- 5 hours ago
The Carolingians saw themselves as successors to Rome, reflected in their art. Elsewhere, the Vikings were constructing long ships with intricate decoration and marking their territory with powerful rune stones. On the British Isles, the Irish and Anglo-Saxons were creating unique works of manuscript illumination and remarkable jewellery.
在黑暗时代的艺术与文化, 历史学把这段从罗马帝国的衰落开始的时期描绘成一个文明停止, 落入野蛮的时期, 在这个共四集的系列片中, 他提出黑暗时代是一个伟大的艺术....
在黑暗时代的艺术与文化, 历史学把这段从罗马帝国的衰落开始的时期描绘成一个文明停止, 落入野蛮的时期, 在这个共四集的系列片中, 他提出黑暗时代是一个伟大的艺术....
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TVTranscript
00:00:07So far, on this artistic journey through the Dark Ages, we've been hugging the Mediterranean and following the Sun.
00:00:18But the Dark Ages wouldn't be as significant as they were in the story of art if they'd stayed in
00:00:25the South.
00:00:26To be properly influential, they needed also to venture north.
00:00:36This is Lindisfarne, high up on the north coast of Britain. Holy Island, they call it.
00:00:45And this monastery you see there was founded early in the 7th century by an Irish monk called Aidan.
00:00:58What a place to build a monastery, eh? Cut off from the mainland, beaten up by the sea.
00:01:06It's so out of the way and impractical. And that's precisely why it was chosen.
00:01:17The Irish monks who founded Lindisfarne weren't looking for an easy life. They were looking for difficulties to conquer.
00:01:26These were hardcore northern Christians who'd isolated themselves up here on purpose, who worked their fingers to the bone and
00:01:37created something out of nothing.
00:01:41As they saw it, Jesus had sacrificed his life for them. So the least they could do was sacrifice their
00:01:50comfort.
00:01:54The hardcore determination of the Lindisfarne monks shows not only in the miraculous building of their great monastery, but also
00:02:05in the stunning book art they made up here.
00:02:08So intricate, so detailed, so difficult.
00:02:15And that's the thing about the north's contribution to the art of the dark ages.
00:02:21What it achieved, it achieved by going the extra mile, working the extra hour, adding the extra detail.
00:02:31Nothing was given to it on a plate.
00:02:49Bloods lit up, turn out some light of fire andITs.
00:03:20In this film, we're going to be looking at the Carolingians,
00:03:24dark age expansionists from France,
00:03:27whose huge empire gobbled up most of modern Europe,
00:03:31but who made art of exquisite finesse and richness.
00:03:39Also, the Vikings, who despite their terrible reputation for raping and pillaging,
00:03:47were actually exceptionally inventive craftsmen.
00:03:51The extreme delicacy of dark age Viking art is an unexpected pleasure.
00:03:59Then up here, in the north of England, we'll be celebrating a dark age nation
00:04:05whose artistic handiwork was admired across the whole of Europe.
00:04:11I'm thinking, of course, of the Anglo-Saxons.
00:04:15So skilled, so hard-working, so ingenious.
00:04:22Speaking of hard work, one of the things we're going to be doing in this film
00:04:27is following the creation of an Anglo-Saxon jewel from start to finish.
00:04:38Later on, I'll introduce you properly to Sean Greenhoush here.
00:04:43For now, all that really matters is that he's going to be making something exquisite.
00:04:50A silver disc brooch in the Anglo-Saxon manor.
00:04:58Sean Greenhoush's Anglo-Saxon brooch is a pleasure we're saving for later.
00:05:05First, we need to confront the north's most notorious barbarians.
00:05:12We've tackled some terrifying warrior nations in this series.
00:05:18The Hunts, the Vandals, the Goths.
00:05:22But when it comes to bellicosity,
00:05:26no-one has quite as fearsome a reputation as the Vikings.
00:05:35You know, people get so much wrong about the Vikings.
00:05:40They didn't wear these ridiculous helmets for a start.
00:05:43These were invented in the 19th century
00:05:46by a stage designer working on a Wagner opera.
00:05:50He had to make one of the singing Vikings look particularly evil.
00:05:55So he stuck the devil's horns on a helmet.
00:05:58And the Vikings have been lumbered with these helmets ever since.
00:06:04This is what their helmets really looked like.
00:06:07The only surviving Viking helmet in the National Museum in Oslo.
00:06:17The Vikings were particularly interesting
00:06:20because while all the other Germanic tribes headed south
00:06:23and became thoroughly Italianate,
00:06:26the Vikings stayed in the harsh and windy north
00:06:30where they clung to the old ways.
00:06:33So they were a barbarian nation of a pure and exciting type.
00:06:40The Vikings were a living link
00:06:43to an older and deeper European past.
00:06:47There were forces at work in them
00:06:49that civilisation hadn't dimmed.
00:06:52And that's what's so exciting about them.
00:06:59In fact, most of the time they were simple farmers
00:07:03tending the land, keeping livestock,
00:07:06growing what they could.
00:07:07But in the lands of the Vikings,
00:07:10you can't go very far without encountering water.
00:07:13And this constant presence of the sea
00:07:16had turned them into superb sailors.
00:07:21Exactly where they reached is still fiercely debated.
00:07:26But they certainly got to Greenland
00:07:28and then to Newfoundland.
00:07:30The Vikings discovered America
00:07:33a long, long time before Columbus.
00:07:36So boatmanship was one of their great achievements
00:07:40and another of their great achievements
00:07:43was art.
00:07:46In the great years of Viking expansion,
00:07:50roughly 800 AD to roughly 1100 AD,
00:07:55the Vikings put almost as much energy
00:07:58into making their own art
00:08:00as they did into stealing other peoples.
00:08:04This trefoil Viking brooch
00:08:07was modelled on the buckles used by Roman soldiers
00:08:11on their sword belts.
00:08:13The Vikings adapted it
00:08:16and turned it into a brooch for ladies.
00:08:21Much of what they made
00:08:23is so intricate and fine
00:08:26it's difficult to see.
00:08:28So to make absolutely clear
00:08:31what adventurous creatives they were,
00:08:34I've brought you to Oslo.
00:08:37To one of the great Viking museums
00:08:40where I wanted to show you
00:08:42this whopping great nautical masterpiece.
00:08:48On the 8th of August 1903,
00:08:51a Norwegian farmer called Knut Rom
00:08:54knocked on the door of Professor Gabriel Gustafsson
00:08:58of the Museum of Antiquities here in Oslo.
00:09:02While digging on his farm, said Knut Rom,
00:09:05he'd come across a buried ship
00:09:07and he thought it might be Viking.
00:09:11Two days later,
00:09:12Professor Gustafsson arrived at the farm
00:09:15and confirmed the discovery of this thing,
00:09:19the Olseberg ship.
00:09:24Will you look at that, eh?
00:09:27It's made entirely of oak,
00:09:30over 60 feet long,
00:09:3215 feet wide,
00:09:35and decorated at both ends
00:09:38with these boisterous Viking carvings.
00:09:44Inside the ship were two dead bodies.
00:09:47An older woman,
00:09:48who may have been a queen,
00:09:50and a younger woman,
00:09:52probably her slave,
00:09:54who was buried with her.
00:09:55There were also 14 horses,
00:09:59three dogs and an ox,
00:10:01all sacrificed together
00:10:03and buried with their master.
00:10:08In the stern of the boat
00:10:10was a four-wheeled cart,
00:10:12the first such Viking cart ever discovered.
00:10:17But no-one seemed too sure
00:10:19what the weather was going to be like in heaven,
00:10:22because there were also four sledges.
00:10:28But it's the carving of these boats
00:10:30and carts and sledges
00:10:32that makes this particular Viking find so exciting.
00:10:36Look at the elegant line of this ship,
00:10:40how it ends so gracefully up there,
00:10:43with the curved head of the snake.
