17and a clear sense of national identity emerged.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24Their roots were in France, French was their language,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27but the Plantagenet family helped foster
0:02:27 > 0:02:29a new sense of English nationhood.
0:02:29 > 0:02:34Out of their dynastic ambitions would grow an English empire.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59For the first 50 years of Plantagenet rule,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02the English Channel acted as a bridge,
0:03:02 > 0:03:07connecting the king and his barons to the lands they owned in France.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12But, by the reign of Henry III,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15most of their ancestral homelands in France had been lost.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20The English barons were forced to make a commitment
0:03:20 > 0:03:22to one side of the Channel or the other.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30The kings of England and France
0:03:30 > 0:03:32presented the barons with a stark choice -
0:03:32 > 0:03:36give up their lands in England and do homage to the King of France
0:03:36 > 0:03:38or give up their lands in France
0:03:38 > 0:03:41and swear allegiance to the King of England.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43The Channel was no longer a bridge,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46but a barrier between competing powers.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50Possession of French lands always drove the Plantagenet dynasty
0:03:50 > 0:03:53but, for now, they turned their energies to the country
0:03:53 > 0:03:55they still ruled - to England.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Henry III was not by nature a warrior.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11The Boy King grew up to be a pious ruler,
0:04:11 > 0:04:13devoted to pilgrimage and prayer.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21In 1245, he began rebuilding Westminster Abbey,
0:04:21 > 0:04:24a project that would occupy him for the rest of his life.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32The old Romanesque Basilica
0:04:32 > 0:04:35was replaced with an immense gothic structure.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43This was an architecture of light and sophistication.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47The style was French
0:04:47 > 0:04:50but it was dedicated to the memory of an English king.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59The majesty of Westminster Abbey today
0:04:59 > 0:05:03is the result of Henry III's devotion to Edward the Confessor
0:05:03 > 0:05:05and his desire to glorify him.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09Henry saw Westminster as the centre of the Plantagenet kingdom,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13and in the heart of the abbey itself, he constructed
0:05:13 > 0:05:16an elaborate new shrine to the saintly Anglo-Saxon king.
0:05:26 > 0:05:31Edward the Confessor is the only English king to have been canonised.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38Henry was aligning himself with both God and England.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47Edward's golden coffin sat on base of Purbeck marble.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53These niches were carved for pilgrims to kneel in prayer.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00But the Abbey also served a worldly purpose.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07Henry's piety hadn't extinguished his dynastic ambition.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09He wanted Westminster Abbey
0:06:09 > 0:06:12to rival the great churches of the French Kings.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16His vision of the Abbey was as the place of coronation
0:06:16 > 0:06:19and burial for all future Plantagenet kings.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27Westminster Abbey would be forever associated with Henry,
0:06:27 > 0:06:30as his crowning achievement.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33But Plantagenet ambition came at a price.
0:06:35 > 0:06:40Its rebuilding cost more than twice Henry's annual royal income.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42And he had other expensive plans.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47Like all his predecessors, Henry was determined to expand
0:06:47 > 0:06:50his Plantagenet empire, whatever the cost.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Henry wasn't a warrior king, but he could use
0:06:56 > 0:07:00the revenues of England to add to the Plantagenet dominions.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03The Pope was inviting Henry to purchase the rights
0:07:03 > 0:07:04to the Kingdom of Sicily,
0:07:04 > 0:07:09and he couldn't refuse the chance to add to the family's lands.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12He accepted on behalf of his younger son, Edmund.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14The only snag was the price tag.
0:07:23 > 0:07:24We know what happened next,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27because of a contemporary account of Henry's reign.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36Kept at Corpus Christi College Cambridge is a manuscript
0:07:36 > 0:07:41written and illustrated by a St Albans monk, Matthew Paris.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44It's called the Chronica Majora, The Great Chronicle.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49He tells us Henry agreed to pay the Pope
0:07:49 > 0:07:51three times his annual income,
0:07:51 > 0:07:55for the chance to secure Sicily as a Plantagenet land.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59It was a huge sum of money, and a great risk.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04If Henry defaulted on payment,
0:08:04 > 0:08:06he faced excommunication from the Church.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12For a pious man like Henry,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16excommunication would be unbearable, but still he pursued the policy.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19Even his own brother thought he'd gone mad.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22He compared the Pope's offer to a man saying,
0:08:22 > 0:08:24"I sell you the moon, now climb up and take it."
0:08:24 > 0:08:29It was an ambitious plan to expand Plantagenet power,
0:08:29 > 0:08:33but it placed royal family interests against those of the barons,
0:08:33 > 0:08:34and it backfired badly.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42The barons were the land-owning nobility of England.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46They provided the King with armies to fight his wars.
0:08:46 > 0:08:51And he needed their agreement to raise taxes to fund his ambitions.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56Yet Henry was alienating his barons by pursuing Sicily.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02And they held another grievance against the King.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07Henry had filled his court with foreign-born relatives
0:09:07 > 0:09:09from Savoy and Poitou.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12The barons bitterly resented them.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16French remained the language of court,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19but there was a growing suspicion of all things foreign.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Plantagenet dynastic ambitions were still international, but
0:09:25 > 0:09:29they increasingly came up against a new force - national feeling.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33You can see it in the works of Matthew Paris.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35Here he shows a French invasion fleet
0:09:35 > 0:09:38being defeated by English forces.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43While the bishops bless those who are fighting, as it says,
0:09:43 > 0:09:45"for the liberation of England".
