Episode 1 Tudor Monastery Farm


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500 years ago, England was emerging into a new era.

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After years of war, plague and famine,

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the kingdom was enjoying peace and prosperity

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under the reign of the first Tudor king Henry VII.

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A new class of business-savvy farmer was thriving,

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boosting food production...

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And then over she goes!

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..while wool from their sheep was generating half the nation's wealth.

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Many of the nation's farms were under the control

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of the biggest landowner in England after the King - the monasteries.

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Their influence could be felt in every aspect of daily life.

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They were not just places of religion,

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they were at the forefront of technology, education and farming.

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But with the daily lives of monks devoted to prayer,

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they depended increasingly on tenant farmers

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who worked and tended their lands.

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Steady, girl.

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Now, historian Ruth Goodman

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and archaeologists Tom Pinfold and Peter Ginn

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are turning the clock back to Tudor England

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here at Weald and Downland in West Sussex,

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to work as ordinary farmers under the watchful eye of a monastic landlord.

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Gi'away.

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That's the way! Nice.

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To succeed, they'll have to master long-lost farming methods...

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Those flanks are going again!

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..and get to grips with Tudor technology.

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ALL GASP

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MAN: Quite noisy!

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-RUTH:

-It's a really violent process!

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..while immersing themselves in the beliefs...

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customs...

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and rituals that shaped the age.

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This is Merrie England for Heaven's sake, so to speak, let's enjoy it!

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SQUEALS AND LAUGHTER

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This is the untold story of the monastic farms of Tudor England.

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Ruth, Tom and Peter are travelling to their new farm

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at Weald and Downland in Sussex on England's south coast.

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In 1500, England was 15 years into the rule

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of its first Tudor king Henry VII.

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The previous two centuries had seen the country ravaged

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by war, economic depression and plague.

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The Black Death had cut England's population from four million

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to just two-and-a-half million.

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But under the new Tudor dynasty the nation was slowly emerging

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from the darkest of times.

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This is our marketplace.

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This is our little town.

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What a day to start out on, eh? Look at it - blue skies!

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-Welcome to Tudor England, eh?

-Morning!

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The early Tudor world is a Catholic world,

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suffused with religious thought.

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Even very practical stuff, it was always there.

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Whatever you did, whatever you talked about, whatever you thought -

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there was no other system of understanding the world.

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It was undisputed.

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In 1500, monasteries were almost as powerful as the state itself.

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They exerted their influence over the entire population,

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not only in matters of religion,

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but in every aspect of daily life.

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This was a God-fearing nation.

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People believed they risked eternal damnation, even social isolation,

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if they didn't attend church at least once a week.

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In this period, most people were living in small wooden structures

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focal point of these communities were these massive cathedrals

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- awe-inspiring, stone built, dominating the landscape.

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And this shows how central the church and religion were

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to people's everyday lives.

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It was a time when religion rather than science

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was relied upon to explain everything,

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from the weather and the growth of crops

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to health and well-being.

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Our lives, this country, the values we have, the laws we have,

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the way we approach life -

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it's all shaped by the past.

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I mean, this is one of those periods

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that really forges the identity of England.

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Professor James Clark, an expert in medieval monastic life,

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is introducing them to their new farm.

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What was the relationship between monasteries and farms such as this?

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By the early Tudor period monasteries are preferring, increasingly,

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to put out a large proportion of their agricultural property to tenants.

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So we're not employed directly by the monasteries, but rather

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a sort of little enterprise paying rent to the monasteries,

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and we're taking all the business risks?

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Absolutely so.

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And it's down to your ingenuity,

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and perhaps your ability to read the dynamics of the market,

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to make a success of it.

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As well as having a good head for business,

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monastic farmers needed shelter -

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not just for themselves, but also to accommodate and feed their workers.

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It's huge!

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-Hm. Heating bill's going to be a bugger, isn't it?

-LAUGHTER

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Wow!

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RUTH: This is a house! Wow!

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How many people would've lived in here?

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There'd be the tenants and their immediate family,

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but there would also be live-in domestic servants.

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So, maybe eight to ten in total.

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This was the heart of the house, where the farmers would eat,

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carry out business, and house extra labourers at harvest time.

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Wow, so where do we sleep?

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RUTH: Well, that'll be, for us, upstairs.

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The upper chamber, called the solar,

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was the farmer's private bed-sitting room.

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It's started already!

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And a pull-out truckle.

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-A truckle?

-Yeah, yeah, it's on wheels.

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It shoves underneath during the day.

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-That's where you'll be, Peter!

-On the truckle.

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To pay their monastic landlords,

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Tudor farmers had to turn a decent profit.

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Their farm has five acres of enclosed fields,

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as well as access to hundreds of acres of common land and woods.

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They have cows to pull ploughs and carts,

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a barley crop, poultry,

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and a flock of Southdown sheep.

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What kind of farming are we going to be doing then?

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Your main focus will be sheep.

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And here's where the relationship between the tenant and the monastery

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is absolutely central to your productivity.

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Your wool crop may well be required by the monastery,

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to satisfy the merchants that it's under contract with.

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-RUTH:

-But we can't be completely wool-specialist,

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we do also have to grow arable crops...?

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Yes, certainly, you'll probably have a barley crop, for example.

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Also, at this time, we see tenant farmers taking up pig farming -

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in a small way - as an additional small enterprise.

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Peter, I think we should definitely get some pigs.

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Well, if we're getting some pigs we need to place to put them.

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This project, right there.

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It's spring.

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Ruth, Peter and Tom have to get their money-spinning enterprises

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up and running as soon as possible.

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They have just a few weeks to sow crops,

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and get in livestock before Easter.

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Wool was central to the early Tudor economy.

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It was known as the jewel in the realm,

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as it generated half the nation's wealth.

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Sheep were the backbone of the British economy -

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for clothing, mostly - and not just for us.

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British wool was clothing most of Europe.

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It was the finest quality.

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Come on, girls.

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It was all about grazing -

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the quality of grass influenced the quality of the wool.

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The British system involved quite a lot of moving sheep about.

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In the winter months, you wanted them down on your arable land,

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nibbling at the weeds, dropping their dung on your fields,

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but come spring he moved them up into the hills,

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into areas where he can't run a plough.

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There the grass has come fresh and lush and will sustain your sheep through the summer

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and allow them to grow that perfect coat.

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Only when the sheep are sheared in a couple of months' time,

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will they know the quality of the wool.

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Most Tudor households kept a pig.

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Since pigs ate almost anything,

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they were a good way of turning kitchen scraps into meat.

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But in the early 1500s, monastic farmers began rearing pigs

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to sell on a commercial scale.

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I suppose, modern age, you've got a lot of pig breeds,

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but the closest to the Tudor breed is the Tamworth, isn't it?

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Yeah, a little tamer now though, aren't they?

