1 00:00:04,500 --> 00:00:06,730 'In December 1154 2 00:00:06,820 --> 00:00:10,730 'one of the most charismatic of all kings of England 3 00:00:10,820 --> 00:00:12,769 'began his reign. 4 00:00:12,849 --> 00:00:16,120 'Henry II was a star amongst monarchs, 5 00:00:16,210 --> 00:00:19,399 'whose huge personality and keen intelligence 6 00:00:19,500 --> 00:00:21,449 'would extend royal power 7 00:00:21,530 --> 00:00:24,518 'as much by law as by the sword. 8 00:00:26,050 --> 00:00:30,960 'But, like many stars, Henry was cursed with a turbulent family 9 00:00:31,050 --> 00:00:33,399 'whose prides and passions 10 00:00:33,500 --> 00:00:38,289 'would do much to undermine his extraordinary achievements. 11 00:00:38,380 --> 00:00:42,329 'This is the story of King Henry II 12 00:00:42,420 --> 00:00:44,368 'and his heirs.' 13 00:01:12,930 --> 00:01:16,519 'Henry II was just 21 years old 14 00:01:16,620 --> 00:01:20,129 'when he inherited the throne of England. 15 00:01:20,209 --> 00:01:23,040 'But Henry was only half English. 16 00:01:23,140 --> 00:01:29,370 'He spoke French and he was heir to great lands and titles in France.' 17 00:01:29,450 --> 00:01:33,879 The young Henry was a product of that hybrid Anglo-French culture 18 00:01:33,980 --> 00:01:38,049 which had ruled in England since the Norman Conquest. 19 00:01:38,140 --> 00:01:40,370 He was born here, in Anjou, 20 00:01:40,450 --> 00:01:44,400 his father's ancestral lands in the heart of France. 21 00:01:44,500 --> 00:01:46,530 But, if his father were French 22 00:01:46,620 --> 00:01:50,608 his mother was the daughter of the English king, Henry I. 23 00:01:53,930 --> 00:01:55,319 She made sure that the young Henry was familiar with England as well. 24 00:01:55,420 --> 00:01:59,450 Between the ages of 10 and 14 he lived at Bristol 25 00:01:59,540 --> 00:02:03,569 where he had an English guardian and an English tutor 26 00:02:03,650 --> 00:02:06,599 who gave him his lifelong love of learning. 27 00:02:08,530 --> 00:02:10,479 'He then returned to France 28 00:02:10,580 --> 00:02:13,848 'and accumulated territories year by year - 29 00:02:13,930 --> 00:02:17,550 'Normandy, Anjou and finally Aquitaine, 30 00:02:17,650 --> 00:02:21,080 'through his marriage to the beautiful Eleanor. 31 00:02:22,090 --> 00:02:25,080 'But England was the greatest prize of all. 32 00:02:25,180 --> 00:02:28,848 'Fought over for 20 years by Henry's mother Matilda 33 00:02:28,930 --> 00:02:30,878 'and his cousin Stephen, 34 00:02:30,968 --> 00:02:33,270 'it now fell into Henry's grasp - 35 00:02:34,180 --> 00:02:36,688 'partly because Stephen had no heir, 36 00:02:36,780 --> 00:02:40,930 'but above all because the Anglo-Norman aristocracy, the barons, 37 00:02:41,020 --> 00:02:44,688 'saw in Henry a man they had to do business with. 38 00:02:45,650 --> 00:02:48,110 'Though he was the barons' candidate, 39 00:02:48,210 --> 00:02:51,158 'Henry quickly showed them who was master.' 40 00:02:52,620 --> 00:02:56,770 It was a time when God and his angels slept, 41 00:02:56,860 --> 00:03:00,810 as the chroniclers lamented with pardonable exaggeration. 42 00:03:00,900 --> 00:03:03,408 Nowadays, such thuggish disorder 43 00:03:03,500 --> 00:03:07,370 tends to come from those at the bottom of the social pile. 44 00:03:07,460 --> 00:03:11,688 Then it came from the men at the top, known as barons. 45 00:03:11,780 --> 00:03:14,128 The barons seized royal castles 46 00:03:14,210 --> 00:03:17,318 and built new illegal castles of their own. 47 00:03:17,408 --> 00:03:22,270 'And the hard-won unity of England threatened to disintegrate 48 00:03:22,370 --> 00:03:25,199 'into a series of baronial statelets 49 00:03:25,300 --> 00:03:28,288 'each with its own castle capital. 50 00:03:28,370 --> 00:03:31,158 'Henry, with a vigourous sense of authority, 51 00:03:31,250 --> 00:03:34,788 'was determined to stamp on this development.' 52 00:03:34,900 --> 00:03:38,848 So royal castles, he decreed, must be returned to the king 53 00:03:38,930 --> 00:03:42,840 and illegal castles should be demolished. 54 00:03:44,180 --> 00:03:46,408 (Men yelling) 55 00:03:46,500 --> 00:03:49,889 'One man, Hugh Mortimer, the marcher lord 56 00:03:49,968 --> 00:03:51,919 'dared to resist.' 57 00:03:52,968 --> 00:03:56,199 Henry took his forces to the Welsh Marches 58 00:03:56,300 --> 00:03:58,288 the seat of Mortimer's power. 59 00:03:58,370 --> 00:04:03,280 He laid siege simultaneously to all three of Mortimer's castles 60 00:04:03,370 --> 00:04:07,318 including this one at Wigmore in Herefordshire. 61 00:04:07,408 --> 00:04:10,840 One by one, Mortimer's castles surrendered 62 00:04:10,930 --> 00:04:14,598 until finally, on 7th July 1155, 63 00:04:14,688 --> 00:04:19,439 Baron Mortimer himself made a formal submission to the king 64 00:04:19,540 --> 00:04:22,490 in front of a specially summoned assembly 65 00:04:22,569 --> 00:04:25,240 of bishops, earls and barons. 66 00:04:25,329 --> 00:04:29,278 Henry had given an object lesson in the arts of kingship 67 00:04:29,370 --> 00:04:31,439 to his mightiest subjects 68 00:04:31,540 --> 00:04:36,370 and he'd made a spectacularly successful start to his reign. 69 00:04:38,420 --> 00:04:40,879 'Henry's vision of royal authority 70 00:04:40,980 --> 00:04:43,930 'extended beyond England to the whole of Britain 71 00:04:44,009 --> 00:04:47,160 'over which like his greatest predecessors, 72 00:04:47,250 --> 00:04:51,120 'the Anglo-Saxon Edgar and the Norman William the Conqueror, 73 00:04:51,220 --> 00:04:54,209 'he saw himself as having imperial authority. 74 00:04:54,300 --> 00:04:59,420 'The King of Scots was driven back behind the old frontiers of his kingdom. 75 00:04:59,500 --> 00:05:03,040 'In Wales, he made the princes do homage to him, 76 00:05:03,129 --> 00:05:06,399 'formally acknowledging him as their superior. 77 00:05:06,500 --> 00:05:09,449 'For two decades England had been weak, 78 00:05:09,540 --> 00:05:11,838 'but now the crown was worn by a man 79 00:05:11,930 --> 00:05:15,879 'whose personality matched the pretensions of the position.' 80 00:05:15,980 --> 00:05:20,569 'He overawed and faced down opponents at every turn.' 81 00:05:21,810 --> 00:05:25,560 (Man) "He is a great, indeed the greatest, of monarchs, 82 00:05:25,660 --> 00:05:29,009 "for he has no superior of whom he stands in awe 83 00:05:29,100 --> 00:05:32,050 "nor a subject who may resist him." 84 00:05:33,129 --> 00:05:35,480 (Starkey) 'His energy and temper were legendary 85 00:05:35,569 --> 00:05:39,000 'and his physical presence mesmerising. 86 00:05:43,980 --> 00:05:48,050 (Man) "His face was one upon which a man might gaze 1,000 times 87 00:05:48,129 --> 00:05:51,278 "and still feel drawn to gaze on again." 88 00:05:51,370 --> 00:05:53,750 (Starkey) 'Henry's charismatic personality 89 00:05:53,860 --> 00:05:56,088 'gave him the best of both worlds. 90 00:05:56,180 --> 00:06:00,490 'He could consult and take advice as an English king was bound to, 91 00:06:00,569 --> 00:06:04,639 'but he could always be pretty confident of winning the argument. 92 00:06:04,740 --> 00:06:08,250 'He could win even when he wasn't there in person, 93 00:06:08,329 --> 00:06:12,480 'thanks to his innovations in the law which became a kind of mirror 94 00:06:12,569 --> 00:06:16,319 'reflecting and multiplying his royal authority.' 95 00:06:16,420 --> 00:06:19,769 The main writing office was known as the chancery 96 00:06:19,860 --> 00:06:23,528 and these are typical of the documents it produced. 