0:09:48 > 0:09:50And here he praises a patriotic baron,
0:09:50 > 0:09:54who would struggle to preserve Anglia Anglis.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58England for the English.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05National feeling was a growing force Henry couldn't ignore.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10He'd taken a huge risk in mortgaging his kingdom
0:10:10 > 0:10:13to expand a Plantagenet empire in the Mediterranean.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17But now, he was bankrupt
0:10:17 > 0:10:20and the English barons were on the point of rebellion.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28Things came to a head one April morning in 1258.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34Seven barons in full armour confronted Henry,
0:10:34 > 0:10:36here in Westminster Hall.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39The King was startled, "What is this, my Lords, am I your captive?"
0:10:40 > 0:10:43They reassured him that they were not rebels,
0:10:43 > 0:10:45but friends of the Crown, but they insisted that the King
0:10:45 > 0:10:49dismiss his foreign relatives and take back their castle and lands.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53The King's relatives protested noisily,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56but the barons warned them, "Know for a fact
0:10:56 > 0:10:59"that you will either return the castles or lose your head."
0:11:04 > 0:11:06Henry had little choice but to agree.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10The King's submission to the barons
0:11:10 > 0:11:13triggered a chain of reforming legislation
0:11:13 > 0:11:16that would transform the way England was governed.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23The reforms would be agreed by a committee of 24,
0:11:23 > 0:11:2612 chosen by the King and 12 by the barons.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33For the first time in English history,
0:11:33 > 0:11:37power would be shared by the King with a 15-member council.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42These historic reforms are known as the Provisions of Oxford.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51Medieval kings had always claimed to rule by the grace of God,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54but Henry now reluctantly swore an oath
0:11:54 > 0:11:55to share power with the barons,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58in the name of le Commune d'Angleterre,
0:11:58 > 0:12:00the Community of England.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03Provoked by Plantagenet extravagance,
0:12:03 > 0:12:06the Provisions of Oxford mark an important moment
0:12:06 > 0:12:10in the history of England, and of the limitation of royal power.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13For 20 years, the assemblies where the King consulted
0:12:13 > 0:12:14with his bishops and barons
0:12:14 > 0:12:19had been known by a term derived from the French, "parler", to talk.
0:12:19 > 0:12:24This gave us the name of a new institution, Parliament.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36Henry appealed to the Pope to extricate himself
0:12:36 > 0:12:38from the Provisions of Oxford.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41But his own brother-in-law, Simon De Montford,
0:12:41 > 0:12:44condemned Henry as a king who had lost touch with his people.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51De Montfort saw himself as England's saviour.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57The King knew he was in danger.
0:12:57 > 0:12:58He told De Montfort,
0:12:58 > 0:13:02"I fear thunder and lightning beyond measure, but by God's head
0:13:02 > 0:13:06"I dread you more than all the thunder and lightning in the world."
0:13:08 > 0:13:11He was right to be afraid.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13From his base here in Kenilworth Castle,
0:13:13 > 0:13:16De Montfort raised an army against the King.
0:13:21 > 0:13:26In 1264, Simon De Montfort confronted royal troops,
0:13:26 > 0:13:30led by the King and his son Prince Edward, outside Lewes.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34De Montfort's men were outnumbered,
0:13:34 > 0:13:38but they inflicted a humiliating defeat on Henry,
0:13:38 > 0:13:40and took Prince Edward prisoner.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47Henry remained king in name only.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53For the next 15 months, England was ruled, not by a Plantagenet,
0:13:53 > 0:13:55but by Simon De Montfort.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58And he did so through Parliament.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05De Montfort's Parliament of 1265 is often regarded
0:14:05 > 0:14:08as the forerunner of the modern Parliament.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11As always, it included barons and bishops,
0:14:11 > 0:14:14who sit nowadays as the House of Lords.
0:14:14 > 0:14:15But for the first time,
0:14:15 > 0:14:19knights and burgesses were sent from the Shires and from the Boroughs,
0:14:19 > 0:14:23elected to Parliament by the property owners of England.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26Parliament now had the beginnings of a second House,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29later to be known as The Commons.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41Henry III seemed to be a spent force,
0:14:41 > 0:14:44but his son Edward was a warrior,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47prepared to defend his Plantagenet birthright to the death.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54With the help of men loyal to his cause,
0:14:54 > 0:14:57Edward escaped his captivity in Hereford.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02He raised an army and confronted De Montfort at Evesham.
0:15:10 > 0:15:11At the battle of Evesham,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14Edward re-asserted Plantagenet rule in England.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18De Montfort's supporters were slaughtered
0:15:18 > 0:15:21and De Montfort himself killed in the battle.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25His hands and feet were cut off.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32His testicles severed and hung scornfully over his nose.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36Then his head was sent to the wife of one of his chief enemies.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38De Montfort's rule was over.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40But the English Parliament lived on,
0:15:40 > 0:15:44and future Plantagenet kings would ignore it at their peril.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Henry had had a lucky escape.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57He returned to the life of religious devotion and pilgrimage.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03He'd gambled with the Plantagenet crown,
0:16:03 > 0:16:06and his actions had provoked the opening up of Parliament
0:16:06 > 0:16:09to elected representatives of the English people.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17Henry's England had a growing sense of national spirit.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22But when he died, Henry revealed his own true allegiance.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29Henry's body was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey,
0:16:29 > 0:16:33to spend eternity alongside his beloved Anglo-Saxon hero,
0:16:33 > 0:16:34Edward the Confessor.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39But his heart was sent to be buried with his Plantagenet ancestors,
0:16:39 > 0:16:42at the Abbey of Fontevraud in Anjou.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45An English King, but a French heart,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48a Plantagenet to the last.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06Edward, the warrior prince,
0:17:06 > 0:17:08now became King Edward I of England.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15Tall and intimidating, with a mop of curly hair,
0:17:15 > 0:17:17Edward was known as Longshanks.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22He inherited a country recovering from turmoil.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31Edward also inherited the famous Plantagenet temper.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35Reputedly he once frightened an unfortunate Archbishop of York,
0:17:35 > 0:17:36literally to death.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40But he'd learned two things from his father's mistakes -
0:17:40 > 0:17:43to keep the barons happy, and not to run out of money.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46And he sought to find ways to attain both those goals.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53Like his ancestors, Edward encouraged the planning
0:17:53 > 0:17:57of new towns to generate wealth and taxes.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02Towns like Hull and Winchelsea
0:18:02 > 0:18:05nurtured a new society based on trade,
0:18:05 > 0:18:09and trade became the lifeblood of the Plantagenet dynasty.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18Medieval England reached its economic peak under Edward I.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25But there was a darker side to its growing sense of national identity.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32England's Jewish population had arrived from France
0:18:32 > 0:18:34shortly after the Norman Conquest.
