The traditional view is that life in the Dark Ages was nasty, brutish and short. And it’s this idea that everyone lived in huts and hovels and really didn’t have much quality of life ... that’s so far from the truth. Dr Janina Ramirez, Anglo-Saxon art historian
In Sutton Hoo ... Everything they would need for the Afterlife ... This vibrant hall life. Dr Janina Ramirez
The detail and craftsmanship of each one captivated me. Over the years many archaeologists and historians have studied virtually every aspect of these Anglo-Saxon hoards ... Each one tells their own story. Dr Janina Ramirez, Treasures of the Anglo Saxons, BBC 2010
The story of the Anglo-Saxons begins at the start of the 4th century. They were not a single tribe; they were a combination of different tribes who came from what is now the Netherlands, northern Germany and Denmark. Their art is full of symbols and messages that refer to Norse myth and legend. ibid.
When the Normans took over they set about remaking much of Anglo-Saxon culture into their own. However, some remnants of the old Anglo-Saxon world endure this Norman cultural onslaught. ibid.
Why did these beautifully jewelled pagan warriors come to Britain in the first place? The simple answer is there were no Roman soldiers here to stop them. ibid.
By the 5th century the Anglo-Saxons had taken over most of the Eastern half of England. ibid.
All these finds from Finglesham really give us a vivid picture of 5th-century Anglo-Saxon England. ibid.
Odin was the chief god in Norse mythology, ruler of Asgard, the location of Valhalla which is the great hall where dead warriors believed they would go to in the afterlife to feast and drink for all eternity. ibid.
In 1939 as Britain prepared for war a team of archaeologists were preparing to excavate an Anglo-Saxon burial site at Sutton Hoo in East Anglia. What they found astonished them. It was a long-boat eighteen metres from stem to stern, and inside it was full of precious artefacts, the like of which no-one had seen before. ibid.
These pieces show us just how sophisticated and international the Anglo-Saxons were. ibid.
Today the Lindisfarne gospels are considered one of the world’s greatest art works. ibid.
This is Liber Regalis, the Book of the King ... Here history, art and religion collide. Dr Janina Ramirez, Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings 1/3, BBC 2012
It’s a story of monarchy which spans six centuries from the Anglo-Saxons to the Tudors. ibid.
Canute is not remembered now as a violent conqueror. ibid.
The story told by the Bayeux Tapestry not only spelt the end of the Anglo-Saxon royal line but also caused a deep rupture in the story. ibid.
A cargo of manuscripts – the greatest literary treasures of the French royal family were now on their way to the English court. Dr Janina Ramirez, Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings 2/3
They captured Mortimer – and he was brought to London, tried and executed. ibid.
This manuscript is sending out a clear message: England is once again a force to be reckoned with, and its kings want to be players on the world stage. Dr Janina Ramirez, Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings 3/3
In 1476 William Caxton began printing in England. ibid.
A library has become something to aspire to. ibid.
You realise just how labour intensive the production of manuscripts was. ibid.
The Reformation caused the destruction not just of monasteries across the country but also many of their illuminated manuscripts. ibid.
Locked together by one culture in a marriage that had lasted three hundred years. But in the mid-fourteenth century it hit the rocks. What followed was the longest and bloodiest divorce in history. Dr Janina Ramirez, Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War I: Trouble in the Family 1337-1360, BBC 2013
French was the language of the English ruling class. ibid.
Edward III had done the unthinkable: he had proclaimed himself King of England and France. ibid.
To claim back his rights in France he would have to take on Philip’s army. ibid.
King Edward and his campaigns were hugely popular. ibid.
France and England were forced to agree a truce but it was a fragile death … the plague had plunged the country into a moral panic. ibid.
Edward reignited the war ... This was systematic pillage and destruction ... This time Edward had not just humbled the French monarchy he had broken it. ibid.
I’ll explore the impact that leaders like Richard II and Henry V had on the very foundation of society. Dr Janina Ramirez, Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War II: Breaking the Bonds 1360-1415
England at this time was rich but she was also confident. ibid.
John of Gaunt would lead the country till Richard came of age. ibid.
England and France were living in the aftermath of the Black Death. ibid.
The peasantry had had enough: they rose up in the largest mass rebellion in English history and marched on London. This was a class war. ibid.
The ringleaders of the uprising were hunted down and hanged. ibid.
England and France were still growing apart. ibid.
Richard’s spending made him unpopular with the people. ibid.
The people and parliament of England crowned the audacious Bolingbroke Henry IV. ibid.
An icon of English history – Henry V … but Henry was the son of a usurper. ibid.
In these blood-soaked fields Henry, the son of the usurper, achieved what he had set out to do. The cream of the French nobility lay dead. ibid.
The War becomes a battle for national supremacy and a fight for the moral high ground. Dr Janina Ramirez, Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War III: Agents of God 1415-1453
His [Henry V] aim was the annexation of the entire province of Normandy. ibid.
With Charles dead, Henry V, King of England, would also become King of France. ibid.
31st August 1422: Henry died aged 35. He was buried at Westminster Abbey. He never did become King of France. ibid.
Henry VI … the first and only time an English monarch would hold both crowns. ibid.
Summer 1939: a golden age of exploration and archaeology is coming to an end. It was an era that saw adventurers set out to explore the remotest corners of the globe in search of clues to unlock our ancient past. And it was during that last summer of peace as the world stood on the precipice of a war that threatened to end civilisation itself, that three extraordinary treasures were discovered, treasures that would radically change our understanding of the origins and diversity of human culture. And bring us closer to our distant past. Janina Ramirez, Raiders of the Lost Past I, BBC 2019
The discovery of an incredible Anglo-Saxon ship burial in Suffolk, dating from the early seventh century AD. The final resting place of a supremely wealthy warrior king. ibid.
The single greatest archaeological discovery ever made in England: the Sutton-Hoo hoard. ibid.
Ship burials are incredibly rare in Britain: there are only two others ever discovered at this time. ibid.
Oseberg ship, Norway, excavated 1904-1905. ibid.
Treasures of unimaginable quality emerged thick and fast. ibid.
These Saxons and Angles came together and gave us the basis of the English language. ibid.
A pair of spectacular shoulder clasps. ibid.
The miraculous story of the hoard’s survival. ibid.
This was Page One of England’s history. ibid.
Edward II sat down to the game of kingship with a remarkably poor hand, and he played it very badly. Noel Denholm-Young, introduction to translation of Vita Edwardi Secundi pix, 1957