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Documentary, The Plantagenets - Part 3 - The Death Of Kings
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00:00In October 1399, a prisoner was secretly taken from his cell in the Tower of London.
00:23He was the eighth Plantagenet king to rule England.
00:26Richard II.
00:35It was said that as he was taken along the Thames, he was wailing and loudly lamenting that he had ever been born.
00:45Three months later, he was found starved to death.
00:50The man responsible for Richard's downfall was another Plantagenet, his cousin Henry of Lancaster.
01:02Henry had deposed Richard and installed himself as king.
01:05It was a kind of original sin from which the Plantagenets would never recover.
01:11The French chronicler Warren commented,
01:14The house of Plantagenet was now fatally divided along lines that would never be reconciled.
01:24The usurpation and murder of an anointed king violated sacred taboos and undermined the foundations of Plantagenet power.
01:36The right to rule of future Plantagenet kings would now be in doubt.
01:44And they would have to fight to keep their grip on the throne.
01:51Plantagenet turned against Plantagenet in the battle for the crown.
01:55And they dragged England into decades of brutal civil war.
02:03Within less than a century, four Plantagenet kings met violent deaths at the hands of their own relatives.
02:10This was the bloodiest episode in the whole history of the English monarchy.
02:14And this death of kings, this royal bloodletting, ended in the complete destruction of the Plantagenet dynasty.
02:44In the summer of 1381, thousands of armed peasants stormed the city of London.
02:53They set fire to palaces and property.
02:59Nobles, lawyers and foreigners were hunted down and killed.
03:04This became known as the Peasants' Revolt.
03:08The greatest uprising in the history of medieval England.
03:11The Plantagenets were confronted by the most serious threat the lower classes had ever posed to royal power.
03:27And sitting on the throne was a boy king.
03:31Richard II had been crowned four years earlier at the age of ten.
03:35He was forced to flee from his own subjects.
03:44Richard was just 14 years old.
03:46He sought refuge here in the Tower of London.
03:49It must have been terrifying as he looked out from the top of a turret to see his capital engulfed in flames.
03:56And everyone looked to him to bring an end to the violence.
04:00This was the first real test of his kingship.
04:02A new tax had triggered the riots.
04:08It was levied in the name of the king to pay for the Plantagenets' war against the French monarchy.
04:16It was a poll tax imposed on every man and woman over the age of 14, regardless of income.
04:23It inflamed resentment against the great inequalities in medieval society.
04:33According to the chronicler Henry Knighton, the rebels outside were demanding that every man in the Kingdom of England should be free and remain free of the yoke of servitude forever.
04:43A particular target of their hostility was the boy king's inner circle, the councillors who had been ruling on his behalf.
04:51These powerful officials were responsible for levying the reviled poll tax, and they would face the wrath of the rebels.
04:58One of the king's closest advisors and his chancellor was Simon Sudbury, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
05:09In terror, he'd also taken refuge in the Tower.
05:14On the third day of rioting, he was here in St John's Chapel, praying for his life.
05:19The insurgents broke in and seized him, along with the king's treasurer.
05:30Their heads were hacked off and paraded through the city on pikes.
05:40On the fourth day, in a bid to end the riots, Richard rode out to negotiate with the rebels.
05:49Some open ground here, just outside the city walls, was chosen for the meeting.
05:56A place called Smoothfield, or Smithfield, used for tournaments, fairs and festivals.
06:02The king was meeting the people on their own territory.
06:06This was a promising start.
06:07But with the royal forces vastly outnumbered by the rebels, Richard was placing himself in a perilous position.
06:13The peasant's leader was called Watt Tyler.
06:22He approached the king and repeated the demands for freedom and equality.
06:28The king agreed.
06:31But then a scuffle broke out.
06:34Tyler lashed out with his dagger.
06:37And the mayor of London plunged his sword into Tyler's neck.
06:40These are the gates of the priory that stands on the edge of Smithfield.
06:50Just behind me was where Watt Tyler was stabbed and was seen to fall from his horse.
06:56The rebels drew their weapons to avenge him.
06:59At that moment, the future of the Plantagenet dynasty hung in the balance.
07:04But Richard took the initiative.
07:05He spurred his horse forward into the crowd and pledged,
07:09I will be your king, your captain and your leader.
07:16The mood changed.
07:18With the added assurance of a charter granting them pardons and freedom,
07:23the rebels began to disperse.
07:25Richard had single-handedly turned the tide of rebellion.
07:34And he'd seen for himself the impact of his royal power.
07:41Richard's encounter with his subjects at Smithfield was a defining moment in the young king's reign.
07:47Four years earlier, at his coronation, he'd been anointed with holy oil,
07:50which was believed to set him apart from his subjects, making him God's anointed.
07:56Triumph here at Smithfield confirmed Richard's self-belief in his God-given right to rule,
08:02a conviction that dominated the rest of his reign.
08:09In the Middle Ages, it was believed that kingship was ordained by God.
08:14And Richard had complete faith in his divine right to rule.
08:22He tried to demonstrate his elevated status,
08:26not through war, like many of his Plantagenet predecessors,
08:30but through royal displays of ritual and ceremony,
08:36architecture and art.
08:38This altarpiece reveals how he saw his place in the world
08:46and his relationship with God.
08:52This is the Wilton Diptych,
08:54one of the most beautiful paintings ever produced in medieval England.
08:58It was commissioned by Richard II in the 1390s,
09:01although it shows him as a much more youthful figure,
09:04perhaps at the time of the meeting with the rebels in Smithfield.
09:08Behind him stand his patron saints,
09:11John the Baptist, Edward the Confessor, and Edmund, king and martyr,
09:16the last two, like Richard himself, English kings.
09:20Opposite them stands the Virgin Mary holding the Christ child,
09:24surrounded by angels.
09:26Every angel wears a badge of the white heart,
09:29Richard's own symbol.
09:31Christ is blessing this banner,
09:36which has at the top a red cross flag and a tiny orb.
09:41Analysis under a microscope has revealed
09:43that within that orb is a painting
09:46of a green island with a white tower set in a silver sea.
