Fire!
(gun firing)
(swords clanging)
The world we live in was shaped by war.
For hundreds of years, power hungry families
fought for the right to rule and Europe transformed.
For the glory of England!
I, Philip de Valois, am the only king of France.
These rivalries shifted borders.
Cursed be the French king!
Destroyed cities,
and brought populations to their knees.
A war of thrones.
Don't touch me!
A tale of murder, sex, and betrayal.
Greatness, madam, that is what France needs.
Those not crowned in glory
were brutally slaughtered or condemned
to rot in the shadows.
This woman is a heretic that much perish in the flames.
(screaming)
Guards, guards!
In the merciless game
of war and ambition, anything goes.
At the beginning of the renaissance,
the throne of France was once again under threat.
The ambitious emperor wanted to dominate Europe.
The king of France was prepared
to do anything to save his realm.
The rivalry would lead to 27 years of war
but another sovereign would play the peacemaker.
After the 100 Years War, France still
had to fight for peace.
(dramatic music)
On January 23rd, 1516, the king of Spain,
Ferdinand of Aragon, died.
He was 64 years old.
He bequeathed to his grandson, Charles of Habsburg,
an unparalleled inheritance.
The kingdoms of Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia
as well as colonies in the new world
discovered by Christopher Columbus 24 years earlier.
These lands were in addition to an earlier legacy,
that of his great grandfather Charles the Bold,
who left him the Netherlands and what is now Belgium.
At just 17 years old, Charles of Habsburg's empire
extended from the Netherlands to Spain
and from the Mediterranean all the way to the Americas.
It was vast but it wasn't enough for Charles.
A devout catholic, his ambition was
to build a vast Christian empire
to rule the whole of Europe.
He was intelligent and ruthless.
Corruption, blackmail, and war.
Charles would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.
This made the other European leaders very nervous,
none more so than the king of France, Francis the first.
Francis was born September 12th, 1494.
He had never been destined to rule.
Born into a distant branch of the Valois dynasty,
Charles was no more than a distant cousin
of King Louis the 12th.
Louis had failed to father a son
so he passed his crown to Francis.
When he was 14, Francis joined the royal family
at Blois Castle where he was received as the crown prince.
At the age of 19, he married Louis the 12th's only daughter,
Claude of France.
When Louis the 12th died on New Year's Day, 1515,
his now son-in-law Francis of Angouleme became king.
He was 20 years old.
After his coronation in house,
his entry into Paris on February 25th, 1515,
set the tone for his entire reign.
Francis would be a flamboyant monarch.
Our king!
The new king of France
was warmly welcomed by the aristocracy
and his victory at Marignano where he recaptured Milan
from the duke of Sforza made him the new Caesar.
You look magnificent, mother.
You too, my son.
This auspicious reign--
My dear Margaret.
Was supported by his mother
and his sister Margaret.
You are truly beautiful.
I thank you.
In 1519 an opportunity arose
which would reinforce his power.
The death of the holy Roman emperor, Maximilian the first.
With Maximilian dead, the position
of Holy Roman Emperor became vacant.
The imperial crown wasn't hereditary.
The emperor had to be elected.
Francis was the first candidate
to put himself forward for the job
but he didn't have a single drop of German blood.
Charles of Habsburg, the new king of Spain,
on the other hand was also Maximilian's grandson.
He had no intention of letting his family lose the crown.
He decided that he, too, would stand for election.
On March first, 1519, in Frankfurt
the empire's archchancellor gathered together
the electoral council of the Golden Bull.
This council of three archbishops and four princes
were the only ones allowed to elect the new emperor.
To win the title, the candidates
needed to score the most votes
but to do that would cost serious cash.
Charles and Francis were both rich
but neither was rich enough to pay the bribes
needed to win.
They would need to borrow the money.
That is where Jakob Fugger came in.
Have you checked this one?
Fugger was the greatest banker
and financier of his time.
The richest man in Europe.
Who receives this, the same ones?
He was the man who first came up
with the idea of adding interest to loans.
Fugger was also Maximilian's chief financial backer
and therefore he wanted to help the late emperor's grandson
claim the crown.
Sire, I believe we can do great things together in Europe.
