All language subtitles for Britains.Bloodiest.Dynasty.The.Plantagenets.S01E01_English

DAN JONES: Out of the chaos,
darkness, and violence

of the Middle Ages,

one family rose to seize control
of England.

[Shouting]

Generation after generation,

they ruled the country
for more than 300 years,

ruthlessly
crushing all competition,

to become the greatest
English dynasty

of all time.

The Plantagenets.

[Shouting]

What I love about

the Plantagenets' story

is that it's more shocking,

more brutal,

and more astonishing

than anything you'll find
in fiction.

I want to show you
the Plantagenets

as I see them --

real living, breathing people,

driven by ambition, jealousy,

hatred, and revenge.

These kings murdered, betrayed,
and tyrannized their way

to spectacular success.

For better and for worse,

the Plantagenets forged England
as a nation.

This time, the founder
of the dynasty --

Henry II,
warrior and empire builder.

He transformed England
from a war zone

into a European superpower,

but murder
and betrayal by his own family

threatened to tear apart
everything he had achieved.

[Men singing Gregorian chant]

In 1153, Henry Plantagenet
sails to England

with an invasion force, aiming
to seize back the throne.

He's only 20, but he's already
an experienced soldier.

He's been fighting in France
since he was a kid,

and his mother has drilled
into him

the idea that the Crown
of England

is rightfully his.

So, as Henry approaches
these shores,

he's convinced he has a date
with destiny.

Henry's a powerhouse

with a fiery temper, bursting
with raw energy and ambition.

Within a year, Stephen is dead,

and Henry is crowned Henry II,

the first Plantagenet king.

[Speaking French]

JONES: Of course, he doesn't
speak a word of English.

But after 90 years
of Norman French rule

in England, no one does,
except the peasants.

And it's not them that Henry's
here to pick a fight with.

It's the barons.

For a generation, the barons

have been fighting
vicious turf wars,

burning, looting, raping,
killing.

If you lived here,
you could come home any day

to find your house on fire,
your crops destroyed,

your animals taken,
and your family murdered.

And this has been going on
for nearly 20 years --

as long as the new king
has been alive.

Henry's future --
and the future of England --

depends on bringing the barons
to heel.

He could simply
destroy them.

His army is big enough.

But instead, he does something
totally unexpected.

High on the Welsh borders
is Wigmore Castle,

once one of England's
greatest fortresses.

It's the power base
of Hugh Mortimer,

toughest of the barons

and the last to hold out
against the new king.

No one defies Henry
and gets away with it.

So he turns up here at Wigmore
with an army

and lays siege to the castle.

Henry's got Hugh surrounded.

But he's not here
to destroy him.

He just sits outside.

"Here I am.
Here's my army.

What are you going to do
about it?"

Unsurprisingly, Hugh folds.

But it's what Henry does next
that marks him out

as a king to watch,

because he takes Hugh's castle
away from him,

then gives it straight back.

He's saying, "You can have
your power,

but only because I say so.

I'm the king, I'm in control,

and you work for me."

One reason Henry
has the confidence

to take on such powerful men

is because he has
a formidable ally.

Henry's queen is Eleanor,
Duchess of Aquitaine.

Ten years his senior,
she's such a famous beauty,

students across Europe sing
bawdy songs about bedding her.

She's shocked the Continent

by divorcing the king of France
in 1152

and marrying Henry
just two months later.

They're a good match.

By the time Henry
takes the throne,

she's already produced
their first son.

But this queen is far more
than a baby machine.

As Duchess of Aquitaine,
she's a serious political player

in her own right.

Henry brings muscle.

Eleanor brings prestige.

Together, they're a match
for anyone.

And their union creates
a Plantagenet empire

that stretches from the borders
of Scotland to the Pyrenees.

But to keep control
of such vast territory,

Henry has to do
something radical.

Control is everything to Henry.

The question is, how does he
maintain it?

He could use his barons
to rule the different regions.

That's standard medieval
practice.

But as far as Henry can see,

the barons will only do things
his way

as long as it suits them.

To get what he wants, Henry is
going to have to do things

a little bit differently.

[ Chanting in Latin ]

JONES: Henry's genius
is to create a new army,

not of soldiers,
but of clerks.

Educated commoners,
unlike the barons,

they'll do
exactly what he wants.

What Henry invents is the basis
of the Civil Service

that still runs the country
today.

Here at the National Archives,

900-year-old documents reveal

the full extent
of Henry's control.

