Summary
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the British aristocracy. The Greeks gave us the word aristocracy; it takes its root from ‘aristo’, meaning best and ‘kratos’, meaning rule or power. And for more than five hundred years Britain was ruled by a class that was defined, at the time, as the best. They founded their ascendancy on the twin pillars of land and heredity and in terms of privilege, preferment, power, style and wealth, they dominated British society. As the Earl of Chesterfield confidently informed the House of Lords in the mid-18th century, “We, my lords, may thank heaven that we have something better than our brains to depend upon”. What made the British Aristocracy the one of the most successful power elites in the world? And what brought about its decline?With David Cannadine, Director of the University of London’s Institute of Historical Research and author of The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy; Rosemary Sweet, Lecturer in History at the University of Leicester; Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, Professorial Research Fellow at Queen Mary, University of London.
Transcript
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| 0:46.5 | the program. Hello the Greeks gave us the word aristocracy it takes its route from |
| 0:50.9 | Aristo meaning best and Kratos meaning rule or power. |
| 0:55.2 | And for more than 500 years, Britain was ruled by a class that was defined or defined itself |
| 0:59.8 | at the time as the best. |
| 1:01.2 | They founded their ascendancy on the twin pillars of land and |
| 1:04.1 | heredity and in terms of privilege, preferment, power, style and wealth they dominated |
| 1:09.2 | British society. As the Earl of Chesterfield confidently informed the House of Lords in the mid-18th century, |
| 1:15.0 | quote, we my Lords may thank heaven that we have something better than our brains to depend upon. |
| 1:20.0 | So what made the British aristocracy the most successful power elite in the world and what brought about their decline? |
| 1:26.0 | With me to discuss the rise and fall of the British ruling class is David Canardine, director of the University of London's Institute of Historical Research, |
| 1:32.0 | Rosemary Sweet Lecture in History at the University of London's Institute of Historical Research, Rosemary Sweet Lecture in History at the University of Leicester, and Felipe Fernandez Amesto, Professorial Research Fellow at Queen Mary College London. |
| 1:41.0 | David Canardine, first of all, in broad terms, how did the aristocracy? |
| 1:46.4 | Let's take it from, say, a thousand years ago. |
| 1:48.0 | How did it grow from the time of the Norman invasion? |
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