97 00:06:23,620 --> 00:06:28,170 They're called writs - that is, standardised royal orders. 98 00:06:28,250 --> 00:06:31,199 The writ is written out on a slip of parchment 99 00:06:31,300 --> 00:06:35,490 and then it's authenticated by attaching the great seal. 100 00:06:35,569 --> 00:06:38,720 The seal is deliberately large and impressive. 101 00:06:38,810 --> 00:06:42,759 It carried the king's image to the furthest corners of his dominions. 102 00:06:43,810 --> 00:06:47,560 'It makes an important point about the nature of kingship. 103 00:06:47,660 --> 00:06:52,009 'On the front, the king is seated as a law-giver and judge. 104 00:06:53,420 --> 00:06:56,009 'On the reverse he is mounted and armed 105 00:06:56,100 --> 00:06:59,170 'as the warrior-defender of his people.' 106 00:06:59,250 --> 00:07:02,199 The writ is much less, showy than the seal 107 00:07:02,300 --> 00:07:05,329 but its effects were even more far-reaching. 108 00:07:05,420 --> 00:07:08,769 For, in the course of Henry's reign, writs were developed 109 00:07:08,860 --> 00:07:13,209 to deal with the most common legal problems of the king's subjects. 110 00:07:13,300 --> 00:07:16,290 They were mass-produced by the chancery clerks 111 00:07:16,370 --> 00:07:20,120 and were available, for a fee to every freeman. 112 00:07:20,220 --> 00:07:25,240 Previously, the king's justice had depended on the king's presence. 113 00:07:25,329 --> 00:07:29,720 Now, with the writ, the seal and the magic of writing, 114 00:07:29,810 --> 00:07:34,360 the king and his justice could be everywhere for everybody. 115 00:07:35,220 --> 00:07:38,920 'But Henry's was not the only monarchy in England. 116 00:07:39,009 --> 00:07:41,120 'There was another power in the land. 117 00:07:42,100 --> 00:07:45,050 'The Church was a state within a state. 118 00:07:45,129 --> 00:07:47,079 'It was also a superstate 119 00:07:47,180 --> 00:07:51,129 'whose boundaries were even wider than those of Henry's empire. 120 00:07:51,220 --> 00:07:55,209 'Once, the Church had been the nursemaid of monarchy. 121 00:07:55,300 --> 00:07:58,610 'Now it threatened to become its master.' 122 00:08:01,889 --> 00:08:04,838 In the Middle Ages, the power of the Church 123 00:08:04,930 --> 00:08:08,680 soared over England and all Western Europe. 124 00:08:08,769 --> 00:08:12,720 Like the European Union today, whose frontiers it shares 125 00:08:12,810 --> 00:08:15,838 the power of the Church reached everywhere, 126 00:08:15,930 --> 00:08:18,439 crossing borders, claiming rights 127 00:08:18,540 --> 00:08:23,209 and dispensing its own justice in its own courts. 128 00:08:23,300 --> 00:08:25,490 But, unlike the European Union, 129 00:08:25,569 --> 00:08:29,480 the Church also had its own officials on the ground - 130 00:08:29,569 --> 00:08:32,028 the priests, bishops and archbishops. 131 00:08:32,129 --> 00:08:38,200 And above all, it had its own very visible head - the pope in Rome. 132 00:08:38,288 --> 00:08:41,038 The pope, as the successor of St Peter 133 00:08:41,129 --> 00:08:45,120 claimed the religious allegiance of all Catholic Christians 134 00:08:45,220 --> 00:08:47,450 including kings and emperors. 135 00:08:47,528 --> 00:08:51,200 But the pope was also an elective monarch - 136 00:08:51,288 --> 00:08:53,480 the heir of the Roman emperors, 137 00:08:53,580 --> 00:08:58,370 who often claimed to be the political superior of kings as well. 138 00:08:58,460 --> 00:09:01,490 And kings, however good Christians they were, 139 00:09:01,580 --> 00:09:04,450 rarely took that claim lying down. 140 00:09:06,370 --> 00:09:09,908 'No one was less disposed to lie down than Henry. 141 00:09:10,009 --> 00:09:13,960 'He thought he'd found the perfect instrument to control the Church 142 00:09:14,048 --> 00:09:19,120 'in Thomas Becket, whom he appointed Archbishop of Canterbury. 143 00:09:19,220 --> 00:09:21,678 'Becket was a middle-class Londoner 144 00:09:21,769 --> 00:09:26,320 'whom Henry plucked from obscurity to make chancellor, chief minister 145 00:09:26,408 --> 00:09:28,600 'and his closest personal friend. 146 00:09:28,700 --> 00:09:34,210 'He expected similar loyalty from his new archbishop. In vain.' 147 00:09:34,288 --> 00:09:37,360 From the first Becket went out of his way 148 00:09:37,460 --> 00:09:39,570 to pick a fight with the king. 149 00:09:39,649 --> 00:09:42,798 He ostentatiously resigned the chancellorship 150 00:09:42,889 --> 00:09:45,840 and he took an extreme and intransigent stance 151 00:09:45,940 --> 00:09:48,168 on any issue, however petty, 152 00:09:48,250 --> 00:09:52,879 which affected the Church's claim to absolute independence. 153 00:09:52,980 --> 00:09:57,250 Why the transformation in Becket from the king's dearest friend 154 00:09:57,340 --> 00:09:59,288 to his bitterest enemy? 155 00:09:59,370 --> 00:10:02,639 Had he undergone a religious transformation? 156 00:10:02,740 --> 00:10:04,928 Was he just a consummate actor, 157 00:10:05,009 --> 00:10:08,158 throwing himself with zest into a new part? 158 00:10:08,250 --> 00:10:12,200 Was he trying to prove himself to his fellow clergy, 159 00:10:12,288 --> 00:10:16,240 many of whom thought him no better than a royal stooge? 160 00:10:16,340 --> 00:10:20,210 Any and every of these explanations is possible. 161 00:10:20,288 --> 00:10:24,038 What is certain, however is that Becket's behaviour 162 00:10:24,129 --> 00:10:28,000 provoked an equal and opposite reaction in the king. 163 00:10:28,100 --> 00:10:30,288 Neither man would give way. 164 00:10:30,370 --> 00:10:35,389 One or the other would have to break... or to be broken. 165 00:10:38,460 --> 00:10:43,730 'Henry's first ten years on the throne had been a glittering success. 166 00:10:43,820 --> 00:10:47,490 'But now he confronted two major challenges. 167 00:10:48,500 --> 00:10:52,970 'Who should succeed to Henry's vast empire after his death? 168 00:10:53,048 --> 00:10:55,798 'And where did ultimate authority lie - 169 00:10:55,889 --> 00:10:59,879 'with the king or with the Church and churchmen? 170 00:11:02,048 --> 00:11:06,908 'The issue of priests who committed crimes like murder and highway robbery 171 00:11:07,009 --> 00:11:09,678 'sparked off the final clash with the Church. 172 00:11:09,769 --> 00:11:13,440 'These thugs in cassocks were tried in Church courts 173 00:11:13,528 --> 00:11:17,840 'where they received derisory sentences. 174 00:11:17,940 --> 00:11:20,500 'After the collapse of one murder trial, 175 00:11:20,580 --> 00:11:24,278 'Henry demanded that the man be handed over to a royal court. 176 00:11:24,370 --> 00:11:26,320 'Becket refused.' 177 00:11:27,860 --> 00:11:30,730 Henry met the challenge head-on. 178 00:11:30,820 --> 00:11:33,168 And, at a meeting of the council 179 00:11:33,250 --> 00:11:36,519 in the royal palace of Clarendon, near Oxford 180 00:11:36,620 --> 00:11:40,970 he tabled a list of what he claimed were the customs of the realm. 181 00:11:41,048 --> 00:11:45,759 The customs left the Church jurisdiction over matters of faith 182 00:11:45,860 --> 00:11:47,970 but disputes about property 183 00:11:48,048 --> 00:11:52,000 or the punishment of clergy who were convicted of crimes 184 00:11:52,100 --> 00:11:54,129 like robbery or homicide 185 00:11:54,220 --> 00:11:57,730 were to belong in the future to the king's laws. 186 00:11:58,740 --> 00:12:03,009 Becket disdained Henry's pseudo-historical arguments. 187 00:12:03,100 --> 00:12:07,570 Instead, as usual he took the high moral ground, 188 00:12:07,649 --> 00:12:12,558 basing himself on the words in the Bible, "Touch not mine anointed." 