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Much wilder, more aggressive back then.

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SUDDEN SQUEALING

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The monasteries laid down strict rules for their tenants.

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It was forbidden for pigs to run free,

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as they could destroy crops and attack people.

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So Peter and Tom must build an enclosure.

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I suppose pigs... I mean, they're forest dwellers,

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so to keep them inside, they'd want to get out...

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-So it'll be a proper construction project.

-Yeah.

-No messing around.

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The monasteries most valuable asset, was their land.

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In an age when almost every craft relied on wood,

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management of the coppices was essential.

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John Roberts looks after this coppice

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and is helping Tom cut some hazel to build a pig enclosure.

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This is all based around the broadleaf's ability

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to regenerate very quickly, isn't it?

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Yeah, basically it releases all sorts of hormones

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that kids it into thinking it's young again.

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So can make it virtually immortal.

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After the wood is cut, new branches quickly sprout

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and within a few years it will have produced another crop of hazel poles.

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As a tenant farmer, how much wood can I actually take?

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Well, that would sort of depend on your tenancy, really.

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And, like today, you gets what you pays for.

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So the more rent you're paying, generally, the more rights you have.

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They might restrict you to how many cartloads you can take,

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or they might restrict you to how long you can be in there cutting for?

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-You're just spending your time basically.

-Time and effort.

-Yes.

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Materials gathered, Peter and Tom begin to build the pig enclosure.

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Tudor farmers had to master all types of building skills to survive.

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These things are never as easy as they look.

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They've found an area that's already fenced on three sides,

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so they just need to close it off.

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We're making good progress with this, Peter.

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It's hard work, but it's satisfying.

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Between these stakes, the coppiced hazel is woven

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to create what is known as a wattle fence.

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So you need to start there.

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-Yeah.

-OK.

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Bob Holman is an expert at building Tudor fences.

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-Do you think this will hold pigs?

-Oh, yes! Without a doubt.

-Yeah?

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This would hold an elephant by the time we've finished it.

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So what we're going to do is put our first wand in there,

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and then weave this through these,

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pushing it down all the time.

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Push it down with your feet.

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-Give it a good shove.

-Yeah.

-And that's the first wand in.

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-The next one, of course, or go on the other side.

-Right.

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So in that one goes - all the butts will then go on the inside.

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So we follow that process through,

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right the way through to the other end.

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Commonly known as cockerel nobbler.

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-Cockle nobbler?

-Cockerel nobbler.

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To sort of polish a cockerel off, you'd give it a tap on the head.

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-Oh, cockerel nobbler!

-A nobbler. Yes.

-Oh, I see.

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It's just an expression of speech, but it's good for tapping ends in.

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PETER "SQUAWKS" That's right!

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The other side of the pig pen

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is enclosed with a different type of Tudor fencing.

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A dead hedge.

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Rotten wood, isn't it? It's just rotted away.

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That's just come out!

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Ruth and Tom are making some repairs.

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Instead of using valuable coppiced hazel

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otherwise unwanted twigs could be used.

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Basically two rows of posts or stakes, driven into the ground,

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then we take all the stuff that, on the face of it, looks like

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it's not needed - hawthorns, brambles, a bit of blackthorn there.

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Look at the thorns on here -

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about an inch long, they're sharp as well - they're going to hurt.

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So if you're an animal trying to force your way in,

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you've got something to contend with.

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-You can't, can you?

-No, it's going nowhere.

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-Throwing yourself against it, and nothing happens.

-Exactly.

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I think your aim will improve as time goes on, Peter.

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-I think that is about there.

-No pig's getting through there, is it?

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He he he he....!

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After just a day's work, the enclosure is complete.

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This fence is as secure as it's going to get.

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So, hopefully - pigs contained.

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That's the great thing about Tudor building,

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it's all about sourcing your materials from your landscape.

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To the monasteries, farming was a sideline.

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A way of earning money.

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Their primary purpose was to perform religious worship

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on such a scale that its spiritual power would benefit

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every Christian soul.

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SPEAK LATIN PRAYER

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The oldest of all the monastic orders were the Benedictines.

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Established by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century,

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they were bound by vows of celibacy, poverty and obedience,

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and followed a demanding daily routine of worship, study and prayer.

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Peter is visiting Downside Abbey, a Benedictine monastery

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to meet its abbot Father Aidan Bellenger.

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Hello, Father Abbot.

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-Hello, Peter. Very good to see you.

-You, too.

-It always is.

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Tudor tradesmen formed religious guilds

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to ensure prosperity in this life and safe passage to heaven in the next.

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Peter wants advice on setting up a guild for farmers.

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Which patron saint do you think a guild of farmers would adopt?

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I think, in general, the most likely patron for a farmer

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-would actually be St Benedict himself.

-Right, OK.

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And one I'd particularly like to think goes in hand with St Benedict

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is St Benedict's sister St Scholastica,

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who is often seen as the patron saint of good weather.

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And I think that must be very important for any farmer.

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Every area of life was represented by a different saint.

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As illustrated by this medieval prayer book.

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They begin with calendars -

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and the months are the same as the months we have now -

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but many people would identify the day less by the day of the month,

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than by the saint of the day.

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And some parts of the year are absolutely full of saints,

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which gave people an excuse for jollification

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and having a good party, but they were also a reminder

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of the way in which the Church and God and the saints

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intervened in everyday life.

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HE CHANTS

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The first stage in establishing the guild of St Benedict,

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is to create a register of its members.

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Inspired by the prayer book,

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Peter is commissioning a richly illuminated document.

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Monasteries employed lay folk to do domestic work,

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like cooking and laundry,

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and skilled workers to do stone-carving, bookbinding,

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and calligraphy.

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Josie Brown has begun the calligraphy on vellum

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made from calfskin.

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So how are you getting on with our manuscript?

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It's coming along very nicely.

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I remember making a quill,

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but mine had quite a lot of feather on it.

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Absolutely.

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You very often see the romantic idea of using a pretty quill,

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but we don't use them like that.

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We cut the ends off, because they get in the way,

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and we strip the barbs and use them like that.

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Not quite so attractive,

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but much more authentic.

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Are you squeezing that to suck ink into this,

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or are you simply dipping it in?

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I'm simply dipping it in,

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but that's also why the board is set at an angle,

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because if you are writing flat gravity will take over

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so you want your pen almost horizontal, to stop the ink flooding.

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Once the calligraphy is finished, the document will move on to

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an artist within the abbey to illuminate the text.

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The Tudor farmer's day began at sunrise.

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Brush the grit off my feet -

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I don't want a little stone in the bottom of my hose.

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Now these are made out of sheep's wool, hence the pure whiteness of them.

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The doublet here, is what's going to hold the hose up.

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The doublet is just like a jacket essentially.

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I sew myself together.

