1
00:00:11,509 --> 00:00:17,664
England, 1154, nearly a century
after the Battle of Hastings.
2
00:00:18,589 --> 00:00:22,946
The country has been torn apart
by a savage civil war.
3
00:00:26,509 --> 00:00:29,785
William the Conqueror was long dead.
4
00:00:29,949 --> 00:00:33,021
For 30 years,
his grandchildren had been locked
5
00:00:33,189 --> 00:00:37,421
in a life or death struggle
for the crown of England.
6
00:00:40,429 --> 00:00:43,307
The realm was in ruins.
7
00:00:54,509 --> 00:00:59,185
And then there appeared
a young king, brave and charismatic,
8
00:00:59,349 --> 00:01:02,864
who stopped the anarchy.
His name was Henry,
9
00:01:03,029 --> 00:01:06,863
and he would become the greatest
of all our medieval kings.
10
00:01:09,909 --> 00:01:14,425
He should be as well-known to us
as Henry VIII or Elizabeth I,
11
00:01:14,589 --> 00:01:17,023
but if he is remembered at all today
12
00:01:17,189 --> 00:01:20,465
it is as the king who ordered
the Murder in the Cathedral
13
00:01:20,629 --> 00:01:24,463
or as the father of the much
more famous, impossibly bad King John
14
00:01:24,629 --> 00:01:28,622
and the impossibly glamorous
Richard the Lionheart.
15
00:01:33,269 --> 00:01:36,739
Henry II has no
great monument to his name.
16
00:01:37,069 --> 00:01:41,108
No horseback statue of him
stands outside Westminster,
17
00:01:41,269 --> 00:01:44,579
yet he made an indelible mark
on our country.
18
00:01:44,749 --> 00:01:49,903
The father of the Common Law.
The godfather of the English state.
19
00:01:51,189 --> 00:01:55,899
But Henry was cursed,
brought down by the Church, his children,
20
00:01:56,069 --> 00:01:59,425
and most of all by his queen,
the older, beautiful,
21
00:01:59,589 --> 00:02:02,661
all-powerful
Eleanor of Aquitaine.
22
00:02:02,829 --> 00:02:06,504
This is the story
of Henry II and his family.
23
00:02:06,669 --> 00:02:11,982
In all of British history, there has never
been anything quite like it.
24
00:02:57,669 --> 00:03:01,901
Henry II, his wife Eleanor
and their children Richard and John
25
00:03:02,069 --> 00:03:05,141
were the most astonishing
of all the family firms
26
00:03:05,309 --> 00:03:08,267
to have run
the enterprise of Britain.
27
00:03:08,429 --> 00:03:10,499
They did so with a furious energy
28
00:03:10,669 --> 00:03:14,218
that either entranced
or appalled their subjects.
29
00:03:14,389 --> 00:03:17,108
Like many family firms,
they had a capacity
30
00:03:17,269 --> 00:03:20,466
for both creation
and self-destruction.
31
00:03:20,629 --> 00:03:24,907
What their intelligence built,
their passions destroyed.
32
00:03:27,069 --> 00:03:32,427
They were called the Angevins,
after the French-speaking province of Anjou.
33
00:03:32,589 --> 00:03:34,580
At the height of their power,
34
00:03:34,749 --> 00:03:38,219
they were masters of all
that counted in Christendom.
35
00:03:38,389 --> 00:03:41,461
Their England was the linchpin
of an empire that stretched
36
00:03:41,629 --> 00:03:43,984
from the Scottish borders
to the Pyrenees.
37
00:03:44,149 --> 00:03:46,663
Much bigger than France itself.
38
00:03:46,829 --> 00:03:49,468
Not since the Romans,
and never again,
39
00:03:49,629 --> 00:03:52,462
has England been quite so European.
40
00:03:54,709 --> 00:03:57,621
The dynasty had its roots
in the civil war
41
00:03:57,789 --> 00:04:01,782
that was being fought between
two cousins, Stephen and Matilda,
42
00:04:01,949 --> 00:04:04,463
the grandchildren
of William the Conqueror.
43
00:04:04,629 --> 00:04:08,702
Stephen seized the crown,
but that wasn't the end of it,
44
00:04:08,869 --> 00:04:11,508
for if Matilda couldn't beat him
with an army,
45
00:04:11,669 --> 00:04:13,705
she could beat him with a wedding,
46
00:04:13,869 --> 00:04:16,019
a wedding
that would found a dynasty
47
00:04:16,189 --> 00:04:18,657
and reduce
Stephen's ambitions to dust.
48
00:04:27,069 --> 00:04:30,948
In 1128, Matilda married
Geoffrey of Anjou,
49
00:04:31,109 --> 00:04:33,782
nicknamed "Plantagenet",
because he wore
50
00:04:33,949 --> 00:04:38,261
a sprig of yellow broom
or Planta Genista in his hat.
51
00:04:38,429 --> 00:04:41,421
His family emblem was three lions.
52
00:04:42,709 --> 00:04:45,826
Along with his money,
power and territory
53
00:04:45,989 --> 00:04:51,586
Geoffrey gave Matilda something
even more important - a son, Henry.
54
00:05:00,989 --> 00:05:04,538
As the boy Henry grew up,
it became apparent
55
00:05:04,629 --> 00:05:08,508
that from his mother he'd inherited
steely single-mindedness,
56
00:05:08,669 --> 00:05:13,982
lots of physical courage
and a phenomenally foul temper.
57
00:05:14,149 --> 00:05:17,061
From his father
he'd got instinctive charm
58
00:05:17,229 --> 00:05:21,541
and knife-sharp political
and military intelligence.
59
00:05:21,709 --> 00:05:24,542
But the quality that anyone
who ever met Henry
60
00:05:24,709 --> 00:05:27,064
most vividly remembered about him,
61
00:05:27,229 --> 00:05:29,789
the overflowing tank of energy
62
00:05:29,869 --> 00:05:33,145
that made him the most hyperactive king
in British history,
63
00:05:33,309 --> 00:05:35,743
this was all his own.
64
00:05:39,669 --> 00:05:43,628
This was the age of chivalry,
when the myth of Arthur and Camelot
65
00:05:43,789 --> 00:05:45,541
was at its most popular.
66
00:05:46,709 --> 00:05:50,702
Right from the start, he was being
groomed by his ambitious parents
67
00:05:50,869 --> 00:05:55,863
to take England away from Stephen,
to become a new King Arthur.
68
00:05:56,029 --> 00:05:59,783
And to do this, of course,
he would need a Guinevere.
69
00:05:59,949 --> 00:06:03,942
As it happened, the perfect
candidate had just become available -
70
00:06:04,109 --> 00:06:06,669
Eleanor of Aquitaine.
71
00:06:13,509 --> 00:06:18,344
But the match was a gamble.
He was 19, she was pushing 30.
72
00:06:18,509 --> 00:06:20,784
He was relatively inexperienced,
73
00:06:20,949 --> 00:06:25,659
Eleanor had seen as much of
the ways of the world as it could offer.
74
00:06:27,789 --> 00:06:30,986
And yet something rather
surprising happened
75
00:06:31,149 --> 00:06:35,108
between the teenage Arthur
and the mercurial Guinevere,
76
00:06:35,269 --> 00:06:39,740
something that wasn't supposed to happen
in a marriage of political convenience.
77
00:06:39,829 --> 00:06:42,787
The parties
actually fancied each other.
78
00:06:48,669 --> 00:06:53,060
Henry found himself at the altar
in 1152, beside an older woman
79
00:06:53,229 --> 00:06:56,665
described as a graceful,
dark-eyed beauty,
80
00:06:56,829 --> 00:07:01,300
disconcertingly articulate,
strong-minded and jocular.
81
00:07:01,469 --> 00:07:04,427
Hardly the veiled damsel in the tower.
82
00:07:04,589 --> 00:07:07,183
One likes to think that Eleanor saw
83
00:07:07,349 --> 00:07:10,261
not just the usual spur-clanking bonehead,
84
00:07:10,429 --> 00:07:16,868
but beyond a stocky frame and barrel
chest, an intriguing peculiarity;
85
00:07:17,029 --> 00:07:21,261
the rare prince who looked right
with a falcon on one hand
86
00:07:21,429 --> 00:07:23,784
and a book in the other.
87
00:07:27,069 --> 00:07:31,585
It was Eleanor's homeland, Aquitaine,
that was the greatest prize.
88
00:07:31,749 --> 00:07:35,139
A vast stretch of land
between Anjou and the Pyrenees.
89
00:07:35,309 --> 00:07:38,301
A place where wine-steeped
Latin culture
90
00:07:38,469 --> 00:07:41,745
had been polished anew
by Provencal sensuality.
91
00:07:43,109 --> 00:07:48,706
Its capital, here in Poitiers,
the home of troubadours and courtly love.
92
00:07:54,389 --> 00:07:58,621
No wonder Eleanor grew up,
as her contemporaries put it...
