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00:00:001953, a coronation fit for a king.
00:00:19But it's a young queen who's about to be crowned.
00:00:23And the crowd roars its approval.
00:00:25The fact that she's a woman attracts no comment,
00:00:31and she will go on to reign over us for six decades.
00:00:36But England's queens haven't always been greeted with such adoration.
00:00:42And throughout our history, women and power have made an uneasy combination.
00:00:51800 years earlier, another female heir to the throne
00:00:54came to Westminster for her coronation.
00:00:57She wasn't met by cheering crowds.
00:01:00Instead, she was chased away from the capital by an angry mob.
00:01:06Her name was Matilda,
00:01:09the first woman to make a claim to the English crown in her own right.
00:01:13But 800 years ago, power was inescapably male.
00:01:20There was no question in the medieval world.
00:01:23Men ruled, and women didn't.
00:01:27A king was a warrior, who literally fought to win power,
00:01:32then battled to keep it.
00:01:33Yet, despite everything that stood in their way,
00:01:38a handful of extraordinary women did attempt to rule medieval and Tudor England.
00:01:46This series is about the queens who challenged male power,
00:01:50and the fierce reactions they provoked.
00:01:54When they pursued power like kings,
00:01:56these royal women were criticized and condemned.
00:01:58Most graphically of all, they'd been vilified as she-wolves.
00:02:04These are the stories of the she-wolves of England.
00:02:07And to explore them is to realize just how far we've come,
00:02:11and how little has changed.
00:02:13On the 24th of June, 1141,
00:02:39a 39-year-old woman sat down here at Westminster
00:02:43to a sumptuous banquet.
00:02:46It was a feast to celebrate her planned coronation as Queen of England.
00:02:52Matilda, it seemed, was about to become the first woman
00:02:54to rule England in her own right.
00:03:02Matilda was the daughter of Henry I
00:03:04and granddaughter of William the Conqueror,
00:03:07but you won't find her on the roll call of English monarchs.
00:03:12This faint manuscript image
00:03:14is the only contemporary picture of her that survives.
00:03:19Her attempt to claim the crown
00:03:21was to throw the country
00:03:22into almost 20 years of catastrophic civil war.
00:03:27Matilda herself has gone down in history
00:03:29as a domineering and destructive woman,
00:03:32perceived by men as a she-wolf,
00:03:34simply because she dared to challenge the assumption
00:03:38that only a man could wear the English crown.
00:03:44And her bid for the throne began with a tragedy,
00:03:48the death of the male heir, her brother William.
00:03:52It happened not in England,
00:03:54but when he and their father were returning
00:03:56from their territory across the Channel in Normandy.
00:03:59This sleepy village, Barfleur, in Normandy,
00:04:07was once the greatest port on the Norman coast.
00:04:11It was from here that Matilda's grandfather,
00:04:13William, Duke of Normandy,
00:04:15set off to conquer England in 1066.
00:04:1954 years later, another Norman fleet
00:04:21set out from Barfleur to cross the Channel.
00:04:24At its head was the King of England,
00:04:26Henry I, in his great dragon-headed longship,
00:04:29and behind him, in a newly fitted-out vessel
00:04:32called the White Ship,
00:04:33was his son and heir, William,
00:04:35with a large party of young noblemen.
00:04:40It was November, late in the year
00:04:43for what could be a treacherous crossing.
00:04:45But the water in Barfleur harbour was still and glassy,
00:04:51and there seemed no need for concern.
00:04:54The King set sail first at twilight
00:04:57to be followed by William and his company
00:04:59of ebullient young aristocrats.
00:05:01But when the White Ship slipped out into the dark water,
00:05:05everyone on board was roaring drunk.
00:05:08No-one noticed the rock at the harbour mouth,
00:05:19but no-one could mistake the sickening jolt
00:05:22as the ship struck.
00:05:32It took only minutes to sink.
00:05:38And in the freezing November waters,
00:05:41there was no hope of rescue.
00:05:49The chronicler William of Malmesbury wrote,
00:05:53No ship that ever sailed
00:05:55brought England such disaster.
00:05:58It was such a calamity
00:06:00that two days passed
00:06:02before anyone dared to break the news to King Henry.
00:06:04When eventually a stuttering boy
00:06:08was pushed forward
00:06:09to tell him that his son was dead,
00:06:12the King collapsed in anguish.
00:06:16It was a personal tragedy,
00:06:18but for a King,
00:06:19the personal was always political,
00:06:22and all Henry's hopes for his country's future
00:06:24had been swallowed by the sea
00:06:26along with his drowned son.
00:06:27Norman kings had worn the English crown
00:06:32for just over 50 years.
00:06:35But already a dynasty had been founded
00:06:38and a new source of potential power
00:06:41for future queens.
00:06:43After all,
00:06:43they were the ones who produced sons and heirs.
00:06:47But now there was no natural successor
00:06:50to continue the line.
00:06:52No boys.
00:06:53Just a daughter
00:06:55called Matilda.
00:06:57There had never been a female heir
00:06:59to the English throne.
00:07:01But then again,
00:07:02there was nothing explicitly to say
00:07:04that a woman couldn't inherit the crown.
00:07:06The revolutionary effects of the conquest,
00:07:09which had swept away
00:07:09all precedent and tradition,
00:07:12meant that Norman England
00:07:13hadn't yet developed fixed rules
00:07:15about how a new monarch should be chosen.
00:07:17But in these times,
00:07:23it wasn't enough
00:07:24to have a right to the throne.
00:07:26To wear the crown,
00:07:28you had to fight for it too.
00:07:31That's exactly what happened
00:07:33with Matilda's father.
00:07:36Henry I had fought his older brother
00:07:38for the rule of England and Normandy.
00:07:41And once he'd become king,
00:07:43he had to keep on fighting
00:07:45to impose his authority
00:07:47on his nobles.
00:07:49Could this possibly be a job for a woman?
00:07:54These are the two sides
00:07:56of a king's great seal,
00:07:58the physical representation
00:07:59of the crown's authority
00:08:01that hung from every royal decree.
00:08:03It's an iconic image of power
00:08:06that demonstrates
00:08:07the king's most fundamental roles.
00:08:11Here, on one side,
00:08:13he sits with an orb and scepter
00:08:15in his hands
00:08:16to give justice to his people.
00:08:19On the other,
00:08:20he rides a war horse
00:08:21with his sword unsheathed
00:08:23to defend his kingdom.
00:08:35Even today,
00:08:36power still looks,
00:08:38sounds and feels
00:08:40overwhelmingly male.
00:08:41Back then,
00:08:44there was no question
00:08:45in contemporary's minds
00:08:47about the order
00:08:48of God's creation.
00:08:50Men ruled,
00:08:51and their women obeyed.
00:08:54In fact,
00:08:55the Anglo-Saxon word
00:08:57for queen
00:08:57didn't mean
00:08:58a female king.
00:09:00It meant
00:09:00the wife of a king.
00:09:03And as a king's wife,
00:09:04a queen could advise
00:09:05her husband
00:09:06or even represent him.
00:09:08but her authority
00:09:10always depended on his.
00:09:14And it was this limited
00:09:16kind of queenship,
00:09:17as royal wife
00:09:18to a royal husband,
00:09:20for which Matilda
00:09:21had been prepared
00:09:22since birth.
00:09:23When she was a small child,
00:09:25her father sent her
00:09:26to a foreign land
00:09:27to be married
00:09:28to a complete stranger.
00:09:30At the age of eight,
00:09:34she'd already begun
00:09:34an extraordinary career.
00:09:37She'd left England
00:09:38to marry Henry V,
00:09:40the king of Germany
00:09:40and Holy Roman Emperor.
00:09:43Since then,
00:09:43she'd been feted
00:09:44as his empress
00:09:45at the greatest court
00:09:46in Europe.
00:09:48And as a result,
00:09:49she had a powerful sense
00:09:50of her own majesty.
