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00:00When you think of Westminster Abbey, you probably think of a really old church full of stuff like this.
00:15A world-class interior, astounding medieval craftsmanship, incredibly old objects, poet's corner, a load of monuments, and countless other beautiful things.
00:31But there's another way to look at Westminster Abbey, because it has an almost invisible role in the very fabric of modern society.
00:40There's a reason our figureheads are mourned here. There's a reason the kings and queens are crowned here.
00:48The Abbey's unique place in the making of Britain can now be revealed through a massive conservation and restoration effort.
00:57Oh, there's a whole painting here, isn't there?
00:59Through royal tombs and oil paintings, to a sacred floor not seen for over a century, Time Team are going to piece together a very different story of what's called the House of Kings.
01:12This is possibly Britain's most important historic building.
01:18It's always been at the very heart of the establishment, a place to put power on display.
01:24Like nowhere else, Westminster Abbey is a story of how the monarchy and God have shaped the country we live in, and still shape it today.
01:33It was June 1953, and even though I was only six years old, I still remember it really, really clearly.
01:52I was on the carpet in our back room, and I was playing with the little coach and horses, which all our mums and dads had bought us for the special occasion.
02:01And I was watching this, the brand new telly that they'd got for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
02:08And I remember that all the images from Westminster Abbey seemed really, really big, and the whole thing seemed so important.
02:18And even now, 58 years later, I realised that I was right.
02:23This was a seminal moment in British history.
02:26The war was over, and millions of people came together to celebrate the latest version of the Old Order as epitomised by this beautiful young queen.
02:38The 2nd of June, 1953.
02:56In an elaborate ceremony, Elizabeth II became bound to serve her people and to maintain the laws of God.
03:04She was the latest in a long line of monarchs to be crowned at Westminster Abbey.
03:10For nearly a thousand years, it's been the royal church.
03:15And this royal connection has meant the survival of things unrivaled anywhere in Britain.
03:22Today, there's a huge project to restore, conserve and understand the thousands of monuments, artworks and burials.
03:30There's even conservation work in the most sacred part of the Abbey.
03:39This place is a kind of inner sanctum that isn't generally open to the public.
03:44And in here is one of the most remarkable things in the whole Abbey.
03:49Because behind these recesses are the bones of an English saint.
03:55Now, we all know that the patron saint of England is St George.
03:59But it wasn't back in the 13th century.
04:01It was this man, St Edward, who also happened to be the King of England, Edward the Confessor.
04:07He was the man who made Westminster a royal church.
04:11But not only that, he made it the political heart of the nation.
04:16Modern Britain owes a lot to Edward the Confessor.
04:22Back in 1042, he created Westminster.
04:26He built a palace for the monarchy, where the houses of Parliament now are,
04:30and turned an existing church into the royal abbey on the site of the present building.
04:37The king had put the power of the church and the monarch all in one place.
04:41And after his death, the abbey's monks campaigned for the king to become a saint.
04:52It may seem astonishing, but a thousand years later,
04:57Edward the Confessor's shrine is still prayed at by Catholic and Anglican archbishops.
05:01Not only that, but just as in medieval times, hundreds of pilgrims pay homage to the king.
05:13Well, what, a thousand years after Edward the Confessor died?
05:26But even today, you can see clear evidence that people still venerate his shrine.
05:30How did all that start?
05:32Well, in general, saints were really important in the Middle Ages.
05:36They were kind of the medieval celebrities, if you like.
05:38They were a conduit for miraculous divine power, essentially.
05:43So people would visit them to obtain cures, for example,
05:47to obtain sustenance in particular endeavours.
05:52But what were Edward's qualifications for being a saint?
05:55Edward started off, essentially, as a particularly good ruler.
05:59He was just, he was kind, he was also increasingly virginal.
06:05How can you get increasingly virginal?
06:07Good question.
06:08His virginity is essentially related to his corpse.
06:12It's a vehicle of purity which renders his corpse incorrupt.
06:16You mean by incorrupt that it didn't rot?
06:19Absolutely.
06:19So early on, people thought that his body would still be lying there in the tomb,
06:24like someone who was alive, basically.
06:25Looking hale and hearty, yeah.
06:27And this was a standard marker of sanctity in the early 12th century.
06:32What kind of things was it thought that Edward could cure?
06:35He had a fairly interesting portfolio.
06:40In the early miracles, he cured cripples.
06:44He cured a particularly unfortunate lumpy lady.
06:47But as the cult progressed, he developed a specialism in blindness.
06:50What intrigues me is that even though you and I are probably quite sceptical about turning a king into a saint and whether he was a virgin or not,
07:00there are still people who take him seriously enough to venerate his shrine.
07:06He's a very persistent saint.
07:07Unlike today, in the 12th century, the abbey was lived in by Catholic monks.
07:15Having St. Edward within their church was really useful, not just in drawing in pilgrims,
07:20but it meant the monks could make the most of the royal connection.
07:24Since Edward's time, the abbey has been the home of the all-important coronation.
07:29Yet Edward himself hadn't been crowned at the abbey.
07:35Time team's Helen Geek has had access to early medieval charters that claim it was the right of the abbey to hold the coronation.
07:45Helen, you're in your element here, aren't you?
07:47Yes, this is a fantastic thing.
07:49It purports to be a charter of 1066, and it's got what seems to be the seal of Edward the Confessor on it.
07:57Why does she say purports?
07:59Because it isn't anything of the kind.
08:01It says it's a charter of Edward the Confessor, but in fact it was written in the 1120s or 1130s.
08:08And how do we know it's a forgery? It's because of the way it's written, isn't it?
08:12There's not much difference between early 12th century and mid-11th century writing on documents like this.
08:19There's enough for experts to tell the difference.
08:20And also because phraseology is wrong, it contains various things that you get in 12th century charters
08:26that you don't get in 11th century charters.
