1 00:00:03,057 --> 00:00:06,022 We've all seen the pictures and read the stories in the history books 2 00:00:06,047 --> 00:00:08,302 about the kings and queens with their power and privilege 3 00:00:08,327 --> 00:00:09,912 and silks and furs. 4 00:00:12,736 --> 00:00:14,112 But, in this series, 5 00:00:14,137 --> 00:00:16,312 I want to discover the other side of history. 6 00:00:16,337 --> 00:00:18,511 I'm already quite nervous. 7 00:00:18,536 --> 00:00:21,302 Besides, we don't often hear about 8 00:00:21,327 --> 00:00:25,112 how ordinary British people lived their lives. 9 00:00:26,377 --> 00:00:27,942 From the Tudors... 10 00:00:27,967 --> 00:00:30,752 You'll see why it did attract my attention! 11 00:00:30,777 --> 00:00:32,232 Disgusting! 12 00:00:32,257 --> 00:00:33,261 TRAIN WHISTLE 13 00:00:33,286 --> 00:00:34,461 ...to the Victorians. 14 00:00:34,486 --> 00:00:36,222 Throw a stone in Victorian London, 15 00:00:36,247 --> 00:00:38,381 you will hit a drunken cabman. There's that many of them. 16 00:00:38,406 --> 00:00:39,721 We are not amused. 17 00:00:41,536 --> 00:00:42,902 From the Georgians... 18 00:00:42,927 --> 00:00:44,742 You take the saw... Oh, my God. 19 00:00:44,767 --> 00:00:46,902 It's horrible just seeing you do that. 20 00:00:48,526 --> 00:00:52,792 ...to the people who really fought the Second World War. 21 00:00:52,817 --> 00:00:58,022 James could hear the ping of bullets and the clatter of shrapnel. 22 00:00:58,047 --> 00:00:59,872 One thing's for sure, 23 00:00:59,897 --> 00:01:03,822 these people knew the meaning of the word "tough". 24 00:01:03,847 --> 00:01:07,022 I'll be finding the truth about their daily lives, 25 00:01:07,047 --> 00:01:08,711 what they ate... 26 00:01:08,736 --> 00:01:10,341 How long would that have lasted? 27 00:01:10,366 --> 00:01:12,381 Up to three years. 28 00:01:12,406 --> 00:01:14,952 ...how they made a living... 29 00:01:14,977 --> 00:01:17,952 There's even value in a rat when it's dead. 30 00:01:17,977 --> 00:01:20,432 ...and those vital necessities of life. 31 00:01:20,457 --> 00:01:22,162 What did you do if you wanted to pee? 32 00:01:22,187 --> 00:01:23,381 Go in the bucket. 33 00:01:23,406 --> 00:01:24,992 The bucket? 34 00:01:25,017 --> 00:01:28,432 This is British history from the bottom up. 35 00:01:28,457 --> 00:01:29,672 You've got to admit, 36 00:01:29,697 --> 00:01:30,872 I am terrifying. 37 00:01:37,217 --> 00:01:40,952 This time, I'm going back 500 years to England 38 00:01:40,977 --> 00:01:43,261 in the reign of Henry VIII. 39 00:01:43,286 --> 00:01:45,542 A time of sex scandals, 40 00:01:45,567 --> 00:01:49,802 executions and codpieces. 41 00:01:49,827 --> 00:01:51,261 Ooh, I say! 42 00:01:51,286 --> 00:01:54,312 The history books are full of his antics. 43 00:01:54,337 --> 00:01:58,391 But what about the people who really made the country tick? 44 00:01:58,416 --> 00:02:02,232 They may not have been well dressed or had any money, 45 00:02:02,257 --> 00:02:06,952 but their lives are full of surprises, love and courage. 46 00:02:10,257 --> 00:02:11,982 During Henry's reign, 47 00:02:12,007 --> 00:02:15,082 living in towns was going out of fashion 48 00:02:15,107 --> 00:02:17,302 and it's not at all hard to see why. 49 00:02:17,327 --> 00:02:20,672 The streets were paved with evil-smelling mud 50 00:02:20,697 --> 00:02:24,672 and, inside, floors became layered with spittle, vomit, 51 00:02:24,697 --> 00:02:27,082 urine and bits of fish. 52 00:02:28,376 --> 00:02:31,912 But even for the Tudors, there was someone you really didn't 53 00:02:31,937 --> 00:02:33,622 want to live next to. 54 00:02:33,647 --> 00:02:35,232 A knacker. 55 00:02:35,257 --> 00:02:39,432 No giggling, please, because a knacker was a very important person 56 00:02:39,457 --> 00:02:41,122 in Tudor society. 57 00:02:41,147 --> 00:02:44,952 He was the bloke who went round collecting dead animals, 58 00:02:44,977 --> 00:02:47,432 then taking them home, skinning them, 59 00:02:47,457 --> 00:02:50,672 chopping them up and making money out of them 60 00:02:50,697 --> 00:02:52,622 in whatever way he could. 61 00:02:52,647 --> 00:02:57,391 Now, there aren't any specific names of actual Tudor knackers 62 00:02:57,416 --> 00:02:58,702 in the records. 63 00:02:58,727 --> 00:03:01,832 We're going to call our one Thomas Grimes. 64 00:03:01,857 --> 00:03:03,682 Here's Tom. 65 00:03:03,707 --> 00:03:06,341 Skinning a carcass to make saddles. 66 00:03:06,366 --> 00:03:11,162 His whole house would have been full of little bits of bleeding animal 67 00:03:11,187 --> 00:03:14,242 and it would have permeated such a stink 68 00:03:14,267 --> 00:03:18,322 that it would have been foul, even by Tudor standards. 69 00:03:18,347 --> 00:03:23,242 Nevertheless, he would have had a way of making a steady income. 70 00:03:23,267 --> 00:03:29,042 Enough for clothes and food and maybe even a long-suffering wife. 71 00:03:29,067 --> 00:03:33,261 # Did you know that, baby, it's true 72 00:03:33,286 --> 00:03:38,391 # You're the one that I've been here waiting for. # 73 00:03:38,416 --> 00:03:40,712 This is how Tom's day would go. 74 00:03:40,737 --> 00:03:44,341 He'd leave home about 6.00am, like most Tudor men, 75 00:03:44,366 --> 00:03:49,192 pick up his cart, head off out of town towards the local farms. 76 00:03:51,977 --> 00:03:57,432 The big moneymakers for Tom were dead or dying cattle and horses. 77 00:03:57,457 --> 00:03:59,622 Hmm... 78 00:03:59,647 --> 00:04:02,882 This one's got potential, poor old thing. 79 00:04:05,697 --> 00:04:08,752 Even in town there could be opportunities. 80 00:04:08,777 --> 00:04:12,962 You'd find dogs, cats, even the occasional horse. 81 00:04:12,987 --> 00:04:15,912 Hang on. What have we got down here? 82 00:04:17,286 --> 00:04:19,112 Look at this. 83 00:04:20,286 --> 00:04:22,591 A rat. 84 00:04:22,616 --> 00:04:25,531 There's even value in a rat when it's dead. 85 00:04:29,496 --> 00:04:32,802 Back at base, Tom would skin carcasses for leather, 86 00:04:32,827 --> 00:04:35,632 boil them to get the fat out for candles, 87 00:04:35,657 --> 00:04:37,552 extract gelatine for glue 88 00:04:37,577 --> 00:04:41,471 and grind up the bones to make fertiliser. 89 00:04:41,496 --> 00:04:45,242 And, after years hacking about with all his flesh, 90 00:04:45,267 --> 00:04:47,322 he became pretty good at it 91 00:04:47,347 --> 00:04:50,912 and wasn't bothered by the smell and sight of blood. 92 00:04:50,937 --> 00:04:55,132 And these skills were about to open new horizons for Tom, 93 00:04:55,157 --> 00:04:57,682 all thanks to his king. 94 00:04:57,707 --> 00:05:01,222 Because Henry was making a lot of enemies 95 00:05:01,247 --> 00:05:05,652 and Tom was just the sort of chap he needed 96 00:05:05,677 --> 00:05:07,222 as an executioner. 97 00:05:10,767 --> 00:05:14,972 Whenever the paranoid monarch, Henry VIII, threw all his toys 98 00:05:14,997 --> 00:05:19,162 out of his cot and demanded the head of some hapless noble, 99 00:05:19,187 --> 00:05:22,012 it could mean a very big payday, 100 00:05:22,037 --> 00:05:24,371 involving one of these. 101 00:05:24,396 --> 00:05:27,962 Although the reality is, wasn't it, john, that most criminals were hung 102 00:05:27,987 --> 00:05:30,802 rather than having their heads chopped off? That's true. 103 00:05:30,827 --> 00:05:32,992 Hanging was for the ordinary people. 104 00:05:34,857 --> 00:05:38,601 It was only people of royal or noble blood who were actually decapitated. 105 00:05:38,626 --> 00:05:41,401 I mean, decapitation was a whole different business. 106 00:05:41,426 --> 00:05:44,682 John White is a historian of crime and punishment 107 00:05:44,707 --> 00:05:47,432 and he's studied Tudor executions. 108 00:05:47,457 --> 00:05:49,922 So, how does Tom, my knacker, come into it? 109 00:05:49,947 --> 00:05:52,401 Well, you see, the axe was often a messy business. 