1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:04,040 BIRDS CALL, OARS SWEEP 2 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:22,720 DAVID DIMBLEBY: A cold winter's morning before daybreak 3 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:24,880 on the River Thames. 4 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:29,520 On a day like this, in 1834, 5 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:34,000 a lost treasure was to re-emerge. 6 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:44,640 A gang of workers were starting another day 7 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:46,280 on the banks of the Thames. 8 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:49,080 It was dirty, unappealing work. 9 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,280 Their job was to demolish the old London Bridge 10 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,960 and clearing away all this sludge and muck. 11 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:58,160 Filthy work at the best of times. 12 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,520 But on this particular day, 13 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:06,200 they made an astonishing discovery. 14 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:14,680 GRUNTS 15 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:33,560 What they had discovered, to their amazement, 16 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:38,800 was a bronze head of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, 17 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,640 part of a great statue of the emperor... 18 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:48,040 ..all its fine detail beautifully preserved. 19 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,520 The hair, the eyebrows, the eyes, this great nose 20 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:53,480 and the chin, 21 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:56,520 part of a beautiful statue. 22 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:02,040 And this is where our story begins. 23 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:10,640 From the Roman occupation of 2,000 years ago 24 00:02:10,640 --> 00:02:12,520 to our own day... 25 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,800 ...the story of Britain is revealed through art. 26 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:24,480 These are the greatest treasures of our nation, 27 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:30,360 objects of beauty which give a glimpse into the British soul. 28 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,720 Many treasures will be familiar. 29 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:38,720 But others are hidden. 30 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:45,320 Some have even left our shores, 31 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:49,640 scattered to the four corners of the earth. 32 00:02:54,760 --> 00:03:00,560 This is the story of the Seven Ages of Britain. 33 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:50,440 Rome. 34 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:55,640 The heart of the mighty empire that conquered nearly all Europe. 35 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,640 It was Rome that would bring order 36 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:05,200 to the barbarian chaos of the British Isles. 37 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:25,640 - Fa caldo. - Si, si. 38 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:36,320 You the very soldier! 39 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:44,120 Inghilterra? Fish and chips. 40 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:45,840 DIMBLEBY LAUGHS 41 00:04:45,840 --> 00:04:47,640 Bye. 42 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:12,760 The Romans first invaded Britain in 55 BC. 43 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:16,200 But it would be another 90 years 44 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:18,280 before there was a full-scale conquest, 45 00:05:18,280 --> 00:05:19,840 under the Emperor Claudius. 46 00:05:28,840 --> 00:05:31,640 Among all the glorious monuments in Rome 47 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:34,320 celebrating the great conquests of the Roman Empire, 48 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:38,760 there's only one trace left of the conquest of Britain. 49 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:41,200 And it's this tiny fragment 50 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:43,960 of a big inscription which was put up on a triumphal arch 51 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:49,000 to commemorate Claudius's taking the surrender of 11 British kings. 52 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:51,080 You can just see the word "Reges Brit". 53 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:52,640 And it cuts off there. 54 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:53,800 11 British kings. 55 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:57,440 And saying that he brought the barbarians from across the ocean - 56 00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:58,960 that's the English Channel - 57 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:01,480 he brought the barbarians from across the ocean 58 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:03,400 under the authority of Rome. 59 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:15,800 The Roman Empire was all about using power to impose order. 60 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:25,120 Nothing captures the Roman vision better than the Pantheon, 61 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:27,760 a temple to all the gods. 62 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:39,360 This is the finest example of Roman art still standing in the city. 63 00:06:55,080 --> 00:07:00,000 One of the reasons the Romans had such a huge impact on Britain 64 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,920 was that they, for the first time, gave us a sense of identity 65 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:05,680 by becoming part of the Roman Empire. 66 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:09,880 Every conquered territory had a female figure to represent it, 67 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:12,560 and we had Britannia for Britain. 68 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:15,120 And the coins of the second century AD 69 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:18,600 had this portrait of Britannia on one side. 70 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:23,640 Some say she's in mourning after defeat at the hands of the Romans. 71 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:25,280 Some say she's at peace. 72 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:29,200 But there it is - the enduring image of Britannia, 73 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:33,280 which turns up, lo and behold, on our own 50 pence piece today. 74 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:35,000 The Queen's head on one side 75 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:36,600 and, on the other, Britannia. 76 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:38,840 A rather different Britannia, this one. 77 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,480 This is Britannia ruling the waves with her trident and her shield. 78 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:52,760 One early and almost forgotten sculpture of Britannia 79 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:55,280 can be found in what was once the eastern corner 80 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:56,800 of the Roman Empire. 81 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:08,480 In the first century AD, 82 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:13,800 the city of Aphrodisias was famous for the brilliance of its artists. 83 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:28,560 The fine marble quarried nearby allowed sculptors 84 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:32,280 to capture the beauty of the human form. 85 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:49,640 This is a stupendous collection of sculptures, 86 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:53,600 all very lively, of Roman myths, of gods and goddesses. 