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It was the hand of God
that decided the outcome of battles,
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the fate of nations
and the life or death of kings.
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Everyone knew that.
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00:00:20,350 --> 00:00:24,901
It was winter,
the season of frost and death.
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A king lay dying.
His name was Edward the Confessor.
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He was dying childless and it wasn't
obvious who would succeed him.
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As there was no heir, many thought
they should be the next king,
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including foreign princes
like Duke William of Normandy.
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Among those gathered round
the bed of the dying Saxon king
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was the next most powerful man
in England, Harold Godwineson
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and he thought the crown
would look well on his head.
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He was hoping for a sign
that King Edward felt the same way.
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Then Edward stretched out his hand
and touched Harold.
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But was he giving him
a blessing or a curse?
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Was this the hand of God
making Harold king?
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Nobody knew for sure,
but Harold had no qualms.
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He seized the crown.
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The question now was
for how long would he keep it?
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Then, in the April sky, the hand of God
showed itself as a comet, a hairy star,
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and everyone knew
this was no blessing but an evil omen.
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The year was 1066.
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Historians like a quiet life
and usually they get it.
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For the most part,
history moves at a glacial pace,
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working its changes subtly.
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In Britain we like to think
there's something about our history,
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like our climate, our landscape,
that's naturally moderate,
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not given to earthquakes
and revolutions.
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But there are times and places
when history, British history,
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comes at you with a rush,
violent, decisive, bloody -
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a truckload
of trouble knocking you down,
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wiping out everything
that gives you your bearings:
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Law, custom, loyalty and language.
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And this is one of those places.
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I know it doesn't look like the site
of a national trauma.
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These days it looks more suitable
for a county fair than a mass slaughter.
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But this is the battlefield
of Hastings,
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and here one kind of England
was annihilated
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and another kind of England
was set up in its place.
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Some historians say
that for most people of England
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Hastings didn't matter that much,
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that 1066 was mostly a matter of replacing
Saxon lords with Norman knights.
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Peasants still ploughed their fields
and paid taxes to the king,
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prayed to avoid
poverty and pestilence
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and watched the seasons roll round.
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But the everyday can rub
shoulders with the catastrophic.
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The grass grew green again, but there
were bones beneath the buttercups
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and an entire governing class
of the English had been dispossessed,
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their men, land and animals
taken from them
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and given as spoils
to the victorious foreigners.
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You could survive
and still be English
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but now you belonged
to an inferior race, the conquered.
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You lived in England
but it was no longer your country.
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Anglo-Saxon England
was no stranger to invasions.
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Viking raids had been part of life
for a century,
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but since the days
of Alfred the Great,
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it was a country
stable enough to soak them up.
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Longboats came and went but still
the king's law ran the shires.
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His churches and abbeys
were built more beautifully than ever,
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and a town that would one day
be called London
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was beginning to grow and prosper
on the banks of the Thames.
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Then one invasion succeeded
where the others had failed,
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and there was a Viking on the throne.
His name was Canute,
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the man we remember
for trying to hold back the tides.
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While he turned Anglo-Saxon England
into part of his vast maritime empire,
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he went out of his way
to change nothing.
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He even chose as his closest advisor
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one of the most powerful Anglo-Saxon nobles,
Godwine, Earl of Wessex.
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A scheming, ruthless man,
Godwine became
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virtual co-ruler with Canute
over what was still
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recognisably Anglo-Saxon England.
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But with Canute's death in 1035
began a chain of events
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that would culminate
in the one invasion
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that Anglo-Saxon England
would be unable to swallow.
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And what a saga it was.
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It started with a bloody
and unsparing fight for Canute's throne
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amongst the surviving elite.
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Treachery, murder and mutilation
were par for the course.
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The last man standing
with any kind of claim to the throne
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was a descendant of Alfred the Great,
a prince of the Saxon royal house.
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Called Edward, he would become
forever known as The Confessor.
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He was crowned
on Easter Day, 1043.
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He inherited
more than just the crown.
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He also got Earl Godwine,
in no mood to lose power
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just because there was a new king.
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Unlike Canute,
Edward had good reason to hate
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the right-hand man forced on him.
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For Godwine had arranged
his older brother's murder.
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There was nothing he could do
about his bloodstained rival,
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not yet anyway.
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He knew that Godwine
held the keys to the kingdom.
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When Godwine offered Edward
his daughter in marriage,
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what could he do but take her?
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Godwine
was not Edward's only problem.
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He'd also to learn how to govern
a country he knew little about.
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For he'd grown up in exile
in a very different world
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across the English Channel
in Normandy.
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We think of Edward the Confessor
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as the quintessential
Anglo-Saxon king.
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In fact, he was almost as Norman
as William the Conqueror.
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After all,
his mother Emma was a Norman
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and he'd lived here
in Normandy for 30 years,
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ever since she'd brought him
as a child refugee from the wars
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between the Saxons and the Danes.
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But Normandy was not
just an asylum for Edward,
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it was the place which formed him
politically and culturally.
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His mother tongue
was Norman French.
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His virtual godfathers were
the formidable Dukes of Normandy.
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The Normans were descendants
of Viking raiders,
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but had long since traded in their longboats
for powerful war-horses.
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The Duchy of Normandy
was in no sense just a piece of France.
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Though the Dukes did formal
homage to the kings of France,
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they were fiercely independent,
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possessed of castles,
patrons of churches.
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These warlords
were constantly in the saddle
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imposing their will on vassals,
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fighting off revolts
and forging shaky coalitions.
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But the duchy was also humming
with energetic piety.
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In the 11th century, handsome
stone monasteries and churches
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with Romanesque arches
began to appear.
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Grandiose stone castles, as tough
as the Norman lords who'd built them,
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became part of the landscape.
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So until the throne of England
tempted him back
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across the Channel at the age of 36,
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this was Edward's home, and while
he was here a child was growing up
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who would change the course
of British history.
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It was at the site of this castle
at Falles in 1027
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that William, known to his
contemporaries though not to his face
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as William the Bastard,
was born.
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He was the illegitimate son
of the Duke of Normandy
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and the daughter of a tanner
called Ellave.
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And in the cut-throat world
of feudal Normandy,
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it was important that he learn,
and quickly, how to survive.
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He was only a child
when his father died on a pilgrimage
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to the Holy Land, leaving William,
just eight years old, as his heir.
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A lamb thrown to the wolves.
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Certainly Edward would
have known the young William.
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There were suggestions that he was
one of the hand-picked companions
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entrusted by William's father,
Duke Robert,
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with keeping an eye
on the vulnerable young boy.
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He would have seen how William
survived the traumas of his childhood,
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narrowly escaping
assassination attempts;
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how William was forced, aged ten,
to witness the brutal murder
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of his beloved steward in his
bedchamber, before his very eyes.
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Edward must have marvelled
at the way the stripling boy
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grew into a steely
and ruthless young man,
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triumphing in battle over
a formidable league of rebel nobles.
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While William was securing
absolute power in Normandy,
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Edward was, by now,
in the middle of a nervous reign,
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continually having
to look over his shoulder
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at his biggest threat,
Earl Godwine.
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In 1051, Edward seized his chance
to rid himself of his rival.
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Edward brought over Norman allies,
established them in castles,
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made one Archbishop of Canterbury.
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Feeling his moment had now come,
he confronted Godwine
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with his brother's murder
and threw him out of the country.
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His bid to rid himself
of his sworn enemy failed miserably.
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In exile, the Earl of Wessex
was just as dangerous as at home,
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and sailed back with a fleet
to humiliate the king.
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Out went Edward's Norman cronies,
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back came the Godwines
stronger than ever.
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Edward was now little more
than a puppet king.
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He turned to the religious life,
spending days
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in meditation and prayer,
becoming at last, The Confessor,
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devoting himself to the foundation
of his Benedictine abbey
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upstream of London, his "West Minster".
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Impotence though, has its uses.
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Godwine clearly had ambitions
for the future.
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He'd foisted his daughter
Edith on Edward
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to get a young Godwine
as the next King of England.
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But Edward had his own ideas.
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Yes, he'd married Edith
but he'd never sleep with her.
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His revenge
would be her childlessness.
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Now Edward had an even more
mischievous thought:
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"All right, if Godwine wants
an heir to the throne so badly
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"I'll give him one
but one more to my liking."