09:51England.
09:53England.
09:56Richard is receiving his kingdom from Christ himself.
10:00This perfectly expresses Richard's exalted sense of kingship,
10:10but his high conception of royal status
10:13led to a political earthquake that destroyed him
10:16and would ultimately result in the extinction
10:19of the Plantagenet dynasty itself.
10:21Richard's sense of superiority as God's anointed ruler
10:30continued to grow.
10:34He demanded to be treated with ever greater reverence
10:37and devised elaborate new court rituals
10:41to set himself above his nobles.
10:44Richard was the first English king
10:48who insisted on being addressed as Your Highness.
10:51One chronicler describes how he had a throne set up
10:54in the chamber where he sat after supper,
10:56watching everyone but addressing no one.
10:59Whenever he looked at anybody,
11:00however grand they were,
11:01they had to bend the knee.
11:05But the men he was abasing
11:07included some of the greatest nobles in the land.
11:10They were outraged by his arrogance.
11:14Like all Plantagenet kings,
11:17Richard's power was dependent
11:18on the support of his nobles.
11:22He relied on them to supply him with money and troops.
11:28But Richard made no effort
11:29to win their favour or respect.
11:33He alienated them still further
11:35by surrounding himself with a clique of favourites,
11:39many of low birth,
11:40on whom he lavished land and titles.
11:44In 1387, the established nobility,
11:47as well as members of Richard's own family,
11:50took up arms against him.
11:53When Richard was 20,
11:54a group of his nobles,
11:56including his cousin Henry of Lancaster,
11:58seized control of the government by force
12:00and executed his favourite knights.
12:02But Richard had his revenge.
12:10Within 11 years,
12:11all his chief enemies
12:12were either killed or exiled,
12:15including Henry,
12:16who was banished for 10 years.
12:20Henry was the son
12:22of England's wealthiest
12:23and most powerful landowner,
12:25the Duke of Lancaster.
12:26He was Richard's first cousin
12:29and they had played together as children.
12:33But they grew up to be very different.
12:37Henry was a great knight,
12:40a champion jouster
12:41and popular with the nobility.
12:48He had four sons,
12:50while Richard was childless.
12:54Seeing Henry as a threat,
12:56Richard resolved to remove him.
13:00Henry's 10-year banishment
13:01was a terrible punishment,
13:02but he still expected
13:03to inherit his father's lands,
13:05the great duchy of Lancaster.
13:06But Richard took yet further revenge.
13:10When Henry's father died,
13:11the king confiscated all the lands
13:13that should have come to him.
13:15With nothing left to lose,
13:16Henry determined to return to England
13:18and reclaim his inheritance.
13:25When Henry arrived in Yorkshire
13:27in July 1399,
13:29barons from across the country
13:30flocked to his banner.
13:33They feared that if Richard
13:35could confiscate his own cousin's
13:36lands,
13:37then no one's property was safe.
13:41They began to back Henry
13:43as a replacement for the king.
13:49Henry's timing was perfect.
13:51Richard was away in Ireland
13:52fighting to maintain English rule.
13:55In his absence,
13:56Henry could muster support unopposed.
13:59When Richard finally got back to England,
14:01he found that even his closest friends
14:03and household retainers
14:04were beginning to desert him.
14:06Richard realized his support
14:10was collapsing.
14:13According to the chronicle
14:14of Dulacus Abbey,
14:16he set off secretly
14:17in the middle of the night,
14:19accompanied by only 15 companions.
14:22he fled from castle to castle,
14:29looking for refuge and support.
14:33He found none.
14:35eventually, Richard met with Henry's envoys,
14:42who escorted him here
14:44to the great castle at Flint.
14:46Their ancestor, Edward I,
14:48had built it
14:48during his conquest of the Welsh.
14:50And now,
14:51it was to be the site
14:52of a momentous meeting
14:53between the two Plantagenet cousins.
14:55Henry approached the castle,
15:03Henry approached the castle,
15:05accompanied by a force
15:06thousands strong,
15:09among them,
15:10the nobles
15:10who had deserted Richard.
15:12This display of military might
15:16against the anointed monarch
15:18set a dangerous precedent
15:20for future Plantagenet kings.
15:26Richard was here inside the keep,
15:28and Henry entered
15:29to meet his cousin.
15:31Later,
15:31Henry's supporters claimed
15:33that Richard then promised
15:34to renounce the throne.
15:35But given his views of kingship,
15:38that's likely to be
15:38pure propaganda.
15:40What is not in doubt
15:41is that Richard
15:42was now Henry's captive.
15:44The king,
15:45who had set himself
15:46above all others,
15:47was nothing more
15:48than a powerless prisoner.
15:56Just six weeks later,
15:58on the 30th of September 1399,
16:01Henry's seizure of the throne
16:02was publicly confirmed
16:04at a ceremony here
16:05at Westminster Hall.
16:11Parliament assembled
16:12beneath the magnificent
16:14hammer-beam ceiling
16:15that Richard II
16:16had had constructed.
16:17It was announced
16:18that on the previous day,
16:20Richard, a captive in the tower,
16:21had abdicated,
16:23and 39 charges against him
16:24were read out.
16:26Then Henry stood up.
16:27I, Henry of Lancaster,
16:29claim this kingdom of England
16:31and the crown.
16:33The assembled lords
16:34gave their consent
16:35and led him to the throne.
16:39Henry had won the crown,
16:41but he would have to fight
16:43to keep it.
16:45Richard's misrule
16:46had turned many against him,
16:49but in an age
16:50of deeply held religious belief,
16:52he was still
16:53God's anointed ruler.
16:55and deposing him,
16:58Henry had committed
17:00a grave sin.
17:03Four months later,
17:05he was guilty
17:05of an even greater crime.
17:10In February 1400,
17:11it was announced
17:12that the former king
17:13had died.
17:14In all probability,
17:16Richard had been starved to death
17:17on Henry's orders.
17:18Henry had broken the sacred rules
17:23of kingship
17:24that underpinned
17:25Plantagenet power.
17:28His struggle for legitimacy
17:29didn't end
17:30with Richard's murder.
