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I'm in the deserts of the eastern end
of the Mediterranean in Jordan.
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People have been wandering through
these lands for tens of thousands of years
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and I'm with one of the last groups
to do so, the Bedouin.
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Like their ancestors,
they're almost entirely dependent
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on their domesticated animals.
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Their camels, their sheep and their goats.
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But the animal that they prize most of all
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is, oddly, the one which seems
to have little practical value to them.
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They neither eat it nor milk it,
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nor use it as a beast of burden.
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It's this. The horse.
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The Arabs are great judges
of horse flesh and great riders.
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And they used the horse, only until recently,
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on those raids and skirmishes
which up to 30 years ago
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were so much a part of their lives.
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Wild horses, like these,
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once lived over much of
Europe and central Asia.
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They have short, stiff manes
that stand more or less upright
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and a bold black stripe
running down their back.
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Man tamed them some 3,000 years after
he had domesticated cattle,
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initially in order to eat them.
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But by 3,000BC he had found that he could
use them to pull carts and wagons.
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The Egyptians harnessed them
with wide reins low around their necks
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and used them for pulling their war chariots.
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At around the same time, farther to the east,
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the Assyrians were putting a jointed bar
of metal... a bit... into the horse's mouth
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and controlling it much more effectively.
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Stirrups were unknown in the Mediterranean,
even in Greek times.
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That invaluable aid for riding
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probably originated far away
in the steppes of central Asia.
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Some people there, even today,
virtually live on horseback.
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In Afghanistan, they still play the ancient
and violent game of Buzkashi,
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00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:48,831
a kind of mass polo,
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in which the ball is a sand... filled skin
of a freshly killed goat.
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Roman writers said that the wild tribes
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who regularly raided settlements
along the frontier of the empire
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were perpetually on the move,
driving their livestock in front of them,
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the women and children
following behind in wagons.
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They never slept inside a house
nor planted any crops.
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They lived entirely on milk and meat.
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Their cruelty shocked even the Romans,
who had such a taste for it.
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After battles, they skinned
their slaughtered enemies
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00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:25,235
and slung the bloody pelts
over their horses as trophies.
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This passion for horses
spread right round the eastern Mediterranean
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and along the northern coast of Africa,
where it still flourishes.
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00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,953
In the 4th century, the mounted tribes
living along the northern frontier
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00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:01,871
of the decaying Roman Empire,
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00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:04,713
in a series of extraordinary
mass migrations,
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overran western Europe,
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burning, looting and destroying
wherever they went.
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00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:18,719
The Huns rode west around
the Caspian Sea into Hungary.
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00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,110
Another tribe, the Visigoths,
started southwards,
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fighting their way through
Greece into Italy
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and on into France and Spain.
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The Vandals rode down from the north
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right across Europe into North Africa
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to cross the Mediterranean again
and sack Rome.
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The Huns, on the move once more,
were joined by Goths
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to complete the destruction of Roman power
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and the civilisation that had
grown up under its protection.
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By this time the great Roman cities
of North Africa,
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such as Leptis were already in decline.
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The fields around them, once so fertile,
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but now stripped of their cover
of natural vegetation
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were badly eroded
and could no longer provide the food
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00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:05,836
to support a large population.
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So the aqueducts fell into into disrepair,
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the columns of the temples tumbled
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and the influence of Rome began to wane.
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00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:17,830
How far nomads were responsible
for this change
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00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:20,354
is a matter of argument among historians.
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00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:23,477
But certainly, as the Roman
way of life diminished,
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so the surviving peoples took
to a more pastoral way of life
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00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:29,988
becoming more and more dependent
on grazing animals,
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and in particular, the goat.
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The goat has the most
extraordinary mouth.
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It seems impervious to the sharpest thorns
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and goats will eat vegetation that
no cow or sheep will tackle.
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That means that they can live in near desert.
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It also means that because
they eat every seedling
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and anything else that is green,
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they keep the land a near desert.
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00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:14,069
The desert peoples had another
important animal in their lives,
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a beast of burden, the camel.
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00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:19,515
In the seventh century, a camel driver
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00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,319
working with the caravans that
crossed the Arabian deserts,
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taking gold and spices
to the Mediterranean ports,
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had profound religious visions
and began to preach a new faith.
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00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:33,669
His name was Mohammed and his faith, Islam.
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(Call to prayer)
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Mohammed's revelations were recorded
in the sacred book of Islam, the Qur'an.
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Associated with it were
a great variety of religious texts
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00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:11,908
which included detailed instructions
on how to care for the horse
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and this account of its origin.
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God took a handful of the south wind, it says,
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and created the horse.
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And he said unto it,
"I create thee and name thee Arab.
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"Goodness I tie to the hair of thy forlock.
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"Booty shall come from
the strength of thy back.
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"Power shall be with you,
wherever you are.
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"I hold you above all beasts,
making you lord of them all.
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"I make you obedient to your master
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"and able to fly without wings.
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"You are destined for flight and pursuit."
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Inspired with the fanatical fervour by
Mohammed's teaching,
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the horsemen of Islam set of on
a series of lightning campaigns
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to convert all the people around them
to this new faith.
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No foot soldiers or baggage trains
accompanied this swashbuckling cavalry.
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They lived off the land and they carried
their swords and the Qur'an
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all around the Mediterranean.
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From Mecca, where Mohammed first preached,
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they rode north to Jerusalem
and onto Constantinople.
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They went west all along
the coast of North Africa
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across the Straits of Gibraltar
and into Spain.
