1 00:00:03,637 --> 00:00:06,205 Narrator: In 1459 a book was written that 2 00:00:06,273 --> 00:00:09,608 contained images so bizarre that even 500 3 00:00:09,677 --> 00:00:11,810 years later their meaning is still 4 00:00:11,879 --> 00:00:13,746 shrouded in mystery. 5 00:00:13,814 --> 00:00:16,348 It depicts improbable Medieval siege engines 6 00:00:16,417 --> 00:00:18,217 and machines of war. 7 00:00:18,285 --> 00:00:20,452 Figures in extraordinary apparatus 8 00:00:20,521 --> 00:00:22,788 and blood thirsty duels. 9 00:00:22,857 --> 00:00:25,024 But key information is missing from the 10 00:00:25,092 --> 00:00:27,860 manuscript and the author is displayed 11 00:00:27,928 --> 00:00:31,830 cryptically holding a broken chain why was 12 00:00:31,899 --> 00:00:33,632 this manuscript ever written and who 13 00:00:33,701 --> 00:00:37,469 could have unlocked its lethal secrets? 14 00:00:37,538 --> 00:00:39,705 This book reveals the secrets of a 15 00:00:39,774 --> 00:00:42,007 Medieval age far more advanced than future 16 00:00:42,076 --> 00:00:44,643 generations would ever imagine. 17 00:01:00,294 --> 00:01:02,895 Deep in the vaults of Denmarks Royal Library 18 00:01:02,963 --> 00:01:06,765 lies a book over 500 years old. 19 00:01:06,834 --> 00:01:09,401 Its time worn leather cover bares one simple 20 00:01:09,470 --> 00:01:13,005 inscription, Talhoffer, the mysterious fight 21 00:01:13,074 --> 00:01:16,208 master of the Middle Ages. 22 00:01:16,544 --> 00:01:19,244 This enigmatic book is written in Swabian, 23 00:01:19,313 --> 00:01:21,680 an ancient German dialect and contains 24 00:01:21,749 --> 00:01:24,416 300 color pages of images and text 25 00:01:24,485 --> 00:01:27,119 offering an astounding account of life in the 26 00:01:27,188 --> 00:01:28,387 Middle Ages. 27 00:01:30,191 --> 00:01:33,792 Mike Loades: This is Talhoffer's actual 1459 28 00:01:33,861 --> 00:01:37,329 manuscript, beautifully executed with colors as 29 00:01:37,398 --> 00:01:39,498 fresh as if it were painted yesterday and 30 00:01:39,567 --> 00:01:41,567 there's Talhoffer himself in the center 31 00:01:41,635 --> 00:01:44,303 dictating to his scribe. 32 00:01:44,371 --> 00:01:46,171 Narrator: The coded imagery and text within 33 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:48,674 this manuscript has the potential to dispel some 34 00:01:48,742 --> 00:01:51,009 fundamental beliefs the modern world has 35 00:01:51,078 --> 00:01:53,212 about the Medieval age. 36 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:55,581 Was combat and warfare technology really as 37 00:01:55,649 --> 00:01:57,616 primitive as we imagined? 38 00:01:57,685 --> 00:01:59,818 Did Knights act as chivalrously as 39 00:01:59,887 --> 00:02:02,087 depicted in Victorian times? 40 00:02:02,156 --> 00:02:04,656 And was the population as unsophisticated as 41 00:02:04,725 --> 00:02:06,592 history suggests? 42 00:02:06,660 --> 00:02:08,093 Bettany Hughes: This is an incredibly important 43 00:02:08,162 --> 00:02:10,762 document because it tells us so much about 44 00:02:10,831 --> 00:02:12,131 this mysterious world. 45 00:02:12,199 --> 00:02:14,199 It's really a kind of box of secrets 46 00:02:14,268 --> 00:02:16,235 that we can open. 47 00:02:17,171 --> 00:02:19,905 Narrator: For the first time the Royal Library 48 00:02:19,974 --> 00:02:22,708 in Denmark is allowing the manuscript to be filmed. 49 00:02:22,776 --> 00:02:24,610 A team of experts from around the 50 00:02:24,678 --> 00:02:26,578 world will investigate the mysterious images 51 00:02:26,647 --> 00:02:28,447 and text within. 52 00:02:28,516 --> 00:02:30,883 By using cutting edge computer graphics, 53 00:02:30,951 --> 00:02:33,685 and attempting unorthodox fighting techniques. 54 00:02:33,754 --> 00:02:35,254 Man: It's actually making me sick 55 00:02:35,322 --> 00:02:36,588 to my stomach. 56 00:02:36,657 --> 00:02:38,223 Narrator: Decoding the books puzzling 57 00:02:38,292 --> 00:02:41,026 designs and constructing its enigmatic machines. 58 00:02:41,095 --> 00:02:42,060 Mike Loades: Really get pumping, 59 00:02:42,129 --> 00:02:43,562 he's underwater now! 60 00:02:43,631 --> 00:02:44,997 Narrator: The team will attempt to 61 00:02:45,065 --> 00:02:47,065 establish just how authentic Talhoffer's 62 00:02:47,134 --> 00:02:50,602 depiction of the Medieval Age really is. 63 00:02:58,979 --> 00:03:01,113 Talhoffer's fight book has lain dormant in 64 00:03:01,182 --> 00:03:05,050 Copenhagen's Royal Library for over 200 years. 65 00:03:05,119 --> 00:03:07,486 But 500 years after it was written, 66 00:03:07,555 --> 00:03:10,822 the manuscript has re emerged in the public 67 00:03:10,891 --> 00:03:13,625 eye with martial arts students worldwide 68 00:03:13,694 --> 00:03:16,328 seeking its Medieval fighting techniques. 69 00:03:16,397 --> 00:03:18,297 One fight master who has dedicated his life 70 00:03:18,365 --> 00:03:20,132 to learning the fighting styles of the 71 00:03:20,201 --> 00:03:23,569 Middle Ages, is John Clements, 72 00:03:23,637 --> 00:03:26,038 Clements is one of the world's leading experts 73 00:03:26,106 --> 00:03:28,473 in the field of Medieval martial arts. 74 00:03:28,542 --> 00:03:30,008 John Clements: We know very little about 75 00:03:30,077 --> 00:03:31,910 Talhoffer as a man, about his life, 76 00:03:31,979 --> 00:03:34,313 so he's a mystery in that regard. 77 00:03:34,381 --> 00:03:36,415 But we do know he is a master of the art of 78 00:03:36,483 --> 00:03:39,017 arms, that he's a Knight that he is a 79 00:03:39,086 --> 00:03:43,755 teacher or instructor of Knightly fighting arts. 80 00:03:45,893 --> 00:03:48,126 Narrator: Talhoffer has dedicated nearly 81 00:03:48,195 --> 00:03:50,329 half the manuscript to Medieval combat, 82 00:03:50,397 --> 00:03:52,598 and within these pages are numerous plates, 83 00:03:52,666 --> 00:03:55,267 focusing on the violent and mysterious world of 84 00:03:55,336 --> 00:03:59,338 judicial duels. 85 00:03:59,540 --> 00:04:01,206 Mike Loades: Many of the images in this 86 00:04:01,275 --> 00:04:04,109 manuscript are concerned with fighting 87 00:04:04,178 --> 00:04:07,079 in the judicial duel, now the judicial duel 88 00:04:07,147 --> 00:04:09,348 was a curious institution. 89 00:04:09,416 --> 00:04:11,683 When somebody had accused somebody of 90 00:04:11,752 --> 00:04:13,719 something and there were no witnesses, 91 00:04:13,787 --> 00:04:16,588 there was no evidence then trial by combat 92 00:04:16,657 --> 00:04:19,057 was the way you found out who was 93 00:04:19,126 --> 00:04:22,027 telling the truth. 94 00:04:22,096 --> 00:04:23,929 Narrator: On the eighth plate of his fight 95 00:04:23,998 --> 00:04:26,298 book, Talhoffer describes why a person 96 00:04:26,367 --> 00:04:30,035 would be called forth for judicial battle. 97 00:04:30,571 --> 00:04:34,606 Murder, treason, heresy, disloyalty, 98 00:04:34,675 --> 00:04:40,912 betrayal, falsehood or using a maiden or lady. 99 00:04:41,081 --> 00:04:43,615 Those that broke these laws were often forced 100 00:04:43,684 --> 00:04:48,220 to face each other in judicial combat. 101 00:04:58,565 --> 00:05:00,832 Illustrated in Talhoffer's manuscript 102 00:05:00,901 --> 00:05:02,934 is a bloody portrayal of the Medieval 103 00:05:03,003 --> 00:05:06,104 population locked in these lawful battles, 104 00:05:06,173 --> 00:05:08,740 violently slaughtering their opponents with a 105 00:05:08,809 --> 00:05:10,542 deadly array of weaponry. 106 00:05:10,611 --> 00:05:12,144 John Clements: Contained within this 107 00:05:12,212 --> 00:05:14,813 section of the manuscript is a fight 108 00:05:14,882 --> 00:05:16,348 between a man and a woman, 109 00:05:16,417 --> 00:05:19,484 it's a type of duel, a dispute that has to be 110 00:05:19,553 --> 00:05:22,054 settled by combat to the death. 111 00:05:22,122 --> 00:05:24,756 It's the first appearance of man-woman 112 00:05:24,825 --> 00:05:28,126 dueling in a fight book. 113 00:05:28,195 --> 00:05:30,495 Narrator: This image of a woman battling a man 114 00:05:30,564 --> 00:05:33,498 is a far cry from the typical non violent image 115 00:05:33,567 --> 00:05:37,736 of the Medieval woman. 