17:31Henry had not inherited
17:40his throne,
17:40but usurped it,
17:42deposing and killing
17:43an anointed king
17:45to do so.
17:46And so,
17:47his right to his throne
17:47was questioned
17:48both at home and abroad.
17:50Plots,
17:50uprisings
17:51and conspiracies
17:52marked his reign.
17:53And although he managed
17:55to hold on to his throne,
17:56he had broken
17:57a great taboo,
17:58and others
17:59would find it easier
18:00to do the same.
18:03Henry's usurpation
18:05created a fatal schism
18:06within the Plantagenet family.
18:10Henry's house of Lancaster
18:11was descended
18:12from the third son
18:13of Edward III.
18:16But another Plantagenet line
18:18descended from
18:19the second son.
18:21In the future,
18:22these descendants
18:23could claim
18:24a greater right
18:24to the throne
18:25than King Henry IV
18:27and his offspring.
18:30of Henry V.
18:40Doubt
18:40over Henry's
18:41right to rule
18:42cast a shadow
18:43over his own heir,
18:45Henry V.
18:47When he came
18:48to the throne
18:49at the age of 26,
18:50he was already
18:51a famous warrior
18:52and a strong,
18:53forceful leader.
18:57He was determined
18:58to prove his right
18:59to the throne
18:59through victory
19:01in battle.
19:04He decided
19:05to go to war
19:07to win a prize
19:08that had obsessed
19:09the Plantagenets
19:10for generations.
19:14The Plantagenets
19:15had their origins
19:16in the French
19:17county of Anjou,
19:18and at its height,
19:19their empire included
19:20not only England,
19:21but most of France.
19:23Since 1340,
19:24they'd even claimed
19:25to be kings
19:25of France.
19:27Henry V determined
19:28to cross the channel
19:29and claim
19:30his birthright.
19:35He began
19:36in Normandy,
19:37laying siege
19:38to the port
19:39of Harfleur.
19:42After five weeks,
19:44the town
19:44was forced
19:45to surrender.
19:50Henry marched
19:51at the head
19:51of his army
19:52towards Calais,
19:53nearly 200 miles away.
19:56By then,
19:57the French
19:57had amassed
19:58a huge army
19:59and tried to prevent
20:00him crossing
20:01the river Somme.
20:03Henry's forces
20:04found a place
20:05to ford the river,
20:07but their path
20:07was barred
20:08by the enemy
20:09at the village
20:10of Agincourt.
20:13What happened
20:14here at Agincourt
20:15on the 25th of October,
20:161415,
20:17has been immortalized
20:18by Shakespeare.
20:19It's the most famous
20:20battle of the entire
20:21Plantagenet era.
20:23And Henry V
20:24displayed qualities
20:25that made him
20:26the most celebrated
20:26of all the
20:27Plantagenet warrior kings.
20:31At the outset,
20:33defeat looked certain.
20:36The English soldiers
20:37were exhausted,
20:39starving
20:39and battle-weary.
20:42They were also
20:43vastly outnumbered.
20:44The odds
20:49were overwhelmingly
20:50against the English,
20:52but Henry believed
20:53he had God
20:53on his side.
20:55When one of his knights
20:56said that he wished
20:57they had a thousand
20:58more soldiers,
20:59Henry replied,
21:00I would not have
21:01one man more,
21:02even if I could,
21:03for those that I have here
21:05are God's people.
21:07These humble few
21:08will conquer
21:09the pride of the French.
21:10But Henry didn't rely
21:16on God alone.
21:21Henry was a gifted
21:22tactician.
21:23He drew his army up
21:25between two woods
21:25that stood here
21:26on the field of battle
21:27on either side
21:28at that time,
21:29so the French
21:30couldn't outflank him
21:31and had to advance
21:32on a narrow front.
21:36The French were forced
21:37to attack
21:38across a muddy field.
22:04Their elite cavalry
22:06charged,
22:07only to be cut down
22:08by the English
22:09longbowmen.
22:14Those who survived
22:15the arrows
22:16were caught
22:17in a quagmire
22:17between the two armies.
22:22The battle
22:23turned in favour
22:24of Henry's
22:25humble few.
22:30With victory
22:31in their sights,
22:33the English began
22:33rounding up
22:34French prisoners.
22:35According to the
22:37chivalric code
22:38of honour,
22:39their lives
22:40would be spared.
22:43But a cry
22:44suddenly went up
22:45that French reinforcements
22:47were about to launch
22:48a fresh attack.
22:51Henry knew
22:52that his forces
22:53couldn't withstand
22:53another assault
22:54and secure
22:55the prisoners.
22:56He was afraid
22:57they would escape
22:58and rejoin the battle.
23:00With deliberate ruthlessness,
23:02he ordered the prisoners
23:03to be killed.
23:04but the second assault
23:07never came.
23:12Seeing so many
23:14of their men killed,
23:15the French
23:16fled the battlefield.
23:20The prisoners
23:21had been needlessly
23:22slaughtered.
23:27Henry's desire
23:28to win
23:28had led him
23:29to break
23:30the revered
23:31conventions
23:31of chivalry.
23:34Victory
23:34had come before honour.
23:40Henry's qualities
23:41as a brave soldier
23:42and a calculating general
23:43had helped the English
23:44win a great victory.
23:46It became a founding symbol
23:47of the English underdog
23:49triumphing
23:50against the odds.
23:52And in the medieval period,
23:53it was believed
23:53that the outcome
23:54of battles
23:55was determined
23:56by God's will.
23:58Henry's victory
23:58showed that he had
24:00God's favour.
24:01The question mark
24:02over the Lancastrians'
24:03right to rule
24:04was removed
24:05for the time being.
24:07Agincourt was just
24:13the beginning
24:14of Henry's
24:14plan of conquest.
24:18Over the next
24:19five years,
24:20he took France
24:21castle by castle,
24:23town by town.
24:26By 1420,
24:28he'd reclaimed
24:28many of the lands
24:29lost by his
24:30Plantagenet predecessor,
24:32King John.