189 00:12:12,649 --> 00:12:17,590 But even Becket yielded before Henry's crude threats of force 190 00:12:17,700 --> 00:12:20,570 and accepted the constitutions. 191 00:12:20,649 --> 00:12:24,190 Soon, however, Becket repudiated his submission 192 00:12:24,288 --> 00:12:28,038 on the grounds it had been extorted under duress. 193 00:12:28,129 --> 00:12:31,120 The dispute between king and archbishop 194 00:12:31,220 --> 00:12:33,778 flared up more fiercely than before. 195 00:12:33,860 --> 00:12:38,168 This time, in fear of his life Becket fled abroad. 196 00:12:40,460 --> 00:12:43,730 'But Becket's flight only focused attention 197 00:12:43,820 --> 00:12:46,090 'on the issue of the succession. 198 00:12:47,620 --> 00:12:50,970 'Henry decided to leave each of his four sons 199 00:12:51,048 --> 00:12:53,399 'a substantial inheritance. 200 00:12:53,500 --> 00:12:55,450 'In 1169, he announced 201 00:12:55,528 --> 00:12:59,120 'how his dominions would be divided on his death. 202 00:12:59,220 --> 00:13:02,370 'His eldest son and principal heir, Henry, 203 00:13:02,460 --> 00:13:05,850 'would receive England, Normandy and Anjou. 204 00:13:05,940 --> 00:13:11,610 'Richard would be Duke of Aquitaine and Geoffrey would receive Brittany. 205 00:13:12,649 --> 00:13:16,960 'There was no land, as yet, for his beloved baby son, John. 206 00:13:17,048 --> 00:13:21,120 'Henry had an eye on conquering Ireland for him.' 207 00:13:22,009 --> 00:13:26,798 Henry had two reasons for dividing his lands amongst his sons. 208 00:13:26,889 --> 00:13:29,960 The first was to placate the king of France, 209 00:13:30,048 --> 00:13:33,200 whose kingdom was threatened with extinction 210 00:13:33,288 --> 00:13:35,440 by the vastness of Henry's power. 211 00:13:35,528 --> 00:13:40,038 The second was to try to keep the peace amongst his teenage sons 212 00:13:40,129 --> 00:13:45,200 who, it was already clear, had inherited his own ferocious temper. 213 00:13:45,288 --> 00:13:48,519 But in practice, the division of his lands 214 00:13:48,620 --> 00:13:52,210 proved to be a disastrous miscalculation. 215 00:13:53,580 --> 00:13:57,528 'He had whetted his sons' appetite with the promise of future power, 216 00:13:57,620 --> 00:14:00,528 'but given them little in the present. 217 00:14:00,620 --> 00:14:05,610 'There was a risk that the irritated princes and the exiled archbishop 218 00:14:05,700 --> 00:14:07,649 'might make common cause. 219 00:14:08,620 --> 00:14:12,889 'For, from his haven in France Becket continued to defy Henry 220 00:14:12,980 --> 00:14:18,730 'by making ever more grandiose claims to the independence of the Church.' 221 00:14:18,820 --> 00:14:23,759 (Man) "It is certain that kings receive their power from the Church... 222 00:14:23,860 --> 00:14:28,690 "..from which you received your promotion and coronation, 223 00:14:28,769 --> 00:14:32,639 "the rank and status it held in the time of your predecessors... 224 00:14:32,740 --> 00:14:36,519 "..you have not the power to absolve or excommunicate anyone, 225 00:14:36,620 --> 00:14:39,649 "nor to drag clerks before secular tribunals." 226 00:14:39,740 --> 00:14:42,298 (Starkey) 'Henry brushed aside Becket's claims 227 00:14:42,370 --> 00:14:44,720 'but Becket, on the loose and abroad 228 00:14:44,820 --> 00:14:48,769 'was more dangerous, Henry felt, than Becket at home. 229 00:14:48,860 --> 00:14:51,210 'So a compromise was patched up 230 00:14:51,288 --> 00:14:54,678 'and Becket was allowed to return to England.' 231 00:14:55,740 --> 00:14:57,690 And what a return. 232 00:14:57,769 --> 00:15:00,960 For at Christmas 1170 word reached Henry 233 00:15:01,048 --> 00:15:05,000 that Becket, who'd learned nothing and forgotten nothing, 234 00:15:05,100 --> 00:15:07,370 was up to all his old tricks. 235 00:15:07,460 --> 00:15:10,769 The archbishop, his enemies insinuated 236 00:15:10,860 --> 00:15:14,048 was careering round the country with armed knights 237 00:15:14,129 --> 00:15:18,000 and excommunicating bishops who were loyal to Henry. 238 00:15:18,100 --> 00:15:23,090 Something snapped and there resulted one of those Plantagenet rages - 239 00:15:23,168 --> 00:15:27,600 "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" the king exclaimed, 240 00:15:27,700 --> 00:15:29,649 or words to that effect. 241 00:15:29,740 --> 00:15:34,210 Henry had said such things before and nothing much had happened. 242 00:15:34,288 --> 00:15:38,360 But this time, four royal knights took the king at his word 243 00:15:38,460 --> 00:15:41,928 and rode furiously to England and to Canterbury 244 00:15:42,009 --> 00:15:44,200 to bring Becket to account, 245 00:15:44,288 --> 00:15:46,720 whatever that might mean. 246 00:15:48,220 --> 00:15:50,730 'On 29th December, the four knights - 247 00:15:50,820 --> 00:15:53,769 'Reginald fitz Urse, William de Traci 248 00:15:53,860 --> 00:15:58,168 'Hugh of Morville and Richard Brito - arrived at Canterbury Cathedral. 249 00:15:58,250 --> 00:16:01,080 'They accused Becket of treachery. 250 00:16:01,168 --> 00:16:03,200 'Becket hotly denied the charges 251 00:16:03,288 --> 00:16:07,480 'and the knights withdrew, menacingly saying they'd be back. 252 00:16:09,250 --> 00:16:13,278 'The other clergy begged Becket to flee whilst there was still time 253 00:16:13,370 --> 00:16:17,960 'but he refused, deciding instead to make a final stand. 254 00:16:23,580 --> 00:16:26,250 'The knights came back with drawn swords. 255 00:16:26,340 --> 00:16:29,649 'It was Reginald fitz Urse who struck the first blow 256 00:16:29,740 --> 00:16:32,408 'taking off the back of Becket's head. 257 00:16:34,700 --> 00:16:36,889 'Still denouncing his assailants, 258 00:16:36,980 --> 00:16:40,808 'the archbishop fell to the pavement of his cathedral 259 00:16:40,889 --> 00:16:43,190 'and the others piled in. 260 00:16:44,048 --> 00:16:46,759 'Moments later, Becket lay dead.' 261 00:16:48,048 --> 00:16:52,879 When he heard the news Henry plunged into an agony of grief, 262 00:16:52,980 --> 00:16:56,490 shutting himself away for three whole days 263 00:16:56,580 --> 00:17:00,528 so that his friends feared for his health, if not for his life. 264 00:17:00,620 --> 00:17:04,368 Was it personal grief for the death of his one-time friend? 265 00:17:04,460 --> 00:17:07,769 Or horror at what had been done in his name? 266 00:17:07,848 --> 00:17:12,440 In either case, the king's response matched the enormity of the deed. 267 00:17:12,528 --> 00:17:16,230 Europe was stunned by the murder of an archbishop 268 00:17:16,328 --> 00:17:20,358 in his own cathedral on the orders of his own king. 269 00:17:20,460 --> 00:17:25,048 Letters rained upon the pope, even from members of Henry's own family, 270 00:17:25,140 --> 00:17:29,088 demanding that he take action against the sacrilegious king 271 00:17:29,180 --> 00:17:33,328 who was worse than a Nero or even than a Judas. 272 00:17:33,420 --> 00:17:37,368 And Becket's ghost, growing more powerful year by year, 273 00:17:37,460 --> 00:17:40,048 was to serve as the perfect cover 274 00:17:40,140 --> 00:17:44,970 for resistance or rebellion against the murderer king. 275 00:17:47,700 --> 00:17:52,009 'As Henry feared, the problems of the Church and the succession 276 00:17:52,088 --> 00:17:55,680 'came together and threatened to overwhelm him. 277 00:17:55,769 --> 00:17:58,400 'In 1173, a great rebellion started. 278 00:17:58,500 --> 00:18:01,450 'It was led by Henry's own elder sons. 279 00:18:01,528 --> 00:18:06,519 'Henry decided that it was Becket's memory that was the greater threat. 