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But being laced into clothing, created problems all its own.

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The book of manners which essentially tells a page boy

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how to dress the squire,

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suggests that he first makes sure that the privy is available,

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because the implication is that once you're sewn into this

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you'd much rather have used the facilities

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before you did up all the stitches than afterwards.

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And it's certainly something you start considering.

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We talk about rhythms of daily life,

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well, I've certainly established my own rhythms for my own daily life.

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Once in the morning, twice in the evenings,

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in case you are wondering.

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To preserve modesty, a flap of fabric known as a codpiece

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was worn on the front of the hose.

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It's not something you're used to coming across in modern life.

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And it's tied at the top here

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so that you can undo the ties and go to the loo.

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It's essentially a fly.

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So it's just like the zip on your jeans,

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so it's functional and, surprisingly, comfortable.

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For the woman of the house,

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the first job of the day was to light the fire.

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I've got my flint and my steel - struck together they spark.

0:20:080:20:12

The trick so is to catch one of those sparks and keep it alight.

0:20:130:20:17

Ah, there!

0:20:210:20:22

You see it?

0:20:220:20:24

A little spark.

0:20:240:20:25

Ruth uses charred cloth for tinder

0:20:250:20:27

which will catch light from a tiny spark.

0:20:270:20:30

Now, we surround it...

0:20:300:20:34

and we have fire.

0:20:340:20:37

Farmhouses had no glazed windows, because glass was expensive.

0:20:400:20:45

To keep warm, a fire was essential.

0:20:450:20:47

One of the things you may notice

0:20:470:20:49

is that I am not doing this in the middle of a hearth,

0:20:490:20:52

you know with a chimney. There are several reasons for that.

0:20:520:20:56

Most important, is probably to do with fuel efficiency -

0:20:560:20:59

the heating of your home.

0:20:590:21:02

About 70% of the heat of a fire goes straight up a chimney.

0:21:020:21:06

That means if I wanted to keep a house like this warm,

0:21:060:21:10

I would have to have nearly three times as much fuel -

0:21:100:21:13

day in, day out, day in, day out - with a chimney,

0:21:130:21:15

as I do with a little fire in the centre of the room.

0:21:150:21:18

So this is really, really fuel-efficient.

0:21:180:21:22

For the men, the first job was to feed the livestock.

0:21:240:21:28

Peter and Tom are sourcing water from the farm's well.

0:21:280:21:32

-Look at this!

-Wow, look at that.

0:21:320:21:34

The water is over 20 feet down.

0:21:340:21:37

Blimey, that is...

0:21:370:21:40

That is deep.

0:21:400:21:41

To reach it, some ingenious Tudor technology is called for.

0:21:410:21:45

I think slow and steady wins the race here, Peter.

0:21:460:21:50

HE GROANS

0:21:500:21:53

Treadwheels were the engines of the day.

0:21:530:21:56

Used to power cranes to build cathedrals, monasteries and castles,

0:21:560:22:00

as well as to drive machinery.

0:22:000:22:02

Slow it down, Peter? I'm applying the brake.

0:22:030:22:06

OK, let's get this into the buckets.

0:22:070:22:10

OK.

0:22:100:22:12

Oh! That was close!

0:22:140:22:16

THEY LAUGH

0:22:160:22:19

This is going to be ideal water for our cattle, isn't it?

0:22:190:22:22

But humans back then...

0:22:240:22:26

You've got to keep yourself healthy, haven't you?

0:22:260:22:29

So you need to purify the water, and the best way of doing that is making beer.

0:22:290:22:33

Which suits us very well, I think.

0:22:330:22:35

Yeah, let's get these to our cows.

0:22:350:22:37

Since water from wells was often contaminated,

0:22:380:22:42

people drank ale all day, every day.

0:22:420:22:44

The alcohol killed any bacteria, making it safe to drink.

0:22:450:22:49

How are these tight clothes working for you now, Peter?

0:22:500:22:53

Animals, on the other hand,

0:22:530:22:55

have better resistance to the bacteria in dirty water,

0:22:550:22:59

so were less likely to get ill from drinking it.

0:22:590:23:02

Perfect.

0:23:040:23:06

I like that treadwheel.

0:23:060:23:08

It's really cool.

0:23:080:23:09

In a world without electric light,

0:23:150:23:18

work indoors like writing accounts or mending clothes,

0:23:180:23:21

had to be done during daylight hours.

0:23:210:23:23

The only illumination came from dim lights

0:23:250:23:28

made from rushes and sheep fat.

0:23:280:23:30

What I want to do is, end up with pure fat.

0:23:330:23:36

So that means I got to cook out

0:23:390:23:41

all the little bits of blood vessel, skin...

0:23:410:23:45

The easiest way to do this is to just boil it all up.

0:23:450:23:49

I want to boil it until all those great big solid lumps of tallow

0:23:490:23:52

have dissolved.

0:23:520:23:53

The fat needs to boil continuously all morning.

0:23:550:23:58

As well as breeding sheep, pigs and geese,

0:24:040:24:07

the Tudor farmer also cultivated crops.

0:24:070:24:10

The farmer's already growing barley

0:24:110:24:14

used for making bread and ale.

0:24:140:24:16

Another essential Tudor crop would be peas.

0:24:160:24:19

I mean, obviously, peas are a crop you associate with a garden.

0:24:190:24:24

Yes, but all the text and evidence that's come down to us

0:24:240:24:26

shows that they were using it as a field crop, as well.

0:24:260:24:29

On a smaller scale than the barley and the wheat,

0:24:290:24:31

but nonetheless something that you have out in the field

0:24:310:24:34

-for your livestock and for yourselves.

-I think it's ideal.

0:24:340:24:37

In modern Britain we rely quite heavily on potatoes, don't we?

0:24:370:24:41

Whereas in Tudor Britain, or Tudor England, there are no potatoes.

0:24:410:24:44

That is a good point.

0:24:440:24:46

That is a very good point. Yeah.

0:24:460:24:48

Potatoes didn't arrive in Britain until the 1580s.

0:24:480:24:52

To sow their peas

0:24:520:24:53

they are seeking guidance from a Tudor farming manual,

0:24:530:24:56

FitzHerbert's Book of Husbandry.

0:24:560:25:00

If we're following the advice in this book,

0:25:000:25:02

then we're following the ideas and the farming practice of this era.

0:25:020:25:07

In Tudor English, spelling was yet to be standardised.

0:25:070:25:11

As Peter is discovering.

0:25:110:25:13

-"How will you know...

-The "seasonable time".

0:25:130:25:16

Yeah. "..seasonable time to go upon the land that is ploughed...

0:25:160:25:21

-"and if it...

-"Sing".

-Oh, yes.

0:25:210:25:23

"..and if it sing or cry or make any noise under thy feet,

0:25:230:25:28

"then it is too wet to sow.