116 00:05:37,805 --> 00:05:40,472 Terry Jones: Medieval women were much more 117 00:05:40,541 --> 00:05:42,574 powerful than they've been given credit for 118 00:05:42,643 --> 00:05:44,910 and especially through the 14th century, 119 00:05:44,978 --> 00:05:47,479 they gained more power and were able to run 120 00:05:47,548 --> 00:05:50,182 businesses and things like that and it was 121 00:05:50,250 --> 00:05:52,951 only the renaissance when things started to 122 00:05:53,020 --> 00:05:57,823 go wrong and women were seen as more passive 123 00:05:57,891 --> 00:06:00,992 and inactive. 124 00:06:01,061 --> 00:06:02,494 Narrator: The evidence in the manuscript 125 00:06:02,563 --> 00:06:05,230 suggests that in some cases women even 126 00:06:05,299 --> 00:06:08,533 fought men in a judicial duels. 127 00:06:10,003 --> 00:06:11,403 Bettany Hughes: This is a really, 128 00:06:11,472 --> 00:06:13,972 really difficult image to decipher because 129 00:06:14,041 --> 00:06:15,707 certainly what you do have at this time are 130 00:06:15,776 --> 00:06:17,476 very strong woman, I mean woman are left to 131 00:06:17,544 --> 00:06:19,911 run castles while their men are off fighting. 132 00:06:19,980 --> 00:06:21,913 It's laid out as if this is something that 133 00:06:21,982 --> 00:06:24,182 did happen but you wonder what the kind of 134 00:06:24,251 --> 00:06:26,551 legal reason for that would have been. 135 00:06:26,620 --> 00:06:27,786 John Clements: A man and a woman might be 136 00:06:27,855 --> 00:06:29,855 forced to fight like this because of any 137 00:06:29,923 --> 00:06:32,190 number of disputes, it might involve property, 138 00:06:32,259 --> 00:06:33,692 it might involve inheritance, 139 00:06:33,761 --> 00:06:35,994 it might involve accusations, 140 00:06:36,063 --> 00:06:37,929 this is a ritual combat, 141 00:06:37,998 --> 00:06:40,399 it's a semi religious affair, 142 00:06:40,467 --> 00:06:42,033 and they know that only one of them 143 00:06:42,102 --> 00:06:44,736 can emerge alive. 144 00:06:44,805 --> 00:06:46,471 Narrator: Even more disturbing than 145 00:06:46,540 --> 00:06:47,839 judicial battles being fought to the 146 00:06:47,908 --> 00:06:50,275 death is the implication 147 00:06:50,344 --> 00:06:53,478 that combatants may be husband and wife. 148 00:06:53,547 --> 00:06:55,580 A recreation of the duel provides valuable 149 00:06:55,649 --> 00:06:57,516 insight into why the couple is forced to 150 00:06:57,584 --> 00:07:01,686 fight in such a bizarre manner. 151 00:07:04,458 --> 00:07:05,891 John Clements: It would be interesting to 152 00:07:05,959 --> 00:07:08,193 reconstruct one of these judicial combats. 153 00:07:08,262 --> 00:07:09,795 As a living archaeological 154 00:07:09,863 --> 00:07:11,997 experiment to understand something 155 00:07:12,065 --> 00:07:13,832 about the physical components of the 156 00:07:13,901 --> 00:07:15,934 fighting actions and the techniques, 157 00:07:16,003 --> 00:07:18,136 and also something of the mental and 158 00:07:18,205 --> 00:07:22,641 emotional component of the combatants. 159 00:07:22,709 --> 00:07:24,342 Narrator: The hole and the weapon fulfilled 160 00:07:24,411 --> 00:07:26,044 multiple functions. 161 00:07:26,113 --> 00:07:27,879 Firstly they balanced out the fighting 162 00:07:27,948 --> 00:07:30,449 inequality between the sexes and secondly, 163 00:07:30,517 --> 00:07:33,285 the weapons were deemed suitable for commoners. 164 00:07:38,158 --> 00:07:40,459 John Clements: They gave her a heavy rock 165 00:07:40,527 --> 00:07:44,663 inside of her veil, to use it like its a flail. 166 00:07:44,731 --> 00:07:47,699 It's not a manly weapon it's not a war weapon, 167 00:07:47,768 --> 00:07:49,868 it's not a self defense tool, 168 00:07:49,937 --> 00:07:51,036 but they're clearly saying, 169 00:07:51,104 --> 00:07:52,604 here you can use this it's going to be 170 00:07:52,673 --> 00:07:56,208 lethal, bash his skull in. 171 00:07:58,011 --> 00:08:00,045 Narrator: Bettany Hughes will test the 172 00:08:00,113 --> 00:08:01,913 effectiveness of a rock in a veil against the 173 00:08:01,982 --> 00:08:04,049 skull of a sheep. 174 00:08:04,117 --> 00:08:05,450 Bettany Hughes: When you're up close with 175 00:08:05,519 --> 00:08:07,185 all this gear you realize this was 176 00:08:07,254 --> 00:08:08,753 certainly not play fighting, 177 00:08:08,822 --> 00:08:10,789 I mean this thing is heavy in my hands, 178 00:08:10,858 --> 00:08:12,958 I imagine just one of these is gonna be a 179 00:08:13,026 --> 00:08:15,861 killing blow. 180 00:08:27,908 --> 00:08:29,508 That was actually sickening, 181 00:08:29,576 --> 00:08:31,810 because if you can imagine that would have 182 00:08:31,879 --> 00:08:33,545 been a real man's head, he would have never 183 00:08:33,614 --> 00:08:35,080 have survived a blow like that, 184 00:08:35,148 --> 00:08:37,516 so if Talhoffer was depicting reality 185 00:08:37,584 --> 00:08:39,651 rather than just some theory then this would 186 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:41,453 have caused a huge amount of suffering in 187 00:08:41,522 --> 00:08:44,089 the Medieval world. 188 00:08:46,093 --> 00:08:47,993 Narrator: This 1542 image of a judicial 189 00:08:48,061 --> 00:08:50,662 duel between two Knights suggests that 190 00:08:50,731 --> 00:08:52,964 such violent justice was part of the 191 00:08:53,033 --> 00:08:56,968 Medieval world, and in 1228 there is even a 192 00:08:57,037 --> 00:08:59,905 case in Switzerland of a woman defeating a man 193 00:08:59,973 --> 00:09:01,973 in the same violent manner as depicted in 194 00:09:02,042 --> 00:09:06,378 Talhoffer's manuscript. 195 00:09:11,084 --> 00:09:13,418 The combatants are literally sewn into their 196 00:09:13,487 --> 00:09:14,953 garments to insure that they 197 00:09:15,022 --> 00:09:16,755 cannot conceal anything 198 00:09:16,823 --> 00:09:21,026 that could be used in the fight. 199 00:09:25,132 --> 00:09:27,132 It was also possible that the garments were made 200 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:29,501 of leather and treated with oil to be made 201 00:09:29,570 --> 00:09:32,103 slippery so non fatal grappling moves would 202 00:09:32,172 --> 00:09:35,040 be ineffective and only a decisive killing blow 203 00:09:35,108 --> 00:09:39,144 would end the ritualized combat. 204 00:09:39,713 --> 00:09:40,912 Aaron Pynenberg: First off I'm sewn into this 205 00:09:40,981 --> 00:09:42,581 garment, I'm buried at basically half way 206 00:09:43,951 --> 00:09:46,451 up in a hole, I'm not going anywhere, 207 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:48,253 I'm literally, figuratively stuck here. 208 00:09:48,322 --> 00:09:49,955 I feel absolutely demeaned. 209 00:09:54,194 --> 00:09:56,361 The reach advantage, I thought would be, 210 00:09:56,430 --> 00:09:57,963 to the woman or to the person outside the 211 00:09:58,031 --> 00:09:59,998 hole, but in actuality I'm not having a 212 00:10:00,067 --> 00:10:01,766 problem, it's kind of like a strike 213 00:10:01,835 --> 00:10:04,002 for a strike almost. 214 00:10:04,071 --> 00:10:06,338 Pia Bach: I'm learning that it's hard to 215 00:10:06,406 --> 00:10:09,941 strike the head at the same time as be aware 216 00:10:10,010 --> 00:10:11,343 of the club. 217 00:10:11,411 --> 00:10:14,112 You have to be very fast on your feet to do 218 00:10:14,181 --> 00:10:16,781 both but with a little practice I think it 219 00:10:16,850 --> 00:10:19,651 would be ok. 220 00:10:19,953 --> 00:10:21,853 Narrator: And practice was exactly what 221 00:10:21,922 --> 00:10:25,056 combatants could get. 222 00:10:25,125 --> 00:10:26,791 John Clements: This is a type of combat that 223 00:10:26,860 --> 00:10:29,294 these participants would have entered 224 00:10:29,363 --> 00:10:31,196 knowing when they're going to fight, 225 00:10:31,264 --> 00:10:33,098 how they're going to fight and who they're 226 00:10:33,166 --> 00:10:35,533 going to fight weeks in advance. 227 00:10:35,602 --> 00:10:37,569 That has to affect their psyche and it has 228 00:10:37,638 --> 00:10:40,372 to effect their training. 229 00:10:41,208 --> 00:10:43,274 Narrator: A closer examination of the 230 00:10:43,343 --> 00:10:45,443 manuscript reveals that Talhoffer wasn't just 231 00:10:45,512 --> 00:10:48,113 depicting a generic image of the duels; 232 00:10:48,181 --> 00:10:50,448 each plate contains specific moves that 233 00:10:50,517 --> 00:10:52,684 with specialized training could be used 234 00:10:52,753 --> 00:10:55,720 to defeat their opponent. 