00:09:51Matilda assumed
00:10:03that she would spend
00:10:03the rest of her life
00:10:04as a German empress.
00:10:06But when she was 23,
00:10:08her husband died suddenly.
00:10:11And after 16 years abroad,
00:10:14Matilda came home
00:10:15to England.
00:10:17She was Henry's only heir
00:10:19and he chose this moment
00:10:21to ensure the future
00:10:22of his dynasty.
00:10:27This is Westminster Hall.
00:10:30In Matilda's day,
00:10:31it was probably
00:10:32the largest indoor space
00:10:33in Europe.
00:10:35It still has
00:10:36a daunting grandeur.
00:10:39It was at a ceremony here
00:10:41that Henry promised Matilda
00:10:43a startling new future.
00:10:46He was suggesting
00:10:47that for the first time,
00:10:50a woman could rule
00:10:51in her own right
00:10:52as a female king.
00:10:56On the 1st of January,
00:10:581127,
00:10:59here in the Great Hall
00:11:00at Westminster,
00:11:01the nobles of Henry's kingdom
00:11:03swore a solemn oath
00:11:04that they would support
00:11:06Matilda's right
00:11:07to succeed
00:11:07to her father's throne.
00:11:09No one tried to argue
00:11:11that a woman couldn't rule.
00:11:12But the likelihood is
00:11:18that the nobles
00:11:18were paying lip service
00:11:20to an idea
00:11:20that they thought
00:11:21would never happen.
00:11:24And Henry
00:11:24had an alternative plan.
00:11:27Matilda was still young.
00:11:29If she could give him
00:11:30a grandson,
00:11:32England might yet be ruled
00:11:33by a king
00:11:34of his bloodline.
00:11:36So once again,
00:11:38he sent her away
00:11:39to be married.
00:11:40She might have been promised
00:11:42a powerful future,
00:11:44but for the moment,
00:11:45she was still
00:11:46her father's pawn.
00:11:50Since the conquest,
00:11:51the kings of England
00:11:52had ruled both England
00:11:54and Normandy.
00:11:55But this new
00:11:56Anglo-Norman realm
00:11:58was difficult
00:11:58to hold together.
00:12:00One way to defend it
00:12:02was to create alliances
00:12:03through marriage.
00:12:04So Henry chose
00:12:07as Matilda's bridegroom,
00:12:09Geoffrey of Anjou,
00:12:10whose lands
00:12:11to the south of Normandy
00:12:12could protect
00:12:14Henry's borders.
00:12:15In June 1128,
00:12:28Henry came here
00:12:29to his Norman capital,
00:12:31Rouen,
00:12:31to knight his
00:12:32prospective son-in-law.
00:12:36Henry was delighted
00:12:38with the match,
00:12:39but Matilda
00:12:41wasn't so pleased.
00:12:42The good news?
00:12:45Geoffrey was so handsome
00:12:46and athletic
00:12:47that he was nicknamed
00:12:48Geoffrey the Fair.
00:12:50The bad?
00:12:52He was only 15.
00:12:57Matilda clearly
00:12:58wasn't dazzled
00:12:59by Geoffrey's good looks.
00:13:01He was 11 years
00:13:02younger than her
00:13:03and her junior
00:13:04by far in status
00:13:05and experience.
00:13:07She'd just lost
00:13:08a husband
00:13:08who'd been a father figure
00:13:10as well as an emperor,
00:13:11and now she was offered
00:13:12an arrogant teenager
00:13:14as his replacement.
00:13:16She tried to resist the match,
00:13:18but in the end
00:13:18she had no choice.
00:13:20She did her unpleasant duty
00:13:22and married him.
00:13:23But Matilda didn't give in easily.
00:13:37She never called herself
00:13:38Countess of Anjou.
00:13:40Instead,
00:13:41she always insisted
00:13:42on the greater magnificence
00:13:44of her own title
00:13:45as empress
00:13:46and daughter
00:13:47of the King of the English.
00:13:49As such,
00:13:52Matilda knew
00:13:52what her father
00:13:53expected of her,
00:13:55that she should produce
00:13:56a male heir.
00:13:58But just a year
00:13:59after the wedding,
00:14:00the unhappy couple
00:14:01were living apart.
00:14:04Matilda might have
00:14:05given up on her marriage,
00:14:06but her father hadn't.
00:14:09In 1131,
00:14:11he imposed
00:14:12a reconciliation
00:14:12on the couple
00:14:13and to good effect.
00:14:15In the spring of 1133,
00:14:18Matilda gave birth
00:14:19to her first child,
00:14:21a healthy boy
00:14:22called Henry
00:14:23after his proud grandfather.
00:14:26A year later,
00:14:27she had a second son.
00:14:29So Henry had
00:14:30his male heirs.
00:14:32But he was in his 60s
00:14:34and it would be years
00:14:35before they grew up.
00:14:37And there was more.
00:14:39Having a family of her own
00:14:41meant that Matilda's
00:14:42loyalties were now split.
00:14:45The arrival of his grandsons
00:14:47was a dynastic triumph
00:14:48for Henry.
00:14:50But Matilda's new role
00:14:52as the mother
00:14:52of two young sons
00:14:53left her caught in the middle
00:14:55between her husband's ambition
00:14:57and her father's refusal,
00:14:59even at the age of 67,
00:15:01to relinquish any part
00:15:03of his hold on power.
00:15:05And in 1135,
00:15:07as political disagreement
00:15:08escalated into the flexing
00:15:10of military muscle,
00:15:12Matilda stayed in Anjou
00:15:13with Geoffrey,
00:15:14standing shoulder to shoulder
00:15:16with her husband.
00:15:27But just as Matilda
00:15:29was fighting for power
00:15:30for her husband,
00:15:32she was suddenly offered power
00:15:34in her own right.
00:15:38Her father, Henry,
00:15:40was taken ill
00:15:41on a hunting trip
00:15:42in November 1135.
00:15:46Knowing that his grandsons
00:15:48were not yet old enough
00:15:49to succeed him,
00:15:51as Henry lay dying,
00:15:53he insisted that the nobles
00:15:54abide by the agreement
00:15:56they'd made eight years earlier
00:15:57to allow Matilda to rule.
00:16:01And as soon as the news
00:16:03of her father's death
00:16:04reached her,
00:16:05Matilda made her first move
00:16:07in becoming queen.
00:16:10She rode north
00:16:12to seize control
00:16:13of Argentin,
00:16:14an important fortress
00:16:16that was crucial
00:16:17to the rule of Normandy.
00:16:18But then she went
00:16:23no further.
00:16:24She discovered
00:16:25she was pregnant.
00:16:33It's impossible to know
00:16:35what was going through
00:16:36Matilda's mind
00:16:36stuck out here
00:16:37at Argentin.
00:16:38The chronicler
00:16:39William of Malmesbury
00:16:40says only that she failed
00:16:42to return to England
00:16:43for certain reasons,
00:16:45which at a distance
00:16:46of almost 900 years
00:16:47is maddeningly opaque.
00:16:50Maybe her pregnancy
00:16:51had made her ill
00:16:52or maybe she believed
00:16:53the nobles would simply
00:16:54rally to her cause.
00:16:56What we do know
00:16:57is that while Matilda
00:16:58hesitated,
00:16:59it was her cousin Stephen
00:17:01who seized the moment.
00:17:09Stephen was a powerful man
00:17:11and an effective soldier.
00:17:13He rode to Winchester
00:17:15where his brother
00:17:16was bishop
00:17:17and had himself
00:17:18crowned king.
00:17:21For Matilda,
00:17:22this was a shocking betrayal.
00:17:25Stephen had been
00:17:26among the nobles
00:17:27who had sworn allegiance
00:17:28to her
00:17:29when her father
00:17:30was alive.
00:17:33Matilda believed
00:17:34absolutely in her
00:17:35right to the throne.
00:17:37But her big mistake
00:17:39was to assume
00:17:40that others did too.
00:17:43Male might,
00:17:44it seemed,
00:17:45still overcame
00:17:46female right.