24:33He now controlled
24:35more than a third
24:36of France.
24:38This was a spectacular
24:39triumph against
24:40the Plantagenet's
24:41age-old enemy.
24:50Henry owed his success
24:51as much to French
24:52weakness as to
24:53English strength.
24:55The King of France,
24:56Charles VI,
24:57suffered from mental
24:58illness and the country
24:59was being torn apart
25:00by civil war.
25:02All this enabled
25:03Henry to win
25:04his resounding
25:05victories.
25:06And next,
25:07he negotiated
25:08this extraordinary
25:09treaty with the
25:10French king,
25:11signed here in the
25:12heart of Champagne
25:12in the city of Troyes.
25:15Here, Charles promises
25:16that after his death,
25:18the crown and the
25:19kingdom of France,
25:20with all its rights
25:21and appurtenances,
25:22will remain with
25:23King Henry and his
25:24heirs forever.
25:26And here,
25:27he commands his
25:28nobles that when
25:29he is dead,
25:30they shall recognise
25:31Henry as their
25:32liege lord,
25:33sovereign,
25:33and true king
25:34of France.
25:36Henry was now
25:37recognised as the
25:38heir to the
25:38French throne.
25:40And in the meantime,
25:41he would serve
25:42as regent of France.
25:48The French king's son,
25:50the Dauphin,
25:51was disinherited.
25:54And on the 2nd of June,
25:551420,
25:56the Plantagenet's
25:57seizure of the
25:58French throne
25:58was secured
25:59through a magnificent
26:01diplomatic marriage.
26:05Henry married the
26:06daughter of the
26:06French king,
26:08Catherine of Valois,
26:09at a dazzling ceremony
26:11here in Troyes.
26:14Henry had realised
26:16a Plantagenet dream.
26:17He was, in effect,
26:18now king of England
26:19and of France.
26:21At the wedding,
26:22Henry and his
26:22English followers
26:23revelled wildly.
26:25According to one
26:25French chronicler,
26:26it was as if,
26:27at that moment,
26:28he was king
26:29of the whole world.
26:33Eighteen months later,
26:35Henry V's new queen
26:36gave birth to a son.
26:39The Plantagenet ambition
26:40to rule a French
26:42and English empire
26:43had finally been achieved.
26:48But Henry's joy
26:49was short-lived.
26:51In the medieval period,
26:52it was births and deaths
26:53in the ruling dynasties
26:54that determined
26:55the destinies of kingdoms.
26:56And now,
26:58the history of Western Europe
26:59was transformed suddenly
27:00by two deaths.
27:02While campaigning in France,
27:04Henry died of dysentery,
27:05that common disease
27:06of soldiers' camps,
27:08and Charles of France
27:09soon followed him
27:10to the grave.
27:11Henry V's son,
27:13a baby of ten months old,
27:15was now king of England
27:16and of France.
27:18The English coronation
27:22of the young Plantagenet prince,
27:25another Henry,
27:26took place in Westminster Abbey
27:28in November 1429.
27:31His French coronation
27:32in Notre Dame in Paris
27:34came two years later.
27:40Henry VI
27:41is the only monarch
27:42ever to be crowned
27:44both king of England
27:45and king of France.
27:46It was a Plantagenet triumph.
27:52But it wasn't to last.
27:55By the time of Henry VI's
27:56coronation in Paris,
27:58the tide was already
27:59beginning to turn
28:00against the English.
28:01The French nobles rallied
28:03to the dispossessed Dauphin.
28:05A unified French force
28:06was beginning to emerge
28:08and the English
28:08were overstretched.
28:10Only another great warrior king
28:12could save
28:13the Plantagenet empire.
28:16Henry VI
28:23was the house of Lancaster's
28:25third Plantagenet king.
28:29As he grew up,
28:31the shadow
28:31of his grandfather's usurpation
28:33of Richard II's throne
28:35seemed to have passed.
28:37But Henry
28:38turned out to be no warrior,
28:40nor was he a gifted leader.
28:42He was a simple,
28:44pious man
28:44who devoted himself
28:46to good works
28:47and charitable causes.
28:51Unlike his father,
28:53Henry didn't lead armies
28:54in France.
28:55Instead,
28:56he lavished time,
28:57money and energy
28:58on this,
28:59his personal project,
29:01Eton College.
29:02He laid the foundation stone
29:04himself
29:04and supervised its development
29:06down to the smallest detail.
29:07Henry founded the school
29:12in 1440
29:13to educate children
29:14selected from the lower ranks
29:16of society.
29:19There were plans
29:20to build the largest chapel
29:22in England
29:22where people would gather
29:24to pray for the soul
29:25of the king.
29:29Here in the college library
29:31are the original charters
29:32for the school.
29:36These documents
29:37describe everything
29:38from the services
29:39that were held
29:40in the chapel
29:40to the dimensions
29:42of the building.
29:45And in this magnificent charter,
29:47we see Henry
29:47kneeling beneath
29:49the royal arms
29:50and his crown,
29:51presenting the college
29:52to the Virgin Mary.
29:54This was clearly something
29:55very close to his heart.
29:57And this page
30:01records instructions
30:02made by the king
30:03about the dimensions
30:04of the church.
30:06And sometimes
30:07there are crossings out
30:09and corrections.
30:10The church
30:11was getting bigger.
30:14And Henry's approval
30:15of all this
30:15is recorded
30:16by his signature
30:17at the top of the page.
30:21This was a worthy project.
30:24But many saw it
30:26as a dangerous distraction
30:27from more important
30:29royal duties.
30:31While Henry was worrying
30:32about the exact dimensions
30:33of the buildings
30:34here at Eton,
30:35the French territories
30:36conquered by his father
30:37were slipping
30:38from his grasp.
30:40By this time,
30:41the French had crowned
30:43the Dauphin
30:43as Charles VII of France.
30:46He created France's
30:48first standing army,
30:50his soldiers equipped
30:52with the latest artillery.
30:53Meanwhile,
30:57Henry was caught up
30:58with his school
30:59for the poor.
31:02His own parliament
31:03became exasperated.