08:29And then it's got a forged seal of Edward the Confessor attached to it.
08:33Really, it's definitely a forgery. It's game, set and match against them, I'm afraid.
08:37So they're legitimising the fact that they hold the coronation and do all these other things,
08:43when in effect they don't have that legitimacy.
08:46It is spurious, isn't it? It is a skeleton in the cupboard, isn't it?
08:49Well, almost, yes. It's a skeleton with clothes on, I would say,
08:53because they did have some of these rights,
08:55and after all they have been doing coronations by the 1120s or 1130s,
09:00but what they're doing is making Edward the Confessor give them the right to do so.
09:05Confirms all my prejudices.
09:07Which are they?
09:08About the English ruling class.
09:10Ah, right.
09:12If they don't have the power, they'll just make it up.
09:14It wasn't just the monks who were empowered by Edward's legend, but the monarchy.
09:24In the early 13th century, the king was Henry III.
09:29He built much of the abbey we see today, having created it to honour St Edward.
09:35Henry also rebuilt Edward's shrine, creating a full-blown Edward cult.
09:41Henry was trying to make the monarchy far more sacred than it's ever been before.
09:47I think what he first of all saw in the Confessor was a saint of mighty power,
09:52and if you intercede to the Confessor,
09:55the Confessor can help you in this life and get you to the next.
09:58So the Confessor, after all, had wrought miracles.
10:01The Confessor's shrine is the eye of the abbey.
10:05It's from there that all the power of the abbey and the power of the Confessor radiates out.
10:11Henry believed that through St Edward, he too could become a saintly king.
10:16But Edward's cult wasn't to last.
10:20Unfortunately, St Edward wasn't that popular.
10:24He was a bit dull.
10:25He was the patron saint of a boring political elite.
10:28No one else was that excited about him.
10:31So, by the 15th century, he'd been replaced as the saint of England
10:35by the much more romantic, dragon-slaying St George.
10:39But St Edward had created Westminster,
10:42and he became the symbol of the monarchy as sacred.
10:46And extraordinarily, even today,
10:49he's still considered to be the patron saint,
10:53the protector from heaven of the royal family.
10:56A massive restoration project is now reminding us of a time
11:02when kings had sacred power.
11:05For the first time in 150 years,
11:07conservators are revealing one of Britain's greatest medieval treasures.
11:12In the 13th century,
11:23Westminster Abbey was one of the most important buildings in England.
11:27It had been built by the king, Henry III,
11:30as a place he could have a hotline to God.
11:34And within it, he built something astonishing.
11:37A rare sacred floor, known as a Cosmati pavement,
11:43is now being revealed by conservators
11:46for the first time in over a century.
11:49It had been in such poor condition,
11:51it had had a protective covering.
11:54Even during the 1953 coronation,
11:57this medieval masterpiece was hidden from view.
12:01Up until recently,
12:03this entire pavement was almost completely covered with a carpet,
12:07which made it one of England's great lost treasures.
12:10Because we can now see
12:11that it's not only incredibly beautiful,
12:14but it's full of medieval mystery.
12:17There were once messages
12:18which weaved their way all the way around it,
12:21and we can't really make them out any longer.
12:24There's this mysterious pink orb in the centre.
12:27Each part of the pattern means something different.
12:30It's as though the whole thing is a secret code.
12:34It's a work of art that tantalises historians even today.
12:40The floor was built in the most sacred part of the abbey.
12:46It's in the central place for ceremony,
12:49next to the high altar,
12:50behind which is St Edward's Shrine.
12:52The pavement connected its creator,
12:56King Henry III,
12:58with St Edward,
12:59and with God.
13:01And there are a few intriguing clues to a lost inscription.
13:06The thing I find so tantalising about this pavement
13:09is these letters.
13:11There are just a few of them there,
13:13and sockets in between,
13:15where there were obviously other letters.
13:17It's like a message from another time
13:19that we just can't read.
13:21That's exactly what it is.
13:22These few letters remaining from the inscription
13:25that made this the most important
13:28and unique Cosmati pavement.
13:30It's the only one that we know of
13:31that had a very long and complicated inscription.
13:35Fortunately, there are just a few letters left,
13:37and enough indents for us to make out what it once said.
13:40So it went all the way round here originally?
13:42All the way round here,
13:43all the way round these roundels,
13:44and all the way round the outside of the pavement.
13:47So is this the universe here,
13:49this pink and red bit?
13:50This is the beginning of the universe.
13:53The universe began as this confused mass of matter,
13:56all swirling around.
13:58So what does the big message around the sides mean?
14:01The message around the sides was a great riddle.
14:05And if you follow me,
14:06you can follow me to the end of the universe.
14:09What do you mean?
14:09Because the inscription around here
14:11told us when the world was going to end.
14:15And it gave a formula
14:16in terms of a list of creatures
14:19multiplying their lifespans together.
14:22So how did that work?
14:23So it starts by telling us
14:25that the hedge, or fence,
14:26cepes in Latin,
14:27stands for three years.
14:29And then it says three times that
14:31for the lifespan of a dog,
14:32nine years.
14:34Three times more will give us horses,
14:3627 years.
14:37Three times that man,
14:3981, all reasonable estimates.
14:41Then it goes on to ravens,
14:43and stags,
14:45and a huge sea monsters,
14:47and eventually the world.
14:49So does that mean
14:51that by adding all these ages up,
14:53we'll know when the world is going to end?
14:55If we multiply them all together,
14:56we'll find out that the world
14:57will live for three huge sea monsters.
15:00Do you want to know how long that is?
15:02I think I should.
15:03It's 19,683 years.
15:06So we can sleep easy tonight.
15:08Why do you think that Henry commissioned
15:11this exquisite pavement?
15:13What do you think it would have meant to him?
