1 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:07,200 April 1066, 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:13,480 12 weeks since Harold Godwinson was crowned King of England. 3 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:18,280 Now, there's much work to be done. 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:20,640 Already, two powerful warlords 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,400 are plotting to rip the crown from his head. 6 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:25,320 Godwinson! 7 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:27,240 William of Normandy... 8 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:33,120 ..and a Viking, King Harald Hardrada... 9 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,000 I will carve my name in legend. 10 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,200 ..are both planning to launch vast invasion fleets... 11 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:41,400 Come on, men! 12 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:43,160 ..to wage war. 13 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:50,440 1066 is about so much more than just the Battle of Hastings. 14 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:54,560 That year, England would endure three invasions 15 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:57,280 and three terrible battles. 16 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:03,360 Three mighty warlords battle for supremacy on English soil, 17 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:05,520 and by the end of the year, 18 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:07,760 only one of them would still be alive. 19 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:14,560 What 1066 led to is stamped on our landscape. 20 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:19,000 The Normans forged a new Britain with language, 21 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,360 laws and customs we still live with today. 22 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:27,040 But just how a tiny region of France 23 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:30,200 seized such power, is much less clear. 24 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:37,920 Now I'm travelling Europe in search of answers... 25 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:41,160 These are human bone, almost certainly. 26 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:44,360 ..experimenting with tactics and weapons... 27 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:46,680 Hands by your side for a second. 28 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:50,680 ..and discovering revelations hidden within a unique document 29 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:54,560 written just months after those great battles... 30 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:59,120 This, even by medieval standards, is shockingly brutal behaviour. 31 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:02,960 ..to reveal a bitter tale of family betrayals... 32 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:05,040 He'll stab you in the back. 33 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:07,200 ..and tragic twists of fate... 34 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:10,680 We take no notice of omens and doubters. 35 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:13,240 ..which would change the shape of Britain... 36 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:14,800 March to battle. 37 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:15,920 ..and Europe... 38 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:19,600 ..forever. 39 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:24,040 Shall we do battle? CHEERING 40 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:30,960 This is the real story of 1066. 41 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:55,880 Easter, 1066. 42 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:01,600 Harold Godwinson rides south from Northumbria. 43 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,800 Not long now for a decent meal and some sleep. 44 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:12,280 As a new king, he must secure his power right across England. 45 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:18,440 Harold had grabbed the throne 46 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:21,080 as soon as King Edward the Confessor died... 47 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:23,320 HE PRAYS IN LATIN 48 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:27,200 ..sidelining Edgar, Edward's great-nephew, 49 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,200 and convincing the Anglo-Saxon nobles 50 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:32,200 to elect him instead. 51 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:39,440 Now, with his loyal brother Gyrth, 52 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:43,720 Harold has been visiting the often rebellious Northern Earls. 53 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:45,760 Well, I think that went well. 54 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,560 At least you got a wife out of it. Mm. 55 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:51,960 Do you like her? 56 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:57,560 I do, but that's not the point. HE CHUCKLES 57 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:00,200 The crucial problem facing Harold in 1066, 58 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:02,840 was to try to create unity 59 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:04,560 in the Midlands and the North, 60 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:08,280 and his way of doing this was to abandon the wife of 20 years, 61 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:11,360 Edith Swanneck, and to marry, instead, 62 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:14,280 the sister of the Earls of Northumbria and Mercia, 63 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:15,840 who's also called Edith. 64 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:19,960 So, two Ediths? Mm. 65 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:24,240 Be interesting when they meet. Mm. HE CHUCKLES 66 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:33,080 All seemed well in Harold's England, 67 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:37,640 but the reality was that the new king was beset by problems, 68 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:39,760 both at home and abroad. 69 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:44,720 To the south, William, Duke of Normandy, 70 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:48,840 and to the north, the Viking, King Harald Hardrada, 71 00:04:48,840 --> 00:04:53,680 are both plotting to destroy Anglo-Saxon England. 72 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:57,000 Let our enemies gouge out the eyes of their own brothers. 73 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:58,760 Then, God willing, 74 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:02,480 they will be too blind to see when I take what is mine. 75 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:06,760 That's the one thing you can trust about an Englishman - 76 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:09,160 he'll stab you in the back. 77 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:11,720 Well, we're going to stab them in the front. 78 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:16,240 William was one of the most powerful and impressive men 79 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:17,840 in Western Europe at this time, 80 00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:20,880 and he genuinely believed that, 15 years previously, 81 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:22,880 he had been promised the throne of England 82 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:24,200 by England's king, 83 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:28,240 and he was not going to let anything get in the way of that claim. 84 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:38,760 But 1,000 miles to the north, William has a powerful rival. 85 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:41,400 HE GRUNTS Come on! 86 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:43,800 You useless veslingr! 87 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:47,920 Even an old man like me could do better than that. 88 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:49,240 Come on! 89 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,280 Hardrada is the ultimate Viking. 90 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:02,120 A despotic warrior who's battle-hardened from years of war. 91 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:04,360 Come on! 92 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:06,240 Hardrada is still ambitious. 93 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:09,760 Like all Vikings, he still craves glory 94 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:11,920 and plunder and fame. 95 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:14,640 Kiss my thin-lipped axe! 96 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:27,760 Harold faces danger from overseas, but also at home, 97 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:32,720 in the shape of a younger brother called Tostig. 98 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,120 Tostig had been stripped of the earldom of Northumbria, 99 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:42,240 when powerful nobles rebelled against his tyranny. 100 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:46,880 To avoid a civil war, he'd been sent into exile. 101 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:52,120 Thirsty for revenge, 102 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:56,720 he had betrayed his brother by seeking to support William. 