This episode recounts the dramatic Peasants' Revolt of 1381, a turning point when ordinary people challenged the medieval order. Decades after the Black Death decimated England's population, labor shortages gave peasants new bargaining power — but the crown and nobility imposed the Statute of Labourers to freeze wages. Mounting resentment deepened as war taxes, including an unpopular poll tax, burdened the poor.

Led by Wat Tyler and John Ball, the rebels rose in Essex and Kent, proclaiming equality before God and marching on London. For days, they seized control of the capital, executing royal officials and demanding the end of serfdom. The young King Richard II, only fourteen, met the rebels and promised reforms — but after Tyler's death at Smithfield, the movement collapsed. Royal forces crushed the rebellion, and its leaders were executed.

Though suppressed, the revolt exposed the fractures of feudalism. Over the next century, serfdom declined and laborers gained freedoms unimaginable before. The Peasants' Revolt failed as an uprising — but it succeeded in awakening England to a new truth: the people's voice could no longer be silenced.

This episode explores the remarkable reign of Edward III, who transformed England from a fractured realm into a dominant medieval power. Ascending the throne at just 14 after the overthrow of his father, Edward II, the young king soon seized control from his mother, Queen Isabella, and her ally Roger Mortimer, restoring royal authority and stability.

Edward revived England’s pride through military might and chivalric splendor. He restructured Parliament, strengthened governance, and cultivated national identity through pageantry and the Order of the Garter. His claim to the French throne ignited the Hundred Years’ War, where his victories at Sluys and Crécy, aided by the longbow and his son the Black Prince, cemented England’s reputation as a formidable power.

Yet triumph came with tragedy. The Black Death devastated the population, reshaping society and labor forever. Edward’s later years saw declining vigor and political corruption, but his legacy endured. Remembered as both the King of Chivalry and the Father of the English Nation, Edward III’s reign marked the dawn of England’s golden warrior age.

This episode tells the tragic story of Edward II, a king who inherited a strong and united realm from his father, Edward I — only to lose nearly everything through misrule. Unlike his disciplined warrior father, Edward II favored pleasure, personal companions, and lavish court life. His close relationship with favorites like Piers Gaveston and later the Despenser family enraged the barons, who saw their influence eclipsed. When Edward refused to reform, they executed Gaveston and later rebelled again.

His reign was further undermined by disaster abroad. In 1314, Edward suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Bannockburn against Robert the Bruce, ending English dominance in Scotland. At home, discontent escalated until his own wife, Queen Isabella, allied with the exiled noble Roger Mortimer and invaded England.

Edward II was captured, forced to abdicate in 1327, and replaced by his young son, Edward III. Soon after, he died mysteriously in captivity — allegedly murdered in gruesome fashion. His downfall marked the first deposition of an English king, setting a powerful precedent: a monarch could be removed if he failed to rule justly.

This episode explores the reign of Edward I, one of England’s most formidable medieval kings. A seasoned warrior and reformer, Edward strengthened royal authority through legal reforms and transformed Parliament into a more structured institution that included nobles, clergy, and commoners—laying the groundwork for future representative government.

Edward first turned his military might toward Wales, defeating Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and cementing English control with massive stone castles that still stand today. He then imposed his son as the first Prince of Wales.

His greatest challenge came in Scotland, where his attempt to dominate the throne sparked fierce resistance. Though he crushed King John Balliol and executed the rebel hero William Wallace, the Scots continued to resist under Robert the Bruce. Edward died in 1307 while marching north to subdue them again.

Edward I left a legacy of strong governance, legal reform, and imperial ambition. To some, he was Edward the Lawgiver—to others, the Hammer of the Scots. His power built a stronger England, but also sowed the seeds of rebellion for generations to come.

This episode explores the long and turbulent reign of Henry III, who came to the throne as a child after King John’s death. Though deeply pious and a patron of Gothic architecture—most famously rebuilding Westminster Abbey—Henry’s extravagance, poor governance, and reliance on foreign advisors alienated his nobles. Heavy taxation to fund failed foreign ventures drove widespread discontent.

Rebellion broke out under Simon de Montfort, who in 1258 forced Henry to accept the Provisions of Oxford, limiting royal authority. During the Second Barons’ War, de Montfort captured Henry and, in 1265, summoned a revolutionary Parliament that included not just nobles and clergy but also knights and townsmen—the first step toward true representation. Though de Montfort was killed at the Battle of Evesham and Henry restored, the idea of Parliament endured.

By the end of Henry’s 56-year reign, Magna Carta had been reaffirmed, Parliament was evolving into a permanent institution, and the principle that kings must govern with consent had taken root. His son Edward I would build on these foundations, pushing England further toward constitutional monarchy.

This episode follows the troubled reign of King John, who inherited England after Richard the Lionheart but quickly became infamous for misrule. John’s loss of Normandy to France in 1204 humiliated the crown and drove him to impose crushing taxes on his barons. His quarrel with the Pope led to England being placed under interdict and John’s own excommunication, deepening resentment.

By 1215, after military defeat in France and mounting pressure at home, rebel barons forced John to meet them at Runnymede, where he sealed the Magna Carta. Though initially a list of baronial demands, it introduced principles that outlasted John—chiefly that no king was above the law. John soon tried to annul the charter, plunging England into civil war, but he died the following year.

The Magna Carta failed in its immediate goal, yet its legacy endured. Reissued in later reigns, it became the foundation of English constitutional tradition and an enduring symbol of liberty around the world.

This episode follows the reign of Richard I, the Lionheart, one of England’s most legendary kings. Crowned in 1189, Richard devoted his energy not to governing England but to fighting abroad. He led the Third Crusade, winning battles against Saladin but failing to retake Jerusalem. On his return, he was captured and held for an enormous ransom, which nearly bankrupted England.

Richard spent little time in his kingdom, focusing instead on wars in France against King Philip II. He died in 1199 from a crossbow wound during a siege. Though his reign left England heavily taxed and financially weakened, his courage and military genius made him a symbol of chivalry and heroic kingship. Richard’s absence and extravagance set the stage for his brother John’s troubled rule, where rebellion and the Magna Carta would redefine the crown.

This episode explores the rise of the Plantagenet dynasty under Henry II, who ascended the throne in 1154. Inheriting England and vast French lands, Henry built what became known as the Angevin Empire. He restored royal authority after The Anarchy, demolished unauthorized castles, and introduced sweeping legal reforms that laid the foundation of English common law and trial by jury.

But Henry’s reign was also scarred by conflict. His bitter struggle with Archbishop Thomas Becket, which ended with Becket’s murder in Canterbury Cathedral, revealed the dangers of royal power clashing with the Church. Even more painful were the betrayals within his own family: his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine and their sons repeatedly rebelled against him, leaving Henry broken by the end of his reign.

His successors, including Richard the Lionheart and later John, would continue the Plantagenet story, filled with crusades, charters, and new struggles for the crown. Episode 10 closes the first arc of England’s birth, showing how Henry II forged law, empire, and dynasty, but also how ambition and betrayal ran deep within the roots of the Plantagenets.