15:15I think it was a way of him
15:17connecting with the divine.
15:19This, after all,
15:20is the pattern,
15:22the divine pattern of the universe.
15:24So by standing in this position
15:25for his coronation,
15:27he was drawing down upon himself
15:29the power of the universe,
15:30the divine power.
15:31So when he was here,
15:33it was as though he was in
15:35the very center of the universe,
15:37and around his periphery
15:39was the information
15:40that the universe itself
15:42would one day end.
15:44The king is the center
15:45of the social and political universe
15:47of his country,
15:48and indeed,
15:49his reign will come to an end,
15:51and he was very keen
15:52that he would be remembered
15:53as being a holy king.
15:55You could simply interpret it
16:00as a pavement
16:03which is about the end of time,
16:06about the end of the world.
16:09But because it must have been
16:13the pavement on which
16:14the coronation happened,
16:16you could also interpret it
16:18as a pavement which is about
16:21underpinning royal power,
16:24underpinning a rather grand
16:27cosmic view of royal power.
16:36The Cosmati was modelled
16:38on Italian floors in Rome.
16:41Today, there's a massive
16:42conservation project
16:43to clean and restore
16:45over 80,000 tesserae,
16:47small pieces of exotic stone.
16:54This is actually one
16:55of the first opportunities
16:56in modern times
16:58to actually study
16:58a Cosmati floor anywhere,
17:01which is a fantastic opportunity
17:03for us.
17:03It's fantastic, isn't it?
17:04It's an exotic,
17:06plucked out of its own culture
17:07and placed right in the middle
17:09of Westminster Abbey.
17:10How do you think this floor
17:12would originally
17:12have been constructed?
17:14We're only speculating,
17:15but we believe
17:17that the tesserae
17:18are likely to have been cut,
17:20possibly in Italy,
17:22to a template.
17:23So we're imagining
17:24that the bags of tesserae
17:26came with the Italian marblers
17:28and they just laid in the pattern.
17:29So what's the quality
17:30of the work like?
17:31It's just supreme.
17:34The quality of the workmanship
17:35is absolutely fantastic.
17:38It's faultless.
17:39The technique of cutting
17:41these very dense, hard stones,
17:43they've made it look simple
17:44than easy because they're so brilliant.
17:46And we're led to believe
17:47that this floor was laid
17:48in a year
17:49and executed to perfection.
17:52Parts of the floor,
17:53maybe 30%,
17:54is in such good condition
17:56that it's as good as it was
17:57when it was laid
17:58750 years ago.
18:04By underpinning royal power,
18:06the pavement was perfect
18:07for its creator,
18:08King Henry III.
18:10Like his role model,
18:11St Edward,
18:12it was believed
18:13Henry's body
18:14could perform miracles
18:15by curing people.
18:19Not only that,
18:21but Henry saw himself
18:22as ruling over England
18:24with divine authority.
18:27And the abbey
18:27came to encompass
18:28every aspect of his power.
18:32This building,
18:33with its stunning architecture,
18:35is called the Chapter House.
18:37It was created by Henry III.
18:40And unlike everywhere else
18:41in the abbey,
18:42this wasn't a place of worship,
18:45it was basically a meeting room.
18:46It was where Henry talked
18:48to his courtiers.
18:49and pretty soon,
18:51the House of Commons itself
18:52was sitting here.
18:54So now,
18:55the fate of the abbey
18:56had become intertwined
18:58with the fate of government.
18:59In a curious way,
19:03two things shaped Westminster
19:07under Henry III.
19:08The first is,
19:09he built the abbey,
19:10but the second is,
19:11of course,
19:11that Parliament
19:12and the whole beginnings of Parliament
19:14at Westminster
19:15belonged to his time too.
19:18And in a way,
19:18the two go together,
19:19Parliament
19:20and the abbey.
19:21And those two things
19:23which have held Westminster
19:25and created modern Westminster,
19:27in a way created modern Britain.
19:33Westminster
19:34had become the place
19:35which created order.
19:37Even today,
19:38the legal year
19:39opens with a service
19:40in the abbey
19:41and a theatrical display
19:43from the people
19:44who radiate power.
19:45But while today
19:50we can appeal
19:51to higher courts
19:52and we can vote
19:53for who we want in power,
19:55in the 13th century,
19:56things were rather different.
20:01To the medieval mind,
20:03there was a natural order
20:04in the universe,
20:06with God in heaven
20:08at the top,
20:09then on earth
20:10the king appointed by God,
20:12under him
20:13the people in charge,
20:15and at the bottom,
20:17people like me.
20:19What this meant
20:20was that you couldn't
20:21disagree with the king
20:23because he wasn't answerable
20:24to his people,
20:25only to God.
20:30The more time I spend here,
20:32the more I realise
20:34that this place
20:35is all about
20:36who's in charge.
20:37Because if you're the monarch,
20:39an awful lot
20:40of your legitimacy
20:41is based on your relationship
20:43with the abbey.
20:44It tells people
20:45very clearly
20:46that you had the absolute right
20:48to be king or queen
20:49not because your dad
20:51was king
20:51or you're the nearest
20:53long-lost relative
20:54or because you're
20:55a good governor,
20:56but because God
20:57has chosen you.
20:58When Henry VIII came
21:03to the throne,
21:04like kings before him,
21:05he believed he was appointed
21:07by God
21:08to rule on earth.
21:10He saw himself
21:11as so powerful
21:12he could even dismiss
21:13the Catholic Church.
21:19Henry became head
21:20of the Church of England.
21:23Abbeys were dissolved
21:24throughout the country.
21:25Even the Westminster monks
21:27fled.
21:32Over the next few decades,
21:34Catholic and Protestant monarchs
21:36fought for control
21:37of the country.
21:38But whatever religion
21:40the king or queen
21:40believed in,
21:42they were all crowned
21:43at Westminster Abbey.
