The British History Podcast

In this episode we delve into the tumultuous reign of King Gruffydd ap Cynan of Gwynedd and the political intricacies of William’s relationship with Matilda and his ambitious half-brother, Bishop Odo. It is an intricate web of power struggles, betrayals, and shifting dynamics between church and state that will only grow more complex and dangerous. […]

The post 443 – We’re Bigger Than Jesus first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Norman interventionism into their neighbors was only just beginning… and the events at Mynydd Carn gave them just the excuse they needed.

The post 442 – Mynydd Carn first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Tensions rise as rebellion and violence sweep through Northumbria. As news of the uprising reaches the south, King William, though initially absent, takes action and sends his half-brother, Bishop Odo, to deal with it. Odo’s reputation for cruelty was well earned and the people of Durham suffer greatly at his hands. In the midst of […]

The post 441 – God Bothering first appeared on The British History Podcast.

King Malcolm and the Scots have been raiding the northern reaches of England, leaving the Northumbrians to deal with the aftermath. Meanwhile, William is not speaking to his son Robert and is spreading rumors about him to anyone who will listen. Robert’s enemies are enjoying the show, but not everyone is amused. The powerful members […]

The post 440 – This is Fine first appeared on The British History Podcast.

William, the Duke of Normandy and King of England, has been humiliated by his son Robert. Despite years of mocking and disrespect from William, Robert has defeated him in battle and spared his life. This has weakened William physically and reputationally. Meanwhile, Robert travels through Europe, attending tournaments and gaining support from powerful nobles who […]

The post 439 – Juggling Responsibilities first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In a fit of rebellion, Robert, the eldest son of William the Conqueror, marches out on his own, defying his father and seeking adventure. However, reality sets in as he realizes the challenges and consequences of his actions. With the support of his companions, who are wealthy and politically connected, Robert launches a rebellion against […]

The post 438 – Robert’s Rebellion first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Crown Prince Robert and his knights had been humiliated by Rufus and Henry and the royal hall erupts into chaos. This unprecedented public disgrace challenges the honor culture deeply ingrained in Norman society, sparking outrage and a quest for vengeance. The altercation underscores a volatile rivalry within the royal family, exposing deep-seated tensions and ambitions […]

The post 437 – Everyone’s Pissed first appeared on The British History Podcast.

William the Conqueror, preferring Normandy over England, spends his later reign focusing on continental politics and property disputes, often resolving them personally alongside his politically influential wife, Matilda. Meanwhile, their heir Robert grows increasingly frustrated by his limited role and lack of authority within his family’s dominion, feeling sidelined in critical military and political decisions. […]

The post 436 – Taking the Piss first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In the turmoil of William the Conqueror’s reign, Waltheof, the last English-born Earl, becomes entangled in a complex web of loyalty, rebellion, and the pursuit of justice. His long imprisonment and eventual execution for alleged treason showcase the intricate dance between Norman law and the expectations of nobility, highlighting the deep divisions and political maneuvers […]

The post 435 – Trials and Tribulations first appeared on The British History Podcast.

As William the Conqueror’s sons grow, their future roles and the weight of their lineage come into sharp focus. Robert, William’s eldest, faces disappointment and tension with his father, revealing cracks in their relationship and Robert’s struggle for recognition and Normandy’s control. Richard, the second son, embodies the chivalric ideal but meets a tragic fate […]

The post 434 – The Boys first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In 1075, King Bleddyn of Gwynedd and Powys, a formidable leader aiming for Welsh unification, finds himself embroiled in a complex web of power struggles. His aspirations clash with King Caradog and the turbulent politics of southwestern Wales. Amidst these tensions, King Bleddyn is cunningly assassinated in a meeting, plunging Gwynedd into a succession crisis. […]

The post 433 – North Wales: I Love Mess first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Here’s a 15 minute sample of what we’re talking about on the Member’s feed.

The post Bonus Episode on Courtliness first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In 1075, Earl Roger and Earl Ralph lead a significant rebellion against King William, spurred by personal grievances and political ambitions. This insurrection, ignited at a wedding, quickly evolves into a major crisis, challenging the king’s authority. The plot thickens with Waltheof’s involvement, revealing intricate alliances and betrayals among the nobility. The uprising, marked by […]

The post 432 – The Revolt of the Earls first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In 1075, amidst the backdrop of William’s strained relations with England and his noble court, a grand wedding intertwines political machinations with matrimonial celebration. Earl Roger and Ralph de Gael, leveraging their noble statuses and familial connections, conspire to challenge William’s authority. Their plot, hatched under the guise of marital bliss, seeks to capitalize on […]

The post 431 – The Gang Has A Wedding first appeared on The British History Podcast.