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It's at this point,
Norman chroniclers claimed,
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that Edward apparently
promised the succession
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to the Duke of Normandy,
William the Bastard.
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Of course, nobody knew
of this in England,
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least of all Godwine, who in 1053
died suddenly of a stroke
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while at dinner with the king.
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There were plenty of other Godwines
to step into the Godfather's place.
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His sons now took over
where he left off,
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controlling England
virtually unchallenged.
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And presiding over the family empire
was the eldest son, Harold.
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Harold Godwineson
seemed to have everything:
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Land, power, riches, charisma,
an aristocratic wife
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and a supporting troop
of loyal and clever brothers.
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00:14:01,190 --> 00:14:04,148
He even managed to make himself
patron of churches,
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like this one at Bosham in Sussex.
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And though he didn't dare
make too brazen a move,
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00:14:10,270 --> 00:14:14,582
any dispassionate observer arriving
in England in the early 1060s
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would have to conclude
that once Edward was gone
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the throne was Harold's
for the taking.
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00:14:20,390 --> 00:14:26,181
All at once an ill wind blew away
this fair-weather vision.
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It started with a voyage that
no one can explain, even to this day.
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00:14:37,830 --> 00:14:43,268
In 1064, Harold and a group of men
set sail for Normandy.
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00:14:43,430 --> 00:14:46,706
Maybe it was to rescue
his younger brother, Wulfstan,
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who had been taken hostage
by William.
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00:14:49,350 --> 00:14:53,662
For the Norman chroniclers,
the journey could only have one purpose.
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Harold was confirming
Edward's offer of the crown.
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00:15:01,030 --> 00:15:05,501
Why would Harold do something
so against his own best interests?
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00:15:07,430 --> 00:15:10,706
Perhaps that's why it makes
up the first bit of the story
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of the most grandiose piece
of Norman propaganda,
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00:15:14,110 --> 00:15:17,625
the 70-metre long Bayeux Tapestry.
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00:15:18,710 --> 00:15:21,702
The tapestry was commissioned
by William's half-brother,
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00:15:21,870 --> 00:15:25,829
Bishop Odo of Bayeux,
a few years after the conquest.
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00:15:25,990 --> 00:15:30,268
It may have been made
by English embroiders in Canterbury,
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who were regarded as the most
skilled stitchers in Europe.
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Who else would have made
such a glamorous hero?
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00:15:47,110 --> 00:15:51,581
Something seems to have gone wrong
in the Channel, perhaps a storm.
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Landing in the territory
of Guy of Ponthieu,
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they were arrested and handed
over to Guy's liege lord,
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William of Normandy.
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00:16:03,670 --> 00:16:08,107
The embroiderers make it dramatically
clear that Harold and his men
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00:16:08,270 --> 00:16:11,228
now find themselves
in an alien world.
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The Saxons are moustachioed
at this stage of the story,
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rather fine-looking,
with a certain air about them,
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despite their predicament.
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The Normans, by contrast,
shave the backs of their heads.
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They're the scary half-skinheads
of the early feudal world.
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Realising his lucky number
has come up,
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William can afford to be all charm
and generosity to his prisoner,
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cleverly bringing him
into his military entourage.
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00:16:45,030 --> 00:16:47,783
William took Harold on campaign
with him in Brittany,
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00:16:48,110 --> 00:16:52,342
where Harold returns the favour
by rescuing two of William's soldiers
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00:16:52,510 --> 00:16:55,183
from the quicksands
of Mont Saint Michel,
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00:16:55,350 --> 00:16:59,866
one on his left arm,
one on his back.
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His hospitality is steel-tipped.
He makes Harold one of his knights,
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00:17:10,830 --> 00:17:15,699
a solemn ceremonious business
involving a two-way obligation.
231
00:17:17,470 --> 00:17:20,189
William, now his liege lord,
would be obliged
232
00:17:20,350 --> 00:17:22,944
to protect Harold, his new knight.
233
00:17:23,110 --> 00:17:27,308
Harold would have had to make his
own promises, and there seems no doubt
234
00:17:27,470 --> 00:17:31,304
he did swear
some sort of oath to the Duke.
235
00:17:31,470 --> 00:17:36,464
To the medieval mind, there was
nothing more serious than an oath,
236
00:17:36,630 --> 00:17:40,305
and the tapestry maker makes it clear
that this was a religious act
237
00:17:40,470 --> 00:17:44,588
by having a witness point
to the word "Sacramentum".
238
00:17:44,750 --> 00:17:50,063
His oath was a kind of sacrament
as it went to the heart of the matter.
239
00:17:50,230 --> 00:17:54,269
What would happen to England
after Edward died?
240
00:17:55,910 --> 00:17:59,789
The English said that Harold
agreed to be William's man
241
00:17:59,950 --> 00:18:05,024
only in Normandy and that it had
no bearing on the English succession.
242
00:18:05,670 --> 00:18:09,140
The Norman chroniclers, though,
said Harold had sworn
243
00:18:09,310 --> 00:18:12,586
to help William
take the throne of England.
244
00:18:15,390 --> 00:18:19,861
The oath became even more binding
when in a cheap theatrical trick
245
00:18:20,030 --> 00:18:23,818
the cloth was whipped from the table
over which Harold had sworn.
246
00:18:23,990 --> 00:18:29,781
Underneath was revealed a reliquary
containing the bones of a saint.
247
00:18:37,350 --> 00:18:40,626
Well, how much trouble
was he in now?
248
00:18:40,790 --> 00:18:43,258
Had Harold promised
something he couldn't deliver,
249
00:18:43,430 --> 00:18:46,661
or had he made no promises at all
about the English crown?
250
00:18:46,830 --> 00:18:50,061
Norman chroniclers like
to imagine the returning Harold
251
00:18:50,230 --> 00:18:54,269
haunted by guilt,
saying one thing but doing another.
252
00:19:01,270 --> 00:19:05,661
In England, there was no sign
of a queasy conscience at all.
253
00:19:05,830 --> 00:19:09,505
To get his hands on the crown,
Harold now did something
254
00:19:09,670 --> 00:19:13,299
inconceivable for a Godwine,
something which
255
00:19:13,470 --> 00:19:16,780
one day would have
disastrous consequences.
256
00:19:16,950 --> 00:19:21,466
He sold his own brother,
Tostig, down the river.
257
00:19:25,510 --> 00:19:30,584
Tostig was the Earl of Northumbria
and also the family hothead,
258
00:19:30,750 --> 00:19:34,265
and had managed to provoke
a northern rebellion against him.
259
00:19:34,430 --> 00:19:37,149
He'd been fleecing abbeys
and monasteries,
260
00:19:37,310 --> 00:19:41,940
creating his own private army
and acting like a greedy tyrannical brat.
261
00:19:42,910 --> 00:19:46,107
Inevitably,
the local nobles rose against him,
262
00:19:46,270 --> 00:19:50,422
declared him outlaw and put in
their own man to be the new earl.
263
00:19:51,750 --> 00:19:55,106
Harold was sent by King Edward
to sort out the mess
264
00:19:55,270 --> 00:19:58,660
and was immediately faced
with two tough choices.
265
00:19:58,830 --> 00:20:02,345
He could back his younger brother
Tostig against the rebels,
266
00:20:02,510 --> 00:20:04,978
but that might create a civil war.
267
00:20:05,750 --> 00:20:10,221
Or he could forget about blood ties
and support Tostig's enemies.
268
00:20:10,390 --> 00:20:13,029
In return,
they might feel grateful enough
269
00:20:13,110 --> 00:20:15,385
to offer him their crucial support
270
00:20:15,470 --> 00:20:19,986
when the time came for him
to make his bid for the English throne.
271
00:20:21,790 --> 00:20:25,988
In the end, Harold put ambition
before brotherly love.
272
00:20:26,150 --> 00:20:29,699
He threw out Tostig and replaced him
with the Earl Morcar.
273
00:20:29,870 --> 00:20:33,385
Harold had broken
Godwine clan solidarity
274
00:20:33,550 --> 00:20:36,986
and turned his own brother
into a mortal enemy.
275
00:20:39,830 --> 00:20:43,300
It was this merciless war
of brothers which in the end
276
00:20:43,470 --> 00:20:46,507
cost Harold his throne
and his life.