93
00:07:58,789 --> 00:08:02,145
(MEDIEVAL FRENCH)
...welcoming, vivacious,
94
00:08:02,309 --> 00:08:06,222
her head perhaps turned by
all those lovelorn lyrics
95
00:08:06,389 --> 00:08:10,780
of knights enslaved by beauties
and bent on besieging their virtue.
96
00:08:13,269 --> 00:08:16,102
So this is what Eleanor
brought to the match:
97
00:08:16,269 --> 00:08:20,945
Grandeur, territory,
wealth - a lot of wealth -
98
00:08:21,109 --> 00:08:23,748
and the glamour of Aquitaine.
99
00:08:23,909 --> 00:08:26,469
No wonder Henry thought
that with this marriage he'd got,
100
00:08:26,629 --> 00:08:28,859
well, pretty much everything.
101
00:08:29,029 --> 00:08:32,738
Everything that is,
except the crown of England.
102
00:08:35,429 --> 00:08:40,059
In 1153, Henry Plantagenet
crossed the Channel.
103
00:08:40,229 --> 00:08:43,585
His father, Geoffrey, had already
taken Normandy from Stephen,
104
00:08:43,749 --> 00:08:46,582
so now it was up to Henry
to take England.
105
00:08:49,269 --> 00:08:54,502
Faced with an exhausted nation
and defecting barons, Stephen caved in.
106
00:08:54,669 --> 00:08:59,026
A deal was struck. Stephen would
be allowed to die on the throne
107
00:08:59,189 --> 00:09:03,068
on condition he named
Henry as his heir.
108
00:09:04,029 --> 00:09:06,827
Within a year, Stephen was dead
109
00:09:06,989 --> 00:09:10,698
and Eleanor and Henry were
crowned at Westminster Abbey,
110
00:09:10,869 --> 00:09:13,144
King and Queen of England.
111
00:09:13,989 --> 00:09:17,425
When they emerged
from the vivats and incense,
112
00:09:17,589 --> 00:09:20,865
they were the French-speaking
sovereigns of an enormous realm
113
00:09:21,029 --> 00:09:24,180
which stretched from the Pyrenees
through to the vineyards of Gascony,
114
00:09:24,349 --> 00:09:27,819
along the cod-fish run
coastal waters of Brittany,
115
00:09:27,989 --> 00:09:31,106
over the Channel to England,
along the length and breadth
116
00:09:31,269 --> 00:09:34,147
of the country to the Welsh
borders and the windy moors
117
00:09:34,309 --> 00:09:37,028
of Cumbria and Northumbria.
118
00:09:38,709 --> 00:09:42,304
And it was a perfect time to come
into this colossal inheritance.
119
00:09:42,469 --> 00:09:47,020
For the mid-12th century really was
the springtime of the Middle Ages.
120
00:09:47,189 --> 00:09:49,180
Literacy and learning were spreading
121
00:09:49,349 --> 00:09:51,738
from the cathedral schools
in Paris and Canterbury.
122
00:09:51,909 --> 00:09:55,584
Monasteries were being founded
at a record pace,
123
00:09:55,749 --> 00:09:59,139
and although they were supposed
to be purged of worldliness,
124
00:09:59,309 --> 00:10:02,221
before long they were
the engines of economic power,
125
00:10:02,389 --> 00:10:06,382
producers of wool,
master of the mills and rivers.
126
00:10:06,549 --> 00:10:10,303
So if this was indeed springtime,
Henry and Eleanor
127
00:10:10,469 --> 00:10:14,826
had just got themselves
the fattest and the ripest fruit.
128
00:10:17,229 --> 00:10:20,778
It's unlikely they ever thought
of it as a true empire
129
00:10:20,949 --> 00:10:23,588
in the Roman sense
of a single realm.
130
00:10:23,749 --> 00:10:28,061
Its many regions were treated
separately, according to their customs.
131
00:10:28,229 --> 00:10:31,858
While Westminster was increasingly
at the heart of administration,
132
00:10:32,029 --> 00:10:34,668
Rouen in Normandy, Chinon in Anjou
133
00:10:34,829 --> 00:10:37,946
and Poitiers in Aquitaine
were just as important.
134
00:10:39,869 --> 00:10:45,421
It was the greatest and grandest
family estate in all Christendom.
135
00:10:45,589 --> 00:10:49,104
That surely was enough
to be going on with.
136
00:10:52,989 --> 00:10:57,062
It was one thing to stand around
counting off one's possessions.
137
00:10:57,229 --> 00:11:00,460
It was quite another to know
what to do about being king.
138
00:11:00,629 --> 00:11:05,180
Especially king of a country
so promising but peculiar as England,
139
00:11:05,349 --> 00:11:08,546
with all its Anglo-Saxon
names and institutions
140
00:11:08,709 --> 00:11:11,906
like shire, courts,
writs and sheriffs.
141
00:11:12,069 --> 00:11:16,301
What did Henry Plantagenet
know of Huntingdonshire,
142
00:11:16,469 --> 00:11:20,303
or what did Huntingdonshire
know of Henry Plantagenet?
143
00:11:22,469 --> 00:11:25,984
Henry of course spoke
virtually no English at all.
144
00:11:26,149 --> 00:11:29,459
What he would have grasped,
if only from his coronation oaths,
145
00:11:29,629 --> 00:11:35,625
was that kings of England were supposed
to be both judge and warlord.
146
00:11:35,789 --> 00:11:40,738
In fact, the coronation oath,
preserved intact from Edward the Confessor,
147
00:11:40,909 --> 00:11:44,743
who was increasingly being held up
as some sort of ideal monarch,
148
00:11:44,909 --> 00:11:48,584
pretty much spelled out the job
description of the king of England.
149
00:11:48,749 --> 00:11:50,740
One - protect the Church.
150
00:11:50,909 --> 00:11:54,697
Two - preserve intact
the lands of your ancestors.
151
00:11:54,869 --> 00:11:57,019
Three - do justice.
152
00:11:57,189 --> 00:11:59,180
Four - most sweeping of all,
153
00:11:59,349 --> 00:12:02,659
suppress evil laws and customs.
154
00:12:07,629 --> 00:12:10,621
Fulfilling one and two
went without saying.
155
00:12:10,789 --> 00:12:13,144
But what was surprising
about Henry was he took
156
00:12:13,309 --> 00:12:16,745
vows three and four
just as seriously.
157
00:12:17,989 --> 00:12:21,538
Before Henry, justice was,
"Do what I want, I'm the king."
158
00:12:21,709 --> 00:12:25,019
By the end of Henry's reign,
getting the king's justice
159
00:12:25,189 --> 00:12:28,181
didn't depend on the king
being there in person.
160
00:12:28,349 --> 00:12:31,386
Henry had established
permanent, professional courts,
161
00:12:31,549 --> 00:12:34,541
sitting at Westminster
or touring the counties,
162
00:12:34,709 --> 00:12:37,428
acting reliably in his name.
163
00:12:38,549 --> 00:12:43,418
Now law became, "Listen to what
my judges have to say."
164
00:12:45,829 --> 00:12:51,108
By 1180, those judges could consult
England's first legal textbook
165
00:12:51,269 --> 00:12:54,579
full of precedents
on which to base their decisions.
166
00:12:54,749 --> 00:12:58,298
The law now had
its own kind of majesty.
167
00:13:04,109 --> 00:13:09,024
It was vow number one though,
the protection of the Church,
168
00:13:09,189 --> 00:13:13,626
which quite unpredictably would
cause Henry II the greatest grief.
169
00:13:13,789 --> 00:13:18,067
It was to provoke a kind
of spiritual civil war,
170
00:13:18,229 --> 00:13:22,586
in its way every bit
as unsettling as the feudal civil war,
171
00:13:22,749 --> 00:13:25,547
and which in its most dreadful hour
172
00:13:25,709 --> 00:13:28,860
would end
with bloodshed in the Cathedral.
173
00:13:31,749 --> 00:13:36,698
This was especially ironic since
at the outset it seemed to be the Church
174
00:13:36,869 --> 00:13:39,781
that was the strongest pillar
of Henry's administration.
175
00:13:39,949 --> 00:13:44,784
Its literate clerics initiated him
into the mysteries of governing England.
176
00:13:45,749 --> 00:13:49,583
When the Archbishop of Canterbury
offered one of his brightest proteges,
177
00:13:49,749 --> 00:13:52,263
Thomas Becket,
for the office of Chancellor,
178
00:13:52,429 --> 00:13:55,865
Henry listened,
looked and gave him the job.
179
00:14:01,429 --> 00:14:04,785
So who exactly was this Becket?
180
00:14:06,469 --> 00:14:08,585
He was the first commoner of any kind
181
00:14:08,749 --> 00:14:11,183
to make a mark on British history.
