By the Sword Divided

good evening. Tonight I am Alastair Cook. We kick off a 9-part series with the latest from John Hawkesworth and several of his writing team first conquering American TV with upstairs and downstairs. This latest production also tells the story of a family that started out as close and united as the Bellamies. But the Bellamies are almost a society in themselves. The Lacey family is the epitome of British society during the English Civil War in the 17th century. The upheaval across England was as devastating and chaotic as the American Civil War, but also tragic. Opponents on the one hand and Parliament on the other. Although the people who took part in the war were recruited from all levels of the county, there were noble merchants, peasants, mechanics, and merchants on both sides. Although you could say that the person who most regretted breaking with Rome's religion was on the king's side. And most Protestants sided with the parliament. In May 1640, a year later, we begin this fascinating and appalling chapter of British history. Charles I, who has been on the throne for 15 years, has been at odds with Parliament, mainly because of his habit of collecting taxes arbitrarily without parliamentary permission to fight lost wars in Spain and now in Scotland. Whenever Parliament rejected his legal right to the money, he dismissed it. Well, these troubles and the catastrophe they are about to erupt, are now on hold, if not forgotten in the home of a Sir Martin Lacey, who seems to have married his eldest daughter to a young lawyer, who is the son of a self-made shipping company tycoon in the North Country, and doesn't have much hope of betrothing his young daughter to the son of an earl whom she neither loves nor likes. We had these touching preliminaries at Arnescote at Lacey Castle in May 1540. Divided by Swords Episode 1.

"Summer 1641" "This War Without Enemy" The English Civil War was fought between King Charles I and Parliament to decide whether the king should remain absolute monarch, which was free to ignore as long as Parliament refused to legitimize his wishes. In the summer of 1641, both sides were gathering armies. Sir Martin Lacy lamented the king's power to tax, but he was the king's man. However, his eldest daughter is married to a lawyer, John Fletcher, who is a member of Parliament. In one of the last quiet months at Sir Martin Lacey's home, Anescott Castle, his son Tom prepares to join the King's army.

"Drums", September 1642 The parliamentary army secured London with great wealth and material possessions. The King retreated to the Thames and established his field headquarters in Oxford. He was in desperate need of money, and his sympathizers had begun to turn in their silver plates and other valuables to be sold abroad. We arrive at Annescott, the family mansion of Sir Martin Lacy, to find him badly wounded and now out of the fight for good. But he is using his castle as a receiving center to receive the silver platters secretly delivered to him by sympathetic country neighbors, and equally secretly delivered to the king. Meanwhile, Sir Martin's son Tom is a professional soldier in the King's Army, while his youngest daughter Lucinda maintains the family's royalist ties. But his eldest daughter, Anne, is married to lawyer John Fletcher, an MP, and sooner or later they will have to take their own family's hostile stance.

"1643" "Silver Moon" Sir Martin Lacy and his son Tom were the king's men. His eldest daughter and her husband John Fletcher sided with parliament. The Lacey family has been secretly collecting silver plates donated by royalist sympathizers to send to the King of Oxford to add to his dwindling finances. The Roundhead troops inevitably descend upon the family mansion, Arnescote, to find and seize the silver, leaving John Fletcher to watch as his side being rude the family he is married to.

"June 1644" "Edge of the Sword" Civil War-wounded veteran Sir Martin Lacey is determined to make his castle Annescott a haven for stranded Royalist soldiers. The place has been raided by the Roundheads looking for silver plates collected to help the king's finances. The king was driven back to gain a firm footing in Oxford. With poor courage Sir Martin and his son Tom round up servants, a few old men, to form a small army to fortify the castle against some sort of round-headed attack.

1645 "Outrageous Fortune" family mansion Annescott prepares to be besieged by roundhead troops. Sir Martin Lacy had several royalist troops, servants and a few old men in his defence. He heard that the house of his eldest daughter Swinford had been invaded by a group of Royalist deserters, while her husband was in Parliament in London. Anne, a determined round-headed man, was in great danger, so her brother Tom rode to Swinford on horseback. There, he trained royalist soldiers and even fought a duel with a soldier to stop Anne from being raped. At Tom's insistence, despite Anne's protests, he forcibly took her to Anescott, which Anne believed was enemy territory. With Anne as virtual prisoners, Sir Martin and Tom prepare for the siege, although they realize that the royalist soldiers and the neighbouring parish are busy doing their own thing, not realizing that the round-headed soldiers are searching the country.

"September 1645" "Sea of Danger" The head of the royalist family, Sir Martin Lacey, is preparing to fortify his castle against an imminent attack by parliamentary forces. His military supplies were scarce, his food supply was scarce, and his defense consisted of servants, grooms, butlers, and a professional soldier, his son Tom. A whistleblower told the Roundheads about the location of the castle and the hunger of the defenders. Tom is in charge and plans to steal a cannon from Camp Roundhead.

The September 1645 "ring of fire" and "from the ashes" parliamentary attack on Anescott was a dirty, bloody little battle in which the family patriarch, Sir Martin Lacy, was killed by Colonel Marsh. Sir Martin's son Tom inherited the baronetcy and title as Sir Thomas Lacey. His first thing was to beg for the burial of his father in accordance with family and Church of England's tradition. Parliament ordered the sale of Anescott, but Cromwell had more ruthless plans for the castle.

June 1647 "Not Peace, But a Sword" The war ended. The king has lost and been detained. Lacey's rebellious daughter Anne stood out before her father, her brother, her family and sided with Parliament and is now the mistress of the family's Anescott Castle. Anescott welcomes its new owner and attempts to heal the wounds of the war, but the army's mutiny threatens the peace between the king and parliament.

June 1647. The War is over. The Fletchers settle into the castle, but Roundheads and Mistress Protheroe are ever present. Leveller soldiers demand back pay and Parliament for all People. There is rumour of what is to be done with the King.