00:10:47At either end, above the waterline where they can be seen,
00:10:51are these busy expanses of carving,
00:10:54so active and lively.
00:10:56Scores of twisting bodies,
00:11:00clutching hands,
00:11:01staring eyes,
00:11:03sniffing snouts,
00:11:05all jumbled together excitedly.
00:11:07A gymnasium of animal acrobats,
00:11:10tying themselves into knots.
00:11:13You have to get your eye in with Viking carvings,
00:11:17otherwise they can frighten you
00:11:18with all this amazing complication.
00:11:21It's all based on animal shapes,
00:11:24all interwoven and overlapping.
00:11:27So that, for example, is one animal.
00:11:31There's the head and there's the tail.
00:11:34And this figure-eight shape here,
00:11:36that's the whole of its body.
00:11:38And that's biting the tail of this animal here.
00:11:42And that animal is biting the tail of that animal.
00:11:46And so on.
00:11:47So imagine the 3D vision you need to carve this.
00:11:52The steady hand.
00:11:54The computer brain.
00:11:59So if anyone ever says to you,
00:12:01the Vikings were barbarous,
00:12:04grab them by the ear
00:12:06and tug them here, to Oslo.
00:12:15Runes.
00:12:19More runes.
00:12:24And still more runes.
00:12:29All over Scandinavia, Norway, Denmark,
00:12:33and particularly here in Sweden,
00:12:36you find these magnificent standing stones
00:12:40left behind by the Vikings,
00:12:43covered in wobbly carvings.
00:12:46and all these runes.
00:12:52Runes are the bits of writing on the twisty snakes.
00:12:57You usually find them on Viking gravestones.
00:13:01These ones here say Girior loved her husband
00:13:06and remembers him with her tears.
00:13:12Because they're carved on these mighty stones
00:13:15and not written down on handy bits of parchment or vellum,
00:13:20there's a tendency to mythologize them,
00:13:23to see great truths in the runes.
00:13:29According to Norse mythology,
00:13:32the runes were found by Odin,
00:13:35the supreme god of the Norsemen,
00:13:37while he was hanging from the tree of life,
00:13:41the famous Yggdrasil.
00:13:46For nine days and nights,
00:13:49Odin stayed in the great tree,
00:13:51waiting, hoping,
00:13:52until eventually the runes fell into his hands
00:13:57and revealed themselves to him.
00:14:01Odin passed them to us.
00:14:04Thus, from the start,
00:14:06the runes were associated with magic
00:14:09and the mysteries of the cosmos.
00:14:16This splendid story about Odin up in the trees
00:14:20and the origin of the runes
00:14:22is another example of the extraordinary power
00:14:25that words had in these fateful years.
00:14:29Words, letters, symbols
00:14:32seemed to mean so much in the Dark Ages.
00:14:36They were so loaded.
00:14:37They had such resonance.
00:15:01It's actually quite a simple alphabet.
00:15:05So this shape here,
00:15:07that's a V sound.
00:15:09And that's an A, L, and so on.
00:15:12So that says Valdemar.
00:15:14And in fact, this whole message is
00:15:16here stands Valdemar in Viking land.
00:15:29The runic alphabet,
00:15:31or foot-hark as it's called,
00:15:33had 24 letters in it originally.
00:15:37Later on,
00:15:38when the Vikings attacked Britain,
00:15:41they took the runes with them
00:15:43and the foot-hark grew
00:15:45to 33 letters.
00:15:50The new letters
00:15:52were needed to describe new sounds.
00:15:56Every time the Vikings conquered
00:15:57a new territory,
00:15:59new words entered their language.
00:16:02They needed new letters to describe them.
00:16:05So, for example,
00:16:07originally there was no W
00:16:09and I have to use a V sound
00:16:12for my name, Valdemar.
00:16:13So the runes were never
00:16:15some cobweb-covered dead language
00:16:18fit only for a museum.
00:16:20They were always alive,
00:16:22vibrant,
00:16:23and constantly changing.
00:16:30What a good-looking alphabet it is too.
00:16:34So energetic and upright.
00:16:37It's based on vertical lines
00:16:40because verticals are easier to carve,
00:16:43particularly in wood,
00:16:45but also in stone.
00:16:49This vertical emphasis
00:16:51gives the runes a spiky presence
00:16:54and a mysterious relationship with time,
00:16:59as if every mark
00:17:01is somehow counting down the days.
00:17:08The Vikings
00:17:11were the last
00:17:12of the great barbarian nations
00:17:14to convert to Christianity.
00:17:17It wasn't until the 10th century,
00:17:19a thousand years after the birth of Christ,
00:17:22that paganism's hold
00:17:23on the frozen north
00:17:25was broken.
00:17:26So around here,
00:17:28the paganism was stubborn.
00:17:31And in Viking art,
00:17:33it's often difficult to tell
00:17:35where the paganism ends
00:17:37and the Christianity begins.
00:17:42This is the biggest and most famous
00:17:44of all Scandinavian rune stones,
00:17:47the Yelling Stone.
00:17:51It weighs over 10 tons.
00:17:54It's two and a half meters tall.
00:17:58And as you can see,
00:17:59the entire stone
00:18:01seems to writhe with energy.
00:18:06What a fabulous thing.
00:18:10This inscription here,
00:18:11which goes all the way around,
00:18:13tells us
00:18:14that the Yelling Stone
00:18:16was put here
00:18:17by Harold Bluetooth,
00:18:20the energetic Viking ruler
00:18:22who's usually credited
00:18:24with converting the Danes
00:18:26to Christianity.
00:18:37It's carved on all three sides.
00:18:40And on this side,
00:18:41there's an image
00:18:42of a giant snake
00:18:44attacking a stylized lion.
00:18:47Now, obviously,
00:18:48there are no lions in Scandinavia.
00:18:50It's an image they found abroad.
00:18:51But the Vikings identified
00:18:54with the lion's fighting spirit.
00:18:56so it pops up a lot
00:18:58in their art.
00:18:58It's an image
00:18:59they made theirs.
00:19:03Now, I know what you're thinking.
00:19:06You're thinking,
00:19:07what lion and what snake?
00:19:09Well, inside the visitor's centre
00:19:12at Yelling,
00:19:13there's a coloured replica
00:19:15of the great stone,
00:19:16which shows you
00:19:17how the lion and the snake
00:19:19would originally have looked
00:19:21before all their paint fell off.
00:19:25But the most surprising sight
00:19:28is here
00:19:28on the biggest side.
00:19:30It's the culmination
00:19:32of the entire stone.
00:19:34But you can't see it yet.
00:19:36The light
00:19:37has to be exactly right.
00:19:48What you have to do
00:19:50is wait
00:19:51till the twilight
00:19:54begins to work
00:19:55its magic.
00:19:59Can you see it?
00:20:02It's a splendid
00:20:03Viking crucifixion
00:20:05with this stern
00:20:07Christ in the centre
00:20:09surrounded
00:20:10by all these
00:20:11writhing
00:20:12Viking knots.
00:20:14It's as if the whole stone
00:20:15can't keep still.
00:20:18And I like the way
00:20:19Christ
00:20:20hasn't actually
00:20:21got a cross.
00:20:22He's just
00:20:24standing there
00:20:25with his arms
00:20:26outstretched.
00:20:27So it's obviously
00:20:28another image
00:20:30that's been
00:20:30imported
00:20:31from abroad
00:20:32and is now
00:20:33being misunderstood
00:20:35so confidently.
00:20:48When the Vikings
00:20:49began behaving
00:20:50like Vikings
00:20:52and invaded
00:20:53Britain,
00:20:54they encountered
00:20:55the most exciting
00:20:57jewellers
00:20:58of the Dark Ages,
00:21:00the Anglo-Saxons.
00:21:03How do we know
00:21:04they were exciting?
00:21:06Because they've
00:21:07left behind
00:21:08this,
00:21:09the Sutton Hoo
00:21:11treasure.
