1
00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:06,359
August, 1588.

2
00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:11,759
Europe is convulsed by religious
war, and Protestant England faces

3
00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:14,879
the world's foremost Catholic power.

4
00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:17,159
With the Spanish Armada

5
00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:20,639
in the Channel and a large and
fearsomely professional

6
00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:25,639
Spanish army in the Low Countries,
England is under dire threat.

7
00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,999
On the 18th of August, 1588,
Queen Elizabeth I came

8
00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:35,399
to review her troops here
at Tilbury.

9
00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:39,939
She wore a breastplate and carried
a sword and addressed them in words

10
00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:43,279
that have echoed down the centuries.

11
00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:45,639
"I know I have the body of a weak

12
00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:49,939
"and feeble woman, but I have the
heart and stomach of a king,

13
00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:55,719
"and of a King of England too, and
think foul scorn that Parma or Spain

14
00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:02,439
"or any prince of Europe should
dare invade the border of my realm."

15
00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:09,079
But, even as the Queen spoke,
the moment of danger had passed.

16
00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:14,479
The English fireships had broken up
the Armada's invincible formation

17
00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:18,919
off Calais, and coastal storms
would do the rest.

18
00:01:22,960 --> 00:01:26,359
Nevertheless, despite
the defeat of the Spanish Armada,

19
00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:30,959
England would not escape
the horrors of religious war.

20
00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,359
And some of those
who'd heard Elizabeth at Tilbury

21
00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:36,159
might live long enough to see

22
00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:41,759
another English monarch raise his
banner in defiance on English soil.

23
00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,999
But, this time, the king's enemies
would not be foreign princes,

24
00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:49,359
but his own people.

25
00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:53,959
Within a generation, the monarchy
was to pass from the triumphs of

26
00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:59,759
Elizabeth to the humiliation
and defeat of her Stuart successors.

27
00:02:34,640 --> 00:02:38,639
With the defeat of the Spanish
Armada, Elizabeth's reputation

28
00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:42,559
stood at a zenith at home
and abroad.

29
00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:44,239
Even the Pope, who'd help finance

30
00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:48,939
the Armada expedition,
expressed his admiration of her

31
00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:53,119
and only regretted that they were
unable to have children together.

32
00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:55,799
Inheriting their combined talents,

33
00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:59,799
their offspring
would rule the world, he said.

34
00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,799
Defending the realm
was the most fundamental duty of

35
00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:09,799
an English monarch and Elizabeth
had acquitted herself admirably.

36
00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:15,919
But Elizabeth inherited a crown,
the imperial crown, whose power

37
00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:20,039
had been greatly expanded
by her father Henry VIII's decision

38
00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:24,359
to make himself supreme head
of the Church and control

39
00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:28,759
the religion of his subjects
as well as their everyday lives.

40
00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:35,599
Could Elizabeth, mere woman that
she was, maintain this lofty claim?

41
00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:45,239
Known as the Royal Supremacy,

42
00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:49,939
the Monarch's powers over religion
proved to be a double-edged sword.

43
00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:54,599
For the Crown had taken control
of the Church at a time of

44
00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:57,079
uniquely bitter religious conflict.

45
00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:01,079
Protestant fought with Catholic,
and different kinds of Protestant

46
00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:03,439
fought with each other.

47
00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:06,839
How could the monarch,
as supreme head of the Church,

48
00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:10,679
avoid being drawn into this
conflict, which threatened to turn

49
00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:14,679
quarrels about religion
into disputes with the Crown?

50
00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:21,119
Elizabeth did her best
in establishing a Church of England

51
00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:23,699
that was
Protestant in its doctrines,

52
00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:27,799
but Catholic in the appearance of
its ceremonies and clerical dress.

53
00:04:45,020 --> 00:04:48,319
Elizabeth's policy
was successful in heading off

54
00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:50,679
much Catholic opposition,
but it had

55
00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:54,979
the opposite effect of opening up
divisions on the Protestant side

56
00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:59,199
between those who wanted
the rigorous, stripped-down

57
00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:03,199
Protestantism of the Continent and
Scotland, and those who followed

58
00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:07,199
Elizabeth in her attachment
to bishops and ceremonies.

59
00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:12,039
This was not a struggle
between government and opposition.

60
00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:15,239
Rather, it was a schism
within the highest ranks

61
00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:19,139
of the Elizabethan establishment,
with Elizabeth's chief minister

62
00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:22,959
and eldest confidante,
William Cecil, on one side,

63
00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:26,959
and her Archbishop of Canterbury,
William Whitgift, on the other.

64
00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:31,439
The bad feeling between the two men

65
00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:35,299
burst into the open
in the Queen's own presence

66
00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:39,399
and Elizabeth came down publicly
and heavily on Whitgift's side.

67
00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:42,719
"Matters of religion,"she insisted,

68
00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:45,559
"were for her and
her bishops alone."

69
00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:49,959
Neither the council nor parliament
had any say in the matter. Instead,

70
00:05:50,460 --> 00:05:54,959
since her supremacy over the church
came to her from God alone,

71
00:05:55,260 --> 00:05:59,959
she was answerable only to God
for how she chose to exercise it.

72
00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:05,399
This was Henry VIII's own
high view of the Royal Supremacy

73
00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:08,759
and in sticking to it,
Elizabeth showed herself

74
00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:12,759
every inch her father's daughter.

75
00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:17,379
But who would continue
the difficult, but necessary,

76
00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:22,479
balancing act of the middle way in
religion after the ageing Elizabeth?

77
00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:27,119
Her nearest blood relation
was King James VI of Scotland.

78
00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,679
Son of a Catholic mother,
but brought up

79
00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:34,679
in the rigorously Protestant kirk,
the possibility of James's accession

80
00:06:35,020 --> 00:06:39,359
aroused wildly contrasting hopes.

81
00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:43,359
While he was still only a claimant,
he could flatter them all.