87 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:56,560 But the one I've come to see is this one over here. 88 00:08:56,560 --> 00:09:00,960 This is the story of how Rome conquered Britain 89 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:04,080 told here, hundreds of miles away from Britain, 90 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:10,000 as a way of demonstrating to everybody that Rome ruled us and had defeated us. 91 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:12,520 This is the figure of Britannia. 92 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:16,280 And we know it because it says over on the right there in Greek letters 93 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:17,760 "Bretannia". 94 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:19,120 And on this side, 95 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:24,160 "Tiberius Claudius Caesar" - the Emperor Claudius. 96 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:28,600 Britannia is shown in despair, perhaps pleading for her life, 97 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:31,640 knowing she's about to be slaughtered, 98 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:34,440 looking like a barbarian, 99 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:40,200 her hair all straggling round, her face looking miserable, bare-breasted. 100 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:42,600 He, on the other hand, the conqueror with his helmet, 101 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:44,200 his right hand raised. 102 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:46,480 There would have been a sword probably in the right hand. 103 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:49,240 His left hand pulling her hair back, 104 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:51,680 as though to cut her throat. 105 00:09:51,680 --> 00:09:54,640 He's got his fist there on her hair, pulling it back. 106 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:58,160 And, important, his knee resting on her thigh, 107 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:00,320 pinning her down to the ground. 108 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:03,800 She's the victim, either about to be raped or to be killed. 109 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:09,040 In any event, that is Britain, defeated by Rome. 110 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:14,880 So much for "Britons never, never shall be slaves." 111 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:20,680 This is how Britannia began - under the heel of the Roman Empire. 112 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:28,000 THUNDER ROLLS 113 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,000 BIRDS CHIRP 114 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:32,960 SHEEP BLEAT 115 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:45,560 It's not immediately obvious what Britain, cold and wet, 116 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:49,280 had to offer Romans from the warm Mediterranean. 117 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:53,280 But one attraction was our buried treasure. 118 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:56,320 DOG BARKS 119 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:05,080 Where the Romans thought there was wealth to be found, 120 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:09,480 they plundered to the far limits of their empire. 121 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:11,760 This is Dolaucothi in west Wales, 122 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:16,520 and with that ingenuity and energy for which they were famous, 123 00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:20,560 the Romans actually built here a seven-mile aqueduct, 124 00:11:20,560 --> 00:11:22,080 right across these hills. 125 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:26,440 You can still just trace the line of it going into the woods there. 126 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:31,360 And over there, there was a huge cistern 127 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:35,360 that held up to 2 million gallons of water. 128 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:38,320 And when it was full, they opened the gates, 129 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:40,480 the water flooded down into the valley, 130 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:44,480 sweeping away trees and bushes and all the earth 131 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:48,720 and uncovering what they were really looking for - quartz. 132 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,480 Quartz which contained gold. 133 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:19,560 Some of the old Roman mining tunnels remain, deep under the hillside. 134 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:27,840 They're beautifully cut, these tunnels, 135 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:30,920 but very damp, dripping all the time with water. 136 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:33,200 They had to get the water out so they didn't flood. 137 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,840 Slaves would've done the work, of course, not the Romans themselves. 138 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:39,400 And you can see here, they say, 139 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:43,720 the marks where they've cut the rock with chisels - 140 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:46,920 chiselled it away, there we are, there are marks there - 141 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:48,480 to open up the space 142 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,960 cos what they were looking for were these seams of quartz. 143 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:56,360 Now, here's a seam. This whiter rock there. 144 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:59,960 It runs up here. You can see it right the way up there. 145 00:12:59,960 --> 00:13:03,800 And disappears up into the roof of the cave. 146 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:08,640 And the technique they used was very ingenious, very simple, 147 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:13,600 which was to build fires, and here, on this bit of rock here, 148 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:15,240 they say these are the scorch marks 149 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:18,880 left by the fires that were built to extract the quartz. 150 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:21,240 They built the fires until it was really hot 151 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:26,720 and then suddenly dashed cold water onto it so that it burst, split open 152 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:30,200 and they could then take the quartz away. 153 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:32,400 Dangerous work. 154 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:34,520 I wouldn't want to do it. 155 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:49,360 A tonne of good quality quartz produced under an ounce of gold. 156 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:53,120 but it was valuable because, of course, gold doesn't deteriorate 157 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:57,120 and the Romans wanted it to make coins and to make jewellery. 158 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:01,760 In fact, in the 1880s, they found - this is a replica of it - 159 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:04,760 they found this very beautiful little brooch 160 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:07,120 made from gold from here 161 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:09,520 because it's got the kind of slightly pinkish colour 162 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:11,760 that distinguishes Welsh gold. 163 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:18,120 All that effort, those hundreds of people working... 