00:21:17This is the finest
00:21:18hoard of Anglo-Saxon
00:21:20gold ever dug up
00:21:21in Britain,
00:21:22one of the great
00:21:23treasures of the
00:21:24British Museum.
00:21:26Just look at it.
00:21:28My legs go weak
00:21:29every time I see it
00:21:31because it's in
00:21:32such excellent
00:21:34condition.
00:21:38Much of the art
00:21:39that survives
00:21:40from the Dark Ages
00:21:42has been battered
00:21:43by time,
00:21:45but not
00:21:46the Sutton Hoo
00:21:47treasure.
00:21:49In the finest
00:21:50pieces here,
00:21:51there's hardly
00:21:52a gram of gold
00:21:53bent out of place
00:21:54or a garnet
00:21:56missing.
00:22:00The Sutton Hoo
00:22:01treasure was dug up
00:22:02out of the ground
00:22:02in East Anglia
00:22:03just a few weeks
00:22:05before the start
00:22:05of the Second World War
00:22:07in 1939,
00:22:09so it couldn't be
00:22:10investigated properly
00:22:11till after the war
00:22:13was over.
00:22:13And what a torture
00:22:15that must have been
00:22:16for the waiting
00:22:17archaeologists.
00:22:21the treasure dates
00:22:22from around 620 AD
00:22:25and comes from the grave
00:22:27of an important
00:22:28East Anglian king.
00:22:31The king was buried
00:22:33in a ship,
00:22:34his transport
00:22:35to the next world.
00:22:37And all this
00:22:39was buried with him
00:22:40to serve him
00:22:42in the afterlife.
00:22:46These bits of sword
00:22:47here and the helmets
00:22:48mark him out
00:22:50as a mighty warrior.
00:22:51He wouldn't want
00:22:52to get on the wrong
00:22:53side of this man
00:22:54in heaven.
00:22:59They found a liar
00:23:00in his grave as well
00:23:01so the king could listen
00:23:03to his favourite music
00:23:04in the afterlife.
00:23:06That's a recreation
00:23:07of it.
00:23:10He had to eat well
00:23:11so this fabulous
00:23:12cooking cauldron
00:23:14was buried with him.
00:23:15Look at all the
00:23:16intricate Celtic
00:23:18decoration
00:23:19around it.
00:23:23Most important of all,
00:23:25the people who buried
00:23:26the king
00:23:27made sure
00:23:28that he'd look good
00:23:29in the next world
00:23:30by burying him
00:23:32with his best
00:23:33Anglo-Saxon ruler bling.
00:23:36Which is where
00:23:37this gold comes in.
00:23:39And those
00:23:40magnificent
00:23:41garnets
00:23:44If you've ever seen
00:23:46finer jewellery
00:23:48than this
00:23:48let me know where
00:23:50because I want
00:23:51to go there.
00:23:53How did they do it?
00:23:56These Anglo-Saxon wizards.
00:24:02To penetrate
00:24:03their secrets
00:24:04I've tracked down
00:24:06a man who knows.
00:24:09In his youth
00:24:10Sean Greenhouse
00:24:12was a skilled
00:24:13forger
00:24:14and some of the
00:24:16world's greatest
00:24:17museums
00:24:18have admired
00:24:19his output.
00:24:23Sean was finally
00:24:24caught and sent
00:24:25to prison
00:24:26so he served
00:24:27his time
00:24:27and these days
00:24:29puts all that
00:24:30expertise
00:24:30to much better
00:24:32use
00:24:32as an independent
00:24:33craftsman.
00:24:34The methods
00:24:35he uses
00:24:36aren't exactly
00:24:37the same
00:24:37as the methods
00:24:38of the Dark Ages.
00:24:39The modern world
00:24:40has changed
00:24:41too much for that.
00:24:42But they're about
00:24:43as close as you can get
00:24:44and what Sean's work
00:24:46gives us
00:24:47is an insider's view
00:24:49of how Anglo-Saxon
00:24:50jewellers
00:24:51actually made
00:24:52their pieces.
00:24:54So Sean
00:24:55can you tell us
00:24:56what it is
00:24:56you're going to be making?
00:24:57Oh, it's
00:24:58an Anglo-Saxon
00:24:59disbroach
00:25:00silver with
00:25:01some enamel
00:25:01gilding
00:25:03covering most
00:25:04of the aspects
00:25:04that the Anglo-Saxon
00:25:06jewellers would use.
00:25:07They obviously had
00:25:08lots of different
00:25:09techniques in the way
00:25:10they made their jewellery.
00:25:11Yeah, yeah.
00:25:12So which ones
00:25:12are you picking up here?
00:25:13Well, this is probably
00:25:14a 10th century
00:25:15it's like a late
00:25:16Saxon disbroach.
00:25:17The earlier ones
00:25:18were the golden
00:25:19garnet mostly
00:25:20but these are
00:25:21religious symbolism
00:25:22on these.
00:25:24Is this based
00:25:24on an existing
00:25:26broach?
00:25:26No, it's my own
00:25:27design but it
00:25:28kind of encompasses
00:25:30elements of
00:25:30other things
00:25:31kind of.
00:25:32So it's an
00:25:32original design
00:25:33in itself.
00:25:37The centre part
00:25:38will be done
00:25:38in gold ribbon
00:25:39close on it
00:25:40a different
00:25:40coloured in ammels.
00:25:42And that's
00:25:42a picture
00:25:43of an Anglo-Saxon
00:25:44king?
00:25:45Yeah, yeah.
00:25:45Just a generic
00:25:46long tash beard
00:25:47and sword
00:25:48in his right hand.
00:25:49The element
00:25:50I haven't
00:25:50tied to it
00:25:51in.
00:25:51This is
00:25:52the hand
00:25:53of God
00:25:53over his
00:25:54shoulder
00:25:55in white.
00:25:56some gold
00:25:57with that
00:25:57one.
00:25:58Wonderful.
00:25:59Let's get
00:25:59going.
00:25:59Okay.
00:26:00Let's get
00:26:00on.
00:26:07The delights
00:26:08of Sean's
00:26:09Anglo-Saxon
00:26:10disc broach
00:26:11will have to
00:26:12wait.
00:26:14First,
00:26:15we need to
00:26:16cross the
00:26:16channel
00:26:17and search
00:26:18out those
00:26:19powerful
00:26:19dark age
00:26:21creatives,
00:26:21the
00:26:22Carolingians,
00:26:24rulers
00:26:25of the
00:26:26Franks.
00:26:28The
00:26:29Franks were
00:26:30the ancestors
00:26:30of the
00:26:31modern French.
00:26:32Originally,
00:26:33they were
00:26:34Germans,
00:26:35just like
00:26:35the Anglo-Saxons.
00:26:37But they
00:26:38arrived in
00:26:38Gaul on
00:26:39one of those
00:26:40expansionist
00:26:41barbarian waves
00:26:43that we saw
00:26:43in film too.
00:26:44And early
00:26:45in their story,
00:26:46the Franks
00:26:48converted to
00:26:49Christianity
00:26:50and they
00:26:51became
00:26:51particularly
00:26:52fierce
00:26:53defenders
00:26:54of the
00:26:55faith.
00:26:59Plenty of
00:27:00dark age
00:27:01societies
00:27:01liked their
00:27:02art to
00:27:03sparkle.
00:27:05A taste
00:27:06for gold
00:27:06is one of
00:27:07the dark
00:27:08age's
00:27:08defining
00:27:09characteristics.
00:27:11But when
00:27:12it comes
00:27:12to religious
00:27:13bling,
00:27:14the
00:27:15Frankish
00:27:16Christians
00:27:17were top
00:27:18of the
00:27:19charts.