277
00:20:46,670 --> 00:20:51,539
More than anything, it was the cause
of death of Anglo-Saxon England.
278
00:20:54,830 --> 00:20:59,062
The winter of 1065
was marked by tremendous gales
279
00:20:59,230 --> 00:21:03,906
which destroyed churches
and uprooted great trees.
280
00:21:04,910 --> 00:21:07,902
As King Edward the Confessor
lay on his deathbed,
281
00:21:08,070 --> 00:21:11,506
he was visited
by a strange and terrible dream
282
00:21:11,670 --> 00:21:16,141
which he insisted on relating
to all who gathered around him.
283
00:21:17,790 --> 00:21:21,385
Two monks came
to my deathbed and told me
284
00:21:21,550 --> 00:21:23,541
that because
of the sins of its people
285
00:21:23,710 --> 00:21:26,019
God had given England
to evil spirits.
286
00:21:27,110 --> 00:21:30,466
I said, "Will God not have mercy?"
And they replied,
287
00:21:30,630 --> 00:21:35,306
"Not until a growing tree,
cleft in two by a lightning storm
288
00:21:35,470 --> 00:21:39,622
"should come together of its own
accord and grow green again.
289
00:21:39,790 --> 00:21:42,907
"Only then will there be pardon."
290
00:21:52,630 --> 00:21:56,384
But no one paid much attention
to the ravings of an old man.
291
00:21:56,550 --> 00:21:58,461
What was much more important
292
00:21:58,630 --> 00:22:01,667
was that Edward
had touched Harold's hand.
293
00:22:07,190 --> 00:22:11,581
The king had fallen short
of actually declaring him his heir
294
00:22:11,750 --> 00:22:13,945
but it was enough
of a sign for Harold
295
00:22:14,110 --> 00:22:17,022
and the northern earls
who supported him.
296
00:22:18,470 --> 00:22:24,545
On January 6th 1066, Westminster
saw the funeral of one king in the morning
297
00:22:24,710 --> 00:22:28,305
and the coronation
of another in the afternoon.
298
00:22:29,390 --> 00:22:32,985
There are two Harolds
depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry,
299
00:22:33,150 --> 00:22:35,425
but which was the real one -
300
00:22:35,590 --> 00:22:39,503
the confident king who issued coins
bearing the optimistic slogan "Pax",
301
00:22:39,670 --> 00:22:41,388
the Latin for peace,
302
00:22:41,550 --> 00:22:48,547
or the guilty, twisted usurper, stricken
by omens, haunted by a vision of ships?
303
00:22:53,030 --> 00:22:57,103
The phantom fleet which the embroiderers
set in a border of the tapestry
304
00:22:57,270 --> 00:23:00,546
suggests Harold could
all too well imagine the reaction
305
00:23:00,710 --> 00:23:03,668
across the Channel
to his coronation.
306
00:23:06,390 --> 00:23:10,588
A Norman historian has William
hearing the news while out hunting.
307
00:23:12,430 --> 00:23:15,627
When the Duke heard the news,
he became as a man outraged.
308
00:23:15,790 --> 00:23:20,420
Oft he tied his mantle,
oft he untied it and spoke to no man.
309
00:23:20,590 --> 00:23:23,662
Neither dared
any man speak to him.
310
00:23:25,110 --> 00:23:27,943
(HOWLING)
311
00:23:31,870 --> 00:23:36,102
For ten years, William had confidently
let it be known throughout Europe
312
00:23:36,270 --> 00:23:39,262
that he'd soon add England
to his territories.
313
00:23:39,430 --> 00:23:43,946
He was now in a lethally dangerous
position of looking ridiculous.
314
00:23:44,870 --> 00:23:48,704
He consulted his feudal magnates
in a series of assemblies
315
00:23:48,790 --> 00:23:51,748
and by no means all of them
were particularly thrilled
316
00:23:51,910 --> 00:23:54,743
with the idea
of an invasion of England.
317
00:23:54,910 --> 00:23:57,299
The risks seemed a lot more daunting
318
00:23:57,470 --> 00:24:00,621
than the enticement
of new lands and wealth.
319
00:24:01,550 --> 00:24:04,542
So the Duke
went to strategy number two,
320
00:24:04,710 --> 00:24:08,419
turning the matter into
an international crusade.
321
00:24:08,590 --> 00:24:11,866
Couldn't the Pope see
that his cause was just,
322
00:24:12,030 --> 00:24:16,342
that Harold was an infamous oath breaker,
a despoiler of churches?
323
00:24:16,510 --> 00:24:19,308
William on the other hand
was a builder of abbeys,
324
00:24:19,470 --> 00:24:22,064
a protector of bishops
against bullying barons.
325
00:24:22,230 --> 00:24:26,542
It was completely absurd
and it worked like a dream.
326
00:24:26,710 --> 00:24:30,225
The Pope was won over,
gave William his Papal blessing
327
00:24:30,390 --> 00:24:33,826
and invested him
with his ring and banner.
328
00:24:39,110 --> 00:24:42,625
It was now much more
than a dynastic feud.
329
00:24:42,790 --> 00:24:45,543
William used the consecration
of his wife's abbey,
330
00:24:45,710 --> 00:24:47,985
here at La Trinite in Caen,
331
00:24:48,150 --> 00:24:51,620
to proclaim a crusade
against the infidel Harold.
332
00:24:52,910 --> 00:24:55,902
The barons who'd fought shy
of risking their necks
333
00:24:56,070 --> 00:24:58,584
on the Duke's personal vendetta
334
00:24:58,750 --> 00:25:01,822
now flocked
to join the legions of the blessed.
335
00:25:06,430 --> 00:25:09,740
The Bayeux Tapestry shows
work immediately got under way
336
00:25:09,910 --> 00:25:13,266
to build an awe-inspiring
expeditionary force.
337
00:25:13,430 --> 00:25:15,864
Rows of Normandy trees
went down to the axe
338
00:25:16,030 --> 00:25:20,182
to emerge
as 400 dragon-headed ships.
339
00:25:24,630 --> 00:25:29,385
Loaded onto the ships were coats
of mail, bows, arrows, spears
340
00:25:29,550 --> 00:25:35,307
and the most indispensable
item of all, vast casks of wine.
341
00:25:35,470 --> 00:25:38,542
Packed so tightly into the boats
they supported each other,
342
00:25:38,710 --> 00:25:43,625
were perhaps 6,000 horses,
three for each knight.
343
00:25:53,510 --> 00:25:56,582
Across the Channel, Harold responded
344
00:25:56,750 --> 00:26:00,709
by proving that he too
was a phenomenal military organiser.
345
00:26:00,870 --> 00:26:04,579
As the crack troops of his army,
Harold could call on the elite
346
00:26:04,750 --> 00:26:08,789
of perhaps 3,000 "huscarls",
professional soldiers
347
00:26:08,950 --> 00:26:12,659
trained to handle a two-handed axe
that, if swung right,
348
00:26:12,830 --> 00:26:17,426
could slice through a horse
and its rider at one blow.
349
00:26:17,590 --> 00:26:22,220
The core of the army was 5,000 Thanes -
or noblemen - of England.
350
00:26:22,390 --> 00:26:28,306
In addition there were the 13,000
part-time soldiers, the "fyrd",
351
00:26:28,470 --> 00:26:31,507
mobilised by their lords,
obliged to give the king
352
00:26:31,670 --> 00:26:34,230
two months service each year.
353
00:26:36,310 --> 00:26:40,940
With amazing speed, this army
was stationed along the south coast.
354
00:26:42,270 --> 00:26:47,788
By August 10th, William had his army
in place along the Normandy coast.
355
00:26:47,950 --> 00:26:52,387
Two great fighting forces
bent on each other's annihilation
356
00:26:52,550 --> 00:26:55,508
faced each other
across a little strip of water
357
00:26:55,670 --> 00:26:58,742
to determine the destiny of England.
358
00:27:02,670 --> 00:27:04,467
And there they sat,
359
00:27:04,630 --> 00:27:07,827
William waiting
for a southerly wind that never came,
360
00:27:07,990 --> 00:27:11,983
and Harold waiting
for William, who never came.
361
00:27:16,030 --> 00:27:19,784
This waiting was particularly
serious for Harold.