280 00:18:09,048 --> 00:18:12,920 'He would exorcise it with a single, grand gesture 281 00:18:13,009 --> 00:18:14,960 'of self-abasement.' 282 00:18:19,568 --> 00:18:22,240 First, Henry fasted. 283 00:18:22,328 --> 00:18:26,440 Then, stripped only to a rough, woollen shirt, 284 00:18:26,528 --> 00:18:33,000 he walked barefoot to Becket's shrine here in Canterbury Cathedral, 285 00:18:33,088 --> 00:18:37,720 where he prostrated himself before his erstwhile enemy. 286 00:18:38,700 --> 00:18:42,368 Next, he, Henry, King of England, 287 00:18:42,460 --> 00:18:47,088 submitted to a public scourging by all of the clergy present. 288 00:18:47,180 --> 00:18:50,960 Bishops, abbots and each of the monks of Canterbury 289 00:18:51,048 --> 00:18:54,240 took it in turn to flog him. 290 00:18:54,328 --> 00:18:58,920 Finally, he lay all night and all day 291 00:18:59,009 --> 00:19:02,318 on the cold stones in front of the shrine. 292 00:19:02,420 --> 00:19:05,808 It was an extraordinary, untypical gesture 293 00:19:05,900 --> 00:19:08,358 by that proud and passionate man. 294 00:19:08,460 --> 00:19:13,210 But the penance and the humiliation, he calculated, was worth it 295 00:19:13,288 --> 00:19:17,798 if it contrived to separate Becket, the saint as he now was 296 00:19:17,900 --> 00:19:21,848 from the coalition of Henry's enemies now arrayed against him. 297 00:19:21,940 --> 00:19:25,528 And it did, almost immediately. 298 00:19:28,528 --> 00:19:30,759 'The king awoke the following morning 299 00:19:30,848 --> 00:19:34,390 'to hear that an invasion of England, planned by the rebels, 300 00:19:34,500 --> 00:19:36,328 'had been thwarted. 301 00:19:36,420 --> 00:19:39,769 'Henry had indeed stooped to conquer. 302 00:19:39,848 --> 00:19:43,440 'For, despite the fury over Becket's martyrdom, 303 00:19:43,528 --> 00:19:47,920 'Henry was able to preserve many of his claims over the Church 304 00:19:48,009 --> 00:19:51,960 'and subsequent kings of England would reassert and intensify them 305 00:19:52,048 --> 00:19:55,920 'until finally they assumed that supremacy over the Church 306 00:19:56,009 --> 00:19:58,308 'of which Henry had only dreamed. 307 00:19:58,420 --> 00:20:00,368 'His furious energy 308 00:20:00,460 --> 00:20:04,930 'saw off repeated acts of disloyalty and rebellion by his sons 309 00:20:05,009 --> 00:20:09,920 'in alliance with Henry's most dangerous enemy, the king of France. 310 00:20:11,140 --> 00:20:14,838 'But finally, in 1189, Henry lost his grip. 311 00:20:14,940 --> 00:20:18,930 'He was defeated in battle by Richard and the king of France 312 00:20:19,009 --> 00:20:21,278 'and his health collapsed.' 313 00:20:21,380 --> 00:20:23,328 (Bell chiming) 314 00:20:24,740 --> 00:20:28,848 Mortally sick and already a broken man, 315 00:20:28,940 --> 00:20:30,930 at the age of only 56, 316 00:20:31,009 --> 00:20:33,680 Henry was carried back in a litter 317 00:20:33,769 --> 00:20:39,200 here, to his castle of Chinon in his native Anjou, to die. 318 00:20:39,288 --> 00:20:43,598 One of the conditions imposed on him by Richard and the king of France 319 00:20:43,700 --> 00:20:47,450 was that he should pardon the conspirators against him. 320 00:20:47,528 --> 00:20:49,480 When the list was read out 321 00:20:49,568 --> 00:20:54,038 it included the name of his beloved youngest son, John. 322 00:20:54,140 --> 00:20:56,930 It was the final blow. 323 00:20:57,009 --> 00:20:59,519 "Why should I reverence Christ?" 324 00:20:59,608 --> 00:21:03,920 the dying king cried out, when asked to make his final confession. 325 00:21:04,009 --> 00:21:09,798 "And why should I honour Him who has taken all my honour from me?" 326 00:21:09,900 --> 00:21:12,490 Confess, nevertheless, he did. 327 00:21:12,568 --> 00:21:17,400 And immediately afterwards, on 6th July 1189, 328 00:21:17,500 --> 00:21:19,450 Henry died. 329 00:21:21,980 --> 00:21:26,288 'Henry's body was brought for burial to the nearby abbey of Fontevraud, 330 00:21:26,380 --> 00:21:30,160 'the traditional burial place of the counts of Anjou. 331 00:21:30,250 --> 00:21:33,200 'Like a wounded animal he'd gone home to die. 332 00:21:33,288 --> 00:21:37,240 'Yet he had been one of England's most successful kings, 333 00:21:37,328 --> 00:21:39,630 'able to enforce his authority 334 00:21:39,740 --> 00:21:42,970 'on barons, bishops and even other princes. 335 00:21:43,048 --> 00:21:46,880 'He had turned his vision of kingship into a reality. 336 00:21:46,980 --> 00:21:50,650 'Would his successors be able to sustain it?' 337 00:21:55,769 --> 00:21:58,440 Alongside the tomb of Henry II 338 00:21:58,528 --> 00:22:02,068 here in the abbey of Fontevraud in Anjou, 339 00:22:02,180 --> 00:22:07,038 lies this one of his son and eventual heir, Richard. 340 00:22:07,140 --> 00:22:11,170 Richard ruled the family empire for almost ten years 341 00:22:11,250 --> 00:22:16,000 until he was mortally wounded in a siege here in France. 342 00:22:16,088 --> 00:22:21,000 But during all that time, Richard spent only six months in England. 343 00:22:21,088 --> 00:22:26,240 Instead, he used England merely to bankroll his adventures elsewhere - 344 00:22:26,328 --> 00:22:29,759 above all, on crusade in the Holy Land. 345 00:22:29,848 --> 00:22:33,960 These adventures won Richard a golden reputation 346 00:22:34,048 --> 00:22:37,519 and the name Coeur de Lion - Lion heart. 347 00:22:37,608 --> 00:22:40,558 He would be a hard act to follow 348 00:22:40,660 --> 00:22:44,848 especially as England had got used to an absentee king. 349 00:22:44,940 --> 00:22:49,490 And especially as his heir was his younger brother, John. 350 00:22:49,568 --> 00:22:52,318 "My brother John," Richard sneered, 351 00:22:52,420 --> 00:22:56,088 "is not man enough to conquer a country 352 00:22:56,180 --> 00:23:01,170 "if there is anyone to offer even the feeblest resistance." 353 00:23:02,808 --> 00:23:07,318 'So John was no mighty warrior like his father, Henry II, 354 00:23:07,420 --> 00:23:09,980 'nor a charismatic leader of men 355 00:23:10,048 --> 00:23:13,118 'like his brother Richard Coeur de Lion. 356 00:23:13,220 --> 00:23:16,970 'Still worse, there was a streak of mistrustfulness 357 00:23:17,048 --> 00:23:19,278 'even paranoia, in his character. 358 00:23:19,380 --> 00:23:23,368 'But he was unusually interested in the mechanics of government, 359 00:23:23,460 --> 00:23:27,450 'which he pursued with an often obsessive interest.' 360 00:23:28,769 --> 00:23:34,038 There is no more contrary breed than professional historians. 361 00:23:34,140 --> 00:23:36,130 For John's contemporaries, 362 00:23:36,220 --> 00:23:39,970 and for most succeeding,generations of historians 363 00:23:40,048 --> 00:23:43,000 John was the very model of a bad king. 364 00:23:43,088 --> 00:23:47,078 But now a new generation of historians has come along 365 00:23:47,180 --> 00:23:51,170 who argue on the contrary, that John was a good thing 366 00:23:51,250 --> 00:23:54,000 or at any rate, a good administrator. 367 00:23:54,088 --> 00:23:59,558 Indeed, it's true that his reign sees the start of the great parchment rolls 368 00:23:59,660 --> 00:24:02,730 which record the government's correspondence 369 00:24:02,808 --> 00:24:06,798 and which form the essential basis for scholarly history. 370 00:24:06,900 --> 00:24:10,970 But to praise John for being a royal filing clerk 371 00:24:11,048 --> 00:24:15,400 is historians looking after their own with a vengeance. 