00:27:23If you've
00:27:24ever wondered
00:27:24why the
00:27:25French
00:27:25sometimes
00:27:26conduct
00:27:26themselves
00:27:27as if
00:27:28they were
00:27:28the
00:27:28chosen
00:27:29people,
00:27:30it's
00:27:31because
00:27:31that's
00:27:31exactly
00:27:32what they
00:27:32thought
00:27:33they
00:27:33were.
00:27:34In 732
00:27:35AD,
00:27:36the
00:27:37Franks,
00:27:37led by
00:27:38the heroic
00:27:39Charles
00:27:39Martel,
00:27:40Charles
00:27:41the Hammer,
00:27:42defeated
00:27:43an
00:27:43invading
00:27:44Muslim
00:27:45army
00:27:45which had
00:27:46come up
00:27:46from Spain
00:27:47hoping
00:27:47to conquer
00:27:48Europe.
00:27:51The
00:27:52Franks
00:27:52believed
00:27:53God
00:27:54had chosen
00:27:55them
00:27:55to save
00:27:56Europe
00:27:57from
00:27:57Islam.
00:27:58They
00:27:59were
00:27:59his
00:27:59chosen
00:28:00people.
00:28:02And
00:28:02their
00:28:03art
00:28:03seems
00:28:04particularly
00:28:05aware
00:28:05of this
00:28:06special
00:28:07position
00:28:07in
00:28:08God's
00:28:09good
00:28:09books.
00:28:14The
00:28:15mightiest
00:28:15of the
00:28:16Frankish
00:28:16kings,
00:28:17Charles
00:28:18the
00:28:18Great,
00:28:19or
00:28:19Charlemagne
00:28:20as he's
00:28:20usually
00:28:20called,
00:28:21came from
00:28:22a dynasty
00:28:23called
00:28:23the
00:28:23Carolingians.
00:28:28He was
00:28:29crowned in
00:28:30768
00:28:31and with
00:28:33typical
00:28:33Frankish
00:28:34modesty
00:28:35pushed
00:28:36himself
00:28:37right to
00:28:38the front
00:28:38of Dark
00:28:39Age
00:28:39politics.
00:28:45Charlemagne
00:28:46was determined
00:28:47to expand
00:28:48the Frankish
00:28:49Empire.
00:28:51After all,
00:28:53it was
00:28:53God's
00:28:54chosen
00:28:54empire.
00:28:55And the
00:28:57Carolingians
00:28:58were God's
00:28:59chosen
00:29:00leaders.
00:29:02And this
00:29:03expansion of
00:29:04Charlemagne's
00:29:05Christian
00:29:06empire
00:29:06was achieved
00:29:08with deep
00:29:09brutality.
00:29:11In
00:29:12Germany,
00:29:13the Saxons,
00:29:14who were still
00:29:15pagans,
00:29:16were given
00:29:16a very
00:29:17simple
00:29:17choice.
00:29:18Convert to
00:29:19Christianity
00:29:20or die.
00:29:22If they
00:29:23didn't become
00:29:23Christians,
00:29:24they were
00:29:24killed.
00:29:25That was
00:29:26Charlemagne's
00:29:27choice.
00:29:32In 800
00:29:33AD,
00:29:34in Rome,
00:29:35on Christmas
00:29:36Day itself,
00:29:37the Pope
00:29:38rewarded
00:29:39Charlemagne
00:29:40for his
00:29:40efforts on
00:29:41behalf of
00:29:42Christianity
00:29:43by crowning
00:29:45him as
00:29:45the Holy
00:29:46Roman
00:29:47Emperor.
00:29:49Charlemagne
00:29:50was now
00:29:50the leader
00:29:51of the
00:29:52largest
00:29:52empire
00:29:53Europe
00:29:54had seen
00:29:54since the
00:29:55fall of
00:29:56the
00:29:56Romans.
00:29:59The
00:30:00centre
00:30:00of gravity
00:30:01of Europe
00:30:02had shifted
00:30:03and it
00:30:03had shifted
00:30:04to the
00:30:05north.
00:30:06This is
00:30:07the chapel
00:30:08that
00:30:08Charlemagne
00:30:08built
00:30:09here in
00:30:10Aachen
00:30:10on the
00:30:11Belgian
00:30:11borders.
00:30:12And from
00:30:13here,
00:30:13he ruled
00:30:14his new
00:30:15Christian
00:30:16empire.
00:30:17and this
00:30:18is actually
00:30:20the marble
00:30:21throne on
00:30:22which he
00:30:22sat.
00:30:26There's a
00:30:28spooky simplicity
00:30:29to Charlemagne's
00:30:30throne.
00:30:32Four slabs
00:30:33of ancient
00:30:34marble,
00:30:35a few metal
00:30:35clamps,
00:30:37six marble
00:30:38steps,
00:30:39and that's
00:30:40it.
00:30:41A gold-loving
00:30:43emperor is
00:30:44pretending
00:30:45to be
00:30:46a simple
00:30:47man.
00:30:52Charlemagne
00:30:53began building
00:30:54this chapel
00:30:55in 786 AD
00:30:57and at
00:30:58exactly the
00:30:59same time
00:31:00in Spain
00:31:01the Muslims
00:31:02were building
00:31:03the great
00:31:04mosque in
00:31:05Cordoba,
00:31:06which I hope
00:31:06you remember
00:31:07from the last
00:31:08film.
00:31:09Such inventive
00:31:11and dramatic
00:31:12architecture
00:31:13with those
00:31:14nimble
00:31:15double
00:31:16arches
00:31:17and that
00:31:18gorgeous
00:31:19forest of
00:31:20columns.
00:31:26Charlemagne's
00:31:27chapel,
00:31:28this chapel,
00:31:29was intended
00:31:30to be
00:31:31a deliberate
00:31:32riposte
00:31:33to the
00:31:33Muslims,
00:31:34a Christian
00:31:35answer
00:31:36to the
00:31:36Cordoba
00:31:37mosque.
00:31:38Look up
00:31:39there
00:31:39at the
00:31:40arches
00:31:41and see
00:31:41how they
00:31:42have
00:31:42these
00:31:42alternating
00:31:43bands
00:31:44of colour
00:31:45just like
00:31:46the arches
00:31:47in the
00:31:48Cordoba
00:31:48mosque.
00:31:51But in
00:31:52our home
00:31:52the stripy
00:31:54arches
00:31:54don't float
00:31:56or soar.
00:31:58Nothing
00:31:58does.
00:32:00This is
00:32:01architecture
00:32:02drawn with
00:32:03the biceps
00:32:04not the
00:32:04wrist.
00:32:06Effortful
00:32:07and ponderous.
00:32:11I don't
00:32:12like this
00:32:13building.
00:32:13It feels
00:32:14brutal,
00:32:15clunky.
00:32:17This
00:32:17round
00:32:18shape
00:32:19was based
00:32:20originally
00:32:20on a Roman
00:32:21mausoleum.
00:32:23You can still
00:32:24sense
00:32:24the
00:32:25doom-y
00:32:26and cold
00:32:27atmospheres
00:32:28of the
00:32:28mausoleum
00:32:29in here.
00:32:33gloomy,
00:32:35expensive,
00:32:37intense.
00:32:39Frankish
00:32:40Christianity
00:32:40bulldozes
00:32:42the senses.
00:32:44But it
00:32:45doesn't really
00:32:46pleasure them.
00:32:47At least
00:32:48I don't
00:32:48think so.
00:32:51In the
00:32:52battle of the
00:32:52northern
00:32:53Christians,
00:32:54give me
00:32:56Anglo-Saxon
00:32:57art any
00:32:58day.
00:33:21Christianity
00:33:21arrived in
00:33:23Britain from
00:33:24three directions
00:33:25at once
00:33:26in a
00:33:27three-pronged
00:33:28religious
00:33:29assault.
00:33:30In the
00:33:31south,
00:33:31in ancient
00:33:32Kent,
00:33:33a team
00:33:33of monks
00:33:34led by
00:33:34St Augustine
00:33:35were sent
00:33:36here by
00:33:37the Pope
00:33:37in Rome.