164 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:21,360 ...just to produce this. 165 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:23,800 THUNDER RUMBLES 166 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:43,000 Over the centuries, 167 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:46,920 hundreds of treasures from Roman Britain have been uncovered 168 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:50,080 and the best have ended up here. 169 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:22,840 Sometimes it's quite by chance that things are discovered 170 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:26,040 that give us an idea of what life was like under the Romans. 171 00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:28,080 This great collection of silver 172 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:32,600 was found by a farmer during the Second World War, ploughing his field. 173 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:36,840 He literally struck a piece of silver and discovered all this. 174 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:38,680 And he took it back to his farmhouse 175 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:41,520 and it's said he even used to eat his Christmas dinner off it, 176 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,280 and it wasn't until just after the war 177 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:46,600 that he finally revealed he had it 178 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:48,400 and it came here to the British Museum. 179 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:51,360 And this is the great centrepiece of it all, 180 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:53,120 the Oceanus dish, 181 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:55,000 a wonderful celebration 182 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:59,600 of life and pleasure and enjoyment and music. 183 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:03,480 At the heart of it, Oceanus, who's the god of the oceans 184 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:07,120 with his dolphins in his hair and a beard made of seaweed 185 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:11,640 and various figures round of a seafaring kind. 186 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:14,240 But the real party begins beyond. 187 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:16,280 This was obviously used for celebration. 188 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:19,120 All the way round, figures dancing. 189 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:22,960 There's Pan with his pipes. 190 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:25,240 Wicked Pan. 191 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:29,280 And over here, Hercules - you can see him with his club. 192 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:32,480 And everywhere, there are these swirling, dancing men and women 193 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:34,080 really having a ball, 194 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:37,960 celebrating and drinking and dancing. 195 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:39,680 And beautifully done - 196 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:44,400 these great swirling clothes, up on their toes, 197 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:47,560 men with their hands in the air. 198 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,240 Full of life and vitality and vivacity. 199 00:16:56,440 --> 00:17:00,840 This is absolutely singing with life. 200 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:26,720 The Romans changed the face of England. 201 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:39,760 They introduced a way of life imported from Italy. 202 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:45,520 Luxurious villas decorated with beautiful mosaics. 203 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:53,240 Nothing's left of the walls or the ceiling of the villa, 204 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:54,800 but that doesn't matter 205 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:59,040 because what really counts here at Bignor are the floors - 206 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:03,440 made 1,700 years ago, tiny pieces of stone put together. 207 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:06,480 And they are by far the best mosaics in Britain 208 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:10,600 and, according to experts, among the most magnificent in the Roman world. 209 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:39,080 This scene is of gladiators fighting or practising fighting 210 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:41,120 with an umpire or a teacher. 211 00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:44,880 And they could've seen the real thing at the Roman city of Chichester. 212 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:47,840 And if you look here, there's one gladiator 213 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:51,000 who has the trident and the dagger, 214 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,560 and the other with a sword and a shield. 215 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:56,200 And the reason it's so fine 216 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,120 is because the actual pieces of mosaic are tiny. 217 00:18:59,120 --> 00:19:05,800 They're made either of stone or of clay or of glass. 218 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:09,920 And the frieze is supporting this most beautiful Venus. 219 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:12,840 Wonderful, subtle colours. 220 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:15,560 A lovely piece of work. 221 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:26,280 It's interesting that this villa wasn't lived in by Romans. 222 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:30,240 It was lived in by British people, British farmers. 223 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:31,840 Rich, of course, 224 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:35,560 prosperous people aping the habits of the conqueror. 225 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:37,280 And they got all the advantages. 226 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:39,200 They got central heating. 227 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:40,720 They got baths. 228 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:42,640 But, I mean, who on earth would live 229 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:45,040 in an Italian villa in the British climate? 230 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:46,680 Nobody does these days. 231 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:50,560 There is one rather interesting concession to the British weather 232 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:53,720 and that's this mosaic of winter. 233 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:55,360 You can tell it's winter 234 00:19:55,360 --> 00:19:58,640 because of the leafless branch of the tree there. 235 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:02,280 And the figure is wearing - and this is what's curious - 236 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:04,800 what's called "birrus Britannicus", 237 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:10,480 a special kind of British-made cloak of heavy, oiled wool 238 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:13,160 which at this time had become so popular 239 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:15,480 it was sold all over the Roman Empire. 240 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:18,640 And the Emperor actually put a fixed price on it 241 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:20,600 and charged tax on it. 242 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:23,840 Well, you wouldn't want to go out in a British winter, would you, 243 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:28,120 without a birrus Britannicus on. You'd be very stupid. 244 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:55,680 At the start of the 5th century 245 00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:58,560 the Roman Empire began to disintegrate. 246 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:07,800 Britain found herself undefended, open to attack. 247 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:11,200 And attacks came quickly, 248 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:13,520 not just by one people, 249 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:15,360 but by many. 250 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:30,360 "Hwaet! 