As King William navigates the complexities of ruling England, he faces the challenges of governance, church reforms, and foreign affairs with mixed outcomes. His interactions with the newly installed continental clergy and the ecclesiastical restructuring reflect his struggles with power dynamics, cultural integration, and administrative burdens. William’s ventures into Maine and dealings with internal and […]

The post 430 – Is It Good To Be King? first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In 1072, the landscape of power in England and Normandy is tumultuous, with William’s conquest still facing resistance. King Malcolm III of Scotland, with ties to the English throne through his marriage to Margaret, sister of Edgar the Ætheling, poses a subtle threat to William. This period sees a blending of cultural and political norms […]

The post 429 – Power Brokers and Power Breakers first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Five years post-Hastings, England remains embroiled in resistance against William’s rule, witnessing widespread rebellions across its towns and cities. Despite facing unrelenting opposition, William’s ruthless strategies and disregard for societal norms have enabled him to maintain control. His actions reveal not just a desire for kingship but an imperial ambition, aiming to forge a new […]

The post 428 – Tightening the Grip first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Hereward’s audacious demands for ransom, his tactical raids, and the legendary encounter with Saint Peter reflect his complex role in resisting Norman domination. The narrative blends historical events with folklore, showcasing Hereward’s defiance against Norman oppression through strategic captures, demands for exorbitant ransoms, and subsequent retaliatory actions against betrayals. The tale embodies the merging of […]

The post 427 – Hereward: Back Into the Mist first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In 1071, amidst the backdrop of Norman conquest and resistance, the narrative unfolds around the tragic fall of the English nobility and the calamitous effects of William’s policies. This year witnesses the catastrophic fallout from the Battle of Cassel, where pivotal Norman figures, entangled in Flemish civil strife, suffer greatly. Simultaneously, William’s manipulation of English […]

The post 426 – Everyone Has Their Limits first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In 1071, the betrayal by Abbot Thurstan to William, revealing Ely’s defenses, marks a pivotal moment in Hereward’s resistance. Despite starvation and siege hardships, Hereward’s refusal to surrender underscores his unyielding spirit against Norman dominance. William’s struggle to amass a willing army for the final assault, due to past failures, reveals his reliance on promises […]

The post 425 – Hereward: The Fall of Ely first appeared on The British History Podcast.

As the siege of Ely intensifies, the story takes unexpected turns with witchcraft, cultural beliefs in the power of water as a spiritual portal, and Hereward’s tactical mastery against Norman forces. William’s repeated failures to breach Ely, despite superior numbers and resources, underscore the resilience and ingenuity of the defenders. The narrative delves into the […]

The post 424 – Hereward: ft. Judas Priest first appeared on The British History Podcast.

William’s efforts to conquer Ely, hindered by the resourceful Hereward, climax with a bold yet flawed strategy involving commandeering all boats for a siege. The narrative weaves through a series of mishaps, including an incendiary sabotage by Hereward, resulting in a disastrous loss for the Normans. This account not only highlights the cunning and resilience […]

The post 423 – Hereward: The Lion, The Witch, and the War Hero first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Hereward the Wake, embodying the essence of a folk hero, engages in a daring operation to infiltrate King William’s camp, armed with only his wit and courage. Disguised as a potter, he navigates through enemy lines, gathering intelligence on the King’s plans. Despite the threat of exposure and the dire consequences of his mission, Hereward’s […]

The post 422 – Hereward: The Man, the Myth, The Legend first appeared on The British History Podcast.

