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- [00:01]
Dan Jones
NPR's Throughline podcast sort of feels like stepping into a time machine. Each episode, our Peabody Award winning show travels beyond the headlines. To answer the question how did we get here? Listen to one of Apple's favorite podcasts of 2024 by searching for Throughline on Apple Podcasts or on your favorite podcast app.
- [00:24]
Alice Fraser
Welcome to a new series of this Is History, A Dynasty to Die For. Before we get stuck into the story, a reminder that subscribers can get the next episode right now and ad free alongside a whole additional episode of bonus content. We'll play a clip at the end Night has fallen when the group of young men emerge from their hiding places and jog silently along the riverbank. They move quickly but carefully, finding their way by the light of the stars. It's mid October and beneath their feet the ground squelches, damp and slippery from rain showers and autumn leaves. On a night like this, in a place like this, just outside the walls of the city of Nottingham, it would be easy to get lost, or worse, caught by the guards. But at the head of the group darts a bold 26 year old called William Montague. Using hisses and low whistles, he keeps the group together, bringing them around the curve of a steep river cliff. Above that river cliff, glowering 130ft high, on top of the great rocky outcropping, stands Nottingham Castle. Their enemy lurks somewhere inside. Montague signals to his gang of men to halt. He strains his ears, then smiles. From inside the rock, echoing out from a slit in the cliff face, he hears a cough, and when he peers around the corner into the crevice, he lets out a sigh of relief. Flickering in the darkness, he can just make out the flame of a torch. It's held by the man they've agreed to meet. Montague's companions, about 16 of them, catch their breath as they await their next instruction. Montague points the way. The crevice opens into a secret tunnel. It's part of a whole warren of tunnels twisting deep inside the castle rock. They know what happens now. They've been planning it for days. The man with the torch, a senior official known as the castle's speculator, is going to lead them through this labyrinth, all the way from the cliff face to the heart of the castle. He'll get them through a door into the castle keep, the core of the fortress. After that, they're on their own. They'll have to have their wits about them, because their mission once they're inside the castle is one of the most audacious snatch and grab raids ever attempted. Holed up in Nottingham Castle is the man who controls England. His name is Roger Mortimer, Earl of March. Mortimer has been in power in England for three years, alongside his lover, Queen Isabella. Back in 1327, these two invaded the realm, kicked Isabella's useless husband, Edward II off the throne and had him gruesomely murdered. At first, people cheered, but over time, the liberators have turned into tyrants. The young men scampering through those damp, cramped tunnels have decided enough is enough. They plan to arrest Mortimer and free the country from his hateful rule. It's a huge risk. Mortimer is paranoid. He knows something is afoot. Over the last few days, he's dragged them all in for questioning about their loyalty to the regime. If even one of them has squealed, they're going towards certain death. This is very dicey. Yet if they don't do anything, England is ruined. So they have to try. As Montagu told them before they set out, it's better to eat the dog than to be eaten by the dog. The tunnel turns one final time and they arrive at the door that leads to the castle's keep. Their inside man, the speculator, opens it with a creak. The young men look at each other, nodding and quietly patting backs to give themselves the courage for what lies ahead. They draw their swords from their belts. The time for stealth is over. Now it's all about speed. They run through the door and head up a staircase into the heart of the castle. Montague leads the way. At the top of the stairs, there's another door. Montague kicks it open. He and all but one of his men burst into a brightly lit suite of private chambers belonging to Queen Isabella. The Queen is there. Mortimer is too. So's a squadron of armed guards. They all stare open mouthed at the invaders who've just appeared in their midst. Then there are screams and yells of shock. The Queen puts her hand to her mouth in horror, because what she alone can see is that lurking in the shadows outside the bedroom door, the only man hanging back is the person who's in ultimate charge of this operation. It's not Montague. It's her 17 year old son, Edward of Windsor. Or to give him his proper title, Edward iii, Plantagenet King of England. Edward is here. He's surrounded by his closest friends. He's armed and dangerous and no one, not even his mother, is going to stop him from getting his country back. I'm Dan Jones and from Sony Music Entertainment. This is History Season six of A Dynasty To Die For Episode one the Raid Say you want to get your head with the third on and make your own range of kickass squad jackets and matching merch and make money at the same time. There's only one place to go. That's the sound you'll hear when you make another sale on Shopify. It's the all in one commerce platform to start, run and grow your business. It doesn't have to be squad jackets, it can be anything art, plants, health or beauty. Shopify simplifies selling online and in person so you can successfully grow your business however you want to sell. Shopify has you covered with a Shopfront ready POS system and it works with social media marketplaces too like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. It's time to get serious about selling and get Shopify. Today, sign up for a £1 per month trial period at shopify.co.uk thisishistory all lowercase go to shopify.co.uk thisIshistory to take your business to the next level today. Shopify.co.uk ThisIshistory in the middle Ages, guarding your correspondence was fairly simple. If your seal had been broken, someone had snooped. Today it's a lot more complicated to protect our data and our communication. That's where ProtonMail comes in. ProtonMail is the world's largest secure email service. It can give you unparalleled email privacy through end to end encryption. That means only you and your recipient can access your message. It it's a private and secure alternative to traditional email services. It provides safeguarding from hacking, surveillance targeted ads and it protects you against phishing attempts. I've been trying it out and it's a super simple interface. You can add multiple email addresses and it's got more data than I will ever use. Your data is yours. Keep it that way. With ProtonMail's Privacy first email service, go to Proton Me ThisIsHistory or simply click the link in the description to get started and receive a 30 discount. Families, huh? They can get messy. And the Plantagenet family, whose fortunes we've been following on this podcast for the last five seasons or in historical time, 176 years, would stand a good chance of winning the Messiest Family of All Time award. But even by Plantagenet, high or low standards, what goes down at Nottingham Castle on The night of 19th October 1330 is hectic. A teenager not getting on with his stepdad. Well, that's one thing. A teenager deciding to bring a whole gang of his mates into a castle so they can grab the guy from under his mum's nose and plunge their swords through the guts of anyone who stands in their way. Welcome back to the world of the Plantagenets. But before we go into the details of what happens in the castle that night, we should probably backpedal and remind ourselves just what has brought young Edward and his wicked stepfather, Roger Mortimer, to this pretty pass in 1327, more or less, everyone in England had had it up to the back teeth with Edward II. His 20 year reign had been a relentless trash fire of dumbness, viciousness and national humiliation. Edward had indulged his favourites, insulted his nobles and alienated his wife. He was trounced by the Scots at Bannockburn and humiliated by the French over Gascony. When he was chased off the throne, forced to abdicate and put to death with either a feather mattress over his face or a red hot soldering iron jammed up his royal rectum. Sources differ. There weren't many people weeping for him. Still, it was a very big deal to depose a reigning king. The only thing that stopped things from completely exploding was that Edward II was replaced as king by his eldest son, Edward III. He was only 14 at the time, but that was close enough to manhood for him to be more than just a puppet. What's more, for a long time, young Edward III has struck people as being made from the right stuff. Yes, he's only a teenager, but he's a fast learner, intelligent and decisive. He's got a young wife, Philippa, who's about his age and by the time she's 16, by 1329, she's pregnant with their first son. So this is a young, fresh faced, promising new royal family in waiting. All the old guard needed to do in 1327 was to support them through their first difficult years and then hopefully watch them shine. But. And there's always a but, things haven't quite worked out that way. By 1330, Roger Mortimer and Queen Isabella have screwed things up almost as badly as Edward II ever did. They've made peace with the Scots, but on dire terms, abandoning the old claims of English overlordship in Scotland, which the English have fought for 30 years to enforce. They've drained the treasury of cash. Tens of thousands of pounds seem to have just vanished. The records Show there's literally 50 quid left in the bank. Royal officers can barely meet day to day expenses. Mortimer has sidelined the royal council and rules by decree. He's given himself the funky new title of Earl of March and grabbed enormous new estates. Now there are Rumours whipping round England that Mortimer has got the 34 year old queen Isabella pregnant and that if he has a son, he's going to try and put that kid on the throne. Mortimer hasn't exactly squashed those rumours. One chronicler writes that when he's in public with young Edward iii, he will arrogantly walk side by side with him, never letting the King go in front. Though sometimes doing that himself, it looks like he's panting to overthrow the royal blood and usurp His Royal Majesty. That's why the 17 year old Edward, backed by noble friends like William Montagu, have decided to act, no matter what the risk. They've timed their raid for the night before a council meeting in Nottingham, a day when they know Mortimer will be surrounded by his allies and when they can hope to decapitate his regime with one strike. So who are these young tyros? Well, there's Edward himself. Smart, brave, intelligent and impeccably royal. He's the grandson of both Edward Longshanks, England's last great warrior king, and Philip IV of France, the most feared French monarch in living memory. He's a brilliant leader, but with an ambition that can sometimes run ahead of his means and a love for living large, no matter what the cost or the wider circumstances. Then there's Montague, about 10 years older than Edward, but rapidly becoming his best friend. He's a baron's son who's grown up at court and he's a kind of big brother figure to the King. They have a lot of fun together. Both have a weakness for tournaments. It's a weakness that'll come back to haunt them. Them also in the 16 who storm Nottingham Castle are a pair of twins, Edward and William de Boone. They're about King Edward's age and their dad was the Earl of Hereford. A veteran of Bannockburn and a leading opponent of Edward ii, he died a gory death fighting for the rebel leader, Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. The Boone twins are warriors through and through and they're deeply loyal to each other and to young Edward iii. Others in the group are cut from similar cloth. Ralph Stafford and Robert Ufford, William Clinton and John Neville, all will form the nucleus of a future Edward III squad. We'll meet these men and more in good time, but if you want some extended introductions, then after this episode, hop over to this Is History plus plus, where producer Georgia and I will be going granular on Team Edward. Anyway, for now, let's get back to where we left these young bucks. Smashing through the door to Queen Isabella's chamber. They've got their swords in their hands, fire in their bellies, and a raging thirst for vengeance on one man above all others. Roger Mortimer is long overdue his comeuppance. And unless his bodyguards can stop Edward III and William Montague's band of brothers from laying their hands on him, that's exactly what he's going to get. In the Middle Ages, when the French King is captured and put into the Tower of London, France goes into full blown anarchy. If only they'd had access to Indeed, they could have found the perfect replacement king straight away and saved the country from total meltdown. That's because when it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need. Indeed sponsored Jobs help you stand out and hire fast. That makes a huge difference. According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs posted directly on indeed have 45% more applications than non sponsored jobs. So while it's too late for medieval French revolutionaries, it's the perfect time for you to get your job seen by the right people fast. And listeners of this show will get a £100 sponsored job credit. To get your jobs more visibility@ Indeed.com dynasty just go to Indeed.com dynasty right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com dynasty terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need.
- [18:25]
Dan Jones
Oh hello strangers. I'm Alice Fraser, your guide to the galaxy's goblins, dungeons and dystopias we'll be hurling ourselves into in a weekly hero's journey through realms unknown, into the dark but sensual heart of all our favorite speculative fictions. We'll navigate the wild realms created by brilliant authors, filmmakers, game designers, and more. New episodes drop every week on your podcast app or on YouTube. Do not resist the call to Adventure Chosen One. Join me for realms unknown.
- [19:03]
Alice Fraser
When Montague and his companions crash through the door of the Queen's chambers, there's shocked silence. Then all hell breaks loose. The guards closest to the door draw weapons and a fierce struggle breaks out. Men wrestle. Swords clash. Tables and chairs crash to the ground. There are yells of rage and screams of pain. Mortimer's steward, a guy called Hugh de Turplington, howls in agony as John Neville runs him through with his blame. An usher and a squire who've been on bouncer duty get the same treatment. They go down gurgling on their own blood. Having broken past the first line of defense, the young men look frantically for Mortimer. He's gone, and several of his henchmen are backing nervously away. Montague orders their arrest. Meanwhile, some of the raiding party have Zeroed in on another Mortimer loyalist in the room. He's Henry Burgas, Bishop of Lincoln and Lord Chancellor. In effect the would be king. Mortimer's prime minister. Burgush is built for board meetings, not bar room brawls. He comes down with a bad case of chicken and he tries to leg it, leaving the rest to face the music. The trouble is there's only one escape route open to him and it's a fairly unglamorous one. Burgers runs to the bathroom and contrary to his dignity as a man of high ecclesiastical office, jumps into the toilet. It's a plan of sorts. But Burgush either doesn't fit or he isn't quick enough about making his slide down the chute that takes human waste out of the castle. The raiders catch hold of him before he disappears around the metaphorical U bend, arrest him and presumably send him off for a good hose down. Now though, in all the confusion, Mortimer has disappeared. Or has he? He's their number one target. How did they let him out of their sight? He seems to have vanished into thin air. Then one of Edward's gang spots a suspiciously Mortimer like bulge protruding from a wall hanging. They whip it back and there stands the Earl of March himself. He's banged to rights. Rough hands grab him. Shackles are produced. In a last ditch attempt to save her lover, Edward's mum, Queen Isabella, starts pleading for her boy to show mercy. Fair son. She yells. Fair son, have pity on noble Mortimer. Clearly rumbled, Edward finally emerges from the shadows of the corridor where he's been watching everything go down. But if Queen Isabella thinks her boy's heart is going to melt when she wails, she has another think coming. Edward isn't cruel, but at 17 years old, he has a firm sense of what he wants. He isn't going to harm his mum. But Mortimer, well, that's a different story. Mortimer is taken away to the castle dungeons for the night, along with those of his companions who haven't already been chopped into dog meat. Edward and his allies breathe a heavy sigh of relief. They order the keys to the castle to be brought up to them and demand that no word of what's just gone down should be allowed to leak out. Then they enjoy a good drink and a bit of a party while the rest of the world sleeps oblivious to what's just happened. They're not just ruthless warriors, they're good time guys. And they've got a decent PR operation going on too. Like any good publicist, they know they've got to control the narrative. The Next morning, it's time for their big reveal. Letters go out to the sheriffs, ordering them to announce to the realm that the Mortimer regime is is over. King Edward III is going to rule in his own right. Mortimer himself and a few of his key supporters are paraded south from town to town until they reach England's capital, where Mortimer is thrown into the Tower of London. Once upon a time, when he was a heroic rebel under Edward ii, Mortimer escaped from the Tower power. He's not going to get lucky a second time. Edward calls a parliament. Top of its list of business is pronouncing Mortimer guilty of a list of heinous crimes. Killing Edward II and Edmond, Earl of Kent, screwing up in Scotland and France, bleeding the royal bank account dry, embezzling war funds, enriching himself at the King's expense and unforgivably giving the King lousy advice. Like the many great lords who lost their heads under Edward II and Mortimer's own regime, Piers Gaveston, Thomas of Lancaster, Hugh Despenser, Mortimer is forbidden to speak in his own defence. But unlike those guys, Parliament has been allowed to pronounce judgment. It's Edward's way of saying, we're all in this together. Not that that is of much comfort to Mortimer. He's condemned, hauled out of the Tower, tied behind a pair of horses and dragged two miles to Tyburn, where the gallows for common thieves stands there. Mortimer gives a short speech, admitting that he stitched up the Earl of Kent. After that, he's stripped naked and strung up, and once he's dead, his body is left to hang for a day. With that, the Mortimer and Isabella regime comes to a violent end. Isabella herself, we should say, isn't treated badly. The rumor that she was pregnant with Mortimer's child turns out to be just that, a rumour which saves a lot of awkwardness. Isabella spends Christmas at Windsor Castle with her son. Presumably there aren't any mournful toasts allowed to absent friends. While she's there, Edward has a lavish house fitted out for her at Castle Rising in Norfolk, where she's destined to live out an absolutely fabulous and luxurious retirement. So all's well that ends well for Isabella. But what about the new king? He's still only a teenager, and if his treatment of Mortimer is anything to go by, it looks like the cycle of ultra violence that began during his father's reign might well be destined to continue. Except Edward III is very much not his father's son. The clues for what the future holds lie much less in the summary Stringing up of Mortimer on a thieves gallows at Ty and much more in the daring, dashing, perfectly realized plan to snatch the rogue Earl from Nottingham in the first place. Edward III is a king with a cool head, a gift for decisive, unifying leadership and a love for parties and people pleasing that will in time earn him the reputation as one of the greatest Plantagenet kings who's ever lived. After the traumas the last bunch put their country through, you might say it's about time. But Edward's first challenge is already hurtling towards him and it's going to be a nasty one. Because up in Scotland someone has the royal hump with Edward. That's right, it's our old friend and favorite ever king of Scots, David the Altar Ship. He's got his big boy pants on. And this time he means business. I will tell you one interesting thing that I think tells us a lot about Edward III and what he's going to be like. He has a set of extremely funky jackets made, right?
- [28:38]
Unknown Speaker
He gets squad jackets made.
- [28:40]
Alice Fraser
He gets squad jackets made for the key players in the Nottingham Castle plot. And we're gonna see this time and again in this season, maybe even next season as well. He loves matchy matchy outfits. It's such a big deal for him. He's like an absolute show pony. And for the key people involved in the Nottingham Castle raid, he has like, yeah, like squad Jack. He's a frat boy.
- [29:02]
Unknown Speaker
Right. Levers, hoodies.
- [29:03]
Alice Fraser
Yes, leave his hoodies.
- [29:04]
Unknown Speaker
I was there at the Nottingham raid.
- [29:06]
Alice Fraser
I was there. These are made of green and purple silk and satin embroidered with gold and silver thread.
- [29:14]
Unknown Speaker
Do they have writing on them? Did they have their names?
- [29:17]
Alice Fraser
If you want that to be the case in your imagination, they not only names but nicknames or like a slogan like better to eat the dog and all of that.
- [29:26]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah, Cave canum.
- [29:28]
Alice Fraser
So that's, that's the squad. And you know, so let's be serious for a minute. They're sort of similar generation. They've all grown up sort of in the same kind of world around court. A lot of them are barons sons. I mean the de Boon twins are, you know, sons of high nobility. But a lot of them are kind of from baronial second rank noble families. But they've got this kind of corporate sensibility that doesn't just carry them through this particular raid, but that Edward will cultivate. And this idea of the squad jackets a tons they're actually called is, is this is something Edward does time and time and time again. And I mean, we're gonna see it with the Order of the Garter when we get towards the second half of this season. He's so big into clubs, into organizations, into bands of brothers, into consciously getting his political kind of community and world together around him. Like, it's friendship and camaraderie as well as just sort of political alliance.
- [30:27]
Unknown Speaker
Right. Which is kind of similar to what his dad did with Piers. But he got it all wrong. He got. It was like obsessed with one guy, alienated everyone else. This sounds a lot smarter to really rally everyone to your side.
- [30:38]
Alice Fraser
Yeah. I mean, Edward II is just sort of hyper fixated on single individuals typically, whereas Edward III is like a party guy. It's like, come one, come all, you know, rally round and hurrah. Hurrah us.
- [30:52]
Unknown Speaker
Hashtag squadgoals.
- [30:54]
Alice Fraser
Hashtag squadgoals. Yes. If you want to join us over there, please do. You can start a free trial by going to thisishistorypod.com or if you're on Apple Podcasts, click Try free at the top of the page.