362
00:27:19,950 --> 00:27:23,545
By the first week in September
he'd kept the fyrd in battle position
363
00:27:23,710 --> 00:27:27,703
for at least two weeks longer
than their two-month obligation.
364
00:27:31,430 --> 00:27:34,866
What's more,
it was now harvest time.
365
00:27:35,030 --> 00:27:38,147
So, with who knows what
misgivings and uneasiness,
366
00:27:38,310 --> 00:27:41,700
on September the 8th
Harold demobilised the fyrd
367
00:27:41,870 --> 00:27:44,509
and sent the soldiers home.
368
00:27:47,670 --> 00:27:51,948
He was right to feel uneasy.
Just eleven days later
369
00:27:52,110 --> 00:27:57,707
Harold had a very nasty shock -
his younger brother was back.
370
00:27:57,870 --> 00:28:01,658
Tostig, together with
the Norwegian king, Harold Hardrada,
371
00:28:01,830 --> 00:28:05,948
had landed in Northumbria
with as many as 12,000 men.
372
00:28:06,110 --> 00:28:10,023
Tostig had spent his time
in exile looking for allies
373
00:28:10,190 --> 00:28:12,340
to pursue his vendetta against Harold.
374
00:28:12,510 --> 00:28:16,025
It was a coup for him
that he'd enlisted the support
375
00:28:16,190 --> 00:28:18,658
of the awesome King of Norway.
376
00:28:18,830 --> 00:28:23,426
Hardrada was quite simply
the most feared warrior of the age.
377
00:28:23,590 --> 00:28:26,263
Built like a Norwegian cliff face,
378
00:28:26,430 --> 00:28:29,581
he had the reputation
for super-human strength
379
00:28:29,750 --> 00:28:32,822
and elaborately creative cruelty.
380
00:28:32,990 --> 00:28:36,539
Hardrada also had a flimsy claim
to the English throne
381
00:28:36,710 --> 00:28:39,622
that went back to Canute,
and he wasn't one to flinch
382
00:28:39,790 --> 00:28:44,147
at a military challenge that
could win him the disputed crown.
383
00:28:48,670 --> 00:28:52,822
Harold Hardrada sailed southwest
from Norway on August the 12th.
384
00:28:52,990 --> 00:28:57,939
En route, he stopped here
in the Viking earldom of the Orkneys
385
00:28:58,110 --> 00:29:00,749
to pick up yet more men and ships
386
00:29:00,910 --> 00:29:03,105
to add
to his already formidable fleet.
387
00:29:03,270 --> 00:29:06,467
Expectations must have been high.
388
00:29:06,630 --> 00:29:10,509
The Norsemen could almost smell
triumph in the summer winds.
389
00:29:10,670 --> 00:29:15,585
There would have been feasting,
singing and the reading of poems,
390
00:29:15,750 --> 00:29:18,548
some of them doubtless written
by Hardrada himself.
391
00:29:18,710 --> 00:29:23,545
And it may be here that Tostig
joined the Viking fleet.
392
00:29:23,630 --> 00:29:27,623
If he did and looked out
and saw the 300 ships,
393
00:29:27,790 --> 00:29:30,463
his little heart must have
skipped a beat
394
00:29:30,630 --> 00:29:33,781
to think of the catastrophe
awaiting his brother.
395
00:29:33,950 --> 00:29:39,388
Together, Tostig and Hardrada
would be unstoppable, invincible.
396
00:29:39,550 --> 00:29:41,302
Or would they?
397
00:29:48,990 --> 00:29:53,541
Landing on the Northumbrian coast,
the Viking army headed for York,
398
00:29:53,710 --> 00:29:58,306
where it fought off the northern
earls to take control of the city.
399
00:29:59,350 --> 00:30:02,103
Complacent with victory,
Hardrada and Tostig travelled
400
00:30:02,270 --> 00:30:05,740
with just one third of the army,
eight miles east of York,
401
00:30:05,910 --> 00:30:11,143
to Stamford Bridge, where they'd
arranged to collect 500 hostages.
402
00:30:13,270 --> 00:30:16,228
What they saw on the banks
of the River Derwent
403
00:30:16,390 --> 00:30:20,542
was not a forlorn group
of hostages but a massive army,
404
00:30:20,710 --> 00:30:25,704
their weapons glittering like sheets
of ice, as the Viking bard put it.
405
00:30:25,870 --> 00:30:28,748
Tostig knew it meant trouble.
406
00:30:28,910 --> 00:30:31,549
It was his big brother.
407
00:30:32,470 --> 00:30:35,542
Getting his army in position
to surprise the Norsemen
408
00:30:35,710 --> 00:30:37,985
was an epic feat by any standards.
409
00:30:38,150 --> 00:30:42,223
Harold had travelled from London,
picking up his army on the way,
410
00:30:42,390 --> 00:30:48,340
covering 187 miles in four days -
37 to 45 miles a day.
411
00:30:48,510 --> 00:30:53,300
Imagine then, thousands of men
going as fast as their horses,
412
00:30:53,470 --> 00:30:57,019
or, in many cases, as fast
as their legs could carry them.
413
00:30:57,190 --> 00:31:01,308
Up the Great North Road
to Peterborough, Lincoln, Tadcaster.
414
00:31:01,470 --> 00:31:06,305
The ultimate high-impact hike
with the heaviest backpacks imaginable.
415
00:31:06,390 --> 00:31:09,348
At the end of it, Harold fought
416
00:31:09,510 --> 00:31:12,866
one of the bloodiest
battles in English history.
417
00:31:13,030 --> 00:31:16,022
(SHOUTS AND CRIES)
418
00:31:36,430 --> 00:31:39,467
It was the English
who broke the Viking line,
419
00:31:39,630 --> 00:31:43,418
and the remaining Norse warriors
cowered around their chiefs.
420
00:31:43,590 --> 00:31:48,618
We must imagine the great Hardrada
swinging his axe beneath the Landvaster flag,
421
00:31:48,790 --> 00:31:53,102
before finally sinking down
with an arrow in the throat;
422
00:31:53,270 --> 00:31:58,788
Tostig picking up the Raven flag
and, in his turn, being cut down.
423
00:32:07,270 --> 00:32:13,664
The carnage was so complete
that it took just 24 of the 300 ships
424
00:32:13,830 --> 00:32:17,584
that had sailed to England
to return the pitiful remnant
425
00:32:17,750 --> 00:32:20,628
of the Norse army back to Norway.
426
00:32:24,550 --> 00:32:28,304
In a final act of respect,
Harold found his dead brother
427
00:32:28,470 --> 00:32:33,180
and took what was left of him
to be buried at York Minster.
428
00:32:36,550 --> 00:32:41,340
He had no time to grieve or exalt
over the death of Tostig,
429
00:32:41,510 --> 00:32:45,549
for the day after the Battle
of Stamford Bridge, the Norman fleet,
430
00:32:45,710 --> 00:32:49,498
at last,
felt the wind change direction.
431
00:32:51,950 --> 00:32:55,067
So, with great haste,
the Duke went to sea,
432
00:32:55,230 --> 00:32:59,064
with his fleet sailing swiftly
to the coast of England.
433
00:33:08,230 --> 00:33:12,143
Their first sight of land would
have been the cliffs at Beachy Head,
434
00:33:12,310 --> 00:33:16,383
and they landed in the nearby
sheltering harbours at Pevensey.
435
00:33:17,870 --> 00:33:20,464
An old Roman fort guarded the beach.
436
00:33:20,630 --> 00:33:23,463
Within its empty shell,
William's men erected
437
00:33:23,630 --> 00:33:28,260
a prefabricated timber castle,
later to be rebuilt in stone,
438
00:33:28,430 --> 00:33:31,786
as if declaring that they
were now heirs to the Romans.
439
00:33:35,670 --> 00:33:39,219
Expeditions for food
and forage from the base camp
440
00:33:39,390 --> 00:33:42,746
took the usual form, burning
everything that couldn't be seized,
441
00:33:42,910 --> 00:33:46,027
striking terror
into the hearts of the locals.