King William’s siege of Ely, motivated by Hereward’s defiance, epitomizes the struggle between Norman conquest and English resistance. William’s frustration peaks as he witnesses Hereward not just surviving but thriving, bolstering his legend. The king’s attempts to storm Ely through a makeshift causeway and incentivized bravery culminate in a disastrous and almost comical failure, as […]

The post 421 – The Wake at Ely first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Hereward’s raid on Peterborough and subsequent alliance with Danish forces highlight a critical phase in his resistance against Norman oppression. Seeking to protect the Abbey’s wealth from Norman plunder, Hereward’s actions inadvertently lead to the town’s devastation and capture of monks, complicating his mission. This episode reflects the complex interplay of politics, loyalty, and strategy, […]

The post 420 – The Wake and the Earl first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Hereward the Wake, a figure of enigmatic life and legendary prowess, reemerges into the historical narrative with stories filled with feuds, exile, and resistance against Norman oppression. After a period of political turmoil, he returns to England to avenge the injustices against his family by the Normans, showcasing his military skill and leadership. Hereward’s actions […]

The post 419 – The Wake at Peterborough first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Following the Harrying of the North, King William’s grueling campaign through the Pennines during winter reflects the harsh conditions faced by his army, marred by low morale, severe weather, and logistical nightmares. Despite these challenges, William’s strategic manipulation and insistence on pushing forward underscore his determination to consolidate power. The campaign, marked by extreme violence […]

The post 418 – God’s Chosen first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In the aftermath of William the Conqueror’s devastating Harrying of the North, King Malcolm III of Scotland seizes the opportunity to raid Northern England, capitalizing on the chaos and destruction. Amid the scorched earth and displacement caused by William’s campaign, Malcolm’s forces engage in systematic pillaging, exploiting the vulnerability of the English countryside. The narrative […]

The post 417 – The (far more than four) Horsemen first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In 1069, William the Conqueror’s brutal campaign, known as the Harrying of the North, devastates Yorkshire and surrounding areas. This scorched-earth strategy aims to quash northern rebellions, leading to widespread destruction, famine, and a significant reduction in population. The campaign, criticized even by contemporaries for its ruthlessness, leaves a lasting impact on the region, altering […]

The post 416 – The Harrying of the North first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In 1069, William the Conqueror faces a strategic nightmare as his march north is stymied by natural obstacles and a well-coordinated Danish-led resistance. The rebels’ tactical use of geography, destroying bridges and leveraging seasonal weather, forces William into a difficult position. Amidst a backdrop of widespread rebellion and a lack of local support, William’s attempts […]

The post 415 – Cry Me a River first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In 1069, the victory at York ignites widespread rebellion across England, challenging Norman dominance. The English, bolstered by alliances with the Danes, leverage this triumph to inspire uprisings, symbolizing a significant shift in resistance against Norman control. This period highlights a critical juncture where experienced leadership emerges, altering the dynamics of English resistance. The narrative […]

The post 414 – The Uprising first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In the fall of 1069, King Swegn of Denmark launches an invasion of England with a massive fleet, motivated by ambition and the lure of wealth rather than revenge for Hastings. Despite the impressive size of the invading force, their raids along the English coast face unexpected resistance, leading to a series of repelled attacks […]

The post 413 – The D first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Harold Godwinson’s sons, continuing their family’s tradition of piracy, return to England with a fleet from Ireland to challenge the crown. Despite the questionable success of this approach in the past, they inflict generational damage on the southern English coast, highlighting a mix of political motivation and opportunistic plunder. The campaign, however, ends disastrously for […]

The post 412 – The B Word first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The 1069 turmoil in the North of England sees a chaotic blend of failed leadership, noble mismanagement, and dramatic confrontations with King William. A successful rebellion quickly disintegrates into a farcical retreat as English nobles, initially seizing the moment, falter spectacularly in their strategic endeavors. William, seemingly untroubled, returns to his southern domain, throwing an […]

The post 411 – Tell it to St. Peter first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In 1069, William the Conqueror’s sudden assault on York with a formidable army takes the city by surprise, exploiting strategies learned from previous battles. The city’s defenders, comprising mostly non-combatants, are thrown into chaos, highlighting the harsh realities of warfare on civilian populations. The narrative further delves into the political complexities of the time, including […]

The post 410 – The F Word first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In 1068, a pivotal moment unfolds in Northumbria, where the assassination of Earl Robert at Durham sparks a large-scale rebellion against Norman rule. This event signifies a shift in English resistance, transforming disparate uprisings into a coordinated army ready for rebellion. The construction of a castle in Durham underlines the strategic shift, emphasizing preparedness and […]

The post 409 – The First Sparks first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Happy New Year!  It was 1069… nice… and as the new year dawned…things in England were getting a bit weird.

The post 408 – Kerosene first appeared on The British History Podcast.

I feel for the English commoners in the late 1060’s.  They had nothing to do with the arrival of the Normans… everything they suffered was the result of the actions of the nobles.  Exclusively.  