103 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:00,000 He's stolen my lands, he's stolen your crown. 104 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:03,720 Together, we can destroy him. 105 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:09,120 And bitter hatred had also taken him north 106 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:11,600 to pledge allegiance to the Vikings. 107 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:15,080 England is yours for the taking. 108 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:18,880 Invade now and your name will live forever. 109 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:25,400 But Tostig is too angry to wait for his new allies. 110 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,480 He decides to go it alone. 111 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:45,600 Two weeks later, and England is under attack. 112 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:47,280 Come on, men! 113 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:51,680 Let's show that filthy bastard! 114 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:56,480 60 warships are closing in on the Isle of Wight. 115 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:00,880 In a vicious act of family betrayal, 116 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:05,200 Tostig brings war to his own brother's kingdom. 117 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:07,240 Soon, we will have landfall. 118 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:15,320 I've invited three historians 119 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:18,400 to get inside the heads of our competing warlords. 120 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:23,200 This is lies, lies, lies! All you ever speak are lies. 121 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:27,440 They'll explore the thinking behind their battle plans. 122 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:30,880 We're going to continue down the coast to the mouth of the Humber 123 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:33,720 and we're going to attack York. 124 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:36,040 Harold Godwinson... 125 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:40,160 ..William of Normandy... 126 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:43,960 ..and Harald Hardrada... 127 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:51,680 ..now ask, "Just what was Tostig up to?" 128 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:55,640 I can't say that I'm particularly surprised that he's upset. 129 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:57,920 He wants his land and his power back. 130 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:01,760 But I am surprised by the way he's going about it. 131 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,840 He is crossing the Channel from Flanders with 60 ships 132 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,120 and heading for the Isle of Wight. 133 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:09,880 What does he hope to achieve? 134 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:12,320 I am as bewildered as you. 135 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:14,120 It was only a few weeks ago 136 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:18,440 that Tostig pledged me his support, so what is he up to? 137 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:21,920 Is he expecting me to cross over and join him? 138 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:25,160 Because if so, he is making a serious mistake. 139 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:29,200 I am not going to be ready to launch my own invasion for months yet. 140 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:32,800 Well, don't forget that Tostig has already offered me the chance 141 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:35,040 to become King of England, by proposing 142 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:39,160 a joint invasion from the north late in the summer. 143 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:40,960 I've no idea what he's up to. 144 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:44,040 Maybe his lust for revenge against you, Harold, 145 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:45,960 has finally tipped him over the edge 146 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:49,440 because he's acting like he's gone totally insane. 147 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:01,240 Landing unopposed, Tostig ran riot on the Isle of Wight. 148 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:10,240 He attacked people, burnt buildings, and stole food and weapons. 149 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:17,840 A direct assault on his brother Harold's authority. 150 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:21,080 He had to be stopped. 151 00:10:23,680 --> 00:10:26,640 Back in the 11th century, it would have taken about two days 152 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:29,240 for news of Tostig's invasion of the Isle of Wight 153 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:31,160 to reach Harold in London. 154 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:33,640 He immediately set off for the south coast, 155 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:37,440 and he gathered together what the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes as, 156 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:41,240 "The largest concentration of land and naval forces 157 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:44,040 "ever assembled by a king of England." 158 00:10:50,560 --> 00:10:54,040 England had a particularly impressive and sophisticated way 159 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:56,040 of raising an army at this point. 160 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:59,040 On the one hand, there are the personal bodyguard 161 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,240 of the king himself and of all his main nobles - the housecarls. 162 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:04,560 These were professional soldiers, effectively. 163 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:13,080 In addition to that, the structure of English governance, 164 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:16,120 through counties or shires and hundreds, 165 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:19,960 enables a king to raise men from the countryside - 166 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:21,600 the fyrd, as it's known - 167 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:24,080 and they will fight for their locality. 168 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:33,480 Hearing that his brother was on his way with overwhelming force, 169 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:34,720 Tostig fled... 170 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:38,480 ..sailing up the east coast of England. 171 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:43,200 He attempted to take land in the north, 172 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:45,480 but there he faced his old enemies, 173 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:50,960 now Harold's newly nurtured allies, the Northern Earls. 174 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:54,400 SHOUTING 175 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:04,440 Tostig's army is outnumbered and is beaten back... 176 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:07,920 ..but Tostig escapes. 177 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:10,400 With just 12 remaining ships, 178 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:13,160 he makes it to the safe haven of Scotland... 179 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:18,720 ..a convenient northern base to link up with Harald Hardrada 180 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:20,440 and the Vikings. 181 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:25,480 King Harold had been tested for the first time in his short reign. 182 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:30,080 He'd managed to repel the first invasion of England in 1066. 183 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:32,520 But he must have known that wouldn't be the only challenge 184 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:33,760 to his authority that year. 185 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:38,120 Tostig might have fled, but Harold knew that, 186 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:43,040 across the Channel in Normandy, William's plans were advancing fast. 187 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:58,320 You have travelled far and wide, I trust. 188 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:00,960 Yes, I have left no path untrodden. 189 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:04,400 There is enthusiasm, my lord, a fervour... 190 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:08,720 ..even a passion for your great enterprise. 191 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,920 I sense a "but". Yes. 192 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:17,880 A small number of nobles are...a little reticent. 193 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:22,840 Don't they know what rewards await them on the other side of the sea? 194 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:24,920 That's the problem. 195 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:27,680 They fear the sea will swallow up their men, 196 00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:32,560 their horses, their boats, and they will be left with nothing. 197 00:13:32,560 --> 00:13:35,000 It is God who marshals the sea. 198 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:38,560 With his blessing, we will fly across the ditch 199 00:13:38,560 --> 00:13:40,280 and put right a wicked wrong. 