0:25:280:25:30

"And if it makes no noise and will bear the horses,

0:25:300:25:34

"then sow in the name of God."

0:25:340:25:36

You're listening to the land. That's the idea, isn't it?

0:25:360:25:40

So if it's absolutely saturated with water, or anywhere in between,

0:25:400:25:43

it's going to make a noise - be squelchy or squishy or...

0:25:430:25:47

It's going to "sing or cry".

0:25:470:25:49

You'll hear sticky noises. Yeah.

0:25:490:25:51

But as soon as the noise ceases, that's when you hit it.

0:25:510:25:53

That's when you sow.

0:25:530:25:55

This certainly isn't singing or crying under my feet.

0:25:550:25:58

-Looks pretty darned dry to me.

-Mm.

0:25:580:26:00

Before sowing, the land must be ploughed to turn over the soil

0:26:020:26:06

and return it to bare earth.

0:26:060:26:09

In Tudor times, the plough would have been pulled by cattle,

0:26:090:26:12

often oxen, rather than horses.

0:26:120:26:15

Gwen and Graceful are one of the only pairs of cattle left in Britain

0:26:160:26:20

trained to pull a plough.

0:26:200:26:22

But they haven't worked for a couple of years

0:26:220:26:25

so the boys will have to break them in again.

0:26:250:26:28

Hello, old thing. Hello, biddy.

0:26:280:26:31

-Hi, Charles.

-Hi, Peter.

-Pleased to meet you.

0:26:310:26:34

They have called on someone with a lifetime's experience

0:26:340:26:36

in working with cattle - Charles Martell.

0:26:360:26:40

This is Gwen. She's on the nearside.

0:26:400:26:42

GWEN MOOS LOUDLY

0:26:420:26:44

The short name is on the nearside of a pair of oxen.

0:26:440:26:48

And then she's Graceful - double syllable -

0:26:480:26:50

so eventually they respond to their name.

0:26:500:26:53

They don't actually understand English too well,

0:26:530:26:56

but they can hear the difference in the length of the word.

0:26:560:26:58

Gwen, Graceful.

0:26:580:27:00

For the first time in two years

0:27:000:27:03

Gwen and Graceful are being fitted with a yolk.

0:27:030:27:06

One yolk.

0:27:060:27:07

All right, there you are, so just hold it so she doesn't walk away.

0:27:090:27:13

Held in place with oxbows,

0:27:130:27:15

the yoke is what the plough will be attached to.

0:27:150:27:19

They almost look happy.

0:27:190:27:20

This is the easy bit, it's when we get out in the field

0:27:200:27:23

and see open grassland, and you might not see them again.

0:27:230:27:26

Of course they haven't seen grassland for the best part of winter.

0:27:260:27:28

Oh, dear, don't say that. THEY LAUGH

0:27:280:27:31

Steady, steady, steady.

0:27:330:27:34

It's like the bloody circus, isn't it?

0:27:420:27:45

All right, old biddies. It's all right.

0:27:450:27:47

That's just got the edge off them now.

0:27:470:27:49

We need to convince them to do some work, before they get their food.

0:27:490:27:52

Get them into a routine. Here they come again.

0:27:520:27:55

Yeah, I don't think we should let them out, actually.

0:27:550:27:58

-I'm afraid, that's what they're after - their grub.

-Yeah.

0:27:580:28:01

So, because I'm afraid if they do go

0:28:010:28:03

they'll think it's a great laugh and we might not catch them tonight.

0:28:030:28:06

They can smell their grub there.

0:28:060:28:08

That's what it is. That's what it is.

0:28:080:28:11

MOOS

0:28:110:28:12

So why exactly did people move away from ploughing

0:28:120:28:15

-with oxen and cattle towards horses?

-Two things, I think.

0:28:150:28:19

First of all, fashion. It played a big part in that.

0:28:190:28:22

-Really?

-You go and see a farmer now... Careful what I say -

0:28:220:28:26

but the tractor's got to be the latest one,

0:28:260:28:29

the modern one, a bigger one,

0:28:290:28:31

and oxen were regarded as lowly and poor beasts.

0:28:310:28:36

And the other thing is speed.

0:28:360:28:37

Horses were more expensive, but they were fast.

0:28:370:28:40

So that's why we're in this situation today, where

0:28:400:28:43

working oxen in Britain - this is probably one of the only pairs.

0:28:430:28:46

And I think it's a great shame.

0:28:460:28:48

The sheep fat has spent the morning boiling,

0:28:570:29:00

and has been left to cool leaving pure tallow on the surface.

0:29:000:29:04

Ruth's reheating it to make the rush lights.

0:29:040:29:07

If you think about modern life,

0:29:110:29:12

we get sort of fats and oils from a huge number of sources.

0:29:120:29:16

Things like olives, sunflower seed, linseed, rapeseed,

0:29:160:29:22

as well as crude oil and all its various derivatives.

0:29:220:29:25

But if you were living in around 1500,

0:29:250:29:28

then the animal fats are pretty much all there is.

0:29:280:29:31

And those animal fats have got to do every food job,

0:29:340:29:37

every light and energy job, every axle-grease job.

0:29:370:29:41

Anything that needs fat has to come from...animal fats.

0:29:410:29:46

And this is the other ingredient, rushes.

0:29:490:29:53

The sort you want are those that have a sort of solid, pith-like centre.

0:29:530:29:56

And what I want to do is to soak the fat into the pith.

0:29:560:30:02

And then that little bit of green rind will act as the wick,

0:30:020:30:07

which helps that to burn.

0:30:070:30:09

Right. All I want to do is to soak that just briefly in the fat.

0:30:120:30:17

And that pith draws the fat into it.

0:30:170:30:20

That is a rush light. It's really simple, isn't it?

0:30:200:30:23

It's the moment of truth for Gwyn and Graceful.

0:30:270:30:30

They are about to work for the first time in years.

0:30:300:30:33

Whoa!

0:30:360:30:37

Once in the field, Charles' fears are realised.

0:30:410:30:45

Oh, dear!

0:30:450:30:46

But look at them now. You can see they're not the least bit upset.

0:30:460:30:50

They had their little run. They're quite fat, so it wasn't very far.

0:30:500:30:54

-Just need to work out what stop is, then.

-Yeah.

0:30:540:30:57

We've got to get a plough into that soil in the next week or so,

0:31:010:31:05

otherwise we're not going to get a crop.

0:31:050:31:07

Before the plough is attached,

0:31:090:31:11

Charles has suggested letting them pull a much lighter implement.

0:31:110:31:16

It's vital that the ploughed furrows are absolutely straight

0:31:160:31:19

to ensure every inch of land is turned over.

0:31:190:31:22

So Tom and Peter must persuade Gwyn and Graceful

0:31:220:31:26

to walk in a straight line.