182
00:14:11,349 --> 00:14:14,898
The possibility that someone
like Becket, a merchant's son,
183
00:14:15,069 --> 00:14:19,267
with an impoverished Norman knight
clanking around in the family closet,
184
00:14:19,389 --> 00:14:22,142
could end up as the king's best friend,
185
00:14:22,309 --> 00:14:27,702
said something about the possibility
of the great swarming city itself.
186
00:14:29,389 --> 00:14:33,621
At the heart of the emerging capital
was the great church of St Paul,
187
00:14:33,789 --> 00:14:37,782
and around it, upriver from the grim
pile of the Conqueror's Tower,
188
00:14:37,949 --> 00:14:41,419
were wharves thick with ships
loaded with wool going out,
189
00:14:41,589 --> 00:14:44,183
wines, furs or silks coming in.
190
00:14:44,349 --> 00:14:48,024
In this teeming world,
Becket's father strutted,
191
00:14:48,189 --> 00:14:51,545
owner of one
of the grandest houses in Cheapside.
192
00:14:53,069 --> 00:14:55,583
The truth is
Becket was a real Londoner,
193
00:14:55,749 --> 00:14:59,822
with a natural flair for doing
what Londoners like doing most -
194
00:14:59,989 --> 00:15:02,059
the getting and spending of money,
195
00:15:02,229 --> 00:15:06,620
spectacle, costume and, despite
his notoriously delicate gut,
196
00:15:06,789 --> 00:15:10,338
Becket seems to have enjoyed
good food and drink.
197
00:15:10,509 --> 00:15:13,626
He was street smart
and he was book smart.
198
00:15:13,789 --> 00:15:17,941
In short, from the get go,
Becket was a big league performer.
199
00:15:18,109 --> 00:15:20,384
He was a player.
200
00:15:21,149 --> 00:15:24,141
They were in a way,
a match of opposites.
201
00:15:24,309 --> 00:15:27,267
Becket was older by a decade
and, as Chancellor,
202
00:15:27,429 --> 00:15:31,263
willing to deal with the administrative
detail that bored the king.
203
00:15:31,429 --> 00:15:36,708
Becket was tall, self-contained,
his forehead creased with frown lines.
204
00:15:36,869 --> 00:15:41,818
The king was square-shaped,
packed with hectic passion,
205
00:15:41,989 --> 00:15:44,981
a real Plantagenet powerhouse.
206
00:15:49,189 --> 00:15:55,344
Becket was able to keep up
with the relentless pace set by Henry.
207
00:15:56,469 --> 00:15:59,302
Medieval courts
were itinerant affairs,
208
00:15:59,469 --> 00:16:02,188
travelling 20 - 30 miles a day,
209
00:16:02,349 --> 00:16:05,227
eating in a royal forest
or by the roadside.
210
00:16:05,389 --> 00:16:07,857
But Henry,
who made a fetish of exercise
211
00:16:08,029 --> 00:16:12,386
out of a fear of growing fat,
never seemed to slow down,
212
00:16:12,549 --> 00:16:16,508
barely arriving at one of his palaces
before chasing off again.
213
00:16:19,629 --> 00:16:24,145
Clarendon Palace was the most
magnificent hunting lodge in England.
214
00:16:24,309 --> 00:16:29,781
All that's left now is this raw,
ivy-covered stump of stone.
215
00:16:29,949 --> 00:16:31,985
In Henry's time,
it would have been full
216
00:16:32,149 --> 00:16:36,267
of courtiers and dogs
and hawks and horses.
217
00:16:36,429 --> 00:16:39,387
That's the way the king liked it -
218
00:16:39,549 --> 00:16:42,621
a kind of scruffy power
to his entertainment.
219
00:16:47,109 --> 00:16:52,581
Becket saw right through Henry's
game of studied informality,
220
00:16:52,749 --> 00:16:57,504
his avoidance of wearing the crown,
his ordinary riding clothes.
221
00:16:57,669 --> 00:17:01,105
Becket knew that when Henry
extended the hand of friendship,
222
00:17:01,269 --> 00:17:05,785
he was capable of following it
by frosty withdrawals of affection,
223
00:17:05,949 --> 00:17:12,138
unpredictable explosions
of carpet biting, incendiary fury.
224
00:17:17,069 --> 00:17:20,220
It was this pseudo-sibling relationship
225
00:17:20,389 --> 00:17:23,062
that gave Becket
the confidence later on
226
00:17:23,229 --> 00:17:26,938
to treat the king as a virtual equal
227
00:17:27,109 --> 00:17:30,306
with catastrophic results
for all concerned.
228
00:17:30,469 --> 00:17:34,257
Time and again he would tell
his dwindling band of followers,
229
00:17:34,429 --> 00:17:37,307
"I know this looks bad but trust me.
230
00:17:37,469 --> 00:17:40,939
"I know the way this man operates."
231
00:17:49,309 --> 00:17:53,268
Even in the early days,
beneath the jesting, there was,
232
00:17:53,429 --> 00:17:56,705
if Thomas looked for it,
a kind of ominous tension.
233
00:17:56,869 --> 00:18:00,259
When, for example, the king
and Chancellor rode through London,
234
00:18:00,429 --> 00:18:03,227
Henry pointed to the countless destitute,
235
00:18:03,389 --> 00:18:07,382
and, eyeing Thomas's gorgeous scarlet
and grey minever-edged cloak,
236
00:18:07,549 --> 00:18:10,541
let it be known
"How charitable it would be
237
00:18:10,709 --> 00:18:13,701
"to clothe the poor man's
nakedness."
238
00:18:13,869 --> 00:18:17,259
"Well, yes," said Becket,
"You should attend to it right away."
239
00:18:17,429 --> 00:18:20,819
"Oh, no, no, no, you should have
the credit," insisted the king,
240
00:18:20,989 --> 00:18:23,378
pulling at Becket's cape.
241
00:18:23,549 --> 00:18:26,541
An undignified tug of war
then followed,
242
00:18:26,709 --> 00:18:29,098
with both men trying to pull the capes
off each other.
243
00:18:29,269 --> 00:18:32,147
At last the Chancellor
had no alternative
244
00:18:32,309 --> 00:18:37,508
but to allow the king to overcome him
and give his cape to the poor man.
245
00:18:50,349 --> 00:18:54,422
If Henry suspected Thomas
of getting above himself -
246
00:18:54,509 --> 00:18:56,818
and if he did, he wasn't alone -
247
00:18:56,949 --> 00:18:59,782
it didn't get in the way
of Becket coming to mind
248
00:18:59,949 --> 00:19:02,144
for the top job in the country,
249
00:19:02,229 --> 00:19:06,825
the newly-vacated post
of Archbishop of Canterbury.
250
00:19:06,909 --> 00:19:11,699
Becket's worldliness must have
made him seem precisely the right man
251
00:19:11,789 --> 00:19:16,419
for the job Henry wanted to do -
to put the Church in its place.
252
00:19:19,509 --> 00:19:22,228
Monarchs had long taken it for granted
253
00:19:22,389 --> 00:19:27,383
that they were directly anointed
by God, safely above the Church.
254
00:19:27,549 --> 00:19:30,302
But the Popes of this period
begged to differ.
255
00:19:30,469 --> 00:19:34,747
Kings, they said, reported to Popes,
not the other way round.
256
00:19:34,909 --> 00:19:37,742
This wasn't just an academic quibble.
257
00:19:37,909 --> 00:19:39,900
This was a fight to the death.
258
00:19:43,589 --> 00:19:46,103
There were two flashpoints.
259
00:19:46,269 --> 00:19:49,022
The first was whether
law-breaking clergymen
260
00:19:49,189 --> 00:19:53,068
could be judged in the king's courts
like everyone else.
261
00:19:53,229 --> 00:19:57,142
The second was whether
bishops had the power
262
00:19:57,309 --> 00:20:00,381
to excommunicate royal officials.
263
00:20:00,549 --> 00:20:03,541
By making Becket
Archbishop of Canterbury,
264
00:20:03,709 --> 00:20:07,338
Henry believed he could depend
on someone who shared his view
265
00:20:07,509 --> 00:20:11,707
of the subordinate relationship
of Church to State.
266
00:20:11,869 --> 00:20:15,066
The king was in for a shock.
267
00:20:18,829 --> 00:20:21,662
At the beginning at least,
there seemed to be
268
00:20:21,829 --> 00:20:25,026
a good deal of the old Becket
about the new Becket.
269
00:20:25,189 --> 00:20:27,498
The array of fancy foods
270
00:20:27,669 --> 00:20:31,184
and company of young
cosmopolitan scholars remained.
271
00:20:31,349 --> 00:20:33,909
But all was not how it appeared.
272
00:20:33,989 --> 00:20:36,583
Becket ate none of the feast
273
00:20:36,749 --> 00:20:39,900
and beneath his grand garments
he may well have begun to wear
274
00:20:40,069 --> 00:20:43,778
the hair shirt
found later on his murdered body.