00:33:38And they
00:33:39brought with
00:33:40them the
00:33:40official Roman
00:33:42version of
00:33:43Christianity.
00:33:45Up here,
00:33:46in the north
00:33:47of Britain,
00:33:47it was Irish
00:33:49monks from
00:33:49across the
00:33:50sea who
00:33:51came over
00:33:51to convert
00:33:52the pagans.
00:33:53And they
00:33:54brought with
00:33:55them a
00:33:55harsher,
00:33:56more basic,
00:33:58more penitential
00:33:59form of
00:34:00Christianity.
00:34:02They deliberately
00:34:03built their
00:34:04monasteries in
00:34:05difficult locations
00:34:07and where they
00:34:08produced glorious
00:34:10art with an
00:34:11ecstatic and
00:34:13insistent tone
00:34:14to it, like the
00:34:15chanting of a
00:34:17great monk's
00:34:18choir.
00:34:18choir.
00:34:21The third type of
00:34:22Christians found
00:34:23in Anglo-Saxon
00:34:25Britain were the
00:34:26ones who were
00:34:27already here.
00:34:29Remember in
00:34:30film one how the
00:34:32Romans converted to
00:34:33Christianity under
00:34:34Constantine and how
00:34:36one of the earliest
00:34:38known Christian
00:34:39house churches was
00:34:41found in Roman
00:34:42Britain, in
00:34:43Lullingstone, in
00:34:44Kent.
00:34:46We don't know much
00:34:47about these existing
00:34:49Christians.
00:34:50They were a modest
00:34:51Christian presence.
00:34:54But perhaps tiny
00:34:55droplets of this
00:34:57modesty were thrown
00:34:59into the melting pot
00:35:01as well.
00:35:05So the Anglo-Saxons
00:35:06would have had
00:35:08wood heated
00:35:09kilns?
00:35:10A charcoal
00:35:11grazier I should
00:35:12imagine.
00:35:14This is the silver I'm
00:35:15going to make the
00:35:16brooch out of.
00:35:17It's basically about
00:35:1882% silver,
00:35:20a bit of copper,
00:35:22quite a lot of lead
00:35:23which designates as
00:35:24Anglo-Saxon or
00:35:24Viking.
00:35:25A few other bits and
00:35:26that's in it.
00:35:27All the trace elements
00:35:28you don't get in
00:35:28modern silver.
00:35:32Sean melts down
00:35:33the Anglo-Saxon
00:35:35silver and to
00:35:36turn it into
00:35:37something useful
00:35:38pours it into
00:35:39some moulds made
00:35:41from cuttlefish
00:35:42bones.
00:35:45So tell me about
00:35:46this cuttlefish.
00:35:47Is this what was
00:35:49used in ancient
00:35:51times to make
00:35:52moulds?
00:35:52It's been used
00:35:53for centuries.
00:35:54I should imagine
00:35:54it's a Roman
00:35:55tradition actually.
00:35:57It should be
00:35:59relatively cool
00:36:00now.
00:36:03That's the actual
00:36:04thing got up there.
00:36:04That's for the pin
00:36:05and the pin mount.
00:36:07So we'll quench
00:36:07that first of all.
00:36:12That basically just
00:36:13cools it down.
00:36:14It cleans it
00:36:15blown all the
00:36:16stuff up.
00:36:21Right.
00:36:24the next thing to do
00:36:25is to reduce this
00:36:26piece of silver
00:36:27for the main body
00:36:28down to about
00:36:28one and a half
00:36:29millimetres
00:36:29to replicate
00:36:30Anglo-Saxon
00:36:32disproaches
00:36:32in existence.
00:36:34So first of all
00:36:35we have to start
00:36:36from the centre
00:36:37to the outside.
00:36:40we're always going to
00:36:41outside to inside
00:36:42and inside to
00:36:43reverse it
00:36:44every time.
00:36:46So you're making
00:36:47it thinner?
00:36:48Yeah, basically
00:36:49yeah.
00:36:49On the other side
00:36:50we start in the
00:36:51centre and work to
00:36:51the middle.
00:36:53And that sole
00:36:53keep a uniform
00:36:54thickness because
00:36:55it tends to bowl
00:36:56to a natural bowl
00:36:57shape.
00:36:58It starts to split
00:36:58once you start to
00:36:59spread it out even
00:37:00further.
00:37:04You can hear the
00:37:05dull foot in it now
00:37:06as we hammering it
00:37:07it gets higher
00:37:07and higher the pitch
00:37:08and with the
00:37:09you can tell when
00:37:10it's hard enough
00:37:11so you don't crack it.
00:37:16That's more or less
00:37:17brought it to the
00:37:17next stage
00:37:18so it's just a matter
00:37:19of us now
00:37:20repeating the process
00:37:22and as we reduce it
00:37:23the area will get
00:37:24larger
00:37:25and once we've made
00:37:27a big enough piece
00:37:28I think we've reduced
00:37:28it to one and a half
00:37:29millimetre
00:37:29so thereabouts
00:37:30we'll have a large
00:37:31enough piece
00:37:32to cut the disc
00:37:32out of.
00:37:33This is one and a
00:37:34half millimetres
00:37:34as you can see.
00:37:36That is just the
00:37:37same as this
00:37:37it's just the same
00:37:38silver
00:37:38but I've worked on it
00:37:39it'll take about
00:37:40two days
00:37:41work, hammer work
00:37:42and a lot of ear
00:37:43bashing
00:37:43falling out with
00:37:44your neighbours
00:37:45and what have you
00:37:45to get it to that
00:37:47so we'll start on
00:37:48with this now.
00:37:49That is the basic
00:37:50shape of the brooch
00:37:51is that right?
00:37:52The basic shape
00:37:52of the brooch.
00:38:02While Sean Greenhouse
00:38:04bangs away in his lair
00:38:05back at the front line
00:38:08of the dark ages
00:38:09the Anglo-Saxon custom
00:38:11of burying the dead
00:38:13with things that would
00:38:14be useful to them
00:38:15in the afterlife
00:38:16was of course
00:38:18a pagan custom
00:38:22and unfortunately
00:38:23when the Anglo-Saxons
00:38:26were converted
00:38:26to Christianity
00:38:27that custom
00:38:29was stopped.
