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00:00:02Just imagine you had all the money in the world.
00:00:06While your poor neighbor down the road is struggling to make ends meet.
00:00:12In this series, I'm teaming up with historian Ruth Goodman
00:00:16to discover how some of history's most famous events
00:00:19were experienced by the rich.
00:00:21And by the poor.
00:00:24Will your fortunes be down to luck, resilience, or cold hard cash?
00:00:30This time, we're heading back to one fateful summer in 1588
00:00:34when the mighty Spanish Armada set sail to conquer England.
00:00:39The biggest global superpower is on its way with all of its military might.
00:00:45I'll be following the rich of Tudor England,
00:00:48the men and women who bet their entire fortunes on the fate of the Armada.
00:00:53And I'm stepping into the lives of the poor,
00:00:56putting in the hard graft to fight off the Spanish.
00:01:00I'm preparing for the worst back home.
00:01:02As the Armada closed in, everything was on the line.
00:01:05Whose lives and whose fortunes would be changed forever?
00:01:29It's May 1588, and Tudor London is gripped by a growing sense of unease.
00:01:35In the ale houses and the back alleys of London,
00:01:38whispers of a possible Spanish invasion were growing louder.
00:01:42Tensions between Protestant Queen Elizabeth I
00:01:45and Catholic King Philip of Spain had reached fever pitch.
00:01:49Every part of the capital, rich and poor, was on high alert.
00:01:54When Elizabeth had her Catholic cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, executed,
00:01:59it was the final straw.
00:02:05Now Philip was preparing 130 of his Spanish ships to invade England.
00:02:13While Queen Elizabeth began to gather any forces she could to defend her kingdom.
00:02:20For rich and poor alike, what followed would change the course of history.
00:02:29On the 28th of May,
00:02:31a hot-shot London merchant had spent the morning inspecting his goods down on the River Thames,
00:02:37blissfully unaware of the Spanish ships readying themselves almost a thousand miles away.
00:02:48In the 1500s, being a merchant was pretty much the best-paying job a man could have,
00:02:53and Thomas was one of the very best.
00:02:58By 1588, Thomas, now in his 40s, had made an absolute fortune
00:03:03and cemented himself as one of the most powerful businessmen in London.
00:03:10He lived here on Milk Street with his wife Margaret and a whole great big brood of his kids.
00:03:16Now today, it's all ugly modern buildings,
00:03:18but back in Thomas' day, this place was full of really fancy townhouses
00:03:23built for rich merchants just like him.
00:03:26While an army of servants no doubt took care of his family,
00:03:29Thomas had deals to close.
00:03:31His office, the beating heart of trade in Elizabethan London,
00:03:36was just a stone's throw from his house.
00:03:38It's still here today, and it's called...
00:03:42..the Royal Exchange.
00:03:46Hello.
00:03:48What an office.
00:03:49This newly built marketplace
00:03:51was where the city's most ambitious entrepreneurs made their fortunes.
00:03:58Prior to this existing, London's merchants had to make do where they could.
00:04:03This becomes a purpose-built space
00:04:06so that you can have people buying and selling on the floor,
00:04:10and it would have seen about 4,000 visitors coming in.
00:04:14Wow.
00:04:15The original Royal Exchange burned down in the Great Fire of London in 1666,
00:04:21but it had a lot in common with the one you see today.
00:04:24A huge open-air trading floor
00:04:27with hundreds of shops and stalls around the outside,
00:04:30selling the most coveted luxuries money could buy.
00:04:36Spices.
00:04:37From across the world, you would see furs, armour, linens.
00:04:42Wow.
00:04:42And this is in 1588.
00:04:44It's like a bazaar meets a massive sort of Dubai mall, basically.
00:04:48Yes.
00:04:48So what does Thomas Cordell sell?
00:04:50He is a merchant trading in wines, but also silks,
00:04:55and something that I have under this napkin.
00:04:58Er, Tudors, 1588.
00:05:02I'm going for sugar.
00:05:04Not sugar.
00:05:05Are you ready?
00:05:06Yeah.
00:05:09Currants.
00:05:10Yes.
00:05:11Oh.
00:05:13And these little red gems made him a fortune.
00:05:18Sugar was hard to come by in Tudor, England,
00:05:20so currants were used to sweeten and flavour everything,
00:05:23from meat pies to fruit puddings.
00:05:26And they were pretty affordable,
00:05:28around three pence for a pound.
00:05:31So rich and poor alike were in on the craze.
00:05:35Thomas' company had a monopoly on all currents coming into England,
00:05:39which he shipped from the islands of Greece
00:05:42on huge merchant vessels that he owned.
00:05:46But growing tensions with the Spanish
00:05:49had put Thomas' entire business empire under threat.
00:05:55There's going to be risks about how often he can get his boats out,
00:05:59whether they can get back in.
00:06:00So if they're stopped in the way,
00:06:01will the boats be ransomed or simply destroyed?
00:06:05Will these become Spanish ships that he just loses?
00:06:09High-risk journeys were the least of it.
00:06:12Incredibly, Elizabethan England didn't have a substantial navy.
00:06:16So when the Queen needed ships in a hurry,
00:06:19she set her sights on Thomas Cordell's fleet.
00:06:23The navy wasn't as we understand it today.
00:06:26It was provided by people like Cordell.
00:06:29Yes, Thomas bought these enormous expensive ships.
00:06:33If they get caught up in this, he could lose everything.
00:06:36And if Elizabeth wanted Thomas' ships to fight the Spanish,
00:06:40all she had to do was ask for them.
00:06:45Could he say no to the Queen?
00:06:48Do you think you can say no to Queen Elizabeth I?
00:06:50Yeah, I can't imagine that going down terribly well.
00:06:53I can't imagine it either.
00:06:56Thomas had no choice but to grin and bear it.
00:06:59He handed over his prize assets,
00:07:01two 300-ton merchant shipping vessels,
00:07:05the Edward Bonaventure and the Merchant Royal,
00:07:08and hoped against hope for the best.
00:07:11But it wasn't just the wealthy who would be impacted.
00:07:15The coming armada threatened to upend the lives
00:07:18of thousands of less well-off folk too.
00:07:23People like East Ender and a young mother of three,
00:07:27Margaret Brown.
00:07:31Margaret's husband, William,
00:07:32has just got a job as a gunner's man,
00:07:35which is a sort of servant-cum-assistant
00:07:39to a gunner, a master gunner,
00:07:41who is in charge of all the cannon on a ship.
00:07:44The pay's not great,
00:07:46and William won't see any of it until the job is done.
00:07:49And Margaret won't get any of his wages
00:07:52until William comes home.
00:07:54If he does come home.
00:07:57In the meanwhile,
00:07:58she's got to find a way of making ends meet.
00:08:03Strawberries!
00:08:04Lovely ripe strawberries!
00:08:06Freshest morning, straight in from the fields!
00:08:09For families like Margaret's,
00:08:10times were tougher than ever before.
00:08:13London's population had nearly doubled in 40 years.
00:08:17There just weren't enough jobs to go around.
00:08:19Bad harvests had also sent food prices skyrocketing.
00:08:24Strawberries!
00:08:25Handful for a farmer!
00:08:27So every morning, Margaret, like Thomas Cordell,
00:08:30would have been out flogging her goods,
00:08:32but for a much more measly price.
00:08:35I'm in Leaven Hall Market,
00:08:37which in 1588 was one of the places
00:08:39where Londoners could go to buy fresh food.
00:08:42Fruit, veg, butter, that sort of thing.
00:08:45There's no refrigeration,
00:08:46so you've got to do a shop every day.
00:08:48Now, this actually gives an opportunity for somebody like Margaret to make a few pence.
00:08:54If you turn up early enough in the morning,
00:08:57you could buy a whole basket of fruit, say,
00:09:00and then you can hawk it round the streets for a slight mark-up.
00:09:07Street sellers like Margaret might hope to make just a few pennies at the end of a long day.
00:09:12It was barely enough to scrape by.
00:09:16As she trudged home along the river to the poor and crowded neighbourhood of East Smithfield,
00:09:23Margaret must have been wondering how on earth she was going to feed her kids.
00:09:30Now, there is no way that William and Margaret had their own home.
00:09:35The poor in London just did not have that sort of luxury.
00:09:38So having a whole family in an upstairs room like this,
00:09:43pretty normal, I'm afraid.
00:09:45There might not even be the most basic of facilities.
00:09:48There's no hearth up here, and that's relatively common.
00:09:52No hearth means no fire, means nowhere to cook, no heating.
00:09:55Instead, people like William and Margaret would have often survived on takeaways.
00:10:02They were called pie shops or cook shops or bakeries,
00:10:06and there was a range of basic things you could get.
00:10:09Obviously bread, obviously pies.
00:10:12Sometimes a big bowl of stew was possible,
00:10:14and that's what your family managed.
00:10:19Without her husband's income, Margaret would have spent every penny she earned
00:10:24just making sure her children didn't starve.
00:10:27But with the country's fate and William's life hanging in the balance,
00:10:32she had no choice but to get on with it.
00:10:36Little did Margaret or Thomas know they wouldn't have long to wait.
00:10:43Because just across the water,
00:10:46130 of King Philip's ships were starting to raise anchor.
00:10:50The Spanish Armada was on its way.
00:11:01By the beginning of summer 1588,
00:11:04every corner of London, rich and poor,
00:11:07was buzzing with talk of a Spanish invasion.