275
00:20:46,749 --> 00:20:50,537
When the king began to realise
a mysterious transformation
276
00:20:50,709 --> 00:20:53,303
had taken place in Becket -
when, for instance,
277
00:20:53,469 --> 00:20:58,589
the Archbishop stood up in public
and opposed, in most militant language,
278
00:20:58,749 --> 00:21:01,946
the king's demand
for a new tax on the Church -
279
00:21:02,109 --> 00:21:05,784
Henry Plantagenet
went altogether ballistic.
280
00:21:05,949 --> 00:21:12,058
Nothing made him more enraged than
a friendship, as he saw it, betrayed.
281
00:21:15,989 --> 00:21:20,426
It all came to a head
here at Clarendon, early in 1164,
282
00:21:20,589 --> 00:21:24,377
when Henry summoned a special
council of the princes of the Church
283
00:21:24,549 --> 00:21:27,586
and the most important
nobles of the realm.
284
00:21:27,749 --> 00:21:31,537
There he asked -
well, actually, he demanded -
285
00:21:31,709 --> 00:21:37,420
they assent unconditionally to what
he called the "customs of the realm."
286
00:21:41,189 --> 00:21:45,785
Becket was no idiot.
He knew exactly what this meant -
287
00:21:45,949 --> 00:21:48,747
royal control over the clergy.
288
00:21:48,909 --> 00:21:51,901
He'd seen it coming for months
and had been urging his bishops
289
00:21:52,069 --> 00:21:54,947
to resist it at all costs.
290
00:21:55,109 --> 00:21:59,864
After endless prevarication, in the end
Becket refused the king's demands,
291
00:22:00,029 --> 00:22:02,987
ordering total resistance,
292
00:22:03,149 --> 00:22:06,061
a position
from which he'd never budge.
293
00:22:09,789 --> 00:22:13,907
The king now moved the way
he liked best, through the law.
294
00:22:14,069 --> 00:22:18,859
In October, 1164, Becket was
brought to trial at Northampton,
295
00:22:19,029 --> 00:22:20,906
accused - and this was the killer -
296
00:22:21,069 --> 00:22:24,379
of improper use of funds
when he'd been Chancellor.
297
00:22:24,549 --> 00:22:27,427
So all those half-joking
comments about fancy clothes
298
00:22:27,589 --> 00:22:31,980
that Henry had thrown Becket's way
now stopped being funny.
299
00:22:32,149 --> 00:22:35,300
They'd become
a deadly criminal accusation.
300
00:22:40,069 --> 00:22:42,947
When Thomas decided
to dress up for the trial
301
00:22:43,109 --> 00:22:47,227
in his full Archbishop's rig
and carry a huge silver cross,
302
00:22:47,389 --> 00:22:50,699
Jesus-like, his greatest rival,
the Bishop of London,
303
00:22:50,869 --> 00:22:55,181
tried to seize it from him,
but Becket's grip was like iron.
304
00:22:55,349 --> 00:22:58,341
"A fool he was,
a fool he'll always be,"
305
00:22:58,509 --> 00:23:01,421
was the Bishop's comment
on this performance.
306
00:23:09,269 --> 00:23:13,228
The trial broke up
with Becket storming out.
307
00:23:13,389 --> 00:23:16,938
"Perjurer, traitor!"
Yelled Henry's barons.
308
00:23:17,109 --> 00:23:20,658
"Whoremongers, bastards!"
Replied the Archbishop.
309
00:23:20,829 --> 00:23:24,663
Convicted on the charges,
Becket knew he was in dire peril
310
00:23:24,829 --> 00:23:26,979
and fled on the nearest horse.
311
00:23:27,149 --> 00:23:31,347
He must have thought
he was running for his life.
312
00:23:41,029 --> 00:23:43,987
Becket and a small group
of diehard followers
313
00:23:44,149 --> 00:23:46,788
landed on the Flemish coast.
314
00:23:46,949 --> 00:23:50,988
They were broke, demoralised,
prostrate with exhaustion
315
00:23:51,149 --> 00:23:54,698
and flooded with the grim realisation
of what they'd done.
316
00:23:56,069 --> 00:23:59,618
They'd made themselves
outlaws for Christ.
317
00:24:02,349 --> 00:24:05,546
This is where Becket's
little family of God ended up,
318
00:24:05,709 --> 00:24:11,102
the Cistercian Abbey at Pontigny,
about 100 miles south east of Paris.
319
00:24:11,269 --> 00:24:14,181
Built in sparkling white limestone,
320
00:24:14,349 --> 00:24:17,978
it seemed a stunning
advertisement for purity,
321
00:24:18,149 --> 00:24:21,539
a perfect match
for Thomas's temperament.
322
00:24:32,709 --> 00:24:35,587
But this was no monkish retreat.
323
00:24:35,749 --> 00:24:39,378
It pretty soon became apparent
that what Becket had established here
324
00:24:39,549 --> 00:24:42,302
was a real government-in-exile.
325
00:24:42,469 --> 00:24:45,984
He had his own pan-European
intelligence network.
326
00:24:46,149 --> 00:24:48,902
He had his own letter smugglers
with the know-how
327
00:24:49,069 --> 00:24:52,300
to get through the blockade
Henry imposed on communication.
328
00:24:52,469 --> 00:24:56,826
And he had his own versatile
propaganda department.
329
00:24:56,989 --> 00:25:03,781
But most of all, Becket had his own
unwavering sense of self-righteousness.
330
00:25:11,629 --> 00:25:16,145
Pretty soon, though, Henry began
to use his own formidable power
331
00:25:16,309 --> 00:25:19,187
to turn the screws
on Becket's supporters.
332
00:25:19,349 --> 00:25:22,147
There were arraignments and arrests,
333
00:25:22,309 --> 00:25:25,187
terrifyingly sudden summary evictions,
334
00:25:25,349 --> 00:25:27,817
the seizure of land and property.
335
00:25:27,989 --> 00:25:33,461
Anyone who so much as thought about saying
a good word for the traitor Archbishop
336
00:25:33,629 --> 00:25:36,939
risked, at the very least, deportation.
337
00:25:37,109 --> 00:25:40,579
Messengers caught carrying
his mail were thrown into prison.
338
00:25:40,749 --> 00:25:45,220
Innocent relatives,
incriminated by family association,
339
00:25:45,389 --> 00:25:48,461
were turned into exiles themselves.
340
00:25:56,629 --> 00:26:00,065
It took two painful years
of back and forth diplomacy
341
00:26:00,229 --> 00:26:03,107
and increasingly impatient
signals from the Pope
342
00:26:03,269 --> 00:26:05,419
to arrange even talks about talks.
343
00:26:08,069 --> 00:26:12,267
After a series of abortive
reconciliations in 1170,
344
00:26:12,429 --> 00:26:16,422
it looked as though peace
might finally break out.
345
00:26:17,429 --> 00:26:20,626
The location was to be a meadow
surrounded by woods
346
00:26:20,789 --> 00:26:26,546
near the village of Freteval -
"A beautiful place," remarked one observer.
347
00:26:26,709 --> 00:26:31,499
Only later did he find out that
the locals called it "Traitors Meadow."
348
00:26:36,629 --> 00:26:39,462
Henry and Thomas
rode out to each other
349
00:26:39,629 --> 00:26:43,338
and the king took off his hat
in salutation.
350
00:26:43,509 --> 00:26:47,627
The two of them then embraced
and sat for hours talking,
351
00:26:47,789 --> 00:26:50,986
the Archbishop's posterior
mortified by the chaffing
352
00:26:51,149 --> 00:26:53,902
of his secret goat-hair underwear.
353
00:26:54,829 --> 00:26:58,026
For once, the king
was in no mood to quarrel,
354
00:26:58,189 --> 00:27:02,023
and agreed to restore Thomas
to all his powers and authority,
355
00:27:02,189 --> 00:27:06,660
and also to treat those
who were Becket's enemies as his own.
356
00:27:10,069 --> 00:27:14,108
When it was all over and Becket
had got everything he wanted,
357
00:27:14,269 --> 00:27:19,263
a dam broke and a tearful wave
of emotion swept through him.
358
00:27:19,429 --> 00:27:24,025
Becket dismounted and flung himself
in front of the king's horse.
359
00:27:24,189 --> 00:27:28,387
The king got off his mount
and walked over to his old friend,
360
00:27:28,549 --> 00:27:33,907
who'd become his bitterest enemy,
and bodily lifted him up,
361
00:27:34,069 --> 00:27:38,460
put one foot in the stirrup
and hoisted Becket back into the saddle.
362
00:27:38,629 --> 00:27:43,066
They then rode over together
to the end of the field to the royal tent,
363
00:27:43,229 --> 00:27:48,462
where the king announced that
henceforth they were finally reconciled
364
00:27:48,629 --> 00:27:53,305
and that he would now be
a most kind and generous lord.
365
00:27:56,189 --> 00:27:59,067
After the peace
was publicly announced,
366
00:27:59,229 --> 00:28:02,141
Henry asked Thomas
to ride with the court awhile,
367
00:28:02,309 --> 00:28:04,698
but Becket declined.