0:18:37 > 0:18:43The Pope had decreed that lending money at interest was a sin for Christians,
0:18:43 > 0:18:46so the Jews became the chief source of credit
0:18:46 > 0:18:47for the King and his barons.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54Jews were often resented, they were frequently persecuted
0:18:54 > 0:19:00and attacked. And by the reign of Edward I, in this age of crusades,
0:19:00 > 0:19:04England had become an increasingly militant Christian nation.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09The King himself was a conventional Christian
0:19:09 > 0:19:12with no sympathy for the plight of the Jews.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15At a time when English national feeling was growing,
0:19:15 > 0:19:19Edward's vision of England was a fiercely Christian one -
0:19:19 > 0:19:21this England had no place for the Jews.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30With the support of his barons, Edward decided to expel
0:19:30 > 0:19:33the entire Jewish population from his realm.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38Some 2,000-3,000 Jews departed from the shores of England.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41There was to be no resident Jewish population in the country
0:19:41 > 0:19:43for the next 370 years.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57Yet Plantagenet ambitions always extended beyond England.
0:20:03 > 0:20:08Edward was inspired by King Arthur, a popular figure in folklore,
0:20:08 > 0:20:12who was said to have once ruled over a united Britain.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15Edward wanted to align the Plantagenet dynasty
0:20:15 > 0:20:18with this legendary, all-conquering leader.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25And he had the conquest of Wales in his sights.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35Wales had troubled the Plantagenet kings for generations,
0:20:35 > 0:20:39its rugged terrain made it hard to conquer and control,
0:20:39 > 0:20:43and they regarded its inhabitants as little more than barbarians.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47But Edward I was a man who never gave up what he saw as his rights.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51And these included, in his eyes, overlordship of Wales.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05But a rival dynasty stood in the way of Plantagenet ambition.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10The Princes of Gwynedd had ruled here for centuries.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, and his younger brother Dyfed,
0:21:16 > 0:21:20were the latest in a long line of warrior leaders
0:21:20 > 0:21:23who held a crown said to be King Arthur's.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Edward's father Henry, recognised Llywelyn
0:21:28 > 0:21:34as Prince of Wales, as long as he paid homage to the English crown.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38But when Edward took the throne, Llywelyn refused to pay homage.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46Edward declared Llywelyn a rebel and a disturber of the peace.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49And in 1277 set off westward from Chester
0:21:49 > 0:21:52at the head of a powerful army
0:21:52 > 0:21:57of 800 knights, crossbow men from Gascony and 16,000 infantry.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00Along the way, they were supplied by a fleet of ships
0:22:00 > 0:22:03sent up from the royal ports of the south coast, like Winchelsea.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06The Welsh were hopelessly outnumbered.
0:22:10 > 0:22:15Edward's army captured Anglesey, the bread basket of Wales.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18At a stroke, this provided food for his own men
0:22:18 > 0:22:20and cut off supplies to the Welsh.
0:22:29 > 0:22:34Llywelyn had no choice but to surrender and pay homage to Edward.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38An uneasy truce followed.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42But it was broken,
0:22:42 > 0:22:46when Dafydd ap Gruffydd led a new rebellion against English rule.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51For over a year, the Plantagenet army clashed with Welsh defenders.
0:22:55 > 0:23:00But in 1282, disaster struck for the Welsh dynasty.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03Llywelyn was killed in battle.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10His head cut off and sent to London.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15Dafydd ap Gruffydd held out here at Dolbadarn Castle
0:23:15 > 0:23:17for a few months more.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20Finally he was captured and tried by the English.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24Condemned to death as the last survivor of a family of traitors,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27he was hanged and then cut down and disembowelled,
0:23:27 > 0:23:29his entrails were burned in front of him,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32his body was quartered and then his head was cut off
0:23:32 > 0:23:34and sent to the Tower of London
0:23:34 > 0:23:38to be displayed alongside that of his brother.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40As a final act of ritual humiliation
0:23:40 > 0:23:44the Welsh surrendered to the English King the crown of King Arthur.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Wales was now a Plantagenet dominion.
0:23:56 > 0:24:01Edward had confronted a rival dynasty, and emerged victorious.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07Now, to stamp his authority, he began building
0:24:07 > 0:24:12and repairing a chain of castles across North Wales.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16These fortresses represent the peak of medieval castle building.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22Edward personally chose the site for each of his castles,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24and the most impressive of all
0:24:24 > 0:24:27arose above the River Seiont at Caernarfon.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41This twin-towered gatehouse, known as the King's Gate,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44was built according to the designs of King Edward himself.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49The approach to the castle was guarded by arrow slits,
0:24:49 > 0:24:50and by spy holes.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00And once here, you would have been confronted with a drawbridge,
0:25:00 > 0:25:06six portcullises and five sets of gates.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09This was Plantagenet military architecture
0:25:09 > 0:25:10at its most intimidating.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24Edward engaged the most famous castle architect in Europe.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27Master James of St George.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35King Edward was keen to associate the Plantagenet dynasty
0:25:35 > 0:25:38with the glories of the Christian Roman empire.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40And so he commanded Master James to base his designs
0:25:40 > 0:25:43on the great walls of Constantinople.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45This meant building many-sided towers
0:25:45 > 0:25:48instead of the more usual round ones.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50The walls are up to 20-feet thick,
0:25:50 > 0:25:53and patterned with bands of coloured stone,
0:25:53 > 0:25:56a byzantine design not previously seen in the British Isles.
