Lost Relics of the Knights Templar
Season 2
TV-PG
Lost Relic Hunters returns to follow Hamilton White and Carl Cookson as they hunt for the secrets behind historical artefacts that could change our understanding of the past, forever.
Aided in their adventures by cultural and art historian Dr Janina Ramirez, Lost Relic Hunters sees Carl and Hamilton journey to breath-taking locations around the world, including Venice, Istanbul, Barcelona, Jerusalem and the Pyrenees in their quest to authenticate the rare and precious antiquities from Hamilton’s collection.
Aided in their adventures by cultural and art historian Dr Janina Ramirez, Lost Relic Hunters sees Carl and Hamilton journey to breath-taking locations around the world, including Venice, Istanbul, Barcelona, Jerusalem and the Pyrenees in their quest to authenticate the rare and precious antiquities from Hamilton’s collection.
5 Episodes
- The First Crusade
E1The First CrusadeCarl Cookson and Hamilton White investigate a Crusader sword and helmet that date back more than 900 years. Oxford historian Dr Janina Ramirez helps them decode the symbolism on these ancient relics to show that the sword may have been used in the First Crusade when Christian knights retook the holy city of Jerusalem, and that the helmet, embossed with the Lion of St Mark, was made in Venice. Travelling to Italy’s ‘floating city’, Carl and Hamilton learn more about how and why Venice adopted St Mark as its patron saint and went on to become a leading maritime power – eventually supplying crucial ships for the Crusades. They also discover that, on the way to Jerusalem, the Venetians chose to attack the Christian city of Constantinople to recoup losses they had sustained in building the fleet. In the archives Janina discovers a powerful and vivid first-hand account of the “Sack of Constantinople” by a government official who was living in the city at the time. - Celtic Gold
E2Celtic GoldCarl and Hamilton investigate an extraordinary collection of Celtic gold from the Iberian Peninsula that dates back thousands of years. Amongst the rare artefacts are a gold bowl worth over £1m, fine pieces of jewellery depicting the goddess Astarte, and a stone altar to the god Endovelicus which might have been used in rituals that involved blood sacrifice. Travelling to Portugal, where most of the Celtic gold is from, Carl and Hamilton meet up with Joao, their long-time local guide and collaborator. The three men travel to the site of a very rare temple devoted to Endovelicus and explore how the temple might have been used to worship the god. Carl and Hamilton meet up with forensic archaeologist and former police detective Roger Box. They want to find out more about the Roman symbolism that appears on the Celtic altar, and Roger takes them to the site of a Roman temple in the Cotswolds. - Pilgrim Warriors
E4Pilgrim WarriorsIn Hamilton’s possession is a wooden chest stuffed full of relics from medieval Christian pilgrimages. These include clamshell pendants from the Camino de Santiago in Spain and Jerusalem crosses from the Holy Land. In addition, Hamilton has two stone carvings. One is of a pilgrim clad in a cloak and carrying a book and staff; the other is very similar except that he is carrying a spear. Carl and Hamilton’s journey starts in the south of France, the traditional starting point of the Camino. They traverse the Pyrenees, stopping off at key landmarks like Charlemagne’s Cross, where pilgrims lay tributes and say prayers to St James. Descending the other side of the Pyrenees and crossing into Spain, Carl and Hamilton come to a strategic castle that was a flashpoint during the bloody war fought between Christian and Muslim forces for control of this region in the Middle Ages.
