History

Video documentaries about history of the world

The Normans episode 3 - Normans of the South

The Normans episode 3 – Normans of the South

The Normans episode 3 – Normans of the South: Professor Robert Bartlett explores the impact of the Normans on southern Europe and the Middle East. The Normans spread south in the 11th century, winning control of southern Italy and the island of Sicily. There they created their most prosperous kingdom, where Christianity and Islam co-existed in relative harmony and mutual tolerance. It became a great centre of medieval culture and learning.     But events in the Middle East provoked the more aggressive side of the Norman character. In 1095, the Normans enthusiastically answered the pope’s call for holy war […]

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The Normans episode 2 - Conquest

The Normans episode 2 – Conquest

The Normans episode 2 – Conquest: In the second of this three-part series, Professor Robert Bartlett explores the impact of the Norman conquest of Britain and Ireland. Bartlett shows how William the Conqueror imposed a new aristocracy, savagely cut down opposition and built scores of castles and cathedrals to intimidate and control. He also commissioned the Domesday Book, the greatest national survey of England that had ever been attempted.     England adapted to its new masters and both the language and culture were transformed as the Normans and the English intermarried. Bartlett shows how the political and cultural landscape

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The Normans episode 1 - Men from the North

The Normans episode 1 – Men from the North

The Normans episode 1 – Men from the North: In the first episode of a three-part series, Professor Robert Bartlett explores how the Normans developed from a band of marauding Vikings into the formidable warriors who conquered England in 1066. He tells how the Normans established their new province of Normandy -‘land of the northmen’ – in northern France.     They went on to build some of the finest churches in Europe and turned into an unstoppable force of Christian knights and warriors, whose legacy is all around us to this day. Under the leadership of Duke William, the

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Elizabeth episode 4

Elizabeth episode 4

Elizabeth episode 4: Presented by eminent historian David Starkey, Elizabeth explores the turbulent life and times of England’s Virgin Queen by augmenting newly shot re-creations of famous events with artistic interpretations of Good Queen Bess, glimpses of British landmarks and period artifacts, and incisive passages quoted from historical records.     Elizabeth’s reign began in the late 16th century, with her beloved England threatened from both without and within. As this four-hour documentary demonstrates, she rose to these challenges, most notably building the Royal Navy into a world-renowned fighting force that defeated the Spanish Armada and presiding over a cultural

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Elizabeth episode 3

Elizabeth episode 3

Elizabeth episode 3: Presented by eminent historian David Starkey, Elizabeth explores the turbulent life and times of England’s Virgin Queen by augmenting newly shot re-creations of famous events with artistic interpretations of Good Queen Bess, glimpses of British landmarks and period artifacts, and incisive passages quoted from historical records.     Elizabeth’s reign began in the late 16th century, with her beloved England threatened from both without and within. As this four-hour documentary demonstrates, she rose to these challenges, most notably building the Royal Navy into a world-renowned fighting force that defeated the Spanish Armada and presiding over a cultural

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Elizabeth episode 2

Elizabeth episode 2

Elizabeth episode 2: Presented by eminent historian David Starkey, Elizabeth explores the turbulent life and times of England’s Virgin Queen by augmenting newly shot re-creations of famous events with artistic interpretations of Good Queen Bess, glimpses of British landmarks and period artifacts, and incisive passages quoted from historical records.     Elizabeth’s reign began in the late 16th century, with her beloved England threatened from both without and within. As this four-hour documentary demonstrates, she rose to these challenges, most notably building the Royal Navy into a world-renowned fighting force that defeated the Spanish Armada and presiding over a cultural

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Elizabeth episode 1

Elizabeth episode 1

Elizabeth episode 1: Presented by eminent historian David Starkey, Elizabeth explores the turbulent life and times of England’s Virgin Queen by augmenting newly shot re-creations of famous events with artistic interpretations of Good Queen Bess, glimpses of British landmarks and period artifacts, and incisive passages quoted from historical records.     Elizabeth’s reign began in the late 16th century, with her beloved England threatened from both without and within. As this four-hour documentary demonstrates, she rose to these challenges, most notably building the Royal Navy into a world-renowned fighting force that defeated the Spanish Armada and presiding over a cultural

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Pompeii - New Secrets Revealed with Mary Beard

Pompeii – New Secrets Revealed with Mary Beard

Pompeii – New Secrets Revealed with Mary Beard: With unparalleled access to Pompeii and featuring cutting-edge modern technology, Mary Beard guides us through this amazing slice of the ancient world.     For the first time ever, CT scanning and x-ray equipment bring new light to the secrets of the victims of the 79 AD eruption. Mary unpacks the human stories behind the tragic figures – gladiators, slaves, businesswomen and children. She goes behind the scenes of the Great Pompeii Project, where restoration teams have gradually removed the layers of time and deterioration from the frescoes and mosaics of houses

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Architects of the Divine: The First Gothic Age

Architects of the Divine: The First Gothic Age

Architects of the Divine – The First Gothic Age: Medieval historian Dr Janina Ramirez looks back to a time when British craftsmen and their patrons created a new form of architecture.     The art and architecture of France would dominate England for much of the medieval age. Yet British stonemasons and builders would make Gothic architecture their own, inventing a national style for the first time – Perpendicular Gothic – and giving Britain a patriotic backdrop to suit its new ambitions of chivalry and power. From a grand debut at Gloucester Cathedral to commemorate a murdered king to its

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Lost Home Movies of Nazi Germany episode 2

Lost Home Movies of Nazi Germany episode 2

Lost Home Movies of Nazi Germany episode 2: Amateur footage of frontline and civilian stories that offers new insights into life and atrocities in WWII Germany and the occupied territories, as Hitler’s dreams crumble.     Christmas in Germany 1941 is an unsettling time. Food is scarce, the weather is freezing and news from the front line in Russia is causing Germans to realise the war is a very long way from over. The stage is set for the second half of the conflict. Through the home movies and diaries of ordinary Germans, this film charts Hitler’s dreams crumbling and

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Lost Home Movies of Nazi Germany episode 1

Lost Home Movies of Nazi Germany episode 1

Lost Home Movies of Nazi Germany episode 1: A candid look at what life was really like for those living in, and under Hitler’s Swastika – at home – and abroad, a record not only of what they saw, but of what they knew.     Recently discovered home movie footage from 1936 offers a unique and novel insight into what people in Germany were thinking and experiencing. In these prewar days, Germany was on a high and the Hitler Youth seemed like fun and games, but Nazi control was soon to become an all-pervading force, militarising the nation. The

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The Ancient World episode 5 - The Spartans

The Ancient World episode 5 – The Spartans

The Ancient World episode 5 – The Spartans: Bettany Hughes chronicles the rise and fall of one of the most extreme civilisations the world has ever seen, one founded on discipline, sacrifice and frugality where the onus was on the collective and the goal was to create the perfect state and the perfect warrior.     Hughes reveals the secrets and complexities of everyday Spartan life; homosexuality was compulsory, money was outlawed, equality was enforced, weak boys were put to death and women enjoyed a level of social and sexual freedom that was unheard of in the ancient world. It

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