38 Mutilated Skeletons: The Bloodiest Battle In Britain's History | The Battle Of Towton | Timeline
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- Опубликовано: 17 окт 2024
- Did the age of chivalry ever really exist? The discovery of 38 mutilated skeletons from the War of the Roses in the late 15th century casts doubt on this age.
The bodies had multiple stab wounds and their noses and ears had been cut off which, suggests archaeologist Chris Knusel, was to prevent their souls going to heaven.
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the age of chivalry certainly did exist. it died on 10/25/1415. and the English killed it. by towton it was no more.
A symbolic war this with lots of sacrifice having tremendous affects on the people of England. Its still mentioned by Yorkshire Men today (but they are always out of step a bit. Do they still dye their hair blonde at the front?), whenever a group of Lancashire and Yorkshire men happen to share the same spaces. A bloody war that was very influentual in societies direction for years after the war allowed the creation of conditions permiting todays financial domination of all aspects of life. And where that makes its dramatical consequences felt for everyone around when it makes its final events manifest. Dan dan daarrnn!!
9 ads in this video. You have completely missed the point of youtub
@@konker420 ads? where do you see ads?
Thank you for this facinating video, TIMELINE! ⚘⚘⚘
I pass this place about once a week and feel sorrow every time . Being an ex soldier I feel for these brave poor souls: God bless them all.
Amen brother
My home town in southern California has an area that's now a dairy farm (a haunted one at that) where a massacre of Chumash Native Americans is supposed to have taken place at the hands of Spanish conquestadors. I get a horrible deep seated feeling of sorrow anytime I pass it as well. It's so strange how those slain in large scale violent altercations seem to almost call out to the living, and those of us that are for some reason sensitive to such things hear them. Now that we have the technology to see what parts of the brain have a spike in activity when humans perceive specific things, we ought to be able to figure this out. For example by doing brain activity scans on musicians while they play we have been able to identify the specific part of the brain responsible for sensing melody, or the part that senses rythymn when the same scan was done to a drummer. I wonder if they used this tech on those who can feel the pain and life or death struggle at the locations of mass graves due to human violence, if we could identify where in the brain this takes place . . .
Lol
@@GustavoCardoso95 ?
@@TheEx3rgj he's a young edgelord
If No16 was injured eight years before his death, as the reconstructive artist supposes, he may we have been gravely injured at The Battle of Castillon - the final battle of The Hundred Years War in France where the English are defeated and pushed out of nearly all France.It's sad to think that he may have survived that war and then gone on to die in a civil war back at home. This is very much supposition though
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Castillon
These guys fought for 10 hours straight. Not just having to pull a trigger but actual hand to hand combat/some archer action. With their King in the front lines too. God I love Medieval English history
No one fought 10 hours straight.
@@Mok5ha Agreed. 15 minutes into a pitched hand to hand battle, one must have taken a brief time out. How this could be possibe though is a drawn curtain.
In some battles yes they broke off but usually it could go on for hours until one of the enemy had exhausted his reserves or retreated.
Catering must have been a nightmare!
The way the combat was organized, men literally fought in shifts. As soon as they were exhausted they would retire to rest and recover (until able to return) and be replaced by (hopefully) fresh men. This would be a constant cycle, it’s insane to think a man wearing armor could fight continuously for TEN hours! Look at mma matches, two guys wearing NO armor and not having to swing heavy weapons at each other might fight at a max 5 * 5 min rounds. When that it the case, both parties are invariably exhausted so I doubt the participants of a medieval battle (even conditioned to fight in armor etc) could have realistically lasted any longer before retiring, getting a rest then waiting to be re-cycled back onto the battlefield...
EXCELLENT documentary!!!! I visited Towton Battlefield a few years ago, and felt shivers down my spine as I walked around!!!!
My ancestor was killed there, he wasn't in the fight, he was camping in the field next door, he went over to complain about the noise, and some bastard hit him in the head with an axe.
He went out in the blizzard? How could he hear noise in the blizzard?
your ancestor is a bad ass
Mark Williams, he should have brought along his shotgun or some ciggies and coffee..
Sorry for your loss my dude
And the award for most English comment on this video goes to...
I used to farm the Land that this battle was fought on I remember baling on the fields the battle was fought on and the mist rising from the stream it was a bloody spooky place
Bosworths the same.It just doesnt feel right.