00:17:50According to a chronicle
00:17:52known as the
00:17:52Gesta Stefani,
00:17:54the deeds of Stephen,
00:17:56there was no one else
00:17:57at hand
00:17:57who could take
00:17:58the king's place
00:17:59and put an end
00:18:00to the great dangers
00:18:01threatening the kingdom.
00:18:02This is hardly
00:18:05an impartial account.
00:18:07It was written
00:18:07by a monk
00:18:08with close ties
00:18:09to Stephen's court
00:18:10and Stephen
00:18:11is the hero
00:18:12of the story.
00:18:15Unfortunately,
00:18:16no one was writing
00:18:17Matilda's story.
00:18:21Stephen's masterstroke
00:18:23was his speedily
00:18:24arranged coronation.
00:18:26Once God
00:18:27had made him king,
00:18:28no man,
00:18:29let alone a woman,
00:18:31could undo it.
00:18:32Stephen's kingship
00:18:35had taken effect
00:18:36in the moment
00:18:37he was anointed
00:18:38with holy oil.
00:18:40But in that instant
00:18:41also lay the seeds
00:18:42of civil war.
00:18:44Two different forms
00:18:45of royal legitimacy
00:18:46now stood in opposition
00:18:47to one another.
00:18:49Matilda was the only
00:18:51legitimate child
00:18:51of the previous king
00:18:52and the nobles
00:18:54had sworn allegiance
00:18:55to her as his heir.
00:18:57But Stephen
00:18:58had just been anointed
00:18:59and crowned
00:18:59as Henry's successor.
00:19:01Victory for one
00:19:02now meant defeat
00:19:04for the other.
00:19:12Stephen might have God
00:19:14on his side,
00:19:15but he needed people too.
00:19:18He couldn't rule
00:19:19without the support
00:19:20of the powerful nobles.
00:19:22It was a balancing act.
00:19:23But they would help
00:19:25the king keep order
00:19:26in the kingdom
00:19:26and defend it
00:19:27from attack
00:19:28if he offered
00:19:29leadership and security.
00:19:34And this is what
00:19:35Stephen appeared
00:19:36to be doing.
00:19:37So one by one
00:19:38they rallied
00:19:39to his cause.
00:19:41And his triumph
00:19:42seemed complete
00:19:43when he won
00:19:44the support
00:19:45of Robert of Gloucester,
00:19:47one of the most
00:19:47powerful noblemen
00:19:48in the country.
00:19:51Hundreds of miles
00:19:52away in France,
00:19:54Matilda's cause
00:19:55seemed lost.
00:20:01Her third son
00:20:02had been born safely
00:20:03at Argentin,
00:20:04but now she and her boys
00:20:05were embattled there
00:20:06with little prospect
00:20:07of reclaiming
00:20:08her inheritance.
00:20:10But it was Normandy
00:20:11that came to her rescue.
00:20:13To make his throne secure,
00:20:20Stephen needed
00:20:21to control
00:20:22the Anglo-Norman realm
00:20:23on both sides
00:20:24of the channel.
00:20:26But while he established
00:20:28his rule in England,
00:20:29it took him more than a year
00:20:31to cross the channel
00:20:32to France.
00:20:35By then,
00:20:36Normandy had collapsed
00:20:37into anarchy
00:20:39and so did Stephen's army
00:20:41as his soldiers
00:20:42began to slay.
00:20:43squabble among themselves.
00:20:51At her base at Argentin,
00:20:53news reached Matilda
00:20:54that Stephen's campaign
00:20:55in Normandy
00:20:55was disintegrating
00:20:57into chaos.
00:20:58Most significantly of all,
00:21:00the uneasy alliance
00:21:01between Stephen
00:21:02and Robert of Gloucester
00:21:03began to fall apart.
00:21:05And in June 1138,
00:21:07in a dramatic about-turn,
00:21:09Robert declared
00:21:10his support for Matilda.
00:21:11At a stroke,
00:21:13her position was transformed.
00:21:14Her position was transformed.
00:21:19Matilda now had a route
00:21:21to England
00:21:22and the throne.
00:21:24Robert's lands in Normandy
00:21:25gave her a safe corridor
00:21:27to the coast.
00:21:27Stephen was still the anointed king,
00:21:33but for the first time,
00:21:35cracks were beginning to appear
00:21:37in his regime.
00:21:41How far would Matilda go
00:21:43to fight for the crown
00:21:44that she believed was hers?
00:21:46It was becoming clear
00:21:52that Matilda herself
00:21:54would have to stand
00:21:55at the centre of the campaign
00:21:56to secure her inheritance.
00:21:58Her uniquely royal blood,
00:22:01despite the female body
00:22:02in which it was housed,
00:22:03represented the only hope
00:22:05of challenging the sanctity
00:22:06of Stephen's coronation.
00:22:08And so,
00:22:10in 1139,
00:22:11Matilda set foot
00:22:12on English soil
00:22:13for the first time
00:22:13in eight years.
00:22:15She came here
00:22:16to Arundel Castle.
00:22:21News quickly reached Stephen
00:22:24of Matilda's arrival,
00:22:25and he lost no time
00:22:27in marching an army
00:22:28to Arundel's gates.
00:22:29For once,
00:22:32Matilda's sex worked
00:22:33to her benefit,
00:22:34not her disadvantage.
00:22:35She was the daughter
00:22:36of a king,
00:22:37the widow of an emperor,
00:22:38and Stephen's own cousin.
00:22:40Attempting to wage war
00:22:41on a woman
00:22:42of such exalted status
00:22:43would be a profoundly
00:22:44risky business.
00:22:47So Stephen was reluctantly
00:22:49persuaded to allow Matilda
00:22:51to leave Arundel.
00:22:53This played straight
00:22:54into Matilda's hands.
00:22:56She immediately went
00:22:57to Bristol,
00:22:58where Robert of Glow
00:22:59and Gloucester waited
00:23:00in his fortress.
00:23:02While Matilda's forces
00:23:04were still smaller
00:23:05than Stephen's,
00:23:06support for her
00:23:07was growing.
00:23:11Men who had wavered
00:23:12in their loyalty
00:23:13to Stephen
00:23:13now had the royal figurehead
00:23:15they needed.
00:23:17And while Matilda's forces
00:23:18had no chance
00:23:19of overwhelming
00:23:20Stephen's army head-on,
00:23:21they did find a way
00:23:22to wear him down
00:23:24with feints
00:23:24and lightning strikes,
00:23:26a kind of guerrilla warfare
00:23:27that kept Stephen
00:23:28on the back foot.
00:23:29for the next two years
00:23:39civil war raged
00:23:40in England
00:23:41and it took
00:23:42an immense toll
00:23:44on the country.
00:23:47The countryside
00:23:48was plundered
00:23:49and reduced
00:23:51to blackened earth
00:23:52by hostile troops.
00:23:53It was a dreadful thing,
00:24:02said the chronicler
00:24:03William of Malmesbury,
00:24:04that England,
00:24:06once the noblest place
00:24:07of peace,
00:24:08the peculiar habitation
00:24:10of tranquillity,
00:24:11had sunk
00:24:12to such wretchedness.
00:24:14But out of that wretchedness
00:24:23would come the moment
00:24:25of Matilda's
00:24:26greatest triumph.
00:24:28In February 1141,
00:24:31in vicious fighting
00:24:33at Lincoln,
00:24:34troops loyal to Matilda
00:24:36defeated Stephen's army
00:24:37and took the king prisoner.
00:24:42It had been five years
00:24:44since her father's death,
00:24:46but now the throne
00:24:47was within her reach
00:24:49for the first time.
00:24:52Now, Matilda knew
00:24:53she needed the church
00:24:54and the people
00:24:56to recognize her as queen.
00:24:57She couldn't undo
00:25:00Stephen's coronation,
00:25:02but she could try
00:25:03to supersede it
00:25:05with one of her own.