In order to help Charles win,
Fugger proposed a deal, a loan
in return for a sizable share of the Habsburg silver mines.
This is outrageous.
Charles didn't want
to give away his family's profits.
He decided he would fight the election
without Fugger's financial support.
Offered you my help.
Fugger was annoyed by Charles' arrogance
so he offered his financial services to his rival.
Your majesty.
Ah, my friend.
I hope you bring me good news.
That is why I am here.
Soon the crown of the empire will be mine.
Fugger offered the French king 369,000 florins,
about 47 million Euros today, at 10% commission.
With such a huge sum behind him,
Francis was sure to win the election.
So, Fugger my friend, where did you disappear to?
When Charles found out,
he summoned Fugger to court.
Desperately, he agreed to hand over the profits
of his silver mines in return for 543,000 florins,
almost 71 million Euros.
Here it is.
In total, Fugger handed
over 846,000 gold florins in bribes
to the electoral council.
Unsurprisingly, Charles of Habsburg
was unanimously elected Holy Roman Emperor.
The coronation of Charles the fifth,
Holy Roman Emperor, was scheduled
to take place a year later.
Francis would use this year to do whatever he could
to stop his rival's coronation.
I will break the emperor.
He wasn't the only one
intent on stopping Charles.
King Henry the eighth of England
usually went to war to defeat his enemies
but his foreign minister Cardinal Wolsey
advised him that on this occasion
an alliance would be more beneficial.
The devil would take such an alliance?
War must be declared on this emperor.
Only this will stop his hunger for power.
Believe me, Wolsey.
But Wolsey wanted peace
and refused to give up.
He eventually persuaded Henry to sign a treaty
with France against Charles.
Two years previously, Wolsey had brokered an agreement
between the two countries
which promised the marriage of the eight month old Dauphin
of France and the king of England's
two year old daughter, Mary.
My angel.
See here, Wolsey.
My most beautiful declaration of peace with France.
Yes, my baby.
That's right, you're not afraid, you're not afraid.
On May 31st, 1520, south of Calais,
a diplomatic summit between England and France was held.
It would become known as the field of the cloth of gold.
The king of France got ready.
Like Henry the eighth, he had sworn
not to shave his beard until the accord was signed.
On June seventh, 1520, the two kings finally met.
(laughing)
My friend.
My dear Francis.
At last we meet.
Yes.
For three weeks, Henry
and Francis were inseparable except at meal times.
So great was the fear of being poisoned.
Three centuries of war were not easily forgotten.
Behind the scenes, their counselors
were busy negotiating a treaty of alliance.
500 years later, a plaque commemorates the location
of this summit.
The field of the cloth of gold
remains one of the most significant meetings
of the renaissance.
The remarkable event was painted
by the artist Frederick (indistinct).
For the occasion, Henry had built a vast temporary castle
in the village of Guinness.
It had brick foundations with new walls,
a painted canvas roof, and huge glass windows.
The whole thing was decorated with great artworks.
The English king is even said
to have demanded two fountains in keeping
with Franco-English tradition, one for wine
and one for beer.
The French encampment on the other side
of the hill at (foreign word)
was every bit as opulent.
Francis had erected huge tents
covered with sheets woven with gold thread
as big as the halls of Blois Castle.
It was an auspicious setting for the signing
of a new treaty which would stop Charles the fifth
being crowned.
(laughing)
Legend has it that Francis and Henry
even had a wrestling match.
After a long, fierce battle, Francis
is believed to have lifted Henry
before pinning him to the ground.
This was utterly humiliating for the English monarch.
The winner is Francis!
Hooray.
Flushed with victory,
Francis had no idea how this humiliation
would effect the alliance.
Whether the wrestling bout ever took place or not,
the cloth of gold summit was a waste of time.
Francis had not sooner returned to Blois
that he heard that Charles the fifth
had been crowned emperor.
Worse still, Henry the eighth and the emperor
had formed an alliance with Pope Clement the seventh
against him.
In 1521, Charles attacked French-held Milan and won.
Francis was furious.
One year later, Francis sent his troops
to reconquer the town but it was a disaster.
Francis refused to accept defeat.
He decided to join his men in battle.