110 00:05:52,426 --> 00:05:55,782 So, in order to perfect the process, you needed to have somebody who, 111 00:05:55,807 --> 00:05:59,601 day by day, was proficient in chopping flesh with an axe 112 00:05:59,626 --> 00:06:02,072 and wasn't bothered by a bit of blood and gore. 113 00:06:04,777 --> 00:06:09,672 I can see that at least when Tom started to be an executioner 114 00:06:09,697 --> 00:06:12,391 he might feel pretty shaky about doing this job, 115 00:06:12,416 --> 00:06:15,271 particularly if it was someone who was high nobility. 116 00:06:15,296 --> 00:06:18,562 Well, on the basis that decapitation is for people who are noble and royal, 117 00:06:18,587 --> 00:06:21,172 you could be intimidated by the sheer process, 118 00:06:21,197 --> 00:06:23,632 because there you are in front of an enormous crowd 119 00:06:23,657 --> 00:06:25,521 booing and jeering... 120 00:06:25,546 --> 00:06:27,902 They like a good death. Yeah. 121 00:06:27,927 --> 00:06:31,042 It could be a great lord and somebody that, you know, 122 00:06:31,067 --> 00:06:32,882 literally frightens you and you're now going 123 00:06:32,907 --> 00:06:34,172 to have to publicly kill them. 124 00:06:34,197 --> 00:06:36,072 Would you get decent money for this job? 125 00:06:36,097 --> 00:06:38,531 Well, you get paid more than being a knacker because, 126 00:06:38,556 --> 00:06:40,322 as an executioner, there are benefits. 127 00:06:40,347 --> 00:06:41,892 The clothes that the condemned wore, 128 00:06:41,917 --> 00:06:43,252 they would become his. 129 00:06:43,277 --> 00:06:44,832 But it was also the custom 130 00:06:44,857 --> 00:06:48,762 that the condemned would pay, almost like a tip, to do me a good job. 131 00:06:48,787 --> 00:06:51,712 What would the relationship have been like between Tom 132 00:06:51,737 --> 00:06:53,632 and his audience? 133 00:06:53,657 --> 00:06:57,202 Well, they would cheer him if he did a good execution. 134 00:06:57,227 --> 00:07:01,242 They would boo him if he conducted a poor execution. 135 00:07:01,267 --> 00:07:03,401 And would he have been patted on the back in the street? 136 00:07:03,426 --> 00:07:04,992 0h, no, no, no, no, no. 137 00:07:05,017 --> 00:07:07,962 You see, as a knacker, he'd be the lowest of the low. 138 00:07:07,987 --> 00:07:11,762 As an executioner, he'd be even lower than that. 139 00:07:11,787 --> 00:07:13,601 Everybody knows who he was. 140 00:07:13,626 --> 00:07:15,281 He'd be jeered. 141 00:07:15,306 --> 00:07:16,722 He was a social pariah. 142 00:07:16,747 --> 00:07:20,432 So almost the underclass, the untouchables. 143 00:07:20,457 --> 00:07:24,082 Tom's tale is a really miserable one. 144 00:07:24,107 --> 00:07:26,842 Scavenging to earn a living... 145 00:07:26,867 --> 00:07:28,401 A rat. 146 00:07:28,426 --> 00:07:31,242 ...being looked down on 147 00:07:31,267 --> 00:07:33,481 and then the only way of making more money 148 00:07:33,506 --> 00:07:35,351 is to become a figure of hate. 149 00:07:36,817 --> 00:07:41,122 Despite all this, we know that many executioners were proud 150 00:07:41,147 --> 00:07:45,432 of the contribution that they made towards Tudor society 151 00:07:45,457 --> 00:07:46,872 and that, by and large, 152 00:07:46,897 --> 00:07:49,432 ordinary people believed that the death penalty 153 00:07:49,457 --> 00:07:52,442 was the bedrock of their system of justice. 154 00:07:54,267 --> 00:07:55,642 But, coming up... 155 00:07:55,667 --> 00:07:58,882 ...a punishment even worse than decapitation. 156 00:07:58,907 --> 00:08:01,042 Death by boiling. 157 00:08:03,097 --> 00:08:06,512 And the latest thing to wear in the fields. 158 00:08:06,537 --> 00:08:09,692 I didn't realise that ordinary people had codpieces. 159 00:08:18,109 --> 00:08:21,443 During the reign of Henry VIII, one bad harvest 160 00:08:21,468 --> 00:08:24,474 could spell ruin, even death. 161 00:08:24,499 --> 00:08:26,724 Everyone was constantly famished. 162 00:08:27,929 --> 00:08:32,183 So, imagine that you're an ordinary, poor Tudor person 163 00:08:32,208 --> 00:08:36,604 constantly obsessed by where the next meal is coming from 164 00:08:36,629 --> 00:08:40,113 and suddenly you're given the opportunity of a new life 165 00:08:40,138 --> 00:08:44,034 where, every day, you're faced with a banquet. 166 00:08:44,059 --> 00:08:48,544 I'm talking about a career in the culinary profession. 167 00:08:48,569 --> 00:08:50,754 Not only was it a proper paid job, 168 00:08:50,779 --> 00:08:52,954 but you'd be fed and surrounded 169 00:08:52,979 --> 00:08:56,904 by a bounty of delicious food which often needed testing. 170 00:08:59,148 --> 00:09:01,443 Yes, but be careful what you wish for, 171 00:09:01,468 --> 00:09:04,044 because this tale has a bitter ending. 172 00:09:05,659 --> 00:09:09,914 Richard Roose began working in a kitchen in the early 1500s, 173 00:09:09,939 --> 00:09:14,164 around the time young Henry VIII was getting to know the ropes as king. 174 00:09:14,189 --> 00:09:18,154 Richard was probably too poor to attend school 175 00:09:18,179 --> 00:09:22,524 so, at age seven, when a kitchen boy was wanted at his Lord's manor house, 176 00:09:22,549 --> 00:09:24,394 he jumped at it. 177 00:09:24,419 --> 00:09:27,084 Before sun up on his first day, 178 00:09:27,109 --> 00:09:30,474 he was sent off by his mum to walk several miles 179 00:09:30,499 --> 00:09:33,274 across the fields to his new life. 180 00:09:34,659 --> 00:09:39,113 It was a chance that offered Richard career development and, who knows? 181 00:09:39,138 --> 00:09:42,443 Maybe even the opportunity to meet the rich and famous. 182 00:09:42,468 --> 00:09:46,084 # You can be my flip-flop... # 183 00:09:46,109 --> 00:09:50,524 If he was lucky, little Richard got to stay in the big house 184 00:09:50,549 --> 00:09:55,164 with the other staff with a proper bed and windows with glass in. 185 00:09:57,388 --> 00:10:02,134 But he probably only saw his mum once a week on his day off. 186 00:10:02,159 --> 00:10:05,233 Mark Milton Ville is a Tudor cooking expert. 187 00:10:08,248 --> 00:10:10,193 So, he's just started here. Mm-hm. 188 00:10:10,218 --> 00:10:12,724 What kind of jobs would he have been doing? 189 00:10:12,749 --> 00:10:15,164 Well, if he is a boy of the kitchen, then it's right down the bottom 190 00:10:15,189 --> 00:10:17,363 to start with. There's going to be a lot of sweeping that 191 00:10:17,388 --> 00:10:19,274 and go and get me some wood, chopping wood. 192 00:10:19,299 --> 00:10:22,604 So, he's going to do a lot of really menial stuff, pot washing. 193 00:10:22,629 --> 00:10:24,243 Not very nice, I'm afraid. 194 00:10:24,268 --> 00:10:26,624 Cleaning all those cauldrons. How do you clean them? 195 00:10:26,649 --> 00:10:29,034 Because they didn't have squeegee soap bottles in those days. 196 00:10:29,059 --> 00:10:31,584 No, no squeegee, but they have plenty of soap. 197 00:10:31,609 --> 00:10:34,223 Oh, they do? It's very easy to make, it was made commercially. 198 00:10:34,248 --> 00:10:36,944 And even if you want to just make some yourself in the kitchen, 199 00:10:36,969 --> 00:10:40,944 you take a pan full of fats and bacon fat and pour a little 200 00:10:40,969 --> 00:10:42,944 bit of ash in it. 201 00:10:42,969 --> 00:10:46,484 Richard would have been expected to use the soap to wash his hands 202 00:10:46,509 --> 00:10:48,534 before the day's work began. 203 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:53,084 To clean his teeth he'd have used candle soot, chalk or salt. 204 00:10:53,109 --> 00:10:55,474 What kind of hours would he have been working? 205 00:10:55,499 --> 00:10:57,243 Probably starting quite early in the morning. 206 00:10:57,268 --> 00:10:59,464 So, they're gonna be down here between five and six getting 207 00:10:59,489 --> 00:11:02,323 everything ready because the main meal of the day is gonna be sent 208 00:11:02,348 --> 00:11:05,524 over to the house by half past 10 or 11. 209 00:11:05,549 --> 00:11:07,343 But there was only two cooked meals a day. 210 00:11:07,368 --> 00:11:08,864 The last one's out by 3.30. 