A good friend of mine who is a vet went to see to a cow in a place called Bloody Meadow. It was at night with a strong wind blowing and scudding clouds moving across the moon. Not a nervous type he nevertheless was badly spooked . He was from South Africa and had no idea what had happened there .
Did you find d anything
Nige 66 That’s interesting considering that the battle was actually fought on Ambion Hill.
was born in tadcaster and would agree with this - a very strange atmosphere
I'm forever thankful our ancestors survived this and countless other battles so that in modern times we can watch videos of cats and argue with stupid strangers.
Well said
Better than dying in battle
Ancients proud
Right. Because a years-long war involving mass slaughter backing two opposing branches of a noble family is way more worthwhile.
Lol
I wont argue with you
But music is hurting my ears how bout you
This was splendid. Thank you for such an interesting program. Much love from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.
I don't know who I have the most sympathy for, the men who died in the battle or American scientists having to live in Bradford.
@wayne goff l can confirm the accuracy of that statement 😡
Europistan
That is what the mexicans have done here in the US. It is awful
@builderjen both of you
Stand Back
Stand By
Bradford.
I will never buy anything that pops up during good program s agreed vote.
afraid that's the price of free youtubes, but i too cringe at the seeming audacity of the shoit, corporate takeover of the world
@Steven Hickman there are no rules in reality like u think there are. I will take whatever i can get for free. And so will you.
Skip to the end and replay. Works a charm
I always watch these on Adblock. Even better.
Wow...people still getting ads on RUclips, how retro.
Wow. When I started watching this I had no idea there would be so much emphasis on wounds/wound care. Which is right up my alley. Great!!
"Summer grasses, that's what remains of soldiers ' imperial dreams."Matsuo Bashō.
If you are interested in the War of the Roses you should read Conn Iggulden’s books about them. He describes the Battle of Towton in grisly detail
morradi10000 Love his books!
WHAT about Alison Weir's books?
Dandelion Dementors? Tulip Terminator? Yeah, it seems they hated Flowers.
FICTION based in real events?
NO. I'll try Alison Wier.
Who is that Alison Weir
I'VE ALWAYS HAD A ROMANTIC IDEA OF MEDIEVAL WARFARE....I MEAN, DYING BY A BLUNT OBJECT IS JUST SO ROMANTIC!!
There is atleast one blunt object I don t want to die by
At least it sounds like a fair fight. We fight wars from a distance now, and dont take too many risks.
@@normbograham3 Except for death by long-range weapons. War is lethal, even when it looks like a video game, wake up.
yeah what is she on about? lol
It must have been horrific. Camping in freezing weather, probably no breakfast, and bone-wearying all day battle.
This is the best documentary channel on the internet. Thank you for all you post uploader.
Those wounds on No.16's skull clearly demonstrate the frenzied savagery of men in the heat of hand-to-hand battle: how the first wound debilitated the victim before he succumbed to the subsequent frenzy of blows. Such evidence also conveys the prevailing intensity and "blood lust" as experienced in the carnage of battle. Savage, horrific and brutal.
I saw this documentary on the tv years and years ago, it’s personal and science driven look at the effects of battle really stuck with me and I was surprised how much I remembered all these years later. Thanks for sharing it again, wish we had more documentaries that looked at the little details and human stories in big events like this.
Wow, what a mean life! The sailors at Trafalgar, the Native Americans thruout, Greeks, Macedonians, Palestinian- the list goes on. I have it pretty good, toiling a tugboat in San Francisco. Thank you, an exceptional document.
English history is fascinating, Thank you for posting this.
More British in reality than just English as The Welsh and Scots played a huge role.
@@taffyducks544 the Tudors where Welch hence the red dragon on their coat of arms
@@elwolf8536 Where are you getting the Tudors from? Towton involved the last of the Plantagenet (House of York) and the Lancastrians (House of Beaufort and others) Henry Tudor was just 4 years old and didn't become King and the first Tudor monarch until 1485 (26 years after the battle of Towton) Also his Welsh connection was very tenuous only an eighth Welsh at most through his paternal grandfather and the fact he was born in Pembroke castle.
@@taffyducks544 Huge is exaggerating a bit. Two English royal dynasties York and Lancaster with English generals fighting over the English crown on English soil with armies made up of over 80% English soldiers. Britain as a nation didn't even exist at this time, so I think my original post about English history stands up.