On July 23rd, the king went to the abbey of Saint Denis
to perform the ritual which preceded all military campaigns.
He placed the relics of Saint Denis on the altar
and prayed for victory.
Less than a month later on August 17th,
having named his mother Louise of Savoy as regent,
he set off to fight.
In late 1523, heading for Milan,
he crossed the alps and
annihilated a weakened imperial army
but in the fight, he lost his most trusted captain,
Pierre (indistinct) who was the hero
of the battle of Marignon and said to be fearless
and beyond reproach.
Soldiers, forward!
Even without Pierre, in late October, 1524,
the French king and his army managed to retake Milan.
Emboldened by his victory, Francis
turned his attention to the occupied town of Pavia.
On the night of February 23rd, 1525,
23,000 imperial soldiers pulled white tunics
over their armor as a rallying sign.
(swords clanking)
In just a few hours, over 30,000 French soldiers
overwhelmed Charles the fifth's army.
By eight o'clock in the morning,
Francis was convinced that the battle was won
but he had not noticed that a Spanish rear guard
was firing on his troops.
In less than four hours, the French army
was all but annihilated.
Pavia was a catastrophic massacre.
9,000 lives were lost
but Francis refused to surrender.
He fought on valiantly.
It's the king!
Despite his bravery, Francis fell, defeated.
He had sustained injuries to his face and hand.
For the third time in France's history,
after Saint Louis and John the Good,
the king was taken prisoner.
Charles the fifth learned of his victory
while he was in Toledo.
He allowed his prisoner to write to his mother.
All that has been left to me
is my honor and my life.
Francis prayed that someone
would pay a ransom to secure his freedom
but the emperor didn't want money, he wanted Burgundy.
The territory had once belonged
to his great grandfather Charles the Bold.
He also wanted the Valois dynasty
to renounce all claims to Italy once and for all.
Francis refused.
He wrote these words to the emperor.
I'm resolved to tolerate incarceration
for as long as God wills it
rather than accept terms which are harmful to my realm.
Cursed be the French king!
Charles was livid.
Nothing was more important to him
than recovering the lands which had belonged
to his ancestors.
Francis asked to meet the emperor face to face
but Charles the fifth refused his prisoner's request.
With King Francis behind bars,
the kingdom was now more vulnerable than ever.
Enemies, both near and far, began to circle.
The regent, Louise of Savoy, tried desperately
to hold on to the reigns of power
while also desperately trying to secure her son's release.
It was an almost impossible task.
In Spain, the French king fell seriously ill.
He had migraines, fevers, and intense pains
throughout his body.
At the end of the summer, after six months behind bars,
he was thought to be close to death.
His mother and sister were deeply concerned
but as regent, Louise of Savoy
couldn't leave the kingdom so she turned
to Margaret for help.
My child, only you can save your brother.
Bring us back our king.
Yes, mother.
Charles the fifth gave Margaret
of Valois special dispensation to enter Spain.
She hurried to her brother's sick bed.
Francis seemed to be at death's door.
He'd lost a lot of weight and was tormented by fever.
He was so sick he was unable to eat or drink.
His sister nursed her brother day and night.
Margaret was a devout catholic.
She prayed desperately for her brother
and held mass in his cell.
The body of Christ.
As day broke
(coughing)
the king opened his eyes.
Francis.
Open your mouth to receive communion.
Sister.
The fever seemed to have mysteriously stopped.
Across Europe, the king of France's recovery
was seen as a miracle.
Thank you, sister.
Be brave.
After suffering for 24 days
he was almost back to full health.
Margaret could now fulfill the other part of her mission.
On October third, 1525, she arrived in Toledo
to negotiate with Charles the fifth
but the emperor went back on his promise to meet her.
This was a huge insult to the sister of the French king.
After having waited several hours,
Charles the fifth's ministers finally agreed to see her.
Margaret was young, intelligent, and very persuasive.
She soon became popular in the Spanish court.
Charles the fifth finally granted her an audience.
Your king is stubborn, madame.
He gets what he deserves.
Margaret refused to be intimidated.
She offered Charles the Duchy of Burgundy
along with a substantial ransom
to secure her brother's freedom.
