The Devil's Brood - Ep: 1 | Plantagenets | BBC Documentary

[Music] in early medieval France the count of anjou became enthralled by a mysterious woman they married and had several children but the count grew concerned because his wife always left church before mass was celebrated one day he ordered his Knights to stop her but she pulled free and flew out through a window the Countess of Anjou was never seen again according to this legend all 15 Plantagenet kings of England were descended from the demon Countess of ohyou her blood flowed in their veins and over the centuries this provided an explanation for the fierce temper the bloody family feuds and the brutality of the Plantagenet Richard the Lionheart himself once declared defiantly from the devil we came and to the devil we will go in the medieval world all politics was family politics and the Plantagenet family dominated England for more than 300 years through some of the nation's most famous and infamous kings King John Henry the fifth Richard the third they were driven by dynastic ambition striving to expand their power beyond their French homeland in the process the culture and politics of the British Isles were transformed England's distinctive system of justice was established Parliament was born and the great Gothic cathedrals transformed the landscape [Music] the Plantagenets developed a new style of warfare in their attempt to claim Scotland they conquered Wales and half of Ireland and their great royal castles hammered home their power when the plant agilent's won the kingdom of England it was shattered and lawless under their rule it was transformed into one of the best governed states in Christendom but their story is one of intrigue conflicts and violence they fought their enemies but also turned on each other sons made war on fathers brothers betrayed brothers powerful queens conspired the future of Western Europe would be shaped by this extraordinary dynasty this Devils brood [Music] the story of England's longest reigning dynasty begins here in orange ooo western France 12th century France was dominated by its great barons rather than by its nominal King and these fertile farmlands of the Loire Valley were the domain of the count of Anjou in 11:28 an enraged princess arrived here her name was Mathilde and she was the only surviving legitimate child of King Henry the first of England and his acknowledged heir her father had commanded her to marry a fifteen year old boy Geoffrey the eldest son of the count of Anjou Matilda was outraged she was 26 years old she was the granddaughter of William the Conqueror she was the widow of the mighty Holy Roman Emperor she always called herself Empress Geoffrey was the heir of a mere count Matilda was notoriously willful but in the selection of a husband she had no say princesses were a powerful tool used by Europe's medieval dynasties to expand their territories King Henry hoped that the arranged marriage at Lomond Cathedral would produce a male heir who would ultimately become count of Anjou Duke of Normandy and King of England things didn't go according to plan both Geoffrey and Matilda were proud and quarrelsome people and after a tumultuous year they separated but this was above all a political union and a reconciliation was soon imposed Matilda rejoined her teenage husband and performed her royal duty giving him three sons in three years this ended any doubts about the succession and also laid the foundations of a powerful new dynasty lamorne museum contains the only surviving image of Geoffrey of Anjou it once adorned his tomb this plaque contains one of the earliest examples of heraldry that system of vivid symbols through which the ruling families of Europe were beginning to proclaim that in nastic pride the distinctive pattern of blue and white on the inside of Geoffrey's cloak is called vert representing the winter pelt of squirrels and the golden Lions on his shield were adopted by his descendants as the royal coat of arms and ultimately became one of the most familiar national symbols of England Geoffrey was an energetic intelligent man with golden red hair by all accounts he was handsome and known as Geoffrey the fair but he also had another name it comes from the Latin for the broom plant planter janista Plantagenet no one knows for certain why Geoffrey was called Plantagenet one theory is that it's because he wore a sprig of the plant in his hat but in any case for over 300 years none of his descendants bore the name Kings don't need surnames but it's proved a useful label for historians to describe that long line of monarchs who descended from Matilda and the young Geoffrey of Anjou [Music] fifteen Plantagenet would be crowned kings of England but they had to fight to win the throne Henry the first had named Matilda his heir but when he died in 1135 the English throne was seized by Matilda's cousin Stephen [Music] the Plantagenets fought back Jeffery led a successful invasion of Normandy which had been part of Henry the first dominions while Matilda crossed the channel to claim her crown this started almost two decades of civil war government virtually collapsed and England ascended into a period of bloody conflict often called simply the anarchy [Music] the Peterborough Chronicle describes England's fate as the Plantagenet fought to secure their birthright God and His Saints slept every