Afleveringen
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The great political saga that had rocked London for the last decade or so APPARENTLY was over; but out in the streets the old forces which had instigated so much chaos found new issues to fall out over and London seemed about to engage in a new era of infighting and politics… and yet, within only a few short years? Everything changed. London united as it had not done in decades, and started to come to terms with strange events taking place within the city; jousts held upon London Bridge… and the sudden appearance of a crime fighting wizard. Honestly!
Come join us as the Story of London deals with the years when London had to cope with many strange things.
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And so the story comes to its surprising ending… having destroyed their political rivals, having gained the favour of the King AND his enemies, having destroyed the Jubilee book, Nicolas Brembre and Nicolas Exton seemed unassailable in their control over London and her politics. But events elsewhere suddenly changed the political calculations, and as Brembre began a new campaign to go after the Mercers, the Saga of the Jubilee sped towards its shocking and bloody conclusion.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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In 1387 a book was burned outside of London’s Guildhall by the fishmonger turned mayor Nicolas Exton. But the story of that book, of who made it, of why they made it, and what it contained, is a story of a hidden aspect of London’s life in the 14th century. This special episode of the Story of London looks back over the Jubilee Saga to see how it has danced in and out of the endless arguments and debates that gripped London in that decade… and sets the saga up for its bloody conclusion.
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Nicolas Brembre was mayor. Again. His political opponents were jailed. He had the ear of the King. All seemed to be going well for the wool merchant, turned politician. But down the river Thames, in Westminster, national events began spiralling out of control and the young king and Parliament seemed to be on a collision course. Trying their best to navigate this unexpected twist was London, and the Mayor had to find the correct approach to take. A country gripped with fear of invasion is the backdrop of an episode that will lead to the destruction of a certain book…
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The ongoing struggle between the two political giants of the City, Nicolas Brembre and John de Northampton, was about to reach its crescendo. Brembre was Mayor for a second time, but de Northampton had learned well what to expect from his last term in office; and so a game of cat and mouse erupted on the streets, leading to riots, snatch squads, secret arrests, attacks upon the Guildhall and sudden beheadings on Cheapside. The epic saga of The Jubilee takes a bloody and violent turn as once again, London is gripped by forces of political violence.
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In the aftermath of the Peasants Revolt, London’s ongoing political tensions roared back to life, and the seemingly endless dance between the various factions of the city suddenly dominate everything. London was forced to unify again in the face of the dangers of a furious King’s Uncle and suddenly the John de Northampton gains control of the city and sought to destroy his rivals. Betrayal, intrigue, double dealing and secret arrests abound as we see how the hero of the revolt (former Mayor Walworth) loses everything and the great game for the future of the city moves towards a violent confrontation.
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In this special episode we cover the last two days of the Peasants Revolt of June 1381- the destruction and carnage of the previous few days is dwarfed by the mayhem that is to follow; the Archbishop of Canterbury is hacked apart before a baying crown; scores of foreigners are massacred in the streets and the young king forced to hide out in a house in Blackfriars, as the city descends into utter chaos. But quietly, and behind the scenes, the Aldermen of London began flexing their muscles. From saving large numbers of Germans, to orchestrating the plan to kill the rebel leader, this is a story of how the Mayor and his allies were to emerge triumphant in the face of absolute horror.
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June 1381- and the peasants revolts slams into London… but what really happened on those crowded and violent streets. The Story of London finally gets to examine the opening part of a terrible few days, where we see far from being angry yokels falling upon an unsuspecting city, rather it is the residents of London who use this as an excuse to settle old scores. From neighbour turning on neighbour in Southwark, from the suburbs of Smithfield, to the Temple and the Savoy, London erupted in flame and destruction, as buildings were set alight, torn down and people murdered.
Yet what role did the Mayor and Aldermen play in all of this? Stalwarts opposed to the violence? Secret facilitators? Or men trying to thread an impossible needle, desperately seeking to stay one jump ahead of the terrible violence?
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Of all the events of Medieval London that seemingly came out of nowhere and impacted upon the city, few matched the sudden ferocity and violence of the ‘Peasants Revolt’ of 1381. From Essex and Kent, two vast hordes of rural workers suddenly appeared at the edge of the city, demanding to se the king and leaving in the wake a score of burned houses, and murder and mutilation. But what had triggered this? And what did the events in the weeks before herald for our city?
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In the last episode we saw how the ‘Stapler’ faction of London’s Aldermen had betrayed the ‘Radicals’ and gained the concessions they wanted from Parliament, but refused to support the Radicals demand for the return of London’s traditional rights. And this leads to a political backlash.