Listen to me.
Either King Francis accepts the terms of the treaty
or he spends the rest of his life in prison.
Margaret had failed
but she refused to let her brother rot in prison.
If the emperor wouldn't set Francis free, she would.
Every night at the same time, a servant
brought the French king firewood.
Margaret noticed that the man came and went
without attracting the guard's attention.
This gave her an idea.
She asked him to swap clothes with the king.
It was a very risky strategy.
If she were caught, Margaret would be thrown in prison
but she would risk everything to free her brother.
The plan was simple.
Francis would slip out of his cell
disguised as the valet.
What do you think?
I think it'll be perfect.
Not forgetting to darken his skin with soot.
(banging)
Guards, guards!
Guards, he's escaping!
Their plan had been rumbled
but Charles the fifth didn't imprison Margaret.
He allowed her to return home to her mother in France.
Louis of Savoy was now so concerned
for her son's life and the future of the kingdom
that she wrote to Francois, begging him
to agree to the emperor's demands.
On January 14th, 1526, with a very heavy heart
Francis signed the Treaty of Madrid.
He renounced any claims to Artois and Flanders.
He surrendered Burgundy and abandoned any aspirations
to the Duchy of Milan.
To make him honor the terms of the treaty,
Charles forced Francois to hand over his two sons
as hostages, the eight year old Dauphin Francis
and his six year old brother Henry.
No sooner had Francis returned to France
that he raised an army against the emperor.
Charles' response to this treachery
was to strip the French princes of all comforts.
They were imprisoned in a dark, damp room
with no furniture other than two stools
and straw mattresses.
The boys were abandoned and had no one to talk to.
As the days turned to months and months to years
the youngest son, Henry, forgot
how to speak his native tongue.
Louise of Savoy was devastated
when she was told of the terrible conditions
her grandsons were being held.
She tried desperately to secure their freedom
but all diplomacy failed.
There was only one option.
Take them by force.
In May 1526, King Francis formed the holy league of Cognac.
It was an anti-Spanish alliance
which brought together France, England, the papacy,
and the cities of Milan, Florence, and Venice.
Their common enemy, the overambitious Charles the fifth.
The emperor was furious at his enemies' alliance.
On May sixth, 1527, he sent 12,000 men
to attack the city of Rome.
Pope Clement was forced to flee the Vatican.
One month later he was caught.
In exchange for his life, he gave Charles 400,000 ducats
and the city of Rome.
The defeat led to the dissolution
of the holy league of Cognac
and an isolated Francis lost battle after battle.
After more than a year of fighting
Francis was ready to sue for peace.
He refused to stoop so low as to negotiate himself.
His mother led the negotiations
with Charles the fifth's aunt Margaret of Austria.
In August 1529, the treaty known
as the Ladies Peace was signed at Cambrai.
As with the Madrid Treaty three years earlier,
France pledged to renounce any claims
to Artois and Flanders, give up Burgundy,
and the town of Tournai in the north of the kingdom
and give up any rights to Italy.
In any case, the last of the Sforzas
had been restored in Milan with the obligation
of returning the duchy to Spain on his death.
France had lost Italy and to make matters worse
the heir to the throne and his brother
were still held hostage in Spain.
In exchange for their freedom,
Charles the fifth demanded a ransom
of two million gold crowns but France's treasury
was almost empty.
What are we going to do?
Lord, this is a difficult decision.
Let me think.
We don't have much choice.
We must pay the emperor to ensure the freedom
of the Dauphin and his brother.
Lord, your mistake at Pavia cost us dearly.
Raising the funds for the huge ransom
was all but impossible
but Louise was determined to free her grandsons.
She turned to the citizens of France for help.
She imposed a special tax on the population for one year.
Eventually, there was enough money
to free the young princes.
Francis was now 13.
Henry was 11.
On July sixth, after five long years
Ah, my sons.
Francis's sons were returned to him.
I missed you both.
Look at me, haven't you grown?
And you, what a fine young man you are.
In return, as imposed
by the Treaty of Cambrai,
Francis married the emperor's daughter,
Eleanor of Habsburg.
Francis and Charles the fifth were now brothers-in-law
but Francis still harbored ambitions
to overthrow the emperor.
