0:00

Before we start, just a quick warning that

0:02

this episode will feature violence and

0:04

sexual content that may not be suitable

0:07

for everyone.

0:10

The

0:14

Emperor Otto shields his eyes against

0:16

the blazing afternoon sun and

0:18

looks up and down the field. As

0:21

far as the eye can see, there are

0:24

soldiers. Thousands

0:26

upon thousands of them. Some

0:29

are in the saddle, trying to calm their

0:31

horses as they snort and stamp.

0:36

Others are on foot, their armour

0:38

clanking as they butt heads to psych

0:41

themselves up.

0:43

Somewhere in the distance, trumpets

0:46

are blowing. Around

0:48

him, Emperor Otto can hear

0:51

a hubbub of different languages. Men

0:54

shout instructions and encouragement

0:56

to one another in dialects of German,

0:59

Flemish, French and even English,

1:02

making last minute demands for weapons

1:04

or water, yelling abuse.

1:07

They

1:10

speak half a dozen languages and more

1:13

because the soldiers in Otto's army

1:15

come from all across Western Europe.

1:18

They're united by

1:20

a single, common enemy. The

1:24

King of France, Philip Augustus.

1:28

Otto's army and Philip's have

1:30

been stalking one another for days,

1:33

fainting and second-guessing each

1:35

other as they trample the countryside

1:38

of northern France and Flanders. Now

1:41

on the 27th July 1214, they're

1:45

finally facing off,

1:47

in a field near a bridge called Bouvines.

1:51

They're going to do something crazy,

1:53

something very few leaders in the

1:55

early 13th century would ever

1:58

risk. going

2:00

to fight a full-blown pitched

2:03

beast. As in, my

2:05

whole army versus your whole army,

2:08

on an open field, nowhere

2:11

to hide. May the

2:13

best general win. Otto

2:17

surveys his troops and realises that

2:19

virtually no one on either side

2:22

of the field will have done anything like

2:24

this before. Skirmishes?

2:27

Sure. Seages? Plenty.

2:31

Lots of these soldiers have stormed castles

2:34

and got stuck into the melee in tournaments.

2:37

But straight-up battles are

2:40

another matter entirely. You

2:42

only fight them if you really, really

2:45

have to. A battle represents

2:48

God's final judgement on a quarrel.

2:51

Lose and there's no coming

2:53

back. There's

2:55

so much at stake, so much

2:58

resting on the events of a single day's

3:00

fighting, that sensible leaders

3:02

normally do everything they can to

3:05

avoid. Today

3:09

is different. Both

3:12

sides have now gone too far to

3:14

back down. Neither leader

3:16

can afford to lose face or

3:19

lose ground. There's

3:21

only one option open to them. Fight

3:25

and win.

3:28

From the lines behind him, Otto's

3:30

standard-bearer brings up his battle flag.

3:33

It's a golden eagle above a dragon, raised

3:36

on a towering pole, so all

3:38

in his army can see it. On

3:42

Philip's side, fluttering somewhere

3:44

across the field, is the Oriflam,

3:47

the sacred French banner.

3:50

It supposedly dates back to the time of

3:52

Philip's idol, Charlemagne. The

3:54

famous 9th century ruler of both

3:57

France and Germany.

3:59

additionally kept in the Abbey of Saint-Denis,

4:02

north of Paris. But

4:04

for hundreds of years it's been whipped

4:06

out whenever the French Queen has to

4:08

fight. Otto

4:11

knows all about this history, of course.

4:14

He was born into the highest circles

4:17

of European royalty. Because

4:20

Otto is a Plantagenet.