00:38:35In a Christian burial
00:38:37you buried the body
00:38:38and that was it
00:38:39so nothing
00:38:41as sumptuous
00:38:42as the Sutton Hoo
00:38:43treasure
00:38:44has survived
00:38:45from the Christian era
00:38:46instead
00:38:47we get another
00:38:49kind of
00:38:50Anglo-Saxon
00:38:51treasure
00:38:54It's a treasure
00:38:56made of granite
00:38:57and limestone
00:38:59the resilient
00:39:01spiritual treasure
00:39:03that is
00:39:04the Anglo-Saxon
00:39:06funeral cross
00:39:10Earlier on
00:39:12we saw how
00:39:13the Vikings
00:39:14commemorated their
00:39:15dead
00:39:15with these
00:39:16mighty standing
00:39:17stones
00:39:18covered in
00:39:19runes
00:39:20and this idea
00:39:21that stone
00:39:22is somehow
00:39:23eternal
00:39:24and lasts
00:39:26much longer
00:39:26than you
00:39:27is something
00:39:28that was shared
00:39:30by all the
00:39:31voyaging tribes
00:39:32of the north
00:39:35There's something
00:39:36splendidly basic
00:39:38about these
00:39:38Anglo-Saxon
00:39:39crosses
00:39:41They're supposed
00:39:42to be Christian
00:39:43but somehow
00:39:44their Christianity
00:39:46feels superficial
00:39:47and confined
00:39:48to the surface
00:39:49Underneath
00:39:51you can still
00:39:53sense the
00:39:53atmospheres
00:39:54of Stonehenge
00:39:56a connection
00:39:58with the
00:39:58faraway past
00:39:59and the central
00:40:01mysteries of creation
00:40:06See all this
00:40:08decoration here
00:40:09it's called
00:40:10interlacing
00:40:12It's Celtic
00:40:13in origin
00:40:14and you get it
00:40:14on the
00:40:15Anglo-Saxon
00:40:16crosses
00:40:16but also
00:40:18on the
00:40:18great manuscripts
00:40:19written later
00:40:20in the monasteries
00:40:22like Lindisfarne
00:40:25A lot of people
00:40:26have written
00:40:27a lot of books
00:40:28on the subject
00:40:29of Celtic
00:40:30interlacing
00:40:30what it means
00:40:32why it was used
00:40:34It's so beautiful
00:40:36to look at
00:40:37but also
00:40:38so intrinsically
00:40:39mysterious
00:40:44They say
00:40:45that its origins
00:40:46lie in basket weaving
00:40:47and plaiting
00:40:49and we'll never
00:40:50know for sure
00:40:50but my guess is
00:40:52that this is also
00:40:54an attempt
00:40:55by the Dark Age
00:40:56mind
00:40:57to grasp
00:40:58and mimic
00:40:59the rhythms
00:41:01of creation
00:41:02to convey the sense
00:41:04that the cosmos
00:41:05goes on
00:41:07and on
00:41:07and on
00:41:08and that everything
00:41:09in it
00:41:10is interrelated
00:41:15This is a rather
00:41:16wonky specimen
00:41:17which is why
00:41:19I like it
00:41:19so much
00:41:20it's not quite
00:41:22right
00:41:22so you just
00:41:24want to hug it
00:41:25but because
00:41:26it's so wonky
00:41:27the interlacing
00:41:28on the Lonan Cross
00:41:30in the Isle of Man
00:41:31is particularly
00:41:32clear
00:41:38We're going to be seeing
00:41:39a lot of this
00:41:40Celtic interlacing
00:41:41and the marvellous
00:41:43manuscripts
00:41:43that are coming up
00:41:44so I just wanted
00:41:46to show you
00:41:46quickly
00:41:47how it was done
00:41:49It looks
00:41:51immensely complicated
00:41:52but it's actually
00:41:54relatively simple
00:42:09so first
00:42:10you need to
00:42:10mark out
00:42:11the grid
00:42:12say we want
00:42:14to do a decorative
00:42:15border
00:42:16or a gospel book
00:42:17so
00:42:18here's the
00:42:19border
00:42:20and we know
00:42:21from unfinished
00:42:22bits of manuscript
00:42:23that the monks
00:42:24have left behind
00:42:25that the way
00:42:26they did it
00:42:27was to make
00:42:28this grid
00:42:29with dots
00:42:30to guide them
00:42:32so
00:42:32three dots
00:42:34two dots
00:42:35three dots
00:42:36three dots
00:42:36three dots
00:42:38two dots
00:42:38two dots
00:42:39two dots
00:42:39and like
00:42:40the dots
00:42:41on a dice
00:42:42three two
00:42:43three two
00:42:43three two
00:42:45then you start
00:42:46filling in the
00:42:47spaces in between
00:42:49now the big rule
00:42:50in interlacing
00:42:51is that
00:42:53one line
00:42:54goes over
00:42:57and the other
00:42:58line
00:43:00goes under
00:43:01over under
00:43:02over under
00:43:03over under
00:43:04all the way
00:43:05along
00:43:07and when you're
00:43:08about to get
00:43:08to the edge
00:43:09you stop
00:43:11because you need
00:43:12to work out
00:43:13how you're going
00:43:13to do the edges
00:43:14now I'm just
00:43:15going to
00:43:15square them
00:43:16off
00:43:17that's the simplest
00:43:18way of doing it
00:43:20but they also
00:43:21did all these
00:43:22elaborate things
00:43:23that leave out
00:43:25bits of the pattern
00:43:25and create this
00:43:27kind of
00:43:28asymmetrical symmetry
00:43:30um
00:43:31that's too complicated
00:43:32for me I'm afraid
00:43:34and once you've got
00:43:36your over
00:43:37over under
00:43:38over under
00:43:40then you start
00:43:41to fill in the
00:43:41bits of the
00:43:41background
00:43:45red and black
00:43:58there you are
00:44:01a bit of
00:44:01Celtic interlacing
00:44:07so I've done
00:44:08this very big
00:44:09because I've got
00:44:10insensitive
00:44:11and stubby
00:44:12fingers
00:44:13but if you're
00:44:14a dark age
00:44:15monk
00:44:16pouring over
00:44:17a precious
00:44:18manuscript
00:44:19then the borders
00:44:21you made
00:44:22were tiny
00:44:23I mean these
00:44:24people must have
00:44:25had extraordinary
00:44:26eyesight
00:44:27of course
00:44:29if you're a
00:44:30sculptor
00:44:31on the other
00:44:32hand
00:44:33once you've
00:44:34designed
00:44:35your interlacing
00:44:36you need to
00:44:38carve it
00:44:38into stone
00:44:39and that's
00:44:41mightily difficult
00:44:42too
00:44:42and with this
00:44:44cross
00:44:44the Lonan
00:44:45cross
00:44:46you can see
00:44:48that the
00:44:49interlacing
00:44:50it's okay
00:44:51when it begins
00:44:52up here
00:44:52but as it
00:44:54comes down
00:44:54it gets
00:44:56wonkier
00:44:57and wonkier
00:44:58and wonkier
00:45:07back in
00:45:09Bolton
00:45:09Sean Greenhouse
00:45:11has engraved
00:45:12the symbols
00:45:13of the four
00:45:14evangelists
00:45:15round the edges
00:45:16of his silver
00:45:17brooch
00:45:18and he's now
00:45:20ready for the
00:45:21really difficult
00:45:22bit in the
00:45:23middle
00:45:23the Anglo-Saxon
00:45:25king
00:45:26created so
00:45:27carefully
00:45:28with
00:45:29cloisonne
00:45:30enamels
00:45:32the cloisonne
00:45:33enamel technique
00:45:33is a very old
00:45:35technique practiced
00:45:36by the Romans
00:45:36and the Celts
00:45:38even before
00:45:38them
00:45:39it's just
00:45:40powdered glass
00:45:41grown up
00:45:42mixed in with water
00:45:43and then just
00:45:44fired in the kiln
00:45:44but the Anglo-Saxes
00:45:46and other people
00:45:46in the dark age
00:45:47and into the middle ages
00:45:49would use Roman
00:45:50glass tesserers
00:45:51grown up
00:45:51the kind of thing
00:45:52you see in wall
00:45:52mosaics in Ravenna
00:45:53in such places
00:45:55Constantinople
00:45:55and such