442
00:33:49,990 --> 00:33:54,506
One of the most unforgettable details
in the entire Bayeux Tapestry
443
00:33:54,670 --> 00:34:00,302
is this seemingly incidental detail
of a mother and child turned refugee,
444
00:34:00,470 --> 00:34:05,464
fleeing from their burning house,
maybe even Hastings,
445
00:34:06,150 --> 00:34:08,584
resigned to their fate,
not looking back.
446
00:34:08,750 --> 00:34:13,904
This is the first of the images
that will echo through European art;
447
00:34:14,070 --> 00:34:16,948
through Rubens, Goya
and Picasso's Guernica,
448
00:34:17,110 --> 00:34:22,025
of the victims of war,
of civilians, of innocence.
449
00:34:25,110 --> 00:34:29,661
William soon discovered there was
no easy route from Pevensey to London.
450
00:34:29,830 --> 00:34:32,298
The country behind the town
was waterlogged,
451
00:34:32,470 --> 00:34:35,621
crossed by little river valleys
that fed into the sea.
452
00:34:35,790 --> 00:34:39,942
But there was one old
Anglo-Saxon trail that could take him
453
00:34:40,110 --> 00:34:42,419
to the Roman road north
through Kent,
454
00:34:42,590 --> 00:34:46,708
and it was for mastery
of this ancient, muddy, rutted track,
455
00:34:46,870 --> 00:34:51,500
that the most gruelling battle
in early British history would be fought.
456
00:34:53,310 --> 00:34:57,269
Having beaten back the threat
of the Vikings and his own brother,
457
00:34:57,430 --> 00:35:00,024
it must have seemed
inconceivable to Harold
458
00:35:00,190 --> 00:35:04,308
that he'd have to do it all over again
within a week or two.
459
00:35:04,470 --> 00:35:07,348
It would not be easy.
Who could he call on?
460
00:35:07,510 --> 00:35:10,422
The bruised and battered
remains of his army.
461
00:35:10,590 --> 00:35:13,980
It would be a long shot,
but after Stamford Bridge
462
00:35:14,150 --> 00:35:18,029
perhaps Harold felt he could
actually trust his gambler's luck.
463
00:35:18,190 --> 00:35:22,945
Besides, William's public name-calling -
Harold the Perjured,
464
00:35:23,110 --> 00:35:25,578
Harold the Oath Breaker,
Harold the Perfidious -
465
00:35:25,750 --> 00:35:29,186
had made it personal now,
a mortal duel.
466
00:35:29,350 --> 00:35:34,299
Let the hand of God decide
the righteous party, who would prevail.
467
00:35:40,510 --> 00:35:43,229
Harold left London at full speed.
468
00:35:43,390 --> 00:35:48,145
He gathered what he could
of a new army by an old grey apple tree,
469
00:35:48,310 --> 00:35:51,427
an ancient blasted tree
that stood on a hill
470
00:35:51,590 --> 00:35:54,741
at the crossing of the track
leading out of Hastings.
471
00:35:54,910 --> 00:35:58,823
There Harold planted his banner,
"The Dragon of Wessex".
472
00:35:58,990 --> 00:36:05,065
The Normans called this place
"Senlach", meaning "Lake of Blood".
473
00:36:05,950 --> 00:36:08,259
(CHANTING)
474
00:36:15,510 --> 00:36:21,779
Imagine yourself on the morning
of Saturday 14th October, 1066.
475
00:36:21,950 --> 00:36:25,545
You're a Saxon warrior,
a huscarl as it happens,
476
00:36:25,710 --> 00:36:28,304
and you've survived Stamford Bridge.
477
00:36:28,470 --> 00:36:31,826
You know your position here
couldn't be better.
478
00:36:31,990 --> 00:36:34,743
You stand on the brow of the hill
and look down
479
00:36:34,910 --> 00:36:37,629
hundreds of yards away
at the opposition.
480
00:36:37,790 --> 00:36:43,228
You only have to prevent the Normans
breaking through to the London road.
481
00:36:43,390 --> 00:36:47,463
They have the horses
but they have to ride them uphill.
482
00:36:48,030 --> 00:36:52,660
You look along the hillside
to see a densely-packed crowd of Englishmen.
483
00:36:52,830 --> 00:36:54,866
At the front are the huscarls,
484
00:36:55,030 --> 00:36:58,466
a wall of solid shields,
and with them the axemen.
485
00:36:58,630 --> 00:37:02,100
Behind them the part-timers,
the fighting farmers,
486
00:37:02,270 --> 00:37:05,228
who must have time
to find their courage.
487
00:37:07,590 --> 00:37:11,742
At the foot of the hill you can hear
the whinnying of Norman horses...
488
00:37:13,310 --> 00:37:17,303
...and what sounds like
the chanting of psalms.
489
00:37:19,830 --> 00:37:22,867
You're a Norman foot-soldier
and you hope to God
490
00:37:23,030 --> 00:37:25,498
the gentlemen on horses
know what they're doing.
491
00:37:25,670 --> 00:37:28,468
All around you can hear
the scraping of metal,
492
00:37:28,630 --> 00:37:31,827
the sharpening of blades,
the mounting of horses.
493
00:37:31,990 --> 00:37:34,140
You look up to the brow of the hill
494
00:37:34,310 --> 00:37:37,859
and you see a glittering line of men
and you cross yourself.
495
00:37:38,030 --> 00:37:41,420
You finger the rings
on your coat of mail, your hawberg,
496
00:37:41,590 --> 00:37:44,104
and wonder how solid they are.
497
00:37:44,270 --> 00:37:46,864
You wonder what use
they'll be against an axe.
498
00:37:47,030 --> 00:37:49,783
You've never seen axes
in battle before.
499
00:37:49,950 --> 00:37:53,738
Then you catch sight
of the Papal banner and take heart.
500
00:37:53,910 --> 00:37:57,346
Surely God is on your side.
501
00:38:00,510 --> 00:38:04,389
The real beginning must be imagined
as the cavalry raced up the hill,
502
00:38:04,550 --> 00:38:08,429
one by one getting into range,
hearing the rhythmic chant
503
00:38:08,590 --> 00:38:11,821
of "Oot, Oot!" - Out, Out! -
from the Saxons,
504
00:38:11,990 --> 00:38:15,187
and then hurling their javelins
at the front line.
505
00:38:17,990 --> 00:38:20,709
Then came the slow advance
of the archers,
506
00:38:20,870 --> 00:38:25,022
unloosing their first arrows
under a hail of enemy spears.
507
00:38:30,790 --> 00:38:35,306
And finally the foot-soldiers
breaking into a run behind them.
508
00:38:39,790 --> 00:38:43,749
Then there was just the murderous
smashing and crashing of horses,
509
00:38:43,910 --> 00:38:46,299
the slicing
and thrusting of weapons,
510
00:38:46,470 --> 00:38:49,940
the screams,
cries of the wounded and dying.
511
00:38:54,910 --> 00:38:57,947
If the axeman stood firm
against the oncoming horse
512
00:38:58,110 --> 00:39:01,386
he'd still only get one good swing.
If he missed,
513
00:39:01,550 --> 00:39:06,101
he was left open to the slash
of the sword from the rider above.
514
00:39:13,590 --> 00:39:18,061
The initial success of the English
threatened their downfall.
515
00:39:18,230 --> 00:39:22,269
On the left flank of William's army,
horses stumbled and retreated.
516
00:39:22,430 --> 00:39:24,421
The right flank of Harold's army,
517
00:39:24,590 --> 00:39:29,106
many of them inexperienced fyrdmen,
decided to chase them down the hill.
518
00:39:29,870 --> 00:39:32,942
But Harold,
always conservative in his tactics,
519
00:39:33,110 --> 00:39:35,226
refused to allow others to follow.
520
00:39:35,390 --> 00:39:39,349
He seems to have lost
momentary control of his troops,
521
00:39:39,510 --> 00:39:42,104
who couldn't resist
following the horsemen,
522
00:39:42,270 --> 00:39:46,343
elated by the thought that
the Duke of Normandy was lost.
523
00:39:46,510 --> 00:39:50,742
But William threw back his helmet
to prove he was very much alive.
524
00:39:51,470 --> 00:39:55,827
He rallied the ranks of the Norman centre
round the rear of the pursuing Saxons
525
00:39:55,990 --> 00:39:59,266
and set about slicing them to pieces.
526
00:40:05,790 --> 00:40:07,940
The battle wasn't over yet.