0:31:260:31:29

Move on, move on.

0:31:290:31:31

Come on, come on.

0:31:310:31:33

-Come on.

-There we go.

0:31:330:31:35

Just need to tap them ever so gently and they move. It's amazing.

0:31:350:31:39

They look kind of happy. They're earning their food now.

0:31:410:31:44

Come walk, come walk. We'll keep them moving.

0:31:440:31:47

That's the trick, apparently. Don't let them stop.

0:31:470:31:50

(Come on.)

0:31:550:31:56

Come on. Oh! Come on.

0:31:560:31:59

Come on! Come on! Come on!

0:31:590:32:04

Well, there we are, they're working. I'm amazed.

0:32:040:32:08

Pete's a bit noisy. You don't need to shout at them like that.

0:32:080:32:11

They've got quite good hearing, oxen.

0:32:110:32:13

I'll tell him about that in a minute. Hah!

0:32:130:32:16

I'm impressed. It's lovely.

0:32:160:32:17

And, er...the next stage is ploughing.

0:32:170:32:21

Well done, girls. Well done.

0:32:220:32:25

As night fell, with the farmhouse plunged into darkness,

0:32:280:32:32

the Tudor farmer would go to bed.

0:32:320:32:35

About the same as a candle flame, isn't it?

0:32:350:32:39

Not much different.

0:32:390:32:40

It smells a lot worse. SHE LAUGHS

0:32:400:32:43

There ain't much work you can do by rush light.

0:32:430:32:47

BIRDSONG

0:32:520:32:54

Beautiful day!

0:33:120:33:13

It was believed that devotion to a patron saint

0:33:150:33:18

through a religious guild was the key to success.

0:33:180:33:22

At the monastery,

0:33:240:33:26

the calligraphy on the Guild of St Benedict register is complete.

0:33:260:33:30

Next, a painter illuminates the text.

0:33:300:33:33

As with all trades of the day,

0:33:330:33:35

it wasn't only creative skills that were required,

0:33:350:33:38

but also craft skills to make the tools for the job.

0:33:380:33:42

Artist Mark Goodman begins by making a brush from a feather.

0:33:420:33:46

The simple way to get a point on it

0:33:460:33:49

is just to cut it through just over halfway.

0:33:490:33:52

We've now got a point on our feather.

0:33:530:33:55

We can cut the feather off.

0:33:550:33:57

We can then...make a tube.

0:34:000:34:03

And then we can push the feather through the tube.

0:34:070:34:11

And as you see...there we have a brush.

0:34:130:34:16

Then the only last bit you've got to worry about is your stick,

0:34:180:34:22

which you can get anywhere. And there we have it, a paintbrush.

0:34:220:34:25

To paint these very fine details,

0:34:270:34:29

the Tudor artist had an ingenious solution.

0:34:290:34:33

Just a glass globe full of water.

0:34:330:34:36

If it's not full of water, nothing happens with it really.

0:34:360:34:39

As you can see there. The trick is filling it with water.

0:34:390:34:42

As soon as you fill it with water, it becomes a large magnifying lens.

0:34:420:34:46

This one's around about 16 times magnification.

0:34:460:34:50

Illumination was a complex and expensive process,

0:34:520:34:56

so reserved only for special books and documents, like this register.

0:34:560:35:00

After many hours of delicate work, the register is complete.

0:35:050:35:09

An indelible record of the Guild of St Benedict's paying members.

0:35:090:35:13

The Guild would have funded an altar in the local church

0:35:130:35:17

dedicated to their cause.

0:35:170:35:19

LAUGHTER

0:35:200:35:22

Pre-Reformation churches look completely different.

0:35:220:35:26

Look at all the imagery on the walls.

0:35:260:35:28

This chapel at St Fagans

0:35:290:35:31

has been restored to how it would have been in 1500.

0:35:310:35:35

In the late 1520s, Henry VIII broke away from the Roman church

0:35:360:35:41

and formed the Church of England.

0:35:410:35:44

Beginning a process that would see the monasteries destroyed

0:35:440:35:47

and parish churches like this one stripped of their splendour.

0:35:470:35:50

This is the side altar of our guild,

0:35:520:35:55

the one that we maintain and look after.

0:35:550:35:57

And here, we, as ordinary lay folk,

0:35:570:36:01

pay for a priest to come and do additional masses

0:36:010:36:05

for the souls of all of us within the guild

0:36:050:36:08

for now and for ever-more.

0:36:080:36:10

These are in need of some TLC, aren't they? Look at that!

0:36:130:36:16

Not only covered in wax, but filthy. So that's a job for me.

0:36:160:36:21

Tom and Peter have spent the last week

0:36:320:36:35

getting the cattle used to working again.

0:36:350:36:38

We've got five willing participants at the moment, I believe.

0:36:380:36:42

Ruth's happy, Peter's kind of happy.

0:36:420:36:45

There we go.

0:36:450:36:46

Now they're ready to take the plough for the first time in years.

0:36:460:36:51

-OK.

-This is the moment of truth.

0:36:510:36:53

These cows are getting restless, they want to get on with some work.

0:36:530:36:56

OK, Tommo, we're in your hands. Walk on!

0:36:560:37:00

Straight line, Tommo, straight line.

0:37:030:37:06

-This is good, I think.

-It's a start.

0:37:060:37:08

Yeah. We are...we are experimenting here.

0:37:080:37:10

It's vital that Gwyn and Graceful plough in straight lines.

0:37:120:37:16

-Gee away. Gee away.

-Gee away!

0:37:180:37:21

Now, that's nice! That's good!

0:37:210:37:23

Keep that straight line. Gee away.

0:37:230:37:26

We're going straight, what are you doing at the back?

0:37:260:37:29

Are those cows straight?

0:37:290:37:30

-LAUGHTER

-They need a line to follow.

0:37:300:37:33

-Really?

-Unfortunately for us...

-LAUGHTER

0:37:330:37:36

-Look at it!

-..we've got a bit of spaghetti ploughing.

0:37:360:37:39

Spaghetti ploughing? It's worse than spaghetti ploughing.

0:37:390:37:41

But the ploughing goes from bad to worse.

0:37:420:37:45

Walk on! Oh!

0:37:460:37:49

-You all right, Tommo?

-We've got a revolution here.

0:37:490:37:51

-Walk on.

-We've got cow mutiny!

-Walk on.

0:37:510:37:55

Gwyn and Graceful are exhausted after just a couple of furrows.

0:37:550:37:58

Come on!

0:37:580:38:00

Oh, dear. The problem is, they're really hating this, aren't they?

0:38:000:38:03

They're not used to having the equipment. They're not happy.

0:38:030:38:06

Once you've got that pressure of pulling the plough,

0:38:060:38:08

when we're trying to go deeper, it's too much work for them.