0:26:02 > 0:26:07Caernarfon Castle was a bold statement of Plantagenet domination.
0:26:11 > 0:26:16For the Welsh it was a painful reminder of conquest and oppression.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22Edward was also preparing for the future,
0:26:22 > 0:26:25and laying a Plantagenet dynastic claim to Wales.
0:26:25 > 0:26:31In 1284, the King's 11th child, a son named Edward, was born here.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34At the age of 16, Edward of Caernarfon
0:26:34 > 0:26:37would be declared Prince of Wales,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40a title stolen from Llywelyn ap Gruffydd,
0:26:40 > 0:26:42which has been borne by the eldest son
0:26:42 > 0:26:44of the English sovereign ever since.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04It looked at one point as though Scotland would go the way of Wales,
0:27:04 > 0:27:06swallowed up by the English kingdom.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14But a different dynastic problem had arisen there.
0:27:18 > 0:27:23When the King of Scotland died in 1286, he left no male heir.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26The bloodline of Scottish kings was broken.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32The dead king's three-year-old granddaughter,
0:27:32 > 0:27:36Margaret of Norway, was next in line for the throne.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42Edward came up with a neat Plantagenet solution.
0:27:44 > 0:27:49Margaret would return to Scotland to marry his own infant son.
0:27:54 > 0:27:59The situation would be resolved by diplomacy in marriage, not by war.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03And Britain would be united under the Plantagenets.
0:28:03 > 0:28:08It remains one of the great "what ifs" of British history.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11No marriage took place, little Margaret died in Orkney
0:28:11 > 0:28:14on her way to Scotland, and with her,
0:28:14 > 0:28:18died Edward's plan for a bloodless Plantagenet takeover of Scotland.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25After the death of Margaret, Edward agreed to tolerate
0:28:25 > 0:28:28a subordinate king in Scotland.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32But as soon as he showed signs of independence,
0:28:32 > 0:28:35Edward reacted with typical Plantagenet brutality.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42His troops sacked Berwick and defeated a Scottish army at Dunbar.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47English garrisons and officials
0:28:47 > 0:28:51were installed across Scotland to intimidate and control.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00For Edward, the Kingdom of Scotland had ceased to exist.
0:29:00 > 0:29:03As he handed the royal seal of Scotland to one of his barons
0:29:03 > 0:29:07he said, "A man does good business when he rids himself of a turd."
0:29:09 > 0:29:12But Scotland did not go the way of Wales.
0:29:12 > 0:29:14This wasn't a battle between dynasties,
0:29:14 > 0:29:16but between two countries
0:29:16 > 0:29:20with a growing sense of national identity and pride.
0:29:24 > 0:29:28No-one displayed this more than one of the Scottish resistance leaders,
0:29:28 > 0:29:29William Wallace.
0:29:31 > 0:29:35Wallace was a proud and charismatic figure.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37He refused to pay homage to Edward.
0:29:41 > 0:29:46To crush Wallace, the English army had to cross the River Forth.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54On a 13th century map of Britain, by Matthew Paris,
0:29:54 > 0:29:59Scotland is shown dramatically divided by the River Forth.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03And the only place to cross was the bridge at Stirling.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10It was here that William Wallace confronted the English army,
0:30:10 > 0:30:12to preserve Scotland's freedom.
0:30:16 > 0:30:18At this time, the bridge here was just wide enough
0:30:18 > 0:30:21for the English forces to cross two abreast.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23Once half the army had crossed,
0:30:23 > 0:30:26the Scots swooped down and cut off the bridge.
0:30:26 > 0:30:29SWORDS CLATTER
0:30:29 > 0:30:32The English stranded on the Northern bank were surrounded.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34The result was slaughter.
0:30:47 > 0:30:52Around 5,000 English infantrymen died at Stirling Bridge.
0:30:55 > 0:31:00The battle didn't decide the issue, but Wallace's defiance shook Edward.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09International dynasties, like the Plantagenets,
0:31:09 > 0:31:13struggled to understand national feeling.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17Edward underestimated the strength of resistance it could produce.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23He was riding to confront another Scottish leader, Robert Bruce,
0:31:23 > 0:31:25when he died in 1307.
0:31:29 > 0:31:34Plantagenet determination to subdue Scotland was undiminished.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37But Edward II's defeat by Robert Bruce at Bannockburn
0:31:37 > 0:31:42seven years later, set the limits to Plantagenet ambitions in Britain.
0:31:42 > 0:31:44They would never conquer the Scots.
0:31:44 > 0:31:48And they provoked a deepening of Scottish national pride,
0:31:48 > 0:31:51and a sense of independence that survives to this day.
0:31:53 > 0:31:59FEMALE CHORAL SINGING
0:31:59 > 0:32:03The new Plantagenet king lacked his father's warrior instincts.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08Edward II preferred gardening to fighting.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12He would fail to build on his father's legacy,
0:32:12 > 0:32:17and his lapses of judgement would threaten to destroy the Plantagenet dynasty.