527
00:40:08,110 --> 00:40:11,580
It was going to take
at least six hours to decide.
528
00:40:16,270 --> 00:40:19,103
The Bayeux Tapestry
is shockingly explicit
529
00:40:19,270 --> 00:40:23,058
in exposing the extent
of the carnage and mutilation.
530
00:40:27,710 --> 00:40:31,783
But it was the English army that was
eventually, and very, very slowly,
531
00:40:31,950 --> 00:40:33,668
ground down.
532
00:40:33,750 --> 00:40:35,945
William began exploiting weak points,
533
00:40:36,030 --> 00:40:40,182
settling into an alternating rhythm
of archers and cavalry.
534
00:40:40,350 --> 00:40:44,059
The arrows now shot high
into the air and fell,
535
00:40:44,230 --> 00:40:49,384
not onto the front line but the heads
of the unprotected men behind them.
536
00:40:52,590 --> 00:40:54,945
How did Harold himself die?
537
00:40:55,110 --> 00:40:59,422
Lately there has been an attempt
to read the death scene in the Tapestry
538
00:40:59,590 --> 00:41:02,741
as though he was the figure
cut down by the horseman,
539
00:41:02,910 --> 00:41:06,300
not the warrior
pulling the arrow out of his eye,
540
00:41:06,470 --> 00:41:08,461
the story you and I grew up with.
541
00:41:08,630 --> 00:41:12,589
It seems to me perfectly clear
that the words "Harold Rex"
542
00:41:12,750 --> 00:41:17,585
occur directly and significantly
above the arrow-struck figure.
543
00:41:20,070 --> 00:41:24,586
Then certainly the knights would
have been on him, cutting him down,
544
00:41:24,750 --> 00:41:27,310
leaving him disembowelled.
545
00:41:28,630 --> 00:41:31,303
The Thanes bravely mounted
a last stand,
546
00:41:31,470 --> 00:41:36,385
defending the body of their king,
but for many it was a lost cause.
547
00:41:36,550 --> 00:41:40,065
It was time to save one's neck,
to get out of the way.
548
00:41:42,830 --> 00:41:45,788
There are such sad stories
of what follows,
549
00:41:45,950 --> 00:41:47,986
and perhaps some of them are true.
550
00:41:48,150 --> 00:41:50,983
One of them has Harold's lover,
Edith Swan Neck,
551
00:41:51,150 --> 00:41:55,428
walking through the heaps of gory
corpses to identify the dead king
552
00:41:55,590 --> 00:41:59,902
by marks on his body,
known only to her.
553
00:42:01,590 --> 00:42:05,503
What we do know is that around
half the nobility of England
554
00:42:05,670 --> 00:42:08,264
perished on that battlefield.
555
00:42:27,950 --> 00:42:31,260
William had sworn
that should God give him the victory
556
00:42:31,430 --> 00:42:35,628
he would build a great abbey
of thanksgiving at the exact spot
557
00:42:35,790 --> 00:42:38,987
where Harold had planted
his flag, and here it is -
558
00:42:39,150 --> 00:42:44,349
a statement, if ever
there was one, of pious jubilation.
559
00:42:46,670 --> 00:42:50,219
But William had to make sure
he'd won not just a single battle
560
00:42:50,390 --> 00:42:52,665
but the war for England.
561
00:42:52,830 --> 00:42:57,381
This was done in the time-honoured way,
cutting a swathe of fire, rape and plunder
562
00:42:57,550 --> 00:43:00,383
through the countryside
of south-east England.
563
00:43:00,550 --> 00:43:04,907
One by one
the Anglo-Saxon cities folded.
564
00:43:06,190 --> 00:43:12,026
William was crowned at Westminster
on Christmas Day 1066.
565
00:43:12,190 --> 00:43:15,341
But the event was more
like a shambles than a triumph.
566
00:43:17,590 --> 00:43:21,788
At the shout of acclamation,
the Norman soldiers stationed outside
567
00:43:21,950 --> 00:43:24,908
thought a riot had started,
to which their response was
568
00:43:25,070 --> 00:43:27,868
to burn down every house in sight.
569
00:43:28,630 --> 00:43:31,383
As fighting broke out,
many inside the Abbey,
570
00:43:31,550 --> 00:43:34,860
smelling smoke, rushed outside.
571
00:43:35,510 --> 00:43:40,538
The ceremony was completed
in a half empty interior,
572
00:43:40,710 --> 00:43:46,023
with William, for the first time in his life,
seen to be shaking like a leaf.
573
00:43:49,230 --> 00:43:52,700
When he emerged from the smoke
and chaos of the coronation,
574
00:43:52,870 --> 00:43:56,704
just what kind of king did the surviving
remnant of the old governing class
575
00:43:56,870 --> 00:43:58,861
imagine they had?
576
00:43:59,030 --> 00:44:02,545
Did they fondly suppose
he was going to be another Canute,
577
00:44:02,710 --> 00:44:07,101
who now that he'd won, would disband
his army and send them home?
578
00:44:07,270 --> 00:44:11,502
If they did, they were in
for a very nasty shock,
579
00:44:11,670 --> 00:44:15,822
because even if William had wanted
to do this, it was quite impossible.
580
00:44:15,990 --> 00:44:20,984
His whole campaign had been based
on the promise of the lure of land,
581
00:44:21,150 --> 00:44:26,941
the pledge to hand over Saxon
land on a golden plate of conquest.
582
00:44:28,670 --> 00:44:31,230
So there was never
the remotest chance that William
583
00:44:31,390 --> 00:44:34,029
was going to be another Canute
and assimilate himself
584
00:44:34,190 --> 00:44:36,704
into the world
of Anglo-Saxon England.
585
00:44:36,870 --> 00:44:39,430
His conquest
turned the country around.
586
00:44:39,590 --> 00:44:42,388
England's orientation now was south,
587
00:44:42,550 --> 00:44:47,226
away from Scandinavia
and towards continental Europe.
588
00:44:51,230 --> 00:44:53,744
The part of the country
offering most resistance
589
00:44:53,910 --> 00:44:58,028
was the north of England, which still
retained strong Viking sympathies.
590
00:44:58,190 --> 00:45:01,500
Just three years into William's reign,
York opened its gates
591
00:45:01,670 --> 00:45:05,299
to King Swein of Denmark,
hailing him as a liberator
592
00:45:05,470 --> 00:45:07,904
from the new king of England.
593
00:45:10,470 --> 00:45:14,986
William's response was to mount
a campaign of oppression in the north
594
00:45:15,150 --> 00:45:19,780
which was not just punitive
but an exercise in mass murder -
595
00:45:19,950 --> 00:45:22,669
thousands of men and boys
gruesomely butchered,
596
00:45:22,830 --> 00:45:27,187
their bodies left to rot and fester
in the highways.
597
00:45:31,990 --> 00:45:34,982
Every town and village
burnt without pity.
598
00:45:35,150 --> 00:45:38,108
Fields and livestock
destroyed so completely
599
00:45:38,270 --> 00:45:42,024
that any survivors were doomed
to die in a great famine.
600
00:45:45,430 --> 00:45:50,345
Hard on the heels of massacre
and starvation came plague.
601
00:45:51,990 --> 00:45:55,585
All across England,
William built at least 90 castles,
602
00:45:55,750 --> 00:45:58,901
dominating areas
of potential revolt,
603
00:45:59,070 --> 00:46:03,825
engines of terror that helped William
control over two million Saxons
604
00:46:03,990 --> 00:46:07,346
with just 25,000 Normans.
605
00:46:17,630 --> 00:46:23,262
Most of the voices that have come down
to us describing the events after 1066
606
00:46:23,430 --> 00:46:26,228
are written
from the victor's perspective,
607
00:46:26,390 --> 00:46:30,941
unapologetic and crowing,
sketching the starkest possible contrast
608
00:46:31,110 --> 00:46:36,901
between the Machiavellian perjurer Harold
and the noble, betrayed William.
609
00:46:37,070 --> 00:46:40,221
But among this nauseating
chorus of congratulation
610
00:46:40,390 --> 00:46:43,143
there's at least one
that dares break rank,
611
00:46:43,310 --> 00:46:46,461
that in fact sees the conquest
as it surely was -
612
00:46:46,630 --> 00:46:53,308
a brutal, ruthless and completely successful
act of aggression and cruelty.