0:38:080:38:11

Walk on!

0:38:110:38:13

Getting the peas in the ground within the next week is crucial.

0:38:130:38:18

Otherwise, the crop will fail.

0:38:180:38:20

Also pressing is the pig concern.

0:38:220:38:25

Well, there we go.

0:38:260:38:28

Timber!

0:38:280:38:29

The enclosure's complete, but now they must build a shelter within in.

0:38:290:38:34

Pigs don't like draughts, so if they're to breed successfully,

0:38:400:38:44

the shelter must have solid walls.

0:38:440:38:46

They're basing the design on medieval buildings

0:38:470:38:50

they've excavated as archaeologists.

0:38:500:38:52

But constructing the walls without nails is proving tricky.

0:38:530:38:57

-This one is high.

-Yeah.

-I might need to get the axe.

-Or we could bash it.

0:39:010:39:06

Tom and Peter have rather different ideas as to how it should be built.

0:39:080:39:12

You split that timber...

0:39:140:39:15

What?

0:39:160:39:19

I think, basically, it should be shaped slightly with the axe,

0:39:190:39:22

and Peter's just enjoying hitting stuff with a piece of wood.

0:39:220:39:27

That one's fat.

0:39:270:39:29

-Are you damaging my timber?

-Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, ooh!

0:39:290:39:33

Right!

0:39:330:39:34

Move that across like that. There we go. Boom!

0:39:370:39:40

I'm so impressed by this, Tom. You really have outdone yourself.

0:39:420:39:45

-Friendship still intact.

-Just.

0:39:450:39:48

It's two weeks until Easter.

0:39:550:39:58

For Tudors it was preceded by Lent, 40 days of fasting

0:39:580:40:02

and reflection, ending on Easter Sunday.

0:40:020:40:04

The church dictated that no meat or fish be eaten,

0:40:060:40:09

and in this God-fearing society it was a practice

0:40:090:40:12

observed by almost everyone.

0:40:120:40:15

Vegetables from the garden were essential for survival.

0:40:150:40:19

The whole point of gardening at this period of history is to have

0:40:190:40:23

something to eat every day.

0:40:230:40:26

And if you look around you, you can see just how hard that could be.

0:40:260:40:30

Oddly enough, you might think the hungriest period of the year

0:40:300:40:33

is in the dead of winter, but that's not quite true.

0:40:330:40:35

It's really sort of now that we call traditionally "the hungry gap".

0:40:350:40:39

That part of the year between your supplies, your stores

0:40:390:40:44

beginning to run low and the new harvests arriving.

0:40:440:40:48

There are just leeks, parsley and a vegetable that's long

0:40:480:40:53

since disappeared from the kitchen.

0:40:530:40:55

This is alexanders.

0:40:550:40:57

I think the Romans brought them over to begin with.

0:40:570:41:01

They're very versatile.

0:41:010:41:04

These young leaves are edible just as they are,

0:41:040:41:07

and these are a real treat.

0:41:070:41:09

Can you see the flower heads in here, just forming underneath?

0:41:090:41:12

Poach just those, they're absolutely delicious.

0:41:120:41:16

This is a real favourite of mine this time of year. Primroses.

0:41:200:41:24

Delicious salad.

0:41:240:41:26

You just pull the petals,

0:41:260:41:29

so you just get that bit out and they are so lovely.

0:41:290:41:33

And if the sun's being on them they're really sweet.

0:41:330:41:36

Mmm. They're really tasty.

0:41:370:41:39

SHE LAUGHS

0:41:390:41:40

Here we go...weavy, weavy, weavy...

0:41:400:41:44

To construct the pig shelter walls,

0:41:440:41:47

Peter and Tom are using a building technique has been around

0:41:470:41:49

for over 6,000 years - wattle and daub.

0:41:490:41:54

Thin hazel sticks are woven around the uprights to create a fence.

0:41:540:41:59

Then a mixture of clay, horse dung and straw is daubed onto it,

0:41:590:42:04

creating a solid, draughtproof wall.

0:42:040:42:07

Look out easily that just works into the earth, into the wattle.

0:42:090:42:12

That's amazing.

0:42:120:42:15

The stickiness comes from the manure.

0:42:150:42:17

Sorry, this is really quite horrible.

0:42:170:42:20

Probably, it can be as strong as bricks.

0:42:200:42:22

All the pressure is spread out over all the different bits of wattle.

0:42:220:42:26

All this is going to dry, go solid.

0:42:260:42:28

You know, it's not hard to work with, it's just unpleasant.

0:42:280:42:31

500 years ago, this was the way most houses were built.

0:42:330:42:38

Our farm cottage, you can see the timber structures

0:42:380:42:42

and the panels in between. They are all wattle and daub.

0:42:420:42:46

Beautifully smoothed off.

0:42:460:42:47

We're building pigsties in exactly the same way that

0:42:470:42:50

that Tudor cottage was built.

0:42:500:42:52

Ruth is equipping the farmhouse with utensils and tableware.

0:42:580:43:03

In Tudor times these were sourced from local craftsmen

0:43:050:43:08

and most villages would have had a dish-maker.

0:43:080:43:11

Today, there's just one professional wooden dish-maker

0:43:120:43:15

left in Britain, aptly named Robin Wood.

0:43:150:43:19

Right, here we go.

0:43:190:43:20

-Right, so this is what you're going to make ours out of.

-Yeah.

0:43:200:43:23

Out of each log like this I get three dishes.

0:43:230:43:26

So we're not making them out of slices that way.

0:43:260:43:29

-It's not like that's the bowl?

-Exactly.

0:43:290:43:32

All the strength in wood is the fibres running along this way.

0:43:320:43:36

So if you just cannot a ring off like this,

0:43:360:43:39

then they'd all be very short fibres and it would just break apart.

0:43:390:43:42

The dishes are hewn from a hardwood, such as beech.

0:43:440:43:47

Nice! Let's see. Let's see what we got. There it goes.

0:43:500:43:54

The dish is roughly shaped using just one tool, an axe.

0:43:570:44:03

-And these are your chisels.

-Yes. I forge all these myself.

0:44:050:44:09

Traditionally, forging your tools would have been

0:44:090:44:12

-part of the apprenticeship of the job.

-Right.

0:44:120:44:15

Then it's turned, using a foot-operated pole lathe.

0:44:150:44:20

It's a device so simple and ingenious that it

0:44:200:44:23

saw use from the 10th century right through until the 20th.

0:44:230:44:27

-Clunk!

-Clunk! SHE LAUGHS

0:44:280:44:31

I love the way it's turning it around.

0:44:310:44:33

It really is as simple as that.

0:44:330:44:34

Throughout history these wooden dishes have gone

0:44:340:44:38

in and out of fashion.

0:44:380:44:39

In the Roman period they all ate from ceramic.