82
00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:50,839
But when, if, he became King of
England, he would have to choose.

83
00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:59,559
Crowned at the parish kirk
in Stirling on July 29th, 1567,

84
00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:04,879
James had been King of Scotland
since he was a small boy.

85
00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:09,359
He was also heir
to his mother's claims to England.

86
00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:14,559
James was the only child
of Mary Queen of Scots'

87
00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:17,479
disastrous marriage to Lord Darnley.

88
00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:21,779
When he was barely a year old,
his mother, widely suspected

89
00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,759
of murdering his father,
had been forced to flee to England

90
00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,879
by a Protestant revolt.

91
00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:30,759
But, cradle-king though he was,

92
00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:35,759
James still needed rearing
and educating like any other child.

93
00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:44,459
This boy, of great rank and greater
prospects still, was largely

94
00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:46,719
brought up at Stirling Castle.

95
00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:50,719
It was a strange,
insecure, kind of childhood.

96
00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:52,919
A series of regents,

97
00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:56,919
who ruled Scotland on his behalf,
were murdered in quick succession

98
00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:01,479
and the boy's own life
was more than once in danger.

99
00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:06,679
In and among it all, James
received an impressive education

100
00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:10,679
at the hands of his principal tutor,
George Buchanan.

101
00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:15,159
Dour and self-opinionated,
Buchanan was a leading figure

102
00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:19,479
in the Scottish Presbyterian kirk,
in which the supreme authority

103
00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:23,939
was not the king, as in England, but
the General Assembly of the Clergy.

104
00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:28,759
Kings also, Buchanan believed,
were mere servants of their people,

105
00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:33,319
who could, and should, be punished
if they misbehaved.

106
00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:37,319
Buchanan's style as a teacher
was important too.

107
00:08:37,680 --> 00:08:41,679
Like many 16th-century teachers,
Buchanan thought that

108
00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:44,639
sparing the rod spoiled the child.

109
00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:47,399
He set about beating and birching

110
00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:51,279
his beliefs and learning
into James with gusto.

111
00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:53,319
This treatment indeed succeeded

112
00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:56,919
in making James
a considerable scholar.

113
00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:01,919
But in terms of religion and
politics, it produced only an equal

114
00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:06,559
and opposite reaction, to which
James was able to give expression

115
00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:11,399
with unusual force and clarity.

116
00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:14,319
And this is the result.

117
00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:17,719
It's the True Lawe Of
Free Monarchies,

118
00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:21,079
which James
wrote and published in 1598.

119
00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:25,879
In it, he says succinctly, "Kings
are called Gods.

120
00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:30,779
"They are appointed
by God and answerable only to God."

121
00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:35,999
James grounded these assertions,
just as Henry VIII had his claim to

122
00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:41,439
the Royal Supremacy, in the biblical
story of the Old Testament kings.

123
00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:46,679
But James went beyond even Henry
VIII, by claiming to be absolute

124
00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:51,559
in affairs of State
as well as those of the Church.

125
00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:55,899
In 1601,
Elizabeth's leading ministers

126
00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:00,999
began to make moves to secure
James's path to the English throne.

127
00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:06,959
The matter became pressingduring
the Christmas holidays of 1603,

128
00:10:07,680 --> 00:10:12,679
when both Elizabeth's health
and her temper suddenly worsened.

129
00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:16,959
In mid-January, she moved to
Richmond for a change of air,

130
00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:21,119
but within a few weeks,
she was clearly dying.

131
00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:23,019
She lay on a pile of cushions

132
00:10:23,420 --> 00:10:27,919
on the floor of her privy chamber,
refusing to eat and unable to sleep.

133
00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:32,039
Finally, she was carried to her bed,

134
00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:36,039
became speechless and died
in the small hours of the morning

135
00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:40,039
of the 24th March
after Archbishop Whitgift

136
00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:46,039
had lulled her into her last sleep
with his impassioned prayers.

137
00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:53,279
Elizabeth
had restored Protestantism,

138
00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:55,879
preserved the Royal Supremacy,

139
00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:58,599
protected her country from invasion,

140
00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:02,999
and allowed nothing to challenge
either her crown or her popularity.

141
00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:08,759
Above all, her studiously broad
Church religious settlement

142
00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:12,479
had brought peace,
though at the inevitable price

143
00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:16,479
of alienating extremes of all-sorts.

144
00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:22,759
The Great Queen dead, all eyes now
turned to Scotland, and to James.

145
00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:32,039
James VI of Scotland was proclaimed
King James I of England within eight

146
00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:35,139
hours of Elizabeth's death.

147
00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:39,839
And his first parliament proclaimed
that he was by "inherent birth right

148
00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:42,239
"and lawful succession"

149
00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:46,739
the inheritor of the imperial crown
of England and Scotland.

150
00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:49,959
It sounded good, but it was a

151
00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:54,959
dangerous doctrine, since it implied
that James's title to the throne was

152
00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:59,519
above and beyond the law,
as of course James himself,

153
00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:04,759
as the author of the Trew Law Of
Free Monarchies, firmly believed.

154
00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:09,679
CHOIR SINGS

155
00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:45,759
In April 1603,
James arrived in London in triumph,

156
00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:50,839
as the undoubted heir of his
great, great grandfather, Henry VII.

157
00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:56,839
Henry VII had commissioned the
imperial crown here as the symbol

158
00:12:57,560 --> 00:12:59,279
of the recovery of the monarchy

159
00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:02,239
from the degradation of
the Wars of the Roses.

160
00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:06,739
Now James, the first ruler of
all Britain, would endow it with

161
00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:11,039
a larger significance still.

162
00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:26,079
James's aim was to be "Rex
pacificus", the peace-maker king.

163
00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:30,919
He would reconcile Catholic and
Protestant, thus re-establishing

164
00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:34,479
Christian unity at home and abroad.