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There they defeated
the armies of the Visigoths,
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the one... time nomads who had
ruled Spain for three centuries.
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So the Spanish people lost one alien rule
and gained another.
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They established their Spanish capital
here at Cordoba
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They partly demolished the Christian basilica
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and using marble columns
rescued from the Roman ruins
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that lay all around this ancient city,
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They converted it in the year 785,
into a mosque.
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They were to build over 3,000 mosques
in this one city.
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They installed street lighting
and public sanitation.
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They established a university.
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And so they converted Cordoba
with its half million inhabitants
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into one of the great cities of Islam.
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They also greatly enlarged this mosque
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by building a forest of pillars.
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To do that, they needed no specifically
Islamic architectural technique.
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But on one side, facing not east, towards
Mecca,
as is traditional
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but south towards land from which they came,
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they built a mihrab.
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(# Arabic music)
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It's one of the glories
of Islamic architecture
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and epitomises the dazzling artistry
craftsmanship of these people.
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The Arab prince who ruled over Granada,
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built himself a magnificent citidel
on the hill above the city
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that became known as the Red Palace,
Alhambra.
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As might be expected of people
with traditions of living in deserts,
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they lavished great care and skill
on conserving and controlling water.
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They built giant water wheels like these,
which still survive in Syria.
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Groaning as they turn
on their wooden axles,
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as they have done on this site
for a thousand years.
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Driven by the current of the river,
they lift water 70 or 80 feet,
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and tip it out into an aqueduct
along which it flows
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throughout the city to irrigate its gardens.
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For them a garden was literally paradise.
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They used the same word for both.
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Outside its walls, lay the blazing sand
and harsh sun of the desert.
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Inside, cool shade, the sound of trickling water,
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the colour and perfume of flowers.
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So around their castles here in Spain
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they built gardens,
just as they had back in Africa.
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And they brought with them
many of their favourite plants.
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Including, for example, this. The orange.
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They had acquired this tree from the Chinese,
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and grew it as much for its
perfume as for its fruit,
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which in the early varieties, was bitter,
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as several oranges are still today.
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They also imported peacocks from
the eastern territories of their empire,
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which now extended as far as India,
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to glorify their gardens with
their astounding displays.
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The Arabs, indeed, were particularly
knowledgeable and skilled
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in the handling of birds.
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Pigeons were probably the first birds
to be domesticated by man anywhere.
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The Romans had kept them imprisoned
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and even broke their wings
to prevent them flying
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so as to fatten them for the table.
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The Arabs, however,
allowed them to fly free
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00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:02,435
and provided them with miniature castles,
like these in Egypt.
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They're built of earthenware pipes
stuck together with mud,
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inside which the birds nest.
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From these colonies they range over
the surrounding countryside,
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collecting scattered grains of corn
and other tiny particles of food.
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These they convert into meat
and eggs and droppings
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which accumulate
in the bottom of these towers
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and constitute a magnificent fertiliser.
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00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:34,232
But falcons are the Arabs' passion.
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500 years ago, when they had no guns,
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hawks were almost the only means they had
of catching game
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and they carried falcon with them
wherever they went.
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The tradition continues unbroken.
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00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:54,716
The favourite quarry in winter
is the houbara bustard.
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It's a big bird,
about twice the size of most falcons,
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which must have both strength and courage
if they're to bring one down.
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00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,315
The hood is an Arab invention.
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00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:33,436
It has drawstrings around the neck
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and fits snuggly over the beak when it's on,
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00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:39,118
so that light is totally excluded
from the bird's eyes
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00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:41,919
and it immediately settles down
and remains clam.
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00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:56,155
These portable perches
were also devised by the Arabs.
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00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:03,713
By tradition, the falconers always make a point
of handling their birds a great deal,
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00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:07,713
both to keep them tame and to make it easier
to treat them for minor injuries,
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00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:09,756
such as broken feathers.
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00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:22,353
A hare, an eagerly sought... after quarry,
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00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:25,910
both for the skill needed to catch it
and the value of its meat.
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00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:45,596
(Squealing)
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00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:52,910
This is exactly how falcons catch their prey
in the wild.
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For the bird, is of course, at this moment
an entirely free agent.
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(Man speaking Arabic over loudhailer)
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00:18:04,360 --> 00:18:07,318
The falconer allows his bird
a share of its catch.
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00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:10,517
Usually the liver, the lungs and the heart.
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00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:13,512
If he did not,
the falcon might not continue to hunt.
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00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:18,113
But the owners take the main part
of the carcass
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00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:20,555
and they will eat it with particular relish.
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00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:24,269
For, although falconry in Arabia
is certainly a sport,
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00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:27,557
it also remains, as once most importantly was,
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00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:29,870
a way of catching food in the desert,
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00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:34,476
where real hunger continually afflicts
most animals and men.
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00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:43,511
The Europeans also hunted with falcons
for many centuries
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00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:46,160
but their techniques
were less sophisticated
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00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:49,357
and the Arab style of hawking
spread from places
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00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:51,112
where Muslim influence was strong,
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00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:54,397
such as Sicily and also of course
from Islamic Spain.
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00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:00,710
Although the people of Medieval Europe
217
00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:05,510
were learning newer
and more efficient ways of hunting animals,
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00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:08,637
their beliefs about them
and their attitudes towards them
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00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:13,430
remained in many instances
rooted in a pre... Christian pagan past.
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00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:17,316
They credited some animals
with the most extraordinary powers.