368
00:28:04,869 --> 00:28:07,702
This turned out
to be mistake number one.
369
00:28:07,869 --> 00:28:12,499
The king had wanted to catch
the moment, hold it a little longer.
370
00:28:12,669 --> 00:28:18,221
His good mood could vanish as quickly
as his bad temper could reappear.
371
00:28:21,749 --> 00:28:25,537
Mistake number two
was much worse.
372
00:28:25,709 --> 00:28:28,667
As the king had pardoned
Becket's closest followers,
373
00:28:28,829 --> 00:28:32,868
someone suggested that Thomas
might like to forgive those
374
00:28:32,989 --> 00:28:34,980
who had stayed loyal to the king.
375
00:28:35,149 --> 00:28:38,300
"It's not the same," said Becket.
376
00:28:38,469 --> 00:28:42,621
And it was this fanatical
inability to meet half way,
377
00:28:42,789 --> 00:28:44,984
to let bygones be bygones,
378
00:28:45,149 --> 00:28:48,380
that proved
to be Becket's fatal error.
379
00:28:55,629 --> 00:28:58,223
The last meeting
between the king and Becket
380
00:28:58,389 --> 00:29:01,540
took place on the banks
of the River Loire.
381
00:29:01,709 --> 00:29:05,987
And in a mood of sad friendliness
the king says to Becket,
382
00:29:06,149 --> 00:29:09,744
"You know, if only you could do
what I tell you to do,
383
00:29:09,909 --> 00:29:12,787
"I'd entrust you with everything."
384
00:29:12,949 --> 00:29:17,420
No reply and one imagines
a long pause, a sigh,
385
00:29:17,589 --> 00:29:20,308
a shrug of the shoulders
and the king goes on,
386
00:29:20,469 --> 00:29:26,419
"Well, go in peace and we shall
meet in Rouen or in England."
387
00:29:26,589 --> 00:29:32,698
Then another pause and Becket comes out
with something absolutely amazing.
388
00:29:32,869 --> 00:29:36,748
He says,
"My Lord, if we part on these terms,
389
00:29:36,909 --> 00:29:40,265
"we shall not meet again
in this life."
390
00:29:40,429 --> 00:29:43,626
And the royal temper flares up
and Henry says,
391
00:29:43,789 --> 00:29:46,257
"Why, do you take me for a traitor?"
392
00:29:46,429 --> 00:29:49,501
Meaning, "Do you suppose
I'll abandon you
393
00:29:49,669 --> 00:29:51,660
"when I've given you my protection?"
394
00:29:51,829 --> 00:29:55,902
And Becket looks at the king
and says, "Heaven forbid."
395
00:29:59,949 --> 00:30:02,907
And I think, as he allowed
that parting shot,
396
00:30:03,069 --> 00:30:06,948
so full of pained sincerity
and wiseguy irony,
397
00:30:07,109 --> 00:30:10,897
Becket must have made
the sign of the cross.
398
00:30:18,189 --> 00:30:21,738
Thomas Becket's ship came
into the harbour at Sandwich,
399
00:30:21,909 --> 00:30:25,458
probably on the morning
of December 1st, 1170,
400
00:30:25,629 --> 00:30:28,666
and was greeted not only
by a throng of poor people
401
00:30:28,829 --> 00:30:33,345
but by three royal officials
armed to the teeth.
402
00:30:36,869 --> 00:30:39,667
As the stones of Canterbury
came into sight,
403
00:30:39,829 --> 00:30:43,947
he got off his horse, took off
his boots and walked barefoot
404
00:30:44,109 --> 00:30:48,899
the rest of the way through
anthem-singing crowds of devotees.
405
00:30:51,069 --> 00:30:54,744
When he arrived home,
Becket did what he said he would do
406
00:30:54,909 --> 00:30:59,061
to all those who had opposed him
during his six years of exile.
407
00:30:59,909 --> 00:31:04,983
Shouting the dreaded curse,
"May they be damned by Jesus Christ,"
408
00:31:05,149 --> 00:31:07,458
he excommunicated them.
409
00:31:11,109 --> 00:31:13,577
But the bishops were not in hell.
410
00:31:13,749 --> 00:31:16,309
They were at Henry's court near Bayeux,
411
00:31:16,469 --> 00:31:19,461
pouring venomous reports
in the king's ear
412
00:31:19,629 --> 00:31:23,304
about Becket's impossible,
virtually treasonous arrogance.
413
00:31:23,469 --> 00:31:28,463
Henry, who typically seemed to have
forgotten about the promises at Freteval,
414
00:31:28,629 --> 00:31:32,224
raised his head from his pillow
and let out a roar
415
00:31:32,389 --> 00:31:35,222
of Plantagenet anathema.
416
00:31:41,189 --> 00:31:44,625
It was not, "Will no one rid me
of this turbulent priest?"
417
00:31:44,789 --> 00:31:48,145
But a much more alarming outcry.
418
00:31:48,309 --> 00:31:53,099
"What miserable drones and traitors
have I nourished in my household,
419
00:31:53,269 --> 00:31:59,788
"who let their Lord be treated with such
shameful contempt by a low-born cleric?"
420
00:32:07,989 --> 00:32:11,345
To anyone who had witnessed
Henry's terrible meltdown,
421
00:32:11,509 --> 00:32:16,060
or had even heard about it,
his words could only mean one thing:
422
00:32:16,229 --> 00:32:22,179
That he wanted the interminable,
insufferable Becket problem to go away.
423
00:32:22,349 --> 00:32:25,625
Not go away
as in six feet under perhaps,
424
00:32:25,789 --> 00:32:29,748
but if that's what it took,
then so be it.
425
00:32:29,909 --> 00:32:35,666
He was after all a traitor
and, well, what happens to traitors?
426
00:32:43,989 --> 00:32:49,143
The four knights who would kill Becket
had no doubt what Henry had in mind,
427
00:32:49,309 --> 00:32:52,619
and rushed to Normandy
to take a ship to Kent.
428
00:32:57,469 --> 00:33:03,419
Dawn the next day,
December 29th, 1170, Becket's last.
429
00:33:03,589 --> 00:33:07,980
Reginald fitzUrse, William de Tracy,
Robert le Bret and Hugh de Morville
430
00:33:08,149 --> 00:33:12,028
arrived in England
and set off for Canterbury.
431
00:33:16,829 --> 00:33:20,265
At around three, they burst
into the Archbishop's palace
432
00:33:20,429 --> 00:33:22,863
and found Thomas with his advisors.
433
00:33:23,029 --> 00:33:26,704
When the knights came in,
he studiously ignored them.
434
00:33:26,869 --> 00:33:31,818
FitzUrse broke the silence, saying
he'd an important message from the king
435
00:33:31,989 --> 00:33:36,346
that Becket should go to Winchester
and give an account of his conduct.
436
00:33:36,509 --> 00:33:40,343
Becket said he'd no intention
of being treated like a criminal.
437
00:33:40,509 --> 00:33:43,307
Things rapidly got ugly,
438
00:33:43,469 --> 00:33:47,018
fitzUrse ominously declaring
that Becket was no longer
439
00:33:47,229 --> 00:33:49,823
under the king's peace.
440
00:33:52,469 --> 00:33:55,347
Ought Becket to have temporised,
441
00:33:55,509 --> 00:33:58,626
to have made an escape
while there was still time?
442
00:33:58,789 --> 00:34:03,101
"My mind is made up," he told
his follower John of Salisbury,
443
00:34:03,269 --> 00:34:06,420
"I know exactly
what I have to do."
444
00:34:06,589 --> 00:34:10,980
"Please God, you have chosen well,"
replied John.
445
00:34:13,509 --> 00:34:19,027
Instead of bolting, Thomas proceeded
to the Cathedral for vespers.
446
00:34:19,189 --> 00:34:22,420
He made sure the door was open
to receive the congregation.
447
00:34:22,589 --> 00:34:25,786
He had chosen his place.
He had written in his mind
448
00:34:25,949 --> 00:34:28,417
his last and greatest performance.
449
00:34:38,629 --> 00:34:42,781
They caught up with him
in the north transept of the Cathedral.
450
00:34:42,949 --> 00:34:46,703
Becket must have seen right away
that they meant business,
451
00:34:46,869 --> 00:34:50,418
because they were got up
in the standard kit of terrorist thugs -
452
00:34:50,589 --> 00:34:54,343
face and head covered,
chain mail, of course.
453
00:34:54,509 --> 00:34:58,980
Carrying naked swords, they were
shouting, "Where is the traitor?"
454
00:34:59,149 --> 00:35:01,822
Becket replied, "Here I am,
455
00:35:01,989 --> 00:35:05,345
"no traitor to the king,
but a priest of God."
456
00:35:07,629 --> 00:35:11,304
The Archbishop seemed calm,
but no one else was.