235 00:10:55,789 --> 00:10:57,689 Aaron Pynenberg: I'm dumping her on her head 236 00:10:57,758 --> 00:10:59,891 and I'm bringing this down right after her, 237 00:10:59,960 --> 00:11:02,927 and I'm gonna probably crush her or stab her, 238 00:11:02,996 --> 00:11:05,897 there's nothing she can do from here. 239 00:11:05,966 --> 00:11:07,866 Narrator: It is possible that Talhoffer 240 00:11:07,934 --> 00:11:09,701 included these specific images in his Fight 241 00:11:09,770 --> 00:11:11,269 book to train the combatants and 242 00:11:11,338 --> 00:11:14,005 earn an income. 243 00:11:16,410 --> 00:11:17,942 It is recorded that he is a judge in 244 00:11:18,011 --> 00:11:19,678 judicial duels, 245 00:11:19,746 --> 00:11:21,846 a perfect vantage point to learn the most 246 00:11:21,915 --> 00:11:26,751 effective and deadliest techniques. 247 00:11:27,587 --> 00:11:29,854 Combatants could then learn these methods 248 00:11:29,923 --> 00:11:32,290 from Talhoffer most likely for a fee, 249 00:11:32,359 --> 00:11:34,726 to ensure victory in the eyes of both the 250 00:11:34,795 --> 00:11:38,563 law and God. 251 00:11:41,101 --> 00:11:42,701 John Clements: The conclusions that we can 252 00:11:42,769 --> 00:11:45,003 reach tentatively about this kind of duel, 253 00:11:45,072 --> 00:11:47,305 it's let us understand that it's brutal. 254 00:11:47,374 --> 00:11:50,175 It's set up to cause a decisive outcome, 255 00:11:50,243 --> 00:11:51,843 this is the world they lived in, 256 00:11:51,912 --> 00:11:54,312 a violent age a violent world. 257 00:11:56,049 --> 00:11:57,182 Narrator: But Talhoffer's vision 258 00:11:57,250 --> 00:11:58,817 goes beyond the restricting circle 259 00:11:58,885 --> 00:12:00,151 of the judicial duel. 260 00:12:02,506 --> 00:12:03,872 Narrator: Not satisfied with merely recounting 261 00:12:03,940 --> 00:12:06,875 in bloody detail his field of expertise, 262 00:12:06,943 --> 00:12:09,244 Talhoffer turns his attention to the machines 263 00:12:09,312 --> 00:12:12,414 born of war. 264 00:12:18,121 --> 00:12:20,688 This sixteenth plate of Talhoffer's manuscript 265 00:12:20,757 --> 00:12:22,957 depicts a siege engine used extensively 266 00:12:23,026 --> 00:12:25,326 throughout the Medieval period. 267 00:12:26,530 --> 00:12:29,130 This is a great Trebuchet wherewith one 268 00:12:29,199 --> 00:12:32,734 may throw stones and break cities and forts. 269 00:12:35,172 --> 00:12:37,372 Talhoffer was a fight master, 270 00:12:37,441 --> 00:12:40,308 not an engineer, so why would he include siege 271 00:12:40,377 --> 00:12:43,178 engines in his manuscript? 272 00:12:43,246 --> 00:12:45,280 And where did he get the designs for these 273 00:12:45,348 --> 00:12:48,483 machines of war? 274 00:12:48,552 --> 00:12:50,318 Peter Vemming: Talhoffer was not the 275 00:12:50,387 --> 00:12:52,620 only secret war book we have in the Medieval 276 00:12:52,689 --> 00:12:54,389 period in Europe. 277 00:12:54,458 --> 00:12:56,791 When you look at all the manuscripts we can 278 00:12:56,860 --> 00:12:59,427 see different machines copied in 279 00:12:59,496 --> 00:13:01,729 all the manuscripts. 280 00:13:02,499 --> 00:13:04,399 Narrator: These images in Talhoffer's fight 281 00:13:04,468 --> 00:13:06,367 book have been taken from Konrad Kyeser's 282 00:13:06,436 --> 00:13:10,738 1405 Bellifortis, and Peter Vemming thinks he 283 00:13:10,807 --> 00:13:12,740 knows why Talhoffer included them within 284 00:13:12,809 --> 00:13:14,642 his manuscript. 285 00:13:14,711 --> 00:13:17,512 Peter Vemming: I see them more like a CV or 286 00:13:17,581 --> 00:13:21,816 something, this writer or engineer wants to 287 00:13:21,885 --> 00:13:25,653 present his work to a king or whatever to get 288 00:13:25,722 --> 00:13:29,591 a job, simple as that. 289 00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:33,061 Narrator: Siege engines could tip the power 290 00:13:33,129 --> 00:13:35,196 balance and would be vital for warring 291 00:13:35,265 --> 00:13:37,499 factions attacking castles and fortified 292 00:13:37,567 --> 00:13:41,436 towns that covered the Medieval landscape. 293 00:13:41,505 --> 00:13:43,271 A device from Talhoffer's manuscript 294 00:13:43,340 --> 00:13:45,740 could provide the key to ensuring victory in 295 00:13:45,809 --> 00:13:48,910 this war torn land. 296 00:13:48,979 --> 00:13:52,814 It is, in effect, a Medieval arms catalogue. 297 00:13:54,951 --> 00:13:56,618 Bettany Hughes: Talhoffer lived in what 298 00:13:56,686 --> 00:13:58,353 was called the Holy Roman Empire which 299 00:13:58,421 --> 00:14:00,054 makes it sound like it's one consolidated 300 00:14:00,123 --> 00:14:02,524 block but actually these were warring 301 00:14:02,592 --> 00:14:04,792 tribes warring kingdoms where everybody was at 302 00:14:04,861 --> 00:14:07,262 each other's throats the whole time. 303 00:14:07,330 --> 00:14:09,230 Unlike the original Roman Empire where you 304 00:14:09,299 --> 00:14:11,499 had one centralized military force 305 00:14:11,568 --> 00:14:15,003 everybody had to fight for themselves. 306 00:14:15,171 --> 00:14:17,405 Narrator: And in these battle scarred lands, 307 00:14:17,474 --> 00:14:19,474 men who claimed knowledge of the 308 00:14:19,543 --> 00:14:21,476 mightiest of siege engines, 309 00:14:21,545 --> 00:14:23,111 would more likely be in demand from 310 00:14:23,179 --> 00:14:25,013 wealthy and powerful patrons. 311 00:14:25,081 --> 00:14:26,548 Bettany Hughes: This is a manuscript that been 312 00:14:26,616 --> 00:14:28,750 very deeply researched, it must have been 313 00:14:28,818 --> 00:14:30,885 incredibly expensive to produce, 314 00:14:30,954 --> 00:14:33,221 and Talhoffer you imagine must of 315 00:14:33,290 --> 00:14:35,256 expected some sort of financial kickback from 316 00:14:35,325 --> 00:14:37,859 all of his work. 317 00:14:37,928 --> 00:14:39,827 Narrator: Talhoffer doesn't stop with merely 318 00:14:39,896 --> 00:14:42,864 claiming knowledge of common siege engines. 319 00:14:42,933 --> 00:14:44,666 The ambitious fight master presents 320 00:14:44,734 --> 00:14:47,735 even bolder designs in his arms catalogue. 321 00:14:47,804 --> 00:14:49,837 And no machine was too radical for his 322 00:14:49,906 --> 00:14:53,074 visionary mind. 323 00:14:53,610 --> 00:14:56,678 Mike Loades: So many exciting machines in 324 00:14:56,746 --> 00:14:58,947 this book and this one is one of the more 325 00:14:59,015 --> 00:15:01,482 ambitious of the designs. 326 00:15:04,921 --> 00:15:07,055 Narrator: The Swabian text above the image, 327 00:15:07,123 --> 00:15:09,724 when translated, reads. 328 00:15:09,793 --> 00:15:12,026 One shall make two wagons of this form as 329 00:15:12,095 --> 00:15:14,696 viewed from below; from there, 330 00:15:14,764 --> 00:15:18,399 within the wagons, folk combat those outside, 331 00:15:18,468 --> 00:15:21,169 they fight with the guns and the lances; 332 00:15:21,237 --> 00:15:25,573 the lorication is all around them. 333 00:15:26,042 --> 00:15:27,942 The machine is difficult to comprehend 334 00:15:28,011 --> 00:15:29,611 in a two dimensional drawing, 335 00:15:29,679 --> 00:15:31,379 but once rendered in three dimensions, 336 00:15:31,448 --> 00:15:34,649 its mystery is revealed. 337 00:15:45,128 --> 00:15:47,695 The remarkable design in Talhoffer's manuscript 338 00:15:47,764 --> 00:15:50,665 depitcs an armored tank. 339 00:15:50,767 --> 00:15:52,800 The reference to lorication in the text 340 00:15:52,869 --> 00:15:55,970 is a term describing plated armor, 341 00:15:56,039 --> 00:15:57,972 but how could such a heavily protected 342 00:15:58,041 --> 00:16:01,109 vehicle ever be moved? 343 00:16:01,177 --> 00:16:02,510 Mike Loades: It's a tank; 344 00:16:02,579 --> 00:16:04,512 it's possibly the first tank. 345 00:16:04,581 --> 00:16:05,980 We have to interpret things; 346 00:16:06,049 --> 00:16:07,682 you can see how this 347 00:16:07,751 --> 00:16:09,283 comes off the page here. 348 00:16:09,352 --> 00:16:11,219 Well the text tells us that there 349 00:16:11,287 --> 00:16:12,887 are two carriages. 350 00:16:12,956 --> 00:16:15,123 That it's pushed by horses so there are 351 00:16:15,191 --> 00:16:17,025 horses in here harnessed up, 352 00:16:17,093 --> 00:16:19,661 so it is going that way. 353 00:16:19,729 --> 00:16:21,996 This is a machine designed to go into 354 00:16:22,065 --> 00:16:23,398 the enemy but what does it do when 355 00:16:23,466 --> 00:16:24,832 it gets there? 356 00:16:24,901 --> 00:16:27,235 Well look it's got one, two, three, four, 357 00:16:27,303 --> 00:16:29,070 five canon on each side. 358 00:16:29,139 --> 00:16:31,472 This is 1459 but gunpowder has been 359 00:16:31,541 --> 00:16:33,207 around a while. 