00:45:57because although
00:45:58they had the
00:45:58technology to make
00:45:59the glass
00:46:00they didn't have
00:46:01the oxides
00:46:01to get the various
00:46:02colours as you can
00:46:03see here
00:46:03the yellows
00:46:04and the greens
00:46:04and the blues
00:46:07the first stage
00:46:08is to lay down
00:46:09the king's
00:46:10outlines
00:46:11in a delicate
00:46:12framework
00:46:13of itsy-bitsy
00:46:15bits
00:46:15of pure gold
00:46:18it's all fiddly
00:46:19these little bits
00:46:20you know
00:46:22the eyes
00:46:23in the nose
00:46:26then
00:46:27the really
00:46:27tough work
00:46:28begins
00:46:30getting the
00:46:31powdered glass
00:46:32into this
00:46:33labyrinth
00:46:34of gold
00:46:35cells
00:46:37right
00:46:38yeah
00:46:39just filling
00:46:40in the background
00:46:40now
00:46:40the dark blue
00:46:42it's always better
00:46:43to get the background
00:46:44in first the largest
00:46:45area to fill
00:46:46the largest area
00:46:46and it kind of
00:46:47holds most of the
00:46:48wires in position
00:46:49then
00:46:49so you're not
00:46:51pushing everything
00:46:51about
00:46:54so careful
00:46:55you don't drop
00:46:55any into the
00:46:56other cells
00:46:57otherwise it all
00:46:57has to be washed
00:46:58off if you do
00:46:58that you know
00:46:59start again
00:47:01it's
00:47:03right just
00:47:03got to work
00:47:04out the colour
00:47:04schemes now
00:47:06I think the
00:47:06yellows can go
00:47:07in next
00:47:08so I'll mix
00:47:09some yellow
00:47:10right
00:47:10here we go
00:47:18see the
00:47:19difficult part
00:47:19to fill
00:47:20the small
00:47:20pieces
00:47:21because
00:47:21just touching
00:47:22them
00:47:22with it
00:47:22the surface
00:47:23tension tends
00:47:24to like glue
00:47:24them to the
00:47:24damn brush
00:47:26so
00:47:28slowly does
00:47:29it I think
00:47:35and then
00:47:36we'll put
00:47:36the tash
00:47:37in there
00:47:37long droopy
00:47:39they're good
00:47:40to confess
00:47:40a tash
00:47:41but
00:47:43it's the
00:47:44hair
00:47:44a bit
00:47:45yellow
00:47:46a general
00:47:47cluster
00:47:47hairdo
00:47:49just slow
00:47:50fiddly work
00:47:51you know
00:47:52I was fighting
00:47:53the surface
00:47:54tension
00:47:54with it
00:47:54because
00:47:57right
00:47:57pale green
00:47:58into the cloak
00:48:00itself
00:48:00and then
00:48:00we're ready
00:48:01for firing
00:48:02when I've
00:48:02dried it out
00:48:06alright
00:48:08while Sean
00:48:09prepares to pop
00:48:10his anglo-saxon
00:48:11king
00:48:12into the kiln
00:48:13I'm thinking
00:48:15that his brooch
00:48:16reminds me
00:48:17strongly
00:48:18of the most
00:48:18famous of all
00:48:20anglo-saxon
00:48:21jewels
00:48:21the so-called
00:48:24Alfred jewel
00:48:26they say
00:48:27that originally
00:48:28it was the top
00:48:29of a reading
00:48:30implement
00:48:31sent out to
00:48:32the bishops
00:48:32by king
00:48:33Alfred himself
00:48:34it's now
00:48:36found in the
00:48:37Ashmolean
00:48:38museum in
00:48:38Oxford
00:48:39and what a
00:48:41beautiful thing
00:48:41it is
00:48:48so this
00:48:49style of brooch
00:48:50which is
00:48:50obviously
00:48:50a late
00:48:51anglo-saxon
00:48:52yeah
00:48:52probably
00:48:5210th century
00:48:53I should imagine
00:48:54the design
00:48:54I mean a lot of
00:48:55people always say
00:48:56that the anglo-saxon
00:48:57jewellery was
00:48:58at its peak
00:48:59earlier than that
00:49:00they think of the
00:49:01Sutton Hoo
00:49:02the garnet stuff
00:49:03and the garnet jewel
00:49:04the gold and
00:49:05whatever
00:49:05that's right
00:49:05fashion's changed
00:49:06I suppose
00:49:07I prefer the
00:49:08later stuff
00:49:09I think it's far
00:49:09more elegant
00:49:10and there's far
00:49:10more to it
00:49:11which in any way
00:49:12that's the
00:49:12cloisonne finished
00:49:14beautiful
00:49:15so that's
00:49:16obviously
00:49:17an echo
00:49:18if you like
00:49:18of the
00:49:19Alfred jewel
00:49:20isn't it
00:49:20yeah
00:49:21so it's kind of
00:49:22like a mishmash
00:49:23of various things
00:49:23but it's all
00:49:24of its time
00:49:25and period
00:49:25can I have a look
00:49:26at that
00:49:27and I see
00:49:30beautiful
00:49:32and who is this
00:49:33figure you've put
00:49:34on there
00:49:34it's kind of
00:49:34King Alfred
00:49:35is it
00:49:35well no
00:49:35it's just a
00:49:36generic
00:49:37figure of
00:49:38a Saxon king
00:49:39I suppose
00:49:40with the long
00:49:40tash and the
00:49:41pointy beard
00:49:42and the blonde
00:49:43and the blue
00:49:43eyes
00:49:45beautiful
00:49:45kind of
00:49:45very like to
00:49:46portray themselves
00:49:46I should imagine
00:49:47so anyway
00:49:48we just have to
00:49:49get on there
00:49:49and assemble it
00:49:50yes
00:49:50so we'll do
00:49:51that next
00:49:52shall we
00:49:52yes
00:49:53right
00:49:55first thing to do
00:49:55is put the crystal
00:49:57into the silver
00:49:58gilt collar
00:49:59and that just
00:50:00drops into there
00:50:02and then this
00:50:03piece will be
00:50:04riveted on the
00:50:05back
00:50:06with these little
00:50:06rivets
00:50:08gilt headed
00:50:08so
00:50:09yes
00:50:09so I'll put
00:50:10them in now
00:50:10so a little bit
00:50:11fiddly
00:50:11yes
00:50:24there we have
00:50:26it
00:50:26that it
00:50:27it's finished
00:50:29that's beautiful
00:50:31thank you
00:50:32the Sean
00:50:33greenhouse jewel
00:50:36move it about
00:50:37into light
00:50:37you can get
00:50:38the edges
00:50:38of the actual
00:50:39gold
00:50:39it kind of
00:50:41sparkles
00:50:41yeah
00:50:42beautiful
00:50:44I love
00:50:45quazonewack
00:50:46I love it
00:50:54up in the
00:50:55harsher corners
00:50:56of the
00:50:57anglo-saxon
00:50:58world
00:50:58the Irish
00:50:59monks
00:50:59who converted
00:51:00the north
00:51:01of Britain
00:51:02were deliberately
00:51:03cutting themselves
00:51:04off
00:51:05from life's
00:51:06little comforts
00:51:08exiles
00:51:09for Christ
00:51:10they called
00:51:10themselves
00:51:14Lindisfarne
00:51:15up there
00:51:15where the monastery
00:51:17was founded
00:51:17by Saint Aidan
00:51:18in 635 AD
00:51:20was deliberately
00:51:23out of the way
00:51:24secluded
00:51:25when the tide
00:51:27was out
00:51:28the only way
00:51:29across
00:51:29was along
00:51:31this path
00:51:31here
00:51:32the pilgrim's way
00:51:33it was called
00:51:34marked out
00:51:35with these
00:51:36wooden stakes
00:51:36but if you were
00:51:38coming from
00:51:39the other side
00:51:40of the island
00:51:40from the sea
00:51:41then Lindisfarne
00:51:43wasn't cut off
00:51:44at all
00:51:45in fact
00:51:46it was very tempting
00:51:51the Viking raids
00:51:53on Britain
00:51:54which did so much
00:51:55to tarnish
00:51:56the reputations
00:51:58of the Norsemen
00:51:59began with a raid
00:52:01on Lindisfarne
00:52:02in 793
00:52:04and for the next
00:52:06century or so
00:52:07the Vikings
00:52:08kept coming
00:52:10back
00:52:13Monasteries
00:52:14were easy pickings
00:52:16they were basically
