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00:08Throughout history, the mysteries of death and the allure of immortality have held an enduring fascination for humankind.
00:16You tend to find a common theme across the globe, and that is that death was always a passage to
00:22the next stage.
00:23Our quest to honor the departed and enshrine their memory has led to the creation of awe-inspiring monuments.
00:32But these structures are more than mere resting places for the dead.
00:36Each holds clues to the beliefs, technologies, and aspirations of the civilizations that created them.
00:44From a grand edifice born of undying love, its beauty rivaled only by the sorrow it embodies.
00:51This is a story of dark romance that produced one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture in the world.
00:58To a towering sanctuary whose halls echo the weight of royal legacies.
01:03He needs to do something, something symbolic that will cement his family's claim to the throne.
01:12Each serves as a gateway to understanding not only how our ancestors faced death, but how they celebrated life and
01:20power.
01:21These grand structures suggest power, grandeur, opulence.
01:55These grand structures suggest power, grandeur, opulence.
01:58The miracle of Mughal grandeur and architectural perfection.
02:01Its white marble gleaming under the sun.
02:06This marvel of construction has fascinated the world for nearly four centuries.
02:12It's truly breathtaking standing before the Taj Mahal.
02:17It's beautiful, it's expressive, it's architecturally relevant, and it's massive.
02:22The site spans 42 acres and took over two decades to complete.
02:32The Taj Mahal's design blends elements from various architectural styles and is considered the jewel of Islamic art in India.
02:41Combining Islamic design with Indo-Persian styles, this white marble masterpiece dazzles with an intricate tapestry of inlaid semi-precious
02:53stones.
02:54It creates a mesmerizing dance between light and shade, which changes throughout the day and with the seasons.
03:04But beneath a pristine marble facade lie deep mysteries of its construction.
03:12What recent discoveries have given us new clues as to the grand vision for this palace?
03:18What were the true motivations behind its construction?
03:28This is a story of dark romance that produced one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture in the world.
03:37In 1631, the Taj Mahal is commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his wife.
03:45Born Arjumand Benu Begum, she becomes the ruler's third wife and soon becomes his favourite, earning the title of Mumtaz
03:56Mahal, or Chosen One of the Palace.
03:59The emperor's wife plays a significant role in his life and his reign.
04:07She's not only his devoted companion, but also a trusted political advisor.
04:14Her death at the age of 38 devastates Shah Jahan, who goes into secluded mourning.
04:22It is in his profound grief that Shah Jahan conceives the idea of building the Taj Mahal.
04:29He built the Taj Mahal as a tribute to a woman he considered his closest partner, political advisor, who had
04:36died in childbirth at the age of 38.
04:38And the Taj Mahal became this magnificent mausoleum in her honour.
04:45But while the Taj Mahal is heralded as a grand monument to love, could there be deeper, more complex motivations
04:53behind its construction?
04:58The road to Shah Jahan's reign is paved with conflict and ambition.
05:07In 1628, following the death of his father Jahangir, a fierce struggle for succession erupts.
05:17Shah Jahan emerges victorious, defeating his younger brother in a brief but intense power struggle.
05:24To secure his claim to the Mughal throne, he orders the execution of rival claimants, securing his position as the
05:33new emperor.
05:34Now he really needs to legitimate his rule and cement his power.
05:40Over and over in history, one of the things that we see is that leaders who want to show their
05:48power build big structures, build monuments, build something.
05:54Not only to leave a lasting legacy for their own time in power, but also to show that they had
06:02the ability to do so.
06:03The grander the structure, the more people you had serving you.
06:08Because those cultures really were a top-down control system in their forms of government.
06:15This was a very specific Muslim form of charity.
06:18It could be a school, it could be a mosque.
06:21One of the reasons why Shah Jahan may have been able to appease the people through its construction
06:28and not face any kind of unrest is that it had a broader purpose, a public purpose.
06:34These grand structures serve a symbolic function.
06:39They suggest power, grandeur, opulence.
06:44Shah Jahan was one of the many Mughal rulers.
06:46He was Muslim and he was also intent on building his power and displaying it to the other kingdoms around
06:55him.
06:55In some historical accounts, he is painted as a ruthless leader.
06:59But what exactly do we know about the emperor's character?
07:05The significance of the project is immense for the Mughal emperor.
07:09The Taj Mahal becomes a gamble on the emperor's vision and his ability to realize it.
07:15He built it of marble.
07:17He brought precious stones from many, many different countries.
07:22So this was an endeavor that required extensive financial resources,
07:28but also the political authority and the human capital to be able to move it across thousands of miles.