powerful man built his castle and filled it with Devils and evil men they grievously oppressed the wretched people of the land they tortured them for their gold when the people had no more to give they plundered and burned in the winter of 1142 the war turned against Matilda her cousin Stephen besieged her here in Oxford Castle her garrison held out for three months but with their supplies running low they were close to surrender one wintry night Matilda wrapped herself in a white cloak camouflaged against the heavy snow she slipped out of a side gate she crossed the frozen river in front of the castle and managed to pass unseen through the ranks of Stephens army Matilda trudged for seven miles through the frigid night she eventually made it to the safety of Wallingford Castle now she was free to continue her struggle for another decade civil war ravaged England the fighting could only be brought to a stop when her eldest son came of age a male heir a direct descendent of Henry the first [Music] matilda-san Henry was a charismatic young man who'd inherited Matilda's determination and temper along with Geoffrey Plantagenet red hair intelligence and boundless energy [Music] Henry also inherited his parents claims to the English throne and much of northern France as a young man he was granted Normandy later he inherited Anjou he then expanded Plantagenet territory again through a profitable and unexpected marriage this is the Great Hall of the ducal Palace in poitiers home of the court of a kitane that vast and wealthy principality that encompassed a quarter of the French lands the Duke had an only child a beautiful and well-educated daughter called Eleanor when she was about 15 her father died unexpectedly eleanor of aquitaine was now the greatest catch in europe the King of France Louis the seventh snatched the prize but Louis couldn't hold on to Eleanor or a kitane the king was a pious man but his new queen was ambitious and worldly Eleanor once said I've married a monk not a monarch and there was another problem the French King needed a son and Eleanor gave birth only two girls after 15 years and two daughters Louis persuaded the church to declare the marriage void the greater s was once again available suitors circled eager to obtain her hand and her lands but Eleanor was headstrong and independent she was determined to marry the man who could help her fulfill her own dynastic ambitions Henry Plantagenet [Music] Eleanor sent word to Henry to meet her in a kitane as she made her way there from Paris Eleanor had to evade kidnappers who wanted to marry her forcibly and lay claim to her lands Henry and Eleanor married in a hastily arranged ceremony in poitiers Cathedral this was a scandalous marriage Henry was 19 Eleanor around 30 and Eleanor's union with the King of France had been annulled only two months earlier the French King had been outmaneuvered by his ex Queen and Henry Plantagenet he was humiliated by the scandal and he'd also lost half his territories by inheritance by conquest and now by marriage Henry had built up an enormous conglomeration of lands in France and soon he and Eleanor would have four sons to secure the future of the dynasty but the French King never forgave the Plantagenet upstart [Music] the Plantagenet s' was still fighting for their birthright in England but the dynasty was thriving a decade after Henry and Eleanor sweating this Cathedral was completely rebuilt in the new Gothic style sweeping across France structurally stronger pointed arches allowed these dramatic soaring vaults and vast windows [Music] Henry and Ellen are graced the new cathedral with the gift of this wonderful East window it's one of the oldest stained glass windows in France [Music] the royal couple are themselves depicted on it along with their four sons presenting their gift to God it proclaims the piety of the Plantagenet dynasty and their family solidarity [Music] Henry now set his sights on winning the greatest prize of all the English crown [Music] crossing the channel with a small army Henry found England devastated by nearly two decades of the civil war between Stephen and Matilda supporters his arrival persuaded many Barons to join the Plantagenet cause Henry's and Stephens armies confronted one another here at Wallingford Castle these few mounds and walls are all that remain of one of the mightiest fortresses of medieval England Stephen was besieging the castle and Henry had come to relieve Matilda's loyal forces the armies faced one another across the river a contemporary Chronicle the Gesta Stephani describes what happened next it was a terrible thing to see so many armed men with drawn swords ready to kill their relatives and fellow countrymen and so the chief man on each side shrank in horror from civil war and the destruction of their kingdom [Music] because the two armies refused to fight Stephen and Henry were forced to talk according to the chronicles they met outside the castle one on either side of the stream and eventually they came to an agreement King Stephen would continue to rule but he recognized Henry as his lawful heir the very next year Stephen was seized by a terrible pain in the gut and a flow of blood the king was dead the negotiations that began here would lead to more than three centuries of Plantagenet rule in England [Music] on the 19th of December 11:54 henry ii became the