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00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:19,709
For example in gullies like this,
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00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:21,916
where the moss... covered rocks
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retain just a particle of moisture
even during the hottest summer,
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00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:30,918
they believed they occasionally could find one
of the most lethal and poisonous creatures
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00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:32,319
in the whole of creation.
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00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:36,269
A 13th... century writer describes
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00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:38,715
how the army of Alexander the Great
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00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:42,713
drank from a stream
through which this animal had just passed
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00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:45,360
and during the night all 4,000 men
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00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:48,352
and their 4,000 horses died.
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00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:52,115
And this is the creature
they were so terrified of.
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00:19:54,360 --> 00:19:55,713
It's a salamander.
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00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:58,268
And of course it's entirely harmless.
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00:19:58,360 --> 00:20:01,989
It's a kind of large newt
that spends most of its time on land.
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00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:04,674
Being an amphibian it has a moist skin
236
00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,558
and during the day
it usually hides in damp places...
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00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:12,191
under leaves or beneath the bark
of wet rotten logs... and is rarely seen.
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00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:15,634
Perhaps if such a log were thrown on a fire
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00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:17,517
a salamander might come out of it.
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00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:19,556
And if the log were really
damp and rotten,
241
00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:21,915
the fire might be put out.
242
00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,714
At any rate, the salamander was believed
to be so magically powerful
243
00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:31,429
that it could live in fire and extinguish it.
244
00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:40,318
And still, to this day,
245
00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:43,551
we call a species the fire salamander.
246
00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:01,909
Even as inoffensive and harmless
a creature as a moth
247
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:05,515
could become in the medieval mind,
a creature of dread.
248
00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:12,315
If it flew in through an open window at night,
249
00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:15,551
people believed it might kill them
as they lay sleeping.
250
00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:23,674
And all because it had on its body
251
00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:26,638
a mark that looked like a death's head.
252
00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:35,717
The fox was believed to be so sly and deceitful
253
00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:41,193
that it would feign death and entice birds
to fly down and feed on its corpse.
254
00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:46,397
Then it would suddenly come to life
and catch them.
255
00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:52,194
The eagle was thought to be immortal.
256
00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:54,748
When it got old it flew close to the sun,
257
00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:57,752
scorched off its tattered, worn... out feathers
258
00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:00,035
and dived into the waters of a lake.
259
00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:03,435
Then it came out, rejuvenated,
260
00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:07,513
perhaps even, like this one,
with a fish in its talons.
261
00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:10,319
Maybe the artist had seen an osprey fishing.
262
00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:18,913
This species of wild goose
is a rare visitor to southern Europe
263
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,515
and no one living there in medieval times
could have seen its nest.
264
00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:26,912
So, people reasoned, these geese must come
into the world in some other fashion.
265
00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:28,956
Perhaps from these barnacles
266
00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:32,430
which have what look like small,
bedraggled feathers inside them.
267
00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:35,717
And, as everyone knows,
only birds have feathers.
268
00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:40,316
So, the illustrators of the medieval
natural history books, the bestiaries,
269
00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,358
obligingly showed exactly
how that came about.
270
00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:48,554
Nonsense? 0f course.
271
00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:52,110
These geese lay eggs in nests
like any other bird.
272
00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:55,317
But they do so out of most people's sight
in the Arctic.
273
00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:59,598
Nonetheless, we still call this species of goose
the barnacle goose,
274
00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:02,717
and that kind of barnacle, the goose barnacle.
275
00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:06,956
There were also superstitions about plants.
276
00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:10,919
This strange spike appears each summer
on a rocky islet in Malta.
277
00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:18,154
For centuries, it was thought
that it lived only in this one tiny location.
278
00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:21,710
Though now it has been found
in one or two other places as well.
279
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:25,509
And for centuries, too,
it was thought not only to be rare
280
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:30,230
but a very powerful medicine
against a whole variety of diseases.
281
00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:33,118
So much so, it was extremely valuable.
282
00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,192
And the Grand Master of the Knights
of St John in Malta
283
00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:39,033
had to post a guard on this rock
to prevent thieves.
284
00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:41,031
And he regularly gathered it
285
00:23:41,120 --> 00:23:43,509
and sent it as a most valued gift
286
00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:45,556
to all the crown heads of Europe.
287
00:23:47,360 --> 00:23:50,909
The mandrake contains a drug
that produces hallucinations
288
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:53,878
and was used by apothecaries in potions.
289
00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:55,916
Its root, often cleft,
290
00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,912
was believed to be shaped
like a human being.
291
00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:02,515
And close inspection could determine
whether it was male or female.
292
00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:05,910
If it was pulled up,
it was supposed to scream,
293
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:09,709
and anyone who heard that dreadful sound
would be struck dead immediately.
294
00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:14,274
So an apothecary gathering a mandrake
295
00:24:14,360 --> 00:24:18,512
had to take with him a horn
and to plug his ears with beeswax.
296
00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:22,190
Even tugging at the plant could be lethal
297
00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:24,635
and to deal with that, he had to have a dog,
298
00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:27,314
which he had to tie to the mandrake.
299
00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:32,833
Then, blowing his horn to drown
the dreadful shriek
300
00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:35,309
and whipping the dog so that it bolted,
301
00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:37,709
he could draw the root in safety.
302
00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:45,716
(Church bells ringing)
303
00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,716
Not all of these pagan beliefs
have completely died.