@Steven Hickman in case your not being sarcastic I'd imagine the ranks on both sides included foreign mercenaries.
The North remembers
Winter sure did come.
Also the Noth remembers, think of the fate of poor Sarah Jessica Parker.
Pepperidge farm remembers
@@vengefullizard96 28000 people did how is that cringe thats sad
"Save your Confederate money, boys. The South will rise again!"
That was so EPIC! Thank you for making and publishing this film.
It will never cease to amaze me why some people will suffer the horrors of war and die simply so someone else can live the life of power and wealth.
Such a well done piece here. It was very interesting seeing the grizzled old face of a veteran at the close. Well done. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Extremely interesting. I'm in total admiration of the work of the people who put a face back on the bare skull.
I don't think you would want to meet the old campaigner on a dark night or maybe the one who put an end to him.
Top documentary. Thanks, Robert.
Pequenaud, il y a un biscuit pour toi. Au revoir, a rien.
all the soldiers were buried together, I can think off no better way 2b buried,with pals u fought and died with! "better than lying in a coffin on your own 4 eternity!!! RIP
Ahhh the dead just complain.. He's got more worms than me! Why does he get a bigger head stone? The ground is cold, ect...
Unfortunately they put you in a mass grave wherever you died around your enemies - so you are possibly not with your pals at all.
ryan c How about dying peacefully at an old age and being buried in a family plot with your loved ones?
You'd been flogged and made a bad jester you mumbling idiot.
when your dead, you don't care
I never thought that chivalry really extended to the actual battles. It was more of an ideal than something that was applied in the real life. Doing close combat with melee based weapons is in most cases a pretty personal and brutal affair.
it was mainly about sparing people and not putting them through unnecessary pain/humiliation. for example mutilating bodies and taking heads as trophies was not chivalrous. killing fleeing enemies was also not chivalrous.basically no war crimes were allowed…
Like many other medieval battles, I had direct ancestors on both sides. Some lived and some died, either in battle or of wounds afterward. Even as a combat veteran myself -- including some very "up close and personal" experiences, it's apparent that the brutality of medieval warfare exceeds what we can imagine nowadays. ALSO -- it's important to remember that the Chivalric Code only applied to the aristocracy; common soldiers couldn't expect any protection. AND in England, Chivalry wasn't practiced in the Late Medieval Period to any great extent, even among the nobility. Actually, the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 was the beginning of the end of Chivalry when Henry V had great numbers of aristocratic French prisoners killed.
28,000 pawns died in the interests of a very few. The history of mankind is a sad story.
The same still goes on today. We haven't changed much in that aspect.
Binge-watching all these documentaries during quarantine.
If you like these you should watch Britain's Bloodiest Dynasty. I think there's 4 episodes, not sure. It's VERY good
I kind of put myself in lockdowns so I can continue the binges
Why are the Yorkists red in the battle graphics? "You had one thing to do..."
also found it confusing!
@@ThrashLawPatentsAndTMs I think you'll find that the graphic view is from the lancastrian side, though they are poorly done.
@@rtk3543 Nope - the red forces are shown pushing the right flank backwards - so the White Rose has been corrupted
I thought exactly the same. It was confusing and uneccessary.
This is so surreal, I've never heard of this battle and only live a half hour drive from where it took place!
You're not English so why would you have heard of it ? Don't beat yourself up over it ; I would suspect few English people haven't either.
The sudden masculine urge to either die in glorious combat or learn about an obscure topic is overwhelming. Like I was watching RUclips, and then was like, I gotta learn some stuff about medieval times.
The peasants bashing each other with clubs and axes for the sake of the upper crust folks. Nothing changes under the sun.
if would have been captured, upper folks would have ended up the same way...
The players change, the game stays the same.
Overly simplistic remark.
@Robert H No, it's unhistorical and ignorant
@@cogitoergospud1 wasn't it just....
I live near Towton, a place I visit with nothing but sadness given the savagery, terror and suffering of all the victims - I don't care what anyone says but the past sometimes can be felt - and it isn't nice.
You are disrespecting them by calling them victims. They were brave mens fighting for a cause, they are at pace now. You on the other hand are going to die from old age in Londonistan, indeed you are the victim at least they fought.