360 00:16:33,276 --> 00:16:35,877 These canons are drawn with such detail you 361 00:16:35,945 --> 00:16:40,782 can see the touch hole on each of them. 362 00:16:42,719 --> 00:16:44,318 Narrator: Driven by a team of horses, 363 00:16:44,387 --> 00:16:45,920 and mounted with cannons, 364 00:16:45,989 --> 00:16:48,489 such a war machine seems improbable in 365 00:16:48,558 --> 00:16:50,391 Medieval times. 366 00:16:50,460 --> 00:16:52,493 Did this tank really exist, 367 00:16:52,562 --> 00:16:54,162 and how vital was the heavy armor 368 00:16:54,230 --> 00:16:58,900 protecting it? 369 00:17:03,006 --> 00:17:04,672 A replica of a Medieval canon, 370 00:17:04,741 --> 00:17:06,774 similar to the design in Talhoffer's manual 371 00:17:06,843 --> 00:17:08,076 has been built by 372 00:17:08,144 --> 00:17:10,845 historical experts in Denmark. 373 00:17:10,980 --> 00:17:13,815 Mike Loades: By 1459 cast iron had been 374 00:17:13,883 --> 00:17:16,584 invented in the west but it was only really 375 00:17:16,653 --> 00:17:19,020 used for canon balls, and they couldn't yet 376 00:17:19,089 --> 00:17:22,090 bore and drill through a solid block. 377 00:17:22,158 --> 00:17:24,325 So they made it in the same way they made 378 00:17:24,394 --> 00:17:26,227 buckets and barrels. 379 00:17:26,296 --> 00:17:28,262 They made it with staves. 380 00:17:28,331 --> 00:17:31,966 Single slats of iron that are held together 381 00:17:32,035 --> 00:17:34,902 by hoops, just like they are on a barrel 382 00:17:34,971 --> 00:17:36,871 and that is why it is called the barrel 383 00:17:36,940 --> 00:17:39,173 of a gun. 384 00:17:41,945 --> 00:17:44,345 Narrator: By 1459 canon technology is 385 00:17:44,414 --> 00:17:46,681 available that allows multiple firing 386 00:17:46,750 --> 00:17:48,549 of the weapons from within the safety of 387 00:17:48,618 --> 00:17:51,919 the tank, a technology that is the distant 388 00:17:51,988 --> 00:17:55,923 ancestor seen on today's modern battlefield. 389 00:17:55,992 --> 00:17:57,558 Mike Loades: By around 1450 390 00:17:57,627 --> 00:17:59,894 they had developed the breach loading canon. 391 00:17:59,963 --> 00:18:02,430 That meant you could put the cannonball or 392 00:18:02,499 --> 00:18:04,999 the hail shot in at the breach end. 393 00:18:05,068 --> 00:18:08,136 And the secret to that technology was this! 394 00:18:08,204 --> 00:18:09,871 The breach pot. 395 00:18:09,939 --> 00:18:12,039 In here you pre prepared, 396 00:18:12,108 --> 00:18:14,175 you poured your gunpowder in there, 397 00:18:14,244 --> 00:18:17,945 and that was sealed with a wooden tampion. 398 00:18:23,753 --> 00:18:25,253 Narrator: The breach loading technology 399 00:18:25,321 --> 00:18:27,522 could allow a gun crew to fire two or three 400 00:18:27,590 --> 00:18:30,091 rounds a minute, but how much damage could 401 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:33,427 these medieval canons really deliver? 402 00:18:42,305 --> 00:18:44,071 Mike Loades: Look at this. 403 00:18:44,474 --> 00:18:45,773 Look at this. 404 00:18:45,842 --> 00:18:48,042 It's just smashed through these boards. 405 00:18:48,111 --> 00:18:51,312 It's made a great big hole here we go. 406 00:18:51,381 --> 00:18:54,415 Look there, its gone right through that 407 00:18:54,484 --> 00:18:57,051 in a musket shaped hole. 408 00:18:57,120 --> 00:18:59,253 This could have been a paper screen. 409 00:18:59,322 --> 00:19:03,257 So one thing that tells me is our tank would 410 00:19:03,326 --> 00:19:05,293 have to be an armored vehicle. 411 00:19:05,361 --> 00:19:07,261 If you are going to take that vehicle into 412 00:19:07,330 --> 00:19:09,497 the enemy, with the horses behind and the 413 00:19:09,566 --> 00:19:11,165 wedge in front, look like you are, 414 00:19:11,234 --> 00:19:12,767 then you must be armored because the 415 00:19:12,836 --> 00:19:16,604 enemy have got canon just like that. 416 00:19:26,516 --> 00:19:28,115 Narrator: It's hard to imagine such a 417 00:19:28,184 --> 00:19:30,651 sophisticated machine in the Medieval age, 418 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:35,623 an age perceived to have only primitive technology. 419 00:19:35,692 --> 00:19:37,491 But other historical sources besides 420 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:40,161 Talhoffer depict Medieval tanks, 421 00:19:40,230 --> 00:19:42,597 suggesting that they were more than just the 422 00:19:42,665 --> 00:19:45,900 fight master's imaginative fancy. 423 00:19:49,072 --> 00:19:51,005 But not all objects in Talhoffer's manual have 424 00:19:51,074 --> 00:19:52,840 such evidence to support them. 425 00:19:54,194 --> 00:19:55,593 in Talhoffers fight book 426 00:19:55,662 --> 00:19:58,196 even more difficult to comprehend. 427 00:20:03,069 --> 00:20:04,135 Bettany Hughes: We always get very 428 00:20:04,204 --> 00:20:05,903 excited about inventions of Greece and 429 00:20:05,972 --> 00:20:07,505 Egypt and Rome. 430 00:20:07,574 --> 00:20:10,308 But actually this book is packed with 431 00:20:10,376 --> 00:20:13,377 incredibly ingenious inventions. 432 00:20:13,446 --> 00:20:16,414 One of my favorites is a very weird thing 433 00:20:16,482 --> 00:20:17,415 that looks like something out of a 434 00:20:17,483 --> 00:20:19,150 sci-fi movie. 435 00:20:19,219 --> 00:20:22,220 And we think it's called the crayfish. 436 00:20:22,855 --> 00:20:25,289 Narrator: This rig is called a crayfish. 437 00:20:25,358 --> 00:20:28,292 It conducts itself upon four speeding wheels. 438 00:20:28,361 --> 00:20:30,661 It shears front and behind. 439 00:20:30,730 --> 00:20:32,897 If one kindles munitions then it 440 00:20:32,966 --> 00:20:34,465 shoots stones before it, 441 00:20:34,534 --> 00:20:36,367 steel buckshot as a hail, 442 00:20:36,436 --> 00:20:40,004 wherewith one smites low the foes. 443 00:20:40,073 --> 00:20:42,373 Historical reproduction expert Richard Windley, 444 00:20:42,442 --> 00:20:44,342 will attempt to decode the image of the 445 00:20:44,410 --> 00:20:47,511 crayfish, and bring it to life. 446 00:20:47,714 --> 00:20:49,146 Richard Windley: Talhoffer's crayfish is 447 00:20:49,215 --> 00:20:51,349 one of the most puzzling and enigmatic 448 00:20:51,417 --> 00:20:54,352 designs in his book, he tells us that it was 449 00:20:54,420 --> 00:20:56,220 made of iron, so that's helpful, 450 00:20:56,289 --> 00:20:58,489 and that it runs on four speeding wheels, 451 00:20:58,558 --> 00:21:00,291 and there's some kind of munitions inside it, 452 00:21:00,360 --> 00:21:02,927 and frustratingly he says make this rig as 453 00:21:02,996 --> 00:21:04,495 big or as small as you want, 454 00:21:04,564 --> 00:21:05,730 which really doesn't shed too much 455 00:21:05,798 --> 00:21:07,164 light on it. 456 00:21:07,233 --> 00:21:09,066 So really it's trying to work out what it 457 00:21:09,135 --> 00:21:11,135 could have been and more importantly how it 458 00:21:11,204 --> 00:21:13,804 could have been deployed. 459 00:21:13,873 --> 00:21:15,873 So bearing in mind all the various clues we've 460 00:21:15,942 --> 00:21:18,009 got from the drawing I've produced a design 461 00:21:18,077 --> 00:21:20,611 which incorporates as many of these elements 462 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:22,513 as possible. 463 00:21:24,050 --> 00:21:25,650 Narrator: From the designs in Talhoffer's 464 00:21:25,718 --> 00:21:27,685 manuscript, Richard will build the model to 465 00:21:27,754 --> 00:21:31,922 get a true sense of the objects capabilities. 466 00:21:34,494 --> 00:21:38,462 Here, for possibly the first time in 500 years 467 00:21:38,531 --> 00:21:41,399 Talhoffer's crayfish is revealed. 468 00:21:52,612 --> 00:21:54,178 Richard Windley: It's got all the main 469 00:21:54,247 --> 00:21:55,880 features that we get in the Talhoffer 470 00:21:55,948 --> 00:21:57,982 illustration, we've got the big spikes at the 471 00:21:58,051 --> 00:22:00,918 front, we've got the cutting scimitar blades 472 00:22:00,987 --> 00:22:03,321 here, and also the extensions on the wheel 473 00:22:03,389 --> 00:22:05,222 which will cut and maim if anyone gets 474 00:22:05,291 --> 00:22:08,993 in the way. 475 00:22:11,064 --> 00:22:12,830 Narrator: Richard has proved that the 476 00:22:12,899 --> 00:22:14,498 Crayfish is a plausable design, 477 00:22:14,567 --> 00:22:15,866 but its construction doesn't answer the 478 00:22:15,935 --> 00:22:18,736 question why or where it might have 479 00:22:18,805 --> 00:22:21,939 been used. 480 00:22:25,144 --> 00:22:27,978 In a Medieval castle or fortified town the gates, 481 00:22:28,047 --> 00:22:30,948 are one of the most vunerable points 482 00:22:31,017 --> 00:22:32,750 and need to be protected from attacks 483 00:22:32,819 --> 00:22:35,953 at any cost. 484 00:22:37,790 --> 00:22:40,024 Mike Loades believes the Crayfish could have 485 00:22:40,093 --> 00:22:43,494 been the perfect defensive system. 