200 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:43,240 I have no doubt. 201 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:53,880 William's headquarters were at Caen. 202 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:58,120 Now one of Normandy's largest cities, 203 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:01,840 in the 11th century this was a small town, 204 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:04,840 which William fortified into a power base. 205 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:07,600 From his castle, 206 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:11,040 he set about winning political support for his invasion. 207 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,600 People would have been very unsure about the idea 208 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:18,920 of simply going in and conquering another country 209 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:21,960 and killing an anointed king. 210 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:25,880 The king, of course, Harold, has been anointed with holy oil. 211 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:29,760 He is God's chosen representative of his people, 212 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:31,960 and therefore the act of killing him 213 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:34,400 unsettles people across Europe. 214 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:40,640 William quickly realised that he'd need to appeal 215 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:43,720 to an even higher power to back him up. 216 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:47,000 It was time to recruit God. 217 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:50,920 THEY PRAY IN LATIN 218 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:58,120 William and his wife Matilda were devout Christians. 219 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:05,080 They built two great abbeys in a grand display of their piety. 220 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,080 William turned to Pope Alexander II for help. 221 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:16,320 He sent envoys all the way to Rome to put his case for the invasion. 222 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:18,480 Amen. 223 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:21,920 For William to gain the support of the Pope was very important to him 224 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:24,280 in terms of the legitimacy of his claim, 225 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:27,560 that he could say that God upheld his claim over England 226 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:30,120 and that those who opposed him were the sinners. 227 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:32,840 THEY PRAY IN LATIN 228 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:37,800 The basis of William's case for invasion 229 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:39,840 was that Harold was a usurper. 230 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:43,000 First of all, William said that Edward the Confessor 231 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,560 had promised him the throne 15 years before, 232 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:47,480 and Harold had stolen it. 233 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:50,720 But William had a further ace up his sleeve. 234 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,720 He said that Harold HIMSELF had promised him the throne 235 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:56,480 just two years before. 236 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:06,440 The story of what happened is told in our most famous record of 1066... 237 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:09,320 ..the Bayeux Tapestry. 238 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:14,960 Harold sails across the Channel. 239 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:19,080 Storms blow him onto French soil, where he's arrested. 240 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:24,600 William secures Harold's release and brings him to Normandy... 241 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:28,840 ..and there, in the key scene, 242 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:31,640 Harold makes an oath over holy relics, 243 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:35,280 promising to support William's claim to the English throne. 244 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:42,320 What the Bayeux Tapestry doesn't explain 245 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:45,120 is why Harold was at sea in the first place. 246 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:50,640 Another unique document offers a clue. 247 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:56,200 Hidden in the national library in Brussels 248 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:59,520 is an ancient book containing an epic poem. 249 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:05,560 The Carmen, or Song, Of The Battle Of Hastings, 250 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:10,360 is now regarded as our earliest surviving account of 1066. 251 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:13,680 It's packed with details 252 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:16,520 that challenge much of what we thought we knew. 253 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:21,760 The Carmen has an interesting piece of information 254 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:24,520 about Harold's trip to Normandy. 255 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:26,400 There's the line where it says... 256 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:32,200 HE READS IN LATIN 257 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:36,040 "William was granted a ring and a sword." 258 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:41,120 Now, the ring and the sword were two of the items 259 00:17:41,120 --> 00:17:43,920 with which you were invested when you were made a king. 260 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:47,640 So, this is sort of strongly suggesting 261 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:50,760 that Harold was sent bearing these tokens, 262 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:52,600 promising William the kingship. 263 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:58,600 But another ancient writer suggests that William 264 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:01,000 may not have been totally honest himself. 265 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:05,760 He says that Harold was in Normandy deliberately, 266 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:08,680 and he was there to try and secure the release 267 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:10,560 of two of his family members, 268 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:15,440 whom Duke William had been holding hostage for 15 years. 269 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:19,360 I wanted to free my brother and my nephew, 270 00:18:19,360 --> 00:18:22,360 who, I might add, you had been holding 271 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:24,600 against their will for years. 272 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:28,280 Right, we agreed that I would free your nephew immediately 273 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:31,120 and that I would free your brother once I become king. 274 00:18:31,120 --> 00:18:33,960 And there was one solitary condition... Oh! 275 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:37,600 ..and that was that you had to give me your backing 276 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:40,000 as Edward's successor. Well, there you... That was all. 277 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:41,440 There you go. You've admitted it. 278 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:44,760 I wanted to get back safely to England with my brother, 279 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:47,760 with my nephew, so I had to agree to your demands. 280 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,480 But you are admitting that you swore an oath, 281 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:52,760 you're admitting that you swore it on relics, 282 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:57,600 and that being so, you will agree that I am within my God-given right 283 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:01,320 to cross over to England and to take what is mine. 284 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:04,680 I think that ANYONE would agree. 285 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:10,600 William's envoy set out these arguments to Pope Alexander. 286 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:15,720 Would he back him in his campaign against the usurper Harold? 287 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:21,520 Pope Alexander agreed. He accepted all William's arguments. 288 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:23,960 He even went so far as to issue William 289 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:27,520 with a papal banner that his men could carry before them into battle. 290 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:37,600 It gave William's invasion the status, almost, of a crusade. 291 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:40,280 Amen. 292 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:48,240 God will keep you safe. He'll need to. 293 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:52,160 But I believe he will. 294 00:19:57,640 --> 00:19:59,680 ALL CHEER 295 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:04,880 William was building up his already mighty military force for invasion. 