0:32:25 > 0:32:27Edward's reign began well.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32He secured a great prize in the marriage market,
0:32:32 > 0:32:34Isabella, daughter of the King of France.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37She was just 12 years old,
0:32:37 > 0:32:41but already considered a beauty of beauties and very wise.
0:32:45 > 0:32:46A month after their wedding,
0:32:46 > 0:32:49Westminster Abbey was the setting for Edward's coronation.
0:32:52 > 0:32:57This was his first opportunity to show off his new Queen.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00Instead, Isabella was upstaged.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06As Edward and Isabella walked down the aisle,
0:33:06 > 0:33:09it wasn't the young Queen who caught the eye.
0:33:09 > 0:33:10Walking just ahead of them
0:33:10 > 0:33:14and leading the procession was a young man called Piers Gaveston.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17He was dressed in clothes of imperial purple,
0:33:17 > 0:33:19studded with pearls.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22And in his hands he cradled the crown of St Edward the Confessor,
0:33:22 > 0:33:25the most sacred of the royal regalia.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29There was no more privileged position in the royal procession.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33Gaveston was being honoured as the most important noble in the land.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36PEACOCK CALLS
0:33:41 > 0:33:43At the banquet that followed,
0:33:43 > 0:33:45Edward and Gaveston shocked the guests
0:33:45 > 0:33:48with their display of affection for each other.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52Isabella's uncles walked out in disgust.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58Every medieval king had court favourites,
0:33:58 > 0:33:59but none had ever achieved the power
0:33:59 > 0:34:04and influence Piers Gaveston exercised over Edward II.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09The King claimed he loved him like a brother.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13But the St Paul's chronicler noted that the King frequented
0:34:13 > 0:34:15Piers's couch more than the Queen's.
0:34:20 > 0:34:24We can never know for sure if there was a sexual relationship
0:34:24 > 0:34:26between Edward II and Piers Gaveston,
0:34:26 > 0:34:31but we do know that there are no mentions of homosexuality during their lifetimes,
0:34:31 > 0:34:35and they had plenty of enemies who would have brought it up.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38The earliest references come after Edward's downfall,
0:34:38 > 0:34:41and from men who were deeply hostile to him.
0:34:48 > 0:34:53What can't be doubted is that Edward was infatuated with Gaveston,
0:34:53 > 0:34:56to a degree that compromised his Kingship,
0:34:56 > 0:34:58and provoked the baron's hatred.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03But Gaveston displayed no fear of the barons.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11Famed for his quick and sarcastic tongue,
0:35:11 > 0:35:14Gaveston gave the barons nicknames.
0:35:14 > 0:35:16The Earl of Lancaster was The Fiddler.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18The Earl of Lincoln, Burstbelly,
0:35:18 > 0:35:22And the Earl of Warwick, whose seat was here at Warwick Castle,
0:35:22 > 0:35:24was the Black Dog of Arden.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28But this was a dangerous game - the Black Dog could bite.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36Once again, the Plantagenet rule was under threat
0:35:36 > 0:35:39because of foreign-born court favourites.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42Once again, the barons felt compelled to act.
0:35:46 > 0:35:48Gaveston was captured
0:35:48 > 0:35:51and put in the custody of the Earl of Pembroke
0:35:51 > 0:35:53who guaranteed his safety.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56But in his absence, the Black Dog pounced.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01The Earl of Warwick seized Gaveston.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07After a token trial, he was led out on the road to Kenilworth.
0:36:11 > 0:36:13When they reached Blacklow Hill,
0:36:13 > 0:36:15here on the land of the Earl of Lancaster,
0:36:15 > 0:36:18Gaveston was first stabbed and then beheaded.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26His body was left on the hillside
0:36:26 > 0:36:28until claimed by two Dominican friars.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35"And that was the end of Piers," commented a contemporary chronicler,
0:36:35 > 0:36:39"who had risen on high, but now fell into nothingness."
0:36:46 > 0:36:50If Edward had now concentrated his energies on being king,
0:36:50 > 0:36:53his infatuation with Gaveston might have been quickly forgotten.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02Instead, to Isabella's horror,
0:37:02 > 0:37:06he began to shower favours on another young noble -
0:37:06 > 0:37:08Hugh Dispenser.
0:37:13 > 0:37:15Dispenser and Edward became inseparable.
0:37:15 > 0:37:19Angry barons said he bewitched the King's mind.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23But Dispenser made an enemy yet more dangerous than the barons -
0:37:23 > 0:37:26Edward's Queen, Isabella.
0:37:26 > 0:37:28Isabella came to despise Dispenser,
0:37:28 > 0:37:33in the words of a contemporary chronicle, "with a more than perfect hatred".
0:37:37 > 0:37:39But Edward still needed Isabella.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45In 1324, the French invaded Gascony,
0:37:45 > 0:37:48the last of the Plantagenet lands in France.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55Isabella's brother was now the King of France,
0:37:55 > 0:37:59so Edward asked his wife to travel to Paris to sue for peace.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06Isabella's brother welcomed her warmly,
0:38:06 > 0:38:08and promised to restore Gascony
0:38:08 > 0:38:11on condition that Edward did homage for the Duchy.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14With his barons threatening rebellion at home,
0:38:14 > 0:38:16Edward was reluctant to leave England,
0:38:16 > 0:38:18but he sent his son in his place.
0:38:18 > 0:38:22And so here, at the Chateau de Vincennes outside Paris,
0:38:22 > 0:38:24in the company of his mother,
0:38:24 > 0:38:27the young Edward knelt at the feet of Charles IV of France.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37But then, instead of returning to England,
0:38:37 > 0:38:39he remained in France with his mother.