165
00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:39,479
He would end England's debilitating
war with Spain, and, above all,

166
00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:44,119
he would terminate the ancient
feud between England and Scotland,

167
00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:48,499
and fuse instead
the two warring kingdoms into a new,

168
00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:52,199
greater, united realm of Britain.

169
00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:57,199
It was an enormously ambitious
programme and, to realise it, James,

170
00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:01,959
in a strikingly modern gesture,
summoned three major conferences

171
00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:06,919
on peace,
religion and union with Scotland.

172
00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:21,479
The peace conference

173
00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:26,479
and ensuing treaty at Somerset House
were commemorated in this painting.

174
00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:31,359
Through them, James ended
the 20-year war with Catholic Spain.

175
00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:34,519
It was an auspicious start

176
00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,239
for James, the international
peace-maker.

177
00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:41,239
But the result,
paradoxically, was trouble at home.

178
00:14:42,060 --> 00:14:46,359
On the one hand, the Somerset
House treaty meant that the hotter

179
00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:50,739
Protestants were shocked to discover
that England, now at peace with the

180
00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:52,599
leading Catholic power,

181
00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:56,599
would no longer be the champion of
their fellow Protestants in Europe.

182
00:14:57,020 --> 00:14:59,399
And, on the other hand,

183
00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:03,799
the extremer Catholics were equally
dismayed to find out that Spain

184
00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:08,739
had not extracted toleration for
Catholics as a price of the peace.

185
00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:14,779
Abandoned abroad, such Catholics
turned in desperation to self help

186
00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:19,359
and direct action at home.

187
00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:31,599
At the beginning of November 1605,
James was shown a tip-off letter,

188
00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:36,079
warning that the political
establishment of England

189
00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:40,079
would receive a terrible blow
in the parliament he was due to open

190
00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:44,159
on the 5th November.

191
00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:47,479
James immediately guessed
that the wording of the letter

192
00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:49,759
pointed to an explosion.

193
00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:53,319
But, in order to catch
the plotters red-handed,

194
00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:57,319
it was decided not to search the
vaults under the parliament chamber

195
00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:01,479
until the night of the 4th.

196
00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:08,939
At 11pm, the search party entered
and found a man standing guard

197
00:16:10,020 --> 00:16:13,999
over a pile of firewood,
35 barrels of gunpowder

198
00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:15,959
and with a fuse in his pocket.

199
00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:19,959
His name was Guy Fawkes.

200
00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:31,519
If the gunpowder had exploded as
planned, it would have been the

201
00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:33,439
terrorist bombing

202
00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:37,439
to end all terrorist bombings,
wiping out most of the British

203
00:16:37,620 --> 00:16:41,919
royal family and the entire
English political establishment.

204
00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:51,639
Nevertheless, the immediate
political consequences were small.

205
00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:54,919
To James's credit,
there was no widespread

206
00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:58,919
persecution of Catholics in England
and the peace with Spain held.

207
00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:03,639
But, in the longer term,
the plot played an important part

208
00:17:04,020 --> 00:17:08,199
in the development of
the Catholic myth in England.

209
00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:11,399
The reality was
that English Catholicism

210
00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:13,799
was a beleaguered minority faith.

211
00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:16,479
But, in the fevered imagination

212
00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:20,979
of the hotter sort of Protestants,
it became instead the fifth column

213
00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:25,439
of a vast international
politico-religious conspiracy

214
00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:29,599
masterminded by the Pope in Rome
and aiming not only

215
00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:33,599
at the conversion of England,
but at the subversion of English

216
00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:38,959
Protestantism and English freedoms,
and by the foulest possible means.

217
00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:43,799
And so, at the second of James's

218
00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:47,719
great conferences to determine the
nature of the religious settlement

219
00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:50,999
under the new king,
those hot Protestants,

220
00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,999
known pejoratively as Puritans,
demanded that the English Church

221
00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:59,879
be purged of what they regarded
as its damnable Popish elements.

222
00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:04,079
But they reckoned
without the seductive powers

223
00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:08,079
of the English monarchy
and the English Royal Supremacy.

224
00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:14,439
In Scotland, James VI had sat in the
body of the Church to be admonished

225
00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:18,959
by the preacher high in his pulpit
as "God's silly vessel".

226
00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:24,979
But in England, as here in the
chapel royal at Hampton Court,

227
00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:30,359
it was this same man, now known as
King James I, who sat high above,

228
00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:36,919
enthroned in this magnificent
royal pew whilst the preacher,

229
00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:41,799
under correction, went about
his humbler task far below.

230
00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:46,759
It was the most graphic possible
illustration of the power of the

231
00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:49,959
Royal Supremacy, which James was

232
00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:54,959
determined to keep in England and,
if he could, to extend to Scotland.

233
00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:05,939
Instead, therefore, as the Puritans
had hoped, of making the Church of

234
00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:10,359
England more like the kirk in
Scotland, James used the Hampton

235
00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:14,959
Court conference to proclaim that he
was satisfied with the Elizabethan

236
00:19:15,360 --> 00:19:20,359
religious settlement as it stood and
was resolved to keep it as it was.

237
00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:25,239
He would not,
any more than Elizabeth, soften

238
00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:27,919
Archbishop Whitgift's hard line in

239
00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:31,839
enforcing ceremonies and vestments,
which the Puritans thought Popish.

240
00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:36,839
And, above all, he would allow
not an inch of movement away from

241
00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:41,079
the English government of the Church
by bishops towards a role

242
00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:45,579
for presbyteries or assemblies of
clergy, as in Scotland.

243
00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:51,759
He even managed to subvert
the Puritan demand for

244
00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:55,679
a new translation of the Bible.

245
00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:59,979
James eagerly agreed, since
he detested this, the so-called

246
00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:04,799
Geneva version of the Bible,
which was then used by Presbyterians

247
00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:09,999
in Scotland and Puritans in England,
because of its marginal notes, which

248
00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:16,479
showed typically a hot Protestant
disrespect for kings and queens.