296 00:20:09,360 --> 00:20:13,200 And now he had God on his side, 297 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:16,560 all of which was bad news for King Harold 298 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:19,480 and for Anglo-Saxon England. 299 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:39,720 1,000 miles from Normandy, 300 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:44,160 Harald Hardrada is in communication with Tostig in Scotland 301 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:48,040 and preparing his own invasion from the north. 302 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:53,560 Are you ready, Asger? Aye, my lord. 303 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:03,120 Is your axe finely honed? 'Tis, my lord. 304 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:10,520 Shall we do battle? CHEERING 305 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:17,600 Like Duke William, Harald Hardrada was hungry for more conquests, 306 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:20,840 and as a Viking, he believed he had a God-given right to invade England. 307 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:23,880 It's what the Vikings had been doing for centuries. 308 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:27,480 But Hardrada also new that this was his last throw of the dice. 309 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:30,520 This was his last chance to conquer more territory 310 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:32,560 or cement his own legend. 311 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:36,080 So, when Harold's vengeful brother Tostig 312 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:38,920 encouraged Hardrada to invade England, 313 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:41,040 Hardrada leapt at the chance. 314 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:48,560 Now, I'm assembling my troops here on the isles 315 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:50,080 just off the west coast. 316 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:54,000 Both of you, I think, know that Vikings know their way around ships. 317 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:58,680 Well, I've got 500 of them and 30,000 men, 318 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:01,240 all of them battle-hardened warriors, 319 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:06,240 so this is going to be an invasion to make the whole of England quake. 320 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:16,760 The core of Harald Hardrada's army is made up of his housecarls. 321 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:18,440 These are his household retinue. 322 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:22,240 They're professional soldiers, experienced killers, 323 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:24,760 battle-hardened from 16 years of war. 324 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,080 But there's also another type of warrior, 325 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:31,080 and that's the berserkers. 326 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:35,600 These were warriors who were liable to slip into fits of psychotic rage. 327 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:39,840 They were impervious to pain. They had no fear of death. 328 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:43,160 And I think there could be little more frightening in a battle 329 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:45,840 than fighting somebody who just keeps coming at you, 330 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:48,360 even when your spear is in his belly. 331 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:55,360 I kill without compunction... 332 00:22:56,360 --> 00:22:58,480 ..and remember all my killings. 333 00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:04,120 I have caused the death of 13 of my enemies. 334 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:08,760 Hardrada was also a poet. 335 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:13,240 He was a skald, in Viking terms. He created poetry. 336 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,640 He wanted his name to live forever, 337 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:18,080 so he did the deeds and then wrote about them. 338 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:22,960 I found myself creeping from forest to forest... 339 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:26,000 ..with little honour. 340 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:29,080 Who knows? 341 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:37,880 I may become renowned far and wide...in the end. 342 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:45,360 Hardrada believed that victory would ensure his immortal Viking legacy. 343 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:52,920 He makes provision for Norway to be ruled by his son in his absence, 344 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:56,000 which may suggest that he doesn't expect to come back, 345 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,200 that he expects to be ruling England. 346 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:04,160 With the grace of Saint Olaf shining down on me... 347 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:09,400 ..I will end my days King of Norway... 348 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:14,560 ..and King of England. 349 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:24,360 Thousands of miles apart, 350 00:24:24,360 --> 00:24:28,360 two great forces were preparing to invade England. 351 00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:31,400 Their target was King Harold, but there was, in fact, 352 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:34,240 another possible rival for the throne, 353 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:38,520 the natural successor of the Anglo-Saxon royal dynasty, 354 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:41,880 a boy whose claim was better than any of them. 355 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:48,080 The boy's identity is revealed in a document from the 1050s. 356 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:52,440 This is an extraordinary page from an extraordinary manuscript - 357 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:54,640 the Liber Vitae, the Book Of Life. 358 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:58,040 But one particular group of entries is extremely interesting 359 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:01,120 cos here, we've got, "Edward rex" - King Edward - 360 00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:04,400 and, "Edgar clito" - Edgar Aetheling. 361 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:07,480 And Aetheling means prince or throne-worthy individual - 362 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:10,120 someone who is being groomed for the succession. 363 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:18,160 King Edward the Confessor might have been childless, 364 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:20,720 but in Edgar he had a blood relative - 365 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:23,440 a direct descendant of Alfred the Great. 366 00:25:25,360 --> 00:25:27,240 But when Edward had died, 367 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:31,000 Harold hadn't found it hard to sideline the young prince 368 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,000 in his own bid for the throne. 369 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:37,280 The problem with Edgar Aetheling was that he was very young. 370 00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:39,200 He was a teenager at most 371 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,040 and he doesn't seem to have made any impression on people. 372 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:45,000 He seems to have hung around at court doing nothing. 373 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:54,640 So, throughout 1066, as William and Hardrada prepared their invasions, 374 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:59,640 Edgar remained in the background, watching events unfold. 375 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:01,680 But by the end of that year, 376 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:05,240 Edgar would have one more chance to become king. 377 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:20,400 Summer. 378 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,120 Harold is now based on the Isle of Wight, 379 00:26:23,120 --> 00:26:27,120 from where he marshals the defence of his kingdom. 380 00:26:27,120 --> 00:26:30,200 He's still unaware of the Viking threat, 381 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:34,440 or of his brother Tostig's alliance with Hardrada. 382 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:38,640 Harold's sole aim is to counter the expected Norman invasion 383 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:40,040 from the south. 384 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:45,200 It's just a matter of time, that's all. 385 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:51,080 You heard what they say about him in Normandy. What? 386 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:55,720 He burst into tears because some people called him a common tanner. 387 00:26:57,560 --> 00:26:59,680 He then chopped off their hands and feet. 388 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:02,440 HE CHUCKLES 389 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:04,000 Well, can you blame him? 390 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:10,640 100 miles to the south, 391 00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:13,760 William is massing a formidable force of ships, 392 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:15,800 horses and men at Dives 393 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,560 on the coast of Normandy, near Caen. 394 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:25,720 Is this it? Everything? Yes. Ships, horses, men - everything. 