21:44I think the Westminster Abbey
21:48in a way
21:49is simply in,
21:50it's too important
21:50a building,
21:51it's in too important
21:52a place
21:53to simply get rid of.
21:55You're not really
21:55going to do that
21:56because it's very much
21:57the advantage of the monarchy
21:58even as they're making changes
22:00to keep up
22:01the royal link
22:02with the Abbey.
22:03In a sense,
22:03the more you're making change
22:04the more important
22:05it becomes
22:06to emphasize royal authority
22:07and obviously
22:07one of the key aspects
22:08of the Reformation
22:09is about royal authority
22:10over the church.
22:11It was up to Elizabeth I
22:17to resolve the direction
22:19of state religion.
22:21Today,
22:21an original portrait
22:22of Elizabeth
22:22that belongs to the Abbey
22:24is being conserved
22:25by specialists.
22:28By taking an x-ray
22:29of the portrait,
22:31they've also discovered
22:32it's not all as it seems.
22:35Elizabeth's 16th century face
22:37was painted over
22:38at a later date,
22:40possibly in the romantic
22:4118th century.
22:44That is a remarkable painting.
22:47This is all about splendor.
22:48This is as richly dressed
22:50as you could be.
22:51The quality is absolutely
22:52extraordinary, isn't it?
22:53When you look at
22:54all the different pearls,
22:55each one has been treated
22:57slightly differently.
22:58The reflections are
22:59slightly different.
23:00It's just done so beautifully.
23:02Yeah.
23:03It's as good as you get it
23:05at this time.
23:06So what did she look like
23:07underneath?
23:09Well, we took an x-ray
23:10and this is what came up.
23:13Wow.
23:14So very different.
23:15Yes, very different.
23:17This is a picture of a kind of
23:19soft, gentle girl almost,
23:23whereas the original face
23:24is the face of a queen.
23:26It's somebody who has authority,
23:28who has power,
23:28who's used to ruling.
23:29That's actually quite a scary face.
23:32Yeah, absolutely.
23:32This is a very striking image.
23:35This is a woman
23:35on top of the world.
23:41Elizabeth used her power
23:43to take Westminster Abbey
23:44under the personal control
23:46of the monarch.
23:47Today, the abbey's still
23:51answerable directly,
23:53not to an archbishop,
23:54but to the queen.
23:56This has always been
23:58the royal church.
24:06And the one time England
24:08didn't have a monarchy,
24:10the abbey still survived.
24:11It may seem surprising,
24:14but while civil war raged,
24:16Cromwell issued precise instructions
24:18not to destroy
24:20representations of kings.
24:26Even Cromwell fell
24:27under the abbey's spell.
24:29Not only did he save it
24:30from ruin,
24:31but he even adopted
24:32some of its traditions.
24:34For instance,
24:34he had his own form
24:36of royal coronation.
24:37He even became known
24:38as the king
24:39in all but name.
24:41Unless you've knocked
24:44Westminster Abbey down,
24:45you need to exploit
24:46that place.
24:48Otherwise,
24:48contemporaries are going
24:49to say,
24:50well, it's not really
24:51a new order.
24:52They didn't use
24:52Westminster Abbey.
24:54If Cromwell was
24:55really ambitious,
24:56he would have populated
24:57Westminster Abbey
24:58with a massive
24:59new ritual.
25:00So I think we've got
25:02to recognise
25:02a little bit like
25:03modern politics.
25:04You don't suddenly
25:05have a massive break
25:07with the past.
25:10Kings, queens,
25:11and government
25:12have always protected
25:13Westminster Abbey,
25:15using it to affirm
25:16their power.
25:18Even the abbey's tombs
25:20tell a story
25:20of royal authority.
25:22And today,
25:24conservators are
25:24revealing artworks
25:26only fit for a king.
25:28In 1997,
25:38Westminster Abbey
25:39was surrounded
25:40by wailing and flowers
25:42in a scene
25:43fit for a medieval saint.
25:46She may not have been
25:46the most popular princess
25:48in the royal household,
25:49but people would have
25:50been affronted
25:51if Princess Diana
25:52hadn't been brought here,
25:54into the national shrine.
25:55The abbey's role
26:03as a place of memorial
26:04has deep roots.
26:07Ever since the 11th century,
26:09the abbey has embraced
26:11the dead
26:11and everything
26:12they've stood for.
26:15And nowhere is this
26:17more true
26:17than the royal tombs.
26:20Today,
26:21conservators
26:21are revealing
26:22hidden clues
26:23to royal power.
26:30Can I join you, too?
26:31Yes, come and join us, Tony.
26:33Maureen,
26:33what is this
26:34extraordinary
26:35wooden thing?
26:37Well, this is a canopy
26:38over the top
26:39of the tomb
26:40of Richard II
26:41and his queen,
26:42Anne of Bohemia.
26:43And it's
26:44one of several
26:45that we've got here
26:46in the east end
26:47of the abbey.
26:49They are canopies
26:50of honour, basically.
26:51Abbey,
26:52I think you've been
26:52lying down here
26:53staring upwards at it
26:55for the best part
26:55of three weeks,
26:56haven't you?
26:57What is this
26:58honeycombed golden,
27:00rather manky stuff?
27:01This is
27:02tin relief,
27:04which is a
27:04gilding decoration
27:05that was used
27:06in medieval
27:07decorative effect.
27:09They place it on
27:10in patches,
27:11which you can see
27:11the outlines of.
27:12Oh, yeah.
27:13And then it's
27:13gilded on top
27:14of that.
27:15Different layers
27:16are flaked off,
27:16sometimes just the gold,
27:17sometimes the tin,
27:18and sometimes the whole thing.
27:20Oh, there's a whole
27:21painting here,
27:23isn't there?
27:23Yeah.
27:24I hadn't realised that.