249
00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:24,959
The King James version of the Bible
on the other hand, as the large and

250
00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:29,199
learned team of translators
explained in this preface, was to

251
00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:34,719
tread soberly the middle way between
Popish persons on the one hand

252
00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:41,839
and the self-conceited brethren,
that is the puritans, on the other.

253
00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:47,439
It was born out of a long-dead
politico theological dispute

254
00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:51,599
and it's the only classic ever to
have been written by a committee.

255
00:20:52,020 --> 00:20:54,159
Nevertheless, the King James version

256
00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:58,039
of the Bible became the book
which, more than any other,

257
00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:02,739
shaped the English language
and formed the English mind.

258
00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:20,859
James's other lasting legacy
was the union of the crowns of

259
00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:22,959
England and Scotland.

260
00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:26,759
And he set out his case for union
in a speech from the throne

261
00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:30,759
at the opening of his first
English Parliament in March 1604.

262
00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:37,439
His succession had united the
kingdoms of England and Scotland,

263
00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:40,999
ending the ancient division
of the island of Britain.

264
00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,999
Moreover, the King claimed, these
divisions were largely in the mind.

265
00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:51,399
Were not England and Scotland
already united by a common language,

266
00:21:52,020 --> 00:21:56,519
the Protestant religion
and similar customs and manners?

267
00:21:56,520 --> 00:22:00,479
Was not the border practically
indistinguishable on the ground?

268
00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:04,479
It was as though God had
always intended the union to happen.

269
00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:10,679
To resist union therefore,
James concluded, was not simply

270
00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:13,119
impolitic, but impious.

271
00:22:13,120 --> 00:22:19,119
It was to put asunder kingdoms which
God himself had joined together.

272
00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:24,679
But the English Parliament,

273
00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:28,979
impoliticly and impiously, decided
to look the gift-horse of union

274
00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:31,839
in the mouth.

275
00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:35,239
Partly,
it was a question of straightforward

276
00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:37,439
anti-Scottish xenophobia.

277
00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:40,959
But more fundamental
causes were involved as well.

278
00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,039
These centred on James's apparently

279
00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:49,039
innocuous wish to rename the
Anglo-Scottish kingdom "Britain".

280
00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:53,799
But a new name meant a new kingdom.

281
00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:57,799
It would be like, one MP said,
a freshly-conquered territory

282
00:22:58,020 --> 00:22:59,959
in the New World.

283
00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:04,959
There would be no laws and no
customs and James, by his own rules

284
00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:09,519
in the Trew Law Of Free Monarchies,
would be free to set himself up

285
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:14,999
as an absolute, supra-national
Emperor of Great Britain.

286
00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:17,479
The English Parliament, in contrast,

287
00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:20,959
would be left
as a mere provincial assembly.

288
00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,959
It wasn't an enticing prospect
for MPs who saw themselves

289
00:23:26,020 --> 00:23:30,119
as the great council of the realm.

290
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:49,799
James's reaction was to try to
enact the union symbolically,

291
00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:54,279
using his own powers
under the Royal Prerogative.

292
00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:58,279
By proclamation, he assumed the
title of King of Great Britain.

293
00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:02,119
He re-designed the royal coat

294
00:24:02,120 --> 00:24:07,119
of arms, with the lion of England
balanced by the unicorn of Scotland.

295
00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:11,719
And he insisted on a British flag,
known as "The Jack"

296
00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:15,919
after the Latin form of the name
James, again by proclamation.

297
00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:21,179
But, not content with symbols,

298
00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:25,279
James also practiced
a kind of union by stealth.

299
00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:27,799
The English political elite had

300
00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:31,999
prevented him from establishing an
evenly balanced Anglo-Scots council.

301
00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:36,879
But a King could do what he liked
with his own court.

302
00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:40,879
So, in revenge,
James filled his bedchamber,

303
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:45,399
the inner ring of his court,
almost exclusively with Scots.

304
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:50,999
It was a pleasure, since James took
a more than fatherly interest in

305
00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:55,759
Scots lads with well-turned legs
and firm buttocks.

306
00:24:56,020 --> 00:25:00,119
But it also suited him politically,
since it compelled proud Englishmen

307
00:25:01,020 --> 00:25:04,839
to sue for patronage
to his Scots favourites

308
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:07,479
and they had to bribe them as well.

309
00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:12,479
But James's policy of union
by stealth had a fatal flaw.

310
00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:16,679
He had inherited
a substantial debt from Elizabeth.

311
00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:20,879
He'd a large family to maintain and
he wanted to continue pouring money

312
00:25:21,020 --> 00:25:24,399
on his favourites and his pleasures.

313
00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:28,399
For all this, the crown's
so-called "ordinary income"

314
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:32,679
from land and custom duties
was hopelessly inadequate.

315
00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:36,679
There was no choice but to ask
Parliament to vote money.

316
00:25:38,020 --> 00:25:40,119
But the English Parliament

317
00:25:40,120 --> 00:25:44,719
saw no reason why tax payers' money,
their money, should end up in the

318
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:48,919
pockets of Scots favourites,
and they said so rather crudely.

319
00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:53,879
"How," asked one MP,
"could the cistern of the Treasury

320
00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:59,199
"be filled up if money continued to
flow thence by private cocks?"

321
00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:06,759
Cocks meant taps,
and, well, what it means now.

322
00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:13,999
So, James's project for British
union remained an unfulfilled dream,

323
00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:18,479
while his relations with Parliament
turned into disaster.

324
00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:22,879
By the time of his death, in 1625,

325
00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:26,879
he had gone into a sort of
internal exile, abandoning the task

326
00:26:27,060 --> 00:26:31,159
of government, and secluding himself
with his favourites and his horses.

