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Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings

Janina Ramirez

Graham Johnston

Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings: Episode 2: What a King Should Know

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Episode 2

Episode 2: What a King Should Know

What a King Should Know

BBC Four - Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings, What a King Should Know

How medieval illuminated manuscripts gave power to the king and united the kingdom.

Dr Janina Ramirez shows how medieval illuminated manuscripts gave power to the king and united the kingdom in an age of plague, warfare and rebellion.

Dr Janina Ramirez unlocks the secrets of medieval illuminated manuscripts and shows how they gave power to the king and united the kingdom in an age of plague, warfare and rebellion. She discovers that Edward III used the manuscripts he read as a boy to prepare him for his great victory at the battle of Crecy and reveals how a vigorous new national identity bloomed during the 100 Years War with France (1340-1453). 

In the British Library's Royal Manuscripts collection she finds out that magnificent manuscripts like the Bedford Hours, taken as war booty from the French royal family, were adapted for the education of English princes. Dr Ramirez also explores how knowledge spread through a new form of book - the encyclopaedia.

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Unlocking the secrets of illuminated manuscripts that were custom-made for kings

Dr Janina Ramirez unlocks the secrets of illuminated manuscripts that were custom-made for kings and explores the medieval world they reveal

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Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings

Episode 2: What a King Should Know

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