So this is a writ from the
second year of Henry's reign.

And it's an official instruction
from the king.

You can see "the king,"
"Rex," here.

Duke of Normandy,
Duke of Aquitaine.

He's sending an instruction
to the sheriff of Dorset,

ordering him to give back a farm

in the village of Rampisham
to its rightful owner.

And that might sound mundane,

but hundreds of these survive,
and what they show you

is Henry's interest
in every last

field and pasture
of his kingdom.

And this isn't everything
Henry's doing.

He's also rebuilding royal
finance through the Exchequer.

He's sending his justices
roving about the country

to reestablish law and order.

What it all adds up to is
Henry's complete obsession

with stamping his control over
every area of his new kingdom.

The mastermind pulling the
administrative strings for Henry

is commoner Thomas Becket,

the son of a merchant.

He may be lowborn, but Becket is
such a brilliant operator

that Henry makes him Chancellor.

It's Becket who makes sure

the king's grip on England
is rock solid.

And there's clearly some kind
of spark between them.

They quickly become
drinking buddies,

hunting partners,
and best mates.

[Speaking French]

[Speaking Latin]

BECKET: [Chuckles]

HENRY: Shh.

JONES: But because of Becket,

everything Henry's achieved

is about to come under threat.

The trouble begins here

at Canterbury, the seat of power
of the one part of England

that remains
beyond Henry's control --

the Church.

One Englishman in five
is a cleric.

They're effectively
above the law.

Whatever crime they commit,

even rape or murder,

only Church courts
can try them.

The worst punishment
they can give out is a fine.

The king can't touch them.

So, in 1161, when the Archbishop
of Canterbury dies here,

Henry thinks, "Excellent!

I'll appoint my mate Thomas
as Archbishop.

He can knock some sense
into the Church."

And even though Thomas
has never been a priest,

Henry bullies the monks
at Canterbury

until they agree to elect him.

So you can see why Henry thinks
he's got

the Church problem sewn up.

After all, Becket is
his best mate.

He owes his career to him.

What could possibly go wrong?

Henry's failed to spot
a massive problem.

In the medieval world, there is
a higher power than the king.

Becket finds God.

Pretty much the first thing
he does

is hang the king out to dry

by resigning as Chancellor.

He's sending
a very blunt message --

"I'm not going to do
what you say anymore.

I have a new boss now."

With God in his corner,

Becket now defies every command
the king makes

to bring the Church to heel.

Unsurprisingly, it doesn't
go down very well with Henry.

This is a king
famous across Europe

for his uncontrollable temper,

a man who once got so furious
during an argument

that he rolled around
on the floor,

pulling the straw
out of his mattress

and stuffing it
into his mouth.

So it's fair to say that Henry
wasn't just angry,

he was apoplectic.

And this rage,
combined with Henry's

intense desire for control,

will lead to murder and betrayal

that threatens to destroy
everything he's achieved.

[Man speaking Latin]

JONES: Westminster,
July 1170.

Henry II is having
his eldest son,

young Henry,
crowned king of England --

effectively, king in waiting.

MAN: Vivat Rex!

Vivat, vivat Rex!

JONES: It should secure
Henry's legacy.

Instead, it's going to tear
his world apart.

ALL: Vivat, vivat Rex!

JONES: Because there's one man
who really should be there

that Henry hasn't invited.

Thomas Becket.

Crowning kings of England is

the Archbishop of Canterbury's
gig, and it always has been.

So, when Becket finds out about
the young king's coronation,

he explodes with fury.

But he does something utterly
reckless.

[Speaking Latin]

JONES: Becket excommunicates
every single cleric involved.

[Speaking Latin]

Amen.

ALL: Amen.

JONES: As far as he's concerned,

they're quite literally
going to hell.

When the news reaches Henry,

out comes his Plantagenet rage
again, and he says something

he'll come to regret
for the rest of his life.

Becket.

Becket!

JONES: Henry's just venting,

but that's not how it looks
to his knights.

What they hear
is a direct order

from their king.

This simple misunderstanding
sets up a disaster.

And here in Canterbury

it all comes crashing down.

Days later, four knights burst
through these doors...

[Shouting]

And they march
into the cathedral

to confront Becket here.

[Men shouting]

JONES: He's unarmed
in his Archbishop's robes,

and they're in armor
with swords by their sides.

[Spits]

Furious words are exchanged.

They try and drag Becket
out of the cathedral,

but he resists.