@@omegared7653 lol you're bored aren't you
Very interesting documentary from Timeline, as always!
However, at 11:25 it is stated "At any medieval battlefield, only 10% are knights in armour".
Is the word "armoured knights" referring to the nobility or has it some other definition? If not I'm quite surprised of the large quantity of noblemen in medieval armies during this period.
One of the archaeologists said that she felt she got to know some of these men and felt sympathy for their plight. I wonder if, despite the scientific method of assigning them numbers to identify the skeletons, they secretly give them nick names. For example they paid a lot of attention to skeleton sixteen after a while, they would start calling him Henry or something in the lab, strictly among themselves of course..
Ophelia S
I know that I'd personally find it very difficult not to feel some emotion for these men. After all, they were humans like us and felt the exact same emotions that we did; they felt fear, happiness, sadness, love. They had loved ones whom they would never see again.
I don't think that I could work with the skeletons without feeling some level of kinship with them.
I think if you work in that field it is important to remember that the remains you're working with are people too. You want to know all about them, what they ate, where they might be from. I suppose you would have to keep a professional distance but it would still be fascinating work.
Alrightyroo Arthur it is!
emmie90 Nope. His name was Pantybooger
Calling him Bob just don't seem right.
Outstanding, normally in such documentaries I am left dissatisfied and wanting to know more but this one had everything covered. Good show.
Archers were always particularly hated by swordsmen due their hit and run tactics. That often meant if any got within reach of a sword they’d be treated savagely.
I can only imagine medieval soldiers shouting that’s not fair while arrows rain down like Germans with American shotguns
That is a fascinating concept. Since it appears the greater number of these soldiers WERE archers, it could be they were an actual division of archers, cut off from the main body of their army by mounted knights, abandoned to their fates by their fellows, and quite literally butchered to death.
Because archers indeed were long-range fighters, murderously effective; if they were ever separated from the other fighters, it was open season on
them. They were possibly viewed by contemporaries in much the same light as Modern-Day soldiers view Snipers: while they absolutely feared them and respected how lethal they were, they were also despised for those very qualities...and for their ability to lurk, unseen, awaiting the most opportune moment to strike.The snipers of their day, they would have been hacked to death with particular venom. Also..archers were drawn from the Peasant class, which, if we're honest, put them in a position of utter disdain from their Social Superiors, hence the apparent mutilations.
And, of course, I COULD be entirely wrong.
There's a First Time for everything. Lol
@@katharper655 it also had to do with the fact that those peasants could take down a knight who had trained their whole life. It was seen as distasteful by the upper classes who loathed the idea they could be felled from a distance by a peasant with essentially a stick and a string
Kinda like how the brits reacted in the american revolution to sharpshooters targeting officers
As an American collegian who took English History, this video on the War of the Roses is very informative. Thank you for posting this.
In my professional life, I was directly or indirectly involved in the excavation and analyses of 2,000+ graves. Initially, exhumation and study was interesting and exciting but after 20 years, I found myself incapable of viewing human bone dispassionately. This material represents the remains of once living people, with family and friends that mourned his/her passing. After the exhumation of 600+ graves circa 4,500 years old I resolved never to excavate another. While I'm thankful that some scientists can treat these materials with scientific objectively, I hope they also respect them for what they represent: the remains of once living people. The study of skeletal remains is highly i portant because this provides us with direct evidence of our ancestor's behavior. Believe me, such investigations can be quite emotionally disturbing and this isn't always evident to a larger audience.
Roger H. Werner: did you work in Great Britain or on the continent? I am fascinated with archeology and history especially medieval times. Why where the graces dug up in the first place? Perhaps when excavation for new buildings or housing developments? I’m alway curious as to why we need to dig up graves.
I would like to see the reconstruction of all the faces from the bones they found , and then place them together. That would be intresting
Excellent historical documentary, thank you.
It’s amazing that I had never heard of this significant battle before with so many dead.
Harrowing, brutal but brilliantly insightful
Amazing video!
Does anyone actually think that medieval warfare was civilised, though?
Philip Salama oo
War of the Roses seems to be an exception, all this suggests hate was involved and it's not likely you would have that abroad. Also it depends by nation. The most chivalrous were known to be the french and Italians. I'm not sure but I think the English were known to be one of the least chivalrous...but again it depends on who reigns. In the War of the Roses it was more of a civil war.