00:25:07And she found
00:25:08an unlikely ally
00:25:09in the man
00:25:10who had orchestrated
00:25:11Stephen's coronation.
00:25:14His own brother,
00:25:16Bishop Henry of Winchester.
00:25:19Matilda cleverly promised
00:25:20Bishop Henry
00:25:21first place
00:25:22among her advisors,
00:25:24and in return,
00:25:26he rallied the church
00:25:27to her cause.
00:25:30In April 1141,
00:25:33Bishop Henry convened
00:25:34a special council
00:25:35of the church
00:25:36at Winchester.
00:25:38Among those who attended
00:25:39was the chronicler
00:25:40William of Malmesbury.
00:25:44This is a translation
00:25:46of William's Chronicle,
00:25:47and it's an extraordinary
00:25:49thing more than 800 years
00:25:51later to read
00:25:52an eyewitness account.
00:25:55It turned out
00:25:56that the bishop
00:25:56was a master
00:25:57of political spin.
00:25:59He explained
00:26:00to the council
00:26:01that when King Henry died,
00:26:03he had left his crown
00:26:04to his daughter.
00:26:06But, he said,
00:26:08because it seemed
00:26:09tedious to wait
00:26:10for the lady,
00:26:11who made delays
00:26:12in coming to England
00:26:13since her residence
00:26:14was in Normandy,
00:26:15thought was taken
00:26:16for the peace
00:26:17of the country,
00:26:18and my brother
00:26:19allowed to reign.
00:26:20This was a piece
00:26:23of breath-taking revisionism,
00:26:25but the bishop
00:26:26didn't stop there.
00:26:28Stephen, he declared,
00:26:30hadn't brought peace
00:26:31and justice to England,
00:26:32and he was now
00:26:33a prisoner.
00:26:34So the English church
00:26:36spoke in the voice
00:26:38of Bishop Henry.
00:26:39We choose,
00:26:41as Lady of England
00:26:42and Normandy,
00:26:43the daughter of a king
00:26:44who was a peacemaker,
00:26:46a glorious king,
00:26:48a wealthy king,
00:26:49a good king,
00:26:50without peer
00:26:51in our time,
00:26:52and we promise her
00:26:53faith and support.
00:26:55This was a victory
00:27:04that Matilda had fought
00:27:05for six long years
00:27:07to achieve.
00:27:09So here at Winchester,
00:27:11Matilda was recognised
00:27:12as England's lady,
00:27:15domina in Latin.
00:27:17What that meant
00:27:18was that she would have
00:27:19dominion,
00:27:20power or lordship
00:27:21of the kind
00:27:22that her father
00:27:23had enjoyed.
00:27:23and once she was
00:27:25anointed and crowned,
00:27:27she would become
00:27:27a new kind of queen,
00:27:29one who would rule
00:27:30in her own right.
00:27:36Matilda began to prepare
00:27:38for her coronation.
00:27:40She was on the brink
00:27:41of becoming England's
00:27:42first female king.
00:27:45But as she began to act
00:27:47like England's new ruler,
00:27:48it became clear
00:27:49that she still had
00:27:51a battle to fight.
00:27:53As the chronicles
00:27:54written at the time
00:27:55reveal,
00:27:56when the great men
00:27:57of the kingdom
00:27:58began to be confronted
00:27:59with the reality
00:28:00of female rule,
00:28:01they didn't like
00:28:03what they saw.
00:28:04She was lifted up
00:28:06into an insufferable arrogance
00:28:08and she alienated
00:28:09the hearts
00:28:10of almost everyone.
00:28:12She had brought
00:28:13the greater part
00:28:14of the kingdom
00:28:15under her sway
00:28:16and on this account
00:28:17she was mightily puffed up
00:28:19and exalted in spirit.
00:28:21She at once put on
00:28:22an extremely arrogant demeanour
00:28:24instead of the modest gait
00:28:25and bearing
00:28:26proper to the gentle sex,
00:28:28began to walk
00:28:28and speak
00:28:29and do all things
00:28:30more stiffly
00:28:31and more haughtily
00:28:32than she had been wont,
00:28:33to such a point
00:28:34that soon,
00:28:35in the capital
00:28:35of the land subject
00:28:36to her,
00:28:37she actually made herself
00:28:38queen of all England
00:28:40and gloried
00:28:41in being so called.
00:28:43This has become
00:28:44the defining account
00:28:45of Matilda's difficulties
00:28:46at this crucial moment.
00:28:49She was just too arrogant
00:28:50to make a success of ruling.
00:28:52But there's more going on here
00:28:54than a previously
00:28:55undetected character flaw.
00:28:58Matilda was trying
00:28:59to become queen of England,
00:29:01not in the conventional sense
00:29:02of a king's wife,
00:29:04but in the unprecedented form
00:29:05of a female king.
00:29:07And kings didn't deport themselves
00:29:09with a modest gait and bearing.
00:29:11They had to be commanding
00:29:13and authoritative.
00:29:15But when Matilda tried
00:29:16to do that,
00:29:17she was seen
00:29:18as unnaturally domineering.
00:29:22The great men of the realm
00:29:24couldn't believe
00:29:25that a mere woman
00:29:26wouldn't take their advice
00:29:27without question.
00:29:29And as the rumblings
00:29:30of discontent
00:29:31grew louder and louder,
00:29:33medieval spin doctors
00:29:35went to work.
00:29:37True to form,
00:29:39the hostile chronicler
00:29:40of the Gesta Stefani,
00:29:42The Deeds of Stephen,
00:29:43reported that she had
00:29:44demanded money
00:29:45from the citizens of London.
00:29:47And when they resisted...
00:29:49She with a grim look,
00:29:51her forehead wrinkled
00:29:52into a frown,
00:29:53every trace of a woman's
00:29:54gentleness removed
00:29:55from her face,
00:29:57blazed into unbearable fury.
00:30:02Stephen was still a prisoner,
00:30:04but troops loyal to his cause
00:30:07began to ravage
00:30:08the land south of the Thames,
00:30:10just across the river
00:30:11from the city of London.
00:30:22Undeterred,
00:30:23Matilda pressed on
00:30:24with her coronation plans.
00:30:27She was so close
00:30:28to her moment of triumph,
00:30:30but at the last moment,
00:30:32everything began to unravel.
00:30:40As Matilda prepared
00:30:41to enjoy her feast
00:30:42at Westminster,
00:30:44bells began to toll.
00:30:46The gates of the city
00:30:47swung open
00:30:48and out swarmed
00:30:50thousands of armed Londoners
00:30:52to drive her away
00:30:54from the capital.
00:31:03All Matilda's hopes
00:31:05of being crowned queen
00:31:06were trampled into the dirt,
00:31:09along with the feast
00:31:10she had left behind.
00:31:19But things were about
00:31:20to get still worse.
00:31:23News reached Matilda
00:31:25that Bishop Henry
00:31:26had swapped sides
00:31:27once again
00:31:28and declared his support
00:31:30of his brother Stephen.
00:31:33Matilda pursued the bishop
00:31:34to Winchester,
00:31:36but was caught in an ambush.
00:31:38She was smuggled to safety,
00:31:41but her greatest supporter,
00:31:43Robert of Gloucester,
00:31:44was captured in battle.
00:31:46Without him,
00:31:48she knew she could never
00:31:49hope to win,
00:31:50so she bought his freedom.
00:31:52But the price was high.
00:31:55She had to release
00:31:56her most valuable prisoner
00:31:57by far,
00:31:58her rival, Stephen.
00:32:01Still, she fought on,
00:32:03and in September 1142,
00:32:06Matilda was besieged
00:32:07by Stephen's forces
00:32:09in the burned
00:32:10and blackened city
00:32:11of Oxford.
00:32:13For three months,
00:32:14she held out,
00:32:16but just before Christmas,
00:32:17she decided to risk everything
00:32:19in one last effort
00:32:21to escape.
00:32:27Matilda's escape from Oxford
00:32:28is the most famous,
00:32:29the most daring,
00:32:30and certainly the bravest
00:32:32moment of her life.