[Becket speaking French]

[Crying out]

And it's at this point
one of the knights

draws his sword and brings it
down on Becket's head,

chopping off part of his skull.

Becket falls.

And one of the knights scoops
his brains

onto the floor
with the tip of his sword.

But they're not alone,

because hiding in doorways
and behind pillars

are Becket's friends
and supporters,

bearing witness to an event
that'll shock Christendom.

Every single good thing

that Henry II has done
in his career until now

may as well be wiped out,

because this is what
he'll be remembered for.

The fact that his words
were taken out of context

is neither here nor there.

As far as everyone is concerned,

Henry ordered Becket's murder.

Outrage at this sacrilege
goes viral.

Across Europe, people begin
to question whether Henry

is really fit to be a king.

Henry realizes straightaway
how damaging this will be.

This is the first time
since his meteoric rise

that he's been vulnerable.

But I think it would have hurt
him personally as well.

He and Becket may have been
knocking lumps

out of each other for years,

but this is still a man who was
once his closest friend,

who understood him
better than anyone else.

The humiliated king
makes himself scarce

and goes to Ireland on campaign.

In a crisis on this scale,
the one group he should be able

to count on
are his own family.

But now they turn on him, too.

And it's all Henry's fault.

Henry's eldest son,
Henry the young king,

is a chip off the old block,
ambitious, power-hungry,

and impatient.

As king in waiting,

he should be taken to Ireland
so Henry can teach him

how to exert iron-fisted
control.

But he isn't.

Instead, the young king
is left behind, festering

in the aftermath
of his father's disgrace.

And whilst he's away, the king
leaves control in the hands

of his slick bureaucrats.

Powerless and isolated,

resentment at his father
starts to eat away at him.

Another surviving document

reveals just how humiliating
life is for the young king.

This is a record
of royal accounts from 1172,

when Henry was off,
beating up the Irish.

On the face of it,
it's pretty dry.

It's a long list
of payments made.

But throughout,
there are records

of money paid out
to the young king.

What's interesting is
they're all quite small.

Let's have a look.

There's one here
from Berkhamsted, and it says,

"For the works
Regis fili Regis,"

"of the King, son of the King,"

"XXX," that's 30 shillings.

Well, today,
that's a few thousand pounds,

which might sound like a lot,

but to the eldest son
of a king,

it's chicken feed.

Now, the normal way
that things would work

is that a king would give
his eldest son a block of lands

from which to draw
his revenue.

But Henry hasn't done that.

He's kept everything to himself
to keep control.

So the picture you get,
reading this,

is of the old king,
one of the richest

and most powerful men in Europe,

while his eldest son is going
around, cap in hand,

begging money
from royal officials.

Wouldn't make him very happy,
would it?

Resentment is spreading through
the rest of the family, too.

The year before Becket's murder,

Henry's wife, Queen Eleanor,

had returned to her homeland
in Aquitaine,

and she based herself here
at Poitiers,

where this hall is what remains
of her magnificent ducal palace.

After years living
in a foreign country,

Eleanor has come back
with her favorite son,

Richard, to train him
to take over her lands there

when she dies.

Finally, she's back
where she belongs.

This is where she was born,

this is where she was raised,

and, frankly,
the food and the weather

are better here, too.

But Eleanor is about to find
that her Aquitaine

is now a very different place.

A spanking new cathedral

is being built
in the town center.

This is more than just a church.

It's a PR statement, designed

to sell the Plantagenet dynasty
to the people.

And the banner headline of this
message is a spectacular window.

Incredibly, it's survived intact
for nearly nine centuries.

If you look at this
stained-glass window

high up in the cathedral,
you can see

Henry, Eleanor,
and their four sons.

It's like a snapshot
of a united family,

ruling together over England

and half of France.

Except it isn't really
like that,

because in Aquitaine,
Eleanor finds

it's Henry's men collecting
the taxes,

Henry's men
controlling the barons.

Even when her husband is
hundreds of miles away,

it's obvious that he's the one
who's in control.

Now, Eleanor might have brought
Aquitaine to Henry in marriage,

but that doesn't mean it's his.

Then Eleanor discovers something
Henry's done that, to her,

is unforgivable.

Behind her back,

Henry has mortgaged off
part of her Aquitaine

to secure a political alliance.

And this is like coming home
one day

to find your husband has changed
the locks,

sold all your stuff,
and invited

a whole bunch of other people
to live there.