first Plantagenet King of England this french-speaking monarch now ruled a vast empire that stretched from the Scottish Borders to the Pyrenees [Music] and his first priority was to restore peace and order he tore down hundreds of the Barons castles then to extend Plantagenet power across the country Henry turned to the law this manuscript which is more than 800 years old is one of the treasures of Bailey old College Oxford it contains a text known as Glanville the earliest guide to the workings of the English law it was written during the reign of henry ii and is one of the foundations of the English legal system these are its opening words royal power should not only be adorned with arms to fight rebels and hostile peoples but also with laws to rule its subjects in peace Henry inherited a complex judicial system where cases could be heard in a variety of local courts in order to concentrate power in his own hands Henry introduced Swift and consistent royal justice as set out here in Glanville Henry established central courts at Westminster and sent newly appointed royal justices on a circuit around the country [Music] the circuit judges would meet regularly and agree to follow one another's decisions thus ensuring common practice throughout England a distinct method of lawmaking emerged laws now evolved through precedent as well as Royal Decree disputes over land were important in this agricultural society traditionally they've been determined by trial by battle in which the opponents exchanged blows to resolve the issue only the king could summon a body of men to give a verdict on oath so royal justice could offer a new nonviolent alternative something not available in the baronial courts trial by jury every free man can retain his right in his tenement and avoid the doubtful outcome of a duel when the 12 Knights have been chosen they are to be summoned to come to court to swear on oath which party has the greater right this legal revolution was motivated by Henry's royal and dynastic ambitions but it laid the foundations for the common law the system that still governs legal practice and procedure in England and in the United States to this day and Beckett's murder shattered his reputation in France Henry struggled to hold his sprawling empire together he had limitless energy and was never in the same place for long King Louie of France once said of him now in England now in Normandy he must fly rather than travel by boat or horse the French King was always eager to stir up dissension in the Plantagenet family he was still furious about Ellen as marriage to Henry complicating matters was Eleanor herself she may have been Henry's queen but she was not always his ally in fact the greatest threat to Henry came from his own wife and children Henry and Eleanor had three daughters and five sons together four of the boys lived to adulthood Henry Richard Jeffery and the youngest and the King's favorite John after John's birth Eleanor moved back to a kitane she insisted her favorite son Richard be made Duke a scheme was to rule her homeland in his name but Henry frustrated Eleanor and his teenage son [Music] Plantagenet sons were impatient to exercise real power they have been brought up to command trained in deadly warfare their political marriages often arranged in infancy at the age of 20 Henry himself ruled half of France and had been promised the throne of England his sons were equally ambitious Henry and Eleanor's eldest son Henry the younger sparked the first great Plantagenet family implosion his father had agreed to let him be crowned joint king of England but refused to trust him with any authority or independent income encouraged by louia France young Henry raised a rebellion against his father his younger brothers Richard and Geoffrey also joined the revolt they were supported by disaffected French counts and some of England's most powerful barons then Eleanor joined the fray medieval Kings often face rebellious sons a rebellious queen was less common and more shocking so when Eleanor was caught attempting to cross France to join her sons Henry regarded this as the greatest betrayal of all perhaps even more shocking was the fact that she was disguised as a man [Music] this is the ancient Chapel of sin trader gand carved into the cliffs below the Plantagenet fortress of chignon in Anjou it's been a place of worship since Roman times [Music] in 1964 this 12th century fresco was discovered under centuries of grime it's widely agreed that they are the Plantagenet and it could be significant that their cloaks have the same blue and white lining as we find on Geoffrey Plantagenet funeral plaque but it's not quite certain who they are it could be henry ii and his four sons the first crown figure being henry ii and the other crown figure being Henry the young king who was the only son of an English king to be crowned in his father's lifetime but one scholar claims to see eleanor of aquitaine being led off into captivity in england where she was in fact held a prisoner by her husband for the next 16 years [Music] Henri's great antagonist King Louie died in 1180 but the old feud between the Plantagenet and the French monarchy continued under his son Philip the new king encouraged Henry the younger and his brother Geoffrey to rebel a second time this time they turned on their brother Richard they attacked his Duchy of