00:32:33In the cold and dark,
00:32:35with a bodyguard
00:32:35of just three trusted soldiers,
00:32:38she left Oxford Castle
00:32:39by a small side gate.
00:32:40wrapped in white cloaks
00:32:42as camouflage
00:32:43against the snow,
00:32:44they walked silently
00:32:45across the frozen river.
00:32:48An army surrounded the castle,
00:32:50but no one saw them pass.
00:32:52They trudged seven miles
00:32:53through the drifting snow
00:32:54before they found horses
00:32:56to carry them to safety.
00:33:03It was a courageous escape
00:33:05by anyone's standards,
00:33:06and even the guest
00:33:08of Stefani remarked
00:33:10on Matilda's
00:33:10extraordinary tenacity.
00:33:13Never have I read
00:33:14of another woman
00:33:15so luckily rescued
00:33:16from so many mortal foes
00:33:18and from the threat
00:33:20of dangers so great.
00:33:23Matilda was now free,
00:33:25but nothing had changed.
00:33:28England remained
00:33:29in military deadlock.
00:33:31It was time
00:33:32to develop a new game plan.
00:33:36As the destructive
00:33:39stalemate continued,
00:33:40Matilda came to the realisation
00:33:42that as a woman,
00:33:43she would never fit
00:33:44her most powerful subject's idea
00:33:46of what a king should be.
00:33:48But she was the mother
00:33:49of a son, Henry,
00:33:50and he was an entirely
00:33:51different prospect.
00:33:53Matilda recognised
00:33:54that the battle
00:33:55she now faced
00:33:55was to win the crown
00:33:56for her son,
00:33:57not to wear it herself.
00:34:03If the she-wolf
00:34:04couldn't wear the crown,
00:34:05then her cub would.
00:34:08While Matilda
00:34:09had been fighting
00:34:09in England,
00:34:10her son Henry
00:34:11had grown up in France.
00:34:14As a strong
00:34:15and energetic warrior,
00:34:16he had all the promise
00:34:18of a future king,
00:34:19and Matilda decided
00:34:21that the time had come
00:34:22for him to fight
00:34:23for his grandfather's kingdom.
00:34:28Stephen's position
00:34:29had depended
00:34:29on his ability
00:34:30to offer security
00:34:31and leadership.
00:34:34But the anarchy
00:34:36of the long years
00:34:37of civil war
00:34:38had undone all that.
00:34:41According to the
00:34:42Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,
00:34:44England's people
00:34:45felt abandoned by God,
00:34:48saying that while they suffered,
00:34:50Christ and his saints slept.
00:34:51And so,
00:34:57in the face
00:34:57of dwindling support,
00:34:59Stephen was forced
00:35:00to agree a compromise.
00:35:03He would remain
00:35:04as king,
00:35:05but at a ceremony
00:35:07here in Winchester,
00:35:09Stephen recognised
00:35:10Henry as his successor.
00:35:15Matilda had won,
00:35:18but the cost
00:35:19of her victory
00:35:20was her own
00:35:21political eclipse.
00:35:23She wasn't even mentioned
00:35:24by name in the treaty
00:35:26that brought an end
00:35:27to the conflict
00:35:27that had dominated her life.
00:35:30It wasn't long, though,
00:35:32before her self-denial
00:35:33was rewarded.
00:35:35Stephen died
00:35:36in October 1154,
00:35:38and two months later,
00:35:40almost exactly 19 years
00:35:43since Matilda's father
00:35:44had died,
00:35:45her son was crowned
00:35:46King Henry II.
00:35:49With her son safely
00:35:53on the throne,
00:35:54Matilda returned
00:35:55to Normandy
00:35:56and settled just outside
00:35:57its capital,
00:35:58Rouen,
00:35:59where she acted
00:36:00as Henry's counsellor
00:36:01and sometimes
00:36:02his royal deputy.
00:36:05Matilda had shown
00:36:06how hard it was
00:36:07for a woman to rule
00:36:09in her own right.
00:36:11In the end,
00:36:12she sacrificed
00:36:12her own claim
00:36:13to the throne
00:36:14to ensure
00:36:15her dynasty continued.
00:36:17She had lost the battle,
00:36:19but she had won the war.
00:36:22Her father would have
00:36:23been proud of her,
00:36:24and her son certainly was.
00:36:28Henry never forgot
00:36:30the importance
00:36:30of his mother
00:36:31and always called himself
00:36:33Henry Fitz-Empress,
00:36:36son of the Empress.
00:36:38A poem from the time
00:36:40recalls that
00:36:41nothing in the world
00:36:42was dearer to him
00:36:44than she.
00:36:50Matilda died
00:36:51in Normandy
00:36:52at the age of 65
00:36:53on the 10th of September,
00:36:561167.
00:36:56In the end,
00:37:08it was Matilda's
00:37:09tough political pragmatism
00:37:11that made her son king.
00:37:13These Latin verses
00:37:14were later inscribed
00:37:16on her tomb.
00:37:16Great by birth,
00:37:30greater by marriage,
00:37:32but greatest
00:37:32in her offspring.
00:37:34Here lies the daughter,
00:37:36wife,
00:37:37and mother
00:37:38of Henry.
00:37:40Her son's triumph
00:37:41was the vindication
00:37:42of everything
00:37:43she'd done,
00:37:44but the price
00:37:45to be paid
00:37:46for that victory
00:37:46was her disappearance
00:37:48between the lines
00:37:49of her own epitaph.
00:37:53This was the price
00:37:54that Matilda paid
00:37:55for being a queen
00:37:56who dared to believe
00:37:58she might act
00:37:59like a king.
00:38:00And still,
00:38:01the question remained.
00:38:04Would a woman
00:38:04seeking this much power
00:38:06always face
00:38:07such outrage?
00:38:14Her daughter-in-law
00:38:19would attempt
00:38:20to find out
00:38:21with just as much
00:38:22determination
00:38:23as Matilda herself.
00:38:28But as the centuries
00:38:29have gone by,
00:38:31Eleanor of Aquitaine's
00:38:32fame has endured
00:38:33less as a she-wolf
00:38:35than as a queen
00:38:37of the romantic world
00:38:38of chivalry
00:38:39and courtly love.
00:38:41In fact,
00:38:46we know very little
00:38:47for certain
00:38:47about Eleanor's looks
00:38:48or her emotional life.
00:38:51The only contemporary
00:38:52image of her
00:38:52that survives
00:38:53is this effigy
00:38:54from her tomb
00:38:55at Fontevro Abbey
00:38:56and it's hard
00:38:57to get a sense
00:38:58of the extraordinary
00:38:59woman behind
00:39:00this mask-like face.
00:39:02One clue
00:39:03to her intellect
00:39:04is perhaps
00:39:04the book she's holding,
00:39:06not a typical prop
00:39:07for a medieval woman.
00:39:09But then,
00:39:09Eleanor wasn't typical
00:39:10in anything she did.
00:39:12She spent 80 years
00:39:14at the centre
00:39:14of European politics,
00:39:16not as a passive consort,
00:39:18but as a dynamic force
00:39:19in her own right.
00:39:21Above all,
00:39:22she was a woman
00:39:23who believed
00:39:23in her own agency,
00:39:25her ability
00:39:26to determine
00:39:26her own fate.
00:39:27Eleanor's childhood
00:39:39was spent in Poitiers,
00:39:40one of the great cities
00:39:42of her father's
00:39:42duchy of Aquitaine.
00:39:46In her day,
00:39:48it had a reputation
00:39:48as a place of poetry,
00:39:51romance,
00:39:51and wit.
00:39:52It was a flamboyant
00:39:56and sophisticated court
00:39:57for a girl
00:39:58to grow up in.
00:40:01This exquisite church,
00:40:04with its elaborate carvings
00:40:06and richly painted walls,
00:40:08gives us a rare glimpse
00:40:10into the sumptuousness
00:40:11of Eleanor's early life.