So despite the treachery of the past
he once again approached Henry the eighth,
king of England.
12 years after the field of the cloth of gold,
Henry the eighth and Francis met
between French held Bologna and English held Calais.
The French king proudly introduced his children
to his English ally.
What fine sons.
Congratulations.
Henry was also keen
to introduce the French king to someone dear to him,
his beautiful mistress Anne Boleyn.
She was in fact the real reason for Henry's visit.
She has stolen my heart.
My beloved Anne.
Anne Boleyn was beautiful, intelligent,
and fiercely ambitious.
She had been educated in the French courts
and had completely bewitched Henry.
Henry wanted Francis to persuade the pope
to allow him to annul his marriage
to Catherine of Aragon so he could wed Anne
but to gain Francis's support,
Anne had to win the approval
of the whole French royal family.
Not just the king but his sister
and his new wife Eleanor of Habsburg
but Francis refused to allow them
to meet a woman considered by many to be a whore.
Don't touch me.
When Anne got wind of this
she felt deeply offended.
For six days, Henry and Francis ate,
drank, and were entertained.
During the final banquet, Anne,
her face hidden behind a mask, danced
for the two sovereigns.
It was her last chance to charm Francis.
Her gamble paid off.
The French king thanked her publicly
signaling his approval.
Do you, Lady Anne Boleyn, take this man--
Two weeks later, Henry
and Anne are believed to have married in secret.
Do you, Henry the eighth, take this lady
to be your lawfully wedded wife?
I do.
The hasty ceremony is believed
to have been rushed forward to cover up the fact
that Henry's mistress was already pregnant.
After three years of peace in Europe
Francesco Sforza, duke of Milan,
died without having sired a male heir.
In accordance with the terms of the Cambria Ladies Treaty,
Charles the fifth could now add the duchy
of Milan to his empire
but the king of France had not given up on Italy.
In February 1536, Francis the first
sent an army to invade Savoy so that he
could trade it for the duchy of Milan
but Charles the fifth had sent troops
to attack Provence.
As war started to rage again, tragedy
struck at the heart of the kingdom of France.
On August 10th, 1536, Francis the Dauphin
died suddenly at the age of 18.
Immediately rumors began to spread
that he'd been poisoned or that he
had died of tuberculosis, a consequence
of his incarceration in Spain.
In mourning and at war, Francis's kingdom,
just like Charles the fifth's empire,
had to face up to a lack of money.
Conflicts would have to stop.
In 1538, the king and the emperor
decided to start negotiating once more.
After several weeks of haggling in Nice,
the two men made their new friendship public
at (indistinct) in the south of France.
For the first time, both men signed a 10 year truce
during which each would hold on to his territories
while pledging not to go to war again.
Charles the fifth kept Milan
and kept hold of his empire but officially
renounced any claim to the French throne.
This was a real triumph for Francis the first
who consolidated France' central role in Europe
and left an indelible mark on the kingdom.
But in 1547, the king of France
was riven with sickness.
He was 52 and suffering from migraines,
gout, and an ailment caused
by his serial infidelity, syphilis.
Prayers were said for him.
Masses were performed by his bedside
in the presence of his beloved sister Margaret.
From his deathbed, Francis called for his son
and now heir to the throne, Henry.
I've been a great sinner, my son.
Passion has led me astray.
If I have done good things, follow that example.
Be a man.
In the early hours of March the 31st, 1547,
King Francis the first breathed his last.
His son became King Henry the second.
Alongside his lifelong enemy, Charles the fifth,
Francis the first remains one
of the most powerful monarchs of the Christian era.
From 1540 onwards, the emperor, too,
was beginning to ail.
He was terribly afflicted with gout.
Four years later, he handed over the reigns
of the Holy Roman Empire to his brother Ferdinand.
Then in October 1555, he passed sovereignty
over the Netherlands to his son Philip of Spain.
Charles the fifth's abdication shocked all of Europe.
From his Spanish retreat, he relied
on his brother and his son to carry on his work
but the Habsburg dynasty was to be divided forever.
He died on September 21st, 1558 at the age of 58,
11 years after Francis the first.
(dramatic music)