486 00:22:43,563 --> 00:22:45,329 Mike Loades: How about if this, 487 00:22:45,398 --> 00:22:48,399 the crayfish was in a castle gateway or a 488 00:22:48,468 --> 00:22:50,301 gateway to a fortified town? 489 00:22:50,370 --> 00:22:53,671 Then you could see the ropes that made it go 490 00:22:53,740 --> 00:22:57,641 to and fro, were imbedded in channels in 491 00:22:57,710 --> 00:22:59,643 the flagstone floor. 492 00:22:59,712 --> 00:23:01,579 That would be very effective because you 493 00:23:01,647 --> 00:23:03,714 could have a man inside the wall working a 494 00:23:03,783 --> 00:23:06,317 windlass and make it go to and fro; 495 00:23:06,386 --> 00:23:08,786 if there were 4, 5, 6 of these going like 496 00:23:08,855 --> 00:23:11,155 this, who would drive a horse through that, 497 00:23:11,224 --> 00:23:13,457 who would dare to run through that? 498 00:23:13,526 --> 00:23:15,760 It would take you off at the ankles. 499 00:23:15,828 --> 00:23:18,763 And what is more the text tells us it has 500 00:23:18,831 --> 00:23:21,532 explosive devices in it that would send 501 00:23:21,601 --> 00:23:25,236 out a hail of shot. 502 00:23:25,304 --> 00:23:26,704 Narrator: Richard incorporates this 503 00:23:26,773 --> 00:23:28,906 devastating explosive weaponry in his design 504 00:23:28,975 --> 00:23:31,742 of the Crayfish. 505 00:23:31,811 --> 00:23:33,711 Richard Windley: There is a removable panel on 506 00:23:33,780 --> 00:23:35,813 here, which means we can get to the fusing 507 00:23:35,882 --> 00:23:38,182 for the grenades, now these are made to 508 00:23:38,251 --> 00:23:40,418 simulate cast iron and it probably would have 509 00:23:40,486 --> 00:23:42,119 been full with metal fragments, 510 00:23:42,188 --> 00:23:44,288 something that is going to cause debris to fly 511 00:23:44,357 --> 00:23:45,656 in all sorts of directions. 512 00:23:45,725 --> 00:23:47,124 You really want to do some damage with this 513 00:23:47,193 --> 00:23:48,492 and take out as many enemy personnel 514 00:23:48,561 --> 00:23:51,295 as we possibly can. 515 00:23:55,735 --> 00:23:57,701 Narrator: Talhoffer see's enough in the design to 516 00:23:57,770 --> 00:24:00,704 include the crayfish in his manuscript. 517 00:24:00,773 --> 00:24:02,706 By combining all the team's research into 518 00:24:02,775 --> 00:24:05,476 computer graphics we can visualize what 519 00:24:05,545 --> 00:24:07,111 the device looked like in action 520 00:24:07,180 --> 00:24:10,080 defending a stronghold. 521 00:24:23,963 --> 00:24:26,230 In theory the Crayfish was capable of 522 00:24:26,299 --> 00:24:28,699 repelling an enemy at the very threshold of a 523 00:24:28,768 --> 00:24:31,268 fortification but for an attacking force to 524 00:24:31,337 --> 00:24:33,070 get that close in the first place, 525 00:24:33,139 --> 00:24:34,772 is never an easy task. 526 00:24:38,544 --> 00:24:40,644 Talhoffer again appears to have the right tool 527 00:24:40,713 --> 00:24:42,213 for the job. 528 00:24:42,281 --> 00:24:46,817 But the question remains, did it work? 529 00:24:49,188 --> 00:24:50,688 Mike Loades: There are a number of ways you 530 00:24:50,756 --> 00:24:52,823 can take a castle or fortification, 531 00:24:52,892 --> 00:24:54,558 you can dig tunnels, underneath it, 532 00:24:54,627 --> 00:24:56,093 undermine it. 533 00:24:56,162 --> 00:24:58,696 You can do an escalade, which is taking ladders 534 00:24:58,764 --> 00:25:01,031 and siege towers up to the walls and piling 535 00:25:01,100 --> 00:25:03,167 over the top, or you could simply try and 536 00:25:03,236 --> 00:25:05,169 blow the gates off. 537 00:25:05,238 --> 00:25:08,372 But how do you get your bomb to the gates? 538 00:25:08,441 --> 00:25:11,475 Well one idea is to use Jamie here, 539 00:25:11,544 --> 00:25:13,110 in his armor, you're wearing armor 540 00:25:13,179 --> 00:25:14,678 just walk up to it, 541 00:25:14,747 --> 00:25:18,716 but up there are going to be archers. 542 00:25:20,987 --> 00:25:22,853 Narrator: The power of a war bow at short 543 00:25:22,922 --> 00:25:24,622 distance against a Knight's armor could 544 00:25:24,690 --> 00:25:27,858 penetrate it at certain points, 545 00:25:27,927 --> 00:25:30,327 and if an archer was skilled enough he could 546 00:25:30,396 --> 00:25:32,630 find the joins in the plate mail and 547 00:25:32,698 --> 00:25:36,233 kill the man inside. 548 00:25:39,038 --> 00:25:40,738 Risking Knights like this would be far 549 00:25:40,806 --> 00:25:42,406 too a costly method to storm a 550 00:25:42,475 --> 00:25:45,175 city's gates but Talhoffer's manual seems 551 00:25:45,244 --> 00:25:47,077 to offer a solution. 552 00:25:50,566 --> 00:25:52,366 Narrator: Terry Jones, one of the famed 553 00:25:52,435 --> 00:25:55,002 members of the Monty Python team is 554 00:25:55,071 --> 00:25:57,471 renowned for more than just comedy. 555 00:25:57,540 --> 00:25:59,840 He's an expert in Medieval history, 556 00:25:59,909 --> 00:26:02,176 but some of Talhoffer's depictions of siege 557 00:26:02,245 --> 00:26:05,713 warfare appear strange, even to him. 558 00:26:07,350 --> 00:26:09,049 Terry Jones: Talhoffer's manuscript 559 00:26:09,118 --> 00:26:10,818 shows a lot of surprising images, 560 00:26:10,886 --> 00:26:12,820 I means there's one here of these people 561 00:26:12,888 --> 00:26:14,788 walking up to castle under these, 562 00:26:14,857 --> 00:26:17,358 sort of metal bells, I mean how do they get 563 00:26:17,426 --> 00:26:18,993 them off in the first place, 564 00:26:19,061 --> 00:26:22,196 very Pythonesque to me, and here's this castle 565 00:26:22,265 --> 00:26:25,599 that's being protected by two huge cushions 566 00:26:25,668 --> 00:26:29,737 outside the front door, very odd. 567 00:26:31,474 --> 00:26:33,107 Narrator: The description above this 568 00:26:33,175 --> 00:26:38,012 cryptic image gives little information away. 569 00:26:38,481 --> 00:26:41,682 See they are going towards the fortress. 570 00:26:41,751 --> 00:26:44,985 With the basket they should lurch around. 571 00:26:45,054 --> 00:26:47,421 Within the shelter of the basket they go. 572 00:26:47,890 --> 00:26:50,157 Mike Loades: We know that so much in 573 00:26:50,226 --> 00:26:51,292 Talhoffer works, because things like 574 00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:53,327 Trebuchet's have been built and tested, 575 00:26:53,396 --> 00:26:55,162 so we know that he's talking about workable 576 00:26:55,231 --> 00:26:56,897 things, but when we come across something 577 00:26:56,966 --> 00:27:00,134 like this, that's so bizarre, so weird, 578 00:27:00,202 --> 00:27:02,970 you think well would it work? 579 00:27:03,039 --> 00:27:05,506 And of course the only way to find out is try 580 00:27:05,574 --> 00:27:07,341 and replicate it using the clues that are 581 00:27:07,410 --> 00:27:09,376 there, let's build it, let's shoot things 582 00:27:09,445 --> 00:27:12,313 against it and test it. 583 00:27:14,250 --> 00:27:16,016 Narrator: And this is what the team thinks 584 00:27:16,085 --> 00:27:17,418 the Medieval siege device may 585 00:27:17,486 --> 00:27:20,087 have looked like. 586 00:27:20,256 --> 00:27:21,955 Mike Loades: We've had to guess at the 587 00:27:22,024 --> 00:27:23,724 material, some people say it would have been 588 00:27:23,793 --> 00:27:25,359 cast like a bell, others say it would 589 00:27:25,428 --> 00:27:27,428 have been clad in plate armor; 590 00:27:27,496 --> 00:27:30,464 I think that would have been far too heavy. 591 00:27:30,533 --> 00:27:32,433 Narrator: One material used in Medieval times 592 00:27:32,501 --> 00:27:34,501 could have provided the strength of iron 593 00:27:34,570 --> 00:27:37,771 without its excessive weight. 594 00:27:37,907 --> 00:27:40,874 Mike Loades: Hardened leather is tough, 595 00:27:40,943 --> 00:27:43,744 it's what armor was made of during the 596 00:27:43,813 --> 00:27:46,246 Middle Ages, a lot of poorer Knights were 597 00:27:46,315 --> 00:27:48,749 clad in Cuir Bouilli, boiled leather, 598 00:27:48,818 --> 00:27:51,785 hardened tough leather. 