372 00:24:15,500 --> 00:24:18,450 For John's obsession with record-keeping 373 00:24:18,528 --> 00:24:21,838 was a sign not of strength but of weakness. 374 00:24:21,940 --> 00:24:24,970 He was so keen on documentation 375 00:24:25,048 --> 00:24:28,358 because he was so mistrustful of his subjects 376 00:24:28,460 --> 00:24:33,288 and his subjects, in turn, distrusted a king who was nit-picking 377 00:24:33,380 --> 00:24:38,088 and always eager to revive an old, outdated royal imposition 378 00:24:38,180 --> 00:24:40,410 and to invent a new one. 379 00:24:42,250 --> 00:24:44,960 'The result was tax, tax and more tax. 380 00:24:45,048 --> 00:24:49,000 'What made things worse was that John had the misfortune 381 00:24:49,088 --> 00:24:53,118 'to confront the most effective king of France for generations, 382 00:24:53,220 --> 00:24:55,170 'Philip Augustus. 383 00:24:56,009 --> 00:25:00,000 'By 1204, John had been shorn of a third of his territories 384 00:25:00,088 --> 00:25:04,640 'including his ancestral lands of Normandy, Anjou and Brittany. 385 00:25:04,740 --> 00:25:07,970 'For the first time since the Norman Conquest, 386 00:25:08,048 --> 00:25:11,358 'the king of England was that and little more. 387 00:25:11,460 --> 00:25:13,690 'Attempting to recover his position, 388 00:25:13,769 --> 00:25:16,920 'John decided to follow in his father's footsteps 389 00:25:17,009 --> 00:25:19,960 'by striking at the power of the Church. 390 00:25:20,048 --> 00:25:22,480 'But again, he had the misfortune 391 00:25:22,568 --> 00:25:27,358 'to encounter one of the greatest medieval popes, Innocent III.' 392 00:25:27,460 --> 00:25:29,410 The struggle began as a dispute 393 00:25:29,500 --> 00:25:33,250 about the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 394 00:25:33,328 --> 00:25:38,118 but it escalated as both sides wheeled in their heaviest weapons. 395 00:25:38,220 --> 00:25:41,730 Innocent laid England under an interdict. 396 00:25:41,808 --> 00:25:44,880 This was a kind of clerical general strike 397 00:25:44,980 --> 00:25:49,210 in which the clergy refused to say Mass, marry couples 398 00:25:49,288 --> 00:25:51,240 or bury corpses. 399 00:25:51,328 --> 00:25:53,680 In retaliation, John resorted 400 00:25:53,769 --> 00:25:57,920 to one of Margaret Thatcher's favourite weapons against the unions 401 00:25:58,009 --> 00:26:01,480 and confiscated all the property of the Church, 402 00:26:01,568 --> 00:26:05,400 amounting to almost a third of the land in England. 403 00:26:05,500 --> 00:26:10,440 Who would win, the clerical strikers or the royal strikebreaker? 404 00:26:12,048 --> 00:26:16,000 'Pope Innocent, despite his name, was a formidable politician 405 00:26:16,088 --> 00:26:21,358 'who turned both real and spiritual weapons against the king of England. 406 00:26:21,460 --> 00:26:25,608 'He not only excommunicated John, but declared him deposed 407 00:26:25,700 --> 00:26:29,480 'and invited Philip Augustus, John's other great enemy, 408 00:26:29,568 --> 00:26:34,118 'to launch a crusade and seize the throne of England for himself. 409 00:26:35,700 --> 00:26:41,048 'Under threat by two dangerous enemies, John had to buy one off. 410 00:26:41,140 --> 00:26:45,088 'The price he was prepared to pay was astonishing - 411 00:26:45,180 --> 00:26:47,250 'it was England itself. 412 00:26:47,328 --> 00:26:52,798 'On 15th May 1213, King John received the pope's representative 413 00:26:52,900 --> 00:26:55,048 'at Dover Castle.' 414 00:26:56,009 --> 00:26:59,960 At the meeting, John agreed to everything that the pope demanded - 415 00:27:00,048 --> 00:27:03,640 to do penance for his offences against the Church, 416 00:27:03,740 --> 00:27:07,568 to accept the pope's choice as archbishop of Canterbury 417 00:27:07,660 --> 00:27:09,608 and to pay compensation 418 00:27:09,700 --> 00:27:12,769 for everything he'd seized from the Church. 419 00:27:12,848 --> 00:27:15,480 But John also went much further 420 00:27:15,568 --> 00:27:17,640 and, in a dramatic move 421 00:27:17,740 --> 00:27:21,490 he issued a charter in which of his own free will 422 00:27:21,568 --> 00:27:24,640 he acknowledged the pope as his overlord 423 00:27:24,740 --> 00:27:28,440 and agreed to pay a large, annual cash tribute. 424 00:27:29,808 --> 00:27:34,078 'John had handed ultimate authority over England to the pope 425 00:27:34,180 --> 00:27:38,210 'and had agreed to pay him a yearly fee to lease it back. 426 00:27:38,288 --> 00:27:41,519 'John had saved his neck but at what cost? 427 00:27:41,608 --> 00:27:44,558 'He was humiliated at home and abroad 428 00:27:44,660 --> 00:27:46,930 'as a king and as a man. 429 00:27:48,460 --> 00:27:52,490 'There was now only one way for John to re-establish his authority - 430 00:27:52,568 --> 00:27:55,519 'to reconquer his lost lands in France. 431 00:27:59,940 --> 00:28:04,288 'He raised a great army, but needed a great deal of cash to pay for it. 432 00:28:04,380 --> 00:28:08,608 'The barons were pressed hard and the rest of his subjects wrung dry. 433 00:28:08,700 --> 00:28:13,528 'John was playing a desperate game, for the highest of stakes. 434 00:28:13,608 --> 00:28:16,200 'If the dice rolled in his favour 435 00:28:16,288 --> 00:28:20,200 'and he won a great victory in France, all would be well. 436 00:28:20,288 --> 00:28:22,670 'But once again, his luck failed.' 437 00:28:26,740 --> 00:28:28,690 (Men yelling) 438 00:28:28,769 --> 00:28:31,759 'On 27th July 1214, 439 00:28:31,848 --> 00:28:36,680 'the English and French armies met at Bouvine, in Flanders. 440 00:28:36,769 --> 00:28:41,558 'The English seemed victorious and Philip was thrown from his horse, 441 00:28:41,660 --> 00:28:45,970 'but the French struck back and overwhelmed the English. 442 00:28:46,848 --> 00:28:50,720 'Paris rejoiced, but in England John faced mutiny. 443 00:28:50,808 --> 00:28:53,759 'The barons sank their own differences 444 00:28:53,848 --> 00:28:57,680 'and presented a united front against the king. 445 00:28:57,769 --> 00:28:59,720 'Never again, they decided, 446 00:28:59,808 --> 00:29:03,000 'must a king behave as John had done. 447 00:29:03,088 --> 00:29:07,598 'They backed up their demands with the threat of overwhelming force.' 448 00:29:08,660 --> 00:29:11,808 The broker between the king and the barons 449 00:29:11,900 --> 00:29:15,970 was Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury. 450 00:29:16,048 --> 00:29:20,400 He professed to be neutral, but in fact he inclined to the barons 451 00:29:20,500 --> 00:29:24,088 and secretly helped them structure their demands. 452 00:29:24,180 --> 00:29:26,368 Finally, the terms were agreed. 453 00:29:26,460 --> 00:29:29,769 And, on 15th June 1215 454 00:29:29,848 --> 00:29:33,038 the two sides met in a field near Windsor 455 00:29:33,140 --> 00:29:35,250 known as Runnymede. 456 00:29:35,328 --> 00:29:37,598 The barons, who were fully armed, 457 00:29:37,700 --> 00:29:39,730 presented their demands. 458 00:29:39,808 --> 00:29:43,759 And King John, reluctantly, and already in bad faith, 459 00:29:43,848 --> 00:29:46,308 granted what they wished. 460 00:29:48,460 --> 00:29:53,210 'The agreement became known as Magna Carta - the Great Charter. 461 00:29:53,288 --> 00:29:58,230 'But it was only the most famous and ambitious of a succession of attempts 462 00:29:58,328 --> 00:30:02,078 'stretching back to the coronation oath of Henry I 463 00:30:02,180 --> 00:30:05,130 'and the memories of Anglo-Saxon England 464 00:30:05,220 --> 00:30:09,250 'to define the rights and duties of king and people.' 