Aquitaine and occupied the city of Limoge henry ii marched on the city and rode up to the walls hoping to reason with his sons [Music] Henry the younger ordered archers to fire on his own father an arrow narrowly missed the king a few months later young Henry was struck down with dysentery to fight against your father and against the king was a sin and Henry believed that his illness was divine retribution as an act of penance he gave away all his possessions he lay on a bed of ashes dressed in a hair shirt with a noose around his neck like a common criminal young King Henry died with nothing but the sapphire ring his father had sent him as a token of forgiveness when he heard of the death of his eldest son old King Henry says he cost me much but I wish he lived to cost me more now it was Richards turn to betray his father and once again the French King was the family traitors Ally the two spent the summer pursuing the aging Henry around France [Music] they eventually besieged him here in his birthplace Lamarr in order to deny his assailant supplies underbase Henry ordered that the suburbs outside the city walls should be put to the torch but the wind changed and the flames left over these ancient Roman walls into the city itself Henry was forced to abandon Lamont ill and exhausted he had to submit to his treacherous son but as he gave Richard the kiss of peace he whispered in his ear God grant that I do not die until I have avenged myself on you [Music] too sick to walk henry was carried here to chignon castle he was shown a list of those who had rebelled against him at its head was the name of his youngest and favorite son is it true he said that John my heart whom I've loved more than all my other sons has abandoned me on the 6th of July 1189 betrayed by his wife and every son Henry the first Plantagenet King of England died his last words are said to have been shame shame on a conquered King king of England's body was buried here in the Abbey of Fontevraud in Anjou [Music] the Plantagenet future now lay in the hands of Richard a dynamic and bloodthirsty warrior one of Richard's courtiers said he was furious in arms rejoicing to travel only on blood-stained roads but when he arrived here to stand vigil over his dead father's body he is said to have wept bitterly over the king he had betrayed as he did so blood began to pour from the dead king's nostrils according to medieval beliefs this was sure sign of the presence of a murderer the traitorous son would become the great English hero richard the lionheart but he could speak barely a word of English he visited his kingdom only briefly for his coronation and in the 10 years of his reign spent only six months in the country the moment he became King Richard had his mother Eleanor released from captivity and made regent of England Richard the favorite son bestowed on his mother the power of doing whatever she wished in the kingdom he himself regarded England primarily as a source of money to fund his Wars to assert Plantagenet power in France or to win glory and spiritual merit on crusade he once said I would sell London if I could find a buyer [Music] Europe had been gripped by crusading fever since Jerusalem had fallen to Saladin's Muslim forces the prestige of reclaiming the holy city was irresistibly appealing to the warlike New King Philip of France also vowed to go on crusade the two kings arranged to meet here at Vasiliy Abbey in Burgundy the chronicle of the Third Crusade describes how these hills and valleys were filled with the tents and pavilions of two vast armies it looked like a new city [Music] richard and philip spent two days here planning the campaign they considered their crusade an armed pilgrimage their hardships would earn them absolution for their sins they swore a sacred oath agreeing to divide the spoils of war equally the two great pilgrim armies then set out for the Holy Land but on the way the grand alliance forged here turns sour in Sicily which had caused outrage by reneging on a childhood betrothal to the French king's sister the old feud between the Plantagenet and the French monarchy was reignited the armies then made their way separately to the Holy Land Philip arrived first and joined a Christian siege of the strategically crucial port of acre the Plantagenet army arrived seven weeks later Richard immediately assumed command and re-energized the faltering assault [Music] Richard already had a reputation for ferocity and his name struck fear into the Muslims the king of England was a very powerful man wrote one of Saladin's officials a man of great spirit and courage he'd fought many great battles and had a burning passion for war Muslim mothers told their children be good or the king of England will get you within two months of his arrival the city that had held out for two years surrendered once again a French King was humiliated by a Plantagenet announcing his crusade complete Philip returned to France Richard fought on but his arrogance turned many allies into enemies after 18 months Richard headed home but enroute was captured and imprisoned by the Duke of Austria one of the enemies he'd made in the Holy Land [Music] the Plantagenet Empire was left in the hands of his mother and his younger brother John it had always been difficult to fit the youngest Plantagenet son into the family plans there had been no territories left