251 00:21:30,360 --> 00:21:31,880 "We Gardena in geardagum, 252 00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:37,400 "peodcyninga, prym gefrunon, hu oa aepelingas ellen fremedon." 253 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:39,240 I'm trying to speak Anglo-Saxon. 254 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:44,200 It was the language spoken 1,500 years ago here in England 255 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:47,600 and it forms the basis of the English we speak today. 256 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:49,680 And those lines are taken 257 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:52,520 from one of the great Anglo-Saxon poems, Beowulf - 258 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:57,440 not a love story, but a story of great warriors and battles, 259 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:00,440 the kind of tale you'd tell round a blazing fire 260 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:02,640 in the great hall on a dark night. 261 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:05,360 Anglo-Saxon tales are often set 262 00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:08,640 in the sort of frozen wastes of the wintry north, 263 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:11,480 because it was from Denmark and Germany 264 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:14,480 that these new invaders came. 265 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:21,600 The Anglo-Saxons were the next powerful influence on our country 266 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:23,080 after the Romans. 267 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:24,960 They gave us our language, 268 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:29,000 and a kind of stubbornness of attitude, perhaps, 269 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:32,440 which still forms part of our national character today. 270 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:56,400 In the 6th century, 271 00:22:56,400 --> 00:23:01,400 the River Deben was the heartland of a powerful Anglo-Saxon king. 272 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:13,160 On his death, the fields of Sutton Hoo above the river 273 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:16,880 were turned into his royal burial ground. 274 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:33,160 This is a beautiful spot, 275 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:37,240 this golden heath land under this great East Anglian sky. 276 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:40,840 But you need to use a bit of imagination to bring it alive. 277 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,200 We're up above the River Deben here, 278 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:46,640 that highway of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom. 279 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:50,240 And it was up here that they dragged a boat from the river, 280 00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:52,520 laid the king to rest 281 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:56,280 surrounded by his household goods and precious jewels, 282 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,840 everything that he'd need in the afterlife. 283 00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:07,760 What a great place to bury a king. 284 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:26,920 In 1938, work began excavating the burial ground. 285 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:31,760 The finds were astonishing. 286 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:34,800 - Look at that. - Beautiful, isn't it? 287 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:35,880 Extraordinary. 288 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,160 Molly Bevan's family owned the land 289 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:42,640 and she was here during the dig. 290 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:45,960 Even at 102, she remembers it well. 291 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:50,480 It was absolutely amazing. 292 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:55,320 You couldn't believe it because it looked so huge. 293 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:01,680 There were quite a lot of people, I don't know how many, 294 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:03,680 I couldn't tell you now, 295 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:07,400 digging or brushing. In fact, 296 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:10,320 I saw one fellow with a toothbrush doing something. 297 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:17,040 I used to spend most of the day there 298 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:22,760 just being amazed to see what they would find next. 299 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:33,000 DAVID: It looks rather crumpled there, doesn't it? 300 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:34,600 MOLLY: It looks crumpled, yes. 301 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:36,960 Did everything come up crumpled and dirty? 302 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:39,800 Everything came up with mud all over them. 303 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:43,600 DAVID: So you never saw real gold. You saw... 304 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:46,680 No, I never saw it until I went to the British Museum. 305 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:51,400 - Did they look good? - They looked all right. SHE LAUGHS 306 00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:00,200 DAVID: It's tantalising, seeing it like this. 307 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:01,560 MOLLY: It is. 308 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:05,680 It's a funny business because this was all happening 309 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,440 just as we were about to go to war, wasn't it? 310 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:14,360 Yes, and it was 1939. War was talked of all the time. 311 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:48,840 This is the king's helmet, 312 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:54,040 which has become the most powerful symbol of the Anglo-Saxon era. 313 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:59,080 It's very, very fine and subtle 314 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:04,640 because the nose and the eyebrows are actually a bird. 315 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:08,000 The eyebrows are the wings. 316 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:12,920 The tail of the bird makes this very neat little moustache, 317 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:14,640 and if you look underneath, 318 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:17,200 there are two holes, two nostrils, 319 00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:19,680 so the person wearing it could actually breathe. 320 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:21,800 The bird's head is here, 321 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:23,920 and he's facing this dragon, 322 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:28,640 which makes the crest of the helmet, with these wonderful teeth. 323 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:35,120 For my money, though, these are really, really beautiful. 324 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:39,880 They're so fine, delicate, intricate. 325 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:42,880 This is a shoulder clasp. 326 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:45,720 It had a pin that went through the middle. 327 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,560 So that would be on one side of a cloak, that on the other. 328 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:51,760 It would hold the two parts of a cloak together. 329 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:55,240 This is made of blue glass 330 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:58,520 and garnets that were probably imported 331 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:00,840 from Afghanistan or India. 