211 00:11:08,889 --> 00:11:11,313 So, after that, it's clear up, set it all down 212 00:11:11,338 --> 00:11:13,844 and, once he gets a bit older, a pot of beer. 213 00:11:13,869 --> 00:11:16,564 It's really quite pleasant, isn't it? Yeah. 214 00:11:16,589 --> 00:11:18,764 # You're the dish of the day, I'm going to dig right in. # 215 00:11:18,789 --> 00:11:22,193 I'm beginning to warm to the idea of being a Tudor cook. 216 00:11:22,218 --> 00:11:25,193 And we haven't even got to the food yet. 217 00:11:25,218 --> 00:11:28,084 He's going to be working with so much more fresh meat 218 00:11:28,109 --> 00:11:30,394 than anybody outside in a farm's getting. 219 00:11:30,419 --> 00:11:32,274 It's going to be fresh meat almost every day. 220 00:11:32,299 --> 00:11:34,203 So, it's just going to wow him. 221 00:11:34,228 --> 00:11:36,914 Perhaps it was access to all that rich food, 222 00:11:36,939 --> 00:11:39,193 but Richard grew a little curvy 223 00:11:39,218 --> 00:11:41,804 and must have made a name for himself 224 00:11:41,829 --> 00:11:44,844 because he was soon headhunted to be cook 225 00:11:44,869 --> 00:11:47,684 for the Bishop of Rochester. 226 00:11:49,709 --> 00:11:53,394 This should have been a major opportunity for Richard 227 00:11:53,419 --> 00:11:57,644 but the country was in the middle of a major political crisis 228 00:11:57,669 --> 00:12:00,193 and Richard soon found himself in hot water. 229 00:12:00,218 --> 00:12:01,884 Quite literally. 230 00:12:03,629 --> 00:12:06,884 In 1527, Henry VIII asked the Pope 231 00:12:06,909 --> 00:12:09,714 if he could divorce his queen, Catherine. 232 00:12:09,739 --> 00:12:12,554 She was knocking on a bit, hadn't given him a son, 233 00:12:12,579 --> 00:12:15,764 and besides, Henry had met someone new, 234 00:12:15,789 --> 00:12:17,744 gorgeous Anne Boleyn, 235 00:12:17,769 --> 00:12:22,044 who, as Henry noted, had a nice pair of pretty duckies. 236 00:12:22,069 --> 00:12:25,924 But some people in England failed to support Henry... 237 00:12:25,949 --> 00:12:28,094 ...including... 238 00:12:28,119 --> 00:12:30,534 ...yes, the Bishop of Rochester. 239 00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:33,814 The bishop's opposition to Henry's divorce was about to have 240 00:12:33,839 --> 00:12:37,243 a devastating impact on his cook. 241 00:12:37,268 --> 00:12:40,443 It all started on February 18th 1531 242 00:12:40,468 --> 00:12:42,714 when the bishop held a banquet 243 00:12:42,739 --> 00:12:44,884 and he wasn't feeling great that evening 244 00:12:44,909 --> 00:12:46,514 so he didn't eat anything. 245 00:12:46,539 --> 00:12:48,764 But his guests scoffed away. 246 00:12:48,789 --> 00:12:50,174 And, by morning, 247 00:12:50,199 --> 00:12:53,644 17 of them were ill and two had died. 248 00:12:55,278 --> 00:12:58,284 Immediately rumours abounded. 249 00:12:58,309 --> 00:13:00,524 Everybody thought it was poison 250 00:13:00,549 --> 00:13:03,524 and the finger was pointed at the cook that night 251 00:13:03,549 --> 00:13:05,924 who was Richard Roose. 252 00:13:05,949 --> 00:13:11,003 They said that he had deliberately attempted to murder the bishop 253 00:13:11,028 --> 00:13:13,993 on the instructions of a vengeful Anne Boleyn. 254 00:13:15,799 --> 00:13:18,694 More likely, it was just a bad case of food poisoning. 255 00:13:20,348 --> 00:13:24,113 But Henry was hopping mad that the name of his sweet Anne 256 00:13:24,138 --> 00:13:27,313 had been dragged through the mud. 257 00:13:27,338 --> 00:13:31,764 So, he sent Richard to the Tower to be tortured until, guess what? 258 00:13:31,789 --> 00:13:34,684 He confessed to it all being his fault. 259 00:13:34,709 --> 00:13:37,614 It sounds like things were pretty grim for Richard 260 00:13:37,639 --> 00:13:40,564 but they were about to get a whole lot grimmer. 261 00:13:40,589 --> 00:13:43,884 Henry passed a law, especially for Richard, 262 00:13:43,909 --> 00:13:47,054 permitting a new form of execution. 263 00:13:47,079 --> 00:13:50,534 Death by boiling. 264 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:52,534 But it wouldn't be a simple matter 265 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:54,824 of 12 minutes in the pan and you're done. 266 00:13:54,849 --> 00:13:56,133 A TIMER RINGS 267 00:13:56,158 --> 00:14:00,534 No, it's recorded that Richard was locked in a chain 268 00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:04,714 and pulled up and down with a gibbet at diverse times 269 00:14:04,739 --> 00:14:07,123 till he was dead. 270 00:14:07,148 --> 00:14:10,404 And that took two long hours. 271 00:14:10,429 --> 00:14:15,564 Documents from the time recalled how Henry VIII joked to his courtiers, 272 00:14:15,589 --> 00:14:17,914 "I've cooked the cook. 273 00:14:17,939 --> 00:14:19,574 "Ha-ha-ha!" 274 00:14:19,599 --> 00:14:23,123 It was a world away from what kitchen boy Richard had imagined 275 00:14:23,148 --> 00:14:26,044 all those years ago, when all he had to worry about 276 00:14:26,069 --> 00:14:27,534 was the washing up. 277 00:14:31,766 --> 00:14:35,230 So, a top tip for survival in Henry's England would be... 278 00:14:35,255 --> 00:14:37,661 ...don't ruffle the king's ruff. 279 00:14:40,846 --> 00:14:42,701 Which you'd think would be easy, 280 00:14:42,726 --> 00:14:45,471 given that most people lived in the countryside 281 00:14:45,496 --> 00:14:51,230 in simple houses with thatched roofs and walls made of sticks and dung, 282 00:14:51,255 --> 00:14:53,131 minding their own business. 283 00:14:55,356 --> 00:14:58,861 This is what life was like for the vast majority of people 284 00:14:58,886 --> 00:15:03,100 in Tudor England, a world away from the sex scandals 285 00:15:03,125 --> 00:15:07,100 and skulduggery and fabulous costumes that you saw in the course 286 00:15:07,125 --> 00:15:09,781 of King Henry VIII. 287 00:15:09,806 --> 00:15:13,541 Take, for example, a Yorkshire farmer, Richard Jenkinson, 288 00:15:13,566 --> 00:15:16,141 and his wife, whose name isn't recorded, 289 00:15:16,166 --> 00:15:17,621 so let's call her Anne. 290 00:15:17,646 --> 00:15:22,190 This might be the couple out in the field at harvest time. 291 00:15:22,215 --> 00:15:25,261 Richard must be as worn out as his trousers. 292 00:15:26,616 --> 00:15:31,621 Like 90% of the Tudors, Richard's family spent most of their time 293 00:15:31,646 --> 00:15:35,581 in the great outdoors teasing a living from the soil, 294 00:15:35,606 --> 00:15:38,421 and it was long, long hours. 295 00:15:38,446 --> 00:15:41,781 They could start from as early as five o'clock in the morning 296 00:15:41,806 --> 00:15:43,671 and not finish till they lost the fight 297 00:15:43,696 --> 00:15:46,701 which, in the summer months, might be ten o'clock. 298 00:15:46,726 --> 00:15:50,901 In contrast to their king, who pigged out on banquets every day, 299 00:15:50,926 --> 00:15:52,811 there were just two simple meals. 300 00:15:52,836 --> 00:15:54,821 Something to munch in the fields, 301 00:15:54,846 --> 00:15:56,671 perhaps bread and cheese, 302 00:15:56,696 --> 00:15:58,190 and, at the end of the day, 303 00:15:58,215 --> 00:16:00,180 one hot meal to look forward to. 304 00:16:01,776 --> 00:16:05,060 This is the kind of thing that Anne would have prepared for their tea. 305 00:16:05,085 --> 00:16:08,190 This is pottage made out of turnips and beans, 306 00:16:08,215 --> 00:16:10,980 thickened with a few bread crumbs 307 00:16:11,005 --> 00:16:13,871 and maybe just a sprinkle of local herbs. 308 00:16:13,896 --> 00:16:15,531 On special occasions, 309 00:16:15,556 --> 00:16:17,951 they might even eat a chicken. 310 00:16:19,786 --> 00:16:23,551 At night, totally exhausted from the labours of the day, 311 00:16:23,576 --> 00:16:27,381 Richard and Anne would fall asleep on their crude mattress 312 00:16:27,406 --> 00:16:30,701 made of straw with the kids just a few yards from them. 313 00:16:30,726 --> 00:16:33,831 With five or six, it would be a squeeze. 314 00:16:33,856 --> 00:16:38,100 And, if they had any precious animals, like a prize pig, 315 00:16:38,125 --> 00:16:40,701 that could sleep in the room, too. 316 00:16:40,726 --> 00:16:44,131 You couldn't afford to let it slope off. 317 00:16:44,156 --> 00:16:47,860 And pigs are notoriously difficult to house train. 318 00:16:47,885 --> 00:16:51,901 So, as you can imagine, the room would've stunk like crazy. 