457
00:35:11,469 --> 00:35:13,824
His attendants, all except two,
458
00:35:13,989 --> 00:35:17,106
disappeared
into the shadows of the church.
459
00:35:18,669 --> 00:35:23,538
But the 52-year old Becket
was, remember, a cockney,
460
00:35:23,709 --> 00:35:26,781
a street fighter,
as tough as old boots under the cowl.
461
00:35:26,949 --> 00:35:30,180
When he stood rooted to the spot,
he became physically,
462
00:35:30,349 --> 00:35:34,058
as well as theologically,
the immovable object.
463
00:35:34,229 --> 00:35:39,223
At such times the kind of talk
he'd picked up in his Cheapside childhood
464
00:35:39,309 --> 00:35:41,743
came back to him - ripe and abusive.
465
00:35:44,549 --> 00:35:47,666
"Whoremonger,"
he yelled at fitzUrse,
466
00:35:47,829 --> 00:35:52,141
who must suddenly have felt ridiculous
clanking around in all that armour.
467
00:35:52,309 --> 00:35:55,665
What do you do when you can't stand
feeling ridiculous any longer?
468
00:35:55,829 --> 00:35:59,981
Whoosh goes the adrenaline,
bang goes the gun - or in this case the sword.
469
00:36:00,109 --> 00:36:02,179
Down through Becket's attendant's arm,
470
00:36:02,349 --> 00:36:05,068
then slicing through the top
of the Archbishop's head.
471
00:36:05,229 --> 00:36:09,620
The crown hung by a thread of flesh
as Becket sank to the floor,
472
00:36:09,789 --> 00:36:12,508
murmuring,
according to his chroniclers,
473
00:36:12,669 --> 00:36:15,627
"For the name of Jesus
and the protection of the Church,
474
00:36:15,789 --> 00:36:18,144
"I'm ready to embrace death."
475
00:36:20,469 --> 00:36:23,461
Then, thank God,
came the coup de grace.
476
00:36:23,629 --> 00:36:27,463
Another mailed arm,
another downward slash to the head,
477
00:36:27,629 --> 00:36:32,020
so hard that the sword blade
broke in two on the stones.
478
00:36:33,949 --> 00:36:38,864
To finish the job, a third warrior
stood on the Archbishop's neck,
479
00:36:39,029 --> 00:36:42,499
stuck the end of his sword
into the open cavity of his skull,
480
00:36:42,669 --> 00:36:46,821
scooped out the brains
and spread them on the floor.
481
00:36:46,989 --> 00:36:52,109
"Let's be off," he said.
"This fellow won't be getting up again."
482
00:37:33,389 --> 00:37:36,267
(BELL CHIMES)
483
00:37:38,709 --> 00:37:41,701
It was around 4.30 in the afternoon.
484
00:37:41,869 --> 00:37:45,782
The door was open, frightened
people who'd come for the service
485
00:37:45,949 --> 00:37:47,940
gathered round the body.
486
00:37:48,109 --> 00:37:51,545
It was by no means a flock
who thought Becket a saint.
487
00:37:51,709 --> 00:37:56,988
"He wanted to be a king."
Said one. "Now let him be one."
488
00:37:58,389 --> 00:38:01,108
But then it all changed.
489
00:38:01,269 --> 00:38:05,501
Becket's chamberlain reattached
the bleeding scalp to his head
490
00:38:05,669 --> 00:38:08,547
with a strip of material
torn from his own shirt
491
00:38:08,709 --> 00:38:13,180
and the monks began to prepare
Becket's body for burial.
492
00:38:13,349 --> 00:38:19,424
Then they discovered what no one,
till that moment, had known -
493
00:38:19,589 --> 00:38:23,298
the hair shirt,
with lice crawling busily in it.
494
00:38:24,109 --> 00:38:28,261
Thomas the immovable had been
Thomas the self-mortifier,
495
00:38:28,429 --> 00:38:30,897
Thomas the humble.
496
00:38:35,629 --> 00:38:39,588
They let him lie,
washed in his own blood,
497
00:38:39,749 --> 00:38:44,265
and over the clotting body
laid the archiepiscopal garments.
498
00:38:44,429 --> 00:38:48,024
By chance
there was a marble sarcophagus
499
00:38:48,189 --> 00:38:50,828
ready for someone else's burial
here in the crypt,
500
00:38:50,989 --> 00:38:53,423
and a space to lower it into.
501
00:38:53,589 --> 00:38:58,140
Down went Becket,
arrayed in the full rig,
502
00:38:58,309 --> 00:39:04,305
the dalmatic, the pallium, the cope,
the chasuble, the orb and the ring.
503
00:39:04,469 --> 00:39:09,065
He'd always thought kit mattered,
had Thomas Becket.
504
00:39:13,629 --> 00:39:17,304
And for just what exactly
had Becket laid down -
505
00:39:17,469 --> 00:39:20,506
some would say thrown away -
his life?
506
00:39:20,669 --> 00:39:24,025
Some fantastic notion,
already out of date,
507
00:39:24,189 --> 00:39:27,784
that the Church could lay down
the law to the State?
508
00:39:31,109 --> 00:39:35,068
All our modern instincts
seem to say, "Oh, come on!
509
00:39:35,229 --> 00:39:38,744
"Look at Henry
and you find reality.
510
00:39:38,909 --> 00:39:42,788
"The guardian of the common law,
the engineer of government,
511
00:39:42,949 --> 00:39:45,224
"the smasher of anarchy."
512
00:39:45,309 --> 00:39:47,743
And you'd be quite wrong.
513
00:39:47,909 --> 00:39:52,460
Becket, headstrong,
infuriating, over the top,
514
00:39:52,629 --> 00:39:56,019
theatrical Becket,
made a huge difference.
515
00:39:56,189 --> 00:40:02,139
His view of the Church lasted.
The Angevin empire did not.
516
00:40:08,589 --> 00:40:11,820
The actual murderers
got off pretty lightly,
517
00:40:11,989 --> 00:40:16,858
hiding out in Yorkshire,
excommunicated, told to go on crusade.
518
00:40:17,029 --> 00:40:20,260
But the real judgement,
Henry reserved for himself -
519
00:40:20,429 --> 00:40:24,138
and the verdict
was guilty as charged.
520
00:40:24,309 --> 00:40:27,142
In 1174, he made a pilgrimage
to Canterbury,
521
00:40:27,309 --> 00:40:30,187
where Becket's blood
was said to work miracles.
522
00:40:30,349 --> 00:40:34,058
Over the last miles,
Henry walked barefoot in a hair shirt,
523
00:40:34,229 --> 00:40:37,027
as Becket had done
four years earlier.
524
00:40:37,189 --> 00:40:41,740
At the tomb, he confessed his sins
and was whipped by the monks.
525
00:40:41,909 --> 00:40:47,666
However tough his punishment, though,
the blood would never wash away.
526
00:40:47,829 --> 00:40:50,901
Henry, the hero of the Common Law,
will always be remembered
527
00:40:51,069 --> 00:40:54,300
as the biggest
of England's crowned criminals.
528
00:40:54,469 --> 00:40:57,142
The murderer in the Cathedral.
529
00:41:06,389 --> 00:41:09,699
Henry II
would rule for another 20 years,
530
00:41:09,869 --> 00:41:12,588
long enough to see
his embryonic legal system
531
00:41:12,749 --> 00:41:15,661
grow into
a thriving network of courts.
532
00:41:15,829 --> 00:41:18,627
Up and down the land,
these new courts were to settle
533
00:41:18,789 --> 00:41:21,986
not just the usual disputes
of blood and mayhem
534
00:41:22,149 --> 00:41:25,141
but all manner of painful rows
over inheritances,
535
00:41:25,309 --> 00:41:27,948
estates and properties.
536
00:41:28,109 --> 00:41:30,828
How ironic then that the only family
537
00:41:30,989 --> 00:41:34,584
who would not accept
the king's justice was his own.
538
00:41:34,749 --> 00:41:38,298
If there was one person
who was likely to think of the king
539
00:41:38,469 --> 00:41:43,145
not as judge but as transgressor,
it was his wife.
540
00:41:48,069 --> 00:41:52,267
It had been 20 years since
Henry and Eleanor had been partners,
541
00:41:52,429 --> 00:41:54,784
in bed and in government.
542
00:41:54,949 --> 00:41:57,144
Since then,
Eleanor had had to suffer
543
00:41:57,309 --> 00:42:00,221
the humiliation
of a string of mistresses.
544
00:42:00,389 --> 00:42:02,903
What tormented her
was not Becket's shrine,
545
00:42:03,069 --> 00:42:07,506
but the shrine Henry built to his
favourite mistress, Rosamund Clifford.
546
00:42:09,189 --> 00:42:14,388
Betrayed and alienated, Eleanor turned
her formidable energy and intellect
547
00:42:14,549 --> 00:42:18,827
to the business of getting
her just desserts through her children.