304
00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:57,916
In Cucullo, a small village
in the Abruzzi mountains, east of Rome,
305
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:00,275
an ancient animal cult still flourishes.
306
00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:03,235
0n the first Thursday in May, every year,
307
00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:06,437
a statue of St Dominic
is brought out from the church.
308
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:10,110
He is being adorned with snakes.
309
00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:23,276
The snakes are harmless.
310
00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:25,828
They are four... lined and Aesculapian snakes.
311
00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:29,037
And as they, in the wild,
frequently climb in trees,
312
00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:31,315
they tend to cling to the statue.
313
00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:35,437
As the saint and his snakes
are carried in procession,
314
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:39,195
the worshippers entreat him to protect them
from the bites of other snakes,
315
00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:42,716
for there are dangerously poisonous snakes
in the countryside.
316
00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:47,199
He is also said, by a rather curious
and convoluted logic,
317
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:49,236
to be able to cure toothache.
318
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:54,436
(Brass band playing)
319
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:05,113
The people believe that their saint, St Dominic,
320
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:08,510
who founded the Dominican order of monks
in the 13th century,
321
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:11,034
was once bitten by a poisonous snake
322
00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:14,317
but, miraculously, he suffered no ill effects,
323
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:17,915
and that therefore he has the power
to grant protection to others.
324
00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:25,714
But it's likely that the origins of this bizarre cult
325
00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:29,110
are rooted in practices
of a far more distant past.
326
00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:32,988
Many pagan myths became absorbed
into Christian practice in this way
327
00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:37,756
and some were even built into the fabric
of the churches themselves.
328
00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:41,920
This centaur... half horse, half human...
329
00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:44,355
is an inheritance
from the myths of Greece.
330
00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:49,070
There's also another alien influence
in this cloister, that of Islam.
331
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:51,720
For this church in Le Puy in southern France
332
00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,917
has arches reminiscent of the mosque
in Cordoba.
333
00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:57,871
Le Puy stands on the pilgrim road
334
00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:01,157
leading to the shrine of St James
in Compostela in Spain,
335
00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:03,879
one of the most holy sites
in all Christendom.
336
00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:08,590
But Compostela was not far from the Spanish
territories held by the Muslims.
337
00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:12,719
And the Bishop of Le Puy must have regarded
Islam as a very real threat.
338
00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:17,316
In 1095, the Pope arrived here from Rome
to confer with the Bishop.
339
00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:23,034
We can't be certain
exactly what they talked about
340
00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:28,194
but we do know for sure that the Pope had
been receiving urgent pleas for help
341
00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:30,032
from the Christians of Constantinople
342
00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:33,396
who were under continuous attack
by the armies of Islam.
343
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:36,517
And it seems likely
that they were planning a holy war.
344
00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:38,591
At the end of their conversations,
345
00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:41,274
the Pope summoned all the bishops
of Christendom
346
00:27:41,360 --> 00:27:43,316
to come and meet him
in three months' time
347
00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:46,198
in Clermont, 50 miles from here.
348
00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:51,479
At the end of that conference, the Pope
preached a sermon to an enormous congregation
349
00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:54,154
just outside the city of Clermont.
350
00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:57,073
It was an insult to Christianity, he said,
351
00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:01,039
that Jerusalem and the Holy Land
should be in the hand of the infidel.
352
00:28:01,120 --> 00:28:03,918
And he called for an army to go and free it.
353
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,515
The sermon was met with wild enthusiasm.
354
00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:10,398
The Bishop of Le Puy
was one of the first to volunteer
355
00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,869
and was put in charge
of the whole enterprise.
356
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,793
And the next autumn,
men from all over Europe
357
00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:19,714
started marching eastwards
to assemble in Constantinople
358
00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:22,109
and to go on the first Crusade.
359
00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:30,838
There was much squabbling
about who should take command,
360
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,992
but eventually the huge army marched
out of the gates of the city,
361
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:38,596
crossed the straits of the Bosphoros
and set off eastwards for Asia.
362
00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:42,158
In the mountains of Turkey, the going is rough.
363
00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:45,118
The Crusaders' horses were large,
heavily... built animals,
364
00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:47,031
unsuited for such country.
365
00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:51,718
Many fell and were eaten
by the hungry troops.
366
00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:56,390
By the time the Christian army
reached the desert
367
00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:58,710
and turned south towards Jerusalem,
368
00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:02,236
much of the baggage was being carried by
locally obtained mules,
369
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:04,276
even goats and dogs.
370
00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:09,712
The heavily... armoured knights
fought by charging the enemy,
371
00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:11,995
and trying to unseat them with a lance.
372
00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:14,310
They could then butcher them
with their swords.
373
00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:20,914
The Muslim horses were small and agile,
374
00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:23,912
ideal for making swift, surprise raids.
375
00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:28,914
In their citadels, they defended themselves
with spears and arrows.
376
00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:32,633
The Crusaders stormed the walls directly,
377
00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:34,676
and tunnelled beneath them.
378
00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:38,912
They used huge catapults
to hurl boulders over the ramparts,
379
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:40,911
or to batter them down.
380
00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:44,718
0ne by one, the Muslim cities were taken,
381
00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:49,920
each siege ending only too often
in a wholesale massacre of the inhabitants.
382
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:53,709
Until at last, July 15th, 1099,
383
00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:56,314
Jerusalem, the Holy City itself,
384
00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:58,914
was reclaimed for Christendom.
385
00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:04,318
To keep control of their gains,
386
00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:08,712
the Crusaders set up a chain of huge castles
round the eastern end of the Mediterranean.
