Weapons that Made Britain
Saturdays 10, 17, 24, 31 July, 7 August at 7pm
Robert Bruce defeats the English at Bannockburn, Alfred the Great crushes the Vikings at Edington, British bowmen shoot down the might of France – at certain pivotal points, history hangs by a thread. But none of these victories would have been possible without the technology of war.
From the bow to the sword, from the shield to the lance, expert Mike Loades looks at these 'weapons that made Britain'. An 'action arranger' and weapons historian, Mike examines cutting-edge medieval technology, trains modern teams to use the weapons and tests exact replicas in the lab. Each programme focuses on one weapon and a battle in which it played a crucial role, from Edington in 878 to Barnet in 1471.
Mike Loades has spent a lifetime studying and using medieval weaponry and investigating the world in which it evolved. He says: 'Weapons of war are iconic, at once beautiful and horrific. They provide a unique means to understand history and can hold the key to crucial battles that shaped our history. But they can also tell us much more about: the means of production and the craft skills of the day; the social order that supported the arms industry; and the hierarchy of the battlefield where weapons signified status.
'Military technology has always been at the leading edge of scientific discovery, and military practice has always been a mirror of the society that employs it. Actually wielding these weapons gives you a physical connection with the past and with the men who killed and were killed with them.
'We decided to test these weapons in modern dress. It sounds a small point, but the soldiers who used them were the "modern" troops of their day with state-of-the-art equipment, not quaint, outmoded folk in funny clothes.'