31:04They said the cost of Eton
31:05was extravagant
31:07and vexatious.
31:08They wanted him
31:09to continue hostilities.
31:12But Henry,
31:12driven by his own piety,
31:14sought peace.
31:18In 1444,
31:20in an attempt
31:21to secure a truce,
31:22Henry made an extraordinary
31:24secret deal
31:25with the French.
31:26He agreed to marry
31:28Charles VII's niece,
31:30Margaret of Anjou.
31:33Here in the college library
31:35is a rare picture
31:36of Margaret.
31:38She's shown kneeling
31:39next to her husband,
31:40the king,
31:41in the college chapel.
31:44Usually,
31:45when the terms
31:45of a dynastic marriage
31:47were hammered out,
31:48the bride came
31:48with a handsome dowry.
31:49Not this time.
31:51Instead,
31:52in a startling move,
31:53Henry promised
31:54to hand over
31:55the strategic French
31:56county of Maine
31:57to his bride's family.
31:59This was where
32:00the first Plantagenet king
32:01had been born.
32:02No Plantagenet
32:03had ever surrendered
32:04land in France
32:05so easily.
32:06And it didn't bring peace.
32:10The French
32:11were rapidly reclaiming
32:12Plantagenet territory.
32:15In 1448,
32:16Maine was formally
32:17ceded to France.
32:19Two years later,
32:23Normandy fell.
32:25Then, in 1453,
32:28the Plantagenet's
32:29oldest and most prized
32:30French possession
32:31was taken.
32:33Gascony had been
32:34in their hands
32:35since the formation
32:36of the dynasty.
32:37Now, it too was lost
32:39at the Battle of Castillon.
32:42All that remained
32:44under English rule
32:45was a tiny enclave
32:47around Calais.
32:49In just one generation,
32:51Henry V's spectacular
32:53legacy had vanished.
32:57The Plantagenet lands
32:59in France were lost
33:00and they would never
33:01be recovered.
33:02But future English kings
33:04were slow to abandon
33:05their claim.
33:05It wasn't until 1800
33:07that George III
33:09finally acknowledged reality
33:11and gave up
33:12his official title
33:13King of France.
33:15For Henry VI,
33:17news of the fall
33:18of Gascony
33:18was devastating.
33:20Within a week
33:21of the terrible defeat,
33:22he collapsed
33:23into a catatonic stupor.
33:25His condition
33:30may have been inherited
33:31from his maternal
33:32grandfather,
33:33King Charles VI
33:34of France.
33:39He wasn't even aware
33:41when his wife
33:42gave birth to a son,
33:44a new Lancastrian heir
33:46to the throne of England.
33:50France was lost
33:51and the king was mad.
33:53The absence
33:54of royal leadership
33:54showed once again
33:55the fragility
33:56of dynastic rule,
33:57a system that was
33:58only as strong
33:59as the king or queen
34:00who sat on the throne.
34:02And with Henry VI
34:03mentally ill,
34:04doubts about
34:05the Lancastrian regime
34:06came back
34:07to haunt the Plantagenets.
34:09Waiting in the wings
34:10was a cousin
34:11who thought he had
34:12a claim to the throne
34:13just as good
34:14as Henry VI
34:15and his young son.
34:20Richard, Duke of York,
34:22was a descendant
34:23of Edward III's second son
34:25and he believed
34:26his right to the throne
34:27was greater than Henry's.
34:33Henry of Lancaster
34:34had taken the throne
34:35through military might.
34:38Now Richard of York
34:39felt empowered
34:40to do the same.
34:43He signaled his intent
34:45to take power
34:45by calling himself
34:47Richard Plantagenet.
34:50He was the first
34:51to use the Plantagenet
34:52family name
34:53since the foundation
34:55of the dynasty.
34:58Ludlow
34:58was one of his
34:59most important power bases.
35:01As Henry VI
35:02lapsed into mental illness,
35:04Duke Richard
35:05began to advance
35:06the claims
35:06of his branch
35:07of the Plantagenets.
35:09St Lawrence's Ludlow
35:10contains hidden evidence
35:12of his family pride
35:13and his dynastic ambition.
35:22Richard of York's ancestors
35:24had worshipped
35:25in the church in Ludlow
35:26for generations.
35:34These small decorative ledges
35:36are known as misery cords
35:38and they were carved
35:40onto the back
35:40of choir stools
35:41for weary choristers
35:43and clergy
35:43to lean on
35:45during long services.
35:49All kinds of scenes
35:50are represented.
35:52Here is the medieval
35:53ideal of womanhood.
35:56A little bit further down,
35:58a countryman
35:58is warming himself
36:00by the fire
36:00while his winter stocks
36:02and stores
36:02hang around him.
36:05And here is a wrestling match,
36:07a popular sport
36:08in the Middle Ages.
36:12But some of the carvings
36:14have a much more
36:14political edge.
36:19There's a white heart,
36:21emblem of Richard II,
36:23the king whom the Lancastrians
36:24had deposed and killed.
36:27And here is a superbly carved
36:29falcon and fetalock,
36:31the personal badge
36:32of Richard, Duke of York.
36:34And here is the white rose,
36:39the famous symbol
36:40of the House of York,
36:41under which they fought
36:42as they made their bid
36:43for the throne.
36:50In his catatonic state,
36:52Henry VI was incapable
36:53of ruling
36:54on behalf of the Lancastrians.
36:57But this would be
36:58no easy takeover
36:59for the Yorkists.
37:04The king's wife,
37:05Margaret,
37:06struggled ferociously
37:07to secure her son's
37:09right to the throne.
37:11Shakespeare would later
37:12call her
37:13the She-Wolf of France.
37:16In their dynastic wars
37:18with France,
37:19the Plantagenets
37:20had united England
37:21by harnessing
37:22a growing sense
37:23of nationhood.
37:24But now,
37:28as the dynasty split
37:29into warring factions,
37:31the country was divided
37:32by the houses
37:34of Lancaster
37:34and York.
37:38Once again,
37:39the Plantagenets
37:40dragged England
37:41into civil war.