And it's not just Eleanor
who's fuming.

Richard is spitting blood about
his lost inheritance, too.

At one stroke, Henry has created
two powerful new enemies.

And he probably
doesn't even realize it.

Henry's blindness
to his family's feelings

is a ticking time bomb.

Here in Chinon, 175 miles
southwest of Paris,

in the very heart
of Henry's French lands,

it finally explodes.

Chinon Castle has enormous
strategic importance.

If you want to rule
the Plantagenet empire,

controlling it is absolutely
essential.

And that's exactly
why Henry the young king

expects that one day this castle
will be his.

Then, one night, Henry announces
he's giving Chinon Castle,

the jewel in the Plantagenet
crown, to John,

the young king's
6-year-old brother.

Think what it would have been
like here that night.

This is one of the angriest
families in history.

Try and imagine
all that Plantagenet rage

just boiling up.

I don't think there'd have been

much pleasant chitchat
over dinner.

Chinon!

Chinon!

JONES: The loss of the castle

is more than the young king
can bear.

True to form, Henry is
completely dismissive.

He's utterly incapable
of seeing things

from his son's point of view.

But the young king is adamant.

For 18 years, he's had to suffer
his father's obsessive control.

Now he's drawing a line
in the sand.

The young king
should have known better.

[Shouting in French]

Henry was never
going to give up control

without a fight.

Chinon teaches the young king
a harsh lesson --

his father is never
going to give him real power.

And he's sick
of being strung along.

But if Henry thinks he's got the
young king where he wants him,

he's dead wrong.

His eldest son

is now hell-bent on taking
the old man down.

Spring 1173.

The young king steals
out of his father's custody

and flees to Paris...

Straight into the arms

of Louis VII, king of France.

This is out-and-out betrayal.

The young king is planning
to use King Louis

to help seize
his father's throne.

But why does the king of France

get involved in such
a dangerous game?

To Dr. Julie Barrau,
an expert

in the medieval French court,

it makes perfect sense.

Louis hates Henry.

Well, they had many reasons
not to like each other.

Maybe the first one
is that they embody

completely opposite ideas
of what it is to be a king.

On the one hand, you have,
you know,

Henry -- macho warrior,

and on the other hand,
you had Louis,

who was anything but.

And the other thing is that

Henry was much, much wealthier
than Louis

and never wasted an opportunity
to show it very clearly.

But it's more than just
political, isn't it?

Well, yes, what makes
this story unusual

is that you have a very deep
personal aspect to it.

A mere two months
after Louis separated

from his wife, Eleanor,
she married Henry.

And she didn't just marry him,

but she started having
one baby boy after the other,

when Louis and Eleanor
had really tried for a son

for years before that,
so that must have been

really, really painful
for poor Louis.

So all those aspects together
explain why

you have such a deep and long
animosity between those two men.

JONES: The young king
rocking up in Paris

is no surprise to Louis.

This is more than just

a spur-of-the-moment betrayal
by a petulant son.

Because Henry the young king
isn't acting alone.

His brothers are in on this,
too, and so is the one person

who's vital to making
the whole betrayal possible --

Eleanor.

The queen has been plotting
with her ex-husband

to replace Henry II

with the young king.

[Speaking French]

She immediately sends Richard

to join his older brother
in Paris.

A few days later,
Eleanor follows.

She makes a mad dash
across France on horseback

disguised in men's clothing.

But she doesn't make it.

She's caught on her way
to Paris

by Henry II's men

and brought to Chinon Castle,

not as a queen,
but as a prisoner.

Your own sons rebelling
against you

is pretty much as bad
as it gets.

Your queen masterminding
the whole plot with her ex --

that's off the chart.

The scandal rocks
medieval Europe.

But there's no stopping

the betrayal
Eleanor has set in motion.

[Men speaking French]

In Paris, Louis, Richard,
and the young king

are mobilizing to attack Henry
from all sides.

And not just in France.

They're going to hit him where
it hurts the most --

England.

Plenty of English barons
are still pretty sore

about having their wings clipped
by Henry II.

The young king promises
to give them everything back.

Now, the last time the English
barons had that sort of power,

they basically destroyed
the country.

So this is a pretty reckless
promise.

It's not careful strategy.

But that's the young king
for you.

He's good at betrayal,

but he lacks his father's
political savvy.

He just wants to win,

whatever the cost.

He even cuts a deal with Henry's
other mortal enemy,

the king of Scotland.