07:36Estimates suggest the construction costs upwards of 32 million rupees,
07:42equivalent to more than 53 billion rupees or 600 million US dollars in today's currency.
07:50Failure would be catastrophic for the emperor's reputation and legacy,
07:54while success would cement his place in history and create a lasting symbol of Mughal glory.
08:03The banks of the Yamuna River are chosen as the location for the ambitious project.
08:10Here it is, this enormous structure, which is located and built literally on the banks of a very important river,
08:18which means that it's immediately visible from a long distance by anyone traveling by.
08:24It is intended to be seen.
08:26It is intended also by virtue of its appearance to communicate spiritual and political authority.
08:33The ever shifting river banks present a formidable engineering challenge to the Taj Mahal's construction.
08:40The river's unpredictable nature poses a significant threat to any structure built along its shores.
08:47You're near a water source that is also going to impact the soils that you're building on,
08:52it's going to impact the construction of the site, you have to manage water all the time.
08:56And water can emulsify soil, it changes its properties, you can't bear something on the soil,
09:02you can't push down on it, it's not strong enough,
09:04and so you have to find a way around that soil to a much better, more solid foundation.
09:11For a building of the Taj Mahal's immense size and weight, this could spell disaster.
09:19The Taj Mahal weighs about 80,000 tons, that is a massive amount of material.
09:24How did these builders achieve this feat of engineering?
09:29And how does this colossal structure stand unwavering on such a precarious location?
09:39To create a foundation that can withstand the heavy load of the structure on the soft alluvial soil of the
09:46Yamuna riverbank,
09:47a deeply excavated foundation would be crucial.
09:51Did they have an advanced knowledge of soil mechanics or hydrology?
09:55How did the builders anticipate these environmental challenges
09:59and achieve such precision without modern surveying equipment?
10:03Ground penetrating radar reveals an excavation depth of about 17 and a half metres below ground level.
10:11This depth is extraordinary for a 17th century foundation.
10:15The idea is to take the forces down from above grade down into solid soil down below.
10:23This is known as a well foundation.
10:25The genius of this design is in its flexibility.
10:29The well foundation allows for some movement, adapting to the river's changes rather than resisting them.
10:37By drilling all of these vertical shafts through that pore soil into good soil and filling it with a material
10:44such as rock or wood,
10:45you're creating this pile, a vertical shaft of solid bearing.
10:49And then when you have all these points that are nice and solid,
10:52you can then build structure over top of that to bridge from pile to pile.
10:56That's in modern days called a pile cap.
10:58It's building a platform that is stable that won't settle differentially and support these heavy loads on top.
11:06You have to do a lot of work just to be able to start building the Taj Mahal.
11:19While the monsoon rains threaten the banks of the river and the very foundation of the Taj Mahal,
11:25the walls of the majestic monument itself appear to respond to nature's onslaught in another poignant way.
11:34During heavy rains, the marble walls of the Taj Mahal present an interesting phenomenon.
11:39It's as if the stone walls weep in eternal sympathy with the emperor's sorrow.
11:47These tears have come to represent Shah Jahan's enduring grief over the loss of Mumtaz Mahal.
11:54The secrets of this phenomena lie hidden in the very fabric of the monument.
11:59The facade of the Taj Mahal is constructed completely in white marble.
12:04In Mughal culture, colors hold profound symbolic meaning.
12:08White in particular is associated with purity, innocence and spirituality.
12:13This was very integral to the construction of the meaning of this place.
12:17That when you saw the Taj Mahal from a distance, you would know that this was a religious place.
12:25Science unveils an explanation for the Taj Mahal's mysterious tears.
12:29The scientific explanation comes down to the marble's high concentration of calcium.
12:36When the rainwater interacts with the stone, it forms a saline solution, which gives the impression that the marble is
12:41weeping.
12:42It's not actually crying, but what we have here is people view the Taj Mahal with the story in mind.
12:51They are feeling what they would expect the Shah felt at the time of the build.
12:56And in feeling that, they're projecting that onto what they're seeing, which is the tears streaking down the sides of
13:03the building.
13:06While the walls seem to weep with the sorrow of lost love, they also stand as a testament to the
13:13immense labor that brought this architectural wonder to life by the hands of an estimated 20,000 people.
13:21How the Taj Mahal was built implies enormously skilled labor force, this mastery of art with resources that had to
13:32be sought from distant parts.
13:35While the mausoleum itself is encased in gleaming white marble, the surrounding complex incorporates not only brick and red sandstone,
13:44but other precious stones.