599 00:27:54,390 --> 00:27:56,090 Narrator: So much importance is placed on 600 00:27:56,158 --> 00:27:58,459 what this device is made of because of what 601 00:27:58,527 --> 00:28:01,962 scholars believe the structure was used for 602 00:28:02,031 --> 00:28:04,031 getting men to the very walls of a 603 00:28:04,100 --> 00:28:07,768 castle under siege. 604 00:28:10,806 --> 00:28:13,407 As the siege bell draws near to its target it 605 00:28:13,476 --> 00:28:15,909 has to repel attack from very close range 606 00:28:15,978 --> 00:28:18,545 if the men inside are to survive. 607 00:28:19,882 --> 00:28:21,482 Mike Loades: So I'm going to give this the 608 00:28:21,550 --> 00:28:23,951 ultimate test, we're at extreme close range, 609 00:28:24,019 --> 00:28:25,953 less than ten yards, and Ben here is 610 00:28:26,021 --> 00:28:28,355 shooting a very, very powerful bow, 611 00:28:28,424 --> 00:28:30,190 eighty pounds draw weight with a 612 00:28:30,259 --> 00:28:31,525 heavy war arrow. 613 00:28:31,594 --> 00:28:34,628 Do your worst Ben. 614 00:28:42,738 --> 00:28:47,708 I expected that to punch right through, 615 00:28:47,777 --> 00:28:49,076 and it hasn't. 616 00:28:49,145 --> 00:28:51,512 It's penetrated, but it hasn't really 617 00:28:51,580 --> 00:28:54,415 penetrated that much. 618 00:28:54,483 --> 00:28:56,650 Certainly one of the guys inside is 619 00:28:56,719 --> 00:28:58,886 bleeding, but he's not dead. 620 00:28:58,954 --> 00:29:01,889 That is remarkable stopping power I think 621 00:29:01,957 --> 00:29:03,891 that if we were to double this thickness, 622 00:29:03,959 --> 00:29:06,960 we really would have something of genuine 623 00:29:07,029 --> 00:29:09,663 defensive capability. 624 00:29:13,636 --> 00:29:15,269 Narrator: A second layer of leather 625 00:29:15,337 --> 00:29:18,739 reduces arrow penetration significantly 626 00:29:18,808 --> 00:29:20,607 and still allow the siege bell to 627 00:29:20,676 --> 00:29:24,745 be carried by two men. 628 00:29:24,814 --> 00:29:26,780 It is feasible that such a device could 629 00:29:26,849 --> 00:29:28,348 make it to the walls of a castle with its 630 00:29:28,417 --> 00:29:30,617 occupants alive. 631 00:29:30,686 --> 00:29:32,219 Perhaps for those looking through 632 00:29:32,288 --> 00:29:34,521 Talhoffer's arms catalogue and desiring 633 00:29:34,590 --> 00:29:36,957 the siege bell it is possible they could 634 00:29:37,026 --> 00:29:39,226 acquire the information about its construction 635 00:29:39,295 --> 00:29:42,529 from the fight master at a price. 636 00:29:43,065 --> 00:29:45,432 The satisfied war lord could then deploy it 637 00:29:45,501 --> 00:29:47,768 any way he see's fit. 638 00:29:47,837 --> 00:29:50,671 Placing a bomb, delivering a letter of 639 00:29:50,739 --> 00:29:53,807 ultimatum or retrieving a fallen comrade in the 640 00:29:53,876 --> 00:29:57,144 field of battle. 641 00:29:57,213 --> 00:29:58,946 But a castle under siege has more than 642 00:29:59,014 --> 00:30:01,815 just arrows at its disposal. 643 00:30:01,884 --> 00:30:03,517 Mike Loades: When I look at that, 644 00:30:03,586 --> 00:30:05,953 it's designed for one thing and that is to 645 00:30:06,021 --> 00:30:08,489 withstand an aerial shot. 646 00:30:08,557 --> 00:30:10,657 If you're coming up to my walls and I've got 647 00:30:10,726 --> 00:30:13,393 broken masonry, then I'm gonna hurl them on 648 00:30:13,462 --> 00:30:16,864 top of you. 649 00:30:23,806 --> 00:30:26,473 That has got a good structural shape, 650 00:30:26,542 --> 00:30:28,542 and even very big boulders I think with 651 00:30:28,611 --> 00:30:31,144 that central strut in the middle the guys 652 00:30:31,213 --> 00:30:35,182 inside, their heads are going to be okay. 653 00:30:37,253 --> 00:30:38,719 Narrator: With the correct military 654 00:30:38,787 --> 00:30:41,054 knowledge, these drawings in Talhoffer's 655 00:30:41,123 --> 00:30:43,257 manuscript have been transformed into a two 656 00:30:43,325 --> 00:30:46,860 man siege bell. 657 00:30:48,497 --> 00:30:51,198 But it is the armor on a Medieval Knight that 658 00:30:51,267 --> 00:30:53,634 takes this protection a step further, 659 00:30:53,702 --> 00:30:56,003 by allowing the individual inside a far 660 00:30:56,071 --> 00:30:58,705 greater freedom of movement. 661 00:30:58,774 --> 00:31:01,375 The Knights featured in Talhoffer's 1459 Fight 662 00:31:01,443 --> 00:31:04,244 Book are primarily involved in violent and 663 00:31:04,313 --> 00:31:06,113 bloody activities. 664 00:31:06,181 --> 00:31:07,714 Talhoffer is trained as a Knight, 665 00:31:07,783 --> 00:31:09,516 and know's their ways intimately. 666 00:31:13,355 --> 00:31:14,721 Narrator: Honorable Knights rescuing 667 00:31:14,790 --> 00:31:17,524 damsels in distress isn't the only dubious 668 00:31:17,593 --> 00:31:20,727 portrayal of these Medieval warriors. 669 00:31:21,030 --> 00:31:23,230 Terry Jones: It was Lawrence Oliver who was 670 00:31:23,299 --> 00:31:24,898 responsible for the misconception that 671 00:31:24,967 --> 00:31:26,934 armor was terribly heavy, 672 00:31:27,002 --> 00:31:30,137 in his film Henry V he showed Knights being 673 00:31:30,205 --> 00:31:33,440 lifted onto the horses by cranes. 674 00:31:33,509 --> 00:31:35,475 But in fact of course you couldn't fight if 675 00:31:35,544 --> 00:31:38,178 that was the case. 676 00:31:55,297 --> 00:31:56,897 Narrator: With many of Talhoffer's plates 677 00:31:56,966 --> 00:31:59,066 dedicated to Knights, it suggests he 678 00:31:59,134 --> 00:32:01,601 target's serious fighters to sell his 679 00:32:01,670 --> 00:32:04,604 services too, but more specifically, 680 00:32:04,673 --> 00:32:06,440 those with money. 681 00:32:06,508 --> 00:32:10,877 For a Knights armor is expensive. 682 00:32:10,946 --> 00:32:12,679 For it to be truly effective, 683 00:32:12,748 --> 00:32:15,449 a Knight's armor has to allow the freedom of 684 00:32:15,517 --> 00:32:17,784 movement to match the swiftness of a lesser 685 00:32:17,853 --> 00:32:21,722 armored opponent on the battlefield. 686 00:32:25,494 --> 00:32:27,627 And also let a Knight climb or 687 00:32:27,696 --> 00:32:31,164 mount a steed quickly. 688 00:32:32,801 --> 00:32:34,801 But the design couldn't compromise on 689 00:32:34,870 --> 00:32:36,737 its protective capabilities, 690 00:32:36,805 --> 00:32:38,805 and it had to be able to withstand what is 691 00:32:38,874 --> 00:32:42,242 perhaps the pinnacle of Medieval metallurgy 692 00:32:42,311 --> 00:32:44,578 the long sword. 693 00:32:47,816 --> 00:32:49,449 In many of his depictions of fighting 694 00:32:49,518 --> 00:32:51,818 techniques, Talhoffer reveals the weapons 695 00:32:51,887 --> 00:32:55,455 deadly efficiency. 696 00:32:58,327 --> 00:33:00,727 The craftsmanship that went into these blades 697 00:33:01,063 --> 00:33:02,796 shows that they are the most formidable 698 00:33:02,865 --> 00:33:04,698 of weapons during the Middle Ages. 699 00:33:07,002 --> 00:33:08,769 Owen Bush: What I've got here is a Talhoffer 700 00:33:08,837 --> 00:33:10,470 Long sword, it's based one of the 701 00:33:10,539 --> 00:33:13,707 illustrations in his 1459 manual. 702 00:33:14,643 --> 00:33:17,511 This sword has a balance point about two 703 00:33:17,579 --> 00:33:20,680 inches in front of the guard, 704 00:33:20,749 --> 00:33:23,183 which means that the blade can rotate easily 705 00:33:23,519 --> 00:33:27,554 about that point. 706 00:33:27,890 --> 00:33:30,791 The heat treatment on a Medieval long sword 707 00:33:30,859 --> 00:33:32,459 blade would have been incredibly 708 00:33:32,528 --> 00:33:34,928 sophisticated, they were making a blade 709 00:33:34,997 --> 00:33:36,997 that would both hold an edge and would also 710 00:33:37,066 --> 00:33:39,366 flex during use. 711 00:33:39,435 --> 00:33:40,534 It's quite amazing, very, 712 00:33:40,602 --> 00:33:44,371 very sophisticated workmanship. 713 00:33:44,673 --> 00:33:46,306 The heat treatment on a sword is a two part 714 00:33:46,375 --> 00:33:48,408 process, which is the quenching which makes 715 00:33:48,477 --> 00:33:50,110 the blade hard, but ever so slightly 716 00:33:50,179 --> 00:33:52,179 brittle, and then there's tempering which 717 00:33:52,247 --> 00:33:54,481 is a lower temperature process of about 718 00:33:54,550 --> 00:33:56,483 200 centigrade which made the blade 719 00:33:56,552 --> 00:33:59,286 flexible again. 