Good morning guys. It's day two of our road trip
through Northern England, and right now it is dawn
on the "Holy Island of Lindisfarne."
In this episode we're going to be showing you guys
England's early christian past by visiting three amazing places:
Lindisfarne, Durham Cathedral, and the ruins of Fountain Abbey.
Ready to hit it? Let's do it.
So we got here this morning right as the sun was rising.
And
as we said this is a tidal island
so the causeway, the only way to get on and off
the island is when the tide is low.
You can really feel
the serenity of this place.
Yesterday we finished our episode with the retreat of
the Romans from Britain.
After the Romans left in 410,
Britain started becoming christianized,
and a lot of that had to do with this place right here
because Northumbria at that time
was a very, very powerful kingdom
and the king invited Saint Aidan,
a monk from Ireland, to come here
and set up a Celtic christian monastery.
You might remember from our episode series on Ireland
that the Irish monks living in these isolated
monasteries were fundamental in continuing
western culture during the fall of the Roman Empire.
They would write books that were part works of art
but also crucial transcriptions of important text.
This became a center of learning,
and all that starting to change when the Vikings arrived.
So you guys might recognize this place from
the opening scene of Vikings, the television show.
In AD 793 the Vikings arrived.
The first thing that they did in England was
ransack, raid, pillage, and burn
this monastery to the ground.
And you have to imagine in AD 793
it would have been similar.
There would have been monks living here,
and on a morning maybe like this one,
ships appeared on the horizon.
And the next thing you know, the arrival of the Vikings.
They sacked this place, and it began basically
the conquest of Northern England by the Vikings.
Right now the tide is rising, and in about 20 minutes, we're not going
to be able to get back across to the mainland.
And so it's time to say good bye to Lindisfarne.
It's a beautiful place. We'd like to come back here and
spend some more time. If you are ever
in the area, you should most certainly
come and stop over at Lindisfarne.
Big splash!
We're going to make a quick little detour on the way
to Durham. Right now we're at Bamburgh Castle
This is kind of cool.
This is a bucket list for me
This is one of the best preserved castles in the UK
They call it the "King of Castles"
Before I came on this trip I started reading a series
of books called, "The Saxon Stories"
by Bernard Cromwell. They're really good.
I don't know if any of you guys has read those books.
If you have, say what's up in the comment box.
But basically it tells the story of a guy named Uhtred
And this was his castle.
But he gets captured as a young child by the Vikings
and spends his whole life fighting the Vikings
and trying to recapture this castle.
I had this image in my imagination
of what it would be like,
and it's definitely surpassing that.
It's incredible.
What a fortress.
I was born a Saxon lord in Bebbanburg
My father was slain, and I was captured by Vikings
and raised by Ragnar Lothbrockson
in the way of the Danes, as a warrior.
My uncle, the usurper, stole what was rightfully mine.
And now, I have come to reclaim my castle,
Bebbanburg
I've never read these books that Alex is obsessed with,
but what I find crazy is that at some point there would
have been Scandanavian kings in castles like these
across the north of England.
You know what I never put together?
In high school we had to read the English epic,
the true sense of the word, Beowulf.
It's basically the first written myth in English.
It's the genesis of English culture
and the birth of the language
and the people, you could say that.
But what's weird about it is that it actually takes place
with Danes and basically takes place in Scandinavia.
That's because the people who were living here
in England, although the language was old English,
they actually had strong connections with Scandinavia
because of the Viking heritage.
But what I don't get, maybe you can help me explain.
The Beowulf story was so strange.
There's just this guy who is a chill king.
He's having a party of mead
He just wants to have a mead hall
invite his knights to party and feast
But monsters don't care about that
And then Grendel, the biggest joy kill ever.
Until he has to call Beowulf,
He's like, who can I call?
Not Ghostbusters
I call Beowulf. I call Grendall killer
And then epic battle pursues,
and Beowulf becomes the chill king in the end.
They should have just invited Grendell
to the party in the first place,
and then he wouldn't have been so pissed off.
Sorry, you're a bit too weird for our party.
We're going to dive more into Viking mythology
tomorrow. Teaser.
But we must continue onwards to Durham.
Go for it.
Okey dokey, Willie.
Are you going back inside? No.
You're not allowed inside. What are you doing?
Durham Cathedral was built in honor of St. Cuthburt
St Cuthburt was Bishop of Lindisfarne
in 7th century, eleven years after his death,
his body was translated - basically dug up,
and they found that it was incorrupt
so it hadn't rotted away.
And because of that, that affirmed his saintly status.
When the Vikings came to Lindisfarne,
the monks fled with his body and ended up
here eventually.
Building started in 1093, and it only took
forty years to complete the whole cathedral
We're inside the nave of the church right now,
and it is incredible.
I'm not particularly religious, but I'm definitely spiritual.
I think that in a place like this, it doesn't matter what
religion you are. You can come in here and be awed by
the architecture.
I love just walking in here and looking up.
I'm pretty sure that's what the architects wanted you to do.
I think it's the original definition of awesome
because it inspires awe.
When they designed these cathedrals, they're super big,
and that is to transmit the idea
that you are humble before God,
and it certainly does that.
There is also a connection between here
and the next place that we're going.
England was really changed in the 16th century
when they had what they called the "Reformation,"
which was basically Henry the Eighth
becoming a protestant, not a catholic.
But the next place we're going is very, very much tied
to that history of the Reformation.
We're going to Fountain's Abbey.
Fountain's Abbey was not so lucky.
It did not survive the Reformation,
and it's now in ruins.
But we only have about an hour until the sun goes down
and it's about an hour's drive. So, are you ready to hit it?
Let's do it.
Right now we're wondering around
this amazing UNESCO World Heritage Site
and we're alone.
The only things here to hang out with us
are some pheasants.
How you feeling, Bro?
I'm feeling completely awed by this.
This is a huge complex.
The monks who came here were looking for a life of solitude
and I think that really resonates a lot with travelers
these days because life is so crazy.
Standing in these structures, they're enormous,
in the middle of nowhere,
it really does give you a sense of piece and tranquility.
Let's you reflect on everything that we've seen so far.
It's hard to imagine that someone would
destroy this place.
Protestants, catholics,
very big difference back in the day.
But today the one thing we have in common
is that our lives are going super fast.
A lot of people could come out here and chill out
and feel these vibes.
I think we should have a party here one day.
We'll raise money for the national trust
have a big keg party
D.J going over here, dance floor over there.
I think it's a good idea.
I think that is just so against everything this place
is built for. Yeah, I know.
But it's a nice idea. It would be fun.
All right, guys. It's been an amazing journey
across time, space, and history of England.
Our road trip across Northern England continues tomorrow.
We're going to the Viking festival in York
because that is a thing, and we're going to
get dressed up and have an amazing time.
So stay tuned for that.
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