The post 407 – Robbing the Hood first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In early 1068… as William was preparing for the tactical Coronation of Matilda…  the three sons of Harold Godwinson were in Ireland. They had come to meet with King Diarmad of Dublin and prepare  an invasion force to re-take England.

The post 406 – King’s Rook Takes Pawn first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Here is the beginning of Hereward the Wake.  And to tell this story, we have to begin with the legend, because nothing in this story is straightforward. Probably because at least some of it is true. 

The post 405 – Hereward the Wake: The Bourne Identity first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Gytha and her supporters had fled into the Severn Estuary, and it was the final nail in the coffin of the Exeter rebellion. With no help coming, they were forced to negotiate a peace. But this wasn’t exactly a victory for William, either. He’d been on the throne for scarcely over a year, and he’d […]

The post 404 – The Coronation of Queen Matilda first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Exeter stood in open defiance against William and his army.

The post 403 – The Siege of Exeter first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Earl Osulf II of Bamburgh was a Northumbrian, and he had earned his seat ruling over the region North of the Tyne in true Northumbrian fashion. 

The post 402 – Fire Sale first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Last week we left off with Dover with some good old fashioned french on french violence… Count Eustace had attacked and attempted to seize the Southern Town… and lost. In fact, he had lost so badly that his poor young nephew (who had never fought in battle before but, trusting his uncle, joined him on […]

The post 401 – Norms and Normans first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Feudalism had officially come to England, courtesy of the Normans…

The post 400 – William: This is Fine first appeared on The British History Podcast.

1067 was a time of incredible change within England. Fortresses were being constructed everywhere. Existing fortresses were seized and then manned by foreign mercenaries. Estates and farms in the surrounding areas were being seized and handed over to many of these same foreigners.

The post 399 – Into the Wild first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Do you remember the holy man who asked Edgar the AEtheling to confirm him as the Abbot of Peterborough, just after the Battle of Hastings? Well, that guy’s name was Brand. The previous Abbot of Peterborough, Leofric, had actually marched to Hastings with Harold. But Leofric didn’t make it. So the job fell to Brand, […]

The post 398 – William: Winning Friends and Influencing People Is For Suckers first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It was Christmas Day of 1066 and England was crowning it’s new King. In celebration, the King’s men…heavily armed and backed by divine authority, were going from building to building… taking whatever they wanted, doing whatever they felt like to the people inside, and then lighting it all  on fire. The first act of Norman […]

The post 397 – William: The Devil Inside first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Duke William was experienced at wielding terror.  Whether he was at home or on campaign, William often employed terror tactics. The people of France were well aware of this, and now the English were learning his skill first hand. 

The post 396 – King William I of England first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It was autumn of 1066 and after weeks of deliberation, political wrangling, and arguing the English nobility had finally selected their next King. This may seem like a long time, considering there was a whole invasion happening at the time. And it was. But, to be fair, the politics were very confusing.

The post 395 – Rearranging the Deck chairs on HMS England first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The Battle of Hastings had been brutal – even for the Normans. The invading army had suffered terrible losses.

The post 394 – Godwinson’s Revenge first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Here is how you probably heard the story of the Battle of Hastings. William the Conqueror boarded a ship, won a battle at Hastings, and was crowned King.  Kingdom. Conqueror. Conquered.

The post 393 – To Kill a Legend first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Chaos. The orderly rhythm of attacks… and the steady wall of the war hedge had dissolved, and it was replaced by a raging melee.

The post 392 – The Night is Dark and Full of Terrors first appeared on The British History Podcast.

A New Shoptalk Just Dropped

The post A Quick Update From Zee first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The King is dead. 

The post Chapter Nine – The Normans first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Stamford Bridge had been a nightmare.  Thousands of dead… untold numbers of wounded. And the fallout was just beginning. All over Britain, all over Europe, families would slowly be learning the fate of their loved ones. Word was spreading across England and up to Orkney. Out to Flanders, and Norway.

The post 391 – The Battle of Hastings first appeared on The British History Podcast.

King Harold, his Huscarls, and the fyrd of Wessex were driving north as fast as they could.

The post 390 – Stamford Bridge first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The shores of Saint Valery must have been quite the sight. Looking at the records, which discuss the size of this fleet and other notes that let us estimate the size of the original fleet launched from the River Dives, and comparing those to the records of the fleet following it’s mooring at Saint Valery…historians […]

The post 389 – The Tyrant and the Muddy Crossing first appeared on The British History Podcast.