0:38:44 > 0:38:47When Edward requested their return, Isabella refused.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50She finally revealed her feelings
0:38:50 > 0:38:54about her husband's relationship with Hugh Dispenser.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01"I feel that marriage is a joining together of man and woman,
0:39:01 > 0:39:05"and someone has come between my husband and me,
0:39:05 > 0:39:07"trying to break this bond."
0:39:09 > 0:39:13Edwards's letters to his son became increasingly violent.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18"We will take such measures that you will feel it
0:39:18 > 0:39:22"all the days of your life, and all other sons will learn what it means
0:39:22 > 0:39:24"to disobey their lords and fathers."
0:39:30 > 0:39:32A Plantagenet family crisis
0:39:32 > 0:39:35was about to turn into a political disaster.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40News reached the king that the rebel baron Roger Mortimer
0:39:40 > 0:39:42was now Isabella's lover.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52According to the Bishop of Hereford, Edward determined to strike back
0:39:52 > 0:39:55with true Plantagenet vindictiveness.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58If he had no other weapon, he would crush her with his teeth.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06Isabella and Mortimer landed on the Suffolk coast,
0:40:06 > 0:40:09and quickly found support from disaffected barons.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14Edward's cause was lost.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20Hugh Dispenser paid the price for his closeness to the king.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26He was tied to a ladder and his genitals sliced off.
0:40:26 > 0:40:32His entrails were removed, and along with his heart, thrown into a fire.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36The King was taken prisoner.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43According to the English chronicler Geoffrey Le Baker,
0:40:43 > 0:40:44the imprisoned king was told that
0:40:44 > 0:40:47if he refused to abdicate in favour of his son,
0:40:47 > 0:40:51someone other than a Plantagenet would take the throne.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53Weeping and barely able to stand,
0:40:53 > 0:40:56Edward eventually agreed to sacrifice himself for his dynasty.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59He stood down in favour of his son,
0:40:59 > 0:41:01the first abdication of a King of England.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05But the Plantagenet bloodline had been protected.
0:41:10 > 0:41:15On the 1st of February, 1327, his son, Prince Edward, was crowned.
0:41:16 > 0:41:18He was 14 years old.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23His mother, Isabella, was appointed regent.
0:41:23 > 0:41:27She and Mortimer now ruled England on Edward's behalf.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34But a deposed former king was a new dynastic problem.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42Edward was brought here, to Berkeley Castle,
0:41:42 > 0:41:46and these are original documents from the castle at that time.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49Here we read about the delivery of chickens
0:41:49 > 0:41:54to the kitchen of the King's father, which is what Edward now was.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57And here is a record of his daily expenses -
0:41:57 > 0:42:01£5 a day, quite a generous amount.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05And here is a report of a messenger being sent to Nottingham
0:42:05 > 0:42:10to inform Isabella concerning "morte patris regis".
0:42:13 > 0:42:15The death of the king's father.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26The death of Edward II solved Isabella and Mortimer's problems.
0:42:26 > 0:42:31But there were already questions about how Edward died.
0:42:31 > 0:42:36And killing a king was an offence against God and the natural order.
0:42:40 > 0:42:44The most plausible cause of death to be suggested was suffocation,
0:42:44 > 0:42:47but other, more lurid accounts soon circulated.
0:42:47 > 0:42:50Within 30 years, Geoffrey Le Baker and other chroniclers were writing
0:42:50 > 0:42:54that Edward had had a red-hot poker inserted into his anus.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59It's no surprise which version has caught the public imagination.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02No-one knows for sure, but with either the red-hot poker
0:43:02 > 0:43:05or suffocation, no mark would be visible,
0:43:05 > 0:43:09when the king's body was displayed to show that he was truly dead.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13To all appearances, Edward II died of natural causes.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20The fate of the Plantagenet dynasty
0:43:20 > 0:43:23now lay in the hands of Isabella and Roger Mortimer.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30But three years later, tired of the corrupt rule of his mother
0:43:30 > 0:43:34and her lover, the young King Edward decided to take action.
0:43:44 > 0:43:47One night in October 1330,
0:43:47 > 0:43:51two dozen supporters of the young King crept through a secret tunnel.
0:43:52 > 0:43:57Above, in Nottingham castle, slept Isabella and Roger Mortimer.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04The leader of the conspirators warned the young King,
0:44:04 > 0:44:07"It is better to eat the dog than to be eaten by the dog."
0:44:10 > 0:44:12But Mortimer hadn't got to rule England
0:44:12 > 0:44:14without a killer's instincts.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18The King's supporters knew that if their plans failed,
0:44:18 > 0:44:20they would be hanged as traitors.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29The young conspirators entered the castle
0:44:29 > 0:44:31and made for the queen's bedchamber.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35As they drew their swords and entered,
0:44:35 > 0:44:37Edward stood quietly outside the room.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47Suspecting her son's presence, Isabella called out,
0:44:47 > 0:44:50"Good son, good son, have mercy on noble Mortimer."
0:44:53 > 0:44:56But there was to be no mercy,
0:44:56 > 0:44:58Mortimer was taken to the Tower of London,
0:44:58 > 0:45:01and within a few weeks he was hanged like an ordinary criminal.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04And out of the shadow of his mother and her lover
0:45:04 > 0:45:07stepped the new Plantagenet King - Edward III.
0:45:20 > 0:45:23In the uncertain world of medieval politics
0:45:23 > 0:45:26people looked to omens and portents for guidance.
0:45:26 > 0:45:30One place they found it was in ancient prophesies
0:45:30 > 0:45:33about the fates and fortunes of kings.
0:45:36 > 0:45:41The prophecy of the Six Kings drew on the legend of King Arthur.
0:45:41 > 0:45:47In it, Merlin characterised the future Plantagenet Kings as animals.