The young king promises him
big chunks of England

if he attacks Henry
from the north.

For a king of England
in waiting,

this is a dangerous game.

But it works.

By the spring of 1174,

Henry faces a perfect storm.

Full-on revolt is spreading
across his empire,

all sparked
by his family's betrayal.

And whilst Henry is fighting
in France,

England is turning
into a disaster zone.

The king of Scotland has invaded
the north,

and foreign mercenaries are
flooding across the Channel

to support the barons' revolt.

If Henry doesn't
do something drastic,

England will be lost.

Most kings crossing the Channel
to face a rebellion

would be thinking
the same thing --

raise an army,
crush them by force.

But Henry's got something else
up his sleeve,

because he realizes it isn't
his barons or even his sons

who are threatening his empire.

It's the dead hand
of Thomas Becket

rising up from beyond the grave.

It's more than three years

since Becket was killed
in Canterbury Cathedral.

In that time, Henry's troubles
have gone from bad to worse.

On the 12th of July, 1174,

Henry II heads to Canterbury.

What he does
in the next 24 hours

will shock the world
and decide the future

of the entire
Plantagenet dynasty.

Just outside the city walls,
he stops, removes his boots,

and begins to walk barefoot
along the road.

People watching must be

wondering if the desperate king
has lost his mind.

The streets here in Canterbury
are full of people

all nudging each other,
pointing,

maybe even trying
to grab him.

They know he's the king,
because behind him

the royal standard is
fluttering.

But he's dressed
as an ordinary pilgrim

in rough woolen clothes,

and he's barefoot.

And the roads aren't
nice and clean and smooth.

They're muddy, they're filthy,
they're full of broken pots

and sharp stones that cut
his feet to shreds.

This isn't just
physically painful.

It's humiliating.

The king of England is dragging
himself through the mud,

leaving bloody footprints
behind him.

Henry's performing
the most public

act of penance imaginable,

begging God -- and Becket --
to forgive him.

This can only end
in one place --

Canterbury Cathedral.

This wretched three-mile walk
is actually propaganda dynamite.

Every person who sees it
will spread the news

of the scale
of the king's penance.

But Henry isn't finished yet.

He knows he has one chance
to win back

the hearts and minds
of his kingdom,

and he's planning something
spectacular.

The stage for his grand finale
is the shrine

of the once best friend
he accidentally murdered --

Thomas Becket.

When Henry enters the cathedral
dirty, bloody, and drained,

Thomas's shrine isn't up there.

It's down these stairs,

in the crypt.

And it's down here, in the dark,
among the columns,

that Henry does something
absolutely extraordinary.

[Man speaking Latin]

In front of Becket's tomb,
Henry kneels down

and commands the monks
to whip him.

[Whip striking flesh]

JONES: One hundred of them
take turns

to beat his back
up to five times each

with a birching rod.

Henry is spilling his own blood

to atone for the spilling
of Becket's

in the cathedral above.

[Whip continues striking]

These are the same monks

who cowered behind the pillars
in horror back then.

[Man chanting in Latin]

JONES: Now they are striking
the blows,

beating the sin
out of the king.

In all, Henry receives more than
300 flesh-lacerating lashes.

[Whip striking blows]

[Body thuds]

There may be far fewer people
down here than up there,

but these are the men who will
write about what they've seen,

who will tell the world.

They may be Henry's punishers,

but they're also
his propagandists.

It's a master stroke
of charismatic kingship.

This is Henry's best shot
at quashing

the whispering campaign
against him.

But there's no guarantee
it will save him.

Then something extraordinary
happens.

The next morning,
a messenger arrives.

He bears explosive news.

The king of Scotland
has been captured.

The invasion of the north
is over.

It must have seemed
like some kind of miracle.

The timing is just too perfect.

And it feeds directly
into Henry's own propaganda.

Ever since the time
of Becket's death,

he's been describing himself
in documents

as "King by the grace of God."

And now he has unarguable proof

that God is on his side.

Henry's miracle rips the heart
out of the rebellion in England.

The barons fold without a fight.

Henry is back in control.

In less than a month, he's free
to head back to France

and take the fight
to his traitorous sons.

Henry is on a roll.

When he gets back to France,

the rebellion melts away
before him.

First he persuades the flaky
young king to switch sides.

And that leads Richard
to fold as well.

The rebellion is snuffed out.

For Henry's family,
it's a catastrophe.

They gambled everything
and lost.

The king has crushed them.