00:52:17undefended
00:52:18manned
00:52:19by peaceful
00:52:20monks
00:52:20and they were
00:52:21packed
00:52:22with sumptuous
00:52:23religious treasures
00:52:24and
00:52:25excellently positioned
00:52:27for Viking raids
00:52:31the monasteries
00:52:33the monasteries
00:52:33of the Dark Ages
00:52:34were Aladdin's
00:52:36caves of treasures
00:52:37jewel-encrusted
00:52:40relic boxes
00:52:41golden crosses
00:52:44studded with rubies
00:52:47and pearls
00:52:51pearls
00:52:51we live in a world
00:52:52in which Louis Vuitton
00:52:54luggage
00:52:54and Jimmy Choo
00:52:56shoes
00:52:56seem precious
00:52:57in the Dark Ages
00:53:00they knew better
00:53:06for the Vikings
00:53:08the main attraction
00:53:09of the monasteries
00:53:10was obviously
00:53:11all that fabulous
00:53:13Christian gold
00:53:14in them
00:53:15the rubies
00:53:16the pearls
00:53:17but it's recently
00:53:18been suggested
00:53:19that there were
00:53:20other reasons
00:53:21why they targeted
00:53:22the monasteries
00:53:23religious reasons
00:53:25remember
00:53:26in 793 AD
00:53:28when they raided
00:53:30Lindisfarne
00:53:31the Vikings
00:53:32were still
00:53:32hardcore
00:53:33pagans
00:53:35stubborn believers
00:53:36in Odin
00:53:37Thor
00:53:38and Freya
00:53:41for these
00:53:43pagan Vikings
00:53:44the fierce
00:53:45missionary enthusiasm
00:53:47of the Irish
00:53:48monks
00:53:48and the brutal
00:53:50conversion tactics
00:53:51of Charlemagne
00:53:52constituted an
00:53:54assault
00:53:55on their religion
00:53:57the Vikings
00:53:59liked being
00:54:00pagans
00:54:01they didn't like
00:54:02being told
00:54:03they were worshipping
00:54:04the wrong gods
00:54:05so when they
00:54:07attacked the monasteries
00:54:09it wasn't just
00:54:10to grab all this
00:54:11fabulous Christian loot
00:54:13it was also
00:54:14a form of
00:54:15religious payback
00:54:17you think
00:54:18our religion's wrong
00:54:20we think
00:54:21your religion's wrong
00:54:27the monks
00:54:28the monks
00:54:28on Lindisfarne
00:54:29were also
00:54:30fighting
00:54:30a religious war
00:54:32their monastery
00:54:33was a hive
00:54:34of busy
00:54:35missionary activity
00:54:37but unlike
00:54:39the Vikings
00:54:40the preferred weapon
00:54:41of the monks
00:54:42wasn't the sword
00:54:44but the word
00:54:50you must have
00:54:51noticed
00:54:52that all the way
00:54:52through this series
00:54:53I've been harping on
00:54:55about the power
00:54:56of words
00:54:57in the dark ages
00:54:58I'm like a stuck
00:55:00record on the subject
00:55:04words
00:55:05letters
00:55:06inscriptions
00:55:08they keep appearing
00:55:10in this story
00:55:11and wherever they appear
00:55:13they seem to glow
00:55:15with dark age
00:55:16urgency
00:55:24if you controlled
00:55:26the word
00:55:27in the dark ages
00:55:28you controlled
00:55:30the world
00:55:31and for me
00:55:33the most captivating
00:55:35evidence
00:55:35of this immense
00:55:37power
00:55:37that words had
00:55:38is the great
00:55:40book
00:55:40created here
00:55:41by the monks
00:55:42of Lindisfarne
00:55:44the Lindisfarne
00:55:46Gospels
00:55:52this isn't just
00:55:54one of the great
00:55:55masterpieces
00:55:57of British art
00:55:58this
00:55:59is one of the
00:56:00great masterpieces
00:56:02of all art
00:56:05written and
00:56:06decorated
00:56:07on Lindisfarne
00:56:08by a monk
00:56:09called
00:56:10Edfrith
00:56:11the Lindisfarne
00:56:13Gospel
00:56:13contains a
00:56:15calligraphic
00:56:16cosmos
00:56:16of exceptional
00:56:18vitality
00:56:22it contains
00:56:24the four gospels
00:56:25of the new testament
00:56:27the story of Christ
00:56:28as told
00:56:29by Matthew
00:56:30Mark
00:56:31Luke and John
00:56:32and each of these
00:56:33evangelists
00:56:35gets a portrait
00:56:37to himself
00:56:37so there's
00:56:39Saint Matthew
00:56:40writing his gospel
00:56:42and it says
00:56:43Matteus
00:56:44Matthew
00:56:45up here
00:56:46all the portraits
00:56:48in here
00:56:48are rather
00:56:49traditional
00:56:50they could easily
00:56:50be Italian
00:56:51or Byzantine
00:56:53but then
00:56:55you turn the pages
00:56:57and you come across
00:56:59this
00:57:00and this
00:57:02certainly isn't
00:57:03traditional
00:57:04or Italian
00:57:05this
00:57:06is a uniquely
00:57:07British
00:57:08contribution
00:57:09to the art
00:57:10of the Dark Ages
00:57:15look at all this
00:57:16amazing
00:57:17Celtic
00:57:18interweaving
00:57:20that's filling
00:57:20all the letters
00:57:21and all these
00:57:22cosmic
00:57:23swirls
00:57:25and twirls
00:57:26and spirals
00:57:27it's like
00:57:28a magnificent
00:57:29garden of paradise
00:57:31that's erupted
00:57:32across the pages
00:57:33and yet
00:57:34it's got this
00:57:36pagan kick
00:57:37to it as well
00:57:44this is Saint John
00:57:45the writer
00:57:46of the fourth gospel
00:57:47that's his portrait
00:57:48and there above his head
00:57:50the eagle
00:57:51that's his sign
00:57:52just so we know
00:57:54who it is
00:57:57and this is the actual
00:57:58beginning
00:57:59of John's gospel
00:58:00and look how
00:58:03astonishingly
00:58:03beautiful it is
00:58:05and do you know
00:58:06what this says
00:58:08what all this
00:58:09amazingly
00:58:10complicated
00:58:11interlacing
00:58:12and all this
00:58:13cosmic
00:58:14calligraphy
00:58:15do you know
00:58:16what this says
00:58:17it says
00:58:18in principio
00:58:21erat
00:58:22verbum
00:58:23et verbum
00:58:25erat
00:58:25apod
00:58:26deum
00:58:27in the beginning
00:58:28was the word
00:58:30the word
00:58:32was with
00:58:33God
00:58:38in the Lindisfarne
00:58:40gospel
00:58:41Christian energy
00:58:42and Celtic
00:58:44inventiveness
00:58:45pictures
00:58:46and letters
00:58:47have come together
00:58:49in cosmic
00:58:50adulation
00:58:51of the word
00:58:56so that's the story
00:58:58of the dark ages
00:59:00they weren't dark
00:59:01at all
00:59:02the Christian
00:59:04struggle
00:59:05to imagine
00:59:06their God
00:59:07was one of the most
00:59:08exciting struggles
00:59:09in art
00:59:10the barbarians
00:59:13were inventive
00:59:14peoples
00:59:15who made
00:59:16glorious bling
00:59:17Islam
00:59:19spent these years
00:59:21reaching for the stars
00:59:23while the Anglo-Saxons
00:59:26were magnificent
00:59:27goldsmiths
00:59:28and brilliant
00:59:30wordsmiths
00:59:31when William
00:59:33the Conqueror
00:59:34invaded Britain
00:59:35in 1066
00:59:37and brought
00:59:38the dark ages
00:59:39to some sort
00:59:40of official end
00:59:42he brought
00:59:43to an end
00:59:44one of the great
00:59:45ages of art
00:59:53stay with us
00:59:54the dragons
00:59:54are feeling festive
00:59:55as well as fiery
00:59:56here on BBC HD
00:59:57in a few moments
00:59:58with a Christmas
00:59:59special
01:00:00a Christmas
01:00:10a Christmas
01:00:10a Christmas
01:00:10a Christmas
01:00:11a Christmas
01:00:11a Christmas
01:00:11a Christmas
01:00:12a Christmas
01:00:12a Christmas
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