00:40:13But at the age of 13,
00:40:15she was abruptly
00:40:16taken away from all this.
00:40:17The beginning of Eleanor's life
00:40:21was entirely conventional
00:40:23for an aristocratic heiress.
00:40:25Just like Matilda before her,
00:40:27she was an asset
00:40:28to be traded in marriage.
00:40:32But Eleanor made
00:40:33a particularly powerful match.
00:40:36Her new husband
00:40:37was heir to the French throne.
00:40:40And within days of the wedding,
00:40:42the old king died.
00:40:44Now, at the age of only 13,
00:40:47Eleanor was queen of France,
00:40:50wife of King Louis VII.
00:40:54Louis, who was unworldly
00:40:57and young for his years,
00:40:58was puppyishly devoted
00:41:00to his beautiful wife.
00:41:02Eleanor was much less impressed.
00:41:05According to later gossip,
00:41:06she said he was more monk
00:41:08than king.
00:41:10Eleanor's role as consort
00:41:12was to give Louis an heir.
00:41:14And it may be evidence
00:41:15of her distaste for the job
00:41:17that it was eight years
00:41:18before she gave birth
00:41:19for the first time.
00:41:22The baby was strong,
00:41:23healthy and perfect
00:41:24in every way,
00:41:26except for the fact
00:41:27that she was a girl.
00:41:32But Eleanor was still
00:41:33only 21.
00:41:36And from their court in Paris,
00:41:38there was another project
00:41:40consuming the royal couple.
00:41:43Louis and Eleanor
00:41:45had decided to go on crusade.
00:41:54Here at Saint-Denis,
00:41:55in June 1147,
00:41:57Eleanor knelt to receive
00:41:59the Pope's blessing
00:41:59during the crusade's
00:42:01elaborate send-off.
00:42:02and she almost fainted
00:42:04on a suffocatingly hot day.
00:42:06But she didn't show
00:42:07any such vulnerability
00:42:08in the face of the very real dangers
00:42:10of the crusade itself.
00:42:17Eleanor and Louis
00:42:18were joining the great battle
00:42:20between the Christian West
00:42:21and Muslim East
00:42:23to win control of Jerusalem
00:42:24and the Holy Land.
00:42:26This adventure
00:42:28was the first sign
00:42:29that Eleanor was not
00:42:31going to be
00:42:31a conventional wife
00:42:32or queen.
00:42:37A crusade was not
00:42:38to be taken lightly,
00:42:40a treacherous journey
00:42:41across thousands of miles
00:42:43to face dangers
00:42:44of landscape,
00:42:45climate,
00:42:46disease and war.
00:42:49Ironically, though,
00:42:50the greatest threat
00:42:51to France's queen
00:42:52wasn't her position
00:42:54near the front line.
00:42:56but a personal scandal.
00:43:00Eleanor and Louis
00:43:01made their way
00:43:01across Europe.
00:43:03In the spring of 1148,
00:43:06they sought refuge
00:43:07in Antioch,
00:43:08now in modern-day Turkey,
00:43:10which was ruled
00:43:11by Eleanor's uncle,
00:43:13Raymond of Poitiers.
00:43:17According to one chronicler,
00:43:19Raymond was the handsomest
00:43:20of the princes of the earth
00:43:21and Eleanor delighted
00:43:23in his company.
00:43:24Soon,
00:43:25the intimacy between them
00:43:27began to spark
00:43:27scandalous gossip
00:43:29that raced across Europe.
00:43:32This was a dangerous
00:43:34moment for Eleanor.
00:43:35She was suspected
00:43:36of having an incestuous
00:43:38affair with her uncle.
00:43:40Bad enough,
00:43:41you might think.
00:43:42For a queen,
00:43:43however,
00:43:44adultery
00:43:45was also treason.
00:43:46But Eleanor seemed
00:43:52completely undaunted
00:43:53by this innuendo
00:43:54and speculation.
00:43:56When Louis decided
00:43:57to leave Antioch,
00:43:58Eleanor astonishingly
00:43:59refused to go with him.
00:44:01And when he tried
00:44:02to insist,
00:44:03she showed just how far
00:44:04she was prepared to go
00:44:05to escape him.
00:44:06Eleanor decided
00:44:12to use church law
00:44:14to claim
00:44:14that her marriage
00:44:15was invalid.
00:44:17In theory,
00:44:19the church
00:44:19banned marriages
00:44:20where a couple
00:44:21shared an ancestor
00:44:22within the previous
00:44:23seven generations,
00:44:24as Eleanor and Louis did.
00:44:27But this was a law
00:44:28that the powerful
00:44:29could always get
00:44:30permission to ignore.
00:44:31According to the
00:44:34chronicler John
00:44:35of Salisbury...
00:44:36When the king
00:44:37made haste
00:44:38to tear her away,
00:44:39she mentioned
00:44:40their kinship,
00:44:41saying it was not
00:44:41lawful for them
00:44:42to remain together
00:44:43as man and wife,
00:44:44since they were
00:44:45related by the
00:44:46fourth and fifth degree.
00:44:49The reality was
00:44:50that church law
00:44:51was used by powerful men
00:44:52to get rid of wives
00:44:53who were no longer
00:44:54politically convenient.
00:44:56And it seemed
00:44:56that Eleanor didn't see
00:44:57why she shouldn't
00:44:58use it, too.
00:45:01But Eleanor found
00:45:06that the king's power
00:45:07was greater than hers.
00:45:10Louis wasn't prepared
00:45:11to let his queen go,
00:45:13and she was forced
00:45:14to leave Antioch with him.
00:45:20In 1149,
00:45:22the failed crusade
00:45:23trailed home,
00:45:25and for the next two years,
00:45:26Eleanor didn't waste her energy
00:45:28by struggling further.
00:45:29She remained dutifully
00:45:32in Paris,
00:45:33and in 1150,
00:45:34she gave birth
00:45:36to another daughter.
00:45:39But then,
00:45:40she encountered the man
00:45:42who would change
00:45:42the whole course
00:45:43of her life.
00:45:46This man was
00:45:48Matilda's son,
00:45:49Henry,
00:45:50future king of England,
00:45:51and in 1151,
00:45:53peace talks brought him
00:45:55to Paris.
00:45:59Eleanor and Henry
00:46:03must have met
00:46:04when he came
00:46:04to the French court
00:46:05in the summer
00:46:06of 1151,
00:46:07though the chroniclers
00:46:08are tantalisingly silent
00:46:09on the subject.
00:46:11He was nine years
00:46:12younger than Eleanor,
00:46:13a fiery and charismatic
00:46:14young man
00:46:15with boundless energy
00:46:17as a soldier
00:46:17and a leader.
00:46:19And just seven months
00:46:20later,
00:46:20the difficulties
00:46:21in Eleanor's marriage
00:46:22erupted into the open
00:46:23once again.
00:46:24This time,
00:46:29it was Louis
00:46:29who had given up
00:46:30the fight
00:46:31to keep his wife
00:46:31by his side.
00:46:35In March 1152,
00:46:37a committee of French
00:46:38bishops annulled
00:46:39their marriage,
00:46:41and Eleanor left Paris
00:46:42immediately for Poitiers.
00:46:43Just eight weeks
00:46:54and two days
00:46:55after her divorce,
00:46:56she married Henry.
00:46:58In doing so,
00:46:59she changed
00:47:00the balance of power
00:47:01in Europe.
00:47:05Eleanor had inherited
00:47:07the vast Duchy
00:47:08of Aquitaine
00:47:08from her father,
00:47:10and by adding this
00:47:12to Henry's lands
00:47:13in England,
00:47:13Normandy,
00:47:14and Anjou,
00:47:15she helped him
00:47:16build an empire
00:47:17that stretched
00:47:18from the Pyrenees
00:47:19to the Scottish borders.