4:23

His grandparents were Henry II and Eleanor

4:25

of Aquitaine. His

4:28

mother was their eldest daughter, Matilda,

4:30

Duchess of Suxany, which makes

4:33

King John his uncle. And

4:36

that's why Otto is here

4:38

today. The

4:40

Plantagenets are banding together to

4:42

take back what's theirs. John

4:45

and Otto have been military allies for

4:47

the last few years, and until

4:50

recently they shared the dubious

4:52

distinction of both being excommunicated

4:55

by the Pope. This

4:57

battle is the culmination of their

4:59

mission to join forces in

5:01

a grand anti-French alliance,

5:04

invading simultaneously and

5:07

crushing Philip once and

5:09

for all. But

5:11

today, on the 27th of July 1214, John is

5:16

nowhere to be seen. He

5:18

is in France. He brought a

5:21

massive army over the channel with him. The

5:23

plan was that John would

5:26

run distraction with his troops, forcing

5:28

Philip to chase him around while Otto

5:31

marched on Paris. Then

5:33

they would meet up to celebrate their triumph.

5:37

Had they managed to execute their strategy,

5:40

Philip would probably be in their custody already.

5:43

Unfortunately, Philip didn't

5:45

fall for John's faint, and remains

5:48

very much at large. He's

5:51

standing over the other side of the battlefield

5:53

at Bouvine, rousing his troops

5:55

with a speech in which he calls Otto

5:58

and his allies the enemy. armies and

6:00

destroyers of all things holy."

6:03

And John?

6:05

Well, he failed to bait

6:07

Philip into a chase. The men who

6:09

were supposed to be following him got cold feet,

6:12

and instead of joining forces with Otto,

6:15

he bailed. He's now lying

6:17

low at Larashell, hundreds

6:20

of miles away from the battle, waiting

6:22

for news. It's not

6:25

ideal. Then again, it's

6:27

expected from John. And

6:29

Otto isn't too worried. He has

6:31

plenty more allies with him, all

6:34

of them paid handsomely from John's

6:36

war chest, built up over many

6:38

years of extorting his barons and

6:41

plundering the church. The

6:43

battle is happening, whether John's

6:45

on board or not. From

6:49

the French side of the field comes

6:51

an enormous blast of trumpets. And

6:57

with blood-curdling screams, the

6:59

first wave of French knights begins

7:01

galloping towards Otto's men.

7:03

The Emperor

7:06

wipes the Swiss out of his eyes and

7:08

pulls down his helmet.

7:13

His future and the fate of the

7:15

entire Plantagenet Empire dangle

7:18

on what unfolds this one short,

7:21

bloody afternoon. I'm

7:26

Dan Jones, and from Sony Music

7:28

Entertainment, this is History,

7:31

a dynasty to die for, Season 3, Episode 8,

7:36

The Battle of Boudin.

7:51

John's reign as King of England has been dominated

7:53

by his determination to win

7:55

back Plantagenet lands in France,

7:58

lands he lost to Philip. Lip Augustus when

8:01

he was new to the throne and didn't understand

8:03

just how hard the job of kingship

8:06

was. Or for that

8:08

matter,

8:08

how expensive.

8:11

But as John's reign has gone on, he's

8:13

come to accept that there are no shortcuts.

8:16

Just holding onto territory

8:19

is an all-consuming task. Winning

8:22

it back is no different. That's

8:25

why John has his nephew Otto fighting

8:27

for him at the Battle of Bouvine in 1214.

8:32

John has figured out that he has no chance

8:34

of beating the French king in a one-to-one

8:37

fight. He needs

8:40

allies. An Avengers-style

8:42

team who can saddle up and

8:44

hit Philip from all angles. So

8:48

for the past few years, John has

8:50

been funneling money in the form of,

8:53

well, bribes to a co-worker

8:55

coalition of partners on the continent.

8:58

This includes high-ranking nobles

9:00

on the fringes of the French kingdom, in

9:02

places like Flanders and Boulogne.

9:05

These are areas where Philip has been

9:07

throwing his weight around, and the

9:10

lords who hold power there are happy

9:12

to buddy up with anyone who might

9:14

stop the French king from overrunning

9:16

their lands. Especially

9:18

if this buddying will bring them in

9:21

a fat fee. This

9:24

policy of bribing potential allies

9:26

isn't John's brainchild. It

9:29

was a central part of his brother

9:31

Richard the Lionheart's approach. John

9:34

has simply resurrected it, and

9:37

funded it from the profits he made

9:39

plundering the church during the interdict.