319 00:16:51,926 --> 00:16:56,300 But, more important, if you spent a lot of time in the proximity 320 00:16:56,325 --> 00:17:00,551 of farm animals, you ran the risk of contracting killer diseases. 321 00:17:00,576 --> 00:17:05,951 It's no wonder that the average life expectancy was just 35 years. 322 00:17:07,376 --> 00:17:11,141 There was no NHS and Tudor medicine was rubbish. 323 00:17:11,166 --> 00:17:15,631 Problem with gout? Apply worms, pig's marrow and herbs boiled 324 00:17:15,656 --> 00:17:17,310 with a red-haired dog. 325 00:17:17,335 --> 00:17:19,951 Bit deaf? Stick a hare's gall bladder 326 00:17:19,976 --> 00:17:22,060 and some fox grease in your ear. 327 00:17:24,085 --> 00:17:27,110 With a fire in the middle of the room and no chimney, 328 00:17:27,135 --> 00:17:28,911 the place would have been full of smoke. 329 00:17:28,936 --> 00:17:31,980 So, the children might well have had respiratory infections 330 00:17:32,005 --> 00:17:35,100 but people and animals would be snug together 331 00:17:35,125 --> 00:17:38,031 and hopefully the thatch wouldn't catch fire. 332 00:17:43,135 --> 00:17:46,271 If they were lucky, the next day would be a Sunday 333 00:17:46,296 --> 00:17:47,901 and their only day off. 334 00:17:49,125 --> 00:17:51,860 But there was no let up for Anne because she'd also 335 00:17:51,885 --> 00:17:53,601 have to make everybody's clothes... 336 00:17:56,265 --> 00:18:00,070 ...starting with a bit of fleece straight off a sheep's back. 337 00:18:00,095 --> 00:18:04,961 Marion Knights, a Tudor technology expert, knows Anne's secret. 338 00:18:04,986 --> 00:18:07,781 How do we get it from that into some kind of yarn 339 00:18:07,806 --> 00:18:09,711 that we can make something out of? 340 00:18:09,736 --> 00:18:11,870 Well, that's where this comes in. 341 00:18:11,895 --> 00:18:13,631 Ah! The spindle. 342 00:18:13,656 --> 00:18:15,070 This is the drop spindle. 343 00:18:15,095 --> 00:18:16,271 How does it work? 344 00:18:16,296 --> 00:18:19,911 Well, basically, you just spin it. 345 00:18:19,936 --> 00:18:24,601 So, this twiddles round and I can feel when there's enough twist 346 00:18:24,626 --> 00:18:26,860 because it nips my finger up here. 347 00:18:26,885 --> 00:18:29,860 Then you can start pulling this out a bit more. 348 00:18:29,885 --> 00:18:33,110 It is very slow. It is very labour intensive and slow, yes. 349 00:18:33,135 --> 00:18:35,060 How often would people have been doing this? 350 00:18:35,085 --> 00:18:37,221 Erm, every time she'd got an empty pair of hands 351 00:18:37,246 --> 00:18:39,860 she would have got the spindle out. 352 00:18:39,885 --> 00:18:42,060 You know, waiting for the pot to boil, 353 00:18:42,085 --> 00:18:43,951 waiting for the baby to wake up, 354 00:18:43,976 --> 00:18:46,951 standing at the well, waiting her turn. 355 00:18:46,976 --> 00:18:51,180 This was the only way she could clothe her family. 356 00:18:51,205 --> 00:18:54,671 Anne would also have done her own weaving. 357 00:18:54,696 --> 00:18:56,821 So, what sort of outfit would she have made 358 00:18:56,846 --> 00:18:59,231 for her husband, Richard? 359 00:18:59,256 --> 00:19:02,031 I'm meeting clothing expert Ninya Mikhaila. 360 00:19:02,056 --> 00:19:05,120 The thing that sticks out for me more than anything else 361 00:19:05,145 --> 00:19:07,041 is how robust all this is. 362 00:19:07,066 --> 00:19:09,261 I would have thought that he would have been in rags. 363 00:19:09,286 --> 00:19:12,110 Well, no, I don't suppose he'd last very long in the field in rags. 364 00:19:12,135 --> 00:19:15,060 It is very robust. He's got a warm, woollen layer on the top. 365 00:19:15,085 --> 00:19:18,601 And, in fact, the whole thing is lined in another layer of wool. Oh! 366 00:19:18,626 --> 00:19:20,541 Yeah, you'd be all right in the fields in this. Yeah. 367 00:19:20,566 --> 00:19:22,190 And what's all this under here? 368 00:19:22,215 --> 00:19:25,031 Well, yeah, it's a bit startling, isn't it? It's got red. 369 00:19:25,056 --> 00:19:27,491 I wasn't expecting that! 370 00:19:27,516 --> 00:19:30,041 There was a very strong belief in this period that red 371 00:19:30,066 --> 00:19:31,940 was the colour that kept you healthy 372 00:19:31,965 --> 00:19:34,681 and it was a good colour to wear near to your skin. 373 00:19:34,706 --> 00:19:37,221 And then you've got this shirt underneath, look. Yes. 374 00:19:37,246 --> 00:19:40,631 So, everyone, man, woman and child always has a linen layer next 375 00:19:40,656 --> 00:19:43,351 to their skin. And that's the bit you can wash, which none 376 00:19:43,376 --> 00:19:45,391 of these could be washed in water. 377 00:19:45,416 --> 00:19:46,831 Big question. 378 00:19:46,856 --> 00:19:49,431 Vest and pants? No pants, I'm afraid. 379 00:19:49,456 --> 00:19:51,221 Most men used their shirt, 380 00:19:51,246 --> 00:19:53,951 which was long and split at the sides. 381 00:19:53,976 --> 00:19:56,141 So, you could tuck the front this way, and the back that way, 382 00:19:56,166 --> 00:19:59,110 and that was basically your pants. You'd be nice and warm. Yeah. 383 00:19:59,135 --> 00:20:00,341 What about the women? 384 00:20:00,366 --> 00:20:02,031 Women? Absolutely no pants. 385 00:20:02,056 --> 00:20:03,551 Long skirts? Don't need them. 386 00:20:03,576 --> 00:20:05,431 All the time that we've been talking, 387 00:20:05,456 --> 00:20:10,421 there's been one item of clothing that's been catching my eye here. 388 00:20:10,446 --> 00:20:12,117 Excuse me about this. 389 00:20:12,142 --> 00:20:15,413 You'll see why it did attract my attention. 390 00:20:15,438 --> 00:20:17,613 I don't know what you're talking about. 391 00:20:17,638 --> 00:20:19,683 Are you sure? 392 00:20:19,708 --> 00:20:23,453 I didn't realise that ordinary people had codpieces. Yeah. 393 00:20:23,478 --> 00:20:27,133 By this day, it was just completely standard wear on men's hose. 394 00:20:27,158 --> 00:20:30,563 So that they were taking in the fashion of the richer people 395 00:20:30,588 --> 00:20:32,813 and incorporating it into their own? Exactly. 396 00:20:32,838 --> 00:20:35,453 I mean, it does seem like a weird fashion, but in the 15th century 397 00:20:35,478 --> 00:20:37,483 the codpiece didn't exist. Yeah. 398 00:20:37,508 --> 00:20:41,493 It starts as just a simple flap that's used to cover the fly. 399 00:20:41,518 --> 00:20:45,733 Yeah. And then human, maybe male, nature comes in and it becomes a bit 400 00:20:45,758 --> 00:20:48,553 more exaggerated and a bit more padded and embellished 401 00:20:48,578 --> 00:20:50,972 until it is, by this stage, just standard, 402 00:20:50,997 --> 00:20:53,603 almost like the one the king's wearing. 403 00:20:53,628 --> 00:20:56,553 But King Henry's influence on Richard and Anne 404 00:20:56,578 --> 00:20:59,803 was about to extend even beyond codpieces. 405 00:20:59,828 --> 00:21:04,013 It was the summer of 1513, just four years into the reign 406 00:21:04,038 --> 00:21:05,393 of young King Henry. 407 00:21:11,508 --> 00:21:14,763 One morning, Richard got up as usuaL 408 00:21:14,788 --> 00:21:18,172 went down to the river to fetch a bucket of water, 409 00:21:18,197 --> 00:21:21,032 probably had a quick pee in the hedge on the way, 410 00:21:21,057 --> 00:21:25,323 when suddenly he was stopped by one of his landowner's servants 411 00:21:25,348 --> 00:21:29,172 who gave him a message, or more likely an order. 412 00:21:29,197 --> 00:21:33,912 The lives of Richard and his family were about to be turned upside down 413 00:21:33,937 --> 00:21:38,082 by the activities of his firebrand king, Henry VIII. 414 00:21:39,508 --> 00:21:42,373 Richard was being called up for military service. 415 00:21:44,428 --> 00:21:45,842 Coming UP--- 416 00:21:45,867 --> 00:21:48,403 Richard is sent to fight for Henry VIII, 417 00:21:48,428 --> 00:21:51,453 with nothing more than a hedge trimmer, 418 00:21:51,478 --> 00:21:53,273 and can this brave seaman 419 00:21:53,298 --> 00:21:55,603 stop the Mary Rose from sinking? 420 00:22:03,977 --> 00:22:05,682 During the reign of Henry VII, 421 00:22:05,707 --> 00:22:08,733 an Englishman could be called up at any time 422 00:22:08,758 --> 00:22:10,653 to serve his king in battle 423 00:22:10,678 --> 00:22:15,093 and, in 1513, that's exactly what happened to a Yorkshire farmer 424 00:22:15,118 --> 00:22:16,882 called Richard Jenkins. 