613
00:46:54,550 --> 00:46:57,542
The voice is all the more credible
because it belongs to someone
614
00:46:57,710 --> 00:47:01,703
who by rights, should have found
nothing to fault in the Norman Conquest -
615
00:47:01,870 --> 00:47:05,829
the monk Orderic Vitalis,
whose family came over with William
616
00:47:05,990 --> 00:47:09,266
and belonged, therefore,
to the conquering class.
617
00:47:09,430 --> 00:47:11,466
In the early 12th century,
618
00:47:11,550 --> 00:47:15,225
he began to pen his account
of the Conquest and its aftermath,
619
00:47:15,310 --> 00:47:17,778
and, in complete contrast to the others,
620
00:47:17,950 --> 00:47:22,785
Orderic never minces his words
about what he thought of as a colonisation.
621
00:47:23,030 --> 00:47:26,625
Foreigners grew wealthy
with the spoils of England,
622
00:47:26,790 --> 00:47:29,623
while her own sons
were either shamefully slain
623
00:47:29,710 --> 00:47:34,465
or driven as exiles to wander hopelessly
through foreign kingdoms.
624
00:47:36,950 --> 00:47:41,660
His account conveys the traumatic
magnitude of what happened in England
625
00:47:41,830 --> 00:47:44,424
in the years following 1066.
626
00:47:44,510 --> 00:47:49,140
Pre-Conquest England was an old country,
as Orderic describes it.
627
00:47:49,310 --> 00:47:51,824
Afterwards,
it was a completely new one.
628
00:47:52,870 --> 00:47:55,828
Of course,
not everything changed,
629
00:47:55,910 --> 00:47:58,344
and to look at a list
of governing institutions
630
00:47:58,430 --> 00:48:00,739
you might suppose
nothing had changed;
631
00:48:00,910 --> 00:48:05,142
that one class of governors had
kicked out another class of governors.
632
00:48:05,310 --> 00:48:07,187
Big deal!
633
00:48:07,350 --> 00:48:09,466
But I rather think it was a big deal.
634
00:48:09,630 --> 00:48:15,068
Imagine the county gentry
of England - priests, squires, judges -
635
00:48:15,230 --> 00:48:18,859
all wiped out overnight,
half of them dead,
636
00:48:19,030 --> 00:48:24,423
the rest humiliated, broken,
replaced by an alien class.
637
00:48:24,590 --> 00:48:30,142
They speak differently, they look different,
they take what they want when they want,
638
00:48:30,310 --> 00:48:34,019
and then rubber-stamp
the decision in your courts.
639
00:48:36,590 --> 00:48:39,263
They also build differently.
640
00:48:39,510 --> 00:48:41,705
Ely Cathedral is one of those places
641
00:48:41,790 --> 00:48:44,907
where the intimate scale
of Saxon churches
642
00:48:45,070 --> 00:48:49,746
was replaced by a statement
of massive triumphalism.
643
00:48:49,910 --> 00:48:53,789
These columns speak
of authority and raw power.
644
00:48:53,950 --> 00:48:56,748
They command obedience
and reverence.
645
00:48:56,910 --> 00:49:00,789
They are, in the most
literal sense, awesome.
646
00:49:09,790 --> 00:49:11,781
It was the difference
647
00:49:11,950 --> 00:49:16,228
between the immense Romanesque bulk
of the great Norman cathedrals
648
00:49:16,390 --> 00:49:19,109
and the small spaces
of the Saxon chapel.
649
00:49:19,950 --> 00:49:24,660
There is another telling difference
between the old and new rulers of England:
650
00:49:24,830 --> 00:49:27,424
Anglo-Saxons didn't use surnames.
651
00:49:27,550 --> 00:49:30,348
They were Cedric or Edgar
of somewhere or other.
652
00:49:30,510 --> 00:49:32,785
But the Normans
incorporated places
653
00:49:32,950 --> 00:49:36,306
into their own names
like an act of possession.
654
00:49:36,470 --> 00:49:40,099
They were Roger of the beautiful hill -
Roger Beau-Mont -
655
00:49:40,270 --> 00:49:45,549
as the place was theirs and they
owned it lock, stock and barrel.
656
00:49:45,710 --> 00:49:48,224
In fact,
preserving the estate intact
657
00:49:48,390 --> 00:49:50,699
was what the Norman nobility
was all about.
658
00:49:50,870 --> 00:49:54,545
It was they who introduced
the practise of passing on whole estates
659
00:49:54,710 --> 00:49:57,543
intact to one heir, to the eldest son.
660
00:49:59,590 --> 00:50:04,141
The unsentimental, decisive way
with things was the Norman way,
661
00:50:04,310 --> 00:50:09,259
giving a hard-nosed edge to
the fuzzy tangles of contracts and customs
662
00:50:09,430 --> 00:50:12,502
that had been used
by the Anglo-Saxons.
663
00:50:13,590 --> 00:50:17,378
And it was in this spirit
that William, in 1085,
664
00:50:17,550 --> 00:50:20,701
held court in Gloucester
and launched arguably
665
00:50:20,870 --> 00:50:25,466
the most extraordinary campaign of his
entire reign, a campaign for information.
666
00:50:28,030 --> 00:50:31,466
We tend to think of William
as more or less permanently in the saddle.
667
00:50:31,630 --> 00:50:35,748
He grew up in a world, after all,
where authority was usually delivered
668
00:50:35,910 --> 00:50:37,980
on the blade of a sword.
669
00:50:38,150 --> 00:50:41,859
So it's all the more impressive that he seems
to have understood instinctively
670
00:50:42,030 --> 00:50:44,783
that information
could also be power.
671
00:50:44,950 --> 00:50:48,465
William the Conqueror
was the first database king.
672
00:50:51,190 --> 00:50:53,784
His immediate need
was to raise a tax,
673
00:50:53,950 --> 00:50:58,580
but the compilation of the Domesday Book
was more than just a glorified audit.
674
00:50:58,750 --> 00:51:01,867
It was a complete inventory
of everything in the kingdom,
675
00:51:02,030 --> 00:51:06,626
shire by shire, pig by pig;
676
00:51:06,790 --> 00:51:11,306
who had owned what before the coming
of the Normans and who owned what now;
677
00:51:11,390 --> 00:51:15,019
how much it had been worth then
and how much now.
678
00:51:18,190 --> 00:51:21,387
The king sent his men
all over England, into every shire,
679
00:51:21,550 --> 00:51:26,146
to find out how many hundred hides
there were in each shire,
680
00:51:26,310 --> 00:51:29,905
what land and cattle the king
himself had in the county.
681
00:51:30,070 --> 00:51:32,903
So very narrowly
did he have it investigated
682
00:51:33,070 --> 00:51:35,948
there was no single hide
nor - shame to relate it,
683
00:51:36,110 --> 00:51:40,900
but it seemed no shame to him -
was there one ox or one cow
684
00:51:41,070 --> 00:51:44,346
left out
and not put down in record.
685
00:51:44,510 --> 00:51:48,708
While some of the information was
taken verbally by William's scribes,
686
00:51:48,870 --> 00:51:52,783
some must have owed
its existence to Saxon records.
687
00:51:52,950 --> 00:51:56,147
The most extraordinary paradox
about the Domesday Book
688
00:51:56,310 --> 00:52:00,349
is that what we think of as a monument
to the power and strength of the Normans
689
00:52:00,510 --> 00:52:03,229
owed itself to the advanced machinery
of government
690
00:52:03,390 --> 00:52:07,303
left in place by the old
Anglo-Saxon monarchy.
691
00:52:07,470 --> 00:52:10,382
And it was thanks to this
that the data was collected
692
00:52:10,550 --> 00:52:14,543
at such lightning speed,
less than six months.
693
00:52:17,030 --> 00:52:20,818
The results were presented
to William here at Old Sarum,
694
00:52:20,990 --> 00:52:24,062
an ancient Iron Age fort
inside which he'd built
695
00:52:24,230 --> 00:52:26,539
a spectacular royal palace.