Welcome to an episode that drags us into the heart of explosive politics, as political control swung from one faction to another, as the very way the city picked its leaders was changed drastically, and the intrigue and politics was played out over a backdrop of riots, insults, executions, and salacious comments about a Prince’s heritage. Welcome to the most intense internal civil war the city had seen since the Magna Carta, a place where the city itself was said to be ‘armed, arrayed in red and white’.
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A bumper episode that focuses on the last, pathetic years of King Edward III; an increasingly isolated monarch, being controlled by cunning courtiers and his glamorous mistress causes a political miasma that leads to the most explosive parliament for decades.
But alongside this, London boiled as three, and then four, new political factions began to dominate the body politic; London became a place filled with violence and protest, ruthless deals, nepotism, alliances made and broken, and increasingly fraught risks. The opening salvo of a civil war that was to rock London to its core. Join us as we explore the first part of the Saga of the Jubilee of London.
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After a short Christmas break, The Story of London returns with a deep dive into the life and early career of that most distinguished of London poets- Geoffrey Chaucer. This week we follow his life, and his career in service of the crown, leading to the moment he gained possession of one of the more desirable residences in London. Meanwhile around him, London was carrying on with all the frantic energy of the 14th century city- child kidnappings, prosecutions for fake news, and bakers with leprosy all to be found in our first episode of the year.
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The story continues with a three-part episode; we look at the behind the scenes economic reasons why London’s trades were becoming more organised and how this was driving massive new political factions being born upon it’s streets; we examine the third outbreak of the plague, once again killing thousands of the cities residents, and we witness the declining health and fortunes of that most imperious King, Edward III, as the skies darkened and terrible times threatened the people…
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We return with a fast paced episode documenting five busy years in the city; in the aftermath of the second outbreak of the plague, London began to organise itself. And in doing so, ushered in a new era of rules and regulations. London in this era becomes a place filled with stories- of inept con-men; violent vendettas between fishmongers; rotten wine being dumped on the head of vintners; ever so dodgy fast-food being sold on the streets of Billingsgate and a plot to murder the King’s bison… apparently.
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On the surface, London was busy BEING London and doing all the things London liked to do in the 13th century; complaining about the state of their public toilets, attacking Italians, moving dung off the streets, and working out how to exploit big changes in the Kings foreign policy. But out of nowhere the Plague returned. The second outbreak, the ‘Secunda Mortalitas’, and as London tried to cope with it, one horrific aspect of this version of the Black Death seems to have been… this version targeted children.
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Just after the Black Death, the character and nature of the rule of King Edward III changed… and suddenly the nation around London began to sow the seeds of a profound alteration of its very essence. This weeks episodes ranges far and away from our city, covering events in France, and in the royal court, but focuses on how after the plague Edward began to change the very fabric of the city. From a bevvy of new royal buildings both in and around London, to the building of the first version of Big Ben- a huge tower in Westminster that rang out the hours for the next few centuries. And on top of this? The reason behind the wildest and most glorious celebration London had seen in decades.
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The Black Death has passed… and now the disaster begins. In the aftermath of the plague, London finds itself in a new political climate; without fuss and fanfare many of its ancient rights are removed, and we study a few years where new political fortunes were made. This week we follow a myriad of stories, but crucially how a secretive fraternity based in a local London parish church, was to become increasingly powerful and create one of the more powerful factions in London’s political history.
It’s time to visit a city being blamed for the economic consequences of the pandemic, and who is trying to cope with a wave of negative press towards one class of resident… the hated ‘Engrossers’
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The saga of the Black Death continues as The Story of London spends an episode detailing the epidemic in London continuing into 1349. As the weather warmed up and the massive death toll of the winter gave way to a fresh onslaught that Spring, we follow as London tried its best to cope with the chaos this caused, and the effects it had, upon rich and poor, old and young… and the plethora of orphans created by this disaster.
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The Story of London reaches Book 5 of its epic saga… covering the era between the arrival of the Black Death to the rise of the Tudor Dynasty. And era of great change for the city and the country as the 100 Years Wars ended and the insanity of the War of the Roses erupted… welcome then to London’s Roses.
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The year is 1348 and everything changes… welcome as we take a detailed look at what London was doing in the year of the arrival of the Black Death; and how it coped when the terrible disease took hold of the city, leaving hundreds dying every day. We close out book 4 of the story, with a guide to how London responded to the first advent of the disease that was to shape the City for centuries to come.
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