548
00:42:18,989 --> 00:42:21,822
She was now determined
to do everything she could
549
00:42:21,989 --> 00:42:24,344
to make them feel their father
was robbing them
550
00:42:24,509 --> 00:42:27,626
of their rightful power and dignity.
551
00:42:27,789 --> 00:42:31,498
The sons rose to the bait,
and what a bunch they were,
552
00:42:31,669 --> 00:42:34,263
Henry and Eleanor's four sons.
553
00:42:35,469 --> 00:42:39,303
There was young Henry,
officially the next king of England,
554
00:42:39,469 --> 00:42:43,667
but in reality still having to apply
to his father for pocket money.
555
00:42:43,829 --> 00:42:47,185
He rebelled, only to end up
dying of dysentery.
556
00:42:47,949 --> 00:42:50,417
Then there was Geoffrey,
as bright and devious
557
00:42:50,589 --> 00:42:53,057
as his namesake grandfather,
given Brittany,
558
00:42:53,229 --> 00:42:55,982
but then trampled to death
by a horse.
559
00:42:56,749 --> 00:43:00,344
This left Richard Coeur de Lion,
the Lionheart,
560
00:43:00,509 --> 00:43:04,582
physically brave, chivalrous
and brutally ambitious.
561
00:43:04,749 --> 00:43:08,947
And the youngest, John.
Vindictive, self-serving,
562
00:43:09,109 --> 00:43:11,100
but undoubtedly clever.
563
00:43:11,269 --> 00:43:13,464
Henry saw in him
perhaps the only prince
564
00:43:13,629 --> 00:43:16,462
who could properly
inherit the government.
565
00:43:17,669 --> 00:43:23,062
Between them they managed to undo,
in their own spectacular ways,
566
00:43:23,229 --> 00:43:27,381
not only the prospects of the kingdom,
but, in the space of 15 years,
567
00:43:27,549 --> 00:43:32,498
the entire empire their father
had so skilfully constructed.
568
00:43:38,669 --> 00:43:42,423
It was on Richard
that Eleanor pinned her hopes.
569
00:43:42,589 --> 00:43:45,865
She was even prepared to go
as far as to encourage an alliance
570
00:43:46,029 --> 00:43:50,659
between Richard and Henry's
bitterest enemy, the king of France.
571
00:43:52,989 --> 00:43:57,699
So, in 1189,
Richard declared war on his father.
572
00:44:02,269 --> 00:44:05,261
This time, Henry faced defeat,
573
00:44:05,429 --> 00:44:08,626
forced to watch as his barons
defected to Richard.
574
00:44:08,789 --> 00:44:11,747
The beleaguered Henry
had no choice but to negotiate
575
00:44:11,909 --> 00:44:15,948
and agree terms
which humbled him before his own son.
576
00:44:20,709 --> 00:44:25,225
To onlookers, he appeared
to embrace Richard in a kiss of peace.
577
00:44:25,389 --> 00:44:28,699
What he really said was,
"God spare me long enough
578
00:44:28,869 --> 00:44:30,860
"to take revenge on you."
579
00:44:33,829 --> 00:44:38,345
When the king asked to see the names
of all those who had joined Richard,
580
00:44:38,509 --> 00:44:43,537
to his horror, the first on the list
was his beloved son, John.
581
00:44:44,189 --> 00:44:48,307
Faced with this ultimate treachery,
Henry read no more.
582
00:44:51,589 --> 00:44:55,548
He died two days later
in his castle at Chinon,
583
00:44:55,709 --> 00:44:58,621
some chroniclers say
of a broken heart.
584
00:44:58,789 --> 00:45:02,668
The only child at his deathbed
was one of his illegitimate sons.
585
00:45:02,829 --> 00:45:05,627
"The others," he said,
with Lear-like bitterness,
586
00:45:05,789 --> 00:45:07,939
"are the real bastards."
587
00:45:13,509 --> 00:45:17,900
A barge took his body
downriver to Fontevrault Abbey.
588
00:45:18,069 --> 00:45:20,378
When Richard finally viewed the tomb,
589
00:45:20,549 --> 00:45:24,542
it is said that blood poured
from the nostrils of the corpse.
590
00:45:37,229 --> 00:45:42,303
In fact, when Henry II died
here at Chinon in 1189,
591
00:45:42,469 --> 00:45:44,585
hardly anyone mourned.
592
00:45:44,749 --> 00:45:47,502
It seems that most people
were off breaking open bottles
593
00:45:47,669 --> 00:45:50,308
to celebrate
the accession of his son, Richard,
594
00:45:50,469 --> 00:45:53,939
the darling of popular
folklore and legend.
595
00:45:54,109 --> 00:45:56,384
From the very beginning, then,
596
00:45:56,549 --> 00:46:00,098
Coeur de Lion had won
the public relations battle with his father.
597
00:46:00,269 --> 00:46:03,500
He was already
the superstar of a dynasty.
598
00:46:07,109 --> 00:46:10,579
To prove it, to show
that the old regime had passed,
599
00:46:10,749 --> 00:46:12,819
that a new glamour had arrived,
600
00:46:12,989 --> 00:46:16,026
Richard put on
a show-stopping coronation.
601
00:46:16,189 --> 00:46:20,626
As if in a reverie of Camelot,
he had himself dripping in gold -
602
00:46:20,789 --> 00:46:25,624
a golden sword, golden spurs,
a golden canopy over his head.
603
00:46:26,989 --> 00:46:31,585
To celebrate, the Jews of London
presented Richard with a special gift,
604
00:46:31,749 --> 00:46:37,028
a gesture that was immediately interpreted
by the populace as a sinister plot,
605
00:46:37,189 --> 00:46:40,147
and which triggered a general massacre.
606
00:46:42,309 --> 00:46:47,588
Richard of Devizes in his chronicle
was the first to use the word "holocaustum"
607
00:46:47,749 --> 00:46:51,822
to describe the mass murder
of England's Jews.
608
00:46:54,989 --> 00:46:57,742
To his credit, King Richard
made strong efforts
609
00:46:57,909 --> 00:47:00,742
to forbid
this first wave of pogroms.
610
00:47:00,909 --> 00:47:04,868
The problem was he was never
around to enforce things.
611
00:47:05,029 --> 00:47:08,783
Ironically, the king whose statue
stands outside Parliament
612
00:47:08,949 --> 00:47:13,465
and who's therefore supposed to personify
some sort of elemental Englishness,
613
00:47:13,549 --> 00:47:16,780
spent less time in his country
than any other monarch.
614
00:47:16,869 --> 00:47:20,862
The three lions on his coat of arms
were Plantagenet lions.
615
00:47:21,029 --> 00:47:25,181
The Cross of St George
stood for Aquitaine, not England.
616
00:47:32,149 --> 00:47:36,347
Eager to do God's work,
Richard vanished to the Holy Land.
617
00:47:36,509 --> 00:47:39,501
John immediately
set himself up as a rival,
618
00:47:39,669 --> 00:47:42,547
creating a virtual state
within a state,
619
00:47:42,709 --> 00:47:45,667
complete with his own court
and mercenary army.
620
00:47:47,389 --> 00:47:51,268
In 1192, when news arrived
of Richard's capture
621
00:47:51,429 --> 00:47:54,387
on his way back from the Crusade,
John quickly declared
622
00:47:54,549 --> 00:47:57,427
his brother dead and himself king.
623
00:47:59,189 --> 00:48:03,626
Eleanor was torn to pieces
by this fratricidal struggle.
624
00:48:03,789 --> 00:48:06,462
She'd been bred to do
what Angevins do best,
625
00:48:06,629 --> 00:48:10,702
to preside over government,
to manipulate politics.
626
00:48:10,869 --> 00:48:14,862
Now she was paralysed
by the tragedy of her own family.
627
00:48:15,029 --> 00:48:18,305
In desperation,
she turned to the Holy Father,
628
00:48:18,469 --> 00:48:21,586
to whom she wrote
an extraordinary letter.
629
00:48:24,069 --> 00:48:28,267
I, Eleanor, Queen of England,
unhappy mother,
630
00:48:28,429 --> 00:48:35,346
pitied by no one, have arrived
at this miserable old age.
631
00:48:35,509 --> 00:48:41,903
Two sons lie in dust and their unhappy
mother is tortured by their memory.
632
00:48:43,349 --> 00:48:45,943
King Richard is in irons.
633
00:48:46,109 --> 00:48:50,148
His brother John ravages
the kingdom with fire and sword.
634
00:48:51,029 --> 00:48:54,146
I know not which side to take.
635
00:48:54,309 --> 00:48:58,382
If I leave England, I abandon
the kingdom of my son John,
636
00:48:58,549 --> 00:49:00,540
torn by civil war.
637
00:49:00,709 --> 00:49:04,258
If I stay, I may never see
the dearly beloved face
638
00:49:04,429 --> 00:49:06,579
of my son Richard again.
639
00:49:11,789 --> 00:49:15,065
There was nothing the Pope
could do about her plight.