00:11:11But what no-one here knew was that the Spanish fleet had already set sail.
00:11:18And was heading for English shores.
00:11:21Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth had begun to gather her makeshift navy
00:11:26along the south coast.
00:11:29The main fleet was in Plymouth,
00:11:32made up of around 100 warships and merchant vessels.
00:11:35And, just off Dover, on the eastern side of the Channel,
00:11:40there was a smaller fleet.
00:11:42It included a small boat called the Hazard,
00:11:46with a crew of 30 men on board.
00:11:49Among them, William Brown.
00:11:53He was the husband of Margaret,
00:11:55probably in his late 20s,
00:11:57and he'd recently got a job as an assistant gunner.
00:12:00William had likely worked on board a ship before.
00:12:03It was men with seafaring experience
00:12:06who got called up first to crew Elizabeth's navy.
00:12:09But he'd almost certainly never been part of a naval battle,
00:12:13like the one that lay ahead.
00:12:18William was expecting that, by the end of this,
00:12:21he would have 20 shillings,
00:12:23which, you know, sixpence a day,
00:12:25an ordinary working man's wage,
00:12:27it's not a fortune,
00:12:29but it would put food on the table.
00:12:32William wouldn't see any of that money
00:12:34until the fighting was done.
00:12:36By June, he'd probably been living on board the Hazard
00:12:40for a month already,
00:12:41waiting to see if the Spanish would show up.
00:12:44In the back of his mind,
00:12:46it must be always there,
00:12:49that the longer he's away,
00:12:51the longer his family are without him,
00:12:53and indeed the money.
00:12:57It must have been a tense, frightening time for William.
00:13:00I want to know what life on board
00:13:02would have been like for him.
00:13:05Oh, my goodness.
00:13:06I mean, they say duck, but...
00:13:09Welcome aboard, Ruth.
00:13:12I mean, this really is low, isn't it?
00:13:16So this is what...
00:13:17What's this called, this deck?
00:13:18So this deck, well, looking around...
00:13:21Gun deck?
00:13:21It's called the gun deck.
00:13:22That makes a lot of sense.
00:13:24This would also be the crew's quarters.
00:13:26So the crew on board the Hazard,
00:13:28they would have been sleeping on this cold, hard floor.
00:13:30Actually sleeping on this floor?
00:13:32Not on a mattress?
00:13:33Not on a mattress.
00:13:34Now, the captain, he would have had a bed,
00:13:36he would have had a desk.
00:13:37The officers would have had blankets,
00:13:39they would have had straw.
00:13:41But for the crew, no blankets, no straw.
00:13:43And they'd also be sleeping in the same clothes
00:13:46that they're working in.
00:13:48With men working round the clock
00:13:50and seawater sloshing in through the gun ports,
00:13:53it's unlikely William and his fellow sailors
00:13:55got much rest at all.
00:13:58So, I hate to ask the question,
00:14:00but where do the men go to the toilet?
00:14:02Please, follow me.
00:14:04Mind your head.
00:14:09All right, Roof, here are the facilities.
00:14:12Welcome to the Beakhead.
00:14:14This is where the sailors would have gone to the toilet.
00:14:16They find an empty slat of wood,
00:14:18pull down their britches,
00:14:19squat down, answer nature's call.
00:14:22Try to balance out there.
00:14:23It's quite a hazardous place to do your business.
00:14:25So, there'd be a piece of rope
00:14:27attached to the Beakhead in the ocean.
00:14:28They'd pull it up, give themselves a wipe,
00:14:31put it back where they find it.
00:14:32And it was known as a tow rag.
00:14:35Lovely.
00:14:37Perhaps it's where the insult tow rag came from.
00:14:42While he waited for the Spanish,
00:14:44William would have spent his days
00:14:46scrubbing the decks
00:14:47and learning how to load the ship's weapons.
00:14:50It was hard, physical graft.
00:14:53But unlike his wife, Margaret, back in London,
00:14:56at least William didn't have to worry
00:14:58about where his next meal was coming from.
00:15:02What I've got in front of me here
00:15:04is a list of the rations
00:15:06that were supposed to be issued
00:15:07to every man at sea.
00:15:09And it includes
00:15:10a pound of biscuit,
00:15:12gallon of beer,
00:15:13four ounces of butter,
00:15:15four ounces of cheese,
00:15:16and four ounces of stockfish,
00:15:18which is dried, salted fish.
00:15:20So, the biscuit,
00:15:22it's as hard as nails
00:15:24because it has been twice cooked.
00:15:26That's what biscuit means by qui.
00:15:28And they are really
00:15:30almost impossible to break.
00:15:33See what I mean?
00:15:36It is a seriously
00:15:37boring diet.
00:15:40To make matters worse,
00:15:42one month in,
00:15:43the ship's supplies
00:15:44were already starting
00:15:45to run low.
00:15:48If Queen Elizabeth
00:15:49was going to keep
00:15:50her navy well-fed
00:15:51and ready
00:15:52to take on the Spanish
00:15:54who were on their way,
00:15:57she'd need help.
00:16:00So, who did she turn to?
00:16:03Why?
00:16:04People like Rich Merchant,
00:16:05Thomas Cordell, of course,
00:16:07who gathered London's
00:16:08top businessman
00:16:09at his fancy townhouse
00:16:10to discuss how best
00:16:12to support the war effort.
00:16:14Come through.
00:16:15Over an extravagant dinner,
00:16:17of course.
00:16:18Ah, what a lovely spread.
00:16:22Actually,
00:16:23on second thought,
00:16:25this is a bit pongy,
00:16:26if I'm honest.
00:16:27Yes.
00:16:27Today is a fish day.
00:16:29Today is a fish Friday.
00:16:30How long have you said
00:16:31a fish day?
00:16:32You mean it's mandated
00:16:33by law that you
00:16:34have to eat fish?
00:16:35Yes, and you can be
00:16:36put in the stocks
00:16:37or fined
00:16:38or even in some cases
00:16:39imprisoned
00:16:40if you eat meat
00:16:41on a fish day.
00:16:42The idea is
00:16:43if you support
00:16:44the fishing industry,
00:16:45then there's lots
00:16:45of young men
00:16:47in the sort of,
00:16:47you know,
00:16:48the coastal areas of England
00:16:49who are trained
00:16:50in how to go to sea.
00:16:51And if you're
00:16:52an island nation
00:16:53or if you're
00:16:54a country which is
00:16:55threatened by
00:16:55an overseas enemy,
00:16:56then you need
00:16:57these young men
00:16:58because they're
00:16:59the ones that you'll
00:16:59use in your navy.
00:17:00Eat fish.
00:17:01It's the patriotic
00:17:02thing to do.
00:17:04We've got mackerel here
00:17:05with some nice
00:17:06edible flowers.
00:17:07A big part of eating
00:17:08in a kind of feast
00:17:09in the Tudor times
00:17:09was about the display.
00:17:11It had to look great.
00:17:12So these kind of
00:17:13edible treats
00:17:14were part of it.
00:17:15We've got eel here.
00:17:16Very, very common
00:17:17in Tudor times.
00:17:20As Thomas and his
00:17:22fellow merchants
00:17:22prepared to tuck in,
00:17:24the cost of the war
00:17:25was all any of them
00:17:26could talk about.
00:17:29Queen Elizabeth
00:17:30had already requisitioned
00:17:31their ships,
00:17:32putting their huge
00:17:33fortunes at risk.
00:17:35Now she was politely
00:17:36requesting that Thomas
00:17:38and his peers
00:17:39paid to keep her crew
00:17:40fed with their
00:17:41hard-owned gold
00:17:42while they waited
00:17:43for the Spanish
00:17:44to turn up.
00:17:49Of course,
00:17:50it's in the
00:17:50merchants' interest
00:17:51to win the war
00:17:52very, very quickly.
00:17:53They want to
00:17:54get things back
00:17:55to normal.
00:17:56But if the
00:17:56financial community,
00:17:58the trading community
00:17:58can do things
00:18:00for the government
00:18:00and the government
00:18:01can do things
00:18:01for them
00:18:02and it works
00:18:02both ways.
00:18:03If you scratch
00:18:03my back,
00:18:03I'll scratch yours.
00:18:06Many of the
00:18:07city's richest
00:18:08merchants
00:18:08cough up
00:18:09their own cash
00:18:10to fund
00:18:10the Navy's
00:18:11rations.
00:18:13Thomas Cordell
00:18:14personally shells
00:18:15out to feed
00:18:16the crew
00:18:16of 14 ships
00:18:17to the tune
00:18:19of a painful
00:18:20£200,000
00:18:21a month
00:18:22in today's money
00:18:24and with his
00:18:25trading income
00:18:26stalled by
00:18:27tensions with
00:18:28the Spanish,
00:18:28who knows how
00:18:29long Thomas
00:18:30will be able
00:18:30to keep
00:18:31the payments
00:18:31up.
00:18:33But for now,
00:18:34I think it's
00:18:35high time I
00:18:35sample some
00:18:36of these
00:18:36culinary offerings.
00:18:38Patriotic eel?
00:18:39Yeah.
00:18:41Your Royal Highness.
00:18:45It's pretty tasty,
00:18:46I thought.
00:18:47Yeah.
00:18:49I don't think
00:18:50I've ever wanted
00:18:50the Spanish
00:18:51to win more.