Nope
No, you would be stupid to think it was completely civilized. Just watch the rise and fall of the pantagenats dynasty and it will show you how savage the medieval times really were. Game of Thrones was an inspiration from europes brutal history. Nothing Romantic about killing your own family members because they conspire to kill you for your throne. Tell me where being civilized falls in place?
The rules of chivalry were largely there to protect rich people from being killed in battle by other rich people. The rank and file archers and infantry were fair game - they didn't own lands or titles.
That way the upper class would be free to wage war against one another with little personal cost.
It's interesting how much Classic battles are romanticized, but in reality, the brutality is insane.
Although the battle lasted 10 hours or so, I’d be surprised if the individual soldiers were on the front line for anything like that time.
I remember reading of the Roman Legions and how the second line would push through to form the front line every fifteen minutes or so as it was found to be physically impossible for the average fit soldier to carry on much longer than that in the front line.
Yes but that was their military genius at play. Dont think these two forces were nearly as efficient as roman soldiers.
Those were roman tactics though.
I can just as well imagine that there was no such system at Towton and that the guys in the front row just got slaughtered first.
You've said the key words here. Personal combat is a brief event that requires a recovery(if you live). No one is chopping away for hours. You can't do that with a piece of timber, let alone with a man(or men) trying to do the same to you.
Ty i didnt know that
Wondered how it was accomplished .
I love our long and wonderful and horrible history .
I love my country
The problem with this documentary is that it isn't entirely accurate. It glosses over Henry's probable mental illness and imbecility.
Hello lucky you have a country, I live in a federation. no complaining. Saludos
leighmossien2009 I'm proudly American and I admire you for adoring your heritage
@@ronfroehlich4697 You can do that too, Ron. Your name is German and you must have a long history of your family and tribes. (Froehlich= happy)
I love English history more then my own country 😁
A very thought provoking documentary..Many thanks.
Excellent documentary - thanks for posting.
Okay, what am I missing here? Battle of Towton claimed as bloodiest battle ever fought in Britain with approximately 28,000 dead. Yet, the lowest estimate of Boudica's dead alone at The Battle of Watling Street claims no less than 80,000 dead. That doesn't even include the Roman dead.
@BLUE DOG Ah, jeez. Another "All wars are caused by rich business people for money" troll. Please read a history book sometime. Boudica raised her army because they confiscated her lands, flogged her, and raped her two daughters. She was attempting to drive the Romans out of Britain and also wanted revenge. She wasn't very good at it but she tried.
@evolved monkey Well, I can't imagine why they would restrict it to a time frame, evolved. Britain has been around well over 2000 years and it just doesn't make sense to limit it to half that, 500 BC to 1500 BC. To me, "Ever" means "Ever". Ah, who can know what someone else is thinking, though.
@BLUE DOG I learned not to try to explain things to trolls. You brush logic aside because all you really want is to argue. That is why you are called trolls. Welcome to mute.
@BLUE DOG With England? Not at all. They knew NOTHING of England when they first landed, and was sent back. Second time, the seas put a stop to the invasion. Third time they landed we faught them, but they still knew nothing of this land or if there were any riches. Especially since they were getting rich from Spain and Africa
There were only about 100,000 people in the whole island at the time ,fake news.
Listening to them describe the blows make my teeth grit. What a brutal time that was !
I think number 16's name was Bindair Dundat.
And his fighting partner red thee bok
@@Justin.Martyr You don't get the joke. That's ok, go on and play with your friends.
Edit: I saw a couple of your videos and realize you must not have any friends. You say everyone in your town is stupid on the rare occasion you actually form a semi-coherent sentence.
He looks kind of like The Hound. PS everyone in my town is stupid too, me most of all.
Sandor Clegane
Commoners dying in disputes between cliques of Toffs. War never changes.
exactly what *I was thinking
Except most if not all people involved were either nobility or professional soldiers .
Yep! Ransom your prisoners and f#ck the poor!!
@@pp-wo1sd perhaps you should watch this again and then delete your comment
@@JohnSmith-zv8km exactly. Haven't they carbon dated these bones and pretty much found differences between them, i.e the well-lived elite and the poor working class folk ?
IIRC the whole 'take prisoners' chivalric thing only applied to rich people who you could profit off.