27:25I thought it was just
27:25great big clumps
27:26of rather unpleasant,
27:28gooey-looking gold.
27:29It's a very
27:30elaborate painting.
27:31This is
27:32the Almighty
27:33enthroned
27:34making a sign
27:35of a blessing
27:35with his
27:36right hand
27:38and holding
27:39an orb
27:39in his left.
27:41Worry,
27:41it's so detailed,
27:43such a lot of work,
27:44but nobody could see it.
27:46Well, that,
27:47unfortunately,
27:47is often the case
27:48with great medieval
27:49works of art
27:50and tomb canopies
27:51like this.
27:52Everything had to be done
27:53perfectly and beautifully
27:54decorated,
27:55even if you couldn't
27:56see it,
27:57even if it was only
27:58the Almighty
27:59who could see it.
28:00But in the case of this,
28:01of course,
28:01you've got lying underneath
28:03the king and queen
28:04in their effigy form
28:06looking up at it.
28:07So, in a sense,
28:08there was
28:09someone looking at it.
28:10They may be dead
28:11as doornails,
28:12but they can admire
28:12the art.
28:13Exactly.
28:18Royal tombs
28:19weren't just about
28:20honouring God
28:21after death.
28:22They were political
28:23broadcasts
28:24from the monarchy.
28:28This tomb
28:29does take up
28:30a colossal amount
28:30of space.
28:31It does.
28:32It's the monument
28:33to Henry VII,
28:34and you can see him
28:35lying there
28:36with his queen
28:37Elizabeth
28:37to his left,
28:39erected in his own chapel
28:40and paid for,
28:42finally,
28:42by his son,
28:43Henry VIII.
28:44This is odd, isn't it?
28:46You've got this
28:46dark stuff here,
28:49and then on top of it
28:50what appears
28:52to be gold paint.
28:53Well, what you can see there
28:54is the original metal
28:57of the cast bronze sculpture,
28:59and over the top
29:00the artist has laid
29:02the artist has laid
29:02this very, very thin layer
29:04of gold leaf
29:05so that the impression
29:07given is of a golden statue.
29:09Who did it?
29:10A man called
29:11Torrigiano,
29:12who came from Florence,
29:13extremely expensive job.
29:15He was one of the very few people
29:17who could handle the work.
29:19It is rather odd,
29:20isn't it,
29:20that you've got the real body
29:21down here in the tomb,
29:22and then you've got
29:23the pretend body on top.
29:25Well, we don't know
29:26where the real body is,
29:28buried under the ground somewhere,
29:29but what we can see
29:31is the body
29:31they wanted us to remember,
29:33as it were,
29:33the monumental body
29:35which would give
29:36the impression
29:37of the king
29:38into eternity.
29:40That famous phrase,
29:41the king is dead,
29:43long live the king,
29:44is all about
29:45that very important
29:46and early idea
29:47that there is a separation
29:49between the natural body
29:52of a particular king,
29:53which of course
29:54goes through
29:55its life cycle
29:56and dies,
29:57but what survives
29:58and what continues
29:59is the notion
30:00of kingship,
30:01and this whole idea
30:02of the continuous power
30:05of the monarch
30:05is absolutely built in
30:08to a monument
30:08of this sort.
30:13Continuity was key
30:14to the royal family
30:15as it is today.
30:17From Edward the Confessor
30:18to Elizabeth I,
30:19the abbey's tombs
30:21announced the lasting power
30:22of the monarchy.
30:24But in the 17th
30:26and 18th centuries,
30:27England saw massive change
30:29in society,
30:31politics,
30:32and religion.
30:33The monarchy
30:34lost both power
30:36and its sacred aura.
30:38In the abbey,
30:39there were no new
30:40royal tomb monuments built.
30:43And instead,
30:44we got things like this.
30:46Monuments not to kings
31:00and queens,
31:01but to writers
31:02and musicians,
31:03a new elite.
31:05With the British Empire
31:06expanding,
31:08there was a national
31:08confidence in our culture.
31:10The abbey,
31:13ever at the heart
31:14of the establishment,
31:15wanted to embrace
31:16these new heroes.
31:18The need even overcame
31:19a few troubling details.
31:21I'd always thought of abbey's
31:24as being deeply religious,
31:26highly respectable places.
31:28But look at this.
31:30W.H. Auden,
31:31who was gay,
31:32George Eliot,
31:33who was a woman novelist
31:35pretending to be a man,
31:36Dylan Thomas,
31:37alcoholic,
31:38Lord Byron,
31:39womaniser,
31:40D.H. Lawrence,
31:41Lady Chatterley's lover.
31:43They're not actually buried here.
31:45These are memorials
31:46which were placed here
31:47long after their death
31:49once the veneer of history
31:51had finally made them
31:52a little bit more respectable.
31:58There is something
31:59slightly weird
32:00about the fact
32:00that so many of these monuments
32:02are much more modern
32:03than the writers themselves.
32:05Yes,
32:05because a lot of people
32:06were left out.
32:07Byron was too scandalous
32:08to include,
32:09Shelley was an atheist,
32:11Alexander Pope
32:12was too Catholic.
32:13So to that extent,
32:15we are looking
32:15at a modern version
32:17of the past
32:17and it always has been
32:19a modern version
32:19of the past.
32:20But why do you seem
32:21to have this explosion
32:23of poets here
32:24in the 18th and 19th century?
32:26I think that's really
32:26associated with
32:27national confidence.
32:28There's this moment
32:29where suddenly
32:30the idea of displaying
32:32in an almost theatrical way
32:33the national culture
32:34starts up
32:35and you start to put in
32:37memorials to people
32:38who aren't actually buried here
32:39in an effort
32:40to display national pride.
32:42So were writers
32:43vying for the chance
32:45of being buried here?
32:46No.
32:47It's very expensive
32:48to be buried here.