327
00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:36,079
Nevertheless, James managed,
to stick to the middle ground

328
00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:41,239
and hold together the warring extremes
of the Church of England
on the one hand and the

329
00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,559
differing religious politics of
England and Scotland on the other.

330
00:26:46,540 --> 00:26:49,439
The result was a smooth succession

331
00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:53,399
on both sides of the border
of James's son Charles

332
00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:57,999
to the glittering inheritance of
the imperial crown of Great Britain.

333
00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:03,159
But, within a decade and a half,
Charles, by his intransigence

334
00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:07,359
and his ineptitude,
had thrown it all away.

335
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:20,839
Charles was crowned King of England

336
00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:25,439
at Westminster Abbey
on 2nd February, 1626.

337
00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:30,719
For James, divine right had been an
intellectual position, for Charles

338
00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:34,079
it was an emotional
and religious one.

339
00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:39,079
This was immediately made clear
by his coronation service, which,

340
00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:43,279
meticulously choreographed by the
up-and-coming cleric, William Laud,

341
00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:47,279
lovingly reproduced all
the splendour, solemnity

342
00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:51,279
and sacred mysteries of
the medieval Catholic rite.

343
00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:54,999
The ceremony

344
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:59,499
is one of the best-documented as well
as the best-organised of coronations,

345
00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:03,559
thanks to the survival
of these two service books here.

346
00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:07,759
This is Charles's own copy
of the coronation service,

347
00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:10,359
which he used to follow the ceremony.

348
00:28:10,360 --> 00:28:15,359
And this is Laud's version of the
same text, which he used like

349
00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:18,559
a kind of score to conduct the
service.

350
00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:22,559
He also made notes in the margins
in a different coloured ink to record

351
00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:26,919
unusual features of the ceremony
as it actually took place.

352
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:31,479
These notes take us
into Charles's own mind.

353
00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:34,559
During the five-hour long ceremony,

354
00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:38,559
the King was invested with the
carefully preserved robes and regalia

355
00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:42,999
of Edward the Confessor,
the last sainted Anglo-Saxon king,

356
00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:47,819
and Charles's attitude
to these ancient relics was unique.

357
00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:53,419
Here Laud notes that he insisted
on placing his feet inside the sacred

358
00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:59,079
buskins or sandals that were normally
only touched against the royal leg,

359
00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:03,119
and here, that he actually used,
apparently for the only time

360
00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:07,119
in the 1,500-year history of
the coronation, the Anglo-Saxon

361
00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:10,599
ivory comb to tidy his hair after
he had been anointed on the head.

362
00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:16,359
This wasn't mere idle curiosity.
Instead, Charles was treating

363
00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:22,039
each and every item of the regalia
as a sacrament of monarchy.

364
00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:26,759
With each touch of the precious oils
and the ancient fabrics and jewels,

365
00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:30,759
God was washing away the merely
human in him

366
00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:37,759
and leaving him purely,
indefeasibly and absolutely a king.

367
00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:42,159
Or so Charles at least thought.

368
00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:57,119
Charles, as his behaviour at
his coronation would suggest,

369
00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:02,579
was an aesthete, a lover of beauty,
elegance and order.

370
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:04,759
His tutor had been chosen

371
00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,959
not for his scholarship but for his
taste in fashion and Charles himself

372
00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:14,639
grew up to be not only fastidious
in dress and manners but also

373
00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:19,079
the greatest connoisseur ever to
have sat on the throne of England.

374
00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:23,239
He built up a staggering collection
of Old Master paintings

375
00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:27,319
and he commissioned portraits
of himself and his family

376
00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:31,719
from the greatest contemporary
artists like Sir Anthony van Dyck.

377
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:36,999
And it is van Dyck above all who
shows us Charles as he wanted to be,

378
00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:42,359
suggesting the grandeur
of his kingship on the one hand

379
00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:45,279
and the Christ-like wisdom

380
00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:50,279
and self-sacrifice, with which
he hoped to rule, on the other.

381
00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:55,639
Like most royal heirs,
Charles defined himself

382
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:59,639
by espousing policies that were
the opposite of his father's.

383
00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:03,959
He was pro-war, but Parliament,
despite its vocal enthusiasm

384
00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:09,359
for a Protestant crusade in Europe,
was never prepared to vote enough tax

385
00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:12,799
to make war a serious option.

386
00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:16,599
Frustrated by Parliament's
unwillingness to put its money

387
00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:20,599
where its Protestant mouth was,
Charles, instead of fighting

388
00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:23,479
the Catholic French,
married the French,

389
00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:28,479
and of course Catholic,
Princess Henrietta Maria in 1626.

390
00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:30,759
On account of her religion,

391
00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:34,119
the marriage was extremely
unpopular with Parliament.

392
00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:38,119
It didn't even succeed in
cementing an alliance with France.

393
00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:42,979
The result was that Charles soon
found himself in the worst of all

394
00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:48,279
possible worlds - without tax,
with a Catholic wife and fighting

395
00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:53,639
a hopeless war against both major
Catholic powers, France and Spain.

396
00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:57,919
Charles, looking for a
scapegoat for the debacle,

397
00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:01,919
found it in what he saw as
Parliament's sullen obstructiveness.

398
00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:07,319
Charles decided that parliaments were
more trouble than they were worth

399
00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:11,639
and that in future
he would rule without them.

400
00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:19,779
All over Europe, monarchs were
dispensing with parliaments.

401
00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:24,719
So, in attempting personal rule,
Charles was simply following

402
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:28,999
the European trend. But,
unlike his European counterparts,

403
00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:34,479
Charles lacked the legal ability
to tax his subjects at will.

404
00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:38,399
Only a
parliament could legislate new taxes.

405
00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:42,899
So, like his father before him,
Charles's only recourse was

406
00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:47,419
to squeeze more revenue out of his
customary rights and prerogatives.