395 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:27,920 Normandy has done you proud. 396 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:31,760 I suppose it's the beginnings of an invasion force. 397 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:35,920 We have an army here that would have made Charlemagne proud. 398 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:37,280 Not yet. 399 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:40,680 But we trust in God. 400 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:46,760 The exact number of ships that William had with him here at Dives 401 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:50,200 has long been the source of debate amongst historians. 402 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:54,400 But there is a document from the time that does give us a few clues. 403 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:58,960 This is a list of naval obligations for his nobles, 404 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:02,560 and it says that 14 of his barons, plus his wife Matilda, 405 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:06,720 all contributed 777 ships. 406 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:09,880 And it says that the total number of ships with William 407 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:11,600 was more than 1,000. 408 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:19,320 By the 4th of August, 1066, 409 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:23,120 William's vast invasion fleet was ready to set sail. 410 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:27,600 But William had a problem. In order for him and his fleet 411 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:29,720 to get safely to the other side of the Channel, 412 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:31,480 conditions had to be just right, 413 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:35,240 and the wind kept blowing from the wrong direction. 414 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:36,800 So, he waited. 415 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:40,720 Days passed and the conditions didn't improve. 416 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:45,760 William and his army were stuck here on the wrong side of the Channel. 417 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:51,720 William is forced to wait. 418 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:59,160 Every day, he must feed his troops while they kill nothing but time. 419 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:05,160 It's been estimated that William gathered an invasion force 420 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,000 of up to 14,000 men. 421 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:16,560 That's a lot of mouths to feed. 422 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:30,480 This was the quantity of bread that the Normans were eating in 1066. 423 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:33,280 How many people would eat that? Not one person? No. 424 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:37,080 That's the quantity of bread for five people a day, 425 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:40,840 compared to this quantity of bread today. 426 00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:42,640 At the Normans' time, 427 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:46,760 there was 70% of the alimentation based on the bread. 428 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,160 70% of their daily intake is bread? Yeah. 429 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:51,360 So, imagine how much bread you'd need for an army of, 430 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:53,960 you know, around 14,000 people. Yeah, yeah. 431 00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:56,080 Wagons of flour. 432 00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:59,080 Now, it's been estimated, if you assume that William had 433 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:03,120 a force of around 14,000 people here in Dives, 434 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:07,480 that would have required 14 tonnes of flour 435 00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:09,360 brought to feed that army every day, 436 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:14,680 to make 6,000 of these guys every single day. 437 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:16,320 That is a huge effort. 438 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:25,440 Two weeks pass and still the wind blows. 439 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:30,920 As well as continuing to feed his troops, 440 00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:35,080 William must also look after thousands of Norman horses. 441 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:40,720 His crack cavalry was essential to William's plans, 442 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:43,800 but with it came an inevitable problem. 443 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:50,400 With up to 3,000 horses, that's a lot of manure. 444 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:53,200 One estimate has it that William's cavalry produced 445 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:58,520 around 2,500 tonnes of excrement while they were in Dives. 446 00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:00,520 You add that to all the human waste - 447 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:06,160 perhaps 450 tonnes - and you get 3,000 tonnes of poo. 448 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:08,840 That's a lot. 449 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:11,960 Bonjour, Sebastien. Hello. 450 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:14,040 How are you doing? Not too bad. And you? 451 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:17,440 That is a big pile of manure. Exactly. 452 00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:21,320 It's fumier in French. Fumier. How many horses made this? 453 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:25,040 Two. Two horses? Two horses, yeah. How long? One week. 454 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:29,320 Wow. So, imagine what 3,000 horses would produce. 455 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:31,800 A very big pile. THEY LAUGH 456 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:37,480 All that manure spelt danger. 457 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:41,640 It could spread diseases like dysentery, 458 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:45,160 which would put paid to William's dreams of conquest. 459 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:49,680 So, William's men had to load up 460 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:52,480 all that human and animal waste into carts, 461 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:56,640 to transport it miles away from camp, to a safe distance. 462 00:31:56,640 --> 00:32:02,400 That's around 5,000 cartloads of waste 463 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:04,080 taken out into the countryside. 464 00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:14,720 Yet another two weeks pass. 465 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:18,360 Summer will soon turn into autumn... 466 00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:23,920 ..and William's great plans are teetering on the edge of collapse. 467 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:27,800 William was very unlucky. 468 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:30,320 These kind of hostile conditions 469 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:33,240 are very unusual in the summer in the Channel. 470 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:35,120 We've mocked up a weather chart 471 00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:38,880 showing the kind of conditions that he faced through the summer of 1066. 472 00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:40,680 Here's a big area of low pressure, 473 00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:44,000 and the wind goes round it in an anticlockwise fashion. 474 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:46,280 That means northerly gales banging in here, 475 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:50,120 keeping the fleet locked in at Dives-sur-Mer. 476 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:51,840 Now, I've sailed on the Channel a lot, 477 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:54,400 and you cannot put to sea in these kind of conditions, 478 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:57,160 particularly with the more primitive ships and rig 479 00:32:57,160 --> 00:32:58,920 that they had in the 11th century. 480 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:01,440 As summer began to turn into autumn, 481 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:03,800 time was slipping through William's fingers, 482 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:06,880 and he must have been getting completely desperate. 483 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,960 Three warriors, the most powerful warlords in Europe, 484 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:14,680 can rule kingdoms... 485 00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:18,040 ..but not the weather. 486 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:22,880 Across the Channel in England, King Harold waited and waited, 487 00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:25,080 but no invasion came. 488 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:28,440 The English king must have been tempted to hope 489 00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:30,320 that his kingdom was secure. 