00:47:24Eleanor had already
00:47:26shown that she
00:47:27would determine
00:47:27her own future,
00:47:29but now,
00:47:31in her second royal marriage,
00:47:33she found she wasn't
00:47:34the strongest female
00:47:35influence
00:47:36in her husband's life.
00:47:39That role
00:47:40went to her new
00:47:41mother-in-law,
00:47:42Matilda.
00:47:47We don't know
00:47:48anything about
00:47:48the relationship
00:47:49between these two
00:47:50formidable women,
00:47:52but what we do know
00:47:53is that while Eleanor
00:47:54did her duty
00:47:55as Henry's queen,
00:47:56producing eight children
00:47:58in 15 years,
00:47:59it was Matilda
00:48:00who was the elder
00:48:01stateswoman
00:48:02in his government.
00:48:04That was to change
00:48:05in 1167,
00:48:07when Matilda died
00:48:08less than a year
00:48:09after the birth
00:48:10of her last royal
00:48:11grandchild.
00:48:12Now,
00:48:13at the age of 43,
00:48:16Eleanor's political career
00:48:17was about to begin
00:48:18in earnest.
00:48:19The task of governing
00:48:27Henry's huge
00:48:28and unwieldy empire
00:48:29was a challenging one,
00:48:31which kept him
00:48:32constantly on the move.
00:48:38Aquitaine,
00:48:38at its most southern edge,
00:48:40was culturally
00:48:41and politically
00:48:42alien to Henry,
00:48:43but it was
00:48:44Eleanor's homeland.
00:48:45And in 1168,
00:48:51Eleanor went to govern
00:48:52the duchy
00:48:53in her husband's name.
00:48:56For Henry,
00:48:57this was a matter
00:48:58of political strategy,
00:49:00but for Eleanor,
00:49:02an opportunity
00:49:02and a welcome homecoming.
00:49:07Hidden inside
00:49:08what are now
00:49:09the law courts
00:49:10in Eleanor's city
00:49:11of Poitiers
00:49:11is all that remains
00:49:13of her vast palace.
00:49:15We don't know very much
00:49:20about the details
00:49:21of Eleanor's rule,
00:49:23but it's clear
00:49:23that she exercised
00:49:24independent power here,
00:49:26holding great courts
00:49:27where she gathered
00:49:28Aquitaine's lords
00:49:29around her.
00:49:30But she wasn't accused
00:49:32of unnatural pride
00:49:33as Matilda
00:49:33had been in England.
00:49:35Instead,
00:49:36her role
00:49:36as Aquitaine's duchess
00:49:37was accepted.
00:49:39A woman in charge
00:49:39was much less challenging,
00:49:41it turned out,
00:49:42if she were ruling
00:49:42as the lieutenant
00:49:43of an absent husband.
00:49:45However,
00:49:50the stories
00:49:51that surround
00:49:52this period
00:49:53of Eleanor's life
00:49:53are tales of romance
00:49:55and chivalry.
00:49:59Aquitaine
00:50:00was the home
00:50:00of the troubadours,
00:50:02who sang of knights
00:50:03declaring their passionate
00:50:05devotion
00:50:05to unobtainable ladies
00:50:07and attempting heroic deeds
00:50:09of valour
00:50:10to win their hearts.
00:50:13One 12th-century text
00:50:15entitled Dei Amore
00:50:17puts Eleanor
00:50:18at the centre
00:50:18of these stories,
00:50:20ruling over a court
00:50:22of love
00:50:22that pronounced judgment
00:50:24on questions
00:50:25such as
00:50:25whether true love
00:50:27could exist
00:50:27in marriage.
00:50:28There's no evidence
00:50:36that the courts
00:50:36of love
00:50:37ever really existed,
00:50:39but it's interesting
00:50:40that the idea
00:50:40has persisted
00:50:41so powerfully.
00:50:43How much easier
00:50:43to think of Eleanor
00:50:44as the queen
00:50:45of romance,
00:50:46concerned with emotions,
00:50:48not politics.
00:50:49But what Eleanor
00:50:50did next,
00:50:51I think,
00:50:52demonstrated
00:50:52in the most dramatic way
00:50:54just how important
00:50:55power was to her.
00:50:56This magnificent castle
00:51:06at Chinon
00:51:07on the banks
00:51:08of the Loire
00:51:09was one of the most
00:51:10important centres
00:51:11of Henry's rule.
00:51:13It was also the setting
00:51:15for what was to be
00:51:16Eleanor's most assertive
00:51:17bid for power.
00:51:25Eleanor never had
00:51:26a claim to be
00:51:27a monarch
00:51:27in her own right,
00:51:29but her children did,
00:51:31and as a mother,
00:51:32she was prepared
00:51:33to fight tooth and claw
00:51:35for her son's rights.
00:51:37It was a fight
00:51:38that would dominate
00:51:38the rest of her life.
00:51:43Male heirs
00:51:44were a medieval king's
00:51:45greatest asset,
00:51:47the insurance
00:51:48that his dynasty
00:51:49would prevail.
00:51:49But grown-up sons
00:51:52weren't always prepared
00:51:53to wait patiently
00:51:54while their father
00:51:55still reigned.
00:51:57When Eleanor's three
00:51:59eldest boys
00:52:00reached their teens,
00:52:01they were champing
00:52:02at the bit
00:52:03for a share
00:52:04in ruling
00:52:04their father's empire.
00:52:07And although Henry
00:52:08promised them
00:52:09a role to play,
00:52:10he couldn't bring himself
00:52:11to delegate
00:52:12real power.
00:52:13In 1173,
00:52:20their oldest son
00:52:21had had enough
00:52:21of his father's
00:52:22empty promises.
00:52:24Under cover of night,
00:52:26he rode away
00:52:27from Chinon
00:52:27to defect
00:52:28to Henry's
00:52:29great enemy
00:52:30and Eleanor's
00:52:31ex-husband,
00:52:33the king of France.
00:52:37Eleanor's husband
00:52:37was devastated
00:52:39at their son's betrayal,
00:52:40but Henry was about
00:52:42to get a much
00:52:43bigger shock.
00:52:44When he sent
00:52:45for his wife
00:52:46and his younger sons,
00:52:47he discovered
00:52:47that Eleanor
00:52:48and the boys
00:52:48had also left
00:52:49for Paris.
00:52:51It was clear
00:52:52that Eleanor, too,
00:52:53was in open revolt
00:52:54against her husband
00:52:55and king.
00:52:57Why did Eleanor
00:52:58turn on her husband?
00:53:01The story
00:53:01that's often told
00:53:02is that she was
00:53:03violently angry
00:53:04about Henry's
00:53:05affair with a
00:53:06beautiful young woman
00:53:07named Rosamund Clifford,
00:53:09known as
00:53:09Fair Rosamund,
00:53:11the Rose of the World.
00:53:15There's no way
00:53:16of knowing now
00:53:17what Eleanor thought
00:53:18or felt,
00:53:19so we'll never be sure
00:53:20exactly what was
00:53:21going through her mind
00:53:22when she rebelled
00:53:23against her husband.
00:53:24And once again
00:53:25in Eleanor's life,
00:53:27emotion gets used
00:53:28to fill a gap
00:53:28left by an absence
00:53:29of evidence.
00:53:31All kings
00:53:32had mistresses
00:53:32and Eleanor
00:53:33was worldly wise
00:53:34enough to know that.
00:53:36But she had
00:53:36a formidable
00:53:37political brain
00:53:38and it's much
00:53:39more likely
00:53:40that she,
00:53:41like her sons,
00:53:42was angry
00:53:43that the power
00:53:43Henry had given
00:53:44her in Aquitaine
00:53:45wasn't everything
00:53:46he'd promised.
00:53:52Eleanor was treading
00:53:53an intensely
00:53:54dangerous path,
00:53:56but she had never
00:53:57been held back
00:53:58by fear.
00:53:59She had already
00:54:02done the unthinkable
00:54:03when she left
00:54:04one king
00:54:04to marry another.