32:49Ben Johnson
32:50is buried here
32:51but not in Poet's Corner.
32:53He's buried standing up
32:54because it was too expensive
32:56to be buried lying down.
32:58He's got a tiny little memorial,
33:00isn't he?
33:00He has.
33:00It's my favourite,
33:01I think.
33:02There's just a little stone
33:03on the top of his head,
33:04essentially.
33:05But by the 19th century,
33:08the Abbey had got
33:09so established,
33:10or Poet's Corner
33:10was so established
33:11that it was felt
33:12that if you were a great writer
33:13you should be in here.
33:14Quite a lot of great writers
33:15didn't want to be in here.
33:17So Dickens, for example,
33:18expressly refused
33:20in his will
33:20to be buried here
33:21but he's buried here anyway.
33:23Hardy wants to be buried
33:24in Dorset.
33:25Well, a bit of him
33:25is buried in Dorset
33:26but the rest of him
33:27is buried up here.
33:29It is quite a jumble,
33:30though, isn't it?
33:30I love the way
33:31that unlike
33:32Madame Tussauds
33:33nobody gets thrown out.
33:34They just get shuffled along
33:36or put in
33:36a less important place.
33:38It does seem to me
33:39to be an incredibly
33:40English way
33:41of dealing with things.
33:42It's quite reassuring
33:43in a way, isn't it?
33:44It is.
33:44I like it myself.
33:51It wasn't just writers
33:52and poets
33:53who were embraced
33:54by the Abbey
33:55but scientists,
33:58explorers,
34:00even people I knew.
34:08Today,
34:09the latest national icon
34:10is being commemorated,
34:12the Royal Ballet.
34:14But while plaques are added,
34:16virtually nothing's known
34:17about what's under the floor.
34:21There are graves
34:22of at least 3,000 people below
34:25but no one knows
34:26how the burials
34:27are structured.
34:28So, in the middle of the night,
34:30radar is being used
34:32to investigate
34:33the world of the dead.
34:36So, all these black rectangles
34:38are burials?
34:39Effectively, yes.
34:40What we're looking at here
34:42is the plan
34:43of the radar data.
34:44This is the whole
34:45of the South transept.
34:46This is the line here
34:47of the pillars
34:48which you can see
34:48in front of you.
34:49And what would these
34:51black rectangles represent
34:52is the area of graves
34:54buried beneath the surface.
34:56I find that quite extraordinary.
34:58There isn't any indication
34:59of most of those graves
35:01on the floor.
35:02There's just ordinary flagstones.
35:03Yet, under here,
35:04there are these series
35:05of what appear to be
35:06very large graves.
35:07Yes.
35:08Well, this is because
35:09there's been hundreds of years
35:10of burial here
35:11in the Poets' Corner
35:12and many of the important
35:14burials would have been
35:15put into stone
35:16or brick-lined chambers
35:18that were dug down
35:18into the ground
35:19then covered over
35:20with a great slab
35:21with an inscription on.
35:23Now, quite a lot of those
35:24slabs have disappeared
35:25over the course of time
35:26and we wouldn't know
35:27about those chambers
35:28or those graves
35:29if it were not for the radar.
35:31Is this the first time
35:32that this kind of work
35:33has been done here?
35:34Yes.
35:34I mean, this is something
35:35that we're absolutely delighted
35:37to have put in hand
35:38and we've got a lot more to do
35:40but this is because
35:41this is showing us
35:42an awful lot of information
35:43that we had no idea of.
35:44I'm not surprised
35:45there's practically
35:46more people under the floor
35:47than there are walking around.
35:49That could be the case.
35:53For a thousand years,
35:55the Abbey has buried
35:56so many bodies
35:57it's a chock-full memorial
35:59to the people
36:00and values
36:01of the establishment.
36:04No monarchs have been buried
36:06at the Abbey
36:06since the 18th century
36:08but their kingship
36:09lives on
36:10through the coronation.
36:12Westminster Abbey
36:13will one day
36:14embrace a new king
36:15and like our current queen
36:18his body
36:19will undergo
36:20something extraordinary.
36:29The next coronation
36:31will see the making
36:32of the monarch,
36:33the head of state
36:33and the head of the Church
36:35of England
36:35all in one
36:36and as for hundreds of years
36:38Westminster Abbey
36:39will provide
36:40the ideal setting.
36:43The queen's coronation
36:45in 1953
36:46was a theatrical celebration
36:48of the old order.
36:50If ever there was an event
36:51that used history
36:52and tradition
36:53as a display of power
36:54this was it.
36:56The queen
36:57now wears a robe
36:58that may well be descended
37:00from the imperial cloaks
37:02of the Byzantine emperors.
37:06Seven coaches
37:07were even hired
37:08from a film company
37:09for the big event.
37:11It is a completely
37:12unique survival.
37:13What is so astonishing
37:14about the coronation
37:16is that it really goes
37:17through a revival
37:18in this country
37:19in the 20th century
37:20and almost is seen
37:22as a kind of riposte
37:24saying look
37:25you know
37:25we're an old country
37:26and we still do
37:27these medieval cavalcades
37:29and crownings
37:29and the rest of it
37:30but in a way
37:31we have a stability
37:33and a continuity.
37:34We haven't had
37:34the Russian revolution.
37:37We haven't got
37:38Mussolini
37:38and the fascists.
37:39We haven't got
37:40Hitler and Nazis
37:41with their rallies.
37:44Our ceremonial
37:45is about
37:46anointing somebody
37:47as it were
37:48under God
37:49to represent the nation.
37:51It's like
37:51sort of looking
37:52at the court
37:52of Richard II
37:53or something like that.
37:54It's astonishing.
37:56Absolutely astonishing.
37:58Receive the rod
38:01of equity
38:02and mercy.