00:18:52Just close your
00:18:52eyes and think
00:18:53of the Queen.
00:18:53OK.
00:18:56While your lot
00:18:57are stuffing
00:18:58your faces,
00:18:59a global
00:18:59superpower
00:19:00is sailing
00:19:01straight
00:19:02for England's
00:19:02shores.
00:19:04Keep calm
00:19:04and eat your eel,
00:19:05Ruth.
00:19:06That's the
00:19:07English way.
00:19:10And despite
00:19:11her crown
00:19:11being under
00:19:12threat,
00:19:13that's exactly
00:19:14what Queen
00:19:14Elizabeth did.
00:19:16On the morning
00:19:17of the 7th
00:19:18of June,
00:19:181588,
00:19:20Elizabeth,
00:19:21along with
00:19:21all the great
00:19:22and powerful
00:19:22of the royal
00:19:23court,
00:19:24descended upon
00:19:25Greenwich Palace
00:19:25for one of the
00:19:26biggest festivals
00:19:27of the Tudor
00:19:28calendar,
00:19:30Whitsun.
00:19:32She still
00:19:33had no idea
00:19:34that the mighty
00:19:35Spanish fleet
00:19:36had in fact
00:19:37already set
00:19:37sail for England.
00:19:39So what was
00:19:39there to do
00:19:40but act royal
00:19:42and unbothered?
00:19:45She was
00:19:45accompanied,
00:19:46as ever,
00:19:47by her loyal
00:19:48chief gentlewoman
00:19:49of the Privy
00:19:49Chamber,
00:19:51Blanche Parry.
00:19:56Blanche had
00:19:57been at
00:19:57Elizabeth's side
00:19:58ever since
00:19:58she was born.
00:19:59No one knew
00:20:00the Queen
00:20:00quite like she
00:20:01did.
00:20:01She was there
00:20:02when Elizabeth
00:20:02woke up,
00:20:03helped her
00:20:04get dressed,
00:20:04sat with her
00:20:05at meals,
00:20:06played cards
00:20:06with her
00:20:07and even
00:20:07looked after
00:20:08her pets.
00:20:09And though
00:20:09she was
00:20:10attending to
00:20:10Elizabeth,
00:20:11she was very
00:20:11much a wealthy
00:20:12woman in her
00:20:12own right,
00:20:13used to the
00:20:14finer things
00:20:14in life.
00:20:18By 1588,
00:20:19Blanche was
00:20:20around 80
00:20:21years old,
00:20:21but she was
00:20:22no retiring
00:20:23spinster.
00:20:24She'd spent
00:20:25the past three
00:20:26decades of
00:20:26Elizabeth's reign
00:20:27amassing a
00:20:28staggering level
00:20:29of wealth and
00:20:30influence right
00:20:31at the heart
00:20:31of power.
00:20:33Elizabeth made
00:20:34sure Blanche
00:20:35was well
00:20:35paid.
00:20:36Her salary
00:20:36was about
00:20:37£33 a year,
00:20:38which is the
00:20:38equivalent to
00:20:39over £300,000
00:20:40today.
00:20:41Wow.
00:20:42She had
00:20:42land,
00:20:43she kept
00:20:43about four
00:20:44or five
00:20:44servants,
00:20:45so she had
00:20:46her own
00:20:46sort of
00:20:47mini entourage.
00:20:48Well,
00:20:48hang on,
00:20:48no income
00:20:49tax,
00:20:49of course,
00:20:50and free
00:20:50accommodation,
00:20:51so that
00:20:52£300,000
00:20:53is worth
00:20:53a great deal
00:20:54more in
00:20:54today's
00:20:55money.
00:20:56Absolutely.
00:20:58As well
00:20:59as being
00:20:59in charge
00:20:59of Elizabeth's
00:21:00iconic
00:21:01jewellery
00:21:01collection
00:21:02and the
00:21:02vast royal
00:21:03wardrobe,
00:21:04Blanche leveraged
00:21:05her closeness
00:21:06to the
00:21:06Queen into
00:21:07a role as
00:21:07a sort
00:21:08of social
00:21:08gatekeeper.
00:21:12People thought
00:21:13if you want
00:21:14the Queen
00:21:14to say yes
00:21:15to something,
00:21:15go via
00:21:16Blanche,
00:21:17and she
00:21:17can judge
00:21:18the best
00:21:18way to
00:21:19present
00:21:19something
00:21:20to Elizabeth.
00:21:20She was
00:21:20the Queen's
00:21:21weather
00:21:21veint.
00:21:22You might
00:21:22say,
00:21:22look,
00:21:23I've got
00:21:23this thing,
00:21:24not sure
00:21:25what mood
00:21:25the Queen
00:21:25is in
00:21:26today.
00:21:27Well,
00:21:29for a fiver,
00:21:30I'll tell
00:21:30you whether
00:21:31or not
00:21:31to bring
00:21:32it up.
00:21:32Exactly
00:21:32that.
00:21:33She's a
00:21:33canny
00:21:33operator.
00:21:36That
00:21:37afternoon
00:21:37on the
00:21:377th
00:21:38of June,
00:21:39Elizabeth
00:21:39and Blanche
00:21:40received
00:21:40an urgent
00:21:41message.
00:21:43It was
00:21:44the news
00:21:44they'd
00:21:44been dreading.
00:21:48A week
00:21:48before,
00:21:49some fishermen
00:21:50in Europe
00:21:50had spotted
00:21:51Philip's
00:21:51huge armada
00:21:52fleet gathering
00:21:53off the
00:21:53coast of
00:21:54Portugal.
00:21:55ready to
00:21:56set sail.
00:21:58Now
00:21:59Elizabeth
00:21:59knew for
00:22:00certain
00:22:00that a
00:22:01Spanish
00:22:01attack
00:22:01was
00:22:02coming.
00:22:03And by
00:22:03the time
00:22:04the news
00:22:04had reached
00:22:05her,
00:22:05the fleet
00:22:06would be
00:22:06on their
00:22:06way,
00:22:07heading
00:22:08straight
00:22:08for the
00:22:08English
00:22:09Channel.
00:22:12This is a
00:22:13smallish
00:22:14country.
00:22:15Yes.
00:22:15With,
00:22:16let's say,
00:22:16the biggest
00:22:17global superpower
00:22:18on its way
00:22:19with all
00:22:20of its
00:22:21military
00:22:21might.
00:22:21Exactly.
00:22:22It was a
00:22:22terrifying
00:22:23moment.
00:22:24Elizabeth
00:22:25must have
00:22:25feared for
00:22:26her life
00:22:27and for
00:22:27the fate
00:22:28of her
00:22:28kingdom.
00:22:33Elizabeth
00:22:34knew that
00:22:35the odds
00:22:35were against
00:22:36her.
00:22:36But with
00:22:37her crown
00:22:37under threat,
00:22:38she didn't
00:22:39dare launch
00:22:40the first
00:22:40attack.
00:22:41Behind the
00:22:42scenes,
00:22:42she'd been
00:22:43trying for
00:22:43months to
00:22:44negotiate a
00:22:45secret peace
00:22:45deal, and
00:22:46she wasn't
00:22:47ready to
00:22:47abandon it.
00:22:50But with
00:22:51the enemy
00:22:51fleet already
00:22:52storming up
00:22:53the coast
00:22:53of Portugal,
00:22:55how long
00:22:55could she
00:22:56afford to
00:22:56wait?
00:23:04It's the
00:23:05end of
00:23:05June,
00:23:061588.
00:23:07News that
00:23:08the Spanish
00:23:08Armada had
00:23:09set sail and
00:23:09was heading
00:23:10for England
00:23:10had spread
00:23:11like wildfire.
00:23:14Up and
00:23:15down the
00:23:15country,
00:23:16people were
00:23:16bracing for
00:23:17the battle
00:23:18that would
00:23:18decide their
00:23:20future.
00:23:22Along the
00:23:23south coast
00:23:24of England,
00:23:25Elizabeth's
00:23:25navy was
00:23:26expecting an
00:23:26attack any
00:23:27day now,
00:23:29and the
00:23:29weight was
00:23:30becoming
00:23:30unbearable.
00:23:35Especially if
00:23:36you had a
00:23:37vested interest,
00:23:38which wealthy
00:23:39merchant Thomas
00:23:39Cordell certainly
00:23:41did.
00:23:42Thomas had
00:23:42lent the
00:23:43queen two
00:23:43of his
00:23:44ships, but
00:23:44not just any
00:23:45ships, two
00:23:46of the best
00:23:47in the
00:23:47business.
00:23:48They were
00:23:48his pride
00:23:49and his
00:23:50joy.
00:23:51Enormous,
00:23:51expensive, and
00:23:53very impressive.
00:23:54They were how
00:23:55Thomas made
00:23:56all of his
00:23:56money, like
00:23:57the delicious
00:23:58currants he
00:23:58bought over
00:23:59from Greece.
00:24:00And if the
00:24:00Spanish destroyed
00:24:01them, his
00:24:02cushy lifestyle
00:24:03would be at
00:24:04serious risk.
00:24:08The golden
00:24:09hind, docked
00:24:10on the south
00:24:10bank of the
00:24:11River Thames
00:24:11in London,
00:24:12is a faithful
00:24:13reconstruction of a
00:24:14Tudor warship.