425 00:22:19,188 --> 00:22:23,223 The young Henry VIII looked like this and he dreamt 426 00:22:23,248 --> 00:22:25,253 of being a great warrior king 427 00:22:25,278 --> 00:22:27,963 and ruling both Scotland and France. 428 00:22:27,988 --> 00:22:33,733 So, aged 22, he took his toughest troops and invaded France. 429 00:22:33,758 --> 00:22:37,163 James IV of Scotland couldn't believe his luck. 430 00:22:37,188 --> 00:22:41,253 With Henry gone, England could be his. 431 00:22:41,278 --> 00:22:43,963 So, it fell to Henry's queen, Catherine, 432 00:22:43,988 --> 00:22:45,892 to recruit an army for him. 433 00:22:45,917 --> 00:22:48,053 25,000 soldiers... 434 00:22:48,078 --> 00:22:50,373 ...including Richard. 435 00:22:51,638 --> 00:22:55,503 Poor farmers like him had to provide their own weapons. 436 00:22:55,528 --> 00:22:58,053 Luckily, Richard had just the thing. 437 00:23:01,967 --> 00:23:05,583 Because, in Tudor times, there were sheep everywhere. 438 00:23:05,608 --> 00:23:06,942 Hello! 439 00:23:06,967 --> 00:23:08,253 THE SHEEP BAAS 440 00:23:08,278 --> 00:23:09,653 Bear with me here. 441 00:23:09,678 --> 00:23:12,892 You see, in order to stop them wandering all over the fields 442 00:23:12,917 --> 00:23:14,762 and eating the turnips, 443 00:23:14,787 --> 00:23:18,812 these things began to appear throughout the Tudor landscape. 444 00:23:18,837 --> 00:23:20,443 Hedgerows. 445 00:23:20,468 --> 00:23:23,892 And, to trim those, you needed one of these things, 446 00:23:23,917 --> 00:23:28,333 a billhook, which was a simple slashing, scything tool, 447 00:23:28,358 --> 00:23:31,892 which you just made the hedges tidy with. 448 00:23:34,478 --> 00:23:37,973 With a few modifications, Richard's hedge trimmer... 449 00:23:40,398 --> 00:23:43,053 ...was fashioned into a lethal weapon. 450 00:23:46,717 --> 00:23:50,942 His local blacksmith simply tweaked the billhook design 451 00:23:50,967 --> 00:23:54,183 with a series of nasty twists and turns. 452 00:23:59,717 --> 00:24:01,333 Now, Richard was ready... 453 00:24:03,398 --> 00:24:04,932 ...to take on the Scots. 454 00:24:09,688 --> 00:24:14,043 To find out how, I'm visiting the Royal Armouries in Leeds 455 00:24:14,068 --> 00:24:16,213 and meeting curator Andy Dean. 456 00:24:17,678 --> 00:24:19,613 Richard wouldn't have been able to escape 457 00:24:19,638 --> 00:24:21,133 from going into the army, would he? 458 00:24:21,158 --> 00:24:23,373 No. I mean, it's part of that feudal system. 459 00:24:23,398 --> 00:24:24,942 So, they knew that if the call came, 460 00:24:24,967 --> 00:24:26,223 there was no getting out of it 461 00:24:26,248 --> 00:24:28,533 and possibly your wives and your children would come 462 00:24:28,558 --> 00:24:31,293 along with you. Oh, really? Why would they do that? 463 00:24:31,318 --> 00:24:32,892 Well, it's part of the baggage train. 464 00:24:32,917 --> 00:24:35,543 And women had a vital role before the battle and after the battle. 465 00:24:35,568 --> 00:24:37,303 I mean, obviously picking up the bits. 466 00:24:37,328 --> 00:24:41,053 But, of course, you're more likely to fight if you feel comfortable. 467 00:24:41,078 --> 00:24:43,483 You have your loved ones around you. 468 00:24:43,508 --> 00:24:45,772 And, of course, you don't sort of just go somewhere, fight 469 00:24:45,797 --> 00:24:48,812 and come home again. You might be away for 40 days. 470 00:24:48,837 --> 00:24:52,733 And so, having family around you, then maybe there's a greater reason 471 00:24:52,758 --> 00:24:55,333 for the ordinary man to fight harder. Yeah. 472 00:24:56,478 --> 00:24:58,333 To get to the battle, 473 00:24:58,358 --> 00:25:03,093 Richard, Anne and the kids had to walk about 150 miles, 474 00:25:03,118 --> 00:25:05,772 sleeping in the fields each night. 475 00:25:05,797 --> 00:25:07,383 They couldn't carry much food 476 00:25:07,408 --> 00:25:10,243 so the army often looted from villages along the way. 477 00:25:11,707 --> 00:25:13,613 Of course, going to war would have been terrible, 478 00:25:13,638 --> 00:25:16,093 but it would have been a bit of an adventure too. 479 00:25:16,118 --> 00:25:20,022 Remember, Richard had probably only ever been about ten miles from his home before. 480 00:25:20,047 --> 00:25:21,942 And suddenly off he goes. 481 00:25:21,967 --> 00:25:24,533 And he can bring his wife and kids. 482 00:25:24,558 --> 00:25:27,343 It would have been like some sort of weird summer holiday, 483 00:25:27,368 --> 00:25:29,043 except he might have got killed. 484 00:25:30,787 --> 00:25:35,942 Richard would have to summon up the courage to confront 485 00:25:35,967 --> 00:25:37,493 one of these guys. 486 00:25:41,917 --> 00:25:44,022 So noisy and heavy! 487 00:25:46,488 --> 00:25:47,772 I'd have wet myself. 488 00:25:52,418 --> 00:25:54,593 What am I going to do against this guy?! 489 00:25:54,618 --> 00:25:56,313 I don't think this is going to be much use. 490 00:25:56,338 --> 00:25:57,853 He's almost impervious. 491 00:25:57,878 --> 00:25:59,822 But, if you came across this guy, 492 00:25:59,847 --> 00:26:02,663 actually you and your mates have got the perfect weapon. 493 00:26:02,688 --> 00:26:04,263 You can see where the gaps are. 494 00:26:04,288 --> 00:26:06,543 Where would you thrust this spike? Bang! Exactly. 495 00:26:06,568 --> 00:26:08,853 So, it's gone through his eye socket, into his brain. 496 00:26:08,878 --> 00:26:10,843 Now, it's called a billhook for a reason. 497 00:26:10,868 --> 00:26:12,692 What would you do with the hook here? 498 00:26:12,717 --> 00:26:14,012 No idea. All right. 499 00:26:14,037 --> 00:26:16,673 Well, I would wrap this around the back of his neck. 500 00:26:16,698 --> 00:26:18,183 Haul him to the ground. 501 00:26:18,208 --> 00:26:20,892 Richard would need nerves of steel, 502 00:26:20,917 --> 00:26:23,692 but he did also have some protection. 503 00:26:23,717 --> 00:26:27,733 This would be the most basic jack of plates. 504 00:26:27,758 --> 00:26:32,863 The plates inside the linen garment could be made out of horn or... 505 00:26:32,888 --> 00:26:36,063 This is really heavy, actually. Well, it needs to be heavy, but not so heavy 506 00:26:36,088 --> 00:26:39,692 it limits you and it's protecting, obviously, your engine, 507 00:26:39,717 --> 00:26:40,983 heart, lungs. 508 00:26:41,008 --> 00:26:43,333 So, your engine is protected, but your computer's not. 509 00:26:43,358 --> 00:26:45,812 So we need something for the top end of you, as well. 510 00:26:45,837 --> 00:26:48,423 And, again... Let's have a computer cover. Yeah. 511 00:26:48,448 --> 00:26:52,663 And there will be an armoury and there'll be 50, 100 of these. 512 00:26:52,688 --> 00:26:55,053 And you would get one of these and you'd pad it to make it your own. 513 00:26:55,078 --> 00:26:56,493 On it goes. 514 00:26:56,518 --> 00:26:59,343 You've got your billhook, you've got your jack of plates. 515 00:26:59,368 --> 00:27:04,173 And now we have 20 other blokes all lined up who are motivated. 516 00:27:04,198 --> 00:27:07,022 You've suddenly become a very important part of the army. 517 00:27:07,047 --> 00:27:09,253 You've got to admit, I am terrifying. 518 00:27:11,238 --> 00:27:14,383 When they finally arrived to fight the Battle of Flodden, 519 00:27:14,408 --> 00:27:16,902 the English army face stiff odds, 520 00:27:16,927 --> 00:27:20,663 attacking uphill against greater numbers. 521 00:27:20,688 --> 00:27:22,853 And the Scots had bigger cannons. 522 00:27:22,878 --> 00:27:24,203 A CANNON BOOMS 523 00:27:24,228 --> 00:27:27,093 If the Scots won and captured a chunk of England, 524 00:27:27,118 --> 00:27:30,053 it could have been the end of Henry VIII. 525 00:27:30,078 --> 00:27:33,623 Richard watched in awe as he waited for his turn. 526 00:27:33,648 --> 00:27:37,853 On one side, you've got the Scots with their long pikes, 527 00:27:37,878 --> 00:27:41,333 which were brilliant against knights in armour on horseback, 528 00:27:41,358 --> 00:27:45,782 but weren't nearly as good when it came to close fighting. 