9:44

Among the crack team John has assembled

9:46

are two Plantagenets. One

9:50

is John's half-brother, who goes by

9:53

William Longsword, an illegitimate

9:55

son of Henry II. Longsword

9:59

is an experience experienced military commander,

10:01

and very loyal to John. In

10:04

the run-up to Bousvine, he led a

10:06

daring assault on Philip Augustus'

10:09

naval fleet, which was anchored near Brouge.

10:12

Longsword sailed in, burned many

10:14

of the ships, and scattered or

10:16

captured the rest. At

10:19

Bousvine, he'll be heading up the

10:21

right flank of the Allied army. Then

10:24

there's Otto. John's nephew

10:27

is less experienced than Longsword, but

10:29

he was practically raised by the most talented

10:32

general the Plantagenet ever produced.

10:36

Richard.

10:38

Matilda may have been Otto's mum, but

10:40

the Lionheart took him on as a kind

10:42

of surrogate son, granting

10:45

him some of his most prized territories.

10:47

Richard even managed

10:50

to have Otto elected as King of Germany,

10:52

following the death of Heinrich VI, the

10:55

guy who'd kept Richard locked in jail for

10:57

all those years. This was

10:59

controversial, to say the least, and

11:01

it took Otto years to win recognition

11:04

from all the German nobles that he

11:06

should be the rightful king. He

11:09

got there in the end, though, and

11:12

in 1209 Pope Innocent III formally

11:15

crowned Otto as Holy Roman

11:17

Emperor. That's the traditional

11:19

title that kings of the German territories

11:22

get from the Church. But

11:24

right away, in true Plantagenet

11:26

style, Otto fell out with

11:29

Innocent. Very badly. As

11:31

we know, Innocent's not the hardest

11:34

guy in the world to fall out with. When

11:37

he loses it with Otto, it's a row

11:39

over who rules Sicily, if you really want

11:41

to know, Innocent pulls a similar

11:44

stunt. He excommunicates

11:46

Otto, then he proposes a brand

11:49

new Holy Roman Emperor, a guy

11:51

called Frederick Honschaufen. Now

11:54

I realise all this might be melting your brain,

11:56

but I'm telling you, because it's vital

11:59

to understanding what's going on. what Otto is

12:01

doing on that battlefield at Bousvine.

12:04

He's backing his uncle John to the hilt

12:07

for three good reasons. First,

12:11

because John is willing to hand out money

12:13

to his allies, and Otto needs money

12:16

to fight for his own crown.

12:19

Second,

12:20

because he's family, and maybe

12:22

he feels that counts for something. And

12:25

third, because he has his own

12:27

very intense beef with the French

12:29

king Philip Augustus. When

12:32

the Pope tried to edge Otto out

12:35

by declaring that Frederick Hohenstaufen was

12:37

the new Holy Roman Emperor, Philip

12:39

Augustus gave Frederick his baking.

12:43

In other words, it's personal.

12:46

And that brings us back to Bousvine itself.

12:50

John is missing in action, but Otto

12:53

is more than prepared to take down Philip

12:55

Augustus without him. When the Oriflam

12:58

banner is raised, he's ready.

13:01

There's a very evocative account of what happens

13:04

at Bousvine, which was written in a nearby

13:06

abbey just after the battle took place.

13:10

It reads like a Hollywood action

13:12

sequence. The

13:15

horses' bridles were tightened, the

13:17

armor shone in the splendor of the

13:19

sun, and it seemed

13:20

that the light of the day was doubled. The

13:24

banners unfolded in the winds and

13:26

offered themselves to the quarats. They

13:28

presented a delightful spectacle

13:31

to the eyes.