38:05Judging by past coronations
38:07the next coronation
38:08won't just look
38:09really historic
38:10but at its core
38:12will be things
38:13laden
38:13with history
38:14and symbolism.
38:16Since medieval times
38:18this has included
38:19anointing
38:20with a special oil
38:21the presentation
38:23of regalia
38:23and the crowning.
38:28Are these
38:28the crown jewels?
38:30No, no they're not.
38:31These are actually
38:32replicas.
38:33They're practice regalia.
38:35What are they used for?
38:36Do the little princes
38:37come here
38:37and practice
38:38at night?
38:39No, they're really used
38:40for the people
38:40who actually have
38:41to carry them
38:42in procession.
38:43Presumably
38:43they're drenched
38:44with symbolism.
38:45They are.
38:46Every object
38:47which is given
38:48to the monarch
38:48is symbolic
38:50in some way
38:51of the role
38:52of the monarch.
38:52And two of these?
38:54Two scepters.
38:55They're kind of
38:56wands of office
38:57really
38:57which symbolise
38:58the authority.
38:59It's a big stick
39:00isn't it?
39:01Absolutely, absolutely.
39:02This is interesting
39:03a bird and a spoon.
39:05These are used
39:06at the anointing
39:07which is the
39:08most solemn part
39:09of the ceremony.
39:10This is the oil
39:11going over the head
39:11of the monarch.
39:12The holy oil
39:13which the archbishop
39:13uses to anoint
39:14the monarch
39:15as a kind of
39:15consecrating
39:16or setting apart
39:17of the monarch.
39:18Can I pick this up?
39:18You can.
39:20It's called
39:20the ampulla.
39:22It's a very heavy ampulla.
39:24There's a little
39:25hole in the beak
39:26which forms a spout
39:27and the oil
39:27is poured
39:28into the spoon.
39:29They tip the oil
39:30in like that.
39:32And from the spoon
39:33the archbishop
39:33then anoints
39:34the sovereign.
39:35It just really
39:36just tips it
39:36over his head.
39:37No,
39:38uses a thumb.
39:40It's not actually
39:41poured over.
39:41Oh, it's not
39:42like vinaigrette.
39:43No, no.
39:44You put your thumb
39:44in like that.
39:45You put the thumb
39:45and then make
39:46a sign of the cross.
39:47Yeah.
39:47And this.
39:48And then the crown
39:49of course
39:49which is
39:50the iconic
39:51symbol of coronation.
39:52This crown
39:53is St. Edward's crown
39:54which is only
39:55worn for the
39:55crowning ceremony.
39:56Is that
39:57Edward the confessor?
39:58Edward the confessor.
39:59So he's still
39:59at the heart
40:00of the coronation?
40:01Absolutely.
40:01Will our next
40:02monarch use
40:03all this stuff?
40:04Yes,
40:04as far as
40:05we are aware
40:06at the moment.
40:07Including
40:07Edward's crown?
40:08Including St. Edward's crown.
40:09Almost certainly.
40:11Can I pick it up?
40:12You can, yes.
40:12And another
40:20important piece
40:21of symbolism
40:21is this.
40:24Perhaps the
40:25most famous
40:25chair in the
40:26western world.
40:28The coronation
40:28chair.
40:30Despite being
40:31battered and
40:32even graffitied
40:33on, it's been
40:34used for every
40:35coronation since
40:36the 14th century.
40:37For the ceremony,
40:41the chair's
40:42placed next to
40:43Henry III's
40:44Cosmati pavement.
40:46And at the
40:46next crowning,
40:47the Cosmati
40:48will be on show
40:49for the first
40:50time in over
40:51a century.
40:53Henry must
40:54have thought
40:55of the pavement
40:56and the coronation
40:57as very, very
40:58closely linked.
40:59Because now,
41:01and probably
41:01then, the
41:03great chair
41:03on which you're
41:04crowned is placed
41:05just in front
41:06of the pavement.
41:07So, in a sense,
41:08the whole regality
41:10is being situated
41:11in the wider
41:13universe.
41:14And so, the
41:15monarch looks out
41:16over the pavement,
41:16over the cosmos,
41:18then looks up
41:19at the high altar
41:20and beyond it
41:21at the shrine
41:22of the confessor.
41:23So, in a way,
41:23the pavement is
41:24linking the
41:25coronation,
41:26the cosmos,
41:27and the confessor
41:28all together.
41:31And looking
41:32over the
41:32Cosmati,
41:33the monarch
41:34still undergoes
41:35the most symbolic
41:36part of the
41:37ceremony,
41:37of all.
41:40Since biblical
41:41times,
41:41anointing with
41:42oil from the
41:43Holy Land
41:44has meant
41:44the Holy Spirit
41:45has entered
41:46the body
41:47of the monarch.
41:48In that moment,
41:49they transform
41:50into a new
41:51figure,
41:52one appointed
41:53to rule
41:53by God.
41:59In medieval
42:00times,
42:00it was the
42:01anointing
42:01that also gave
42:02the monarch's
42:03special miraculous
42:04powers.
42:07If you want
42:08evidence of just
42:09how important
42:10this moment
42:10is thought to be,
42:12you just have to
42:12look at the
42:13coronation of
42:131953.
42:14free.
42:16When I first watched
42:18that ceremony
42:19as a little boy
42:20nearly 60 years
42:21ago,
42:22it seemed to me
42:23not only very
42:24big,
42:24not only very
42:25important,
42:26but also really
42:27holy.
42:28And the most
42:29holy moment of
42:30all was when
42:31the anointing
42:32started,
42:32because at that
42:33moment,
42:34the cameras
42:35cut away.
42:36And I knew,
42:37and the whole of
42:38the rest of the
42:38population knew,
42:39that this was
42:40an act that
42:41was so sacred,
42:43it couldn't
42:44possibly be
42:44broadcast.