00:24:16She would
00:24:16have been
00:24:17very similar
00:24:18to Cordell's
00:24:18merchant ships
00:24:19that were
00:24:20ready and
00:24:20waiting for
00:24:21the Spanish
00:24:21in Plymouth
00:24:22Harbour.
00:24:23Only his
00:24:24were nearly
00:24:25three times
00:24:26the size.
00:24:28It's a big
00:24:29old risk,
00:24:30Thomas handing
00:24:31over his
00:24:32ship to the
00:24:32queen.
00:24:33I mean, this
00:24:33isn't a warship,
00:24:34it's not like
00:24:34the HMS
00:24:35whatever.
00:24:36So how
00:24:37are these
00:24:37equipped to
00:24:38fight wars?
00:24:39The sea is
00:24:39a very dangerous
00:24:40place.
00:24:40You have pirates
00:24:41out there,
00:24:42English and
00:24:43Spanish ships
00:24:43have been
00:24:44fighting at
00:24:44sea for
00:24:45several years
00:24:45by this
00:24:46point.
00:24:46So most
00:24:47merchant ships
00:24:48would be
00:24:48prepared to
00:24:49protect themselves
00:24:50and also maybe
00:24:51to go on the
00:24:51attack as well.
00:24:55But the enemy
00:24:56they were going
00:24:56up against
00:24:57was widely
00:24:58considered the
00:24:59most powerful
00:24:59military force
00:25:00in the world.
00:25:04Spain's ships
00:25:04were hulking
00:25:05great things
00:25:06with double
00:25:07the firepower
00:25:08of the English
00:25:08merchant vessels
00:25:09and nearly twice
00:25:11the number of
00:25:11soldiers on board.
00:25:12This is really
00:25:14seen as a
00:25:14David and
00:25:15Goliath moment.
00:25:16Spain is
00:25:16the superpower
00:25:17and England's
00:25:18an upstart
00:25:19at this point
00:25:19taking on
00:25:20the biggest
00:25:21power in
00:25:22Europe if
00:25:22not the
00:25:22world.
00:25:23So this
00:25:23really would
00:25:24have been
00:25:24a moment
00:25:25of potential
00:25:26catastrophe.
00:25:27Yeah,
00:25:28this is
00:25:28really high
00:25:29stakes.
00:25:32For Thomas,
00:25:33this war
00:25:34had become
00:25:34personal.
00:25:36His ships
00:25:37had been
00:25:37waiting for
00:25:38battle for
00:25:38two months.
00:25:39He couldn't
00:25:40trade.
00:25:41Each day
00:25:41that passed
00:25:42with no
00:25:42income
00:25:42and no
00:25:43news must
00:25:44have been
00:25:44nerve-wracking.
00:25:45By now,
00:25:46he'd surely
00:25:47be wondering
00:25:47if he'd
00:25:48ever see
00:25:48his ships
00:25:49again.
00:25:50Well,
00:25:51while your
00:25:52lot are
00:25:52brooding
00:25:53over lost
00:25:53profits,
00:25:54ordinary
00:25:55families like
00:25:56the Browns
00:25:56face far
00:25:57worse.
00:25:58With the
00:25:59Spanish now
00:25:59bearing down
00:26:00on England,
00:26:01Elizabeth needs
00:26:02a land army
00:26:03to defend
00:26:04her kingdom.
00:26:07on the
00:26:086th of
00:26:08July,
00:26:09she puts
00:26:09out a
00:26:09call for
00:26:10ordinary
00:26:10folk across
00:26:11the south
00:26:12of England
00:26:12to arm
00:26:13themselves and
00:26:14stand ready
00:26:15to fight.
00:26:17That included
00:26:18the poor,
00:26:19crowded
00:26:19neighbourhood
00:26:20of East
00:26:20Smithfield,
00:26:21where Margaret
00:26:22and her
00:26:22three young
00:26:23children were
00:26:23living.
00:26:25On Margaret
00:26:26Street,
00:26:27many of the
00:26:28men were
00:26:28already away
00:26:29at sea,
00:26:30but now the
00:26:30call came up
00:26:31for everyone
00:26:32else to join
00:26:33in to defend
00:26:34the land.
00:26:36With William
00:26:37gone,
00:26:37Margaret knew
00:26:38she and her
00:26:39children might
00:26:41have to defend
00:26:42themselves if
00:26:43the worst
00:26:43came to pass.
00:26:45But odds
00:26:45are her kids
00:26:47would have had
00:26:47a bit of
00:26:48training with
00:26:49one weapon
00:26:50in particular.
00:26:54By law,
00:26:55every male in
00:26:56the country
00:26:57from the age
00:26:57of seven
00:26:58until 60
00:26:59was required
00:27:00to own
00:27:01a bow
00:27:02and at least
00:27:03two arrows.
00:27:05On a Sunday
00:27:07after church,
00:27:08you were
00:27:08supposed to
00:27:09take your
00:27:09bow and
00:27:10out to the
00:27:11butts,
00:27:12which were
00:27:13often on a
00:27:13field next to
00:27:14your parish
00:27:15church,
00:27:15and practice.
00:27:17And you did
00:27:18so from a
00:27:19very young age,
00:27:20so that by the
00:27:21time you're
00:27:22an adult man,
00:27:23you have the
00:27:24skill,
00:27:24you have the
00:27:25strength,
00:27:25you can go
00:27:27and fight the
00:27:28enemy.
00:27:29Each parish
00:27:30was meant to
00:27:31keep a store
00:27:31of extra
00:27:32weapons and
00:27:32armour on
00:27:33hand in
00:27:34case of an
00:27:34emergency just
00:27:35like this.
00:27:36But it
00:27:37usually didn't
00:27:38amount to
00:27:38much at
00:27:39all.
00:27:40What they
00:27:41actually found
00:27:42was often
00:27:42out of date
00:27:43and broken.
00:27:44That's what
00:27:45our ordinary
00:27:45people have
00:27:46got to deal
00:27:46with.
00:27:47With a bit
00:27:48of training
00:27:49and some
00:27:50out of date
00:27:50weapons,
00:27:51they're going
00:27:52to have to
00:27:52face the
00:27:53enemy.
00:27:56It must
00:27:57have been
00:27:57utterly
00:27:58terrifying
00:27:59for Margaret,
00:27:59living on
00:28:00the edge
00:28:01of the
00:28:01Thames,
00:28:02right at
00:28:02the entrance
00:28:03to the
00:28:03capital.
00:28:04She would
00:28:05have known
00:28:05that if the
00:28:06Spanish got
00:28:06past the
00:28:07English fleet,
00:28:08she and
00:28:09her children
00:28:09would be
00:28:10right in
00:28:11the line
00:28:11of fire.
00:28:13The mood
00:28:14across the
00:28:14country was
00:28:15growing more
00:28:16and more
00:28:16tense.
00:28:17It had
00:28:18been a month
00:28:19since news
00:28:19arrived of the
00:28:20Armada fleet
00:28:21setting sail.
00:28:22but still
00:28:23no one
00:28:24in England,
00:28:24rich or poor,
00:28:26knew when
00:28:26or where
00:28:27the Spanish
00:28:28would hit.
00:28:39Meanwhile,
00:28:40the Queen's
00:28:41admirals were
00:28:41chomping at
00:28:42the bit
00:28:42to strike
00:28:43first.
00:28:45Elizabeth's
00:28:46top sea dogs,
00:28:47the Lord
00:28:47Admiral Charles
00:28:48Howard and
00:28:49Sir Francis
00:28:49Drake,
00:28:50had left
00:28:50their fleets
00:28:51and travelled
00:28:52to Greenwich
00:28:52where they
00:28:53begged the
00:28:53Queen to
00:28:54act.
00:28:54They wanted
00:28:55to set sail
00:28:56and hit
00:28:56the Spanish
00:28:57first before
00:28:58they could
00:28:58reach English
00:28:59shores.
00:28:59But Elizabeth
00:29:00was still
00:29:01clinging to
00:29:01the hope
00:29:02that she
00:29:02could negotiate
00:29:03a peace
00:29:04treaty with
00:29:04Spain.
00:29:07Despite
00:29:07knowing the
00:29:08Armada was
00:29:08on its way,
00:29:09Elizabeth was
00:29:10convinced she
00:29:11might still
00:29:12be able to
00:29:12avoid a
00:29:13risky war,
00:29:14one that
00:29:15could cost
00:29:16her her
00:29:16throne.
00:29:18so she
00:29:18ignored her
00:29:19admiral's
00:29:20pleas,
00:29:20packed up
00:29:21shop and
00:29:22headed for
00:29:22Richmond
00:29:23Palace.
00:29:24Nothing like
00:29:24a change of
00:29:25scenery to
00:29:26take your
00:29:26mind off
00:29:26things.
00:29:32Richmond was
00:29:33one of
00:29:33Elizabeth's
00:29:34favourite
00:29:35palaces.
00:29:35She'd go
00:29:36jousting on
00:29:37the green
00:29:37and deer
00:29:38hunting in
00:29:38the park
00:29:39nearby.
00:29:39So, as
00:29:41things with the
00:29:41Spanish grew
00:29:42even more
00:29:42tense,
00:29:44Elizabeth
00:29:44wanted a
00:29:44hole-up
00:29:45in her
00:29:46favourite
00:29:46home.