13:36

The armies, thus ordered for

13:39

battle on each side, entered into

13:41

combat, full of ardor and

13:43

desire to fight. Very

13:46

soon the dust rose toward the sky

13:48

in such quantities that it

13:51

became hard to see and to recognize

13:53

each other. The first

13:56

French echelon attacked

13:57

the enemy with their will to taking

14:00

their echelons by nobly cutting across

14:02

them, and penetrated their army

14:05

through all impetuous and tenacious

14:07

need. Does

14:13

the battle really look so marvellous?

14:16

In truth, probably not. For

14:19

every beautiful glint of armour in the summer

14:21

sunshine, there's probably someone

14:23

half blinded and choking on dust,

14:26

flailing around, trying to hit anyone

14:28

they can, and just doing their

14:31

best not to wet themselves, or, you

14:33

know, die.

14:36

The fighting is absolutely

14:38

ferocious, and everyone

14:40

gets their hands dirty.

14:43

Other accounts of the Battle of Bhuveen are full

14:45

of reports of lords and knights charging

14:48

one another, getting knocked off their horses,

14:51

and sustaining serious injuries. A

14:54

lot of the higher ranking men present at

14:56

Bhuveen will have practised for this

14:58

sort of moment in tournaments. One

15:01

chronicler reports that, "...valorous

15:04

men who were there say they had never

15:06

seen such good tawnying as

15:08

occurred during this battle." In

15:11

tournaments, though, it's a game. This

15:15

is deadly serious. People

15:17

are dying, and the future of Europe

15:19

hangs in the balance. And

15:22

as the fighting rages, something

15:24

astonishing happens, something

15:27

that may reshape the politics of

15:29

the whole continent. Otto's

15:33

army is formed up into three

15:35

divisions, with the Emperor

15:37

himself commanding the central one.

15:41

Then through the dust, Otto and

15:44

the knights alongside him spot

15:46

the blood-red banner, the French

15:49

Oriflam. They know

15:51

that's where Philip Augustus is, and

15:53

they start hacking their way through the press

15:55

of men towards him. There's

15:58

chaos all around them. But

16:00

they grind their way forward until

16:02

they can see Philip himself. They

16:05

can almost smell him, and they

16:07

can certainly reach him. Someone

16:11

on horseback thrusts a lance forward

16:14

and it glances off the French king's armour.

16:18

Some of Otto's other soldiers are armed

16:20

with long spears with hooked ends,

16:23

and they thrust these towards Philip. They

16:26

don't get him, but they manage to trip

16:29

up his horse. The

16:31

animal hauls. Philip

16:34

goes down with it. The

16:38

most experienced and dangerous

16:40

king in Europe is on the ground. All

16:43

his enemies have to do is

16:46

finish him off.

16:56

On American history hit, we ride the

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delve deep beneath Central Park, and

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guests, as we unpost the stories

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that have shaped America in all

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its endless complexity.

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Monday and Thursday. Follow us wherever

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17:53

I'm Mo Raka, and I'm excited to

17:55

announce season four of my podcast,

17:58

Mobituaries. I've got a whole. whole

18:00

new bunch of stories to share with you about

18:02

the most fascinating people and

18:04

things who are no longer with us. From

18:07

famous figures who died on

18:09

the very same day to the things

18:12

I wish would die, like buffets,

18:16

all that and much more. Listen

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to Mobituaries with MoRaka

18:20

wherever you get your podcasts.

18:22

It's

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Aide Edmondson here and I'm delighted

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to tell you that I am the new host

18:28

of the rather popular podcast Out

18:31

to Lunch. I take some amazing

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and rather fascinating people out for

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a slap up lunch and press

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record. In a way it's like you're

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sat at the table with us. You'll

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need to bring your own food though.

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From Sony Music Entertainment you

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can follow this new season of Out to Lunch on

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Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon

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Music or wherever you get your

18:53

podcasts.

19:00

As we know very well by now there

19:02

are plenty of nasty ways to die

19:05

in the Middle Ages. One

19:07

of them is on display at Bouvine.