But he now faces a dilemma --

what to do
with his treacherous family.

The one family member
Henry can't forgive is Eleanor,

because as a wife rebelling
against her husband,

she's committed one of the worst
forms of treachery,

and she can never be trusted
again.

And here in this chapel
near Chinon Castle,

her fate is recorded
in this incredible fresco.

So at the front, you can see
her husband, Henry.

Eleanor is in the middle.

And then behind her are two
of her sons.

This might look
like a nice, touching

Plantagenet family portrait,

but it actually shows Eleanor
being led off into captivity.

Henry may not need Eleanor
anymore...

[Man speaking Latin]

JONES: But he does need
his sons

to carry on the Plantagenet
dynasty after him.

So, in a public ceremony
of reconciliation,

he forgives them.

He even gives them money
and castles.

They may have been forgiven,
but both boys must know

that the one thing he'll never
give them after this

is any real power.

Henry simply can't see
that his obsession with control

might be the root cause
of all his family's betrayals,

and this blindness
to his own faults

will ultimately destroy him.

In the summer of 1183,
an unexpected event

throws Henry II's world
into turmoil.

His eldest son, the young king,
dies --

not by the sword,
but of dysentery,

an inglorious death
for an inglorious son.

Henry's grief
isn't just a father's.

Though it's clear he's
personally devastated,

the death of the young king

has destroyed all his plans
for his legacy.

As his remaining sons
begin to jockey for position,

Henry is losing control again.

Just two of Henry's sons
remain alive.

Only one can become
his heir.

Richard, the elder
surviving son,

is expecting to be named.

But Henry's favorite
has always been

his youngest son, John.

He, at least, has never betrayed
his father.

Even so, Henry doesn't dare name
either of them.

Henry drags his heels.

The last time he named
a successor,

it was disaster.

This time, he thinks,
by stalling,

he can keep Richard obedient

and under control.

What he doesn't know is,

someone's been stoking up
resentment in Richard,

whispering ideas of betrayal
in his ear yet again.

The man doing the whispering

is the new king of France,
Philip II.

[Speaking French]

He plays on Richard's fears,
persuading him

that his father intends
to name John as heir.

[Speaking French]

JONES: Richard demands
that Henry

formally names him
as his successor.

And, of course, Henry refuses.

That would mean
giving up control.

So, with Philip by his side,

Richard once again goes to war
against his father.

In less than a month,
they tear through the heart

of Henry's French lands,
winning every battle.

It's not long
before a defeated Henry

finds himself holed up again
back here at Chinon Castle

with his son and
the king of France at the gates.

They're young, ambitious,
and aggressive.

Henry's old and tired.

The one thing
he could never control

has finally caught up
with him --

time.

Outside, his Plantagenet
heartland is collapsing.

The empire he built
and has ruled over

for more than 30 years

is being ripped from him
by his own son.

It's a final, total defeat.

On the 3rd of July, 1189,

Henry rides out from Chinon
to meet Richard.

A man who's spent so much
of his life on horseback

that his legs
are physically bowed

now has to be strapped
into the saddle

to stop him from falling off.

Richard's demands
are read out.

He wants land.

He wants money.

More than anything else,
he wants to be the next king.

It's all Henry can do

to nod his head weakly
and agree.

At the end, he leans in
for one last embrace,

and he whispers to Richard,

"God grant that I may not die

until I've had my revenge
on you."

Somewhere in this broken old man

is still Henry II,
king of England.

But this act of defiance
is Henry's last hurrah.

God doesn't grant his wish.

Henry II, the first Plantagenet
king of England,

dies two days later.

Here, less than 20 miles
from Chinon,

in the family shrine
at Fontevraud Abbey,

Henry II lies buried.

Beside him were buried
the bodies of his wife, Eleanor,

and his successor, Richard,

but not his favorite son, John.

For his whole reign, Henry kept
a close grip on his kingdom.

He never allowed his sons
real control,

because fundamentally
he didn't think they

could do as good a job
as he could.

And when Richard and then John
become king,

they prove him right.

Within 15 years, the Plantagenet
empire has collapsed,

torn apart by rebellion and war.

And that's why John's not buried
here at Fontevraud

with his mother
and his father --

because by the time John dies,
this place is ruled by France.

Next time,
the collapsing friendship

of Henry III
and Simon de Montford

plunges the country
into bloody slaughter

and civil war,

changing England --
and the monarchy -- forever.

[Men cheering]