We left off in the Court of Harald Hardrada. And you probably feel like you know a lot about this man by now. There’s the stories about the empress, and his time as a Varagian, and about his reputation as a seductive warrior poet. And all of the “oh my god this guy is hot” […]

The post 388 – The Stupid Before The Storm first appeared on The British History Podcast.

War was coming.  That much was clear.

The post 387 – The Douche is Cast first appeared on The British History Podcast.

William had secured his promises.  Each Baron and lesser noble of Normandy swore to serve him faithfully and take part the invasion of  England.  And William made sure the nerds wrote every single oath down on paper.

The post 386 – God’s Messenger first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Ok nerds, take this down. Dear Harry, I was saddened to hear of King Edward’s death. but, I am writing to inform you that my beloved cousin promised me the throne a while back. Don’t worry if this is news to you, it was a secret so I understand if you are a little surprised. […]

The post 385 – The Audacity of Boats first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Edward was dead. Harold was King. Edith was sidelined. And as far as the Vita Edwardii was concerned, this was the moment where the wheels came completely off the wagon.

The post 384 – King Harold Godwinson first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Christmas of 1065 would have been a grim affair. And as 1066 approached, the Court was likely consumed with anxiety. The King was childless and the throne was being eyed from all sides by foreign dynasties and, according to sources like William of Poitiers, the King had been terribly ill for quite some time. Poitiers […]

The post 383 – The Death of King Edward first appeared on The British History Podcast.

A 14th century monk made it weird. Or Wyrd? I dunno… it’s weirdly wyrd, though.

The post 2021 Halloween Special first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It was 1065.  And King Edward was falling ever more ill.

The post 382 – Bros Before Thrones first appeared on The British History Podcast.

After the traitorous murder of King Gruffydd,  Harold returned to England victorious… and as for Wales.  Well, their King had been assassinated and their lands were carved up between rival nobles who were subservient to England.

The post 381 – Weekend at William’s first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Up in the hills of Snowdonia, pinned between the sea and the English midlands, King Gruffydd fought against the invading forces of the Godwinsons.  And he was giving the English such a hard time that even  the Life of King Edward admits it in the record.

The post 380 – Everybody Is Killing Everybody Else And Nobody Is Talking About It: Part 3 first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Earl AElfgar and his alliance with King Gruffydd of Wales was likely the one true barrier that stood between Harold Godwinson and the throne of England.

The post 379 – Everybody Is Killing Everybody Else And Nobody Is Talking About It: Part 2 first appeared on The British History Podcast.

On the year 1059, there is an enigmatic entry in the Welsh Chronicle.

The post 378 – Everybody is killing everybody else and no one is talking about it first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Water, and the ability to control water ways, was an important aspect in the Welsh imagination. In fact, the importance of Welsh power on the seas even appears in the Mabinogion.

The post 377 – The King of Wales first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Things are moving quickly in our story, now. Pieces are moving into place, and the board is shifting rapidly. Thanks to the benefit of hindsight, we can see where this is going and see how these events are leading to a calamity in just a few years.

The post 376 – Lost Years and Lost Lands first appeared on The British History Podcast.

For the first time in a long time, Wales was experiencing a time of internal peace, thanks in large part to its unification under King Gruffydd.

The post 375 – Life and Death Politics. But Mostly Death. first appeared on The British History Podcast.

1055 had been an absolutely crazy year. But, for the Godwinsons, it hadn’t been all bad. Having clearly given up on King Edward, Queen Edith was now fully on team Godwinson and bending all of her political and diplomatic talent towards advancing her brother’s positions…and since then they’d made significant advancements with large numbers of […]

The post 374 – Be Careful What You Wish For first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Earl AElfgar was having a rough time. The clergy and local lords of East Anglia had never really warmed up to him since his appointment to the post in 1053. Their loyalty to Harold went so deep that we can still see evidence of their loyalty to the House of Godwin in surviving records.

The post 373 – The First King first appeared on The British History Podcast.