19:10

Although there are a few thousand mounted

19:13

knights on the field, the majority

19:15

of the combatants are infantry, local

19:18

French militias and, on Otto's

19:21

side, hired mercenaries. While

19:24

knights abound by the code of chivalry,

19:27

these mercenaries play by their

19:29

own rules. When they

19:31

spot an enemy knight slung off his horse,

19:34

helpless in his heavy armour, they don't

19:36

stride valiantly up and make the stricken

19:39

man a captive for ransom. They

19:41

run in and slide a thin sharp

19:44

blade through the visor of his helmet, through

19:46

his eye and into his brain. When

19:50

Philip Augustus goes down at Bouvine that

19:53

could well be his fate. All

19:55

those years restoring the glory of

19:57

France, the crusading, the strumming of the

19:59

French army, the struggles with the Plantagenets, it

20:02

could all be over with one thrust

20:04

of cold steel.

20:07

Inside a metal

20:10

helmet it's hot, loud and

20:12

claustrophobic at the best of times. Over

20:15

the clashes and yells of the battle outside,

20:18

Philip must be able to hear his blood

20:20

thudding in his ears. He must

20:22

be thinking there's a good chance this

20:25

is it. Then

20:28

arms grab him. Suddenly he's

20:31

upright again and being thrust

20:33

back onto a horse, someone

20:35

else's horse. He can

20:37

see across the carnage again, he

20:40

can see that the battle is far from

20:42

over.

20:45

In fact his fall seems to have galvanised

20:47

his own side and now there's a

20:51

swell of croupes around him in the French centre.

20:53

They start counter-attacking

20:56

Otto's centre and driving the Emperor

20:58

backward. He's no longer in touching or stabbing distance

21:03

of Philip. In fact French warriors are getting

21:05

close to him, one of them has a go

21:07

at Otto with a dagger, narrowly

21:10

misses and takes out his horse's eye. The horse

21:12

panics and he bolts.

21:17

The Emperor only just escapes capital death himself. Like Philip he has

21:20

to be given a

21:26

different horse just to stay

21:28

in the game. Having

21:32

been so close to glory, Otto

21:35

now feels the tide turning against

21:37

his men. The day is

21:40

sealed when shouts go up from the

21:42

far side of the field. Cries

21:46

of French jubilation. Word

21:48

is being passed frantically along the

21:50

line that one of the most senior

21:53

nobles on Otto's side, the Count

21:55

of Flanders,

21:56

has been captured.

24:00

The ambitions will be crystal clear. John

24:03

bet the house on his allies defeating

24:06

Philip Augustus and opening up the

24:08

way for him to reconquer the Plantagenet

24:11

Empire. They've been

24:13

smashed. Philip is

24:15

victorious, again. John

24:19

has lost a fortune in the process, and

24:21

the old Plantagenet Empire has never

24:24

been further from his grasp. All

24:27

his work over the last decade

24:29

was for nothing. John

24:33

risked his reputation by pushing

24:35

his barons to support a war they were

24:37

barely half interested in fighting.

24:41

He risked his immortal soul by falling

24:43

out with the Pope and plundering the Church.

24:47

He risked the unity of his family by

24:49

drawing his nephew Otto into his war

24:51

with the King of France. He

24:54

gambled his whole reign

24:56

on winning at Bouvine.

24:59

He lost.

25:01

And

25:01

he wasn't even there when it happened. All

25:07

John can do now is go back to

25:09

England and face the

25:12

music. That's

25:14

next time on This Is History.

25:28

If you can't wait till next week, don't worry,

25:31

because we have a subscriber episode

25:33

waiting for you on This Is History Plus,

25:36

where I dive into all the details we didn't

25:38

have time for in this episode. This

25:41

week it's a post-match analysis of

25:43

Bouvine. Why did John

25:45

and his allies miss the big prize? How

25:48

close was it? Who exactly

25:50

was Frederick Hohenstaufen, and

25:52

why do I have the raging hots for him? Just

25:55

visit This Is History on Apple Podcasts

25:58

and click cry free at the top of the page. to

26:00

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26:02

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26:05

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