00:29:49Dutifully by
00:29:50her side,
00:29:50as ever,
00:29:51was her
00:29:51wealthy lady
00:29:52in waiting,
00:29:53Blanche Parry,
00:29:54no doubt
00:29:55doing her
00:29:56level best
00:29:56to act
00:29:56like nothing
00:29:57was amiss.
00:30:00So, how
00:30:01Blanche
00:30:02travelled?
00:30:03Well, she
00:30:04would have
00:30:04accompanied
00:30:05the Queen
00:30:05in one of
00:30:06her luxurious
00:30:07litters that
00:30:08contained the
00:30:09finest cushions.
00:30:12It would
00:30:13have been
00:30:13up to
00:30:13Blanche
00:30:14to keep
00:30:14the Queen
00:30:14distracted
00:30:15from the
00:30:15doom and
00:30:16gloom of
00:30:16the coming
00:30:17armada.
00:30:18Together they
00:30:19would spend
00:30:20the afternoon
00:30:20playing music,
00:30:21betting on
00:30:22cards, and
00:30:23feasting on
00:30:23imported
00:30:24delicacies
00:30:25passed on
00:30:25silver platters
00:30:26by lesser
00:30:27servants, of
00:30:28course.
00:30:30But there
00:30:31was only so
00:30:31long Blanche
00:30:32and Elizabeth
00:30:33could carry
00:30:33on as
00:30:34normal.
00:30:37Elizabeth
00:30:37had assembled
00:30:38a council
00:30:39of war who
00:30:40were sending
00:30:41out spies
00:30:42to try and
00:30:43ascertain where
00:30:44exactly the
00:30:45Spanish were
00:30:45looking to
00:30:46land.
00:30:46There is
00:30:47fear, there
00:30:48is anxiety,
00:30:49there is
00:30:49tension, and
00:30:51Blanche would
00:30:51have been at
00:30:52the very
00:30:52heart of
00:30:53that.
00:30:57Just one
00:30:58day after
00:30:59arriving at
00:30:59Richmond,
00:31:00Elizabeth and
00:31:01Blanche received
00:31:02the news they'd
00:31:02been dreading.
00:31:04The secret
00:31:04peace talks
00:31:05with Spain
00:31:06had collapsed.
00:31:07It had
00:31:08all been a
00:31:09ruse to
00:31:09buy King
00:31:10Philip time
00:31:10to gather
00:31:11his forces.
00:31:13Word spread
00:31:14through the
00:31:14court.
00:31:15War now
00:31:15seemed
00:31:16inevitable.
00:31:19Everything
00:31:19hung in the
00:31:20balance.
00:31:22And as
00:31:23Elizabeth's
00:31:23closest confidant,
00:31:25Blanche must
00:31:26have been
00:31:26terrified,
00:31:27knowing her
00:31:28fate was
00:31:28tied so
00:31:29closely to
00:31:29the
00:31:30Queen's.
00:31:31The
00:31:31consequences
00:31:32for somebody
00:31:33like Blanche
00:31:34could have
00:31:34been fatal.
00:31:35This is
00:31:36catastrophic.
00:31:37And for
00:31:38the Queen,
00:31:39of course,
00:31:40but also for
00:31:40everybody around
00:31:41her.
00:31:42This is a
00:31:43fight-or-die
00:31:44moment.
00:31:46All across
00:31:47England, men
00:31:48were hearing
00:31:48that their
00:31:49training would
00:31:49soon be put
00:31:50to the
00:31:50test.
00:31:52Down in
00:31:53the Channel,
00:31:54things are
00:31:54really hotting
00:31:56up for
00:31:56William Brown
00:31:57on board
00:31:57his small
00:31:58ship,
00:31:59Hazard.
00:31:59they are
00:32:00no longer
00:32:00on standby.
00:32:01They're
00:32:02stocking the
00:32:03ship for
00:32:04war.
00:32:09I got
00:32:10this document
00:32:11here which
00:32:11tells us
00:32:12about the
00:32:13supplies for
00:32:14the ship.
00:32:16£110 is
00:32:18spent on
00:32:19powder and
00:32:20shot and
00:32:21other necessaries.
00:32:22So they're
00:32:22not skimping,
00:32:23they really are
00:32:24making sure
00:32:24she's prepared
00:32:25for war.
00:32:26With a
00:32:27ferocious
00:32:28Spanish fleet
00:32:29headed straight
00:32:29for them,
00:32:30there was
00:32:30no time to
00:32:31waste.
00:32:32Gunner's
00:32:33man William
00:32:33is now
00:32:34set to
00:32:34work preparing
00:32:35all the
00:32:36ship's
00:32:36cannon for
00:32:37battle.
00:32:39Right,
00:32:40let's get it
00:32:40back onto
00:32:41the deck.
00:32:42They are the
00:32:42most vital
00:32:43weapon in
00:32:44the English
00:32:44fleet's
00:32:45arsenal.
00:32:47William spent
00:32:48hours being
00:32:49drilled on
00:32:50how to load
00:32:50and clean
00:32:51600-pound guns
00:32:53in the middle
00:32:53of the choppy
00:32:54waters.
00:32:57His very
00:32:57survival depends
00:32:58on mastering
00:32:59it.
00:33:01I see the
00:33:02first one on
00:33:02top.
00:33:02Yeah.
00:33:03So that's the
00:33:04scrape-out
00:33:04shrapnel.
00:33:06Actually, that's
00:33:06not easy.
00:33:07It's not an
00:33:07easy job.
00:33:09This is the
00:33:10swab.
00:33:10Yeah, got it.
00:33:11This is for
00:33:11cooling down the
00:33:12cannon.
00:33:15Now that the
00:33:15ship has been
00:33:16loaded to the
00:33:17gills with
00:33:17gunpowder,
00:33:19any slip-ups
00:33:20could be
00:33:21deadly.
00:33:24You got
00:33:25steady hands,
00:33:26Ruf?
00:33:26Yeah, quite.
00:33:27Here's hoping
00:33:28William did
00:33:29too.
00:33:30Lives were at
00:33:31stake, his
00:33:32and his
00:33:33crews.
00:33:34And that is
00:33:35the cannon
00:33:35fully loaded.
00:33:37William needed
00:33:38to be able to
00:33:39load up one
00:33:39gun in just
00:33:40three minutes.
00:33:41But doing that
00:33:42in the heat of
00:33:43battle, knowing
00:33:44everything that
00:33:45was at risk,
00:33:46well, I don't
00:33:47think anything
00:33:48could prepare him
00:33:49for that.
00:33:53He's a busy
00:33:53man, William,
00:33:54on board this
00:33:54ship.
00:33:55He's not just
00:33:55doing one gun.
00:33:56Yeah, he's
00:33:56jumping from gun
00:33:57to gun to gun
00:33:58because you're
00:33:58willing to do a
00:33:58volley of cannon.
00:34:00Bang, bang,
00:34:00bang, bang.
00:34:01I mean, there's
00:34:01a lot of pressure
00:34:02in the sense that
00:34:03if you get it
00:34:03wrong, you could
00:34:04blow your own
00:34:04ship up.
00:34:11William and
00:34:11the crew on
00:34:12board the
00:34:12Hazard kept
00:34:13a vigilant
00:34:14watch for the
00:34:14Spanish day
00:34:15and night.
00:34:17They knew the
00:34:18battle ahead would
00:34:19be unlike anything
00:34:20they'd ever known.
00:34:22This is just an
00:34:24ordinary man in
00:34:25his late 20s and
00:34:27now he's facing the
00:34:28most serious
00:34:29challenge of his
00:34:30life, all those
00:34:32guns.
00:34:33Well, the Spanish
00:34:34have got them too
00:34:35and as for the
00:34:36very first time he
00:34:38starts to prepare
00:34:39the guns for battle,
00:34:40he must be thinking,
00:34:42what happens if the
00:34:44Spanish fire first?
00:34:48William wouldn't
00:34:49have long to
00:34:49wonder.
00:34:51The Spanish
00:34:52Armada was now
00:34:53storming up the
00:34:54coast of France.
00:34:55They would have
00:34:56England in their
00:34:57sights in a matter
00:34:58of days.
00:35:05The 25th of July,
00:35:071588.
00:35:08The whole of
00:35:09England is on
00:35:10tenterhooks, waiting
00:35:11for the Spanish to
00:35:12arrive.
00:35:14130 of their
00:35:15warships had rounded
00:35:17the north coast of
00:35:18France.
00:35:20They're now just
00:35:22days away.
00:35:25But the English
00:35:26and Queen Elizabeth
00:35:27had no way of
00:35:28knowing exactly
00:35:29how many days.
00:35:33Back in the
00:35:341500s, you
00:35:35couldn't just send
00:35:36a text or make
00:35:37a phone call.
00:35:38There was no
00:35:38instant communication
00:35:40and that was what
00:35:41was so tricky about
00:35:42coordinating war in
00:35:44Tudor times.
00:35:46So Queen Elizabeth
00:35:47set up her very
00:35:48own team of
00:35:49watchers.
00:35:52along the coast
00:35:53men were stationed
00:35:54ready for that
00:35:55first glimpse of
00:35:57the terrifying
00:35:57Spanish ships
00:35:58they'd been hearing
00:35:59about for months.
00:36:02The watchers had
00:36:03one order, to
00:36:05sound the alarm as
00:36:06quickly as possible
00:36:07when the time
00:36:07came.