696
00:52:26,710 --> 00:52:28,746
When he took hold
of the Domesday Book,
697
00:52:28,830 --> 00:52:33,062
it was as though William had been handed
the keys to the kingdom all over again,
698
00:52:33,150 --> 00:52:36,665
as if he'd re-conquered England,
but this time statistically,
699
00:52:36,830 --> 00:52:41,540
because its information was more
impregnable than any castle.
700
00:52:41,710 --> 00:52:43,940
It was called
The Domesday Book, after all,
701
00:52:44,110 --> 00:52:48,900
because it was said its decisions
were as final as the Last Judgement.
702
00:52:52,310 --> 00:52:54,585
The Church itself holds Wenlock.
703
00:52:54,750 --> 00:52:59,460
There are 20 hides, four of which
are exempt from tax under King Canute.
704
00:52:59,630 --> 00:53:04,704
There are 15 slaves, two mills
serve the monks, plus one fishery.
705
00:53:04,870 --> 00:53:10,228
Enough woodland to fatten 300 pigs,
and two hedged enclosures.
706
00:53:10,390 --> 00:53:12,904
Value now twelve pounds.
707
00:53:14,390 --> 00:53:20,499
Two ceremonies took place
on Lammas Day, 1087, at Old Sarum.
708
00:53:20,670 --> 00:53:23,468
First, every noble in England
gathered here
709
00:53:23,630 --> 00:53:26,064
to take an oath of loyalty
to the king.
710
00:53:26,230 --> 00:53:29,540
Then came the handing over
of the Book,
711
00:53:29,710 --> 00:53:32,270
the ultimate weapon
to keep them in line.
712
00:53:32,430 --> 00:53:36,264
Nobody could hold back anything,
and it was this book,
713
00:53:36,430 --> 00:53:39,820
the Domesday Book, that made
the gathering at Old Sarum
714
00:53:39,990 --> 00:53:43,585
unique in the history
of feudal monarchy in Europe.
715
00:53:43,750 --> 00:53:48,107
For the Book ultimately WAS England.
716
00:53:49,910 --> 00:53:53,823
For centuries after, this was
the secret of English government,
717
00:53:53,990 --> 00:53:57,266
a partnership between the power
of the landed classes
718
00:53:57,430 --> 00:53:59,421
and the authority of the state,
719
00:53:59,590 --> 00:54:03,868
between the guardians of the green acres
and the keepers of knowledge.
720
00:54:04,030 --> 00:54:06,100
In the right hand corner, the gentry;
721
00:54:06,270 --> 00:54:08,943
in the left hand corner,
the civil service.
722
00:54:09,110 --> 00:54:12,307
In between them,
the eternal umpire, the king.
723
00:54:13,790 --> 00:54:17,749
But the umpire was finally
feeling the strain of it all.
724
00:54:17,910 --> 00:54:20,299
Not surprising when, aged 60,
725
00:54:20,470 --> 00:54:23,462
William still couldn't resist
playing the warlord.
726
00:54:23,630 --> 00:54:27,703
In 1087, he subdued
a border dispute in France
727
00:54:27,870 --> 00:54:31,340
by totally destroying
the town of Mantes.
728
00:54:31,510 --> 00:54:35,901
But perhaps this devastation
was one too many,
729
00:54:36,150 --> 00:54:39,699
for a flaming timber
from a house burned by his soldiers
730
00:54:39,870 --> 00:54:44,227
fell right in front of the king.
William's horse suddenly bucked,
731
00:54:44,390 --> 00:54:48,986
throwing the now overweight king
violently against his saddle,
732
00:54:49,150 --> 00:54:51,869
his gut taking
the force of the blow.
733
00:54:52,430 --> 00:54:56,981
Mortally wounded, William
was taken to a priory at Rouen.
734
00:55:00,910 --> 00:55:04,698
At the very end, Orderic Vitalis
puts into William's mouth
735
00:55:04,870 --> 00:55:07,828
an extraordinary
deathbed confession,
736
00:55:07,990 --> 00:55:11,266
so penitential,
so utterly out of character
737
00:55:11,430 --> 00:55:14,900
that it seems on the face of it
completely incredible.
738
00:55:15,070 --> 00:55:18,187
But whether William
actually spoke those words or not,
739
00:55:18,350 --> 00:55:21,467
they clearly reflected what some,
perhaps many people,
740
00:55:21,630 --> 00:55:26,385
felt about William the Conqueror -
that when all the battles were won,
741
00:55:26,550 --> 00:55:30,828
when the laws were all laid down,
he was what he had always been,
742
00:55:30,990 --> 00:55:33,584
a brutal adventurer.
743
00:55:33,750 --> 00:55:36,742
And the conquest of England
not a righteous crusade,
744
00:55:36,910 --> 00:55:41,062
but just a grand throw
of history's dice.
745
00:55:42,430 --> 00:55:45,183
I appoint no one my heir
to the crown of England
746
00:55:45,350 --> 00:55:48,069
for I did not attain that honour
by hereditary right,
747
00:55:48,230 --> 00:55:50,983
but wrestled it from a perjured
King Harold
748
00:55:51,150 --> 00:55:54,665
in a desperate battle
with much effusion of human blood.
749
00:55:54,830 --> 00:55:59,108
I have persecuted its native
inhabitants beyond all reason.
750
00:55:59,270 --> 00:56:02,103
Whether gentle or simple,
I cruelly oppressed them.
751
00:56:02,270 --> 00:56:04,579
Many I unjustly disinherited.
752
00:56:04,750 --> 00:56:07,867
Innumerable multitudes,
especially in the county of York,
753
00:56:08,030 --> 00:56:11,181
perished through me
by famine or the sword.
754
00:56:11,350 --> 00:56:14,422
Having therefore made my way
to the throne of that kingdom
755
00:56:14,590 --> 00:56:19,425
by so many crimes, I dare not
leave it to anyone but God alone,
756
00:56:19,590 --> 00:56:23,663
lest after my death worse
should happen by my means.
757
00:56:24,870 --> 00:56:27,987
Once he had gone,
in the early hours of the morning
758
00:56:28,150 --> 00:56:32,940
of the 9th September, 1087,
a shocking scene took place.
759
00:56:33,750 --> 00:56:37,584
His closest followers now paid
their last respects to William
760
00:56:37,750 --> 00:56:39,786
by all deserting him,
761
00:56:39,950 --> 00:56:44,466
racing to the four corners
of the kingdom to secure their land,
762
00:56:44,630 --> 00:56:49,658
leaving the corpse
to be looted by the servants,
763
00:56:49,830 --> 00:56:55,223
naked, bloated and beginning to putrefy
on the monastery floor.
764
00:56:56,870 --> 00:57:00,499
So the man who spent his life
taking whatever he could
765
00:57:00,670 --> 00:57:04,663
by whatever means,
was finally robbed of everything,
766
00:57:04,830 --> 00:57:07,025
even his dignity.
767
00:57:07,190 --> 00:57:12,264
Perhaps the hand of God had decided
that this was a fitting end.
768
00:57:18,430 --> 00:57:20,898
As for his old antagonist, Harold,
769
00:57:21,070 --> 00:57:24,983
he certainly didn't stay buried
on the shore facing the Channel,
770
00:57:25,150 --> 00:57:27,618
as some Norman historians suggested.
771
00:57:27,790 --> 00:57:31,419
Rumours had it that he'd escaped
and was living as a hermit.
772
00:57:31,590 --> 00:57:35,822
But another story
is much more likely to be the truth -
773
00:57:35,990 --> 00:57:39,062
that once it was safe,
the female survivors of the family
774
00:57:39,230 --> 00:57:44,020
took Harold's remains and had them
interred here at Waltham Abbey.
775
00:57:44,190 --> 00:57:46,784
According to William and the Pope,
776
00:57:46,950 --> 00:57:52,263
Harold was supposed to have been a despoiler
of the Church, deserving of destruction.
777
00:57:52,430 --> 00:57:54,990
But the monks at Waltham
didn't seem to agree,
778
00:57:55,150 --> 00:57:59,223
for they secretly buried him
and prayed for his soul.
779
00:57:59,870 --> 00:58:03,101
Somewhere, then,
beneath the columns and arches
780
00:58:03,270 --> 00:58:08,025
of this Romanesque church,
is the last Anglo-Saxon king,
781
00:58:08,190 --> 00:58:13,025
literally part of the foundations
of Norman England.