13:45The Taj Mahal showcases the exquisite art of Pietra Dura.
13:51This is an intricate inlay technique that involves the use of highly polished colored stones to create images.
13:59This precise and beautiful art form adorns the monument with vibrant patterns, utilizing hard stones like marble, jasper and lapis
14:09lazuli, chosen for their rich colors and durability.
14:14Yet these materials are not sourced nearby, but instead imported from distant lands like China, Tibet and Arabia.
14:24How did the Taj Mahal's builders manage to bring together such a vast array of materials from these far flung
14:33corners of the continent?
14:34His networks clearly spanned from the Silk Road to the further south regions of the Indian Ocean.
14:42He was incorporating jade, sapphire, crystal, all these luxurious elements that could not be found in his own kingdom.
14:56The construction of the Taj Mahal implies an enormously skilled labor force.
15:02And some scholars have posited the idea that perhaps elephants were involved as well.
15:12The use of elephants in construction projects was not uncommon in ancient India.
15:17It's believed that over 1,000 of these majestic creatures were used to carry building materials from all over Asia
15:25back to Agra.
15:26These powerful animals were often employed for their incredible strength and endurance.
15:34Apparently they were critical to its construction, but we simply don't know the extent to which that was the case.
15:41The Mughal Empire held elephants in high esteem, viewing them as symbols of royal power and essential components of military
15:51and ceremonial life.
15:53They were in many ways a wonderful manifestation of the kingdom that was powerful, that was big.
16:01So in that sense, they seem to be part of the story as well.
16:06As the colossal efforts of elephants may have shaped the Taj Mahal's grandeur, a darker legend emerges about the fate
16:14of its human creators, suggesting that Shah Jahan's pursuit of perfection may have come at a terrible cost.
16:23Legend has it that the Shah cuts off the hands of the key craftsmen so that they can never build
16:29or replicate this type of structure again.
16:31Some versions of this legend go as far to say that he even had some of the workers blinded.
16:38The legend suggests that the Taj Mahal's beauty was so extraordinary that its creators had to be prevented from ever
16:45replicating it.
16:46Is this story true? We don't have any evidence for it.
16:50But what we can say is that it's this one indication that this building was considered unnatural because of its
16:59beauty and because of the sophistication of its craftsmanship.
17:04The tale has endured over time, continuing to captivate people's imaginations.
17:10When we look back in our own memories, we remember the highs and the lows.
17:15The everyday doesn't really stick with us that well.
17:19And therefore, when you see something good like building of the Taj Mahal, and then you hear a story that,
17:25well, the master builder's hands were cut off so nobody else could build something like it.
17:28It almost fits that realm of the best and the worst.
17:34Despite its fictional nature, this legend has become an integral part of the Taj Mahal's mystique.
17:41The persistence of this myth speaks to the Taj Mahal's ability to inspire awe and wonder.
17:48This adds a real layer of dark romance to the monument's story.
17:55The true darkness of the Taj Mahal may reveal itself not in gruesome tales, but in the very bones of
18:03its interior.
18:04In the Taj Mahal, we find Quranic script.
18:07And this is an element that we do find in other mosques.
18:13But what appears at first glance to be painted text is actually an ingenious use of inlay work.
18:21Thin pieces of black marble meticulously cut and fitted into the white walls to create a flowing Arabic script.
18:30The level of precision is astounding.
18:33Each piece fits together perfectly to create smooth, unbroken lines of text.
18:42The contrast between black and white marble creates a striking visual effect,
18:48but also reveals a complex theological messaging woven into the very fabric of the Taj Mahal's design.
18:55The scripture is interesting because it is clearly intended to orient the passage of the believer through this space.
19:02And it begins by trying to let them and remind them of the glories of the celestial realm when they
19:11die.
19:11The inscriptions in the gateway beckon towards paradise, promising celestial bliss.
19:19But as you progress to the main mausoleum, the tone dramatically shifts.
19:27Over the course of their travels, as they move closer and closer to the sacred center of this building,
19:32they are being warned that if they are not ready for it, they will not be found worthy in order
19:39to enter it.
19:40It warns of a dire fate awaiting the non-believers.
19:46But on entering the mausoleum itself, the inscriptions give way from a warning to a renewed promise of entering paradise.
19:56They are warning them that it is only good practicing observant Muslims who will ultimately be saved.
20:06In 2018, archaeologists make a stunning discovery on the banks of the Yamuna River, directly opposite the Taj Mahal.
20:15They unearth an ancient structure that includes remnants of a fountain, a water channel and several rooms.