to award John and he'd been nicknamed Lackland Henry had finally managed to make him Lord of Ireland but John wanted the English crown he began plotting with Philip of France in exchange for his backing John agreed to hand him the strategically vital vexing region guarded by this great border fortress of G's or she's all protected the gateway between the lands of the king of France in that direction which began just beyond the castle walls and Plantagenet Normandy with its capital at Rouen just a day's ride away in that direction John was making a terrible mistake by agreeing to surrender the Vexin he was leaving Normandy defenseless John and Philip did their best to make sure Richard stayed in his prison but Eleanor was doing all she could to free her favorite son eventually Eleanor managed to raise the enormous ransom 34 tons of silver a king's ransom indeed Philip sent John word B where the devil is loosed on Richards return John was forced to submit Richard then set about re conquering what John had lost in 1197 Richard confronted Philips army before the walls of she's or [Music] richard is said to have ridden at the French just as a raving lion starved of food runs on his prey as they flared Phillip and his Knights crowded onto the bridges or in such numbers that it collapsed 20 Knights drowned King Philip was dragged out alive but was said to have drunk of the river Richard had Philip on the run [Music] Richard had survived many savage campaigns far from home but in the spring of $11.99 his luck ran out while laying siege to the castle of the rebellious Baron in a kitane he was struck by a crossbow bolt [Music] returning to his tent he broke off the shaft but the head was too deeply embedded in his shoulder the wound festered Richard wrote a last letter to his mother Eleanor asking her to come to him but it was too late his body was buried alongside his father in the Abbey of Fontevraud the heart of the lion said to be of great size was interred in the Norman capital Rouen John was now the only surviving son of Henry and Eleanor his older brother Geoffrey had died in 1186 but just as the English crown seemed in his grasp he faced another contender for the throne Geoffrey's teenage son Arthur John quickly secured his coronation at Westminster but yet again the French King provoked a Plantagenet family feud by supporting Arthur's claim to the English crown wicked uncles are a common feature of medieval dynastic politics like John they're usually younger brothers they watch from the sidelines as an older brother attains the exalted position of King but if that brother dies it's understandable that they might think I could tolerate being subordinate to my older brother but not to my snotty nosed nephew and in this violent world it's not surprising if the uncle sometimes decides that the nephew must be eliminated [Music] in 1202 Arthur led an army into Anjou hoping to capture his grandmother Eleanor the great Plantagenet matriarch was now 80 John rushed to Anjou to free her and young Arthur was captured no one is certain what happened - Arthur after that but a contemporary chronicler claims that Arthur's own jailer told him of the boy's fate according to him John at first kept his 16 year old nephew a prisoner but then one night after dinner when John was drunk and full of the devil he went to Arthur cell and killed him with his own hands then tied a huge stone around the corpse and tossed it into the river sin [Music] Phillipa france refused to make peace with John until Arthur was handed over alive he probably knew this was impossible [Music] one by one John lost the Plantagenet French domains in 1204 Philip conquered Plantagenet Normandy after 300 years it was now fully part of France once again soon all that remained of the Plantagenet Continental Empire was Gascony a fragment of Eleanor's great Duchy of Aquitaine Eleanor spent her final years here in Fontevraud Abbey she lived to see her only surviving son John lose the great European empire she had founded and fought for she died as the French King was closing in for his final assault on Normandy she was buried here alongside Henry the husband she had betrayed and Richard the son she loved the most [Music] with France lost John was determined to tighten his grip on England he dispossessed barons who opposed him and exploited his royal powers to accumulate vast personal wealth like his father John also resented Rome's power in his realm and in 1206 he refused to accept the Pope's latest choice of archbishop in retaliation the Pope deployed his most fearsome weapon the kingdom of England was placed under an interdict this meant that all church services in England were suspended the churches and cathedrals stood empty no baptisms or marriages could take place in church the dead could not be buried in church arts no church bells were heard in England and this lasted six years for believers in a so-called age of faith this must have been deeply disturbing but it made John rich [Music] John hit back by confiscating the clergies possessions here at lincoln cathedral the bishop received a letter from john informing him that royal custodians would seize everything owned by clergy refusing to perform their duties john had a malicious sense of humor he ordered that all the priests mistresses should be locked up and held to ransom the king and the pope eventually came