00:54:08Now her second
00:54:09royal husband
00:54:10was standing
00:54:11in the way
00:54:11of her ambition
00:54:12and she would
00:54:13leave him too.
00:54:18Sons rebelling
00:54:19against their father
00:54:20were a cause
00:54:21of outrage
00:54:22and sorrow,
00:54:23but the 12th century
00:54:24had seen it all before.
00:54:25A wife rebelling
00:54:27against her husband
00:54:28was a new
00:54:29and profoundly
00:54:30alarming phenomenon.
00:54:32One chronicler
00:54:33scoured his archive
00:54:34to find more
00:54:35than 30 examples
00:54:36of sons
00:54:37taking up arms
00:54:38against their father,
00:54:39but not a single
00:54:40precedent of a queen
00:54:41in revolt against
00:54:42her husband.
00:54:44In a public letter,
00:54:45the Archbishop of Rouen
00:54:46told Eleanor
00:54:46that she threatened
00:54:47the very fabric
00:54:48of society.
00:54:50Man is the head
00:54:51of woman,
00:54:52he said.
00:54:52We know that
00:54:54unless you return
00:54:54to your husband,
00:54:56you will be the cause
00:54:56of a general ruin.
00:55:05But Eleanor,
00:55:06as always,
00:55:07refused to be cowed.
00:55:09She set about
00:55:10mustering support
00:55:11from the disaffected
00:55:12lords of Aquitaine
00:55:14who were always ready
00:55:15to resist Henry's rule.
00:55:20Finally,
00:55:20she rode north
00:55:21to join her sons.
00:55:23But she never arrived.
00:55:26She was captured
00:55:27on the road
00:55:27by her husband's forces.
00:55:30According to one chronicle,
00:55:31they found her
00:55:32disguised as a man.
00:55:36With Eleanor captured,
00:55:38the boys were no match
00:55:39for their father.
00:55:41By the autumn of 1174,
00:55:44they had no choice
00:55:45but to throw themselves
00:55:46on his mercy.
00:55:47Henry was generous
00:55:50in victory
00:55:51and offered his sons
00:55:52peace with honour.
00:55:55To Eleanor,
00:55:56he was not so magnanimous.
00:56:03Eleanor was taken
00:56:04as a prisoner
00:56:05from France to England
00:56:06and for the next 15 years,
00:56:08she's almost lost
00:56:09in silence.
00:56:11We don't even know
00:56:12for certain
00:56:12where she was held.
00:56:14But for a woman
00:56:14who'd always believed
00:56:16in her own agency,
00:56:17captivity can only
00:56:18have been relentlessly
00:56:19difficult to endure.
00:56:26Eleanor was blamed
00:56:27for their family's descent
00:56:29into civil war.
00:56:31But during the 15 long years
00:56:33she was kept
00:56:34under lock and key,
00:56:35they kept on fighting.
00:56:36It was a conflict
00:56:43that claimed the life
00:56:44of her eldest son
00:56:45and it didn't stop
00:56:48until 1189
00:56:49when at the age of 56
00:56:52in his fortress of Chinon,
00:56:54Henry II died.
00:56:57His body was taken
00:56:59to Fontevraux Abbey,
00:57:0110 miles westward
00:57:02along the Loire River.
00:57:03His heir was his second son,
00:57:07Richard,
00:57:08Eleanor's favourite child
00:57:10who would one day
00:57:11be known as the Lionheart.
00:57:16It was dusk
00:57:17when Richard stepped
00:57:18into the church
00:57:19to look for the last time
00:57:21at his dead father's face.
00:57:24Then he sent word to England
00:57:26that his mother
00:57:27was now a free woman.
00:57:33Eleanor was 65 years old
00:57:39and after 15 years
00:57:41in captivity
00:57:41her moment had come.
00:57:44And this time
00:57:45she wasn't just given
00:57:46the Duchy of Aquitaine
00:57:47to rule
00:57:47but the Kingdom of England.
00:57:50Richard sent word
00:57:51that his mother
00:57:51should have the power
00:57:52of doing whatever
00:57:54she wished
00:57:54in the Kingdom.
00:57:59Eleanor had to rule England
00:58:01because Richard
00:58:02was away on crusade.
00:58:05And unusually
00:58:06for Eleanor's
00:58:07controversial career
00:58:08her power didn't provoke
00:58:10critical comment.
00:58:12It seemed
00:58:13that a queen mother
00:58:14ruling on behalf
00:58:15of her son,
00:58:16the king,
00:58:17was infinitely more acceptable
00:58:19than a queen
00:58:20ruling in her own right.
00:58:24To establish
00:58:25her son's new regime
00:58:27Eleanor travelled
00:58:28from city to city
00:58:29and castle to castle
00:58:30at the head
00:58:31of her queenly court
00:58:33an unusual adjective
00:58:35for the chronicler
00:58:35Roger of Howden
00:58:36to choose
00:58:37but one that emphasised
00:58:39the rare spectacle
00:58:40of a woman
00:58:41alone at the helm
00:58:42of English government.
00:58:45And she had to do
00:58:47the job
00:58:47for much longer
00:58:48than anyone
00:58:49had anticipated.
00:58:51On his way back
00:58:52from the Holy Land
00:58:53Richard was captured
00:58:55and spent more
00:58:56than a year
00:58:56behind the walls
00:58:57of a German castle.
00:59:01It was Eleanor
00:59:02who kept the peace
00:59:03in England
00:59:04during his absence
00:59:05and Eleanor
00:59:06who raised the ransom
00:59:07that eventually
00:59:08bought his freedom.
00:59:12When Richard died
00:59:13in 1199
00:59:14struck by a stray arrow
00:59:16at a siege
00:59:17in France
00:59:18it was Eleanor
00:59:19who secured
00:59:20the succession
00:59:20of her youngest son
00:59:22John.
00:59:29Amazingly
00:59:30at the age of 75
00:59:31she travelled
00:59:32hundreds of miles
00:59:33the length
00:59:34and breadth
00:59:35of France
00:59:35to support
00:59:36John's rule.
00:59:40But eventually
00:59:41age and exhaustion
00:59:43caught up
00:59:44with Eleanor.
00:59:45She returned here
00:59:46to Fontevrault
00:59:47to rest
00:59:48and from that point
00:59:50on
00:59:50she retreated
00:59:51into silence.
00:59:56Eleanor died
00:59:57on the 31st
00:59:58of March
00:59:581204
00:59:59at the age
01:00:01of 80.
01:00:06Despite her
01:00:07long years
01:00:08of conflict
01:00:08with her husband
01:00:09she was laid
01:00:11to rest
01:00:11beside him.
01:00:12Matilda
01:00:20and Eleanor
01:00:21both believed
01:00:22in their right
01:00:23to rule
01:00:23for themselves.
01:00:25Matilda
01:00:25got to the very
01:00:25brink
01:00:26of her own
01:00:27coronation
01:00:27as Queen
01:00:28of England
01:00:28and when Eleanor's
01:00:30power and autonomy
01:00:30were threatened
01:00:31she went so far
01:00:33as to lead a rebellion
01:00:33against her own
01:00:34husband.
01:00:36But in practice
01:00:37it turned out
01:00:38that the sight
01:00:38of a woman
01:00:39pursuing power
01:00:40for herself
01:00:40caused consternation
01:00:42and horror.
01:00:44The fear
01:00:44of the she-wolves
01:00:45had begun.
01:00:46The fear
01:00:47of the she-how
01:00:48has changed
01:00:49and horror
01:00:56the fear
01:00:56of the she-how
01:00:58has changed
01:00:59and every
01:01:00has Zeiten
01:01:01of a man
01:01:01has changed
01:01:02and there
01:01:02can be
01:01:03albo
01:01:03had heated
01:01:04hand
01:01:04and there
01:01:05are a solemn
01:01:06hour
01:01:07of the she-how
01:01:07happened
01:01:07in practice
01:01:08at the age
01:01:09with her
01:01:09for herself
01:01:13and there
01:01:14to be
Recommended
1:01:17
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