Except ransoming didn't take place in the Wars of the Roses either, as is commonly known. Knights and nobles were often executed to open up their estates for seizure by whoever won the contest for the crown--and their family. Why are people getting so self-righteous about this actually pretty decent documentary?
@@BrorealeK Good times. At least back then nobles and knights had some chance of getting their just dessert for starting wars. Nowadays, if you're part of the nobility (read the political elite) you can just start a war from behind a desk, knowing that whatever happens you'll never be killed or even wounded. You just send as many poor people as you can find into a foreign country and let them get murdered and mutilated. And then you go play golf. Ah....progress... isn't it wonderful....
Thankyou for your Time And Energy God Bless You 💎
I've studied history all my life. Have a degree in it. It's common knowledge that Medieval Battles were the most vicious, ferocious, contests between two armies fighting at close
range. The skeletons look what I would exactly imagine soldiers from Towton would look like. Rules of Chivalry had nothing to do with the actual fighting, but more to do with the prisoners that were captured afterwards, or terms of agreement between the losers and the victors. Henry V broke the rules of Chivalry at Agincourt when he executed many of the French knights, even when they handed his men their gauntlets for ransom. He even had many French soldiers and knights burned to death in a barn. But the fighting itself was a fight to the death. The chivalry was negotiated after the battle to the survivors and prisoners of war.
Goodness
Number 16, he's been in afew battles before, he knows what he's going into, i wounder what he,d think of the world today? And if he went around and told his life story to people today what would they think of him,? He give his life, so we can live ours. A real man, of his time,
only 500 years ago!!
Seamus Mounchere
We haven't come far, have we...
Of course we have. Modern life is very different to life back then!!!
DOSENT TIME FLY, WHEN YOU'RE HAVING FUN.
@@ewanmee9877 nope we haven't; damn shame isn't it?
@tututuims ieijebdo and yet the wheels on the military industrial complex keep turning.
Great documentary! I would have never thought that a wound such as skeleton 16's could have healed so cleanly. The surgeons of that period had skills far beyond what I ever would have imagined! Nevertheless, what astonishing brutality those men must have endured, and inflicted....
The ancient Egyptians performed cataract surgery
Imagine if the BBC had made the film.
The man would have been a Middle Eastern philosopher monk who had come to bring enlightenment to the English, his facial disfigurement would have been by an Aztec axe proving that Arabs had discovered the Americas before Columbus and staining on his finger bones suggested he had received electric shocks suggesting that before he achieved enlightenment he was an electrician, possibly working on a interstellar rocket assembly line, and that there would have been marks on his major bones suggesting the killers had tried to eat him.
and around the bitemarks, remnants of daddies tomato ketchup, further proof that it is superior in every way to heinz ketchup, which is bland in comparison. this however has met with much consternation, as some culinary historians insist that it is in fact an early attempt at a Balti style sauce proving that indian people had settled in the Birmingham area much earlier than had previously been believed.
William Ferguson 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂so true, me bets the BBC would of also added that the yorkist reinforcements were Africans who were invited to England to fight on the yorkist side and were the true victors of the battle.
That sounds interesting. Can we get Peter Weller to narrate it?
The first part of the comment sounds like Christianity to me.
I recommend anyone visiting the UK to visit the York center in York. Similar to this, it has Viking battle remains and you see how damaged the warriors skulls were! Absolutely brutal time to be alive!
York is a wonderful visit.
I'll wager two to one that #16 had a full beard!
Follow The Sun you're on mate
Assault Pioneer
DL Southwell, I would have to agree if for nothing else, to cover that horrible scar along the jaw.
You know, when you cover the disfigured half of his face, the good-half makes him look like he walked out of a Hollywood film, I think.
would have preferred less on the bodies found more on the history of the battle
Broken bones say more than second/ third hand accounts that's as close as you get
@Steven Hickman In fairness, the program is billed as "The Battle of Towton: Britain's Bloodiest Battle" not "Scientific Research into Some Bodies found in a field". Not that this isn't interesting, but it doesn't really explore the history of the battle, which is really what you might expect from the title.
Wanka
Can a British construction crew build anything without bumping into a mass grave?
Occupational Hazard in our old land!
@@peterleadley7103 In every land where the people put their feet on, actually.
a truly excellent documentary. congratulations!!