0:45:49 > 0:45:54Henry III was a pious lamb, Edward I a battling dragon,
0:45:54 > 0:45:56Edward II was a lascivious goat,
0:45:56 > 0:45:59but his son, who would grow up to be Edward III,
0:45:59 > 0:46:03was a glorious wild boar with the heart of a lion,
0:46:03 > 0:46:07who would conquer more than any of his blood in this world.
0:46:07 > 0:46:08The message was clear -
0:46:08 > 0:46:13England once again had a Plantagenet king to rally behind.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24Edward III would not make the mistakes of his father.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28He set out to unify the English barons around him,
0:46:28 > 0:46:33and at his birthplace, Windsor Castle, he spent a royal fortune,
0:46:33 > 0:46:36transforming it into the heart of his kingdom.
0:46:37 > 0:46:41He turned it from a castle into a palace.
0:46:47 > 0:46:51It became the most expensive single building project
0:46:51 > 0:46:53by any Plantagenet king,
0:46:53 > 0:46:57and the perfect setting for royal displays of chivalry.
0:47:02 > 0:47:06Under Edward III, the rituals of chivalry became central
0:47:06 > 0:47:07to the Plantagenet court.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10Chivalry was a code of behaviour
0:47:10 > 0:47:13that proudly fused military and Christian ethics.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20The word refers to the customs and values of the Chevaliers,
0:47:20 > 0:47:22the French term for those who rode into battle, the knights.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27And it demanded that these knights be brave,
0:47:27 > 0:47:29loyal and devoted to their ladies.
0:47:30 > 0:47:34Edward III understood the power of chivalry like no-one else,
0:47:34 > 0:47:37and he used it to bind together the knights,
0:47:37 > 0:47:39the nobles and the Plantagenet crown.
0:47:44 > 0:47:46Like his grandfather, Edward I,
0:47:46 > 0:47:49Edward was inspired by the legend of King Arthur.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00Lavish Arthurian tournaments were held in the Quadrangle
0:48:00 > 0:48:01at Windsor Castle.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09With staged displays of horsemanship and fighting skills.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14Windsor castle became the Plantagenet Camelot.
0:48:18 > 0:48:19Along with Arthur,
0:48:19 > 0:48:23Edward chose a Christian hero to represent his ambition -
0:48:23 > 0:48:24Saint George.
0:48:27 > 0:48:29Saint George was a warrior saint
0:48:29 > 0:48:32and he was the patron of knights throughout Christendom.
0:48:32 > 0:48:34But Edwards's troops were already marching
0:48:34 > 0:48:37with the red cross of Saint George at their head,
0:48:37 > 0:48:39and it flew also from the masts of his ships.
0:48:39 > 0:48:43It was becoming a symbol of England and the English King.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46And Saint George would be the war cry of the English armies
0:48:46 > 0:48:48in Edwards's next great conflict.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50He was determined to win back
0:48:50 > 0:48:53the old Plantagenet dynastic lands in France.
0:48:59 > 0:49:04The French royal family had seen son succeed father for 320 years.
0:49:06 > 0:49:11But in 1328, Charles IV of France died without a son to succeed him.
0:49:14 > 0:49:18Edward III was the dead king's nephew.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22He believed he had as strong a claim to the French throne as anyone.
0:49:25 > 0:49:30Could Edward III of England become Edward I of France?
0:49:30 > 0:49:32It wasn't so far-fetched.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35Ever since King John had lost their old lands in France
0:49:35 > 0:49:36over a century before,
0:49:36 > 0:49:40the Plantagenet kings had nursed the ambition of recovering them.
0:49:40 > 0:49:45To acquire the whole of France would be an even greater glory.
0:49:51 > 0:49:53Edward saw an opportunity to succeed
0:49:53 > 0:49:56where his Plantagenet forefathers had failed.
0:49:58 > 0:50:02In 1340, he announced his claim to the French throne.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07This began an era of slaughter and bloodshed
0:50:07 > 0:50:10that went on for generations.
0:50:14 > 0:50:19In July 1346, an army of around 10,000 men, led by Edward III,
0:50:19 > 0:50:21landed in Normandy.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24Edward may have claimed to be King of France,
0:50:24 > 0:50:27but this was clearly an English invasion.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30The battle was no longer just one between dynasties,
0:50:30 > 0:50:33it was now a battle between nations.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41The English rampaged unopposed through Normandy.
0:50:44 > 0:50:48Finally the two great armies confronted each other
0:50:48 > 0:50:50by the forest of Crecy in the Somme.
0:50:54 > 0:50:56The English were drawn up on this ridge.
0:50:56 > 0:50:58The French advanced from that direction.
0:51:02 > 0:51:05As the battle began, a great storm broke.
0:51:08 > 0:51:12Huge flocks of crows flew into the air above the armies.
0:51:14 > 0:51:16Then the English archers stepped forward.
0:51:16 > 0:51:19Their longbows had a range of 200 metres
0:51:19 > 0:51:23and a rate of fire three times that of the crossbow.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31The crossbowmen on the French side were routed.
0:51:33 > 0:51:37And Edward had another shock in store for the French,
0:51:37 > 0:51:40a primitive but spectacular new weapon in his armoury.
0:51:46 > 0:51:48For the first time on a European battlefield,
0:51:48 > 0:51:52the English used gunpowder to fire cannonballs at the French forces.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59The French knights now faced volleys of thousands of arrows
0:51:59 > 0:52:01amidst the crash of cannon.
0:52:13 > 0:52:15They had never seen anything like it.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31The King's 16-year-old son, Edward Prince of Wales,
0:52:31 > 0:52:33later known as the Black Prince...