00:36:09A line of
00:36:10beacons stretched
00:36:11all the way from
00:36:12Cornwall to the
00:36:13far coast of
00:36:14Kent and up
00:36:15into London.
00:36:17It was a signal
00:36:18chain.
00:36:19Once one beacon
00:36:20was lit, the
00:36:21others would
00:36:22follow, carrying
00:36:23news to the
00:36:24Queen and her
00:36:25forces that the
00:36:26Spanish had
00:36:26arrived.
00:36:29But would it
00:36:30work?
00:36:32Late in the
00:36:33afternoon of the
00:36:3429th of July, the
00:36:36system was put to
00:36:37the test.
00:36:40At Lizard Point
00:36:41on the very tip of
00:36:42Cornwall, huge ships
00:36:43were seen
00:36:44approaching.
00:36:45The watchers on the
00:36:46coast ran to light
00:36:47the first beacons.
00:36:49The Spanish were
00:36:51here.
00:36:53But instead of
00:36:55landing, the
00:36:57Armada turned into
00:36:58the English Channel,
00:36:59sailing right along
00:37:00the southern coast.
00:37:03By early the next
00:37:04morning, the Queen
00:37:05knew about it.
00:37:07A day later, her
00:37:08navy in Plymouth,
00:37:09including Thomas
00:37:10Cordell's precious
00:37:11ships, were in hot
00:37:13pursuit.
00:37:15The beacon system
00:37:16had set the
00:37:16Queen's plan into
00:37:17action, and all
00:37:19over the country,
00:37:20men were grabbing
00:37:21their weapons.
00:37:25As word spread,
00:37:27England was thrown
00:37:29into a wartime
00:37:30frenzy.
00:37:32It must have been a
00:37:33terrifying moment for
00:37:34Margaret Brown, waiting
00:37:35desperately for news of
00:37:37her husband, William.
00:37:41Margaret knows that at
00:37:43this moment her
00:37:43husband is in all
00:37:44probability fighting
00:37:46the Spanish, but she
00:37:48doesn't know the
00:37:48details.
00:37:49I mean, how does an
00:37:51ordinary woman in the
00:37:531500s find out what's
00:37:54going on?
00:37:58Royal messengers were
00:37:59racing back and forth
00:38:00to the coast with
00:38:01updates for the Queen
00:38:02and her war council.
00:38:04If you had the money,
00:38:05like Thomas Cordell, you
00:38:07might be able to pay
00:38:08for a messenger of
00:38:08your own.
00:38:09It's a luxury someone
00:38:11like Margaret could
00:38:12never afford.
00:38:14But there was one
00:38:15rather creative way
00:38:16that poorer people
00:38:17could stay well
00:38:19informed.
00:38:21Many Tudor people
00:38:22got their news
00:38:23via ballads.
00:38:24Now, these are
00:38:24songs.
00:38:25People write new
00:38:26words, and they set
00:38:27them to old, popular
00:38:29tunes.
00:38:30People sing them,
00:38:31and the news spreads.
00:38:33It's a real good way
00:38:34of getting information
00:38:36out there fast to the
00:38:38people.
00:38:39And Margaret, well,
00:38:41she'll have been
00:38:41desperate for any news
00:38:43she could get.
00:38:45In the three days since
00:38:47the Spanish were first
00:38:48sighted, the English had
00:38:49been chasing the Armada
00:38:50fleet up the channel,
00:38:52trying desperately to sink
00:38:54any of their huge
00:38:55warships.
00:38:58On August the 1st,
00:38:59they tasted success.
00:39:03Sir Francis Drake
00:39:04captured a Spanish
00:39:06galleon, taking its
00:39:07sailors and loot
00:39:08hostage.
00:39:10News of the victory
00:39:11was turned into
00:39:12ballads...
00:39:14..and sung on the
00:39:16streets of London.
00:39:17It's like a form of
00:39:18scrolling social media,
00:39:20you know, going out
00:39:20into the street, hearing
00:39:21the latest news that's
00:39:23happening, and people
00:39:24having access to that
00:39:25really quickly.
00:39:25Possibly within days of
00:39:27this action actually
00:39:28happening.
00:39:29Yeah.
00:39:30It's likely this would
00:39:31have been the first
00:39:32news Margaret heard
00:39:33from the front, and
00:39:34she must have wondered
00:39:35if William was
00:39:36involved.
00:39:38This is how she's
00:39:39getting her news.
00:39:40This is how she finds
00:39:41out what's happening
00:39:41with her husband.
00:39:42This is how she knows
00:39:44whether the threat is
00:39:45coming close to home.
00:39:48There was nothing
00:39:49Margaret could do but
00:39:50wait, and pray her
00:39:52husband William was
00:39:53still alive.
00:39:57While out in the channel,
00:39:59the battle continued.
00:40:02As the English navy
00:40:03bombarded the huge
00:40:05Spanish ships, trying
00:40:06desperately to break
00:40:07through their ranks
00:40:08before they could turn
00:40:10towards England.
00:40:11For rich merchants like
00:40:13Thomas, this was
00:40:14serious.
00:40:15His most valuable
00:40:16possessions were at risk.
00:40:18And for the poor like
00:40:20William, nervously
00:40:21readying the guns on
00:40:22board his ship near
00:40:23Dover, his very life
00:40:25was at stake.
00:40:26Well, I suppose this is
00:40:28it, isn't it?
00:40:28This is the moment.
00:40:29We're defending England,
00:40:31Ruth.
00:40:31Queen and country.
00:40:33And risking our lives
00:40:34in the process.
00:40:39For rich and poor, the
00:40:41outcome of the battle
00:40:42could change everything.
00:40:49But after seven days of
00:40:51relentless fighting,
00:40:54Elizabeth's navy has
00:40:55barely made a dent.
00:41:00The fleet is at sea.
00:41:02What the heck happens?
00:41:03The Spanish ships are so
00:41:04strong that there's not a
00:41:05lot of damage being done.
00:41:06The English accounts say
00:41:08that this is the strongest
00:41:09fleet anyone has ever seen.
00:41:10It's filling the horizon.
00:41:12It's a very tense,
00:41:13almost stalemate.
00:41:14Meanwhile, William and his
00:41:16lot are just sitting there
00:41:17waiting.
00:41:19He's with the second half
00:41:21of Elizabeth's navy at Dover,
00:41:22ready to defend the English
00:41:24coast from the eastern end
00:41:26of the channel.
00:41:27But then, in the early
00:41:30evening of the 6th of August,
00:41:32the Armada fleet make a
00:41:33surprising move.
00:41:35They turn towards France.
00:41:39Why are they not just
00:41:40heading straight for the
00:41:41coast of England?
00:41:42Well, an army of Spanish
00:41:44veterans experienced fierce
00:41:46fighters in what's France
00:41:48and Flanders, and they are
00:41:50waiting to try and cross the
00:41:51channel.
00:41:54King Philip had an ace up his
00:41:56sleeve.
00:41:57The phony peace talks with
00:41:59Elizabeth hadn't just been to
00:42:01buy time to sail to England.
00:42:03Philip had been marching a
00:42:05huge, 30,000-strong Spanish
00:42:07army to meet his armada in
00:42:10northern France.
00:42:11And by nightfall, the Spanish
00:42:14ships made it to the French
00:42:15port of Calais.
00:42:18There is a real threat here.
00:42:20England doesn't have a
00:42:21professional army, and it
00:42:22doesn't really have many
00:42:23fortified towns.
00:42:25So if these Spanish soldiers
00:42:26land in England, it would be
00:42:28disastrous.
00:42:29With these Spanish
00:42:31reinforcements on their way,
00:42:32the English navy needed a
00:42:34miracle, and they were running
00:42:36out of time.
00:42:37The ships from Dover,
00:42:39including the Hazard where
00:42:40William Brown is manning the
00:42:41guns, join the English main
00:42:44fleet just outside Calais.
00:42:47And together, they hatch a
00:42:49plan to strike.
00:42:53The English use a tactic
00:42:55that's very common at the
00:42:55time of fire ships.
00:42:57A fire ship is where you take
00:42:59a warship, and you stuff it
00:43:01full of anything that will
00:43:02burn, anything that will
00:43:03explode, scrap metal, anything
00:43:04like that, and they send them
00:43:06in to the Spanish fleet at
00:43:08midnight, where the Spanish
00:43:10fleet are anchored in Calais.
00:43:14In the dark of night, these
00:43:16flaming boats send the tightly
00:43:17formationed Spanish fleet into
00:43:20utter chaos.
00:43:21These Spanish captains are
00:43:23cutting their anchor cables.
00:43:24They're fleeing out to sea.
00:43:25They're trying to get away from
00:43:27the danger of fire.
00:43:31As the sun rose on the 8th of
00:43:33August, the English surround the
00:43:35scattered Spanish ships fleeing
00:43:37into the open water and engage
00:43:41them in all-out battle.
00:43:52There's nine hours of fighting
00:43:54through bad weather, smoke, fire.
00:43:58This is the most intense moment
00:44:00when all of the English ships are
00:44:02involved.
00:44:03The futures of both wealthy
00:44:05merchant Thomas and lowly gunner's
00:44:07man William hung in the balance.
00:44:10What would it have been like for
00:44:11William, who's on that boat, in
00:44:13the middle of it, helping with a
00:44:15gunner?
