From Camelot to Christ [Widescreen]

Episode number 4 of Series “The Celts”.
The fourth in a six part series that discusses the history and legends of the Celtic people of Early Europe through to the year 2000. This program focuses on the Dark Ages, a time of the collapse of the Roman Empire in Britain and the impact this had on the future of the Celtic kingdoms is discussed. The removal of Roman authority in the north left the way open for fierce battles over dominant power in the Celtic kingdom. At this time the battle between the Saxons and the British began, with the ultimate success of the Saxons over the Celtic world despite the efforts of the Celtic heroes, rendered in Celtic folklore for the respite they brought for the British before the ultimate failure of their attempts to hold onto independence. One of the great figures to emerge from this time was Arthur, said to have halted the Saxon advance until the onset of the bubonic plague and the resulting disastrous effects on the British population which allowed the Saxons to conquer once again. At the same time the emergence of Christianity in Ireland is investigated in the program, with a discussion of the establishment of a veneer of the Roman Church over the already existing religious beliefs in the Celtic world and the eventual ruin of the true Celtic Church this caused.