720 00:33:59,488 --> 00:34:01,621 It's combining an awful lot of things; 721 00:34:01,690 --> 00:34:03,723 it's got devastating cutting power 722 00:34:03,792 --> 00:34:07,127 and fine balance. 723 00:34:13,302 --> 00:34:15,368 Narrator: But despite a Medieval sword blade's 724 00:34:15,437 --> 00:34:18,004 technology, they still weren't able to cleave 725 00:34:18,073 --> 00:34:19,873 through the hardened plate steel of a 726 00:34:19,942 --> 00:34:22,008 Knight's armor. 727 00:34:22,177 --> 00:34:23,677 John Clements: With a sharp, 728 00:34:23,745 --> 00:34:25,245 historically accurate robust blade, 729 00:34:25,314 --> 00:34:26,913 designed for fighting armor, 730 00:34:26,982 --> 00:34:29,015 you're simply not going to get through to wound 731 00:34:29,084 --> 00:34:30,884 him with an edge blow. 732 00:34:30,953 --> 00:34:32,886 It doesn't matter how hard I hit him, 733 00:34:32,955 --> 00:34:36,356 or where I hit him, I can't cut through the 734 00:34:36,425 --> 00:34:38,959 armor with edge blows. 735 00:34:40,395 --> 00:34:41,995 Narrator: But a single plate in the fight book 736 00:34:42,064 --> 00:34:43,630 reveals a useful long sword 737 00:34:43,699 --> 00:34:47,234 technique against a Knight. 738 00:34:48,070 --> 00:34:50,637 An unarmored man might be forced to fight an 739 00:34:50,706 --> 00:34:52,873 armored opponent due to rules stated in a 740 00:34:52,941 --> 00:34:55,609 judicial duel, or in the field of battle, 741 00:34:55,677 --> 00:34:57,978 or beyond the city walls trying to escape 742 00:34:58,046 --> 00:35:01,515 from the robber Knights. 743 00:35:02,751 --> 00:35:04,351 John Clements: Talhoffer gives us the 744 00:35:04,419 --> 00:35:06,186 way of fighting a Knight and beating him, 745 00:35:06,255 --> 00:35:07,921 and that is through the techniques of half 746 00:35:07,990 --> 00:35:09,990 swording, where we are trying to get that 747 00:35:10,058 --> 00:35:12,626 point in his visor, underneath his helmet 748 00:35:12,694 --> 00:35:15,662 into his groin, behind his knee under his arm 749 00:35:15,731 --> 00:35:17,864 where he would normally have chainmail 750 00:35:17,933 --> 00:35:20,934 armor protecting him. 751 00:35:21,003 --> 00:35:22,636 But even then, the point's going 752 00:35:22,704 --> 00:35:24,938 to penetrate. 753 00:35:25,007 --> 00:35:26,673 Narrator: This technique of half 754 00:35:26,742 --> 00:35:28,508 swording could also be used on unarmored 755 00:35:28,577 --> 00:35:30,810 opponents and relies on the fact that some 756 00:35:30,879 --> 00:35:32,812 Medieval blades are not sharp their entire 757 00:35:32,881 --> 00:35:35,782 length and could be gripped when using 758 00:35:35,851 --> 00:35:39,286 specific fighting techniques. 759 00:35:39,354 --> 00:35:41,421 And one such move would make an opponent's 760 00:35:41,490 --> 00:35:44,858 armor almost irrelevant. 761 00:35:45,294 --> 00:35:46,993 Owen Bush: The interesting features 762 00:35:47,062 --> 00:35:49,229 about this sword are that not just the blade 763 00:35:49,298 --> 00:35:51,398 is able to be used offensively, 764 00:35:51,466 --> 00:35:53,166 the guard and the pommel are both 765 00:35:53,235 --> 00:35:56,870 pointed, and if you wanted to you could use 766 00:35:56,939 --> 00:36:00,073 those as an active part of the weapon. 767 00:36:03,045 --> 00:36:04,978 John Clements: Talhoffer shows that 768 00:36:05,047 --> 00:36:07,047 besides the point, you also could use the hilt 769 00:36:07,115 --> 00:36:08,415 effectively. 770 00:36:08,483 --> 00:36:10,617 To knock him about the head to bash him with 771 00:36:10,686 --> 00:36:12,118 the pommel or the pummel, 772 00:36:12,187 --> 00:36:13,887 may even be where the phrase to pommel 773 00:36:13,956 --> 00:36:15,455 someone to death comes from. 774 00:36:15,524 --> 00:36:17,724 Striking with the hilt like this is like 775 00:36:17,793 --> 00:36:19,593 smashing with a war hammer, 776 00:36:19,661 --> 00:36:21,127 it doesn't look very lethal, 777 00:36:21,196 --> 00:36:23,630 but the mass and the weight on it actually 778 00:36:23,699 --> 00:36:26,233 has a tremendous amount of force behind it and 779 00:36:26,301 --> 00:36:30,070 it will knock him senseless. 780 00:36:33,108 --> 00:36:34,708 Narrator: John Clements is going to try these 781 00:36:34,776 --> 00:36:36,509 half sword techniques against a Knight in 782 00:36:36,578 --> 00:36:42,148 full armor to test their effectiveness. 783 00:37:00,435 --> 00:37:01,968 Aaron Pynenberg: I'm so dangerous, 784 00:37:02,037 --> 00:37:03,637 and potentially deadly in this thing that 785 00:37:03,705 --> 00:37:05,338 there's really not much I can do to try and 786 00:37:05,407 --> 00:37:07,274 hold back at all, I mean I'm committed, 787 00:37:07,342 --> 00:37:09,309 and once I committed the suit has a weight 788 00:37:09,378 --> 00:37:13,113 and deadliness all to its own. 789 00:37:14,916 --> 00:37:16,683 John Clements: Fighting unarmored against an 790 00:37:16,752 --> 00:37:18,852 armored Knight such as Talhoffer shows in his 791 00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:22,622 plate, I felt obviously more agile and quicker, 792 00:37:22,691 --> 00:37:24,257 but it didn't make that much of a difference. 793 00:37:24,326 --> 00:37:26,793 He wasn't so slow that I could take 794 00:37:26,862 --> 00:37:28,028 advantage of it. 795 00:37:28,096 --> 00:37:30,030 I saw openings but I can't get to them 796 00:37:30,098 --> 00:37:31,865 because he's all over the place. 797 00:37:31,933 --> 00:37:33,667 But what I was able to do was hit 798 00:37:33,735 --> 00:37:36,903 with that hilt. 799 00:37:38,707 --> 00:37:40,340 We know these techniques we train 800 00:37:40,409 --> 00:37:42,509 these techniques, to go all out and fully do it 801 00:37:42,577 --> 00:37:44,678 and see that pommel smash and put a dent in 802 00:37:44,746 --> 00:37:47,347 his armor, and to see him pause because of 803 00:37:47,416 --> 00:37:51,051 that blow, that was enlightening. 804 00:38:06,335 --> 00:38:09,803 Director: What happened there, Aaron? 805 00:38:11,773 --> 00:38:13,306 What happened there Aaron? 806 00:38:13,375 --> 00:38:15,575 Aaron Pynenberg: Well in honesty, 807 00:38:15,644 --> 00:38:17,377 I'm still feeling the effects of that pommel 808 00:38:17,446 --> 00:38:19,312 strike from earlier when he hit me with the 809 00:38:19,381 --> 00:38:21,981 rear of his sword, the pommel on the end of it 810 00:38:22,050 --> 00:38:24,651 has so much momentum carrying right through 811 00:38:24,720 --> 00:38:27,854 the armor, that it's actually making me sick 812 00:38:27,923 --> 00:38:30,256 to my stomach, and I'm having a hard time 813 00:38:30,325 --> 00:38:32,025 catching my breath and staying in the fight 814 00:38:32,094 --> 00:38:35,161 because I'm just sick, I felt it 815 00:38:35,230 --> 00:38:37,330 through my whole body. 816 00:38:37,399 --> 00:38:38,431 John Clements: This is the helmet 817 00:38:38,500 --> 00:38:39,766 he was wearing here. 818 00:38:39,835 --> 00:38:41,601 It's a historically accurate reproduction, 819 00:38:41,670 --> 00:38:43,169 it's the right thickness of metal the 820 00:38:43,238 --> 00:38:45,872 right kind of metal, and the dents that were 821 00:38:45,941 --> 00:38:48,541 put on it, it's not easy to dent this kind 822 00:38:48,610 --> 00:38:50,076 of helmet this kind of metal, 823 00:38:50,145 --> 00:38:51,878 and when I threw the blow I could 824 00:38:51,947 --> 00:38:55,582 see him react. 825 00:38:57,452 --> 00:38:59,853 I was frankly pretty darn surprised 826 00:38:59,921 --> 00:39:01,654 that I could get it in there with that 827 00:39:01,723 --> 00:39:02,989 kind of force. 828 00:39:03,058 --> 00:39:04,791 We train hard we train in these moves from 829 00:39:04,860 --> 00:39:07,327 Talhoffer and Talhoffer specifically shows this 830 00:39:07,396 --> 00:39:09,729 technique in his image of an unarmored fighter 831 00:39:09,798 --> 00:39:11,631 against an armored fighter. 832 00:39:11,700 --> 00:39:14,901 It really does validate that technique. 833 00:39:18,507 --> 00:39:20,106 Narrator: Despite its brutal imagery and 834 00:39:20,175 --> 00:39:22,208 title, Talhoffer's fight book is not 835 00:39:22,277 --> 00:39:23,943 entirely focused on the martial arts 836 00:39:24,012 --> 00:39:26,613 and warfare. 