640
00:49:15,229 --> 00:49:18,778
Money, however, could do the trick.
641
00:49:18,949 --> 00:49:21,861
Two years
and 34 tons of gold later,
642
00:49:22,029 --> 00:49:27,467
Richard was ransomed into freedom,
but his kingdom was bankrupt.
643
00:49:30,109 --> 00:49:33,101
The cost of acting out
heroic war games
644
00:49:33,269 --> 00:49:35,863
was measured in blood
as well as money.
645
00:49:36,029 --> 00:49:39,305
Showing contempt for the defenders
of the besieged castle
646
00:49:39,469 --> 00:49:41,983
by standing in front of them
without armour,
647
00:49:42,149 --> 00:49:47,507
a lone archer's bolt found the join
between Richard's neck and his shoulder.
648
00:49:47,669 --> 00:49:53,107
The wound turned gangrenous.
Within ten days, the Lionheart was dead,
649
00:49:53,269 --> 00:49:58,184
a triumph of daredevil romance
over common sense.
650
00:50:01,749 --> 00:50:06,459
His body was laid in a tomb
at the foot of his father's, in Anjou.
651
00:50:06,629 --> 00:50:10,144
The heart of the Lionheart
was taken to the great cathedral
652
00:50:10,309 --> 00:50:12,869
at Rouen in Normandy,
which seems fitting,
653
00:50:12,989 --> 00:50:18,063
since this city was always
more of a capital to Richard than London.
654
00:50:21,189 --> 00:50:23,908
John, who succeeded him,
was buried in England,
655
00:50:24,069 --> 00:50:27,857
mostly in Worcester Cathedral,
because the Monks of Craxton Abbey
656
00:50:28,029 --> 00:50:30,782
had taken care
to steal away his entrails,
657
00:50:30,949 --> 00:50:35,704
making John in death, as he'd been
in life, one could say, gutless.
658
00:50:38,869 --> 00:50:44,978
It was as a politician that John
was most obviously a wretched failure.
659
00:50:45,149 --> 00:50:48,425
Under his father,
the empire had been sustained
660
00:50:48,589 --> 00:50:52,377
by a shrewd combination
of charisma and feudal loyalty.
661
00:50:52,549 --> 00:50:56,588
John's problem was his difficulty
in believing that anyone
662
00:50:56,749 --> 00:50:59,866
would ever be more
than a fair-weather friend.
663
00:51:00,029 --> 00:51:03,146
So he relied on blackmail
and extortion,
664
00:51:03,309 --> 00:51:06,028
threats to the barons
rather than promises.
665
00:51:06,189 --> 00:51:10,819
Assuming disloyalty,
he ended up guaranteeing it.
666
00:51:13,909 --> 00:51:17,788
So when John needed the barons most,
when Normandy was threatened
667
00:51:17,949 --> 00:51:20,509
by the French king,
they weren't there for him.
668
00:51:20,669 --> 00:51:23,581
The result
was a catastrophic defeat.
669
00:51:25,229 --> 00:51:30,178
The loss of Normandy ripped
the heart out of Angevin power.
670
00:51:33,469 --> 00:51:37,621
Whether or not there was a secret
meeting at Bury St Edmunds,
671
00:51:37,789 --> 00:51:42,544
with all the major nobles in England
sworn to force John to accept reform,
672
00:51:42,709 --> 00:51:47,021
it's certainly true
that from defeat sprang rebellion.
673
00:51:52,709 --> 00:51:55,906
At some point,
the barons drafted a document
674
00:51:56,069 --> 00:52:00,699
that went well beyond forcing
John to stop being vindictive,
675
00:52:00,869 --> 00:52:05,340
proposing a catalogue of things
the king would not be allowed to do.
676
00:52:06,189 --> 00:52:09,181
It was called Magna Carta.
677
00:52:13,469 --> 00:52:17,826
Anyone expecting to find in it
some sort of primitive constitution
678
00:52:17,989 --> 00:52:21,459
is going to be in for a bit of a shock
when they read the details,
679
00:52:21,629 --> 00:52:25,781
because the liberties enumerated here
boil down largely
680
00:52:25,949 --> 00:52:29,146
to tax relief for the armoured
and landed classes.
681
00:52:32,309 --> 00:52:37,303
Even if the Magna Carta is filled
with the belly-aching of the barons,
682
00:52:37,469 --> 00:52:41,860
that belly-aching turned out
to have profound consequences
683
00:52:42,029 --> 00:52:44,384
for the future of England.
684
00:52:44,549 --> 00:52:48,098
For, by putting so much weight
on the authority of a common law,
685
00:52:48,269 --> 00:52:50,783
the Angevins had stirred
in the nobility
686
00:52:50,949 --> 00:52:54,783
a dawning realisation
that this was their law too.
687
00:52:54,949 --> 00:52:58,066
A generation before,
the barons couldn't have cared less
688
00:52:58,229 --> 00:53:02,461
about the rights of men
held in prison for unstated causes.
689
00:53:02,629 --> 00:53:04,699
That was what happened
to commoners.
690
00:53:04,869 --> 00:53:08,259
But under John,
bad things had happened to them -
691
00:53:08,429 --> 00:53:12,468
land stolen, widows hounded,
heirs made to disappear.
692
00:53:15,229 --> 00:53:17,538
Now was the time to use the weapons
693
00:53:17,709 --> 00:53:21,588
Henry II's revolution in justice
had put into their hands,
694
00:53:21,749 --> 00:53:25,537
and, by an amazing irony,
the Angevins became
695
00:53:25,709 --> 00:53:28,906
the schoolmasters
of their own correction.
696
00:53:29,669 --> 00:53:33,105
Henry II's transformation
of royal justice
697
00:53:33,269 --> 00:53:37,228
had come back
to bite his own dynasty.
698
00:53:38,829 --> 00:53:43,300
So if it isn't exactly
the birth certificate of democracy,
699
00:53:43,469 --> 00:53:46,779
it is the death certificate
of despotism.
700
00:53:46,949 --> 00:53:50,988
It spells out, for the first time,
the fundamental principle
701
00:53:51,149 --> 00:53:56,177
that the law is not simply
the will or the whim of the king.
702
00:53:56,349 --> 00:53:59,978
The law is an independent power
unto itself,
703
00:54:00,149 --> 00:54:04,540
and the king could be brought
to book for violating it.
704
00:54:08,909 --> 00:54:11,503
None of this
was apparent right away.
705
00:54:11,669 --> 00:54:14,422
Ten weeks after
Magna Carta was signed,
706
00:54:14,589 --> 00:54:16,625
it was annulled by the Pope,
707
00:54:16,789 --> 00:54:20,099
and John went back
to fighting his battles by the sword,
708
00:54:20,269 --> 00:54:25,627
against the rebel barons and against
the first successful invasion by a king of France.
709
00:54:26,789 --> 00:54:31,783
For a few months in 1216,
much of England was ruled by the Dauphin.
710
00:54:37,029 --> 00:54:39,941
John died on campaign in Norfolk,
711
00:54:40,109 --> 00:54:42,862
facing the windswept waters
of the Wash.
712
00:54:43,029 --> 00:54:46,863
Fighting had quickened his appetite,
and he ate a meal so hearty
713
00:54:47,029 --> 00:54:50,419
it paid him back
with a fatal spasm of dysentery.
714
00:54:50,589 --> 00:54:55,185
As for the barons of England,
they had no appetite for civil war,
715
00:54:55,349 --> 00:54:57,658
much less rule from France.
716
00:54:57,829 --> 00:55:01,617
So when John's nine-year-old son
was proclaimed Henry III
717
00:55:01,789 --> 00:55:04,747
at Gloucester Cathedral,
they rallied to him.
718
00:55:06,789 --> 00:55:11,544
What they were rallying to was not
so much a person now as a contract,
719
00:55:11,709 --> 00:55:15,702
the understanding guaranteed
by the reissue of the charter
720
00:55:15,869 --> 00:55:18,303
that, from now on,
the government of England
721
00:55:18,469 --> 00:55:22,587
had to be accountable
to the sovereignty of the law.
722
00:55:27,029 --> 00:55:30,021
The ramshackle conglomerate
of the Angevin empire
723
00:55:30,189 --> 00:55:33,659
had fallen apart
almost as quickly as it had risen,
724
00:55:33,829 --> 00:55:38,778
but in the England to which it was reduced
something solid was left,
725
00:55:38,949 --> 00:55:42,180
something that's best measured
not in masonry or mileage,
726
00:55:42,349 --> 00:55:44,419
but in magistrates.
727
00:55:44,589 --> 00:55:47,547
So the best thing
that can be said for the Angevins
728
00:55:47,709 --> 00:55:52,100
was that they left behind a country
that didn't need them any more.
729
00:55:52,269 --> 00:55:54,499
Why hunt for Excalibur
730
00:55:54,669 --> 00:55:57,661
when you had something
much more potent -
731
00:55:57,829 --> 00:55:59,820
Magna Carta.