465 00:30:09,328 --> 00:30:13,278 The original of Magna Carta, sealed by King John himself, 466 00:30:13,380 --> 00:30:15,450 has long since vanished. 467 00:30:15,528 --> 00:30:17,960 After all, the king had no desire 468 00:30:18,048 --> 00:30:21,480 to preserve the record of his own humiliation. 469 00:30:21,568 --> 00:30:23,720 But this, kept in Salisbury, 470 00:30:23,808 --> 00:30:26,240 is one of the only four survivors 471 00:30:26,328 --> 00:30:31,269 of the copies that were distributed to each county in 1215. 472 00:30:31,380 --> 00:30:33,970 Nowadays, the fame of Magna Carta 473 00:30:34,048 --> 00:30:37,278 rests on clauses like this. 474 00:30:37,380 --> 00:30:41,048 "No free man shall be seized or imprisoned 475 00:30:41,140 --> 00:30:44,088 "or stripped of his goods or possessions 476 00:30:44,180 --> 00:30:48,048 "save by lawful judgement of his peers or equals 477 00:30:48,140 --> 00:30:51,009 "or by the law of the land." 478 00:30:51,088 --> 00:30:58,798 Or this one. "To no one shall we sell or deny or delay justice." 479 00:30:58,900 --> 00:31:02,848 Provisions like these, are or have become 480 00:31:02,940 --> 00:31:05,890 what we call basic human rights. 481 00:31:05,980 --> 00:31:09,490 And echoes of them survive in the statute book 482 00:31:09,568 --> 00:31:13,318 and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 483 00:31:13,420 --> 00:31:16,890 But they come a very long way down the document. 484 00:31:16,980 --> 00:31:19,250 At the top are the provisions 485 00:31:19,328 --> 00:31:23,078 that really concerned the authors of the document - 486 00:31:23,180 --> 00:31:25,170 the bishops and the barons. 487 00:31:25,250 --> 00:31:31,720 The first clause states that "The Church in England shall be free." 488 00:31:31,808 --> 00:31:35,920 That is, free from royal interference. 489 00:31:36,009 --> 00:31:39,240 Whilst the second limits the king's rights 490 00:31:39,328 --> 00:31:42,798 to exact death duties or fines from barons 491 00:31:42,900 --> 00:31:46,769 when their lands were handed over to their heirs. 492 00:31:46,848 --> 00:31:50,078 Magna Carta quickly became, and remained 493 00:31:50,180 --> 00:31:53,528 a touchstone of liberties in the Middle Ages. 494 00:31:53,608 --> 00:31:57,000 It also had very sharp, contemporary teeth 495 00:31:57,088 --> 00:32:01,640 because this clause allows the barons to use force 496 00:32:01,740 --> 00:32:03,690 to bring John into line 497 00:32:03,769 --> 00:32:08,480 if he showed any sign of back-sliding from Magna Carta. 498 00:32:08,568 --> 00:32:10,519 It was tough stuff 499 00:32:10,608 --> 00:32:13,480 and John didn't like it one bit. 500 00:32:15,009 --> 00:32:19,798 'It seemed a total defeat, but John had one last card up his sleeve. 501 00:32:19,900 --> 00:32:24,838 'He appealed to his new overlord, the pope, to have it annulled. 502 00:32:24,940 --> 00:32:29,848 'Innocent agreed and Magna Carta was promptly declared null and void. 503 00:32:31,808 --> 00:32:35,558 'The barons were outraged at the king's faithlessness 504 00:32:35,660 --> 00:32:37,890 'and open war broke out. 505 00:32:37,980 --> 00:32:41,598 'It was no longer a question of restraining John, 506 00:32:41,700 --> 00:32:43,368 'but of dethroning him. 507 00:32:43,460 --> 00:32:46,410 'They even turned to the national enemy 508 00:32:46,500 --> 00:32:50,690 'and invited Louis, son of the French king, to take the English throne. 509 00:32:51,608 --> 00:32:54,838 'Louis invaded and by the autumn of 121'6, 510 00:32:54,940 --> 00:32:59,450 'had seized much of the southeast of England, including London itself. 511 00:32:59,528 --> 00:33:01,880 'Would England be divided? 512 00:33:01,980 --> 00:33:07,730 'Or would there be the first violent change of dynasty since 1066? 513 00:33:07,808 --> 00:33:13,160 'Suddenly, at this point, on the night of 18th October 1216... 514 00:33:14,088 --> 00:33:16,038 'John died. 515 00:33:20,048 --> 00:33:25,440 'His heir was his son Henry, but Henry was only nine years old. 516 00:33:29,660 --> 00:33:32,220 'The child's cause looked hopeless, 517 00:33:32,288 --> 00:33:34,670 'but with John safely out of the way 518 00:33:34,769 --> 00:33:37,200 'the prospect of a French succession 519 00:33:37,288 --> 00:33:41,720 'lost its attraction for an important group of barons and bishops. 520 00:33:41,808 --> 00:33:46,519 'Instead, they decided that the young Henry should be brought to Gloucester 521 00:33:46,608 --> 00:33:49,480 'and crowned as quickly as possible. 522 00:33:49,568 --> 00:33:52,920 'On the morning of 28th October 1216 523 00:33:53,009 --> 00:33:56,078 'the impromptu coronation took place.' 524 00:33:57,328 --> 00:34:02,318 The boy, who was a grave, handsome, golden-haired child, 525 00:34:02,420 --> 00:34:05,368 was brought to Gloucester Cathedral here. 526 00:34:05,460 --> 00:34:09,289 He wore a specially made set of little royal robes. 527 00:34:09,380 --> 00:34:12,849 First, he took the customary coronation oath. 528 00:34:12,940 --> 00:34:17,369 Then he paid homage to the pope's representative, the legate. 529 00:34:17,460 --> 00:34:20,849 Finally, and with all the traditional ceremonies 530 00:34:20,940 --> 00:34:23,320 he was anointed and crowned 531 00:34:23,420 --> 00:34:28,409 though the crown was one of his mother's tiaras or hair ornaments. 532 00:34:28,500 --> 00:34:32,610 Given the circumstances, it was inevitable that Henry's coronation 533 00:34:32,690 --> 00:34:35,250 was a bit of a makeshift affair. 534 00:34:35,340 --> 00:34:37,570 But it was real, nonetheless. 535 00:34:37,650 --> 00:34:41,840 It had imbued him with the magical, mystical authority of kingship. 536 00:34:41,940 --> 00:34:44,289 And he never forgot the fact. 537 00:34:44,380 --> 00:34:48,329 Now it was up to his regents to persuade his country 538 00:34:48,420 --> 00:34:50,880 to accept him as king. 539 00:34:50,980 --> 00:34:55,409 'Their first moves were not military but propagandistic, 540 00:34:55,500 --> 00:34:59,250 'for already there was something called public opinion. 541 00:34:59,340 --> 00:35:03,090 'They appealed to it by issuing a letter in the king's name, 542 00:35:03,170 --> 00:35:08,639 'arguing that his youth meant he'd had no part in the sins of his father.' 543 00:35:08,730 --> 00:35:13,559 "We hear that a quarrel arose between our father and certain nobles 544 00:35:13,650 --> 00:35:17,480 "whether in justification or not, we do not know." 545 00:35:20,650 --> 00:35:24,960 'Next, Henry's regents made a major political concession. 546 00:35:25,050 --> 00:35:27,000 'They reissued Magna Carta 547 00:35:27,090 --> 00:35:31,800 'without the clauses authorising the use of force against the king. 548 00:35:31,900 --> 00:35:35,329 'At a stroke, the charter was rescued from oblivion 549 00:35:35,420 --> 00:35:37,489 'and the cause of civil war removed 550 00:35:37,570 --> 00:35:40,599 'and Henry universally recognised as king. 551 00:35:41,530 --> 00:35:43,639 'For the remainder of his minority, 552 00:35:43,730 --> 00:35:46,679 'the spirit of Magna Carta was adhered to 553 00:35:46,780 --> 00:35:50,730 'and the great men of the kingdom had a real say in government. 554 00:35:50,820 --> 00:35:53,010 'Magna Carta had saved Henry's crown. 