837 00:39:28,984 --> 00:39:31,251 Contained within its pages is material from 838 00:39:31,319 --> 00:39:32,419 many facets of life in the Middle Ages 839 00:39:32,487 --> 00:39:34,821 including this bizarre image. 840 00:39:42,431 --> 00:39:43,797 Narrator: The purpose of this image, 841 00:39:43,865 --> 00:39:45,865 like many Talhoffers fight book, 842 00:39:45,934 --> 00:39:48,134 is shrouded in mystery. 843 00:39:48,370 --> 00:39:50,670 Mike Loades: These illustrations are 844 00:39:50,739 --> 00:39:53,306 extraordinary, here we've got frogmen, 845 00:39:53,375 --> 00:39:57,377 people in diving suits, this is 1459. 846 00:40:02,317 --> 00:40:04,184 Narrator: The head is covered with a hard 847 00:40:04,252 --> 00:40:07,320 helm, be it that the water runs strongly, 848 00:40:07,389 --> 00:40:09,456 then you should burden yourself with weights, 849 00:40:09,524 --> 00:40:11,458 so that you may submerge and emerge 850 00:40:11,526 --> 00:40:13,726 again too. 851 00:40:13,795 --> 00:40:16,029 Mike Loades: Talhoffer tells us so much in 852 00:40:16,098 --> 00:40:19,432 this manuscript, there is so much information, 853 00:40:19,501 --> 00:40:22,035 but there's also key bits of information 854 00:40:22,104 --> 00:40:25,004 missing, and this a classic example. 855 00:40:25,073 --> 00:40:28,108 We've got a diving suit but he doesn't actually 856 00:40:28,176 --> 00:40:31,311 explain where the oxygen comes from. 857 00:40:31,379 --> 00:40:34,280 Perhaps he needs us to go to him to pay him to 858 00:40:34,349 --> 00:40:36,015 tell us what that missing bit of 859 00:40:36,084 --> 00:40:38,718 information is. 860 00:40:38,787 --> 00:40:40,653 Narrator: But could a diving suit actually 861 00:40:40,722 --> 00:40:44,624 exist over 500 years ago? 862 00:40:47,896 --> 00:40:49,863 At the Medieval Centre in Denmark, 863 00:40:49,931 --> 00:40:52,332 historians build a diving suit from images 864 00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:55,768 taken from another 15th century source. 865 00:40:55,837 --> 00:40:59,906 But does this technology really work? 866 00:40:59,975 --> 00:41:01,774 Mike Loades: This helmet is slightly 867 00:41:01,843 --> 00:41:03,977 different to the one take we see in the 868 00:41:04,045 --> 00:41:07,313 Talhoffer manuscript, what we see depicted 869 00:41:07,382 --> 00:41:09,315 there is what's actually known as a 870 00:41:09,384 --> 00:41:11,751 frogmouth helmet, very appropriately for a 871 00:41:11,820 --> 00:41:14,120 frogman, it's a frogmouth helmet which 872 00:41:14,189 --> 00:41:16,756 is used for jousting. 873 00:41:24,666 --> 00:41:29,202 The point is you need a solid helmet to put the 874 00:41:29,271 --> 00:41:31,538 air in, basically what's going to happen 875 00:41:31,606 --> 00:41:34,207 is this is going to act like an air bell, 876 00:41:34,276 --> 00:41:36,676 a very simple primary technology, 877 00:41:36,745 --> 00:41:39,679 the first of its kind, and I'm very glad that 878 00:41:39,748 --> 00:41:42,582 he's doing it and not me. 879 00:41:52,894 --> 00:41:54,928 Narrator: Although the secret to supplying air 880 00:41:54,996 --> 00:41:59,032 to a man underwater is not revealed, 881 00:41:59,100 --> 00:42:01,334 the likely technology required is contained 882 00:42:01,403 --> 00:42:05,638 within the manuscript; a set of bellows 883 00:42:05,707 --> 00:42:08,341 attached to an air bladder. 884 00:42:11,479 --> 00:42:13,846 Historical engineers found that getting this 885 00:42:13,915 --> 00:42:15,848 technology to work isnt as easy as they 886 00:42:15,917 --> 00:42:18,851 initially perceived. 887 00:42:18,920 --> 00:42:20,954 Jens Christiansen: When you have a big amount 888 00:42:21,022 --> 00:42:23,122 of air in a big bellow that you need to 889 00:42:23,191 --> 00:42:25,291 compress to get it down to the diver, 890 00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:28,127 you don't have enough force to press it into 891 00:42:28,196 --> 00:42:29,963 the bellows and down to the diver, 892 00:42:30,031 --> 00:42:33,032 so we had to go back and make three small 893 00:42:33,101 --> 00:42:35,401 bellows with very long levers on so you have a 894 00:42:35,470 --> 00:42:38,838 lot of power to pump the air. 895 00:42:38,907 --> 00:42:41,507 It's a lot of hard work to work the bellows, 896 00:42:41,576 --> 00:42:44,310 they need to be pumped really hard and fast to 897 00:42:44,379 --> 00:42:47,280 get enough air, down to the diver. 898 00:42:47,349 --> 00:42:48,948 Well I think we are about ready, 899 00:42:49,017 --> 00:42:50,149 are you ready guys? 900 00:42:50,218 --> 00:42:53,419 Bellows Team: Ready 1, 2, 3! 901 00:43:00,395 --> 00:43:02,195 Mike Loades: We've got to buckle that 902 00:43:02,264 --> 00:43:05,732 front and back because as the air goes in this 903 00:43:05,800 --> 00:43:08,201 would float off once it's in water, 904 00:43:08,270 --> 00:43:13,806 but already the guys are pumping away. 905 00:43:13,875 --> 00:43:16,042 Here he goes down, we've got to keep this 906 00:43:16,111 --> 00:43:20,313 pipe straight, and there he is he's 907 00:43:20,382 --> 00:43:21,648 in the water. 908 00:43:21,716 --> 00:43:25,251 You better get pumping he's under water now. 909 00:43:25,353 --> 00:43:29,455 You can see the bubbles, its working. 910 00:43:32,827 --> 00:43:34,861 This is fantastic, you can see this 911 00:43:34,929 --> 00:43:37,330 technology, technology that was thought about 912 00:43:37,399 --> 00:43:40,033 probably before 1400, and it's working that 913 00:43:40,101 --> 00:43:42,969 man is under water and he's breathing, 914 00:43:43,038 --> 00:43:44,704 and he's breathing through this pipe with 915 00:43:44,773 --> 00:43:47,307 those guys pumping on those bellows, 916 00:43:47,375 --> 00:43:50,410 quite extraordinary. 917 00:43:50,478 --> 00:43:53,680 Narrator: This test is limited to 10 minutes, 918 00:43:53,748 --> 00:43:55,348 but in Medieval times, 919 00:43:55,417 --> 00:43:57,016 a diver could stay underwater for as 920 00:43:57,085 --> 00:43:58,918 long as there was a supply of men to 921 00:43:58,987 --> 00:44:02,555 pump the bellows. 922 00:44:02,624 --> 00:44:04,324 Mike Loades: This is the technology that 923 00:44:04,392 --> 00:44:06,626 put men on the moon, the idea that 924 00:44:06,695 --> 00:44:10,229 mechanical contraptions can override 925 00:44:10,298 --> 00:44:13,032 our biological limitations. 926 00:44:15,236 --> 00:44:17,003 Good Job. 927 00:44:18,873 --> 00:44:20,306 How was that? 928 00:44:20,375 --> 00:44:21,674 Diver: It was fine. 929 00:44:21,743 --> 00:44:23,176 Mike: You're not wet, the water only 930 00:44:23,244 --> 00:44:24,811 went to here. 931 00:44:24,879 --> 00:44:26,179 Diver: No, no problem at all. 932 00:44:26,247 --> 00:44:27,447 Mike: Your whole face is it's extraordinary, 933 00:44:27,515 --> 00:44:30,983 his whole face is dry. 934 00:44:31,052 --> 00:44:32,819 Narrator: The diving suit is one of the 935 00:44:32,887 --> 00:44:35,221 Medieval world's great achievements and the 936 00:44:35,290 --> 00:44:37,390 version depicted in Talhoffer's manuscript 937 00:44:37,459 --> 00:44:39,592 appears to be more advanced than the suit 938 00:44:39,661 --> 00:44:44,163 the team in Denmark has just tested. 939 00:44:44,232 --> 00:44:46,366 It is closer in design to the closed air 940 00:44:46,434 --> 00:44:49,068 systems we have today, and is more 941 00:44:49,137 --> 00:44:50,937 maneuverable and better fitted, 942 00:44:51,005 --> 00:44:52,939 with the air likely designed to escape from 943 00:44:53,007 --> 00:44:58,111 the sleeves and not around the face. 944 00:44:58,446 --> 00:45:00,847 Talhoffer does not reveal why the diving 945 00:45:00,915 --> 00:45:03,950 suit was used, and possibly this and all 946 00:45:04,018 --> 00:45:06,018 the other information the fight master 947 00:45:06,087 --> 00:45:08,054 excludes from his manuscript is the 948 00:45:08,123 --> 00:45:10,089 answer to the image of him holding a 949 00:45:10,158 --> 00:45:12,592 broken chain. 950 00:45:12,660 --> 00:45:14,627 Could it be that Talhoffer, 951 00:45:14,696 --> 00:45:16,062 through the secrets he kept, 952 00:45:16,131 --> 00:45:18,798 is the missing link that makes his 1459 953 00:45:18,867 --> 00:45:22,034 fight book complete? 954 00:45:22,103 --> 00:45:24,070 For this manuscript offers us a glimpse 955 00:45:24,139 --> 00:45:26,472 into the violent and complicated world that 956 00:45:26,541 --> 00:45:28,074 we're only just 957 00:45:28,143 --> 00:45:30,843 beginning to truly understand.