37:44The nobility
37:45was forced
37:46to take sides.
37:48Many members
37:48of the leading families
37:49were killed,
37:50and the power struggle
37:51became ever more bitter,
37:53bloody and vengeful.
37:56The war raged
37:58across England,
37:59no side able
38:00to gain a decisive victory.
38:03After five years
38:05of conflict,
38:06the Yorkists
38:06were gaining
38:07the upper hand.
38:09But then they suffered
38:10a devastating defeat.
38:13In 1460,
38:15Richard,
38:15Duke of York himself
38:16was killed in battle
38:17at Wakefield.
38:18His head cut off
38:19and displayed
38:20on the walls of York,
38:21wearing a paper crown,
38:23the only crown
38:24he ever wore.
38:25But the Yorkist torch
38:26was taken up
38:27by his son Edward.
38:29Age just 18,
38:30tall and handsome,
38:32he would prove
38:32to be a formidable warrior.
38:34After the Battle
38:35of Wakefield,
38:36he seized control
38:37of London
38:37and had himself
38:38proclaimed king.
38:40There were now
38:41two Plantagenet kings
38:42in England,
38:43but only one crown.
38:44The battle to determine
38:54which Plantagenet
38:55was the rightful king
38:56took place here
38:58at Towton in Yorkshire
38:59on Palm Sunday,
39:011461.
39:04In the midst
39:05of a snowstorm,
39:07almost every man
39:08of noble birth
39:09in England
39:09turned up
39:10with his army.
39:11tens of thousands
39:13of men.
39:17This would be
39:18the bloodiest battle
39:19ever fought
39:20on English soil.
39:28The Yorkists
39:29were drawn up
39:29on the ridge
39:30behind me.
39:31They were led
39:32from the front
39:32by Edward,
39:33an imposing sight
39:34at six foot three
39:35and a brave fighter.
39:37But Henry,
39:38the Lancastrian king,
39:39was far from
39:40the battlefield.
39:41Unwarlike
39:42and mentally unstable,
39:44he had sought safety
39:44in York
39:45along with his wife
39:46and son.
39:47It was up to his
39:48loyal nobles
39:49to defend his cause.
39:56The Lancastrian king
39:58was supported
39:59by the majority
40:00of the nobility
40:01and commanded
40:02the greater army.
40:03but Edward's men
40:06had the advantage.
40:14The wind
40:15was behind them
40:16and carried
40:17their arrows
40:17into the midst
40:18of the Lancastrian lines.
40:25Lancastrian arrows
40:27firing into the wind
40:28fell short.
40:33They were forced
40:36to charge.
40:45The Plantagenets
40:47had created a rift
40:48through the nation
40:49that even tore
40:52families apart.
40:53There was great killing
41:02on both sides
41:03wrote one contemporary
41:04and for a long time
41:05it was unclear
41:06who would have
41:07the victory.
41:08So furious
41:08was the battle
41:09and the slaughter
41:10so great
41:11and pitiable
41:12for father
41:13did not spare son
41:14nor son father.
41:20The turning point
41:21came as dusk fell.
41:23Yorchis reinforcements
41:26arrived
41:26and attacked
41:28the Lancastrian flank.
41:32Henry's men
41:32fell into confusion
41:34and fled.
41:37The Lancastrians
41:38were pushed back
41:39by the Yorchists
41:39and began to fall
41:40down the hill.
41:42Thousands of panic-stricken
41:43men were now
41:44seeking an escape.
41:46As they tumbled
41:46down the slope
41:47they found
41:47they had to cross
41:48the river
41:49that runs
41:49at the foot
41:50of the hill
41:50through the woods.
41:51In the mayhem
41:55many were crushed
41:56or drowned
41:56many more
41:57killed by their enemies.
42:04The dead
42:05began to pile up
42:06in the river.
42:07The retreating
42:07Lancastrians
42:08were forced
42:09to clamber
42:09over what one
42:10chronicler called
42:11bridges of bodies.
42:12another contemporary
42:19wrote
42:19many a lady
42:21lost her best
42:22beloved
42:22in that battle.
42:2628,000 men
42:28were reported
42:29dead.
42:32Even 300 years
42:34later
42:34it was noted
42:35that farmers
42:36often discover
42:38the miserable
42:38remains
42:39of soldiers.
42:40in 1996
42:46workmen
42:48digging
42:48foundations
42:49came across
42:50a medieval
42:50mass grave.
42:5340 skeletons
42:55were identified.
42:59Men and boys
43:00between the ages
43:01of 15
43:02and 50.
43:06The butchered
43:08victims
43:08of Toughton.
43:10The evidence
43:12of these skulls
43:13shows that
43:14these men
43:14died
43:15from savage
43:16blows
43:16to the head.
43:18Here
43:18a sweeping
43:19cut
43:19across the forehead
43:20and here
43:22a crashing
43:23blow
43:24on the side
43:24of the head.
43:27This one
43:28has the
43:29characteristic
43:29square wound
43:31inflicted
43:32by a war hammer.
43:33on occasion
43:39there are cuts
43:40on the side
43:41of the skull
43:42which might
43:42suggest
43:43perhaps
43:43that an ear
43:44was cut off
43:45as a trophy.
43:48The way
43:48these men
43:49were slaughtered
43:49indicates the
43:50brutal vindictiveness
43:51of the Battle
43:52of Toughton.
43:53There was no
43:54magnanimous
43:55chivalry here.
43:56Many of the men
43:57fighting in the battle
43:58were out to avenge
43:59their fathers
43:59or their brothers
44:00or their sons
44:01or their friends.
44:03This was family
44:03politics
44:04on a national scale.
44:06The Plantagenets
44:07had torn
44:08the country apart.
44:13The Yorkists
44:15were victorious.
44:18Henry VI,
44:19Queen Margaret
44:19and their son
44:20fled into exile.
44:25For the second time
44:26in less than a century
44:27the anointed
44:29King of England
44:29had been usurped.
44:38Edward had all
44:39the qualities
44:40to be a great king.
44:43He was magnanimous,
44:45diplomatic
44:45and purposeful.