If I could interview one figure from this period, I think it would be Queen Edith. That woman had a WEIRD life. She was married off to a King. Then she watched that King try to destroy her family…As thanks she got stuffed into a nunnery by said King… then got to watch as her […]

The post 372 – Hostile Takeover first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Godwin was dead, and now Harold Godwinson found himself leading the family. Befitting this new role, he was due to inherit the wealthy and politically potent Earldom of Wessex. His father’s Earldom. And according to the Vita Edwardi, the Kingdom rejoiced at Harold’s impending promotion.

The post 371 – Naked Ambition first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Earl Godwin and his family were back, baby.   Well, mostly.

The post 370 – Breaking Bread first appeared on The British History Podcast.

This is an old one, but it was specifically requested. Please forgive the audio quality and delivery.

The post Bonus Episode from the Archive: The Poet’s Curse first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When you come at the King, you best not miss… and now the Godwins had the King of France and the Holy Roman Emperor acting as their surrogates while they were constructing no less than two invasion fleets just off of two separate English coasts … which means Edward probably realized he had went at […]

The post 369 – Move or You Will Be Moved: Part 4 first appeared on The British History Podcast.

“O happy earl, in bairns and forebears blessedSiring four guarantors of England’s peace.First, Edith, gem-link on the kingdom’s brest,All virtues’ friend, fit daughter for the earl,Her sire, and also her spouse, the king;By her advice peace wraps the kingdom roundAnd Keeps mankind from breaking pacts of peace.Thus from your single fount, O Paradise,You part in […]

The post 368 – Move or You Will Be Moved: Part 3 first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Swegn Godwinson was exiled….again. Only this time it was for life. As that judgment came down, the Godwins must have realized they had been maneuvered into blind dependence on the King’s mercy.

The post 367 – Move, or You Will Be Moved Part 2 first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The summer of 1051 must have felt like some sort of nightmare. A French aristocrat rode into Dover, picked a fight and then slaughtered the townsfolk. And that man’s cousin, the King of England, told the townsfolk’s lord (Earl Godwin of Wessex) to go back and finish the job…by butchering his own people on behalf […]

The post 366 – Move, or You Will Be Moved: Part 1 first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In 1050, Thorrfinn the Jarl of Orkney went to Rome. And no trip to Rome is complete without a visit with the Pope. And when Thorrfin had his meeting, we’re told that Pope personally absolved the Jarl’s sins.

The post 365 – The Red Cliffs of Dover first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Complex societies are able to do incredible things.  By having an interconnected civilization, with people from all over the place contributing to it, people are able to specialize… and that specialization allows for entire classes of people who can do things that would be impossible if they had to meet their own basic needs all […]

The post 364 – Reconciliation first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Piece by piece, the board was being set for a comeback. The Godwin family had been thrown from power decades ago. But Godwin knew how to be patient and grind it out. And now he was back on top, the second most powerful person in England.

The post 363 – Treason! first appeared on The British History Podcast.

History is just the story of humans across time. Therefore, like humanity, history is varied, it’s emotional, it’s complex. And often it’s just f*cking messy.

The post 362 – Meet the Godwins first appeared on The British History Podcast.

King Edward came to England with a political migraine.

The post 361 – W A Poet first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In 1040, while England was dealing with the chaos of Harthacnut’s reign and the threat of yet another succession mess, Scotland was dealing with its own set of problems. The northern Kingdom just lost its king. And that wasn’t anything new for Scotland… their Kings rarely lasted long.

The post 360 – The Long Game first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In 1040, England once again had a new King. But England was finding Harthacnut a tough pill to swallow.

The post 359 – Play Autocrat Games; Win Autocrat Prizes first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Happy Halloween!

The post The Witch of Fife first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Today’s story starts in 1039. It’s a big year, and a lot has happened to get us here. So let’s recap very quickly. The death of Cnut caused a cascade of consequences that reached up to the tip of Scotland and even into the continent. It was an empire crumbling just as it had been […]

The post 358 – King Harthacnut first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The early 11th century was an unlikely time of heroes. By heroes I unfortunately don’t mean people of good character and brave deeds, but just people who perform extraordinary feats for their time. One of these was the very first King of Wales, Gruffudd ap Llewelyn.

The post 357 – Walter Map’s Courtly Trifles first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Here is the story of Macbeth. If you have just tuned into this episode because of the title, know that it is the second episode in a two-part series. You will want to go to the previous episode, Double Double Toil and Trouble, and listen to that first. There you will learn about the peculiar region that spawned this shadowy highland King.

The post 356 – Macbeth first appeared on The British History Podcast.