The men of that period must have been tough, agriculture in those days was back breaking work, no wonder when they swung a weapon it did so much damage , brilliant documentary
Never knew the Scots and Welsh were on opposite sides (mostly). Learnt a lot from this. Thanks.
War is the ultimate obscenity
The oldest bows in the world are found in Denmark and are approx. 9000 years. They call the Holmegaard bows after their discovery place Holmegårds Mose. The arches are up to 170 cm long. (5ft 7)
I really wish these channels would put the date the documentaries were published in the description. It would help to contextualize the info presented.
ahh the uk, the blood soaked lands of history. no wonder our crops grow well. walk a across a random field here and you will feel some form of energy from the previous dead.
That is not exclusive to the UK, but the nature of man everywhere throughout history.
The previous dead? They aren't dead any more? NO WAY
"Energy". Oh you're an idiot.
@@joshbottomley5327 Lol, a simple sentence is enough to ruffle your feathers. "Calm down", kk.
@@joshbottomley5327 I am not crying about it?
why is this called The Battle of Towton, instead of A Forensic Look At A Body Found Near Towton?
I agree it should say "Investigative Discoveries: Examining Towton" . Because for those of us wanting a historical documentary about the battle, this is disappointing.
Great documentary, but anyone who knows or has studied anything about medieval warfare is not under the illusion of chivalry and fair play.
i love going for walks round towton battlefield :) such a beautiful area and perfect for photography
I think that even with errors the documentaries from this era (90s and early 2000s) are much more interesting to watch than most of the new ones
If all the new ones are made over the Discovery/History Channel template then count me out...
M&B: Bannerlord bout to release Imma name my first character "number 16"
He didn't make it to the harvesting season. He was told that they're gunna break 'is face(legs) noice and slow. But at least he's skull wasn't being drank from by some axe wielding, seaborne pillagers. And finally he did have a nice head on his shoulders.
or Dr. Gero was at work
The Reconstruction kind of makes that dude look like Thanos.
I understand ad revenue is important but good grief that was a lot of ads
Her face when she sees the model head is priceless
It was a sort of, "I wouldn't fancy him on a night out to the pub"
Excellent documentary. Thank you!
Now that was a good show thank you for the upload
English history is interesting...... Thank you for this.
looking at dates of previous battles and the time "Number 16" recieved his previous injury I'd guess he was part of the Earl of Northumberland's camp on the Lancastrian side.
Wondering that myself !
What a world of luxury we live in where we can spend all this time finding out if the people who died 500 years ago were archers or not...
ROTFLMAO!
The Wars of the Roses wiped out most of England's Norman aristocracy. The Tudors created a new aristocracy. The Battle of Towton got King Henry VI deposed and imprisoned and his cousin Edward IV proclaimed king.
Can't beat the BBC for documentaries.
I have not enjoyed a video so much ever🔴🔶️🔸️🐉thank you
cant believe No 16 had that jaw injury *AND* kept his teeth at 51,
mine have all gone same age !
Thassa healthy guy
Yep 16 was one hellava a dude !
He must have been one of those medieval vegans who ate ye olde tofu
The huge amount of sugar we consume as opposed to the low amount consumed in medieval times might account for some of your bad teeth and his good teeth :P But who knows
Its quite curious that there are so many head wounds in an age (15th century) where everyone should have had a helmet. I wonder if the soldiers simply discarded the helmets as they fled? Maybe discarded bits of armor too. When fleeing a battle you just have to be faster than the next guy right?
Yes, discarding armour and weapons is common for fleeing troops. Throughout the centuries. Not just to run quicker but a psychological factor to the chasing enemy: I am no longer a threat, please don't hurt me.
I remember some document I saw stated that almost all medieval battlefield casualties were done during a route.
Or they were stripped and executed, or mutilated post-mortem
Alternatively, these are ones who didn't survive
Aim for the face seems to be the general consensus yes. In the Visby skeletons as well
Maybe they couldn’t afford good helmets
Entertaining and educational. Beautifully done. Thanks.
Most intriguing & excellent documentary. Congrats
Very interesting and well produced. Though, it could have, without the repetitive nature, conveyed the same information is 25 mins.
multiple injuries may not be all attributed to the strike that killed the person. Once down, a good deal of trampling by men and horses would have occurred.
Yes and hacking away to make sure they are really dead.
he might have got some of those old scars in a barroom fight.