407
00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:52,839
Fortunately, he got a crack
team of lawyers to help him.

408
00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:56,839
The most ingenious was the
attorney general, William Noy.

409
00:32:57,000 --> 00:32:59,719
"I moil in the law"

410
00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:03,679
was the contemporary anagram
of his name, and he moiled,

411
00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:05,679
that is, toiled or laboured,

412
00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:07,959
in the legal archives to
great effect,

413
00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:11,959
but his masterpiece was ship money.

414
00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:16,959
Ship money was a traditional levy
imposed on the port towns to raise

415
00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:20,639
vessels for the navy in time of war.

416
00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:23,839
As, for example,
against the Spanish Armada

417
00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:26,439
in the heyday of Elizabethan England.

418
00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:31,439
This was uncontroversial, even
popular, but attorney general Noy

419
00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:37,359
said that the law allowed the King to
extend ship money from the ports

420
00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:39,559
to the inland counties,

421
00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:43,559
and to impose it
in peacetime as well as during war.

422
00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:47,799
All this at the King's mere say-so.

423
00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:53,559
The extended ship money
was first imposed in 1634

424
00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:59,639
and within a year, it was yielding
over 200,000 annually

425
00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:03,639
and producing 90% of what the
King demanded.

426
00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:08,739
This was the holy grail,
which had eluded English kings

427
00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:10,919
ever since the Middle Ages -

428
00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:15,919
A large-scale, permanent income
which came in regularly,

429
00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:20,159
year by year, without the bother
of consulting parliaments.

430
00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:24,879
The idea of taxing without
parliamentary consent was bound

431
00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:29,579
to cause grievance, and Charles
exacerbated matters by attempting

432
00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:32,479
religious innovation as well.

433
00:34:32,780 --> 00:34:36,479
Whatever the formal rules of
the Church of England,

434
00:34:36,780 --> 00:34:39,999
much of the country had seen the
development of a stripped-down,

435
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:41,879
fundamentalist Protestantism,

436
00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:45,879
very little different
in practice from the Scottish Kirk.

437
00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:50,779
But a richer, more ceremonious vision
had been preserved in a handful of

438
00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:55,459
places, in particular in the chapels
royal and the greater cathedrals.

439
00:34:56,360 --> 00:35:00,359
Here there were choirs, organs
and music, candles

440
00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:03,759
and gold and silver plate on the
communion tables

441
00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:07,359
and rich vestments for the clergy.

442
00:35:07,860 --> 00:35:11,759
William Laud, now Charles's
Archbishop of Canterbury,

443
00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:15,279
determined to use
the Royal Supremacy

444
00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:19,279
to impose this opulent religious
tradition on the whole country.

445
00:35:19,720 --> 00:35:23,719
He did so because he thought
religion should be about sacraments

446
00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:28,979
as well as sermons, and appeal
to the senses as well as to the mind.

447
00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:33,799
In England, the policy, despite
some foot-dragging and protest,

448
00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:38,919
aroused little overt resistance.
Indeed, many welcomed it.

449
00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:42,759
Emboldened, Charles and Laud decided

450
00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:46,199
that it should be
extended to Scotland as well.

451
00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:50,199
Here, the Reformation had been
far more thoroughgoing and radical

452
00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:54,079
and the risks of change
were correspondingly greater.

453
00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:59,079
But Charles, confident as ever in his
God-given rightness, was undeterred.

454
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:03,999
He decided that a barely modified
version of the English Prayer Book

455
00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:06,719
should be used throughout Scotland.

456
00:36:06,720 --> 00:36:10,919
And he did so on his own personal
authority, without consulting

457
00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:15,279
either the Scottish Parliament
or the General Assembly of the Kirk.

458
00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:17,879
Charles was behaving as though

459
00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:21,879
he were the supreme governor
of the Scottish Kirk, indeed.

460
00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:27,279
But would the Scottish Presbyterians
accept his authority?

461
00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:33,859
The answer came on Sunday 28th July,
1637, when the new prayer book

462
00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:39,499
was used for the first time here
in St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh,

463
00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:43,639
in the presence of the assembled
Privy Council of Scotland.

464
00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:46,679
But as soon as the dean
had begun the service,

465
00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:50,679
a great shout erupted from the crowds
at the back of the church.

466
00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:55,759
Heavy clasped bibles and folding
stools were hurled at the councillors

467
00:36:56,080 --> 00:36:59,959
and the clergy, and the rioters
were only ejected from the church

468
00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:02,239
with difficulty by the guards.

469
00:37:02,440 --> 00:37:06,739
And even outside, they continued
pounding on the doors

470
00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:11,039
and pelting the windows
until the service was finished.

471
00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:17,079
Then the protest turned political.

472
00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:20,199
And here
in Greyfriars kirk in Edinburgh,

473
00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:24,599
an influential group of citizens
and noblemen drew up and signed

474
00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:28,199
an undertaking to resist Charles
and "the innovations and evils"

475
00:37:28,400 --> 00:37:32,199
he had introduced into the Kirk.

476
00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:35,159
Borrowing the name from God's
solemn compact

477
00:37:35,360 --> 00:37:37,959
with the Jews in the
Old Testament,

478
00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:41,359
the undertaking was known as
The Covenant,

479
00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:44,959
and its adherents
were called Covenanters.

480
00:37:45,460 --> 00:37:49,959
The scene at Greyfriars was repeated
in churches all over the lowlands.

481
00:37:50,720 --> 00:37:56,319
It was now the Covenanters,
not Charles, who controlled Scotland.

482
00:37:57,160 --> 00:38:03,159
Britain, which so far had escaped the
wars of religion that had devastated

483
00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:08,319
much of the rest of Europe, now faced
the horrors of sectarian conflict

484
00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:12,419
on its own soil.

485
00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:19,759
By 1640,
Charles's religious policies

486
00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:23,319
had brought about a crisis
throughout Britain.