to terms john would accept the pope's nominee as archbishop but he would keep all the money that he'd squeezed out of the church [Music] but John wanted more money he was determined to fund an army to win back his Plantagenet birthright the territories he had lost in France his English barons didn't share his dynastic ambition and were not enthusiastic but John began to squeeze them dry extracting what he needed through draconian taxes and by exploiting the Royal Courts his father had established John soon became richer than any English King before him the hostility this provoked was compounded by John's reputation for lechery he was accused of sleeping with the wives and daughters of his barons and he certainly found that at least half a dozen illegitimate children he was too covetous of kriti women wrote one contemporary and brought terrible shame to the great men of the land for this he was much hated John trusted no one and made his barons hand over family members as hostages to guarantee their compliance when one of his Nobles William de Breyers prepare to give up his sons his wife remembered how the king had treated his own nephew William de brayer's was the baron who had served as Arthur's jailer his wife shouted at him I will not hand over my boys to your Lord King John because he Fowler murdered his nephew Arthur when he should have kept him in honourable captivity the King's reaction was Savage Debray ours managed to escape to France but John captured his wife and son and imprisoned them he commanded that their food be stopped after 11 days they were found starved to death son's cheeks had been eaten away by his ravenous mother Plantagenet cruelty had sunk to new depths John's invasion of France failed and in May 1215 many English barons renounce their allegiance to him and occupied London they demanded a settlement liberating the nobility from absolute royal power in desperation John agreed to accept the demands they made the agreement was issued in a charter sealed Runnymede magna carta the Great Charter is one of the most famous documents in English history only four copies of the original issue are known to survive including this one held at Lincoln Castle to secure the Plantagenet on the throne henry ii had concentrated power in the hands of the monarch John's abuse of that power showed the dangers of leaving it unchecked Magna Carta was the Barons response some of its clauses seem quite mundane like the one fixing the level of death duties but this was a royal power that John had exploited for financial gain other clauses have a more ringing tone no free man shall be seized or imprisoned except by the lawful judgment of his peers and by the law of the land to no one will we sell to no one deny or delay right and justice all the clauses are based on the idea that there is a right way of doing things enshrined in Magna Carta as the law of the land and the most important thing was that it bound both king and subject Plantagenet dynasty ambition had provoked a new settlement between the Monarchs and those they ruled [Music] Magna Carta has become an emblem of Liberty but at the time it was a complete failure the Pope called it not only shameful and demeaning but also illegal and unjust at John's request he annulled it once again the Plantagenet plunged England into civil war many barons decided they would rather be ruled by the French than by John the rebels offered the English throne to Prince Louis son of the Plantagenet perennial enemy King Philip of France in 1216 Louis landed on the English coast and was warmly welcomed by the rebels Sutton celebrated his arrival as liberation from Plantagenet tyranny the madness of slavery is over days of liberty have arrived happy days at last after so many evils in his 17-year reign John had lost most of the Plantagenet Empire now the English crown was at stake [Music] John led his mercenary army on a rampage attacking rebel-held areas across southern England [Music] in King's Lynn he contracted dysentery but refused to rest in October John took a shortcut here across the marshes of the wash the wagons carrying his vast accumulated treasures were cut off by the incoming tide [Music] as the king looked on helplessly men horses and the treasure he'd acquired so ruthlessly were swallowed up by the quicksands exhausted and broken John died three days later in medieval Europe the destinies of Nations were determined by the lives and the deaths of their ruling dynasties and John's death plunged the Plantagenet into crisis his son and heir Henry was a nine-year-old boy half the kingdom that he'd inherited was in the hands of the French prince who was holding court in London the future of the Plantagenet dynasty had never looked so bleak [Music] in the next program the English Empire the resurgent Plantagenet fight to expand their Dominion across Wales and Scotland they attempt to win back France and Parliament is born in a Plantagenet Golden Age of pageants and chivalry [Music] you

Channel: BBC Documentary

Views: 5,850,293

Rating: 4.6112256 out of 5

Keywords: bbc documentary, documentary bbc, bbc, Plantagenets, bbc plantagenets, the plantagenets bbc documentary, history documentary, royal documentary bbc

Id: 86aBBuehHPU

Length: 61min 30sec (3690 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 09 2018

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