0:52:35 > 0:52:38..fought his way to the heart of the battle.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44The chronicler Froissart reports that a man was sent back
0:52:44 > 0:52:47from the Black Prince's division to the King to ask for help.
0:52:47 > 0:52:51Edward III asked him if his son were dead or wounded,
0:52:51 > 0:52:55and when he heard that he was not, replied, "Send no more to me today,
0:52:55 > 0:52:57"let him earn his spurs."
0:52:59 > 0:53:03Most of the French knights fought to the death,
0:53:03 > 0:53:06they preferred the glory of being killed in action
0:53:06 > 0:53:08to the shame of fleeing the battlefield.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18Fighting on the French side was John,
0:53:18 > 0:53:21the blind King of Bohemia. Despite his blindness,
0:53:21 > 0:53:24he wanted to strike at least one blow in the battle.
0:53:24 > 0:53:28His knights tied the reins of their horses to the reins of his
0:53:28 > 0:53:30to guide him into the thick of the fighting.
0:53:30 > 0:53:34The Black Prince saw him ride to his death.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41In order to honour the King's reckless bravery,
0:53:41 > 0:53:45the Black Prince adopted as his own badge, the King's emblem.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48That emblem was the ostrich feather,
0:53:48 > 0:53:51which has been the badge of the Princes of Wales ever since.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57Around 2,000 French knights died at Crecy.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00A whole generation of French noblemen.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03In contrast, it's said that
0:54:03 > 0:54:06as few as 40 English men at arms lost their lives.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14The battle for the French crown would continue,
0:54:14 > 0:54:17but fighting beneath the flag of Saint George,
0:54:17 > 0:54:20the English army was now the most feared in Europe.
0:54:23 > 0:54:28At the end of the battle, King Edward embraced the Black Prince,
0:54:28 > 0:54:31"My son," he said, "you have acquitted yourself nobly.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35"You are worthy to rule a kingdom."
0:54:40 > 0:54:44The Black Prince returned to Windsor an English national hero.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49But he would never become King.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53Like many a Plantagenet warrior, he was later cut down by dysentery.
0:54:55 > 0:55:00But Crecy marked a high point of the Plantagenet dynasty,
0:55:00 > 0:55:01and its legacy remains.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11After their triumphant victory at Crecy,
0:55:11 > 0:55:14the king and the Black Prince founded the Order of the Garter.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17Its origins were in a great tournament at Windsor.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21Two teams of 12 knights took part, one headed by the King,
0:55:21 > 0:55:23and one by the Prince.
0:55:23 > 0:55:25The Order was to meet here, in its own chapel,
0:55:25 > 0:55:29every year on Saint George's Day, the 23rd of April.
0:55:36 > 0:55:39The structure of the Order has remained the same to the present day -
0:55:39 > 0:55:42the monarch, the Prince of Wales and 24 knights.
0:55:42 > 0:55:45One set of stalls is designated the King's,
0:55:45 > 0:55:48the facing set, the Prince's.
0:55:48 > 0:55:52Many of the original founding members of the Order of the Garter
0:55:52 > 0:55:55were companions of arms who had fought together at Crecy.
0:55:56 > 0:56:00Now every noble in the land wanted to be bound to the King
0:56:00 > 0:56:02in this most exclusive of clubs.
0:56:07 > 0:56:12The Order of the Garter wasn't just another show of pageantry,
0:56:12 > 0:56:15it was also a shrewd Plantagenet tool.
0:56:19 > 0:56:23For 200 years, Plantagenet dynastic ambition had often clashed
0:56:23 > 0:56:25with the interests of the English barons.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29Now Edward III had brought the noblemen of England behind him
0:56:29 > 0:56:32in his campaign to win the throne of France.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35He had harnessed England's growing sense of nationhood
0:56:35 > 0:56:38to his own Plantagenet dynastic vision,
0:56:38 > 0:56:41to create an extraordinary fighting force.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49By 1360, the English army had regained large swathes
0:56:49 > 0:56:52of the Plantagenet lands in France.
0:56:54 > 0:56:56Now, to dynastic ambition,
0:56:56 > 0:57:00emerged the foundations of an English empire.
0:57:05 > 0:57:10In 1362, Edward celebrated his 50th birthday.
0:57:11 > 0:57:13He marked the occasion by introducing
0:57:13 > 0:57:16one of the Plantagenets' most significant reforms.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21It was known as the Statute of Pleading,
0:57:21 > 0:57:25and it formally changed the language spoken in the law courts
0:57:25 > 0:57:28from French to English.
0:57:32 > 0:57:36In the same year, parliament was opened for the first time,
0:57:36 > 0:57:40with a speech made not in French, but in English.
0:57:43 > 0:57:45When Henry II, the first Plantagenet King,
0:57:45 > 0:57:49took the throne in 1154, he spoke scarcely a word of English.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51Two centuries later,
0:57:51 > 0:57:54a dynasty that had regarded England as a possession
0:57:54 > 0:57:56rather than a nation,
0:57:56 > 0:58:00now saw England as its home and English as its language.
0:58:00 > 0:58:04English was no longer spoken just by the peasants who worked the land.
0:58:04 > 0:58:06The knights spoke it, the nobles spoke it,
0:58:06 > 0:58:09even the King spoke it.
0:58:09 > 0:58:12England and the Plantagenets were united as never before.
0:58:18 > 0:58:20In the next programme,
0:58:20 > 0:58:22the death of kings,
0:58:22 > 0:58:25royal bloodletting divides the dynasty
0:58:25 > 0:58:28into the warring houses of Lancaster and York.
0:58:30 > 0:58:35Henry V fulfils the Plantagenets' greatest ambition at Agincourt,
0:58:35 > 0:58:39and Richard III makes the Plantagenets' last stand.