387
00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:13,153
The most perfectly surviving today
is Crac De Chevalier in Syria.
388
00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:19,314
Inside the fortified walls
lived a huge community,
389
00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:23,518
some 4,000 Christian souls
in the case of this particular castle.
390
00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:27,910
There was the commander,
his wife and his children,
391
00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:30,912
100 knights or so who had sworn
allegiance to him,
392
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:35,312
and many more foot soldiers
and locally recruited servants and helpers.
393
00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:40,715
Here in the heart of the castle,
the knights had their lodgings where they slept.
394
00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:44,911
Beyond that stood the vaulted
refectory where they ate
395
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,913
and the chapel where together
they all prayed.
396
00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:55,918
Beneath, on the ground floor, is a vast hall
397
00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:58,070
where they stabled all their horses.
398
00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:00,754
And below that,
vaults that held enough supplies
399
00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:03,559
for them to withstand sieges
of months or even years.
400
00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:07,637
An aqueduct channelled in water,
though during a siege,
401
00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:11,030
rain could be collected in vast cisterns
cut deep in the rock.
402
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:15,915
Even so, the Christian soldiers
who patrolled these walls
403
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:18,195
began to adopt the local customs.
404
00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:20,669
They developed a taste for spicy food
405
00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:23,320
and wore silken robes, even turbans.
406
00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:27,269
Crac's defences were unsurpassed
407
00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:31,273
and surrounded by an outer ring of walls
studded with towers.
408
00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:33,316
Inside that lies a moat
409
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:36,278
and beyond that another line of walls.
410
00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:40,751
The only way in was over a drawbridge
and through a heavily... guarded gate.
411
00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:47,914
Lf, by some trickery or sheer force of arms,
412
00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:51,709
attackers got across the drawbridge
and through the main gate,
413
00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:55,713
they then had to fight their way
up this long, sloping passage.
414
00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:58,669
And when they got here they were faced
415
00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:00,751
with a confusing change of direction.
416
00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:05,630
A hairpin bend, behind which a fresh band
of defenders could be waiting.
417
00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:08,314
And up this passage there was a new peril.
418
00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:10,960
Holes in the roof.
419
00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:15,074
Through them poured a lethal hail
420
00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:17,276
of boulders and arrows
421
00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:19,715
and boiling pitch and oil.
422
00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:22,314
Even if he survived as far as this,
423
00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:26,313
an attacker had then to face
the massed knights,
424
00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:29,517
who awaited him to do battle
in the inner courtyard.
425
00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:32,512
In fact, during the entire history
of the castle,
426
00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:35,512
no invader fought his way as far as this.
427
00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:40,038
Indeed, these defences
were so carefully planned
428
00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:42,190
and so ingeniously designed,
429
00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:44,714
that the castle was virtually impregnable.
430
00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:51,911
But in the end, the defence of a castle
depends on an adequate number of men.
431
00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:56,835
And after a century and a half of sending
successive armies to the Holy Land,
432
00:32:56,920 --> 00:32:59,115
the Europeans were beginning
to lose their zeal.
433
00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:02,718
In 1271 a much depleted garrison
434
00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:06,076
surrendered this castle
after only a month's siege,
435
00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:10,915
in exchange for a safe passage
down to the Mediterranean coast, at Tripoli.
436
00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:17,159
Over the next 20 years, the rest
of the Crusaders straggled back home.
437
00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:20,277
They took with them
a love of silk and spices,
438
00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:23,955
an admiration of the agile
lightly... built Arabian horse,
439
00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:25,996
and something that ultimately
440
00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:28,310
was to devastate all Europe.
441
00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:33,158
It crept on board the ships
of the returning armies
442
00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:35,196
and travelled with them.
443
00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:37,236
It was the black rat.
444
00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:41,108
It had already reached Europe,
one way or another, in previous centuries.
445
00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:44,317
But the rats the Crusaders
inadvertently carried with them
446
00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:46,914
had come from the ports
of the eastern Mediterranean
447
00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:49,594
where plague was rampant and endemic.
448
00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:02,156
The rats were infected
with a form of septicaemia in their blood,
449
00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:04,196
which eventually killed them.
450
00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:06,840
They couldn't transmit this directly to man.
451
00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:09,718
But they were also infested with fleas...
452
00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:11,756
and they could.
453
00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:17,394
Some fleas are very particular
about their hosts
454
00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:19,516
and will bite only one kind of animal.
455
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:24,915
But, tragically for humanity,
that was not so with these fleas.
456
00:34:36,720 --> 00:34:39,712
The fleas fed by sucking the rat's blood.
457
00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:42,230
And when the rat died of its disease,
458
00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:44,709
the fleas hopped onto another rat,
459
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:46,756
or a human being,
460
00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:50,071
and passed on the bacillus
by injecting when they next fed
461
00:34:50,160 --> 00:34:52,310
into the blood of their new host.
462
00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:03,153
As the rats spread
through the increasingly crowded
463
00:35:03,240 --> 00:35:05,435
and insanitary cities of Western Europe,
464
00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:07,476
so did the disease.
465
00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:11,512
The great pestilence broke out in 1347.
466
00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:13,670
It appeared first in Sicily
467
00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:16,115
but soon it was raging all over the continent.
468
00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:21,115
Boils appeared on people's bodies.
469
00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:24,397
Their breath became foul
and they vomited blood.
470
00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:27,517
And then they died.