44:48He won the support
44:49of most of his barons.
44:52His accession
44:53was seen by many
44:54as the dawning
44:55of another golden era
44:57for the Plantagenets.
44:58But Edward had a weakness.
45:04The perceptive French
45:05diplomat Comine
45:06says that he loved
45:07his pleasure and his ease
45:09more than any other ruler
45:10for he thought about
45:12nothing except the ladies.
45:14He describes Edward
45:15as young
45:16and more handsome
45:17than any man
45:18of his time
45:19and reports
45:20that when the king
45:21went hunting
45:21he had extra tents
45:23brought along
45:24for all his ladies.
45:28In 1464
45:30while Edward was hunting
45:31near the village
45:32of Grafton Regis
45:33he met a young widow
45:35named Elizabeth Woodville.
45:40Chroniclers
45:40described her
45:41as the most beautiful woman
45:43in England.
45:45Edward became
45:46infatuated with her.
45:48According to legend
45:52this is where
45:53Edward and Elizabeth met.
45:55It's said
45:55that she resisted
45:56his advances
45:57and according to some
45:58that she even drew
45:59a dagger
46:00to protect her honour.
46:02The only way
46:02the young king
46:03could have her
46:04was to marry her
46:05and quickly
46:06and secretly
46:07that's what he did.
46:08But Edward
46:10had broken
46:10a cardinal rule
46:11of dynastic politics
46:13by marrying
46:14not for a great dowry
46:15or political advantage
46:16but moved by passion.
46:21Marriage
46:22was a crucial opportunity
46:23for the great families
46:25of Europe
46:25to advance
46:26their political
46:27and dynastic ambitions.
46:30Every Plantagenet king
46:32had gained advantage
46:33through marriage
46:34to a wealthy
46:35high-born woman
46:36from Europe.
46:37most of them
46:39French.
46:43Now
46:44for the first time
46:45in more than
46:46400 years
46:47the king of England
46:48had married
46:49an English woman
46:50from the lower ranks
46:52of the aristocracy.
46:54She wasn't even
46:55a supporter
46:56of the House of York.
47:01Elizabeth Woodville
47:02had no great fortune.
47:03Her father
47:04was a Lancastrian knight
47:05and her first husband
47:06had been killed
47:07fighting for the House
47:08of Lancaster.
47:09She brought no great
47:10political or material
47:11advantage.
47:13Even more outrageously
47:14the king had made the marriage
47:16without consulting
47:17his great nobles.
47:19Edward's marriage
47:19was a major political
47:21miscalculation.
47:25Edward didn't even tell
47:26his most loyal supporter
47:28and friend
47:28the Earl of Warwick.
47:30He was so outraged
47:32by Edward's secret marriage
47:33that he deserted him
47:35sailed for France
47:36and allied himself
47:38with the exiled
47:39Henry and Margaret.
47:42In 1470
47:43Margaret of Anjou
47:44made a final bid for power
47:46on behalf of the
47:47Lancastrian cause
47:48backed by the Earl of Warwick.
47:50They managed to overthrow
47:51Edward IV
47:52and send him into exile
47:53but the following year
47:54he was back
47:55and he inflicted
47:56a crushing defeat
47:57on them.
48:01Henry VI's heir
48:02was cut down
48:03as he fled
48:04from the battle.
48:06Shortly afterwards
48:07the former king
48:09himself
48:09was murdered.
48:10After 20 years
48:22of civil war
48:23England
48:24now enjoyed
48:25a time of peace
48:26and stability
48:27under Edward IV.
48:31The king
48:32presided over
48:33a flourishing court
48:34described by
48:35one European visitor
48:36as
48:36the most splendid
48:38in all Christendom.
48:40Edward commissioned
48:43beautiful manuscripts
48:44from the best
48:45illuminators in Europe
48:47and he oversaw
48:51the building
48:51of a new
48:52royal banqueting hall
48:53here at
48:54Eltham Palace
48:55southeast of London.
49:05The hall
49:06was one of the most
49:07expensive building
49:08projects of the age.
49:10It was a statement
49:11of the scale
49:12and grandeur
49:13of Edward's ambition.
49:16When the hall
49:17was complete
49:18Edward held court
49:19here with Elizabeth
49:20at his side.
49:22They had two
49:22healthy young sons
49:23and the future
49:24of the Plantagenet
49:25dynasty seemed
49:26assured.
49:27But not everyone
49:28at court
49:29was happy.
49:30Elizabeth had
49:31ten brothers
49:31and sisters
49:32and they did
49:33tremendously well
49:34out of their
49:34beautiful sisters'
49:35new royal connections.
49:36the rise of these
49:38new favourites
49:39the Woodvilles
49:40was resented
49:41by the old
49:42nobility
49:43and by some
49:44members of the
49:44Plantagenet family
49:45itself.
49:50Richard was Edward's
49:52youngest brother.
49:54Although not
49:55physically strong
49:56he was a successful
49:58military leader
49:59and he'd been
50:00Edward's most
50:00dependable supporter.
50:02Now his loyalty
50:05was about
50:06to be tested.
50:11On the 9th of April
50:121483
50:13Edward IV
50:15died suddenly.
50:17His 12-year-old son
50:18was proclaimed
50:19Edward V.
50:21But he was too
50:22young to take power.
50:25Richard saw
50:26an opportunity
50:27to win the crown
50:28for himself.
50:32Over the last
50:33century
50:33two kings
50:35had already
50:35been violently
50:36deposed.
50:37It's not surprising
50:39that Richard
50:40felt able
50:41to make a bid
50:42for the throne.
50:46Edward's death
50:47was followed
50:48by a power struggle
50:49between his younger
50:50brother Richard
50:50and Richard's rivals
50:52the Woodvilles.
50:53Fearing that they
50:54would be the power
50:55behind the throne
50:56Richard made sure
50:57that he got custody
50:58of the young king
50:59Edward V
51:00and his little brother.
51:02The two princes
51:08were placed
51:09in the Tower of London.
51:12They were never
51:13seen again.