332 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:06,120 Not only that, the gold is actually itself cut in a kind of crisscross, 333 00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:09,200 so you get this pattern showing through the garnets. 334 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:14,120 And then there's this. This is a belt buckle. 335 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:17,640 Very simple - you can see the buckle-end here 336 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:20,960 and an intricate abstract pattern. 337 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:23,160 When you look very closely, 338 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:26,480 you can see serpents writhing within it. 339 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:31,840 Anglo-Saxons were very keen on their animals, 340 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:33,920 and, my goodness, there are animals on this. 341 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:38,880 Now, this is the top of a purse. It was a leather purse. 342 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:41,520 And here there's a figure of a man, 343 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:44,120 and he's fending off two wolves. 344 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:50,680 All three of them look as if they could've been made 100 years ago. 345 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:52,760 They're in such perfect condition. 346 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:09,520 BIRDS CHIRP 347 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:29,800 In the year 563, Christianity arrived in Britain. 348 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:41,200 The new faith, which had briefly flourished under the Romans, 349 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:43,440 would transform art. 350 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:45,720 Pick it up there on the starboard side. 351 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:48,280 OK, keep it together there, folks. 352 00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:51,640 St Columba, an Irish monk, 353 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:55,520 sailed across the Irish Sea with 12 disciples 354 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:58,760 in a boat made from animal skins. 355 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:00,840 OK, keep it together there, folks. 356 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:02,680 We've got a wind against us. 357 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:08,360 Today, Captain Ivor and his crew make that trip in homage to Columba. 358 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:16,600 How long would it have taken him, that journey across from Ireland? 359 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:18,680 Well, it's 100 miles. 360 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:20,440 So rowing and stopping, 361 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:22,200 you would be looking at 362 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:24,640 three or four days, given good weather. 363 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:29,000 At the time, was it a very daring passage to make 364 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:32,200 or was there a lot of traffic between Ireland and Scotland? 365 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:33,760 There would have been a lot of traffic. 366 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:38,040 I mean, the sea to a lot of people nowadays would be a forbidding place. 367 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:41,040 But in those times it was a highway. 368 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:45,760 In fact, it was more dangerous to travel inland 369 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:48,320 because of the thick wood, certainly in Ireland - 370 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:52,080 the thick wooded areas and I suppose the bandits, etc. 371 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:54,840 So the highway was the seaway. 372 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:57,520 And are you religious people? Or do you do it for fun? 373 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:00,280 Some of us would be religious people. 374 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:03,160 We still do it for fun, even though we're religious people. 375 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:04,320 BOTH LAUGH 376 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:13,520 St Columba and his monks chose to settle here 377 00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:15,760 on the island of Iona. 378 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:20,280 Thank you very much indeed. That was wonderful. 379 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:23,360 Goodbye. 380 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:34,760 St Columba was such a powerful inspiration 381 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:37,640 that Christianity spread from here across Scotland 382 00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:39,240 and into Northern England. 383 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:41,040 And wherever it went, 384 00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:45,240 it's left behind this powerful symbol of the stone cross. 385 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:47,600 This one is from the 8th century. 386 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:50,960 Now, new religions often build on the old. 387 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:55,080 And some say that this circle that is typical of the Celtic cross 388 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:59,400 actually is sending a message out about the power of the sun, 389 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:01,720 an old pagan message. 390 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:04,640 Round the front... 391 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:08,280 It's very, very faded, this. It's rather difficult to see. 392 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:09,880 But then, it is very, very old. 393 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:14,360 In the top there the Virgin and child. 394 00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:23,760 Below that, what's said to be David playing a harp 395 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:25,960 and another figure playing a flute. 396 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:29,240 Four more figures that nobody knows what they are. 397 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:31,200 And then more decoration down here. 398 00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:38,040 But what's really moving, striking, about crosses like this 399 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:41,800 is that they were a focal point for the new religion. 400 00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:43,520 They stood often in wild places 401 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:46,320 where there were no churches, no monasteries, 402 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:50,240 just this cross, standing as a place 403 00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:53,040 to pray, to worship, 404 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:56,000 maybe to have sermons read. 405 00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:02,160 But wherever they went, they stood as symbols of the new religion. 406 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:25,360 As Columba's monks, preaching conversion, headed south, 407 00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:30,240 St Augustine arrived in England and worked his way north. 408 00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:41,880 The two missions met in Northumbria, 409 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:45,520 which would become a centre of monastic learning 410 00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:47,520 renowned throughout Europe. 411 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:58,480 Nowadays we think of monasteries as places to retreat from the world. 