529 00:27:45,807 --> 00:27:48,822 And they were up against Richard and the other Tudor farmer soldiers 530 00:27:48,847 --> 00:27:53,782 armed with equipment better suited to hand-to-hand combat, 531 00:27:53,807 --> 00:27:57,673 billhooks, which were stabbing and scything weapons. 532 00:27:57,698 --> 00:28:01,263 Richard and his comrades began to push the Scots back. 533 00:28:01,288 --> 00:28:04,103 Finally, in one last desperate move, 534 00:28:04,128 --> 00:28:09,983 the Scottish King charged down right into the heart of the English ranks. 535 00:28:10,008 --> 00:28:12,623 But the infantry held firm. 536 00:28:12,648 --> 00:28:15,343 They pulled him off his horse and slaughtered him. 537 00:28:17,057 --> 00:28:18,973 King James IV of Scotland, 538 00:28:18,998 --> 00:28:21,923 killed by common farmers with billhooks. 539 00:28:26,078 --> 00:28:28,843 The English army had won a famous victory 540 00:28:28,868 --> 00:28:31,353 and Richard could now return home. 541 00:28:31,378 --> 00:28:34,673 With his adapted hedge trimmer, our simple farmer 542 00:28:34,698 --> 00:28:39,413 had helped save Henry VIII from a humiliating defeat, 543 00:28:39,438 --> 00:28:42,782 one that could have ended his entire reign. 544 00:28:44,857 --> 00:28:46,113 Phew! 545 00:28:49,438 --> 00:28:52,053 And with all that blood, sweat and toil, 546 00:28:52,078 --> 00:28:54,782 the Tudors needed to let their hair down. 547 00:28:56,418 --> 00:28:58,582 And "fun", for our Tudor ancestors, 548 00:28:58,607 --> 00:29:01,673 was pretty much the same as it is today for us. 549 00:29:01,698 --> 00:29:02,853 Festivals... 550 00:29:02,878 --> 00:29:04,193 Is this the way to Glastonbury? 551 00:29:04,218 --> 00:29:05,393 ...football.. 552 00:29:05,418 --> 00:29:06,772 On me head, son! 553 00:29:06,797 --> 00:29:08,423 ...and, most important of all, 554 00:29:08,448 --> 00:29:11,253 a glass of ale down the pub. 555 00:29:11,278 --> 00:29:13,652 And if you lived in Leatherhead, Surrey, 556 00:29:13,677 --> 00:29:16,063 this could have been your local. 557 00:29:16,088 --> 00:29:20,753 500 years ago, presiding over everything from the brewing 558 00:29:20,778 --> 00:29:24,423 of the beer through to the ladling it out to the guests, 559 00:29:24,448 --> 00:29:26,223 was a woman. 560 00:29:26,248 --> 00:29:28,063 Elynor Rummyn. 561 00:29:28,088 --> 00:29:29,623 Can I have a pint, please? 562 00:29:32,448 --> 00:29:36,032 This is Elynor, still welcoming customers to the pub. 563 00:29:37,998 --> 00:29:41,582 And The Running Horse is a modern twist on the pub's original name, 564 00:29:41,607 --> 00:29:42,993 Rummyn's House. 565 00:29:45,088 --> 00:29:47,133 Elynor's life was tough. 566 00:29:47,158 --> 00:29:49,343 She'd be up at dawn seven clays a week 567 00:29:49,368 --> 00:29:51,293 fetching water from the river 568 00:29:51,318 --> 00:29:54,393 and cleaning up from the night before. 569 00:29:54,418 --> 00:29:57,423 She had a kitchen over here somewhere, 570 00:29:57,448 --> 00:29:59,623 set away from the pub, 571 00:29:59,648 --> 00:30:02,633 and in here she would have made bread and cooked all the meals 572 00:30:02,658 --> 00:30:04,073 for the family. 573 00:30:04,098 --> 00:30:08,143 And, round here, you would have had pigs and chickens, 574 00:30:08,168 --> 00:30:11,782 and there would have been lots of herbs growing so that she could 575 00:30:11,807 --> 00:30:15,423 produce the meat and the medicine for her family. 576 00:30:15,448 --> 00:30:19,933 But the most important part of her workplace was here. 577 00:30:19,958 --> 00:30:22,702 This would have been where she did the brewing. 578 00:30:24,318 --> 00:30:26,943 Elynor's ale was old school even then. 579 00:30:26,968 --> 00:30:29,902 After the barley was malted, she'd have added her own 580 00:30:29,927 --> 00:30:32,582 signature mix of herbs like thyme, 581 00:30:32,607 --> 00:30:36,633 rosemary, nettle, yarrow and mugwort. 582 00:30:36,658 --> 00:30:41,143 It would have been a murky brown brew and tasted sour and smoky. 583 00:30:42,168 --> 00:30:44,303 And it would go off pretty quickly 584 00:30:44,328 --> 00:30:46,393 because Elynor didn't use hops, 585 00:30:46,418 --> 00:30:49,383 which are important for preserving been 586 00:30:49,408 --> 00:30:53,213 She produced about ten gallons a week for her family 587 00:30:53,238 --> 00:30:56,933 and all the rest was put on sale because, in those clays, 588 00:30:56,958 --> 00:31:00,303 everybody drank ale, even children, 589 00:31:00,328 --> 00:31:04,652 partly because it was thought to be more nutritious than water, 590 00:31:04,677 --> 00:31:07,503 certainly didn't give you the gyp like water did, 591 00:31:07,528 --> 00:31:09,193 and it made you feel good. 592 00:31:14,408 --> 00:31:18,303 We know all about Elynor from a bloke who stopped off 593 00:31:18,328 --> 00:31:20,983 at the pub one night for a drink. 594 00:31:21,008 --> 00:31:25,183 And he happened to be Henry VIII's poet laureate. 595 00:31:25,208 --> 00:31:27,623 A bloke by the name of John Skelton. 596 00:31:27,648 --> 00:31:29,832 And he wrote this poem about Elynor. 597 00:31:29,857 --> 00:31:32,383 From our point of view, it's brilliant 598 00:31:32,408 --> 00:31:36,383 because it describes an ordinary person in great detail. 599 00:31:37,797 --> 00:31:41,223 You may think he wrote it because he was besotted by her beauty 600 00:31:41,248 --> 00:31:42,543 but, in fact, 601 00:31:42,568 --> 00:31:45,863 what he says was, "Her face all boozy, 602 00:31:45,888 --> 00:31:49,553 "comely crinkled, wonderfully wrinkled... 603 00:31:49,578 --> 00:31:52,343 "..like a roast pig's ear 604 00:31:52,368 --> 00:31:54,293 "bristling with hair." 605 00:31:54,318 --> 00:31:56,423 That's charming, isn't it? 606 00:31:57,857 --> 00:32:01,473 Skelton goes on insulting Elynor for about 600 lines. 607 00:32:05,368 --> 00:32:08,553 But it wasn't just her looks that he was slagging off. 608 00:32:08,578 --> 00:32:11,143 This was full-scale character assassination. 609 00:32:11,168 --> 00:32:14,542 According to Skelton, she was a sexual deviant. 610 00:32:14,567 --> 00:32:16,512 She was a dodgy businesswoman. 611 00:32:16,537 --> 00:32:20,022 She cut her ale with all sorts of disgusting stuff. 612 00:32:20,047 --> 00:32:21,382 Look at this. 613 00:32:22,606 --> 00:32:26,742 "And sometimes she blends the dung of her hens." 614 00:32:28,287 --> 00:32:30,472 I can't imagine Skelton came back for a second pint. 615 00:32:30,497 --> 00:32:31,462 Can you? 616 00:32:32,887 --> 00:32:35,142 So, what's the truth about Elynor? 617 00:32:35,167 --> 00:32:38,062 Jaega Wise, 2018 Brewer Of The Year, 618 00:32:38,087 --> 00:32:41,352 has studied the ancient craft of ale-making 619 00:32:41,377 --> 00:32:43,581 all the way back to Tudor times. 620 00:32:45,367 --> 00:32:48,661 Why does the poem slag her off so much? 621 00:32:48,686 --> 00:32:52,032 It's implied quite heavily that she's doing things like 622 00:32:52,057 --> 00:32:55,632 watering down the ale or cheating customers. 623 00:32:55,657 --> 00:32:58,192 Do you think she really did cheat the customers? 624 00:32:58,217 --> 00:32:59,581 Yeah. 625 00:32:59,606 --> 00:33:03,831 She was fined two pennies for serving false measures 626 00:33:03,856 --> 00:33:06,732 and she was lucky that she was fined. 627 00:33:06,757 --> 00:33:09,482 One of the other punishments would have been a thorough ducking 628 00:33:09,507 --> 00:33:10,992 in the local pond. 629 00:33:11,017 --> 00:33:13,192 Like a witch? Yeah, like a witch. 630 00:33:13,217 --> 00:33:15,232 That's one of the things that strikes me about the poem. 631 00:33:15,257 --> 00:33:17,992 She does come across as a bit witchy, doesn't she? 632 00:33:18,017 --> 00:33:24,112 There is said to be a relationship between witches and ale wives. 633 00:33:24,137 --> 00:33:28,382 It's true that ale wives would have used a big cauldron, 634 00:33:28,407 --> 00:33:30,632 may well have had a cat for pest control, 635 00:33:30,657 --> 00:33:34,282 and they did put a broom outside the pub to show the beer was ready. 