490 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:31,760 There was no sign of William 491 00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:34,840 and Hardrada hadn't showed his hand yet, either. 492 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:37,720 But all that was about to change. 493 00:33:48,520 --> 00:33:50,680 The Vikings are on the move. 494 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:56,080 The same northerly winds that keep William trapped in Dives 495 00:33:56,080 --> 00:33:59,360 carry Hardrada towards England, 496 00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:03,440 where he's planning to attack, with Tostig poised 497 00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:05,520 waiting in his Scottish base. 498 00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:11,920 Soon, we will be filling England's graveyards 499 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:16,000 and feeding the crows on the rotting corpses of her men. 500 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,520 ALL CHEER 501 00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:25,560 Now, the northerly winds are blowing 502 00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:29,600 me and my Viking warriors across the North Sea. 503 00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:33,000 Now, this is a distance of about 300 miles, 504 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:34,880 and with a north-east wind at my back, 505 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:37,760 it should take two or three days to cross. 506 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:42,440 So, we stop first at Shetland to take provisions, 507 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:44,520 and again at Orkney. 508 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:50,280 And then I continue down the east coast of Scotland 509 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:52,280 towards England. 510 00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:58,240 A week later, 511 00:34:58,240 --> 00:35:02,640 Hardrada joins with Tostig and his men in Northumbria. 512 00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:08,080 The deposed earl is back, and so are the Vikings. 513 00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:12,800 Meanwhile, Harold is still on the Isle of Wight, 514 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:15,200 oblivious to the immediate danger. 515 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:21,040 He continues to look only towards Normandy. 516 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:25,760 What's the bastard playing at? 517 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:28,720 Can't wait here forever. 518 00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:33,920 It's now September, 519 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:37,960 and Harold knows he will soon have to release his army. 520 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:43,480 As summer turned to autumn, King Harold had a big problem. 521 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:46,840 The two months of service that his levies had to provide 522 00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:50,000 had come to an end, the English army was running out of food, 523 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:53,080 and there was the added pressure that the men were needed at home 524 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:54,640 to help gather in the harvest. 525 00:35:56,120 --> 00:35:58,280 Harold's hand was being forced. 526 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:01,280 He could only hope that the end of summer 527 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:05,200 also meant an end to any threat of an attack from William. 528 00:36:06,240 --> 00:36:12,000 So, on the 8th of September, 1066, Harold sent his men home 529 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:15,240 and ordered his fleet to return to London. 530 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:21,920 What choice have I got? I can't keep the army at arms indefinitely. 531 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:25,360 And anyway, autumn is coming and I'm pretty sure 532 00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:27,680 you're not going to risk crossing the Channel 533 00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:31,360 with an invasion force in September. Actually, 534 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:34,800 I have no intention of standing down, 535 00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:38,560 because I learn that you have stood down your army, 536 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:41,800 and what that means is that the south of England 537 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:44,160 now stands undefended. 538 00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:47,560 Look, I've no idea what's going on down here in the south, 539 00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:50,240 and, frankly, I don't really care, either, 540 00:36:50,240 --> 00:36:54,240 because my plan, up in the north, is going like clockwork. 541 00:36:54,240 --> 00:36:56,560 We're going to continue down the coast 542 00:36:56,560 --> 00:36:58,200 to the mouth of the Humber. 543 00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:00,280 We're going to sail up the River Ouse 544 00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:03,520 and we're going to attack York. 545 00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:10,760 York - the ancient Viking capital of England. 546 00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:14,000 For Hardrada, his first target, 547 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:17,440 and a base from which he could conquer the entire country. 548 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:25,400 Hardrada and Tostig are poised to take control. 549 00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:30,200 First, the North, then a march to London 550 00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:32,520 and the prize of Harold's throne. 551 00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:48,840 Three days later, the terrible news 552 00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:52,080 that a Viking fleet has landed reaches Harold. 553 00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:55,000 What do we do now? Fight. 554 00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:59,520 He's in our country destroying our lands and our people. 555 00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:00,800 We have no choice. 556 00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:03,960 How incredibly galling for Harold 557 00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:07,360 to discover that, the minute he's dispersed his great army, 558 00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:09,400 his brother and Hardrada have invaded. 559 00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:12,880 He's got to put it all back together again - really quickly. 560 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:15,880 This is a body blow. 561 00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:18,400 It has come completely out of the blue. 562 00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:22,760 The only thing I can do is get my army back together 563 00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:25,200 and head north fast to take you on. 564 00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:27,240 And I have got to gamble that you 565 00:38:27,240 --> 00:38:29,760 are not going to cross the Channel in autumn. 566 00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:32,160 Then you really do not know me, 567 00:38:32,160 --> 00:38:34,600 because I remain as determined as ever 568 00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:36,880 to cross the Channel, reach the south 569 00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:41,280 and strike hard at your now undefended vitals. 570 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:49,440 After six weeks of waiting, William had had enough. 571 00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:53,920 He decided to defy the winds and set sail. 572 00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:56,120 It would prove to be a rash decision. 573 00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:04,360 After months of careful planning, William has to gamble. 574 00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:06,760 He knows that time is running out... 575 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:13,640 ..and so he takes his entire force from safe harbour into a stormy sea. 576 00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:20,000 It was a disaster. William lost ships and men. 577 00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:23,960 And instead of crossing the Channel, 578 00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:27,760 he was forced to take refuge 140 miles to the east, 579 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:30,560 at St Valery in France. 580 00:39:33,560 --> 00:39:36,760 I'm going to admit, things could be better. 581 00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:39,280 In fact, they are verging on the desperate. 582 00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:44,280 I have lost ships and I've lost a large quantity of men in the storm. 583 00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:49,160 On the plus side, I am, of course, now that much closer to England. 584 00:39:49,160 --> 00:39:52,360 But contrary winds continue to blow 585 00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:56,000 and I am still on the wrong side of the Channel. 586 00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:58,440 It's very frustrating. 587 00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:10,200 Storm-battered, William's dream of the English throne 588 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:11,880 is becoming a nightmare. 