412 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:02,240 But in the 7th century, monasteries were the world. 413 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:03,920 They were rich and powerful, 414 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:07,800 they had a lot of land, they had political influence. 415 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:10,960 They admittedly looked after the poor and were places to pray, 416 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:13,600 but they were also centres of knowledge. 417 00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:16,800 They had libraries, books. 418 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:21,120 This one, Wearmouth-Jarrow, was among the most famous. 419 00:34:26,720 --> 00:34:31,040 It was here that one of Britain's greatest treasures was created - 420 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:34,320 the work of many monks over many years, 421 00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:37,440 an object lost from English history 422 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:39,800 because no sooner was it completed 423 00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:43,120 than it was sent away from these shores. 424 00:34:50,240 --> 00:34:52,840 BELLS RING IN DISTANCE 425 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:02,240 OPERATIC ARIA PLAYS 426 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:18,880 In AD 716, 427 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:22,880 the abbot of Wearmouth-Jarrow started on a journey to Italy 428 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:24,760 to deliver in person 429 00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:27,760 a gift to the Pope in Rome. 430 00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:31,800 But the abbot died en route. 431 00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:35,440 And today his gift is one of the most precious objects 432 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:37,600 in Renaissance Florence. 433 00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:45,560 DIMBLEBY SPEAKS ITALIAN 434 00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:10,600 Ooh! OK? 435 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:11,760 Cosi... 436 00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:14,360 - Grazie. - Prego. 437 00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:16,720 - Grazie mille. - Grazie. 438 00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:26,720 This is the oldest complete Bible in the world. 439 00:36:26,720 --> 00:36:31,600 And it was made in England by the monks of Wearmouth-Jarrow. 440 00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:35,920 The cover's new. The thing is huge, almost a foot deep. 441 00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:38,760 It weighs 75 pounds. 442 00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:40,760 And if I can open it... 443 00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:49,000 ...this beautiful text in columns, 444 00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:50,520 one, two...four columns. 445 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:52,440 Written on skin. 446 00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:55,840 500 sheep to make this Bible. 447 00:36:55,840 --> 00:37:00,320 And here, diagrams showing how the whole Bible is laid out, 448 00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:01,880 the pattern they've used. 449 00:37:04,720 --> 00:37:06,320 And then, at the very front, 450 00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:09,440 this beautiful... 451 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:11,360 If I can turn it very delicately... 452 00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:14,560 This beautiful illuminated painting 453 00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:18,800 of a scribe sitting in his study, 454 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:21,320 writing the Bible... 455 00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:27,040 ...with books behind him, with his inkwell there... 456 00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:30,560 ...with a knife for making corrections. 457 00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:33,320 And the whole thing is most wonderfully painted. 458 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:36,040 The colours are alive still. 459 00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:37,880 The pink of the books, 460 00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:42,880 the deep mahogany colour of the library cupboard, the shelves there. 461 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:48,400 His robe in a red, with green. 462 00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:50,480 The gold of the halo. 463 00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:54,600 All done by craftsmen in Northumberland. 464 00:37:57,160 --> 00:38:00,560 700 or so pages later, 465 00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:04,520 you come towards the end of the Old Testament 466 00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:07,720 and arrive at the New Testament. 467 00:38:07,720 --> 00:38:14,520 And once again, this beautiful page, illuminated, 468 00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:16,960 of Christ in majesty 469 00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:19,240 with two angels 470 00:38:19,240 --> 00:38:20,960 and with the evangelists - 471 00:38:20,960 --> 00:38:22,560 Matthew, 472 00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:24,160 Mark, with the lion, 473 00:38:24,160 --> 00:38:25,480 Luke 474 00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:27,320 and John. 475 00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:30,920 And the whole thing singing, 476 00:38:30,920 --> 00:38:35,280 coming out of the page as though it was freshly done yesterday. 477 00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:40,160 The lovely turquoise, the darker blue inside, the pattern around. 478 00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:41,800 The extraordinary thing is 479 00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:46,880 that for centuries, they thought this work was done by Italian artists, 480 00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:50,800 that it was inconceivable it could have been done by English artists. 481 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:56,880 But the experts are all now agreed that this is indeed English work. 482 00:38:56,880 --> 00:39:01,880 This is a fine example of Britain being part of Europe, 483 00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:04,080 part of the culture of Europe, 484 00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:07,360 1,300 years ago. 485 00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:47,640 The British Isles was emerging as a cultural force in its own right. 486 00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:54,000 But at the end of the 8th century, it all came under threat. 487 00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:04,800 Nordic invaders - the Vikings - 488 00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:09,080 sailed across the North Sea to plunder Britain's riches. 489 00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:28,720 The Vikings spread out across a terrified land, 490 00:40:28,720 --> 00:40:31,880 raping, pillaging, burning as they went. 491 00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:35,440 The monks of Iona all murdered. 492 00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:39,040 The kings of Northumberland and East Anglia captured 493 00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:42,400 and their lungs ripped from their living bodies. 494 00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:45,000 The King of Mercia so terrified he fled. 495 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:47,680 Only the kingdom of Wessex, 496 00:40:47,680 --> 00:40:51,360 which stretched from here in Oxford right down to the West Country, 497 00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:53,200 was still just about safe. 498 00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:56,720 At this moment, a new prince came to the throne. 499 00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:03,320 His name was Alfred of Wessex, Alfred the Great. 