The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, one of the most significant moments in British history, shows how newly empowered peasants came within an ace of toppling the monarchy. Using expert analysis and reconstruction, he illustrates the political, social and cultural background to the rebellion, and celebrates the roles those men and women played in challenging the status quo for one of the first times in history.
In 1888, London was a divided city. In the west, the rich led comfortable, pampered lives, but for the thousands of poor crammed into the slums of the east end, life was no party. Many shared one room with six or seven other people. Each night, up to 8000 women and children queued for a place in a lodging house. Women were so desperate they would prostitute themselves for a few pennies, or a loaf of bread. Many of the men who paid them for their services were affluent west end gents, slumming it in the dark, stinking streets of ‘outcast London’.
The Vikings were the scourge of Britain for almost 300 years. They came on raids from Norway, Denmark and Sweden, murdering, kidnapping and pillaging along the coast of Britain. Records for this period in British history are not completely reliable, because many accounts were written 200 years after the event. But we do have evidence from letters and chronicles written by churchmen and from archaeological finds both here and in Scandinavia.
English forces annexed Wales in the 12th century and rebellions followed for the next few centuries, the most famous being led by Owain Glyndwr at the start of the 15th century, who won back territories from England for a while. The uprising caused a great upsurge in Welsh identity.
Monmouth’s Rebellion in 1685, also known as the Pitchfork Rebellion, was an abortive attempt to overthrow the newly-crowned English monarch James II (VII of Scotland). To widespread Protestant dismay, the Roman Catholic James had succeeded his brother Charles II in February 1685. James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, claimed to be the rightful heir and attempted to foment uprisings in Great Britain, including one led by himself in the South West.
The largest witch-hunt in English history was held between 1645 and 1647, led by the self-appointed Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins. Hopkins was a failed lawyer with no real legal qualifications, who made it his mission to rid East Anglia of witches. Witch-hunting really took off in England after Henry VIII passed a statute against witchcraft in 1542. Over the next 200 years, around 1000 people, mostly women, were hanged for practising witchcraft. Across the border in Scotland, they were even more witch-hunt crazy, finding 4000 witches guilty. Unlike their English cousins, these unfortunates were burnt at the stake.
Rory McGrath finds out how King John was able to burn down Rochester in 1215 during the First Barons' War (1215–17). This civil war was between a group of rebellious barons, led by Robert Fitzwalter and supported by a French army under the future Louis VIII of France, and King John of England. The war resulted from the king's refusal to accept and abide by the Magna Carta he had sealed (not signed) on 15 June 1215, and from the ambitions of the French prince, who dragged the war on after many of the rebel barons had made peace with John.
During the 17th and early 18th centuries, a grim profession emerged. A growing number of anatomists, keen to improve their medical knowledge, needed corpses on which to conduct dissections, which were often done in ‘theatres’, where members of the public could pay to watch. Bodies were difficult to come by, as it was only legal to perform a dissection on the corpse of a recently executed criminal. So ‘body snatchers’, also known as ‘resurrection men’, made money by digging up fresh corpses and selling them to medical schools and hospitals.
The presenter delves into the notorious life of Mary Tudor, alias Bloody Mary. He reveals the methods of torture used at the time, and discovers the right way to burn a heretic.
Imagine being crammed into a ship, with dozens of other sailors that you have lived and worked with cheek by jowl for months, even years. The decks have been cleared, the cannons are prepared and the surgeon’s tools laid out below. There is a feeling of excitement and anticipation. Ships of the British navy surround you, with all eyes on the horizon. There is barely a breeze to fill the sails, so you are slowly floating towards the enemy fleet at walking pace. This is the scene for the decisive battle of the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Trafalgar, fought off the coast of Spain on 21 October 1805.