589 00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:16,320 Meanwhile, Harold musters a new army, 590 00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:18,560 but he, too, is on the back foot. 591 00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:22,760 He's a long way south of York 592 00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:25,560 and any chance of meeting the Viking threat. 593 00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:32,120 Right now, it's the dark horses - Hardrada and Tostig - 594 00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:35,680 who have a fresh and powerful army ready to strike. 595 00:40:41,040 --> 00:40:46,160 Facing them, only a regional force led by the Northern Earls. 596 00:40:48,160 --> 00:40:52,160 Somehow, they must take on the full might of the Vikings 597 00:40:52,160 --> 00:40:54,920 and their arch enemy, Tostig. 598 00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:01,840 SHOUTING 599 00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:07,560 The two forces met at Fulford, 600 00:41:07,560 --> 00:41:10,160 just two miles from the gates of York. 601 00:41:13,840 --> 00:41:18,120 Chas Jones has been excavating the battle site for over 20 years. 602 00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:22,440 Standing here in 1066, what would we have seen? 603 00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:24,320 Well, we are standing on a landscape 604 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:26,880 that the people who were there would have recognised. 605 00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:28,200 Here, we've got the English 606 00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:29,960 standing on this side of the ditch. 607 00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:31,960 Over there, we've got the Vikings - 608 00:41:31,960 --> 00:41:34,840 round about 6,000 of them ready to do battle. 609 00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:36,000 What they've got to do is 610 00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:38,240 they've got to get across this water-filled ditch. 611 00:41:38,240 --> 00:41:40,080 The tide is in, which is keeping them apart. 612 00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:42,000 They're standing there shouting at each other, 613 00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:45,200 waiting for the tide to drop, so they can actually engage in battle. 614 00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:47,880 SHOUTING 615 00:41:56,640 --> 00:42:01,120 The English are lined up here between the river on the one side 616 00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:03,600 and this swampy higher ground on the other side. 617 00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:06,280 This blocks the way to York. 618 00:42:06,280 --> 00:42:09,800 Now, this doesn't really bother me, because I've got a plan. 619 00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:12,040 I've divided my forces in two. 620 00:42:12,040 --> 00:42:15,320 We've got some Vikings here together with Tostig's men. 621 00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:16,760 They're facing the English. 622 00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:20,520 But I am here with my best troops, 623 00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:23,800 hidden away out of sight, round a bend in the river. 624 00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:28,520 So, when the tide goes out, 625 00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:32,200 it's going to drain this ditch of water, 626 00:42:32,200 --> 00:42:34,760 and my front line is going to advance towards the English. 627 00:42:34,760 --> 00:42:37,840 Now, all the English actually need to do is hold their lines. 628 00:42:37,840 --> 00:42:41,200 SHOUTING 629 00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:00,560 Astonishingly, they get drawn into the fight, 630 00:43:00,560 --> 00:43:03,040 and that's the moment for my secret weapon. 631 00:43:03,040 --> 00:43:07,200 So, I advance with my best troops, along the bend in the river... 632 00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:15,440 ..and I attack the English from the rear, trapping them... 633 00:43:17,680 --> 00:43:21,280 ..and this is a glorious bloodbath. 634 00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:48,440 So, Chas, you have dug this battlefield, haven't you? 635 00:43:48,440 --> 00:43:52,200 What have you found? We've found some amazing stuff. 636 00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:55,920 These are bits of bone which we found at the layer 637 00:43:55,920 --> 00:43:57,720 that we can date to the 11th century, 638 00:43:57,720 --> 00:43:59,120 so from the time of the battle. 639 00:43:59,120 --> 00:44:02,880 It's very unusual to find just random bits of bone in the soil 640 00:44:02,880 --> 00:44:04,760 cos people are normally buried. 641 00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:06,840 You do find the odd animal bone, 642 00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:10,240 but these are human bone, almost certainly. 643 00:44:10,240 --> 00:44:12,720 These are probably rib bones. Wow. 644 00:44:12,720 --> 00:44:14,560 So, you could be holding, in your hands, 645 00:44:14,560 --> 00:44:17,920 the remains of someone who was killed in the battle here in 1066? 646 00:44:17,920 --> 00:44:19,280 It's very probable. 647 00:44:27,400 --> 00:44:30,840 Hardrada and Tostig were victorious. 648 00:44:30,840 --> 00:44:34,000 The old Viking capital of York surrendered to them. 649 00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:38,400 The great prize of England was within their grasp. 650 00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:43,000 WILLIAM PRAYS IN LATIN 651 00:44:44,880 --> 00:44:48,640 Meanwhile, William is still trapped. 652 00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:50,800 With Harold marching north, 653 00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:54,960 he knows that southern England lies open, 654 00:44:54,960 --> 00:44:57,840 but the wind still blows, 655 00:44:57,840 --> 00:45:00,720 as the Vikings take control in the north. 656 00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:07,320 When William is stuck at St Valery by the contrary winds, 657 00:45:07,320 --> 00:45:09,600 the Carmen comes into its own as a source 658 00:45:09,600 --> 00:45:12,360 because not only is it really closely contemporary, 659 00:45:12,360 --> 00:45:14,080 it is also local. 660 00:45:14,080 --> 00:45:16,560 It's written by someone living in this part of the world, 661 00:45:16,560 --> 00:45:18,240 so it is very well-informed, 662 00:45:18,240 --> 00:45:20,880 and it tells us that William was in despair. 663 00:45:20,880 --> 00:45:24,000 It talks about him looking at the weathercock of the church, 664 00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:27,000 waiting to see the way the wind is going to blow, 665 00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:29,440 and being reduced to tears. 666 00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:31,320 The line that leaps out is... 667 00:45:31,320 --> 00:45:36,040 HE READS IN LATIN 668 00:45:36,040 --> 00:45:38,600 "The tears streaming down William's cheeks." 669 00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:41,440 It says... HE READS IN LATIN 670 00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:43,240 "You were in despair." 671 00:45:43,240 --> 00:45:46,920 If ever I have offended you as your servant... 672 00:45:48,160 --> 00:45:49,680 ..give me a sign. 673 00:45:51,600 --> 00:45:55,240 It's just for you, in your name... 674 00:45:56,800 --> 00:45:58,960 ..yet you send me torment. 675 00:46:02,960 --> 00:46:06,760 A medieval English writer adds to the story. 676 00:46:06,760 --> 00:46:08,840 William of Malmesbury tells us that 677 00:46:08,840 --> 00:46:11,080 this was a moment when everything hung in the balance, 678 00:46:11,080 --> 00:46:13,200 and that all of William's army began to doubt 679 00:46:13,200 --> 00:46:15,520 that God was in favour of their enterprise. 680 00:46:15,520 --> 00:46:19,080 And we're told that they began to mutter amongst themselves. 681 00:46:19,080 --> 00:46:21,960 He says here... SHE READS IN LATIN 682 00:46:21,960 --> 00:46:26,240 "He is crazy, that man, who wants to subjugate a foreign land. 683 00:46:26,240 --> 00:46:29,200 "God is against us because he withholds the wind." 684 00:46:33,160 --> 00:46:35,920 William orders the relics of Saint Valery 685 00:46:35,920 --> 00:46:38,080 to be paraded through the town 686 00:46:38,080 --> 00:46:41,040 in a bid to inspire his wavering men... 687 00:46:43,280 --> 00:46:48,200 ..and, in a desperate plea to God, to change the weather. 688 00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:52,760 But the northerly wind still blows. 689 00:47:03,520 --> 00:47:06,680 Five days since the Vikings took York. 690 00:47:07,920 --> 00:47:11,120 Hardrada and Tostig agree to exchange prisoners 691 00:47:11,120 --> 00:47:15,320 with the vanquished English seven miles east of the city... 692 00:47:16,320 --> 00:47:18,280 ..at Stamford Bridge. 693 00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:23,520 They're expecting a small group of unarmed men... 694 00:47:24,840 --> 00:47:26,680 ..but they're in for a shock. 695 00:47:32,560 --> 00:47:34,040 Where are they from? 696 00:47:37,040 --> 00:47:39,480 HE SIGHS It's my brother. 697 00:47:44,560 --> 00:47:48,880 We don't know exactly when Harold left London to head to York. 698 00:47:48,880 --> 00:47:53,040 We do think he was in the York area on the 24th of September. 699 00:47:53,040 --> 00:47:57,360 Question is - how long it would have taken to cover that 200 miles. 700 00:47:57,360 --> 00:48:00,880 Now, horses can travel 25 miles a day, perhaps more, 701 00:48:00,880 --> 00:48:03,400 so it's possible that he made this journey 702 00:48:03,400 --> 00:48:06,080 in around about seven or eight days. 703 00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:11,040 One thing we know for sure is that Harold and his men went fast, 704 00:48:11,040 --> 00:48:14,640 and that gave them their greatest weapon - surprise. 