487
00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:27,719
Scotland was in the hands of
the covenanters, whilst in England,

488
00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:32,039
Charles's opponents drew strength
from events north of the border.

489
00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:36,819
But it was the recall of Parliament
after 11 years,

490
00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:38,719
which brought things to a head.

491
00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:42,799
Charles had no choice, since only
Parliament could vote the money

492
00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:46,019
needed to suppress the covenanters,

493
00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:49,479
but equally Parliament proved
an unrivalled forum

494
00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:51,639
for the King's opponents.

495
00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:53,079
Most dangerous of these

496
00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:59,079
was the hitherto obscure lawyer
and MP for Tavistock, John Pym.

497
00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:03,799
Pym believed that Charles's
policies in Church and state were

498
00:39:04,060 --> 00:39:06,519
the result of a Catholic conspiracy

499
00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:09,799
to subvert the religion
and liberties of England.

500
00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:13,799
But instead of wasting his time
in fruitless opposition,

501
00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:17,639
he'd use the 11 years
without a parliament

502
00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:21,279
to build up a compelling
dossier for his case.

503
00:39:21,280 --> 00:39:25,279
In the 1630s Pym read voraciously,

504
00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:28,959
followed every detail of politics
at home and abroad

505
00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:33,959
and noted down useful headings
and extracts in this little book.

506
00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:38,199
The result was that when Charles
was forced to recall Parliament,

507
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:42,779
Pym was the best informed and the
best prepared man in the House,

508
00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:45,999
ready with both a rhetoric
of opposition to

509
00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:51,999
Charles's government and a plan
of action for curbing Royal power.

510
00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:58,859
Charles hoped to prey on English
xenophobia to persuade Parliament

511
00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:02,999
to impose an immediate vast tax
to crush the traitorous Scots.

512
00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:07,999
Pym countered by dragging up
his list of political
and religious grievances

513
00:40:08,420 --> 00:40:11,399
against Charles's
government of the 1630s.

514
00:40:11,400 --> 00:40:14,039
Charles then tried
to break the deadlock

515
00:40:14,040 --> 00:40:16,599
by hinting
at the surrender of Ship Money,

516
00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:20,359
but the hint only emboldened Pym.

517
00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:24,359
Finally Charles lost patience with
a parliament which had, once again,

518
00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:28,799
failed to deliver, and dissolved it
after less than a month.

519
00:40:29,060 --> 00:40:33,159
He would fight the Scots
without a parliamentary grant.

520
00:40:33,320 --> 00:40:37,319
It was a catastrophic decision.

521
00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:46,399
These are the mighty ramparts
at Berwick on Tweed,

522
00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:53,279
the border fortress built by
Henry VIII to protect England

523
00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:57,679
from the Scots.

524
00:40:57,780 --> 00:41:03,679
Expensively refortified by Charles,
it stood as a seemingly impregnable

525
00:41:04,080 --> 00:41:08,079
barrier between the two countries.

526
00:41:11,260 --> 00:41:15,959
But in August 1640, the Scots army,
large, well disciplined,

527
00:41:16,360 --> 00:41:18,839
well armed and well provisioned,

528
00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:22,359
took the daring decision
to outflank Berwick,

529
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:25,239
cross the River Tweed
further upstream

530
00:41:25,240 --> 00:41:27,759
and head straight for Newcastle,

531
00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:31,759
which, in contrast to Berwick,
was only lightly defended.

532
00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:38,599
Only the River Tyne now stood
between the Scots and Newcastle.

533
00:41:38,840 --> 00:41:42,839
They forced a crossing at Newburn
and entered Newcastle, which had

534
00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:47,959
been abandoned by its garrison
in triumph on the 30th August.

535
00:41:48,320 --> 00:41:51,239
Never had so many run from so few

536
00:41:51,240 --> 00:41:56,239
and never had Scotland won
a greater victory on English soil,

537
00:41:56,920 --> 00:42:00,919
or one with
such momentous consequences.

538
00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:06,159
With the Scottish army
encamped on English soil,

539
00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:09,179
Charles was forced to
call Parliament again.

540
00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:11,719
Once again Charles faced Pym.

541
00:42:11,720 --> 00:42:13,439
Pym cleverly focused on

542
00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:17,439
the financial and constitutional
grievances against Charles.

543
00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:21,999
Here Parliament was united in its
opposition and Charles was forced

544
00:42:22,680 --> 00:42:26,679
into a wholesale surrender of
Ship Money and the rest.

545
00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:32,319
Boxed in by his opponents
in the English Parliament,

546
00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:37,319
Charles tried to break out
by coming to terms with the Scots.

547
00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:42,319
In the summer of 1641,
he journeyed to Edinburgh

548
00:42:42,320 --> 00:42:46,079
and in an astonishing
change of front,

549
00:42:46,080 --> 00:42:51,079
accepted the religious and political
revolution of the last three years.

550
00:42:51,480 --> 00:42:55,479
He worshipped in the Kirk,
agreed to the abolition of Bishops

551
00:42:55,640 --> 00:42:58,439
and filled the Government
of Scotland

552
00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:02,439
with the leading covenanters
and his own sworn enemies.

553
00:43:02,480 --> 00:43:06,479
The King also played
several rounds of golf

554
00:43:06,600 --> 00:43:10,599
and, reasonably confident that he'd
solved one of his problems, returned

555
00:43:11,020 --> 00:43:15,119
in an excellent mood to England.

556
00:43:15,280 --> 00:43:20,279
Events in England also seemed to
be moving in Charles's direction.

557
00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:24,519
For, with Charles's surrender
of Ship Money and the like,

558
00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:28,639
the religious divisions of the
Commons, between Puritans like Pym,

559
00:43:29,080 --> 00:43:33,679
and those known as Episcopalians,
who were sympathetic to Charles's

560
00:43:33,840 --> 00:43:36,719
ceremonious religion,
were opening up.