20:24They unearth the remains of what appears to be a summer palace, potentially linked to the Taj Mahal complex itself.
20:32What does this discovery reveal about the Taj Mahal's original design?
20:38How does it change our understanding of this iconic monument?
20:44The discovery of the summer palace across the river reveals a new dimension to the Taj Mahal's design, one that
20:52extends beyond the monument itself.
20:56The structure, renowned for its symmetrical features, may have been part of a grander, mirrored footprint extending across both banks
21:05of the Yamuna.
21:07When you approach the building, there is that clear sense of symmetry about that central axis.
21:11Even when you look at the wraparound gardens, the landscaping, all of that was executed in a really beautiful vision.
21:18This discovery suggests Shah Jahan's vision for the Taj Mahal was far more expansive than previously thought.
21:25It does seem that he envisioned a space that would be a larger political and religious centre.
21:36This revelation opens up new avenues of research and interpretation.
21:42Perhaps the Taj Mahal was not intended to be an isolated monument, but the centrepiece of a larger, carefully planned
21:50landscape.
21:51One understanding we have to take away is that these were projects undertaken by rulers who were also cultivating their
22:03images as spiritual leaders.
22:04They were eager to legitimise their political authority by producing works that not only proved their piety, but that also
22:17testified to their appointment by God.
22:21Why has this structure remained hidden for so long?
22:25What other hidden structures might still lie buried around the Taj Mahal?
22:31While the Taj Mahal stands in representation of one man's devotion and an empire's grandeur,
22:38the Speyer Cathedral signifies a different kind of immortality.
22:44Transcending its role as a mere tomb, the monument is endured as a symbol of power, faith and human determination
22:52to leave behind a lasting mark on the world.
22:59On the left bank of the Rhine River, the Romanesque towers of Speyer Cathedral rise to dominate the German skyline.
23:07This was conceived as the grand aspiration of becoming the largest cathedral in all of Christendom.
23:14This cathedral is not only an architectural endeavour, but a bold statement of power and prestige.
23:24It contains the largest Romanesque crypt in the world.
23:29The vault stretches to a remarkable height of seven metres.
23:36As the cathedral takes shape, it becomes the centre of a controversy that would shake the religious foundations of medieval
23:43Europe.
23:44How did this power struggle between religious and secular authority shape the construction of this cathedral?
23:51What hidden symbols or features might reflect this controversy?
23:55At the beginning of the 11th century, the Holy Roman Empire is in a period of transition and consolidation.
24:04Now the first thing you need to know about the Holy Roman Empire is it's not particularly holy, and it's
24:09definitely not Roman.
24:10It's a loose German amalgamation of various little principalities in the Middle Ages.
24:15The Roman in the title is a very conscious effort to try to link it to the ancient Roman Empire,
24:20but it really doesn't have anything to do with it.
24:22So in 1024, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Henry II, dies without an heir.
24:28And this is where Conrad II comes onto the historical stage.
24:32He's not a particularly important German noble.
24:36He manages to convince enough of the German nobles to get behind him, and he's elected as the new Holy
24:44Roman Emperor.
24:44And because he's a new family, he is therefore launching a new dynasty.
24:48This is the beginning of the Salian dynasty.
24:51A dynasty that would have a profound effect on not only the Holy Roman Empire, but the history of the
24:56Middle Ages in general.
24:59The rise of the Salian dynasty marks a pivotal moment in medieval European history.
25:07The Salian dynasty would go on to shape European political and religious history for over a century.
25:16Yet, to legitimize Conrad II's family name and imperial lineage, a bold gesture will be required.
25:25He's the head of a new dynasty, a new emperor.
25:28He needs to do something, something symbolic that will cement his family's claim to the throne.
25:34He settles on a new cathedral.
25:39What's so interesting about the Spriar Cathedral from the start is that clearly Conrad envisioned this as also an imperial
25:47tomb.
25:48At this time, there was no fixed place for the burial of German kings or Holy Roman emperors.
25:56This lack of essentialised burial site meant that there was no one space that could symbolise imperial stability and continuity.
26:10Conrad II moves to establish a permanent imperial necropolis.
26:16By choosing a single location for royal burials, he can create a physical representation of the dynasty's legitimacy.
26:24This was not simply an act of religious devotion, but a calculated political move.
26:31I think we have to see it as an expression of the power of Conrad, as both a political ruler,
26:37but also as a local spiritual ruler.
26:42By establishing a new location in a new cathedral that he built, he's adding legitimacy to his family's claim.