Sometimes in a few days,
471
00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:29,716
sometimes within a few hours.
472
00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:32,669
Nobody knew what caused the disease.
473
00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:34,716
Nobody knew how to stop it.
474
00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:36,950
Within three years of its outbreak in Europe,
475
00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:39,713
it had killed one person in three.
476
00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:50,916
Most of Europe at this time
was covered with forest.
477
00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:52,956
Although towns were growing,
478
00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:55,793
there were still vast tracts of the wild wood
479
00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:57,916
largely unaffected by man.
480
00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:01,316
Every species of animal
that had been known
481
00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:03,709
to the Romans still flourished.
482
00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:11,510
Wild pig were very common
483
00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:14,797
and they regularly interbred
with domesticated pigs
484
00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:16,836
that wandered out into the forest.
485
00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:37,272
Deer were abundant and much hunted
for their excellent meat.
486
00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:00,433
The beaver, which today
is almost entirely restricted
487
00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:02,476
to northern and eastern Europe,
488
00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:05,074
was, in medieval times, common in rivers
489
00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:07,549
right down to the coast
of the Mediterranean.
490
00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:27,309
But others were felling trees in the forest
at that time, too.
491
00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:30,597
Wood, after all,
was still people's primary fuel.
492
00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:33,353
It was used for building
and the population,
493
00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:36,318
now rapidly increasing
after the ravages of the plague,
494
00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:40,632
wanted more cleared land for their houses,
their crops and their herds.
495
00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:48,878
In Spain, this animal had a particular
responsibility for the destruction of the forests.
496
00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:50,916
These are merino sheep,
497
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:54,356
a breed which was introduced
in the 13th century into Spain
498
00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:56,829
by the Arabs from North Africa.
499
00:37:56,920 --> 00:37:59,434
Every summer since then,
huge herds of them
500
00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:02,159
have been driven right across Spain
from south to north.
501
00:38:02,960 --> 00:38:04,916
They stick to the same traditional routes,
502
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:09,118
even though during the last few centuries
towns have grown up in their path.
503
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:12,954
No matter.
The traffic must stop to let the sheep past.
504
00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:26,068
The journey is made
because as summer approaches,
505
00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:29,516
their winter pastures on the lowlands
of southern Spain dry up
506
00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:33,513
and the sheep have to get to the grass
that is now sprouting in the mountains.
507
00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:38,992
Merinos, when they first appeared in Europe,
were a sensation.
508
00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:41,719
Their wool was longer
than any other known until then
509
00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:43,916
and it made a marvellous cloth.
510
00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:46,912
Everyone wanted it and only Spain produced it.
511
00:38:50,760 --> 00:38:55,470
More and more Spanish aristocrats
acquired bigger and bigger herds.
512
00:38:55,560 --> 00:38:59,917
The King of Spain put a tax on the head
of every merino sheep
513
00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:02,389
and every pound of wool they produced.
514
00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:05,119
And eventually he, too,
had became a great sheep owner.
515
00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:10,276
By the 16th century there were three million
merino sheep in Spain.
516
00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:13,716
And their wool was a major element
in the country's economy.
517
00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:17,909
The King of Spain did everything he could
to protect them
518
00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:20,912
and, therefore, his wealth.
519
00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:24,310
He made it illegal to export
a living merino sheep,
520
00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:26,709
so as to protect the country's monopoly.
521
00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:29,439
And he did his best to protect these,
522
00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:35,595
These great, wide drovers' roads
running right across Spain, the caņadas.
523
00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:52,153
The sheep needed
these broad ribbons of land
524
00:39:52,240 --> 00:39:55,038
not simply to walk on but to feed on.
525
00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:57,509
The 500... mile journey
took them a month or so
526
00:39:57,600 --> 00:39:59,750
and they had to eat as they travelled.
527
00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:03,116
The King made laws forbidding
the farmers to fence their fields,
528
00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:06,749
or even to drive the sheep away
if they started feeding on their crops.
529
00:40:07,320 --> 00:40:09,993
Land was commandeered to widen the caņadas,
530
00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:12,719
and if a farmer objected
he could be put to death.
531
00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:18,272
Eventually these great paths
were 250 feet across, as this one is.
532
00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:25,353
Up in the mountains the pastures
were also greatly expanded.
533
00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:28,000
The forests that had
once come close to the summits
534
00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:30,913
of all except the highest peaks,
were cut down.
535
00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:33,036
First around the high moorland,
536
00:40:33,120 --> 00:40:35,714
and then farther
and farther down into the valleys,
537
00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:39,713
until, in some places,
the whole mountain had been stripped bare
538
00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:42,030
to provide grass in the summertime
539
00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:45,112
for the searching muzzles
of thousands of sheep.
540
00:40:55,160 --> 00:40:57,720
So, the forests of Spain,
541
00:40:57,800 --> 00:41:00,030
from the lowland winter pastures,
542
00:41:00,120 --> 00:41:02,190
along the wide caņadas,
543
00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:04,430
and up here into the mountains
544
00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:07,318
were sacrificed for the merino sheep.
545
00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:12,758
At the end of the 15th century,
the King of Spain sent merinos to Italy,
546
00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:15,559
where he also owned vast territories.
547
00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:17,790
And the same thing happened there.
548
00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:22,908
And there too, there was another reason
for the wholesale felling of trees.
549
00:41:50,760 --> 00:41:53,274
Italy was not yet united into one nation,
550
00:41:53,360 --> 00:41:55,715
but was a group
of independent states.