561
00:43:36,920 --> 00:43:40,719
Pym tried to
whip his troops into line by forcing

562
00:43:40,720 --> 00:43:43,719
'The Grand Remonstrance'
to the vote.

563
00:43:43,720 --> 00:43:47,919
This was a searing condemnation
of Charles's policies in state,

564
00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:52,119
and especially in Church.

565
00:43:52,420 --> 00:43:55,479
These amounted,
the Remonstrance claimed,

566
00:43:55,480 --> 00:43:58,799
to an all-embracing
Catholic conspiracy

567
00:43:58,800 --> 00:44:02,799
to subvert the religion
and liberties of England.

568
00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:05,719
The King himself,
it was careful to point out,

569
00:44:05,720 --> 00:44:09,679
had only been the unwitting
agent of the conspiracy.

570
00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:13,979
Nevertheless, Charles's gullibility
meant that he could never be trusted

571
00:44:14,280 --> 00:44:19,279
to choose his own advisers
or to command his own troops again.

572
00:44:20,680 --> 00:44:24,639
The Remonstrance was
nominally addressed to the King.

573
00:44:24,640 --> 00:44:26,839
But in fact, it was a manifesto

574
00:44:26,940 --> 00:44:30,759
for a constitutional
revolution at least,

575
00:44:30,760 --> 00:44:34,079
perhaps even for an armed revolt.

576
00:44:34,080 --> 00:44:38,079
The Remonstrance
was also bitterly divisive

577
00:44:38,420 --> 00:44:40,879
and after days
of acrimonious debate,

578
00:44:40,980 --> 00:44:46,839
it was only passed
by 159 votes to 148.

579
00:44:46,840 --> 00:44:49,999
A bare majority of 11.

580
00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:55,999
The vote showed that the broad-based
opposition to Charles had broken up.

581
00:44:56,360 --> 00:45:00,359
And the more Pym pushed the
Puritan attack on Charles's Church,

582
00:45:00,720 --> 00:45:04,719
the more his majority risked
disappearing entirely.

583
00:45:05,160 --> 00:45:08,299
But then
Charles over-reached himself.

584
00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:12,399
Convinced, probably correctly,
that amongst MPs were traitors,

585
00:45:12,720 --> 00:45:15,439
who colluded with
the invading Scots,

586
00:45:15,440 --> 00:45:20,439
Charles determined to bring
five members of Parliament,
including Pym,

587
00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:24,679
to trial on charges of High Treason.

588
00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:31,919
On 4th January 1642,
King Charles strode into the chamber

589
00:45:32,560 --> 00:45:36,479
of the House of Commons
to arrest his principal opponents.

590
00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:40,079
His guards stood outside,
fingering their weapons

591
00:45:40,520 --> 00:45:45,519
as, in an uneasy silence, the King
sat himself in the Speaker's chair.

592
00:45:47,640 --> 00:45:51,939
"Where are the five members?" the
King demanded, calling them by name.

593
00:45:52,560 --> 00:45:55,319
In response, the Speaker
fell on his knees,

594
00:45:55,320 --> 00:45:59,319
protesting that he could answer
only as the House directed him.

595
00:46:00,200 --> 00:46:04,079
In fact, the five members,
forewarned of the King's movements,

596
00:46:04,080 --> 00:46:06,159
had made good their escape by boat

597
00:46:06,160 --> 00:46:08,799
from the back
of the Palace of Westminster

598
00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:14,799
as Charles and his guards had
entered on the landward side
at the front.

599
00:46:16,320 --> 00:46:20,319
Instead, it was Charles himself
who had walked into a trap.

600
00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:25,639
By trying to seize the five members
by force, he'd shown himself to be

601
00:46:25,840 --> 00:46:28,439
a violent tyrant.

602
00:46:28,440 --> 00:46:32,839
By failing, he'd revealed himself
to be impotent.

603
00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:37,199
As Charles left the Chamber
empty-handed,

604
00:46:37,200 --> 00:46:41,199
he murmured disconsolately,
"All my birds have flown."

605
00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:45,079
So too had most of his power.

606
00:46:45,480 --> 00:46:48,439
Battle lines were now drawn up.

607
00:46:48,440 --> 00:46:52,639
Charles's violent ill-thought-out
gesture not only preserved Pym's

608
00:46:52,840 --> 00:46:56,439
parliamentary majority,
but also turned London

609
00:46:56,440 --> 00:46:58,919
decisively against the King.

610
00:46:58,920 --> 00:47:02,359
In the country, however,
Pym's increasingly extreme

611
00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:07,359
Puritan attack on the Church
won Charles a devoted following.

612
00:47:10,280 --> 00:47:14,279
But in fact Charles was no longer
really King of Great Britain,

613
00:47:14,520 --> 00:47:17,039
or even of England.

614
00:47:17,040 --> 00:47:21,039
Instead he was only
the leader of a faction.

615
00:47:21,160 --> 00:47:24,759
For history had come
almost full circle.

616
00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:28,759
The attempt to expand the powers
of the imperial crown

617
00:47:28,880 --> 00:47:31,919
so as that it ruled
both Church and state,

618
00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:35,919
and Scotland as well as England,
had backfired.

619
00:47:36,800 --> 00:47:39,639
Instead England was about to return

620
00:47:39,640 --> 00:47:43,439
to the factional strife
of the Wars of the Roses

621
00:47:43,440 --> 00:47:46,519
and Britain
to the national struggles

622
00:47:46,520 --> 00:47:48,839
of the Anglo-Scottish wars.

623
00:47:48,840 --> 00:47:52,939
And it began at Nottingham
when Charles raised his standard

624
00:47:53,240 --> 00:47:58,239
in a war against his parliament
and half his people.

625
00:48:10,240 --> 00:48:14,239
Subtitles by BBC Broadcast