500 00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:14,680 Inside the Ashmolean Museum, 501 00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:19,600 there's a tiny treasure that reveals Alfred's brilliance as a leader 502 00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:22,280 and the loyalty he inspired. 503 00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:35,000 This beautiful object is the Alfred Jewel. 504 00:41:36,040 --> 00:41:40,000 It's the most exquisite object. 505 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:43,680 It's in the shape of a beast at the front here, 506 00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:47,120 and then this lozenge shape which has got crystal on the top. 507 00:41:47,120 --> 00:41:54,040 And inside, the figure of a sort of man holding two flowers, 508 00:41:54,040 --> 00:41:57,440 symbolising sight - 509 00:41:57,440 --> 00:41:59,840 clarity of vision, if you like. 510 00:41:59,840 --> 00:42:05,400 And the beast symbolising the dangers that face Britain. 511 00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:11,920 And round it, the words, "Alfred ordered me to be made." 512 00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:15,240 Now, what on earth would he have done that for? 513 00:42:15,240 --> 00:42:17,960 The answer is that these, it's thought, 514 00:42:17,960 --> 00:42:21,480 were given to people in his kingdom 515 00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:24,520 as tokens of loyalty, 516 00:42:24,520 --> 00:42:27,800 of their loyalty to him and his to them, 517 00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:30,880 to try and restore a kind of balance and order 518 00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:33,160 against the marauding Vikings. 519 00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:37,360 As an object, it could've just been a jewel given as a token and kept. 520 00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:40,720 Some say it could've had a stick coming out of here 521 00:42:40,720 --> 00:42:43,400 and be used as a pointer for reading books. 522 00:42:44,800 --> 00:42:47,040 Whatever the use of the jewel, it's clearly a sign 523 00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:50,280 of considerable political nous on Alfred's part, 524 00:42:50,280 --> 00:42:55,240 because this was a token of his loyalty to you 525 00:42:55,240 --> 00:42:59,600 if you were prepared to give loyalty back to him. 526 00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:13,240 Under Alfred's leadership, the Viking threat was contained. 527 00:43:17,760 --> 00:43:20,040 But peace could only be preserved 528 00:43:20,040 --> 00:43:22,920 if people were willing to learn from the past. 529 00:43:26,440 --> 00:43:28,480 Alfred may have saved his kingdom, 530 00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:32,360 but he was in despair about the sorry state into which it had fallen. 531 00:43:32,360 --> 00:43:36,720 He was particularly worried that learning had gone into complete decline. 532 00:43:36,720 --> 00:43:39,480 He said in the old days people used to read Latin, 533 00:43:39,480 --> 00:43:41,560 they could understand the important books 534 00:43:41,560 --> 00:43:44,640 that, in his words, it was needful for people to know, 535 00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:46,680 and he was determined to do something about it. 536 00:43:46,680 --> 00:43:48,800 And he took radical action. 537 00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:52,120 We know all this because of this book. 538 00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:58,640 This is the oldest book in the English language 539 00:43:58,640 --> 00:44:02,520 and it's a translation by Alfred himself 540 00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:07,000 of a book written by Pope Gregory called Pastoral Care. 541 00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:12,200 It's written in Old English 542 00:44:12,200 --> 00:44:18,680 and, actually, it's incomprehensible, except to the expert. 543 00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:21,240 I can't read even a word of it. 544 00:44:23,280 --> 00:44:26,320 It's a sort of tract about leadership. 545 00:44:26,320 --> 00:44:29,560 It explains how, if you're a leader, you should behave, 546 00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:32,560 how you should deal with problems, how you shouldn't become arrogant, 547 00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:34,760 how you should be humble - all those sort of things. 548 00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:40,880 He was very worried that people in the past had had wisdom 549 00:44:40,880 --> 00:44:43,280 and somehow it had got lost. 550 00:44:44,920 --> 00:44:48,760 He starts it, if I can just turn - I have to be very careful here - 551 00:44:48,760 --> 00:44:50,720 to this front page. 552 00:44:50,720 --> 00:44:52,800 He starts with this introduction 553 00:44:52,800 --> 00:44:57,920 and what he's saying is, "I want this distributed to all the bishops 554 00:44:57,920 --> 00:45:00,760 "and I want it read to the people. 555 00:45:00,760 --> 00:45:04,360 "I want people to learn and understand." 556 00:45:10,680 --> 00:45:13,120 SEAGULLS SQUAWK 557 00:45:14,120 --> 00:45:16,880 HORN BLOWS 558 00:45:27,360 --> 00:45:30,800 Alfred's peace was not to last. 559 00:45:30,800 --> 00:45:34,640 England was to be conquered one last time. 560 00:45:47,240 --> 00:45:50,280 Normandy was the domain of a powerful duke, 561 00:45:50,280 --> 00:45:53,240 William the Bastard, 562 00:45:53,240 --> 00:45:56,480 known to us today as William the Conqueror. 563 00:46:07,400 --> 00:46:11,720 1066 is one of the easier dates to remember in British history - 564 00:46:11,720 --> 00:46:14,120 William the Conqueror's invasion of England. 565 00:46:14,120 --> 00:46:16,560 But what kind of man was it 566 00:46:16,560 --> 00:46:19,400 who undertook such an extraordinary enterprise? 567 00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:21,680 He wasn't like Alfred the Great - 568 00:46:21,680 --> 00:46:24,200 he wasn't interested in literature and fine jewellery. 569 00:46:24,200 --> 00:46:27,520 No, his passion is defined by something quite different. 570 00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:29,720 By this. 571 00:46:29,720 --> 00:46:31,720 Stone. 572 00:46:31,720 --> 00:46:37,960 And not just any old stone, but the very special stone that comes from his home town of Caen. 573 00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:48,840 When the young William became Duke of Normandy, 574 00:46:48,840 --> 00:46:52,400 he set about rebuilding Caen. 575 00:46:59,040 --> 00:47:01,360 He built a vast castle. 576 00:47:06,320 --> 00:47:09,040 And he built churches and abbeys... 577 00:47:10,560 --> 00:47:15,520 ...all with the easy-to-cut, cream-coloured stone of Caen. 578 00:47:27,400 --> 00:47:30,000 But the most impressive of William's buildings 579 00:47:30,000 --> 00:47:32,120 is the Abbaye-aux-Hommes, 580 00:47:32,120 --> 00:47:34,640 the Abbey for Men. 581 00:47:41,400 --> 00:47:44,760 The style of this building is called Romanesque, 582 00:47:44,760 --> 00:47:47,640 literally like the architecture of Ancient Rome, 583 00:47:47,640 --> 00:47:49,960 with its great monumental pillars, 584 00:47:49,960 --> 00:47:52,280 the arches on the top. 585 00:47:52,280 --> 00:47:56,520 And what William was using it for was to say, "In all its magnificence, 586 00:47:56,520 --> 00:48:00,200 "it shows that I have taken charge of Normandy, 587 00:48:00,200 --> 00:48:02,280 "built here a great state." 588 00:48:04,640 --> 00:48:08,120 In the summer of the fateful year of 1066, 589 00:48:08,120 --> 00:48:12,040 this abbey had been consecrated, an abbot appointed here, 590 00:48:12,040 --> 00:48:18,040 freeing William to focus on what was to be the boldest enterprise of his reign. 591 00:48:18,040 --> 00:48:21,560 Perhaps we in England were a little bit distracted 592 00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:23,640 by attacks from across the North Sea 593 00:48:23,640 --> 00:48:26,680 to fully understand the meaning of buildings like this. 594 00:48:26,680 --> 00:48:31,280 If we had, we'd have had some inkling of what was about to hit us. 595 00:48:45,320 --> 00:48:48,320 This is the Bayeux tapestry. 596 00:48:49,560 --> 00:48:53,280 It was commissioned to celebrate William's conquest of England. 597 00:48:53,280 --> 00:48:57,200 And it begins with the events that led up to it. 598 00:48:57,200 --> 00:49:00,680 The death of Edward the Confessor, King of England, 599 00:49:00,680 --> 00:49:05,200 and the succession of a new king, Harold. 