0:44:410:44:44

And then we had about 1,000 years when people ate from wood.

0:44:440:44:48

And then it was really the 18th century when the Stoke potteries

0:44:480:44:51

started mass-producing very cheap ceramic,

0:44:510:44:55

that we went back to being a ceramic culture.

0:44:550:44:57

Oh, there we go.

0:44:590:45:01

-There we go, all finished.

-Wow. That is beautiful.

0:45:060:45:10

Probably 1,000 years of accumulated knowledge handed down

0:45:100:45:14

through the generations has gone into that bowl.

0:45:140:45:18

In the 1500s people ate their main meal at 11 o'clock in the morning.

0:45:240:45:29

Having risen at dawn,

0:45:290:45:31

by then the farm workers would have been ravenous.

0:45:310:45:35

Taking pride of place on the Tudor table was the salt.

0:45:350:45:39

Without salt, people, for centuries and centuries and centuries,

0:45:400:45:46

would have found living in the northern climes nigh impossible.

0:45:460:45:50

Salt allows you to preserve meat, it allows you to preserve fish.

0:45:500:45:54

Like most things in Tudor life,

0:45:540:45:57

even setting the table was laden with Christian symbolism.

0:45:570:46:00

You might look at it and think it looks rather like an altar

0:46:020:46:05

in a church, and that's what many people in the period thought too.

0:46:050:46:08

They made the connection between dining and God's table.

0:46:080:46:13

There was something of the sacred

0:46:130:46:16

in the daily ritual of eating a meal.

0:46:160:46:20

Something of remembering Christ.

0:46:200:46:22

Something of an echo of the Last Supper.

0:46:220:46:25

And people were quite conscious of that.

0:46:250:46:27

They wrote about it at the time. They talked about it at the time.

0:46:270:46:30

And they quite deliberately made the most of it.

0:46:300:46:32

It's the week before Easter.

0:46:390:46:42

If the peas aren't planted now

0:46:420:46:43

they won't have time to germinate and grow.

0:46:430:46:46

Peter and Tom have spent the week getting

0:46:500:46:52

Gwen and Graceful used to working again.

0:46:520:46:56

Whoa! Blimey!

0:46:560:46:57

-They're fast! They're faster than I thought they'd be.

-That's good.

0:46:570:47:01

Go on, girl. Walk on.

0:47:010:47:03

Finally, the field is ploughed and harrowed to break up the soil.

0:47:030:47:08

I'm just give them a little helping hand here,

0:47:080:47:10

taking a bit of the pressure off.

0:47:100:47:13

Whoa! Whoa!

0:47:130:47:14

Steady!

0:47:150:47:17

The peas can now be sown.

0:47:170:47:20

Peter's taking advice from the book of husbandry.

0:47:220:47:25

"Let thy left foot before... and take a handful of peas...

0:47:250:47:31

"And when thou take up thy right foot...

0:47:310:47:33

"..thou can throw...

0:47:350:47:36

"..thy..." Hang about.

0:47:390:47:41

-"Thy peas."

-Just throw, Peter. Just throw.

0:47:410:47:44

BOTH: one, two, three...

0:47:440:47:46

Hand-broadcasting seed was inevitably haphazard.

0:47:490:47:52

It wasn't until the invention of Jethro Tull's seed drill

0:47:540:47:58

200 years later that seeds could be sown in regular rows, evenly spaced.

0:47:580:48:03

By putting your left foot forward and then throwing to the right,

0:48:030:48:07

left foot forward, throwing to the right,

0:48:070:48:09

it does mean that you are trying to get them

0:48:090:48:12

broadcast as evenly as possible.

0:48:120:48:14

Come summer, they should have a crop to harvest.

0:48:150:48:19

It's Palm Sunday, marking the last week of Lent.

0:48:290:48:33

It commemorates Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem,

0:48:340:48:38

when palm leaves were laid before him,

0:48:380:48:40

days before he was betrayed and crucified.

0:48:400:48:44

Peter has a key role in the celebrations.

0:48:440:48:47

Palm Sunday, starting around 1490,

0:48:490:48:53

people used to dress up as prophets.

0:48:530:48:56

Basically, a yeoman or a respected member of the village,

0:48:560:49:00

but a layperson, such as myself,

0:49:000:49:03

would don the outfit of a prophet, and the more dramatic the better.

0:49:030:49:08

Such as John the Baptist emerging from the wilderness.

0:49:080:49:12

Records show that villages would actually hire in beards

0:49:120:49:15

so that they could dress up their prophets accordingly.

0:49:150:49:19

It wasn't meant to poke fun.

0:49:190:49:21

Tis I, John the Baptist!

0:49:230:49:26

Right!

0:49:260:49:27

I wonder if they will recognise me.

0:49:280:49:30

CHANTING

0:49:320:49:34

The most important ritual of Palm Sunday was Holy Mass.

0:49:420:49:46

HE SPEAKS IN LATIN

0:49:470:49:51

Delivered in Latin, the text would not have been understood

0:49:510:49:54

by the congregation, but its rituals were.

0:49:540:49:58

HE SPEAKS IN LATIN

0:49:580:50:00

Central to the mass was the blessing of greenery,

0:50:020:50:05

symbolising the palms that were laid before Jesus.

0:50:050:50:08

ALL: Amen.

0:50:120:50:13

Then the blessed branches were turned into crosses,

0:50:130:50:17

symbolic of the crucifixion.

0:50:170:50:19

Finally, the congregation processed from the church with their crosses,

0:50:210:50:25

which would then be taken home to protect them for the year to come.

0:50:250:50:28

Professor Ronald Hutton, an expert on English rituals, explains

0:50:300:50:34

the importance of Palm Sunday celebrations in early Tudor England.

0:50:340:50:39

You get three things in one.

0:50:390:50:40

You get people reminded of what the Christian message

0:50:400:50:44

and the Christian story is all about.

0:50:440:50:46

You get the greenery, which symbolises spring and hope

0:50:460:50:49

and new life, and you get something which is actually going to

0:50:490:50:53

protect your house and your family and your farm.

0:50:530:50:56

And all this in one symbolised in this procession with a layman -

0:50:560:51:01

that's Peter up there, dressed up as a prophet - to dress this up as fun,

0:51:010:51:07

make it something people can engage in and which they can make their own.

0:51:070:51:11

It's just a totally brilliant way of giving religion to the people

0:51:110:51:15

and enabling them to share in it.

0:51:150:51:17

By the 1500s there was a new, raucous side to the celebrations.

0:51:190:51:24

The truly insanely wonderful thing about Palm Sunday ritual

0:51:250:51:30

is that it ended in a kind of spring version of a snowball fight.