00:44:15I think it would have been a
00:44:16terrifying experience.
00:44:17You've got cannonballs coming
00:44:19through the hull and splinters
00:44:20flying everywhere.
00:44:22Even if you're on deck, the smoke
00:44:25and the weather and the storms
00:44:26means you don't really know what's
00:44:27going on.
00:44:28Imagine even more so being down in
00:44:31the gun deck with no sense of
00:44:33where you are, where the enemy is.
00:44:35You've just got to keep loading
00:44:36your guns and firing and hope that
00:44:39everything's going to be okay.
00:44:50By 4pm, five Spanish ships had been
00:44:53sunk, and what remained of their mighty
00:44:56Armada fleet was being chased up into
00:45:00the North Sea by Elizabeth's navy.
00:45:02It seemed the English had just pulled
00:45:05off a startling victory.
00:45:14And that's my cue to get back on land
00:45:16and warm up.
00:45:17Right, I'm off to go and get some
00:45:19brandy, bye.
00:45:21Don't go down with the ship, it's my
00:45:22money.
00:45:25But around a hundred Englishmen had
00:45:27been killed, and hundreds more
00:45:29injured.
00:45:32England might have won this battle,
00:45:34but no one knew if the Spanish were
00:45:36coming back for more.
00:45:39Had William, fighting for his life on a
00:45:42small ship, facing the giants of
00:45:45Spain, survived to tell the tale?
00:45:48Well, there's good news, and there's
00:45:50bad news.
00:45:51We know that he survives, but he
00:45:54doesn't come through unscathed.
00:45:55We have this document that tells us
00:45:57that he was shot through his body
00:45:59and grievously wounded in sundry
00:46:02places, and that means he would have
00:46:04had several injuries.
00:46:05So this is life threatening.
00:46:07He could still die.
00:46:08He's made it through the battle, but
00:46:09he could still die.
00:46:14William was in a desperate state,
00:46:17but he couldn't go home yet.
00:46:20His ship was still moored in the
00:46:22channel, on the lookout for any
00:46:24Spanish that might return.
00:46:27But who would have been looking out
00:46:29for him?
00:46:32William is injured.
00:46:34We don't have a huge amount of
00:46:35details.
00:46:36We just know that he's wounded
00:46:37through the body, that he's got
00:46:40several wounds.
00:46:41I'm wondering whether he lost a
00:46:42limb, and that's a common thing in
00:46:45naval injuries.
00:46:47Now, the problem is, if you damage a
00:46:49limb at that time, there's no
00:46:51antibiotics.
00:46:52You're very likely to get gangrene and
00:46:55then die.
00:46:56So it's better to lose the limb than
00:46:58your life.
00:46:59And is there actually a surgeon on
00:47:02board?
00:47:02As a matter of fact, there was.
00:47:04We know there was a surgeon on the
00:47:06ship called John Garnett.
00:47:09It's a lifeline he never would have
00:47:11been able to afford back home.
00:47:14Only the rich had the money to pay for
00:47:16properly trained doctors and
00:47:17surgeons.
00:47:19The best the poor could usually hope
00:47:20for was an old folk remedy and a
00:47:23prayer.
00:47:24If William was unlucky enough to need
00:47:26an amputation, there was no time to
00:47:29mess around.
00:47:32So you have to hold the man down.
00:47:34There's no anaesthetic here.
00:47:36No anaesthetic at all.
00:47:37He's completely awake.
00:47:39You probably actually get someone to
00:47:40sit across his body.
00:47:41Someone holding him from behind like
00:47:43that and someone holding the limb.
00:47:46Maybe put a tourniquet around it as
00:47:48well to slow down the bleeding.
00:47:50And then you have to be as quick as
00:47:52you can.
00:47:53So the first thing you need to do is you
00:47:54take a large knife and you cut all the
00:47:57way around the leg, all the way onto
00:48:00the bone.
00:48:01You then take your saw and as quickly as
00:48:05possible, you want to pull the flesh back
00:48:07and you want to saw through those bones.
00:48:11The next few minutes would have been the
00:48:13most risky of William's life.
00:48:14Cutting through a large blood vessel can
00:48:17cause a fatal bleed out in just two
00:48:19minutes.
00:48:21Hazard surgeon, John Garnett, would have
00:48:23raced to tie up any loose arteries before
00:48:27bandaging him up and laying him below deck.
00:48:31But his war was far from over.
00:48:37Poor William.
00:48:38He's down at the bottom of the ship in the
00:48:40dark.
00:48:41He's badly injured and in excruciating pain.
00:48:46Now more than ever, he must wonder if he'll
00:48:49ever get home.
00:48:53The English might have won this battle, but
00:48:56for those sailors stranded out in the
00:48:58channel, bleeding, injured and hungry, the
00:49:04worst was still to come.
00:49:11It's the second week of August, 1588.
00:49:16News had made its way to London of the
00:49:18great naval battle that's just taken place
00:49:20in the channel between the English Navy and
00:49:23the Spanish Armada.
00:49:25Now, people know the English fleet have come
00:49:27out on top, but that's about all they know.
00:49:33Margaret Brown didn't know if her husband
00:49:35William was alive or dead.
00:49:39And Thomas Cordell was probably beside himself
00:49:42with worry.
00:49:43Who's to say his precious ships weren't lying
00:49:46at the bottom of the channel?
00:49:49As for the Armada, fierce winds had pushed the fleet up
00:49:53into the North Sea, with Elizabeth's navy keeping hot
00:49:56on their heels.
00:49:59People still thought the Spanish could attack at any moment.
00:50:12Blanche Parry, Elizabeth's loyal lady-in-waiting, now rode with the Queen and her Council of War from St. James's
00:50:19Palace in Westminster to Tilbury in Essex, where a ragtag army of 18,000 men were gathered, preparing to take
00:50:30on the superpower of Europe.
00:50:34So what's the atmosphere like?
00:50:36This is the largest invasion England has faced really since 1066.
00:50:39But I think people on just a fundamental level are really scared, because these people don't have much training.
00:50:44Their weapons are rudimentary.
00:50:46They won't necessarily be wearing armour.
00:50:47The poorer people, at best, will have leather jerkins to wear.
00:50:51We must kind of not really adequately imagine how terrified people were.
00:50:56Even Blanche, standing steadfastly at Elizabeth's side, knew that all her wealth and privilege would count for nothing if the
00:51:04Spanish made land.
00:51:08I'm trying to imagine Blanche in all of this.
00:51:10If this went the wrong way, what would this have meant for her, do you think?
00:51:15I mean, it would be a personal disaster for Blanche, of course, because Elizabeth is going to be murdered, or
00:51:20at least carried off to Spain if she doesn't win.
00:51:23But she's a woman in her 80s.
00:51:25You know, actually, I think it would have killed her.
00:51:30Everything was on the line.
00:51:32As fear raced through the camp, Elizabeth had one job.
00:51:36To put steel in the hearts of the men, called to defend her kingdom.
00:51:43Dressed like a warrior queen, she rode to the head of her forces to deliver a battle speech that would
00:51:49go down in history.
00:51:57I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of
00:52:03a king.
00:52:04I, and a king of England too, and think foul scorn of Spain, or any prince of Europe who would
00:52:12dare invade the borders of my realm.
00:52:20And the impact was immediate.
00:52:24People just erupt after her speech.
00:52:26You know, there's cheers, there's excitement.
00:52:28She's really rallied the troops.
00:52:29People stamping their feet.
00:52:31A roaring football crowd meets an army ready to go in a fight for this goddess.
00:52:39But in fact, that day would never come.
00:52:44While Elizabeth and Blanche were at Tilbury, a messenger arrived with news from the coast.
00:52:51The English navy had managed to chase the Spanish ships up past the border with Scotland,
00:52:56where strong winds would make it impossible for them to turn back.
00:53:03King Philip's supposedly invincible invasion force had been outmaneuvered.
00:53:08They now had no choice but to flee.
00:53:12The mighty Spanish armada had been defeated.
00:53:22So at the time the queen makes this speech, she's already won the war, pretty much.
00:53:28She has.
00:53:29She is helped by a Protestant wind, as the English called it,
00:53:33which is basically the wind blows in the wrong direction for the Spanish.
00:53:36And eventually the armada ends up having to limp all the way around Scotland to get home.
00:53:40The small kingdom of England had somehow defied the odds
00:53:44and seen off the greatest power in Europe.
00:53:52I mean, once you've won a war, what else is there to do but go and party like it's 1588?
00:53:59Blanche and Elizabeth made their way back to London to prepare for the victory celebration.
00:54:06Soon the whole country would know that England had won.
00:54:12But shockingly, for the 16,000 sailors still out at sea,
00:54:17the men who had fought off the Spanish and made it out of battle alive,
00:54:22the worst was still to come.
00:54:26William Brown, badly injured in the battle, is trapped below deck on his small ship, the Hazard.
00:54:33A few mouldy biscuits is likely all he's had to eat in days.
00:54:39The English ships are slowly limping back home and they're in bad shape.
00:54:46William and the other men have been living on board now for over three months.
00:54:50Conditions are filthy.
00:54:53Most of the ships have rats and what's left of the rations has gone off.
00:54:58Some crews have even been reduced to drinking their own urine.
00:55:03And then disease starts spreading like wildfire.
00:55:12So what sort of diseases are we talking about?