551
00:41:55,800 --> 00:41:57,916
And foremost among them was Venice,
552
00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:00,912
the most serene republic
as she called herself,
553
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:03,070
and certainly the greatest naval power
554
00:42:03,160 --> 00:42:06,118
and richest trading nation
in the western Mediterranean.
555
00:42:11,560 --> 00:42:13,949
Every year, her ruler, the Doge
556
00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:17,112
was rode in great states down the Grand Canal
557
00:42:17,200 --> 00:42:20,715
and out into the lagoon
to be ceremonially wedded to the sea
558
00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:23,314
on which the city's prosperity depended.
559
00:42:58,760 --> 00:43:01,957
But the cities wealth
also depended on ships
560
00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:04,315
and ships required trees.
561
00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:08,909
Venice owned vast forest
that stretched almost unbroken
562
00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:12,037
from the shores of her lagoon,
to the flanks of the Alps.
563
00:43:12,120 --> 00:43:16,636
And in them were all the different
kinds of trees her shipwrights required.
564
00:43:16,720 --> 00:43:19,871
0aks for ribs, deck beams and keels.
565
00:43:19,960 --> 00:43:23,316
Elms for capstains, walnut for rudders.
566
00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:25,994
Spruce and fir for masts
567
00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:28,036
and beech for oars.
568
00:43:33,360 --> 00:43:35,999
She built two very different kinds of ship.
569
00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:39,911
Huge, square... rigged
broad... bellet merchantmen
570
00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:41,956
which carried her bulk trade.
571
00:43:43,680 --> 00:43:45,875
And slim, speedy galleys,
572
00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:48,838
driven by oars that maintained
regular schedules
573
00:43:48,920 --> 00:43:51,718
and carried valuables like spices and gold.
574
00:43:53,600 --> 00:43:56,910
The galleys were built in the state dockyard,
the arsenal.
575
00:43:57,000 --> 00:44:00,913
For they were also the most powerful
of the state's fighting ships.
576
00:44:02,960 --> 00:44:05,110
These yards were the base of the navy
577
00:44:05,200 --> 00:44:07,395
that dominated the western Mediterranean.
578
00:44:08,200 --> 00:44:11,158
The fleet was essential
to Venice's survival.
579
00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:13,676
The war between Christendom and Islam
580
00:44:13,760 --> 00:44:17,036
had not ended when he Crusaders
had return from the Holy Land.
581
00:44:17,120 --> 00:44:19,111
It was now being fought at sea.
582
00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:22,317
Turkish fleets were attacking
Venice's eastern colonies.
583
00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:24,516
Moorish pirates, the Corsairs,
584
00:44:24,600 --> 00:44:26,636
were sailing from the North African coast
585
00:44:26,720 --> 00:44:28,756
and plundering her merchantmen.
586
00:44:28,840 --> 00:44:32,037
Eventually, this conflict came to a climax
587
00:44:32,120 --> 00:44:35,908
when the mass fleets Christendom
met the might of Islam
588
00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:38,912
in a narrow strait in Greece called Lepanto.
589
00:44:42,360 --> 00:44:44,316
The battle lasted only one day.
590
00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:49,269
In that time, 44,000 men were killed
or seriously wounded.
591
00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:54,070
Eventually, the Christians won and the westward
expansion of Islam was stopped.
592
00:44:54,160 --> 00:44:58,278
For centuries to come, Lepanto was celebrated
in paintings and poetry,
593
00:44:58,360 --> 00:45:00,715
as one of the great turning points of history.
594
00:45:03,400 --> 00:45:08,713
It was the last great battle in which
oar... driven galleys played a decisive part.
595
00:45:08,800 --> 00:45:12,509
Developments in naval artillery
and improvements sailing technique
596
00:45:12,600 --> 00:45:14,556
made them out of date.
597
00:45:14,640 --> 00:45:17,791
Since then, this craft have been studied
in proud detail,
598
00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:22,635
and the galley that carried the Christian flag
that day at the Lepanto, El Real,
599
00:45:22,720 --> 00:45:25,917
has been reconstructed
as this full... sized replica.
600
00:45:32,600 --> 00:45:34,556
Whatever else this ship may show,
601
00:45:34,640 --> 00:45:37,712
it is appalling evidence of what men
will do to other men.
602
00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:41,598
It was rowed by 236 slaves,
603
00:45:41,680 --> 00:45:43,716
prisoners of war or criminals,
604
00:45:43,800 --> 00:45:46,314
who were chained to their oars.
605
00:45:46,400 --> 00:45:50,518
They were fed from a kind of stew
brewed in those great iron pots.
606
00:45:50,600 --> 00:45:53,910
They were cleaned simply by throwing
buckets of water over them.
607
00:45:54,000 --> 00:45:57,515
And they remained permanently
at their oars,
608
00:45:57,600 --> 00:46:04,631
rowing on command, until such time
as their sentences were expired or they died.
609
00:46:05,520 --> 00:46:08,557
But this ship is also evidence
of the great impact
610
00:46:08,640 --> 00:46:12,349
that these naval wars had
on the forests of the Mediterranean.
611
00:46:12,440 --> 00:46:18,549
To build this one ship involved felling
59 beech trees for the oars alone.
612
00:46:18,640 --> 00:46:21,279
Over 300 pine and fir trees
613
00:46:21,360 --> 00:46:23,920
for the planking and the spars.