0:51:300:51:34

And it's a wonderful example of the way in which

0:51:340:51:37

religion round about 1500 introduced an element

0:51:370:51:41

of just sheer merrymaking at the end of something solemn and profound,

0:51:410:51:46

to remind us that we are alive and being alive means having fun.

0:51:460:51:50

LAUGHTER

0:51:500:51:52

Good shot!

0:51:560:51:57

Being a prophet has its advantages.

0:52:010:52:04

I'm staying well out of the melee.

0:52:050:52:07

This is the last ritual of Palm Sunday,

0:52:200:52:22

but it's a really important one.

0:52:220:52:25

It's where we take the crosses woven out of our consecrated greenery

0:52:250:52:29

and put them over the doorway of your home to protect it for the next

0:52:290:52:36

year against witchcraft, curses, demons and general misfortune.

0:52:360:52:41

It's the ultimate security system circa 1500.

0:52:410:52:45

-Does it work?

-Apparently so, England is still here.

0:52:450:52:49

LAUGHTER

0:52:490:52:50

Can't argue with that.

0:52:500:52:52

Have a nice Tudor Easter!

0:52:520:52:54

-Thank you kindly.

-Bye!

0:52:540:52:56

Bye-bye.

0:52:560:52:58

It's late spring. The pea crop is coming through.

0:53:140:53:18

It's a really healthy-looking crop, isn't it? The sun is really helping.

0:53:180:53:22

Just look out there, that's very impressive, if I say so myself.

0:53:220:53:26

But the pigsties are still not finished.

0:53:290:53:32

Without a shelter they can't introduce pigs

0:53:320:53:34

and breed them for cash.

0:53:340:53:36

This is all we've been doing.

0:53:370:53:39

This project could happen like that, but we've got the field to sort out

0:53:390:53:44

and we've got the farm to sort out, we've got the animals to sort out.

0:53:440:53:48

Everything needs attention, everything requires time.

0:53:480:53:51

-We sweated, we bled...

-We've argued.

-We've argued!

0:53:510:53:55

We've road-tested not only our skills but our friendship.

0:53:550:53:59

From here on in, you and I can do anything. Absolutely anything.

0:53:590:54:03

For the roof, they're making shingles, wooden tiles.

0:54:050:54:09

That's pretty good, actually. But I think it'll shed water.

0:54:130:54:16

Well, they are pigs, so they can't be too fussy.

0:54:160:54:18

-It's time to get the pigs in.

-Yeah, I think so.

-Cool!

0:54:210:54:26

As soon as Lent was over meat could be eaten once again.

0:54:310:54:35

And at this time of year, it's one particular kind of meat.

0:54:370:54:40

This is veal.

0:54:400:54:42

You have to kill a young calf if you want to have cheese

0:54:420:54:45

for the rest of the year, so Easter is all about veal.

0:54:450:54:50

Rennet from the calf's stomach is essential in cheesemaking.

0:54:500:54:53

With the meat, Ruth's cooking a Tudor favourite, pottage.

0:54:530:54:58

This, with its Easter veal, and its fresh, young alexanders

0:54:580:55:03

and last year's leeks and last year's beans,

0:55:030:55:06

it's just typical of this couple of weeks of the year.

0:55:060:55:09

In two or three weeks' time I won't be able to make this pottage.

0:55:090:55:12

Half these ingredients won't be around.

0:55:120:55:15

So although in some ways a diet in the late-medieval,

0:55:150:55:19

early Tudor period can sound a little boring - bread and pottage,

0:55:190:55:22

bread and pottage, next day, bread and pottage, next day,

0:55:220:55:24

bread and pottage -

0:55:240:55:26

nonetheless, those words actually hide quite a lot of variety,

0:55:260:55:30

as week by week by week, that pottage changes all through the year.

0:55:300:55:34

Local farmer Neal Kareswell is delivering two Tamworth sows

0:55:400:55:45

and six piglets.

0:55:450:55:47

Tamworths can be dangerous,

0:55:490:55:51

but Neil's got some advice on how to move them safely around.

0:55:510:55:55

If you try and push a pig from behind,

0:55:560:55:58

they're a lot bigger than you, are a lot stronger than you, and if

0:55:580:56:01

they don't want to do it, they will just come through the other way.

0:56:010:56:04

So, if you try and use psychology more than brute strength,

0:56:040:56:09

you'll be a little bit more successful.

0:56:090:56:11

The best thing to do is convince them that you're brilliant

0:56:110:56:14

and you've got some food.

0:56:140:56:16

As you can tell, they are definitely enjoying that.

0:56:160:56:19

They're not taking a blind bit of notice of us.

0:56:190:56:22

Which is a good sign, Peter.

0:56:220:56:25

-It's amazing how much they complete this area.

-Yeah.

0:56:250:56:27

It's been quite sterile up until now and all of a sudden it's,

0:56:270:56:30

like, "Ah! That's why we've been doing all the work."

0:56:300:56:33

Lord, let us remember just how much effort goes into putting

0:56:380:56:42

food on the table.

0:56:420:56:44

Amen.

0:56:440:56:45

ALL: Amen.

0:56:450:56:46

By 11 o'clock in the morning, with the livestock fed and watered,

0:56:480:56:52

workers would head to the farmhouse for their main meal of the day.

0:56:520:56:55

It's not every day you find yourself in a Leonardo da Vinci painting,

0:57:000:57:03

-is it?

-The Last Supper!

0:57:030:57:05

LAUGHTER

0:57:050:57:06

It does, doesn't it, have that sort of religious feel?

0:57:060:57:09

-Echoes just how much the church influenced society.

-Yes, absolutely.

0:57:120:57:16

It's sort of embedded and ingrained through absolutely everything you do.

0:57:160:57:20

Powers have changed, kings have come and gone,

0:57:200:57:23

but the church has always been there.

0:57:230:57:25

Yes, it was the one way you understood where you came from,

0:57:250:57:28

where you were going to, how you related to the natural world.

0:57:280:57:31

We should see our farming through that lens,

0:57:310:57:34

how the crops grow, what we are doing on the land.

0:57:340:57:37

If we want to get into the minds of people in 1500

0:57:370:57:39

we should be trying to see that through the lens of the church.

0:57:390:57:42

Next time on Tudor Monastery Farm,

0:57:580:58:01

the team explore how farms made money to pay the rent.

0:58:010:58:05

Oh! That was a good dunk!

0:58:050:58:07

By farming sheep...

0:58:070:58:09

The question is, are you going to buy our wool?

0:58:090:58:12

-As we say in the monastery, you have to have faith.

-We certainly will!

0:58:120:58:16

..adopting new technology...

0:58:160:58:19

Ruth: Wow!

0:58:190:58:20

..and trading their wares.

0:58:200:58:23

Geese for sale, people! Anyone want a goose?

0:58:230:58:25

If you don't want a whole goose, we've got parts of geese.

0:58:250:58:29

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