00:55:14Things that would spread from person to person, usually diarrheal diseases, dysentery, for example,
00:55:20or what they would call the bloody flux, and typhus, which we now know is a bacterial disease,
00:55:27but they don't know how to treat it.
00:55:28And in a small ship, you can see how that would perpetuate and spread.
00:55:32On the Hazard, disease starts to take hold.
00:55:37All around him, men are getting sicker and weaker.
00:55:41With no way off the ship, William is in serious trouble.
00:55:51By late August, three weeks after their battle with the Spanish,
00:55:56the death toll on the English fleet begins to skyrocket.
00:56:00So those dead of wounds, maybe 100 or so,
00:56:05but there were 7,000 or more, 7,000,
00:56:09that died of disease rather than their wounds.
00:56:15So 100 from fighting and 7,000 from disease?
00:56:21Yes.
00:56:22In little over a week, nearly half of the entire English Navy is dead from disease.
00:56:31And for once, it didn't matter if you were rich or poor.
00:56:37Was William in more danger than, say, a captain as a richer chap?
00:56:41Well, even if you had money and were the captain,
00:56:43or a, for example, a lord on that ship as a sort of master of the fighting,
00:56:49you were still in that confined space.
00:56:52Even if you had your own personal position,
00:56:54you were still very likely to get the same diseases.
00:57:01It's hard to imagine the terror that must have gripped every man
00:57:05serving on board the English ships.
00:57:08What chance did William have of making it out of this alive?
00:57:13Of ever seeing Margaret and their kids again?
00:57:22Back on land, far from the harsh reality of war,
00:57:26the people of England were eager to celebrate.
00:57:33Londoners were gathering outside St. Paul's.
00:57:36The dean of the cathedral was to lead a sermon,
00:57:38giving thanks for the war effort.
00:57:41All the power players of the capital were invited,
00:57:44including the top city merchants.
00:57:47Thomas Cordell was front and centre.
00:57:53Thomas was here to be seen.
00:57:55This was the hottest ticket in Tudor England.
00:57:58Crowds gathered from far and wide to hear what the dean had to say.
00:58:02And on that day, in August, more than ever,
00:58:05there was a huge buzz of excitement in the air.
00:58:09People packed into the churchyard by St. Paul's Cross,
00:58:13both rich and poor,
00:58:14though the rich had the good seats, of course.
00:58:17The rest jostled to hear what the dean had to say.
00:58:20And then he got up to speak.
00:58:23He confirmed the message they'd been desperate to hear.
00:58:26The Spanish had gone home.
00:58:28England had won.
00:58:30They were safe at last.
00:58:39The crowd erupted at the news.
00:58:43They praised their queen for protecting her kingdom
00:58:46and hailed the Protestant wind that helped drive the Spanish off.
00:58:50By the first week of September,
00:58:54what remained of the English Navy is finally back on land.
00:59:00And poor Thomas Cordell,
00:59:02who's been without his precious merchant ships
00:59:04and his trade income for nearly six months now,
00:59:08he finally gets the news he's been waiting to hear.
00:59:11His ships are still in one piece.
00:59:14And they're coming back to him,
00:59:16hopefully alongside a handsome reward
00:59:19for risking his fortune for queen and country.
00:59:23But what about the sailors who'd been on board those ships?
00:59:27What had happened to William Brown?
00:59:29Had he made it through?
00:59:31And would his wife, Margaret,
00:59:33struggling in poverty back in London,
00:59:36ever see her husband again?
00:59:43By September 1588,
00:59:45England was picking up the pieces
00:59:47after a fierce but short-lived battle with a Spanish armada.
00:59:52All over the country,
00:59:54stories of the bravery of the English sailors were being sung.
00:59:58But the war had been eye-wateringly expensive.
01:00:04Elizabeth had had to scrounge
01:00:05from every rich person in the country
01:00:07just to pull together a military force.
01:00:10And now she had a lot of IOUs to pay.
01:00:14The wages of the sailors who had crewed her ships
01:00:17and defeated the Spanish was low on her list.
01:00:20She'd only have to pay those who had made it home alive.
01:00:23But would William Brown be one of them?
01:00:28I've got a really interesting document here.
01:00:30And it's from Charles Lord Howard,
01:00:32Lord High Admiral of England.
01:00:35And then lower down, we get William Brown.
01:00:39That's our William.
01:00:40William Brown of London, gunner,
01:00:43Lately served in Her Majesty's service against the Spaniards
01:00:46and in that service was shot through his body
01:00:51and by means of the same, maimed forever.
01:00:55This is a really interesting document in so many ways.
01:00:58For a start, it tells us he has survived the armada itself.
01:01:02He is back on land.
01:01:04But he is nonetheless permanently disabled.
01:01:09Once off the ship,
01:01:11William would have been left to make his own way home
01:01:14on the measly 20 shillings he'd been paid for his service.
01:01:19It didn't sound like much at all,
01:01:21given what he'd had to sacrifice.
01:01:24This document reveals even more
01:01:26about the harsh new reality of William's post-war life.
01:01:31This is a begging licence.
01:01:34The 20 shillings that William earned,
01:01:37well, that doesn't last very long.
01:01:39And now, of course, as he's disabled,
01:01:40he can't really get work in the same way.
01:01:43So this is a sort of half-official system
01:01:48for providing help for those in need.
01:01:51He's supposed to take the letter, the licence,
01:01:54to a parish church,
01:01:56show it to the vicar or the church warden,
01:01:58and we have a whip round, a collection for him.
01:02:01And the money goes directly to William.
01:02:04It's a way of providing for people
01:02:06which the state doesn't pay for at all.
01:02:08But he does need the piece of paper.
01:02:10Because if he tried to beg without the licence,
01:02:14well, that's against the law.
01:02:15For that, he could get whipped through the streets.
01:02:18So he needs that bit of paper.
01:02:20He really needs it.
01:02:23William had been through hell and back.
01:02:27But with all the horrors he'd seen over the last few months,
01:02:29I can't help but think he would have counted himself lucky
01:02:33just to get home to his family at all.
01:02:37Imagine what it must have been like for Margaret, though.
01:02:40I mean, the able-bodied people off the ships
01:02:43must have come back days, maybe even weeks earlier,
01:02:47and she'd have been waiting and waiting and waiting.
01:02:50And then, finally, he arrives on the doorstep.
01:02:54I imagine it was a very emotional reunion.
01:03:00Life for William and Margaret Brown
01:03:01and many families like theirs would never be the same.
01:03:06Thousands of sailors never made it home.
01:03:09And thousands more would struggle to get by when they did.
01:03:15But it wasn't just those at the front line.
01:03:18Rich folk like Thomas Cordell
01:03:19had risked everything for Queen and Country too.
01:03:22And together, they'd succeeded.
01:03:24England had avoided becoming a Spanish conquest.
01:03:28Rich and poor alike had changed the course
01:03:31of the nation's history for good.
01:03:34But they'd paid a very different price.
01:03:38It is a deeply important moment, this,
01:03:41the Spanish Armada, that cements it, doesn't it?
01:03:44This is the moment that you cannot go back from.
01:03:46We have stood up to the might of the Catholic empires
01:03:50and we have said no.
01:03:53England finally becomes a confident Protestant state.
01:03:56It becomes England.
01:03:57You know, the thing that I don't think most people understand
01:04:00is that there is no state in the ordinary sense.
01:04:03You might think the Queen would have
01:04:04some sort of Department of Defence, some organised system,
01:04:08ships ready to go.
01:04:09The government would be paying for that.
01:04:11But of course, that's not how it works.
01:04:13Thomas Cordell, there he is.
01:04:15He's in the mercantile class, but worth a lot of money.
01:04:18He is the Navy, as are the other merchants.
01:04:21He's providing the ships that are going to go and do the fighting.
01:04:25He is personally funding part of the war effort.
01:04:29As ever with rich and poor,
01:04:32at the end of the war, when things go well,
01:04:35Cordell does rather well out of it.
01:04:37The good news is that his ships come back.
01:04:39So it's a win-win, right?
01:04:41He's risked it, but he's got it all back.
01:04:43He's now got marvellous trade opportunities.
01:04:46This is going to be a bonanza for him.
01:04:48This is a win.
01:04:48Blanche, I suspect, got a few jewels.
01:04:51I'm not sure that's true in the case of your...
01:04:53No, it's really not.
01:04:54I mean, my William was maimed.
01:04:57He was one of those casualties in the battle.
01:05:00And so the man is now disabled, without a proper means of living.
01:05:04He's reliant on begging to survive.
01:05:07He and his wife and all his kids just sort of tossed aside.
01:05:14If you'd met them all and they were facing crisis together,
01:05:18they would all have said,
01:05:20we're in this together, rich or poor.
01:05:23We're doing this for a greater noble purpose.
01:05:27Absolutely.
01:05:27The defence of our state.
01:05:28However, how they fared and what they risked...
01:05:32Would be very different, wouldn't it?
01:05:33Totally different.
01:06:20Jason Watkins and Robson Green prepare for round two
01:06:23of their psychological battle of wits.
01:06:26Drama The Game returns for a new series next Tuesday at 9.
01:06:29It changed the course of Chinese history,
01:06:31but how and why did they build it?
01:06:33The Great Wall of China with Dan Snow
01:06:35is brand new tomorrow at 9.
01:06:38Next, true crime in murder on the doorstep.
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