51:17The gossip
51:18in the courts
51:19of Europe
51:19concluded that
51:21Richard had them
51:21murdered.
51:23It's never been
51:24proved
51:24but Richard
51:25wouldn't be the
51:26first Plantagenet
51:27wicked uncle
51:28to be accused
51:29of killing a nephew
51:30who stood between
51:31him and the throne.
51:35On the 6th of July
51:361483
51:37Richard was crowned.
51:43With a helping hand
51:44from Shakespeare
51:45he's been painted
51:46as one of the greatest
51:47villains in English history.
51:49But his actions
51:50were driven
51:51by the same
51:51dynastic ambitions
51:52that drove his ancestors.
51:54This latest usurpation
51:56however
51:56would lead directly
51:58to the downfall
51:59of the dynasty.
52:04Richard's suspected
52:06murder of the young princes
52:07caused outrage.
52:11The Plantagenets
52:12had often been brutal
52:13in their pursuit of power.
52:15but the killing
52:18of innocent children
52:19was an abomination.
52:23Both Lancastrians
52:24and some Yorkists
52:26now turned
52:27against Richard.
52:32The Lancastrians
52:34backed a man
52:35whose claim
52:35to the Plantagenet throne
52:37was tenuous
52:37Henry Tudor.
52:39Henry had been living
52:46in exile
52:47and had won
52:48the support
52:48of the Plantagenet's
52:50perennial enemy
52:50the French King.
52:55In August 1485
52:57he landed
52:58at Milford Haven
52:59with thousands
53:00of French troops.
53:03He marched east
53:04gathering Welsh
53:05and English support
53:06along the way.
53:07Richard rode out
53:10to meet them.
53:11The two armies met
53:12near the Midlands town
53:14of Leicester.
53:17Richard's forces
53:17camped here
53:18a few miles
53:19from Bosworth.
53:20Tudor propagandists
53:21later reported
53:22that on the night
53:23before the battle
53:24Richard saw
53:25hideous images
53:26as it were
53:27of evil spirits
53:28haunting him
53:29and they would not
53:30let him rest.
53:31Clearly a sign
53:32of a guilty conscience.
53:34But for Richard
53:35the battle
53:35offered an opportunity
53:37to prove
53:38that he
53:38was God's
53:39chosen monarch.
53:43Richard wore
53:44the royal crown
53:45on his battle helmet
53:46and declared
53:47this day
53:48I will die
53:50as king
53:50or win.
53:53His army
53:54was far superior
53:55in numbers
53:56but the loyalty
53:58of his men
53:58was in doubt.
53:59as the battle
54:03began
54:03his soldiers
54:04seemed to be
54:05fighting
54:05half-heartedly
54:06but then Richard
54:08saw an opportunity
54:10to bring the battle
54:11to a swift end.
54:14Richard caught sight
54:15of Henry Tudor
54:16surrounded by only
54:17a small retinue
54:19and he charged
54:20directly at him
54:21with a few loyal knights.
54:23The chronicler
54:24John Rouse
54:24says that although
54:25Richard was small
54:26and physically weak
54:27he fought
54:28like a noble knight.
54:31He cut down
54:32Henry's standard bearer
54:34and almost slashed
54:35his way to Henry himself
54:36but then
54:38he was betrayed.
54:41One of his most
54:42powerful nobles
54:43Lord Stanley
54:44was watching
54:45the battle unfold
54:46from a distance.
54:48He commanded
54:49up to 5,000 men
54:51but his allegiance
54:52was in doubt.
54:55When he saw Richard
54:56isolated and vulnerable
54:58he threw in his lot
54:59with the Tudors.
55:06Stanley's troops
55:07were then unleashed
55:08upon the Plantagenet King.
55:13The recent discovery
55:15of Richard III's body
55:16in a Leicester car park
55:18confirms the chronicler's reports
55:20of what happened next.
55:25The king was abandoned
55:26but he chose not to flee.
55:29The last Plantagenet monarch
55:30was cut down
55:31by a lethal blow
55:33to the head.
55:34Even his enemies
55:35admitted Richard's courage.
55:37They describe him
55:38fighting manfully
55:39in the thickest press
55:41of his enemies
55:41and describe how
55:43in battle
55:44and not in flight
55:45King Richard died
55:46like a noble ruler
55:47most bold in the field.
55:50The last Plantagenet king
55:53of England
55:53was stripped naked
55:55and slung over a horse.
55:58His corpse was paraded
55:59along the road to Leicester
56:01for all men
56:03to wonder upon.
56:06He was later
56:07carelessly buried
56:08in a hastily dug grave.
56:17The crown Richard wore
56:19into battle
56:20was discovered
56:21in the carnage
56:22at Bosworth.
56:23It was placed upon the head
56:25of the new king
56:26Henry Tudor.
56:28When the Plantagenets
56:40won the English crown
56:41three centuries earlier
56:42England had been devastated
56:44by decades of civil war.
56:52Now a civil war
56:53between two branches
56:55of their own family
56:56had brought about
56:57their downfall.
57:02But the longest ruling
57:03dynasty in English history
57:04had helped transform
57:06the culture
57:07and politics
57:08of the British Isles.
57:13They'd inspired
57:14and provoked
57:15the emergence
57:16of many of the country's
57:17distinctive institutions
57:19and laws
57:20and adopted symbols
57:25that represent the nation
57:27to this day.
57:35For 331 years
57:37this single family's ambitions,
57:39cruelties and achievements
57:41had shaped the history
57:42of much of Britain and France.
57:44Now Henry Tudor
57:46led England into a new world.
57:47the Tudors
57:49sought their empire
57:50not in France
57:51but across the Atlantic
57:52and they would hunt down
57:54any remaining
57:55Plantagenet claimants
57:56to the throne.
57:57This once mighty dynasty
57:59ended in oblivion.
58:00Kim Philby is the most famous
58:16double agent in history.
58:18Charming and courteous
58:20but also a fanatic
58:22and a ruthless killer.
58:24He deceived everyone
58:26around him.
58:27The Tudors
58:35the Tudors
58:35the Tudors
58:36the Tudors
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58:36
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