26:50He's creating an enduring monument that will last from this point onward for all emperors of the Holy Roman Empire,
26:57beginning with his family.
26:59How did the vision for this burial site inform the physical design of the cathedral?
27:05A vast subterranean chamber, holding the secrets of emperors and kings, stretches beneath the Speyer Cathedral.
27:14This is the largest Romanesque crypt in the world, covering an astounding 850 square metres.
27:22The design is achieved through an unprecedented feat of 11th century engineering, groin vaults.
27:30Vaults is an incredible mechanism to support structural loads.
27:34They're arches, and they can resist a lot of force.
27:37Think about an egg.
27:38When you push down on an egg, it's really strong, because it is an arched system.
27:42Imagine that you had a block of cheese, and you held it, and you bent it.
27:50You would see that cracks would form on the bottom side, and the top would maybe wrinkle in compression.
27:55So the bottom side is experiencing tension, and the top is experiencing compression.
27:59So we break bending down into those two fundamental forces.
28:03We ideally want to minimize bending, because it requires a robust section.
28:08So that's where the arch comes in.
28:09It's this beautiful mix of axial forces and bending forces, and resisting those forces through its vault or ceiling,
28:17and bringing those forces down into the haunches, and having them be dissipated throughout the rest of the building,
28:23and eventually down into the soil.
28:25Groin vaults, in particular, are quite interesting.
28:27They're geometrically complex.
28:29You've got two arches that are intersecting, and the precision required to get that right,
28:34to make sure there's equilibrium in the forces, and that that arch won't collapse.
28:38It's difficult engineering.
28:40Groin vaults reduce the need for internal supporting columns,
28:44allowing the creation of larger, more open interior spaces.
28:49These architectural departures would set a new standard for Romanesque architecture.
28:55When we get to the Spire Cathedral with the new methods of building these crisscross arches,
29:00now the spaces are even larger and grander, and those structures are a measure of our wealth, a measure of
29:09our status.
29:11Even the placement of the doors is unique, standing prominently at the eastern end of Spire Cathedral,
29:18a bold departure from traditional medieval church design, which typically reserves the eastern wall for the altar.
29:26The richly decorated doors, adorned with symbols of resurrection and eternal life, create a profound psychological effect.
29:35They remind visitors of the honored dead beneath their feet, and their own mortality,
29:42blending imperial grandeur with spiritual contemplation in a masterful stroke of architectural symbolism.
29:50If you study a cathedral, you've got clearly a thirst to find a way to convey divine on earth.
29:58So what does a cathedral do that earlier churches couldn't do?
30:01Well, through its height, through its use of vaults to create openness,
30:06through its use of enormous windows eventually, this brings in light.
30:11This brings in a sense of majesty, and the verticality conveys divinity.
30:17So on so many levels, it is communicating that God is here.
30:24But Conrad II would not live to witness the cathedral's legacy or even its completion.
30:31The crypt is not consecrated until two years after Conrad II's death in 1039 CE.
30:39So the building of Spire Cathedral had established Conrad II not only as the legitimate ruler of the Holy Roman
30:46Empire,
30:47but it also established him as a religious authority within the empire as well.
30:52Decades later, in the 1080s, his grandson, Henry IV, would further this aim by expanding the cathedral considerably.
30:59But this would bring him into direct conflict with the Pope.
31:03The expansion introduces two key architectural innovations that will influence church design for centuries to come.
31:13A system of decorative blind arches and the addition of a circumferential gallery encircling the entire cathedral.
31:22But as Spire Cathedral reaches new heights of architectural brilliance,
31:27it becomes embroiled in a bitter power struggle that will shake the foundations of medieval Europe.
31:34The history of Spire Cathedral is intimately connected with one of the most significant and damaging controversies to wrack the
31:43body of the Catholic Church.
31:45This was the investiture controversy of the Middle Ages.
31:49The investiture controversy was a conflict around the right to appoint church officials.
31:56For centuries, kings and emperors had claimed the right to appoint new people into religious positions within their kingdom or
32:02territory.
32:03But by the time we get to the 11th century, popes are becoming much more powerful.
32:08And the Pope now is ready to start exerting more power and influence.
32:12They claim that they have the sole right to decide who's going to be a new bishop.
32:18Bishops were in charge of dioceses, which are territories of the church, but they lie within other lands.
32:26And so they could be a potential threat, rulers thought, to their authority if they were more obedient to the
32:33papacy than to them.
32:34Now this will put the Pope on a collision course with all of the secular rulers of Europe.
32:39But it would be Henry IV that would take up the challenge.
32:43The cathedral itself becomes a symbol of this struggle.