555 00:35:53,090 --> 00:35:55,039 'It remained to be seen 556 00:35:55,130 --> 00:35:59,039 'if he would honour the charter when he came of age. 557 00:36:02,420 --> 00:36:06,969 'In 1232, Henry III was preparing a coup d'état 558 00:36:07,050 --> 00:36:10,199 'that would overthrow the men and measures 559 00:36:10,300 --> 00:36:12,570 'that had restrained him for so long. 560 00:36:13,530 --> 00:36:17,518 'Though he was 25, it had been difficult to persuade his nobles 561 00:36:17,610 --> 00:36:19,639 'that he was no longer a child 562 00:36:19,730 --> 00:36:23,039 'and that they should relinquish control. 563 00:36:23,130 --> 00:36:28,280 'Now he was determined to be king in deed as well as king in name 564 00:36:28,380 --> 00:36:30,809 'and he was determined, above all 565 00:36:30,900 --> 00:36:34,409 'to break free from the shackles of Magna Carta. 566 00:36:36,940 --> 00:36:41,849 'Henry was also influenced by the revived monarchy of France. 567 00:36:41,940 --> 00:36:44,050 'He favoured French courtiers 568 00:36:44,130 --> 00:36:48,559 'and his greatest building project was wholly French in style.' 569 00:36:50,010 --> 00:36:53,599 This, the Westminster Abbey that we know today, 570 00:36:53,690 --> 00:36:55,989 is essentially the work of Henry, 571 00:36:56,090 --> 00:37:01,400 though its interior is only a pale shadow of the masterpiece he created, 572 00:37:01,500 --> 00:37:05,809 which glowed with red and blue and gold. 573 00:37:05,900 --> 00:37:08,849 Work started in 1245. 574 00:37:08,940 --> 00:37:12,768 It cost a fortune employed hundreds of craftsmen 575 00:37:12,860 --> 00:37:15,159 and lasted for 25 years, 576 00:37:15,260 --> 00:37:18,960 in the most ambitious project of church-building 577 00:37:19,050 --> 00:37:21,199 that Western Europe had yet seen. 578 00:37:21,300 --> 00:37:25,329 Indeed, it was so ambitious that it almost bankrupted the king 579 00:37:25,420 --> 00:37:28,889 and inflicted severe political damage on him. 580 00:37:28,980 --> 00:37:31,329 But for Henry, it was worth it - 581 00:37:31,420 --> 00:37:33,449 he was building a monument 582 00:37:33,530 --> 00:37:37,070 to the greater glory of God and to the monarchy. 583 00:37:40,130 --> 00:37:43,559 'Westminster Abbey was intended to be 584 00:37:43,650 --> 00:37:47,559 'the crowning glory of Henry's vision of kingship. 585 00:37:47,650 --> 00:37:51,639 'But it was a vision that was intensely controversial 586 00:37:51,730 --> 00:37:54,000 'to some of his barons. 587 00:37:54,090 --> 00:37:59,400 'For it seemed as un-English as the architecture of the abbey itself. 588 00:37:59,500 --> 00:38:02,969 'For Henry's models of kingship were foreign - 589 00:38:03,050 --> 00:38:05,510 'the French monarchy and the papacy. 590 00:38:05,610 --> 00:38:08,119 'And his agents were foreign, too. 591 00:38:09,050 --> 00:38:11,559 'Henry showered power and wealth 592 00:38:11,650 --> 00:38:15,760 'onto a close-knit circle of French relatives and favourites. 593 00:38:15,860 --> 00:38:19,449 'Inevitably, the English barons resented it 594 00:38:19,530 --> 00:38:24,599 'and they were spurred on by Henry's autocratic style of kingship.' 595 00:38:26,460 --> 00:38:28,570 They were furious with the king 596 00:38:28,650 --> 00:38:31,599 for his successful reassertion of royal power 597 00:38:31,690 --> 00:38:35,639 and his appointment of his foreign relations to high office. 598 00:38:35,730 --> 00:38:38,840 They saw the two as being closely connected, 599 00:38:38,940 --> 00:38:41,929 claiming that Henry's foreign officials 600 00:38:42,010 --> 00:38:47,030 treacherously whispered to him that the king was above the law. 601 00:38:47,130 --> 00:38:51,960 The barons were determined to restore the traditional English practice. 602 00:38:52,050 --> 00:38:54,639 They would reimpose Magna Carta 603 00:38:54,730 --> 00:38:57,800 and devise a new machinery of government 604 00:38:57,900 --> 00:39:00,090 that would so tie the king's hands 605 00:39:00,170 --> 00:39:05,599 that neither he nor his heirs would ever be able to escape from it again. 606 00:39:07,610 --> 00:39:11,440 'The nobles quickly found a leader in Simon de Montfort. 607 00:39:11,530 --> 00:39:14,360 'De Montfort was himself a Frenchman. 608 00:39:14,460 --> 00:39:18,768 'Like many of his compatriots, he'd been brought to England by Henry, 609 00:39:18,860 --> 00:39:22,809 'showered with favour and given the earldom of Leicester. 610 00:39:22,900 --> 00:39:27,840 'He'd even dared to marry the king's sister without Henry's permission. 611 00:39:27,940 --> 00:39:31,250 'This marriage sowed the seeds of distrust 612 00:39:31,340 --> 00:39:33,639 'between Simon and the king. 613 00:39:34,650 --> 00:39:37,599 'Once, when the two men were out hunting together 614 00:39:37,690 --> 00:39:40,639 'and had stopped to shelter from a thunderstorm 615 00:39:40,730 --> 00:39:42,760 'Henry is said to have told Simon 616 00:39:42,860 --> 00:39:45,849 'that, much as he feared the lightning, 617 00:39:45,940 --> 00:39:48,320 'he feared Simon more. 618 00:39:48,420 --> 00:39:50,768 'The key to Simon's character 619 00:39:50,860 --> 00:39:53,010 'was his past as a crusader. 620 00:39:53,090 --> 00:39:57,400 'Crusaders see the world in simple black and white. 621 00:39:57,500 --> 00:40:00,449 'Once, Simon's enemy had been the infidel 622 00:40:00,530 --> 00:40:05,800 'but now it was those who supported Henry's autocratic style of monarchy. 623 00:40:05,900 --> 00:40:10,409 'In 1258, de Montfort and six other leading barons 624 00:40:10,500 --> 00:40:12,849 'swore an oath of mutual loyalty. 625 00:40:12,940 --> 00:40:16,768 'Together, they were more than a match for the king. 626 00:40:16,860 --> 00:40:21,010 'They had their own distinct ideas of how England should be run. 627 00:40:21,090 --> 00:40:24,039 'The two sides met at Oxford.' 628 00:40:24,130 --> 00:40:26,400 The council at Oxford drew up 629 00:40:26,500 --> 00:40:30,329 a revolutionary new way of governing the country 630 00:40:30,420 --> 00:40:35,050 that was intended to turn England into a crowned republic. 631 00:40:35,130 --> 00:40:38,320 And Henry, despite his high view of kingship, 632 00:40:38,420 --> 00:40:40,980 had no choice but to agree. 633 00:40:41,050 --> 00:40:45,989 The Provisions of Oxford, as the new constitutional blueprint was known, 634 00:40:46,090 --> 00:40:48,650 looked back to Anglo-Saxon England 635 00:40:48,730 --> 00:40:52,480 with its tradition of a strong national community. 636 00:40:52,570 --> 00:40:56,349 They also looked abroad, to Germany and Italy, 637 00:40:56,460 --> 00:40:59,130 where new, self-governing communes 638 00:40:59,210 --> 00:41:03,559 or city-states, like Florence or Venice, were appearing. 639 00:41:03,650 --> 00:41:08,880 The result was to leave Henry as king, but king in name only. 640 00:41:08,980 --> 00:41:11,889 Instead, his powers would be exercised 641 00:41:11,980 --> 00:41:16,650 by an elected council of 15, which in turn would answer to parliaments 642 00:41:16,730 --> 00:41:19,920 meeting at three set intervals a year. 643 00:41:20,010 --> 00:41:22,239 No other European country 644 00:41:22,340 --> 00:41:26,289 had tried such an audacious governmental experiment 645 00:41:26,380 --> 00:41:30,610 and no other king had been subject to such humiliation. 646 00:41:32,210 --> 00:41:35,400 'The king was determined to avenge himself. 647 00:41:35,500 --> 00:41:37,449 'The only way was force. 648 00:41:37,530 --> 00:41:41,000 'In 1264, the two sides confronted each other 649 00:41:41,090 --> 00:41:43,079 'outside Lewes in East Sussex.' 650 00:41:44,050 --> 00:41:46,000 (Men yelling) 651 00:41:46,090 --> 00:41:48,039 (Horses whinnying) 652 00:41:48,130 --> 00:41:52,760 'Inspired by de Montfort's leadership and wearing the crusader cross, 653 00:41:52,860 --> 00:41:57,570 'his army quickly reduced the king's forces to a broken rabble.' 