614
00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:27,197
And most important of all
and in shortest supply,
615
00:46:27,280 --> 00:46:31,717
over 300 oak trees to build the ribs
and the hull.
616
00:46:32,480 --> 00:46:35,995
Furthermore, the Christian fleet
in the battle of Lepanto,
617
00:46:36,080 --> 00:46:38,833
has five more ships like this,
618
00:46:38,920 --> 00:46:42,310
together with over 200 smaller ships.
619
00:46:42,400 --> 00:46:44,391
The Turkish fleet was even bigger,
620
00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:47,870
274 fighting ships.
621
00:46:47,960 --> 00:46:53,159
So, in that one battle where many of these
great ships were burnt or sunk
622
00:46:53,240 --> 00:46:58,360
they had to be felled
over a quarter of a million mature trees.
623
00:46:58,440 --> 00:47:02,149
So it's little wonder that by
the end of the 15th century,
624
00:47:02,240 --> 00:47:07,394
the Venetians were so short of timber
that this ship, the Christian flagship,
625
00:47:07,480 --> 00:47:09,436
had to be built not in Italy,
626
00:47:09,520 --> 00:47:12,318
but here in Barcelona in Spain.
627
00:47:12,960 --> 00:47:15,633
And by the end of the next century
628
00:47:15,720 --> 00:47:20,919
the majority of ship building had shifted
away from the shores of the Mediterranean,
629
00:47:21,000 --> 00:47:23,719
up to northern Europe,
where the shipwrights
630
00:47:23,800 --> 00:47:26,917
could get their timber
from the great forests of the Baltic.
631
00:47:30,400 --> 00:47:33,915
0n the deforested land
the horse still ruled.
632
00:47:38,560 --> 00:47:41,552
Armies depended on their well... drilled cavalry
633
00:47:41,640 --> 00:47:45,315
and skills of horsemanship
had reached extraordinary levels.
634
00:47:45,400 --> 00:47:48,915
The Spanish riding school in Vienna
still preserves them.
635
00:49:39,960 --> 00:49:42,793
Breeding horses to produce
the different kind of animals
636
00:49:42,880 --> 00:49:45,553
needed to for the many
different purposes they served,
637
00:49:45,640 --> 00:49:48,313
had now become a highly expert business.
638
00:49:50,840 --> 00:49:53,638
Those horses, like all thoroughbreds,
639
00:49:53,720 --> 00:49:58,589
can trace their ancestry back to just
three stallions from the Middle East.
640
00:49:58,680 --> 00:50:03,515
Indeed 90% of thoroughbreds,
can trace them back to just one.
641
00:50:03,600 --> 00:50:08,549
A horse that was imported
by the British consul to Syria
642
00:50:08,640 --> 00:50:12,315
and traded in the markets of Aleppo,
it's said, for a gun.
643
00:50:12,400 --> 00:50:15,437
It arrived here in 1704,
644
00:50:15,520 --> 00:50:20,071
and by that time the sport of horseracing
was already well established.
645
00:50:20,160 --> 00:50:22,913
In the previous century, King Charles II
646
00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:26,310
had become a fanatical race horse enthusiast
647
00:50:26,400 --> 00:50:29,710
and he started the custom
of bringing his whole court
648
00:50:29,800 --> 00:50:34,920
down to this heath and this town
of Newmarket, to see the races.
649
00:50:37,360 --> 00:50:41,512
The famous winners, then as now,
became the idols of the public.
650
00:50:41,600 --> 00:50:44,990
Their portraits painted to show them
to their best advantage
651
00:50:45,080 --> 00:50:48,516
and even perhaps like other portraits
to flatter them a little,
652
00:50:48,600 --> 00:50:52,354
gives some notion of the ideal horse
that breeders had in their minds
653
00:50:52,440 --> 00:50:54,795
and which owed so much to the horses
654
00:50:54,880 --> 00:50:57,713
that were ridden by the nomads
in the Middle East.
655
00:51:05,360 --> 00:51:09,069
The characteristics that go to make
a really great race horse,
656
00:51:09,160 --> 00:51:13,073
are of course a matter of experience
in judgment and opinion.
657
00:51:13,560 --> 00:51:18,680
But in general the animal
should have a deep chest here
658
00:51:18,760 --> 00:51:22,230
so there's plenty of room
for a big heart and lungs.
659
00:51:22,320 --> 00:51:25,915
Legs that are well boned
so that they support the body,
660
00:51:26,000 --> 00:51:29,310
but are also lissome and long to give it speed.
661
00:51:30,080 --> 00:51:33,914
A back that neither too long nor too short
662
00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:36,434
and big, powerful hind quarters
663
00:51:36,520 --> 00:51:39,353
because its from here that you get the speed.
664
00:51:40,200 --> 00:51:45,513
But whether you're looking at a
wonderfully... bred, aristocratic athlete,
665
00:51:45,600 --> 00:51:49,309
like this one, or indeed a wild horse,
666
00:51:49,400 --> 00:51:52,915
surely the horse is one of the loveliest
of animals.
667
00:52:17,520 --> 00:52:20,717
After 5,000 years of serving humanity,
668
00:52:20,800 --> 00:52:24,031
carrying him on his travels and his sports,
669
00:52:24,120 --> 00:52:26,918
on his business and into his battles,
670
00:52:27,000 --> 00:52:31,710
the horse had now been replaced
by the internal combustion engine.
671
00:52:32,480 --> 00:52:36,598
But it still retains a unique place
in human affections
672
00:52:36,680 --> 00:52:38,716
and in human history.