600 00:49:09,840 --> 00:49:12,880 It's magical to be taken back 1,000 years 601 00:49:12,880 --> 00:49:15,280 in this dark chamber 602 00:49:15,280 --> 00:49:18,960 to see history spelt out for you. 603 00:49:18,960 --> 00:49:23,800 70 metres long, right down to the end, right round and the back, 604 00:49:23,800 --> 00:49:26,280 and the story very vividly told. 605 00:49:27,280 --> 00:49:30,520 But at the same time, along the friezes, top and bottom, 606 00:49:30,520 --> 00:49:32,040 wonderfully vivid pictures, 607 00:49:32,040 --> 00:49:35,920 some of them of Aesop's fables, some of little stories, 608 00:49:35,920 --> 00:49:38,400 some nobody knows what they are. 609 00:49:38,400 --> 00:49:41,040 Little details of farming life here - 610 00:49:41,040 --> 00:49:43,920 ploughing, sowing 611 00:49:43,920 --> 00:49:46,800 and a man killing birds with a sling. 612 00:49:46,800 --> 00:49:50,080 It's not strictly speaking a tapestry. 613 00:49:50,080 --> 00:49:55,640 It's actually needlework, sewn with wool onto linen. 614 00:50:00,560 --> 00:50:02,840 I suppose the story that we know best 615 00:50:02,840 --> 00:50:06,240 begins with the death of Edward the Confessor 616 00:50:06,240 --> 00:50:09,480 and his burial in Westminster Abbey. 617 00:50:09,480 --> 00:50:15,240 Westminster Abbey here with the hand of God blessing it. 618 00:50:15,240 --> 00:50:20,960 And here, Harold receiving the crown, with his orb and his sceptre. 619 00:50:20,960 --> 00:50:23,680 People looking on. 620 00:50:23,680 --> 00:50:28,160 And then spies come across and explain to William in Normandy 621 00:50:28,160 --> 00:50:31,760 what's happened in England - that Harold has seized the crown. 622 00:50:31,760 --> 00:50:35,000 And here he orders ships to be built for an invasion, 623 00:50:35,000 --> 00:50:37,240 so the first thing, to cut down the trees 624 00:50:37,240 --> 00:50:39,200 and start building the ships. 625 00:50:43,320 --> 00:50:47,400 Putting aboard suits of chain mail, needing two men to carry them. 626 00:50:48,400 --> 00:50:51,040 And spears, arrows. 627 00:50:52,120 --> 00:50:57,280 And the last stage is to get the horses on board these longships. 628 00:50:57,280 --> 00:51:00,320 Very tricky, and they don't look particularly happy. 629 00:51:01,440 --> 00:51:06,120 The boats set sail, they cross over to Pevensey... 630 00:51:07,240 --> 00:51:09,880 ...land safely at Pevensey, go ashore, 631 00:51:09,880 --> 00:51:11,800 and then the real task begins. 632 00:51:11,800 --> 00:51:14,400 But first the army has to be fed. 633 00:51:14,400 --> 00:51:18,080 There's a tureen there being boiled, 634 00:51:18,080 --> 00:51:20,000 they're sort of chicken kebabs, they look like, 635 00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:24,520 and here, William feasting with his men. 636 00:51:24,520 --> 00:51:26,920 And then they're preparing for war. 637 00:51:26,920 --> 00:51:30,120 They build a castle of wood at Hastings. 638 00:51:30,120 --> 00:51:34,200 William's followers set light to some of the Anglo-Saxon houses. 639 00:51:34,200 --> 00:51:38,320 A woman leading her child away from her burning house. 640 00:51:38,320 --> 00:51:43,160 And then battle commences, quite slowly to start with, 641 00:51:43,160 --> 00:51:46,120 with the cavalry charging against Harold's forces. 642 00:51:49,520 --> 00:51:52,760 Heads chopped off, hands chopped off, 643 00:51:52,760 --> 00:51:55,840 and the battle rages all day long. 644 00:52:04,760 --> 00:52:07,160 In the confusion of the battle, 645 00:52:07,160 --> 00:52:10,080 as swords and axes clang against shields, 646 00:52:10,080 --> 00:52:14,760 a dangerous rumour sweeps William's army that he has been killed. 647 00:52:14,760 --> 00:52:16,280 So what does he do? 648 00:52:16,280 --> 00:52:20,000 He turns round in his saddle, lifts his helmet off 649 00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:23,920 and shows himself to his troops, 650 00:52:23,920 --> 00:52:25,920 and the battle goes on. 651 00:52:34,520 --> 00:52:40,800 And then we come to the famous design of Harold with the arrow in his eye. 652 00:52:42,200 --> 00:52:44,480 Nobody quite knows whether that is what happened. 653 00:52:44,480 --> 00:52:46,240 And here, slaughtered. 654 00:52:52,120 --> 00:52:55,560 I've seen this many times. Every time I see it, I have to say, 655 00:52:55,560 --> 00:53:00,440 it just brings the whole story of William's invasion of England alive. 656 00:53:00,440 --> 00:53:03,040 You really feel here... Because this was done by people 657 00:53:03,040 --> 00:53:05,440 living only a few years after the event, 658 00:53:05,440 --> 00:53:09,640 you really feel the power and the passion that went into it. 659 00:53:09,640 --> 00:53:14,840 It's a completely magical work of art. 660 00:53:34,160 --> 00:53:37,080 It used to be thought that the Bayeux tapestry 661 00:53:37,080 --> 00:53:40,280 was made by craftsmen from Normandy. 662 00:53:40,280 --> 00:53:45,640 But it's now generally accepted that it was made by nuns in Canterbury, 663 00:53:45,640 --> 00:53:48,440 working on the orders of their new masters. 664 00:53:48,440 --> 00:53:50,800 SPEAKING IN FRENCH 665 00:53:53,560 --> 00:53:55,760 - Non! - No? 666 00:53:55,760 --> 00:53:57,000 Oui, oui. 667 00:54:05,000 --> 00:54:06,520 - Oui? - Oui. 668 00:54:16,680 --> 00:54:18,800 Ah! 669 00:54:26,160 --> 00:54:30,040 - Merci. Au revoir. Au revoir. Merci. - Au revoir. 670 00:54:42,920 --> 00:54:46,600 William's rule would transform England. 671 00:54:47,600 --> 00:54:52,920 The customs and habits of Normandy swept away the Anglo-Saxon past. 672 00:54:55,040 --> 00:54:59,560 French would become the language of power and influence. 673 00:55:01,760 --> 00:55:04,720 And to stamp his authority from the first, 674 00:55:04,720 --> 00:55:06,560 William began building, 675 00:55:06,560 --> 00:55:09,400 just as he had in Normandy. 676 00:55:24,520 --> 00:55:30,320 The White Tower in London, one of our most famous buildings. 677 00:55:30,320 --> 00:55:34,440 It's come to symbolise Britain and Britishness, 678 00:55:34,440 --> 00:55:36,440 but it began life as nothing of the sort. 679 00:55:36,440 --> 00:55:39,480 This was a symbol of Norman conquest, 680 00:55:39,480 --> 00:55:43,040 an astonishing building on a scale that hadn't been seen 681 00:55:43,040 --> 00:55:46,400 since the Roman conquest 1,000 years before. 682 00:55:46,400 --> 00:55:48,720 The message - 683 00:55:48,720 --> 00:55:54,040 "Here we are. Here we stay. Resistance is futile." 684 00:56:15,440 --> 00:56:18,680 This is William's chapel at the heart of the tower. 685 00:56:18,680 --> 00:56:22,160 It's more like a prison keep than a church. 686 00:56:23,160 --> 00:56:26,880 But the interesting thing is the stone it's built of, 687 00:56:26,880 --> 00:56:30,360 which is used right through the tower, this white stone, 688 00:56:30,360 --> 00:56:36,280 easily carved, good for making these tops to the columns. 689 00:56:37,960 --> 00:56:43,000 This is William's favourite stone, brought from Caen in Normandy. 690 00:56:43,000 --> 00:56:46,360 It's not enough just to accept 691 00:56:46,360 --> 00:56:51,560 Norman nobility, Norman clergy, the French language, 692 00:56:51,560 --> 00:56:55,360 William was insisting we accepted his buildings too, 693 00:56:55,360 --> 00:56:59,120 and even the very materials they were made of. 694 00:57:09,480 --> 00:57:12,400 It's not much fun being conquered, and for Anglo-Saxon England, 695 00:57:12,400 --> 00:57:14,760 the effect of the Norman conquest was devastating. 696 00:57:14,760 --> 00:57:18,400 It was the end of life as they knew it. It wasn't just having to give up all their land, 697 00:57:18,400 --> 00:57:21,240 learn a different language, adopt a different style. 698 00:57:21,240 --> 00:57:25,080 It was that everything that went before was treated as inferior, 699 00:57:25,080 --> 00:57:28,040 and we know now that that wasn't true. 700 00:57:28,040 --> 00:57:31,120 We've seen a thousand years of treasures, 701 00:57:31,120 --> 00:57:32,920 everything from helmets and shields 702 00:57:32,920 --> 00:57:35,720 to jewels and illuminated manuscripts, 703 00:57:35,720 --> 00:57:41,080 a time of ingenuity and originality and imagination, 704 00:57:41,080 --> 00:57:44,280 an era to celebrate. 705 00:57:54,040 --> 00:57:58,400 In the next age, knights in shining armour. 706 00:57:59,720 --> 00:58:02,360 Saints and miracles. 707 00:58:03,800 --> 00:58:06,200 Royal splendour. 708 00:58:09,120 --> 00:58:11,440 It's the Age of Worship. 709 00:58:24,320 --> 00:58:28,360 For your free Open University Exploring History booklet... 710 00:59:01,640 --> 00:59:04,680 Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd