Channel 5 - Britains Bloodiest Dynasty (2014) Part 1 Betrayal

Britain’s Bloodiest Dynasty

Out of the chaos, darkness and violence of the Middle Ages, one family rose to seize control of England. Generation after generation they ruled the country for more than three hundred years, ruthlessly crushing all competition to become the greatest English dynasty of all time. They were The Plantagenets. Presented by award-winning journalist and acclaimed historian Dan Jones, the Plantagenets combines creative and insightful research with searing dramatic reconstructions to bring to life this shocking and visceral time in England’s history. From Henry II, betrayed by his own wife and children when they try to seize the throne to the powerful friendship between Henry III and Simon de Montfort which falls into hatred and bloody civil war; from Edward II’s adulterous French wife and his ‘legendary’ death from a red hot poker to the boy king and tyrant Richard II one of the most vicious and inventive despots in English history; Britain’s Bloodiest Dynasty: The Plantagenets uncovers a dark, vengeful and bloody history which compels viewers into the heart of the action as they bear witness to the most ruthless dynasty in English history.

Part 1: Betrayal

From the very beginning, the story of the Plantagenets is astonishing. Dan Jones opens the series with the first king of the dynasty, Henry II. A dashing and energetic warrior, Henry transformed England from a violent and lawless state into the heart of an empire that would become one of the greatest that Europe has ever seen. However, his success was undone by a series of bitter betrayals – first by his best friend, Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, and then by his wife and sons, who raised armies against him.

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