32:47The building of Spire Cathedral was in a way of the declaration that he was both a spiritual and a
32:55political leader.
32:56And that this cathedral, which was going to be one of the highest and most grandiose of the time, would
33:02be an expression of both those authorities.
33:06The conflict will reach its peak when the papacy decides to take drastic measures.
33:12So it all gets started when the Bishop of Milan dies and we have a vacancy.
33:17So for a period of time, there's just a lot of arguing back and forth between the Pope and Henry
33:22about who's going to be this new bishop.
33:24It goes on for too long and eventually Henry loses his patience and simply appoints the person that he wants
33:30into the role.
33:32This infuriates the Pope. He immediately excommunicates Henry.
33:36The Pope uses his most powerful tool. It's called the interdict.
33:41And the other tool he used was excommunication.
33:43What does this mean? Excommunication is the power to kick someone out of the Christian body.
33:49And interdict actually puts a ban on worship in his territory.
33:55This means that none of his subjects can go to mass. They cannot be buried with the rites.
34:02They, in other words, are going to suffer spiritually because of the loss of these ritual services.
34:08That is a terrible fate for any religious person.
34:12And symbolically, it's even worse for someone like Henry, the emperor of a vast territory.
34:18The German nobles begin to line up against him. He has very few options.
34:24He decides to make a very public penance.
34:27Now, penance in the Middle Ages was something you had to do quite visibly and it usually needed to be
34:32really embarrassing.
34:33He finds out that the Pope is staying at Kenosa, so he travels there.
34:39The Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV, undertakes a perilous journey across the Alps.
34:52Excommunicated by the Pope, he's seeking to salvage his reign by begging for forgiveness.
35:01He stands barefoot in the snow for three days, begging for forgiveness as a penitent.
35:11The Pope feels pressured by this public display and eventually lifts his excommunication.
35:17The Pope forgives him, but this marks a pivotal moment in medieval history
35:21because we now have what was arguably the most powerful secular ruler in Europe waiting to ask forgiveness of the
35:29Pope.
35:30Never again will we see Popes quite this powerful.
35:33It is the zenith of their power.
35:35On the one hand, he's accepting that he is in this situation politically weaker than the Pope.
35:42But on the other, he's modeling himself as a good Christian by imitating Christ.
35:47And so I think if we think from the mindset, late medieval mindset, shaming is also a process of spiritual
35:57restoration, renewal, purification.
36:01It's a ritual act as much as anything else.
36:05And he is participating in that.
36:08So while for a time there was peace between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, it didn't last.
36:14The Pope excommunicated him several times over his lifetime.
36:18And unfortunately for Henry, he happened to die during one of those periods of excommunication.
36:23And this created a massive controversy.
36:26Because if he was excommunicated, it meant that he wasn't allowed to be buried in Spire Cathedral.
36:32The very structure that his grandfather had created for burying emperors of the Holy Roman Empire.
36:38It is five years following his death that the punishment is lifted.
36:43And Henry IV is finally interred in the cathedral.
36:49Another path of humiliation mirroring Henry IV's journey extends beyond the cathedral walls to the very road leading to it.
36:59In the Middle Ages, penance was meant to be public and it was meant to be embarrassing.
37:03Cathedrals usually played a prominent role in what is known as the Walk of Shame.
37:10The so-called Walk of Shame would begin with a criminal being escorted from the church through the town to
37:17their jail.
37:18Along the way, they would carry embarrassing reminders of their crime.
37:22They would be forced to endure the taunts of the townsfolk, potentially even rotten fruit or vegetables being thrown at
37:29them.
37:30And this would be a very public and embarrassing way of cleansing their soul and walking towards salvation.
37:40This public spectacle blended punishment, deterrence and religious penance in a uniquely medieval way.
37:48These walks of shame were an opportunity for the penitent to demonstrate humility.
37:57It was a massive fall from grace.
37:59But in recognizing their sins publicly, they were also begging for forgiveness.
38:06The physical layout of the Walk of Shame itself reinforces its historical significance.
38:13The two poles, for example, in the procession of criminals to the prison involved the cathedral on one end and
38:19the prison on the other.
38:20These are the two poles of local governance and authority.
38:25So the procession of the criminal was intended to, on the one hand, demonstrate the authority of these two institutions
38:33locally.
38:34But at the same time, it was intended to represent the values and the beliefs of that local society as
38:42well.
38:43The Walk of Shame remains a haunting reminder of the complex relationship between religion, justice and society in medieval Europe.
38:53The practice of public shaming gradually falls out of favor as public attitudes towards punishment change.