42:46The anointing
42:47takes place
42:48under a canopy
42:49of cloth of
42:49gold,
42:50for this part
42:51of the ceremony
42:51is withheld
42:52even from the
42:53eyes of those
42:53present.
42:55But in 1953,
42:57the moment of
42:58anointing made
42:59some kind of
42:59sense.
43:00One in three
43:01people in
43:01England thought
43:02the Queen had
43:03actually been
43:04chosen by God.
43:06When the
43:06congregation again
43:07see their
43:08Queen,
43:09the character
43:09of this
43:09concentration
43:10is symbolised
43:11by her
43:11vestments
43:12resembling
43:12those of
43:13a priest.
43:15That was
43:16in the
43:161950s,
43:17in post-war
43:18Britain,
43:19a time of
43:19empire and
43:20Britishness,
43:21and a very
43:22Christian nation.
43:24Today,
43:25we live in a
43:26very different
43:26society.
43:29Yet for the
43:30Church of
43:30England,
43:30the anointing
43:31continues to
43:32be a core
43:33part of the
43:34making of
43:35the monarch.
43:37Why do you
43:38say that the
43:38anointing is
43:39more important
43:40than the
43:40crowning?
43:41What it's
43:41actually saying
43:42is that God
43:43does give
43:45people particular
43:46functions,
43:47as it were,
43:47particular roles
43:48within national
43:49life, and I
43:50think monarchs
43:51feel that they
43:52are set apart
43:53by God to
43:54have a role.
43:56The question
43:56at its most
43:57profound is
43:59who is
43:59ultimately in
44:02charge, as it
44:03were.
44:03I mean, in
44:04the end,
44:05what's all
44:05this government
44:06process about?
44:08And certainly
44:09from my point
44:10of view, I
44:11would say that
44:12we talk about
44:14Her Majesty's
44:15government, and
44:16responsibility
44:17therefore to the
44:18sovereign, and
44:20who is the
44:20sovereign responsible
44:21to?
44:22Well, the
44:23person to whom
44:23we are all
44:24ultimately
44:24responsible, which
44:25is God.
44:27But in a
44:28democratic society,
44:29it does seem a
44:30bit strange to
44:30us, doesn't it,
44:31a notion that
44:32by spraying oil
44:35onto somebody
44:36that allows God
44:38to go inside
44:39them and turn
44:39them into a
44:40new person,
44:41who is no
44:41longer merely
44:43a mortal, but
44:44has God's
44:46stamp of
44:47kingship on
44:48them.
44:48Well, we
44:48have both
44:49strains of
44:50thought, living
44:52comfortably
44:53together within
44:54our society.
44:55We've
44:55actually managed
44:55to work
44:56through that.
44:57Of course, we're
44:57a democratic
44:58society, of
44:59course, the
44:59government is
45:00elected, we
45:00wouldn't want
45:01it to be any
45:01other way.
45:03So it's a
45:03symbolic truth,
45:06but a profoundly
45:07important symbolic
45:08truth, that
45:09ultimately we're
45:09all answerable
45:10to God.
45:14I can't help
45:15thinking that
45:15there are so
45:16many issues
45:17the coronation
45:17raises, that
45:19the next one
45:19is going to
45:20create some
45:21fierce debate.
45:23But then how
45:24do you break
45:25with a
45:25thousand years
45:26of tradition?
45:28Right at the
45:29core is this
45:31peculiar,
45:32superstitious,
45:33irrational belief
45:35that the
45:36monarch, the
45:36body of the
45:37monarch, is
45:37somehow different
45:38from the rest of
45:39us.
45:40And I'm sure
45:40there would be
45:41absolute outrage
45:43if somebody
45:43suggested we
45:44might modernize
45:45that whole
45:47coronation ritual,
45:48because it
45:49would be very
45:49difficult to
45:50know what to
45:50do.
45:51What would
45:51we do?
45:52We'd anoint
45:53in a
45:54multicultural
45:55way.
45:55We might
45:56anoint with
45:57Chanel No.
45:585 or
45:58whatever else.
45:59I actually
46:00think it
46:01works because
46:02it's so
46:03irrational and
46:04everybody wants
46:04a spectacle.
46:05by 2010,
46:11after two
46:12years of
46:12work, the
46:14restoration of
46:15the Cosmati
46:15pavement is
46:16nearly complete.
46:20For the next
46:21coronation, it
46:23will be on
46:23view, reminding
46:25us of a
46:25medieval world
46:26when kings
46:28had sacred
46:29power.
46:30In the
46:3521st century,
46:36the very
46:36word Westminster
46:37is synonymous
46:38with what we
46:39call democracy,
46:41the idea that
46:42everyone is
46:42equal and
46:43equal before
46:44God.
46:45So the
46:46notion that
46:47one person
46:48has been
46:48chosen to
46:49be king or
46:50queen and
46:51set above us
46:51by the
46:52Almighty is
46:53a bit strange
46:54and slightly
46:55shocking.
46:56So how
46:57come it
46:57survived?
46:59Well, the
47:00story of
47:00Westminster
47:01Abbey has
47:02always been
47:02about the
47:03intertwining of
47:04religion and
47:05politics and
47:07the monarchy and
47:08that tradition and
47:09continuity and
47:10order trump
47:11everything.
47:13And some
47:13people say
47:14that's the real
47:15story of
47:16England.
47:23Over on
47:24More4 tomorrow,
47:25Eric Banner shares
47:26his lifelong
47:26obsession with
47:27racing cars in
47:28True Stories,
47:29Love the Beast,
47:29at 10.
47:31Well, next here
47:31on Channel 4,
47:32never diss them
47:33again, the
47:33untold battle
47:34of Trafalgar
47:35reveals the
47:36vital role
47:36foreigners played
47:37in the historic
47:38moments of
47:39Britain's past.
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