There is a massive difference in the topology of a green (live) break and that of break occurring long after death. It is trivial to tell the difference between the damage occurring to a body that is still alive and skeletal remains.
@@nancytimmer9026 There is no time for this during battle. This is not a movie.
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@@kristofantal8801 true, but aren't the injuries in Towton not more in line with being butchered than being cut down in the heat of battle?
If all men were required by law to practice archery, wouldn't they show signs of it whether they were there as archers or not?
good point.
Professional archers did it on a daily basis true and they used the same bows that they use on the battlefield. Anyone else that practice to appease the law wouldn't be using a 100 pound+ draw weight bow but 30-40 pounds and even if used daily it wouldn't show on a manual laborer. Just not enough resistance in the draw to promote extra bone growth that their normal day do day work already provided.
I have no idea if it's true but I've read many times during the archer's golden era, every Englishman (at least in archer areas) hade to practice every Sunday on town green. Just a wife's tale?
@Roy Earle Yes for historical purposes but it then raises a lot of ethical questions nvm the problems associated w/ bringing back even if you could someone from the middle ages into a modern world. Also we could only get a certain perspective or story which would likely be lead to a distorted sense of truth. But if we're going full sci fi I'd rather have a time machine which allowed us to travel into the past as spectators.
Yeah that's true or close to the truth. There were laws in England about regular archery practice
Fantastic reconstruction, --no where to run and no where to hide, no air support or back up or medical assistance!!!---respect for all who faught and did their best!!!
What a totally superb investigation ! This is one of the best shows I've seen in some time
Might it be that the British developed into such tough soldiers because they had a mix of invading blood from Celtic, Saxon, Roman, Viking and lastly Norman warriors ?
Coupled with their culture and dashes of faith. They WERE definitely empire builders. Now that blood is being purposefully diluted. Certain powerful people do not want competition.
If you are interested, I don't want to bore anyone.
You would think so but that isn't the case. English DNA is a mixture of that of the Britons (the pre-Roman inhabitants) and the Anglo Saxons, what's more we still live largely in our tribal groups dating back 1400 years. This explains.
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2015-03-19-who-do-you-think-you-really-are-genetic-map-british-isles
www.peopleofthebritishisles.org/
I personal anecdote. I was born and brought up in Tamworth, within a 1/4 of a mile of Watling Street (Roman road) in Staffordshire which was the boundary for the Danelaw. My older relatives told me that in their youth, around WWII, the people who lived on either side of the road still used different words for the same thing, one having derived from Saxon the other from Norse.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watling_Street
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watling_Street
Even though we weren't in the Black Country, as a child I can remember hearing using some of the words listed here and it would appear they stem from early English.
www.sedgleymanor.com/dictionaries/dialect.html#s
@@susiewood5329 I've always found it amazing that a country as old and global as Great Britain would still have so many dialects and idiosyncrasies. Why? With Television, mass media and social media one would think all that would disappear. Especially in a colonial country that is now being colonized. There is something to being a "Primary stock" country. You people are the originators of many successful colonies. You have the original imprint still inside you. Not for much longer bit still.....its impressive
@@olliefoxx7165 Not just TV and migration but the movement of indigenous people within the UK. Tamworth is now full of Brummies (people from Birmingham a city 15 miles away) and they have brought their accent with them. Previously outsiders were assimilated into the town quite quickly but when they come in such large numbers they just swamp the towns people. I moved to rural Shropshire 2 years ago. There are still enclaves of real English, my mum came from rural Berkshire and her mother was born within 10 miles of where all of her ancestors lived in the 1700s and some within 3 miles going back to the 1500s. One family farmed the land adjacent to the Seymours at Wolfehall.
Some of us have a very strong attachment to this land and will fight to keep it.
Over the years many family members left to go to the colonies. Some years ago I rather recklessly gave my DNA to Ancestry and as well as the Canadian, NZ and Aussie matches which I expected as people left here in the 1800s, I have lots of DNA matches in the US who I have no idea how we are connected. I think it must be pre-revolutionary migration on my dad's side which is a bit of a mystery prior to the late 1700s.
@Bear hn I don't think we suffered any more invasions than any other European country, probably less as we are an island.
Much of our time was spent fighting each other in between the invasions, so "survival of the fittest" was constantly in play. There was never an opportunity for a generation to become soft, until the last 75 years.