38:59But vestiges of it still survive in public apologies and community service.
39:05When we feel shame, it's because people that we know, that we value their opinions of us, are there to
39:12see what we did wrong.
39:15It's easy to be shameless, for example, when you're anonymous on the internet.
39:21In that walk from the cathedral through the town of Spire, presumably everybody knew everybody else in some way, shape
39:28or form, and everybody will know what your crime is.
39:31You will forever be known for that.
39:36From the heart of medieval Europe to the sun-drenched coasts of ancient Anatolia, another civilization seeks to honor its
39:44dead and preserve its legacy through monumental architecture.
39:49Rock-cut marvels reveal a very different approach to commemorating the deceased and offer a window into a unique culture
39:57that bridged the ancient worlds of Greece and Persia.
40:05Along the rugged coastline of modern Turquia, carved into the very face of the mountains, a haunting visual sight serves
40:14as the last reminder of a long-lost civilization.
40:17These tombs really are testament to the architectural skill of this ancient people.
40:26The exterior of these Lichen tombs is elaborate and it really evokes this kind of Greco-Mediterranean culture with columns
40:37and elaborate motifs.
40:39Despite their grand exteriors, the interiors of these tombs are strikingly bare. Why were they left empty?
40:50Legend speaks of these tombs as gateways for celestial beings to reach the deceased.
40:56Maybe their one function might have been to be homes for the dead. But given the fact that they're empty,
41:03they don't have any items for them in the other world, perhaps the purpose is very different. We simply don't
41:10know.
41:10We don't truly understand the significance of these structures because we have limited historical records of the Lycians.
41:22According to the historian Herodotus, the Lycians trace their roots back to the island of Crete.
41:28The story goes that there were a pair of brothers, the sons of Zeus and Europa.
41:36They fought over the rule of the island of Crete.
41:41Sarpedon lost the dispute and fled to the mainland to modern-day Turkey.
41:48He establishes a settlement known as Termalae, which later became known as Lycia.
41:54The Lycians were known for their fiercely independent nature.
41:57They trace their lineage through their mothers, which is a unique practice in the ancient world.
42:02They're also deeply religious, with their primary gods that they worship being Apollo, Artemis and Leto.
42:10The Lycians left behind a rich architectural legacy, but none more striking than their elaborate tombs.
42:18These tombs are carved into sheer cliff faces, often at dizzying heights.
42:25The choice of building high up this way in these dramatic landscapes on clifftops gives us an idea that they
42:32associated height with divinity.
42:35And we have to remember that certainly the Greek gods were believed to live up high.
42:41Mount Etna was the home, and mountains globally have long-blown places which were considered to be homes to deities
42:49and sites of divine communication.
42:55The Lycians were master stonemasons, taking advantage of the soft limestone prevalent in the region.
43:02This allowed for easier carving, but also proved durable enough to withstand centuries of weathering.
43:10The level of detail in the carvings is astounding.
43:14When we look at other tombs carved into rock at places like Petra and Jordan, these are more accessible by
43:21ground entry, more or less.
43:23But what makes these tombs so unique is the fact that they're not accessible, the fact that they're carved high
43:28into the cliffside.
43:29How was this achieved, and why was building high so important?
43:39The Lycians viewed death as a journey to another world.
43:44They practiced a form of ancestor worship, and believed the spirits of the dead needed a place to rest.
43:51When they died, they believed that these winged creatures would come and take them away, and bring them to the
43:57underworld.
43:57We believe this is why they built their tombs in high places, to bring the deceased closer to heaven.
44:07The Lycians' ability to create these tombs at great heights, in seemingly inaccessible locations, suggests that they develop techniques for
44:16working at these extreme elevations.
44:19They're built extremely high up, so we're going to take some technology to build structures to support our workers when
44:27we're up carving these tombs.
44:29When you think about the tombs themselves and the carving, you have to put it in the context of the
44:34era.
44:34We don't have ready access to iron, and so we're using bronze tools.
44:40These tools aren't particularly sharp, they aren't particularly hard.
44:45There would have been a lot of tool wear, so you're actually going through a lot of tool materials.
44:49You'll have a lot of people actually just constructing tools, because they're using them so quickly.
44:54So, while these structures look relatively simple to build, the technology at the time that's required to do it is
45:01actually leading edge.
45:03It's a totally different way to construct something. It's construction by subtraction.
45:08You're carving out potential areas of strength that that entire rock face is relying on.
45:14To see their thoughtfulness around building in a column to support a slab over a void, and have another void
45:21on top of that.