705 00:48:15,640 --> 00:48:17,800 London? Already? 706 00:48:17,800 --> 00:48:21,640 Who else could it be? Get them ready! Get them up! 707 00:48:21,640 --> 00:48:25,920 SHOUTING Move! 708 00:48:25,920 --> 00:48:29,320 Not expecting Harold to travel north so quickly, 709 00:48:29,320 --> 00:48:32,200 the Viking army is unprepared for battle. 710 00:48:43,080 --> 00:48:46,600 The King of England. What a puny little man. 711 00:48:46,600 --> 00:48:48,640 THEY CHUCKLE 712 00:48:48,640 --> 00:48:53,560 He's a big man. Yeah, but he's old. 713 00:48:58,600 --> 00:49:01,960 So, we are approaching the Vikings, 714 00:49:01,960 --> 00:49:05,160 but the River Derwent stands in our way. 715 00:49:05,160 --> 00:49:08,160 And there is this small wooden bridge, 716 00:49:08,160 --> 00:49:10,680 which we can use to cross over. Yeah, but we're not stupid. 717 00:49:10,680 --> 00:49:12,760 We know the bridge is small and narrow. 718 00:49:12,760 --> 00:49:15,120 It's a real bottleneck, which is why 719 00:49:15,120 --> 00:49:18,680 I've sent one of my best men to defend it, 720 00:49:18,680 --> 00:49:21,480 and he is not going to let anyone pass. 721 00:49:35,440 --> 00:49:38,000 Legend has it that the lone Norwegian 722 00:49:38,000 --> 00:49:41,080 heroically stood his ground on the bridge, 723 00:49:41,080 --> 00:49:44,480 stopping the entire English army from crossing, 724 00:49:44,480 --> 00:49:47,040 batting away spears and arrows. 725 00:49:49,160 --> 00:49:53,680 But then, some cunning English soldiers got in a half barrel, 726 00:49:53,680 --> 00:49:55,880 drifted down under the bridge 727 00:49:55,880 --> 00:50:01,200 and killed the Norwegian with a spear thrust up between the legs. 728 00:50:07,080 --> 00:50:10,520 OK, my man on the bridge might be dead, but, crucially, 729 00:50:10,520 --> 00:50:13,360 he held up the English forces for long enough 730 00:50:13,360 --> 00:50:18,400 that Tostig and I could arrange our troops into this shield wall. 731 00:50:18,400 --> 00:50:21,280 This is an extremely strong defensive formation 732 00:50:21,280 --> 00:50:24,480 and it's going to repel any English attacks. 733 00:50:24,480 --> 00:50:28,960 SHOUTING 734 00:50:35,560 --> 00:50:38,480 Andy Deane is an expert on medieval warfare. 735 00:50:39,680 --> 00:50:43,080 So, when those two armies met on this field in 1066, 736 00:50:43,080 --> 00:50:44,680 how did they fight? 737 00:50:44,680 --> 00:50:47,480 Well, you've got the two armies closing the front lines, 738 00:50:47,480 --> 00:50:50,120 and it would be obvious who the warriors are. 739 00:50:50,120 --> 00:50:52,800 The ones that stand out are the ones in the armour. 740 00:50:52,800 --> 00:50:54,000 And if we look down here, 741 00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:56,240 you've got a plethora of different pieces of kit - 742 00:50:56,240 --> 00:50:59,440 the helmet, the armours, the swords, the shields, the axes. 743 00:50:59,440 --> 00:51:02,040 And the way that it came together, famously, of course, 744 00:51:02,040 --> 00:51:04,360 would probably be shield to shield. 745 00:51:09,400 --> 00:51:12,600 Yeah, I have got to admit, this is tough. 746 00:51:12,600 --> 00:51:16,400 My army are trying repeatedly to attack, 747 00:51:16,400 --> 00:51:19,560 but, frustratingly, they can't get through the shield wall. 748 00:51:19,560 --> 00:51:21,080 It holds firm. 749 00:51:21,080 --> 00:51:24,240 SHOUTING 750 00:51:34,960 --> 00:51:38,120 But the Vikings had an Achilles heel. 751 00:51:39,360 --> 00:51:43,480 Many had come to Stamford Bridge without a key piece of kit... 752 00:51:43,480 --> 00:51:46,520 Do you want to try it on? Yes, please. Righty-ho. 753 00:51:46,520 --> 00:51:48,400 ..their chainmail. 754 00:51:48,400 --> 00:51:52,600 Mail shirts, famously, are really, really good protection. 755 00:51:52,600 --> 00:51:55,360 Roman auxiliaries are using it sort of throughout the antiquity, 756 00:51:55,360 --> 00:51:56,800 and it's always been great. 757 00:51:56,800 --> 00:51:59,720 Oh! You're in. I feel like the Tin Man. 758 00:52:00,920 --> 00:52:04,120 Once you put the helmet on and the mail coif that goes round you, 759 00:52:04,120 --> 00:52:06,440 the shield and the various other bits of equipment, 760 00:52:06,440 --> 00:52:10,720 then you become fairly impervious to most types of attack. 761 00:52:12,360 --> 00:52:14,040 If I was to take a sword to you now, 762 00:52:14,040 --> 00:52:16,400 and these swords are reasonably sharp... 763 00:52:17,600 --> 00:52:19,320 Put your hands by your side for a second. 764 00:52:19,320 --> 00:52:22,200 But if I was to basically draw this across you without the mail on... 765 00:52:23,600 --> 00:52:25,920 ..I mean, that would have opened you up to the bone. 766 00:52:25,920 --> 00:52:28,400 The mortal effect would probably be the cleaving in, 767 00:52:28,400 --> 00:52:30,920 where we might be able to do... Go on. Give me a whack. 768 00:52:30,920 --> 00:52:33,000 Give me a whack. Well, I don't want to break your ribs. 769 00:52:33,000 --> 00:52:34,680 I'll give you a pat. OK, yeah. All right? 770 00:52:34,680 --> 00:52:38,400 So, the pat would be like that. Oh! Now, what that "oh" has done 771 00:52:38,400 --> 00:52:40,640 has given you a moment where you've gone backwards. 772 00:52:40,640 --> 00:52:41,960 And now I've already followed up 773 00:52:41,960 --> 00:52:43,800 and brought the sword underneath your chin, 774 00:52:43,800 --> 00:52:46,040 through your throat, into your brain and walked off. 775 00:52:47,200 --> 00:52:50,200 OK. And then I'd have a shield, as well. 776 00:52:50,200 --> 00:52:52,680 You can use it, obviously, for protecting, but, 777 00:52:52,680 --> 00:52:54,760 of course, the moment you raise your arm, 778 00:52:54,760 --> 00:52:58,200 you would naturally...come up. 779 00:52:58,200 --> 00:53:00,040 So, now I can grab it, bring it down, 780 00:53:00,040 --> 00:53:01,960 thrusting this into your groin at the same time, 781 00:53:01,960 --> 00:53:03,640 come over and thrust. I get the message! 782 00:53:05,240 --> 00:53:08,640 And blood and horror everywhere. 783 00:53:11,520 --> 00:53:13,240 There are no rules. 784 00:53:13,240 --> 00:53:16,760 I will bite you, I will kick you, I will do anything to stay alive. 785 00:53:16,760 --> 00:53:18,440 You just keep going. 786 00:53:25,960 --> 00:53:32,320 Amid the chaos of swords and axes, Harold also has archers. 787 00:53:56,400 --> 00:53:58,480 BODY THUDS 788 00:54:05,880 --> 00:54:10,920 Hardrada's bid to take Harold's crown is over. 789 00:54:16,160 --> 00:54:19,960 Tostig fights on at the head of the Viking force... 790 00:54:21,360 --> 00:54:24,240 ..but the English now have the upper hand. 791 00:54:40,120 --> 00:54:43,640 King Harold had won an astounding victory. 792 00:54:43,640 --> 00:54:47,480 It's said that he killed his rebellious brother himself, 793 00:54:47,480 --> 00:54:50,080 cutting off Tostig's head. 794 00:54:50,080 --> 00:54:54,280 But the bloodshed was so severe that, writing 50 years later, 795 00:54:54,280 --> 00:54:56,200 the historian Orderic Vitalis 796 00:54:56,200 --> 00:54:59,520 said that a great mountain of dead men's bones 797 00:54:59,520 --> 00:55:02,960 still lay here on the battlefield. 798 00:55:09,280 --> 00:55:13,520 The Battle of Stamford Bridge was a disaster for the Vikings. 799 00:55:15,440 --> 00:55:18,120 There were so few Viking survivors 800 00:55:18,120 --> 00:55:24,720 that only 24 of a fleet of 300 ships were needed to take them home. 801 00:55:28,960 --> 00:55:31,480 This massive defeat 802 00:55:31,480 --> 00:55:34,240 marked the beginning of the end for the Vikings. 803 00:55:37,520 --> 00:55:40,800 From now on, their power would dwindle. 804 00:55:43,600 --> 00:55:45,760 Harold remained King of England. 805 00:55:47,080 --> 00:55:50,520 He'd killed a troublesome brother 806 00:55:50,520 --> 00:55:55,200 and rid himself of one of his great rivals for the throne, 807 00:55:55,200 --> 00:55:57,920 but another still remained, 808 00:55:57,920 --> 00:56:03,040 over 300 miles away in northern France. 809 00:56:12,440 --> 00:56:15,320 Two days after the Viking defeat... 810 00:56:18,440 --> 00:56:21,440 At last. At last! 811 00:56:21,440 --> 00:56:24,480 ..and after more than seven weeks of waiting... 812 00:56:24,480 --> 00:56:25,880 Thank you, Father. 813 00:56:25,880 --> 00:56:28,440 ..the winds finally change. 814 00:56:31,000 --> 00:56:33,280 The Norman camp explodes with joy. 815 00:56:33,280 --> 00:56:35,920 It's one of the best bits in the Carmen 816 00:56:35,920 --> 00:56:38,440 that talks about the knights rushing to get their arms 817 00:56:38,440 --> 00:56:40,640 and the sailors rushing to the masts 818 00:56:40,640 --> 00:56:42,760 and hoisting the sails and grabbing their oars, 819 00:56:42,760 --> 00:56:45,200 because they've been waiting for weeks and months 820 00:56:45,200 --> 00:56:48,120 in the cold and the rain, and now, all of a sudden, 821 00:56:48,120 --> 00:56:51,320 it's D-Day, game on, they're going to sail. 822 00:56:53,520 --> 00:56:55,920 No more waiting. 823 00:56:55,920 --> 00:56:59,760 That afternoon, at high tide, William sails. 824 00:57:01,200 --> 00:57:05,600 700 ships and 14,000 men. 825 00:57:06,720 --> 00:57:08,520 With Harold far away, 826 00:57:08,520 --> 00:57:13,160 the Norman fleet heads for England's undefended southern coast. 827 00:57:16,640 --> 00:57:18,920 One medieval French chronicler tells us that 828 00:57:18,920 --> 00:57:22,040 on the proud William's ship there was a figurehead - 829 00:57:22,040 --> 00:57:26,640 a wooden carving of a boy holding a copper bow and arrow. 830 00:57:26,640 --> 00:57:29,760 That was now aimed at England. 831 00:57:29,760 --> 00:57:32,240 With God and luck on his side, 832 00:57:32,240 --> 00:57:35,200 William would expect to land on the English shore 833 00:57:35,200 --> 00:57:36,680 the following morning. 834 00:57:36,680 --> 00:57:40,720 The third attempt to conquer England in 1066 835 00:57:40,720 --> 00:57:42,080 was about to begin. 836 00:57:47,080 --> 00:57:50,280 Next time... SHOUTING 837 00:57:50,280 --> 00:57:52,600 ..two great armies face one another... 838 00:57:56,960 --> 00:57:58,960 ..and fight in a single day... 839 00:58:01,960 --> 00:58:04,760 ..for the heart and soul of England. 840 00:58:07,200 --> 00:58:09,640 HE SCREAMS