636 00:33:36,177 --> 00:33:40,432 But why would anyone want to demonise women like Elynor? 637 00:33:40,457 --> 00:33:44,942 What begins to happen is the brewing industry begins to become 638 00:33:44,967 --> 00:33:47,742 professional and, when that happens, 639 00:33:47,767 --> 00:33:51,022 the ale wives are a considerable threat. 640 00:33:51,047 --> 00:33:53,392 So, what do you do when you're under threat? 641 00:33:53,417 --> 00:33:56,102 You spread rumours about them. You spread lies about them. 642 00:33:56,127 --> 00:33:58,921 You want to make their product sell less than your product. 643 00:33:58,946 --> 00:34:00,581 What about Mr Rummyn? 644 00:34:00,606 --> 00:34:02,272 We don't hear much about him. 645 00:34:02,297 --> 00:34:04,461 I imagine him as some drunken old sot 646 00:34:04,486 --> 00:34:07,112 sitting in the corner while his wife coins it all in. 647 00:34:07,137 --> 00:34:08,512 Yes. 648 00:34:08,537 --> 00:34:11,791 And there is a reason why ale wives are called ale "wives" 649 00:34:11,816 --> 00:34:14,102 and not ale "women". 650 00:34:14,127 --> 00:34:17,072 It's because most of them were probably married 651 00:34:17,097 --> 00:34:22,142 and Elynor would have had a certain amount of financial freedom 652 00:34:22,167 --> 00:34:25,142 but it all belonged to their husbands. 653 00:34:25,167 --> 00:34:29,192 So, Elynor did all that hard work, didn't directly receive 654 00:34:29,217 --> 00:34:33,812 any financial reward and risked a ducking in the local pond. 655 00:34:37,377 --> 00:34:40,342 I wish I could have been standing here 500 years ago, 656 00:34:40,367 --> 00:34:45,461 watching the real Elynor presiding over her little boozy kingdom. 657 00:34:45,486 --> 00:34:48,711 But, as for this poem, I feel split down the middle 658 00:34:48,736 --> 00:34:52,942 about it because, on one hand, it's funny. It's bawdy. 659 00:34:52,967 --> 00:34:56,502 It brings to life a working woman in the Tudor period. 660 00:34:56,527 --> 00:34:57,911 But, on the other hand, 661 00:34:57,936 --> 00:34:59,552 it takes the mick out of her. 662 00:34:59,577 --> 00:35:01,272 It slags her off. 663 00:35:01,297 --> 00:35:05,352 And that kind of writing about working women at that time 664 00:35:05,377 --> 00:35:08,461 helped drive a nail in the coffin of their lives, 665 00:35:08,486 --> 00:35:11,352 and it meant that they were cut off from their work 666 00:35:11,377 --> 00:35:15,512 and all the opportunities that go with it for centuries to come. 667 00:35:18,127 --> 00:35:19,352 Coming UP--- 668 00:35:19,377 --> 00:35:21,272 Come on! Open the door! 669 00:35:21,297 --> 00:35:24,742 The tough life and tragic end of a seaman who lived on board 670 00:35:24,767 --> 00:35:27,711 the pride of Henry VIII's Navy... 671 00:35:27,736 --> 00:35:29,002 ...the Mary Rose. 672 00:35:29,027 --> 00:35:30,232 Oh, wow. 673 00:35:38,634 --> 00:35:40,399 Over the course of his reign, 674 00:35:40,424 --> 00:35:42,770 Henry VIII managed to annoy the Pope, 675 00:35:42,795 --> 00:35:45,690 the French, the Scots 676 00:35:45,715 --> 00:35:48,960 and, it seems, most people in Europe. 677 00:35:48,985 --> 00:35:50,570 # How did it happen? 678 00:35:50,595 --> 00:35:52,170 They'd had quite enough of Henry... 679 00:35:52,195 --> 00:35:54,940 # It's just another oops on me. # 680 00:35:56,475 --> 00:35:59,760 ...and now the threat of invasion hung in the air. 681 00:36:01,674 --> 00:36:04,840 The new situation demanded that England have a ready 682 00:36:04,865 --> 00:36:08,760 and well-equipped Navy, which meant that suddenly a lot of ordinary 683 00:36:08,785 --> 00:36:11,729 people had exciting new job possibilities 684 00:36:11,754 --> 00:36:13,890 and the chance of long-haul travel. 685 00:36:15,304 --> 00:36:20,250 7,000 new seamen were taken on as Henry expanded the Royal Navy 686 00:36:20,275 --> 00:36:22,479 from five to 40 warships. 687 00:36:25,355 --> 00:36:28,090 So, what kind of life could a novice sailor 688 00:36:28,115 --> 00:36:31,529 expect in the swashbuckling early clays of the Navy? 689 00:36:31,554 --> 00:36:36,040 Well, for once, we can answer that question in incredible detail, 690 00:36:36,065 --> 00:36:38,960 thanks to a remarkable Tudor time capsule 691 00:36:38,985 --> 00:36:42,320 that emerged from the drink nearly 40 years ago. 692 00:36:47,785 --> 00:36:49,040 In 1982... 693 00:36:49,065 --> 00:36:51,010 It's a wonderful structure and a wonderful sight. 694 00:36:51,035 --> 00:36:53,279 ...salvagers recovered Henry's flagship, 695 00:36:53,304 --> 00:36:57,080 Mary Rose, which had sunk back in 1545. 696 00:36:59,544 --> 00:37:03,200 On board were 19,000 artefacts 697 00:37:03,225 --> 00:37:07,399 and the jumbled bones of 179 sailors. 698 00:37:07,424 --> 00:37:09,479 And, in one corner of a lower deck, 699 00:37:09,504 --> 00:37:12,450 archaeologists found one complete skeleton. 700 00:37:13,575 --> 00:37:16,040 An ordinary seaman we'll calljohn, 701 00:37:16,065 --> 00:37:19,250 a man who went down with his ship. 702 00:37:19,275 --> 00:37:21,850 So, this is our man! This is John. 703 00:37:21,875 --> 00:37:22,840 This is john. 704 00:37:24,405 --> 00:37:27,609 Alex Hildred is a curator at the Mary Rose Trust 705 00:37:27,634 --> 00:37:31,570 and first dived the wreck back in 1979. 706 00:37:31,595 --> 00:37:33,810 He doesn't seem hugely tall. 707 00:37:33,835 --> 00:37:34,840 He isn't, actually. 708 00:37:34,865 --> 00:37:37,210 He's about our height, more or less. 709 00:37:37,235 --> 00:37:40,040 About five foot four-ish, maybe five foot five. 710 00:37:40,065 --> 00:37:43,130 I'm five foot four and a half, so... Yeah, perfect. 711 00:37:43,155 --> 00:37:45,090 ...almost identical. Almost identical. 712 00:37:45,115 --> 00:37:46,680 What about age? 713 00:37:46,705 --> 00:37:49,770 Age. You can see that the sutures have all closed. 714 00:37:49,795 --> 00:37:52,200 So he's probably between 20 and 30. 715 00:37:52,225 --> 00:37:56,020 A perfect age for somebody who's a hardworking individual. 716 00:37:56,045 --> 00:37:58,330 John, who would have looked something like this, 717 00:37:58,355 --> 00:38:00,640 was one of a crew of over 400. 718 00:38:02,835 --> 00:38:04,640 I can't wait to see his home, 719 00:38:04,665 --> 00:38:06,479 the ship where his body was found. 720 00:38:07,554 --> 00:38:09,250 Are you ready? Yeah. 721 00:38:09,275 --> 00:38:11,880 You know I've never seen this before? No! Really? 722 00:38:11,905 --> 00:38:12,890 Truly. 723 00:38:15,304 --> 00:38:17,090 Come on! Open the door! 724 00:38:17,115 --> 00:38:19,250 Go on, have a look. 725 00:38:19,275 --> 00:38:20,609 0h! 726 00:38:21,945 --> 00:38:22,920 Oh, wow. 727 00:38:27,585 --> 00:38:30,120 I've so always wanted to see this. 728 00:38:31,945 --> 00:38:35,090 To me, this is like the tomb of Tutankhamun. 729 00:38:40,475 --> 00:38:42,479 Half the ship rotted away, 730 00:38:42,504 --> 00:38:45,279 but the remaining half's in good nick. 731 00:38:45,304 --> 00:38:49,100 It's as though the Mary Rose was cut down the middle, lengthways, 732 00:38:49,125 --> 00:38:52,460 to give us a sneaky look inside John's home. 733 00:38:52,485 --> 00:38:54,489 Where was he actually found? 734 00:38:54,514 --> 00:38:56,180 He was found just over there. 735 00:38:56,205 --> 00:38:57,980 So, this is the hold of the ship. 736 00:38:58,005 --> 00:39:00,570 And there were four people in there 737 00:39:00,595 --> 00:39:05,640 and five barrels about this high with tar or pitch in them. 738 00:39:05,665 --> 00:39:07,930 So it looks as though he was working? 739 00:39:07,955 --> 00:39:10,170 It looks as though he was working. 740 00:39:12,595 --> 00:39:15,900 John had about the most important job on the ship, 741 00:39:15,925 --> 00:39:19,000 to stop it sinking by keeping it waterproof. 742 00:39:19,025 --> 00:39:21,729 What's known as "caulking". 