45:22It's quite a meticulous undertaking.
45:25You can't haphazardly run in there and just blast and chip away whatever you want, because you can't put it
45:31back once it's gone.
45:34It's believed these ancient masons likely began carving from the top of the cliffs and worked their way downwards, sculpting
45:42a variety of inset structures down the steep terrain.
45:46They come in a variety of styles, each reflecting different aspects of their culture and their beliefs.
45:54The styles may have been the same styles of the homes in which the Lishans also lived, which made these
46:00tombs still part of the local community.
46:02But at the same time, they're quite high up, which suggests that maybe their one function might have been to
46:08be homes for the dead.
46:09But given the fact that they're empty, they don't have any items for them in the other world, perhaps the
46:17purpose is very different.
46:18We simply don't know.
46:19One tomb in particular, the Tomb of Amintus, boasts an exquisitely celebrated exterior, carved to resemble a Greek temple facade.
46:30It contains rooms and chambers.
46:33These chambers should be rich with artifacts and clues about Lishan culture, but instead they're empty.
46:41It's not unusual to find such places empty when they're discovered in modern times because there was so much looting
46:48that went on over the centuries that anything that wasn't hidden was basically looted.
46:54However, there is a lack of evidence of any forced entry or damage.
47:00Does the explanation then lie in Lycian funerary practices themselves?
47:07Worship in this culture involved ritual offerings, animal sacrifices, and very lavish funerary practices.
47:18One possibility is that the rooms were for a period of time actually a site of temporary burial.
47:26Perhaps this is where they perform the rituals necessary to help the body pass on to the next world.
47:33Because the Lishans, like other societies around the Mediterranean, believed that death rituals were critical to the passage of the
47:41spirit onto the next world.
47:43Now these rituals varied, but one thing that they all shared in common was the involvement of multiple stages of
47:51preparation.
47:52And so perhaps it's up in these tombs that that ritual observance, which could perhaps last several days, took place
48:00before the bodies were finally removed to their permanent burial elsewhere.
48:07But perhaps the most intriguing theory for these barren interiors lies in the mere symbolism of these tombs.
48:15Some scholars propose that the elaborate exteriors of these structures are meant to serve as a representation of an eternal
48:23house of the dead.
48:25Visible reminders of the souls that once held importance in Lycian society.
48:32According to this idea, the empty chambers within may reflect a belief that the spirit of a deceased citizen is
48:40no longer in need of earthly possessions.
48:43The artistic designs, the architectural designs, suggest that they were influenced by their domestic architecture.
48:50So this raises questions about what was their intention?
48:54Were they trying to create homes in the afterworld, for example, for the dead?
48:59Something that made them part of the same community, but obviously was for those who had passed away.
49:06If the tombs were primarily symbolic, why carve out interior chambers at all?
49:11When you look at ancient people and their beliefs about death and the afterlife, you tend to find a common
49:16theme running through it across the globe.
49:18And that is that death was always a passage to the next stage.
49:23And in some cultures, that results in caves being the place where you can cross over to the afterlife.
49:29In others, it was underground passages or through bodies of water or up in the air where you would be
49:35taken away.
49:36And these themes repeat themselves over and over again.
49:39And they tend to be places where you don't really know what's beyond it.
49:43And so when you've lost somebody, you hope that they are moving on somewhere else.
49:48And then these are the passages by which you might be able to go visit.
49:52Perhaps in this case, the Lycians were not burying them with the items they needed for their life after death.
49:59Perhaps this was just a place that they could remember them.
50:04The Lycian tombs to this day remain one of the ancient's most elusive secrets.
50:14We really don't know why people need to believe that life goes on after death.
50:22There are lots of religions out there that cover it.
50:25So there's something there about the idea that our consciousness that's within us tends to feel a bit free-floating.
50:34It's not necessarily tied to our body.
50:37And therefore, if our body dies, then our consciousness should travel on somewhere else.
50:44If we think about why do people historically treat the moment of death and death itself
50:50as a moment to build monumental structures or structures that recognize death.
50:57I think we have to confront that death was an ever-present reality of people historically.
51:03And that was something that they were constantly preoccupied with.
51:07How to get to the other world.
51:11And tombs were about recognizing that continuing relationship between the living and the dead
51:17and the connections between this world and the next world.
51:21So if we think about it that way, then investing in these monuments actually was practical,
51:29but it also had spiritual purpose.
51:32And that will be massacred, the most beautiful, there is a place for.
51:57Do not have a variety of offenders for.
52:01We need to 6ks.
52:08Transcription by CastingWords
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