654 00:41:58,570 --> 00:42:03,000 After the battle, Henry took refuge here, at Lewes Priory. 655 00:42:03,090 --> 00:42:05,650 He was joined by his son Edward, 656 00:42:05,730 --> 00:42:09,320 who'd been victorious in his sector of the battle 657 00:42:09,420 --> 00:42:12,809 but had been unable to save the day for his father. 658 00:42:12,900 --> 00:42:17,050 Would the royalists give in or would they try to resume the fight? 659 00:42:17,130 --> 00:42:22,599 To concentrate minds, Simon's troops shot off a volley of burning arrows, 660 00:42:22,690 --> 00:42:26,469 which set fire to the roof of the priory church. 661 00:42:31,170 --> 00:42:33,199 Intimidated and surrounded 662 00:42:33,300 --> 00:42:35,449 Henry decided to surrender. 663 00:42:35,530 --> 00:42:38,400 But Simon's terms were tough. 664 00:42:38,500 --> 00:42:40,960 Henry had to swear once again 665 00:42:41,050 --> 00:42:45,400 to submit to the baronial government of the Provisions of Oxford. 666 00:42:45,500 --> 00:42:48,730 To make sure that he kept his word this time, 667 00:42:48,820 --> 00:42:52,360 he was compelled to hand over his son Edward 668 00:42:52,460 --> 00:42:55,329 as a hostage for his good behaviour. 669 00:42:55,420 --> 00:42:58,170 The king of England was now a puppet 670 00:42:58,260 --> 00:43:00,489 with only the trappings of kingship 671 00:43:00,570 --> 00:43:03,679 as Simon, in the name of defending freedom, 672 00:43:03,780 --> 00:43:05,849 ruled both king and kingdom. 673 00:43:06,780 --> 00:43:10,010 Not even John had sunk so low. 674 00:43:12,130 --> 00:43:16,960 'Simon was now free to impose his own vision of monarchy on Henry. 675 00:43:17,050 --> 00:43:20,000 'The king was reduced to a mere figurehead, 676 00:43:20,090 --> 00:43:23,960 'whilst all power was exercised by Simon's baronial clique, 677 00:43:24,050 --> 00:43:29,170 'who claimed to be acting in the name of the whole community of England. 678 00:43:30,260 --> 00:43:32,210 'But de Montfort's ideas 679 00:43:32,300 --> 00:43:35,690 'also appealed far beyond the baronial class. 680 00:43:35,780 --> 00:43:38,130 'This led him to broaden dramatically 681 00:43:38,210 --> 00:43:42,518 'the membership of what was already becoming known as Parliament. 682 00:43:42,610 --> 00:43:46,920 'Hitherrto, Parliament had consisted of nobles and bishops, 683 00:43:47,010 --> 00:43:51,440 'but in 1265 Simon enfranchised new groups.' 684 00:43:52,820 --> 00:43:55,329 Simon summoned representatives - 685 00:43:55,420 --> 00:43:58,730 small groups of knights from each county 686 00:43:58,820 --> 00:44:03,530 and burgesses, or local bigwigs, from the more important towns. 687 00:44:03,610 --> 00:44:06,880 Such representatives had been summoned before 688 00:44:06,980 --> 00:44:08,929 to consult on taxation. 689 00:44:09,010 --> 00:44:12,710 But this was the first time that they'd been invited 690 00:44:12,820 --> 00:44:16,768 to discuss and to decide the great affairs of the realm. 691 00:44:16,860 --> 00:44:20,809 It was a blatant bid for support for Simon's revolution 692 00:44:20,900 --> 00:44:24,440 from the groups immediately below the magnates - 693 00:44:24,530 --> 00:44:26,760 the wider community of the realm. 694 00:44:26,860 --> 00:44:31,289 It was also a milestone in the history of Parliament. 695 00:44:33,050 --> 00:44:35,320 'But, despite such bold moves, 696 00:44:35,420 --> 00:44:38,489 'Simon's revolution was to be short-lived. 697 00:44:38,570 --> 00:44:41,518 'There was still a strong royalist party 698 00:44:41,610 --> 00:44:44,199 'and for all Simon's own high ideals, 699 00:44:44,300 --> 00:44:48,000 'his followers proved to be as selfish and grasping 700 00:44:48,090 --> 00:44:50,679 'as the king's fallen favourites. 701 00:44:50,780 --> 00:44:52,889 'Just as the tide was turning, 702 00:44:52,980 --> 00:44:55,210 'the king's son and heir, Edward, 703 00:44:55,300 --> 00:44:59,050 'escaped from captivity and raised an army. 704 00:44:59,130 --> 00:45:03,039 'Edward met fellow royalists here at Ludlow Castle. 705 00:45:03,130 --> 00:45:06,880 'He made the symbolic promise to uphold Magna Carta 706 00:45:06,980 --> 00:45:10,599 'and then marched to meet de Montfort's forces. 707 00:45:11,530 --> 00:45:14,440 'The armies met just north of Evesham. 708 00:45:14,530 --> 00:45:19,440 'Simon was hoping to be joined by his son at the head of reinforcements 709 00:45:19,530 --> 00:45:22,440 'but the reinforcements never arrived 710 00:45:22,530 --> 00:45:25,400 'and without them de Montfort was overwhelmed. 711 00:45:25,500 --> 00:45:27,929 'De Montfort himself was killed 712 00:45:28,010 --> 00:45:31,760 'only 15 months since his great victory at Lewes.' 713 00:45:34,500 --> 00:45:36,768 This monument to Simon de Montfort 714 00:45:36,860 --> 00:45:42,289 was erected in the grounds of the former Evesham Abbey in the 1960s. 715 00:45:42,380 --> 00:45:46,929 It's a sign that, 700 years after his defeat and death 716 00:45:47,010 --> 00:45:50,880 in the battle fought near here, he's not forgotten. 717 00:45:50,980 --> 00:45:53,409 Contemporaries remembered him, too. 718 00:45:53,500 --> 00:45:57,409 Already, at the time of his death, he was a folk hero. 719 00:45:57,500 --> 00:46:00,730 There were reports of miracles at his tomb 720 00:46:00,820 --> 00:46:02,768 and he was even compared 721 00:46:02,860 --> 00:46:06,768 to that other great scourge of kings, St Thomas Becket. 722 00:46:06,860 --> 00:46:08,969 'But the royalists hated him 723 00:46:09,050 --> 00:46:12,750 'and, in a grisly revenge, they dismembered his body 724 00:46:12,860 --> 00:46:15,929 'as the corpse of a condemned traitor. 725 00:46:16,010 --> 00:46:17,960 It would be less easy, however, 726 00:46:18,050 --> 00:46:22,360 to uproot the political ideas that de Montfort had planted. 727 00:46:24,530 --> 00:46:27,760 'But for the moment the royalists had triumphed 728 00:46:27,860 --> 00:46:31,480 'and the authority of the monarchy was restored, 729 00:46:31,570 --> 00:46:35,518 'though in practice it would be exercised by the Lord Edward.' 730 00:46:36,650 --> 00:46:41,360 But there was one final moment of glory left to the old king. 731 00:46:41,460 --> 00:46:45,050 In 1269, the new Westminster Abbey, 732 00:46:45,130 --> 00:46:49,000 which had cost so much money and political goodwill, 733 00:46:49,090 --> 00:46:51,239 was finally consecrated. 734 00:46:51,340 --> 00:46:53,610 The king himself, and his sons, 735 00:46:53,690 --> 00:46:57,920 bore the saint's relics to their magnificent new shrine, 736 00:46:58,010 --> 00:47:00,760 which was encrusted with gold mosaic 737 00:47:00,860 --> 00:47:04,090 and inlaid with precious marbles. 738 00:47:04,170 --> 00:47:07,518 The shrine was the work of Italian craftsmen 739 00:47:07,610 --> 00:47:12,360 and it spoke of Roman imperial power and grandeur. 740 00:47:12,460 --> 00:47:15,650 And, despite all the crises of his reign, 741 00:47:15,730 --> 00:47:20,159 Henry's view of his own position remained equally exalted 742 00:47:20,260 --> 00:47:22,210 and he still saw himself 743 00:47:22,300 --> 00:47:27,320 as combining the powers of pope and emperor in his own kingdom. 744 00:47:27,420 --> 00:47:31,039 Many of his nobility, led by Simon de Montfort, 745 00:47:31,130 --> 00:47:33,510 had taken the opposite point of view 746 00:47:33,610 --> 00:47:37,360 and they'd come within a whisker of victory. 747 00:47:37,460 --> 00:47:41,929 Which way would the balance swing in the future?