743 00:39:21,754 --> 00:39:24,409 At sea, his mission was to constantly check 744 00:39:24,434 --> 00:39:26,609 that the timbers were watertight 745 00:39:26,634 --> 00:39:30,180 and to repair them with tar and pitch before the ship sank. 746 00:39:31,835 --> 00:39:34,970 Every day he would have worked a relentless shift pattern 747 00:39:34,995 --> 00:39:37,690 of four hours on, four hours off, 748 00:39:37,715 --> 00:39:40,279 signalled by the tolling of the ship's bell. 749 00:39:40,304 --> 00:39:42,200 A BELL RINGS 750 00:39:42,225 --> 00:39:46,450 John may have been a local lad who learned his craft 751 00:39:46,475 --> 00:39:50,650 from about 14 years of age as an apprentice at Portsmouth dockyard. 752 00:39:50,675 --> 00:39:52,279 Then around 18, 753 00:39:52,304 --> 00:39:56,499 he'd have had his big chance of a life of adventure at sea. 754 00:39:56,524 --> 00:39:58,180 Imagine his first day. 755 00:39:58,205 --> 00:40:00,930 He must have been completely awestruck. 756 00:40:04,675 --> 00:40:07,409 Do you have any idea where John might have slept? 757 00:40:07,434 --> 00:40:09,920 Likely he would have just slept anywhere that he could have done. 758 00:40:09,945 --> 00:40:13,010 Maybe on the storage deck above or on the main deck by the guns. 759 00:40:13,035 --> 00:40:16,330 That's the sort of thing we hear, of people just crunching themselves up 760 00:40:16,355 --> 00:40:19,100 beside the guns and falling asleep as much as they can. 761 00:40:19,125 --> 00:40:22,720 I bet everybody would assume that he would have slept in a hammock. 762 00:40:22,745 --> 00:40:24,200 Hammocks weren't around yet. 763 00:40:24,225 --> 00:40:26,399 So, no, no hammocks. 764 00:40:26,424 --> 00:40:28,619 And, for an ordinary seaman like john, 765 00:40:28,644 --> 00:40:31,200 there were certainly no cabins or bunks either. 766 00:40:32,475 --> 00:40:34,619 All right. We've got him up in the morning. 767 00:40:34,644 --> 00:40:36,900 What about his ablutions? 768 00:40:36,925 --> 00:40:39,850 Well, the only evidence we have for that are two channels, 769 00:40:39,875 --> 00:40:42,770 if you like, both up on the upper deck in the stern, 770 00:40:42,795 --> 00:40:45,260 which basically they were like urinals 771 00:40:45,285 --> 00:40:48,850 and they went out through the side of the ship with little protruding, 772 00:40:48,875 --> 00:40:51,820 basically, beams which had a hole in the centre 773 00:40:51,845 --> 00:40:53,720 so everything would go out the side. 774 00:40:56,075 --> 00:40:58,489 Have we got any evidence of the kinds of things 775 00:40:58,514 --> 00:41:03,000 that he might have done in order to make his spare time bearable? 776 00:41:03,025 --> 00:41:06,980 Actually, really close to where he was found, just on the deck above, 777 00:41:07,005 --> 00:41:09,570 we have evidence of two gaming boards. 778 00:41:09,595 --> 00:41:12,930 Musical instruments. In fact, we had a fiddle that was found 779 00:41:12,955 --> 00:41:15,130 just by the main mast. 780 00:41:15,155 --> 00:41:17,820 So, we've got a fiddle and a tabor drum and pipes. 781 00:41:19,235 --> 00:41:21,900 I love the idea that you've got a ship's band. 782 00:41:21,925 --> 00:41:24,460 You look at something like this and all you see 783 00:41:24,485 --> 00:41:27,850 in your mind's eye is the serious nature of running a ship. 784 00:41:27,875 --> 00:41:30,010 But they were grooving away as well. 785 00:41:30,035 --> 00:41:32,419 APPLAUSE AND CHEERING 786 00:41:32,444 --> 00:41:35,690 Also near John's skeleton they found one of these. 787 00:41:35,715 --> 00:41:38,210 I know what that is. That reminds me of primary school. 788 00:41:38,235 --> 00:41:40,640 Yeah. Those are one of our most common objects. 789 00:41:40,665 --> 00:41:45,330 Both the anti-nit combs part, which are very, very fine, 790 00:41:45,355 --> 00:41:47,619 and then the one for normal grooming. 791 00:41:47,644 --> 00:41:49,279 He would have had nits, wouldn't he? 792 00:41:49,304 --> 00:41:50,690 Probably. 793 00:41:50,715 --> 00:41:52,700 And you do hear of people throwing themselves 794 00:41:52,725 --> 00:41:55,210 in the sea to get rid of the nits. 795 00:41:55,235 --> 00:41:58,850 But John might have got comfort from a special friend. 796 00:41:58,875 --> 00:42:02,050 A small skeleton was found in the doorway where John 797 00:42:02,075 --> 00:42:04,260 would have picked up his tools. 798 00:42:04,285 --> 00:42:06,970 Interestingly, in the opening of it, because it was a sliding door, 799 00:42:06,995 --> 00:42:09,850 so almost jammed in the crack was a small dog. 800 00:42:13,835 --> 00:42:16,619 I know! We called him Hatch because he wasn't too far away 801 00:42:16,644 --> 00:42:19,619 from the hatches. But he was so far away that he couldn't get out. 802 00:42:19,644 --> 00:42:21,570 He couldn't get out. No, I know. 803 00:42:21,595 --> 00:42:25,010 And he, actually, is our most complete skeleton. 804 00:42:25,035 --> 00:42:27,010 I don't want to get too weepy about this, 805 00:42:27,035 --> 00:42:29,210 but John would have seen him every day, wouldn't he? 806 00:42:29,235 --> 00:42:31,220 He would have and he was only 18 months old, the dog. 807 00:42:31,245 --> 00:42:32,740 Just a baby, really. 808 00:42:32,765 --> 00:42:34,419 Let's move on before I... Cry. 809 00:42:34,444 --> 00:42:35,780 ...show myself up. 810 00:42:40,605 --> 00:42:43,910 This may be one of the great archaeological treasures 811 00:42:43,935 --> 00:42:48,619 of the world but it's also the place where young John lived 812 00:42:48,644 --> 00:42:52,010 and worked every day, along with 500 of his mates, 813 00:42:52,035 --> 00:42:54,580 in very dark, cramped conditions. 814 00:42:56,085 --> 00:42:59,369 Imagine, though, how proud he must have felt 815 00:42:59,394 --> 00:43:02,450 about being a crew member of the Mary Rose. 816 00:43:04,314 --> 00:43:06,010 But, in July 1545, 817 00:43:06,035 --> 00:43:10,570 the French attacked the English fleet at Portsmouth. 818 00:43:13,725 --> 00:43:17,210 Henry watched as the Mary Rose went out to engage the enemy. 819 00:43:19,835 --> 00:43:23,539 All the cannons to starboard fired a volley together but, 820 00:43:23,564 --> 00:43:24,860 as she turned, 821 00:43:24,885 --> 00:43:27,970 her gun ports fatally dipped beneath the waterline 822 00:43:27,995 --> 00:43:29,780 and water rushed in. 823 00:43:34,795 --> 00:43:39,180 John's whole world would literally have been turned upside down. 824 00:43:39,205 --> 00:43:42,810 There would have been things flying across the room, up, down, 825 00:43:42,835 --> 00:43:45,900 backwards, forwards, smacking him in the face. 826 00:43:45,925 --> 00:43:49,810 Then a final gush of freezing cold water. 827 00:43:49,835 --> 00:43:51,379 And then that was it. 828 00:43:51,404 --> 00:43:52,629 No escape. 829 00:43:55,965 --> 00:43:57,930 The Mary Rose sank like a stone. 830 00:43:59,394 --> 00:44:02,299 Only 30 of over 400 crew members escaped. 831 00:44:03,835 --> 00:44:06,990 John perished where he worked. 832 00:44:07,015 --> 00:44:10,369 I like to think that John would be pleased to know 833 00:44:10,394 --> 00:44:14,629 that the English Navy finally managed to repulse the French 834 00:44:14,654 --> 00:44:18,289 and also that he might be a bit tickled if he knew that, 835 00:44:18,314 --> 00:44:20,299 500 years after he died, 836 00:44:20,324 --> 00:44:22,900 his life would become immortalised. 837 00:44:27,755 --> 00:44:32,260 The Mary Rose had been Henry's pride and joy for 34 years. 838 00:44:32,285 --> 00:44:34,369 Its end foreshadowed his own. 839 00:44:35,755 --> 00:44:37,450 He died two years later. 840 00:44:38,725 --> 00:44:40,440 And, thanks to his reign, 841 00:44:40,465 --> 00:44:44,619 the lives of ordinary people would never be the same again. 842 00:44:47,675 --> 00:44:49,700 In the next episode... 843 00:44:49,725 --> 00:44:51,419 Right. Let's go. 844 00:44:51,444 --> 00:44:54,539 ...I'll be meeting some Victorian Britons. 845 00:44:54,564 --> 00:44:57,700 The female miners who hauled coal... 846 00:44:57,725 --> 00:45:01,570 But it wasn't the backbreaking conditions that shocked everyone. 847 00:45:01,595 --> 00:45:03,530 It was, believe it or not, 848 00:45:03,555 --> 00:45:04,880 the nudity. 849 00:45:04,905 --> 00:45:08,369 ...and new experiences that changed their world. 850 00:45:08,394 --> 00:45:10,810 It's the invention of modern shopping. 851 00:45:31,955 --> 00:45:33,810 Subtitles by Red Bee Media