As we have been covering the Dark Ages, we have been at the mercy of the scribes. If they don’t write something down, there is almost no way for us to know about it. One of the biggest casualties in this dynamic has been Scotland.

The post 355 – Double, Double Toil and Trouble first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The death of Cnut and the fall of his near-Empire would obviously have impacts on his own dynasty. But while Harold was trying to secure England, Emma was trying to regain power, and poor Edward was trying to stay out of the whole mess, the political tsunami was roaring over the shores of the Irish […]

The post 354 – The West, after Cnut first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The Medieval chronicler, Adam of Bremen, was writing at around this point in history and among the many things he tells us he also includes how Cnut planned his almost empire. And Adam tells us that Cnut intended Sweyn to rule Norway, Harthacnut to rule Denmark, and Harold Harefoot to rule England. And that might […]

The post 353 – Mother of the Year first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It was November 11 of 1035 and King Cnut was dead. He was buried at Winchester Cathedral. Cnut, and likely the Court, seemed to anticipate his death. Possibly because he had been ill for some time. But the ruling classes of Europe were still completely unprepared for the chaos that followed.

The post 352 – Chaos first appeared on The British History Podcast.

I wonder if Cnut could see what was coming. All the signs were in front of him. Everything was starting to line up. But was he actually putting it together?

The post 351 – Collapse first appeared on The British History Podcast.

We have another mystery on our hands. We have a missing year. And I don’t think it was because nothing was happening.

The post 350 – A Tough Cnut to Crack first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Successful Kings don’t rule alone. This is especially true for Kings with as much going on as Cnut. And one of Cnut’s most influential right-hand men was actually his Queen. And Emma was more than just an advisor. She was wielding considerable power in her own right, power that likely expanded every time Cnut journeyed […]

The post 349 – AElfgifu’s Tale first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Europe was in chaos in the 1020s. Crises just kept coming, and the powerful were trying to capitalize on disorder. And in times like these, actions can have outsized impact, even the smaller ones. For example, if you sat in Leicester during the 1020s, the last thing you would have been paying attention to would […]

The post 348 – Ruling Hard or Hardly Ruling first appeared on The British History Podcast.

What we call history was, at one point, just current events. And world affairs never happen in a vacuum. It’s never just one thing happening after another… it’s a whole mesh of events that, while they might happen in their own sequences that look very much like just one thing happening after another, they’re actually […]

The post 347 – Aggressive Diplomacy first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It’s 1025 Cnut had a problem on his hands. Barely a year after putting down Thorkell’s rebellion, Cnut was sailing for Denmark… again. To war, again.

The post 346 – Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Drakkars first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In the early 11th century, the English were crushed by the Scots in the Battle of Carham. We are told that King Malcolm of Scotland, supported by King Owain of Strathclyde, brought their combined armies to bear against the forces of Ealdorman Uhtred of Bernicia in 1018… and there, they slaughtered the English. But there’s […]

The post 345 – Building Blocks first appeared on The British History Podcast.

More material is coming, but here is a bonus episode to keep you company while you’re practicing social distancing.

The post Bonus Episode: Slavery first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In the year of 1021, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle tells us two things. A Bishop died. And Thorkell the Tall was expelled from the country. And that’s all it tells us.

The post 344 – Cnut’s Mad Lads first appeared on The British History Podcast.

This is a story of palace intrigue, murder, and atypical alopecia… and it all begins where these things usually do… with a real estate transaction.

The post 343 – By Thorkell’s Beard first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Today is Shrove Tuesday. And if you’re not in Britain, you might be wondering what Shrove Tuesday is, and even if you are British, you might be wondering why you’re celebrating it.

The post Bonus Episode: Shrove Tuesday first appeared on The British History Podcast.

If you have heard of King Cnut, what you probably heard was the story of Cnut and the Tides. The most common version of it goes like this. “Canute, the greatest and most powerful monarch of his time, sovereign of Denmark and Norway, as well as of England, could not fail of meeting with adulation […]

The post 342 – King Cnut of Denmark and England first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Cnut made a lot of smart moves in a very short amount of time. He outlawed much of the corruption that had plagued the courts of AEthelred. He scrubbed his new kingdom of the loyalists to Edmund Ironsides. He granted key lands to key followers. Executed the main claimant to the throne, Eadwig. He executed […]

The post 341 – King Cnut of England first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we left off, Cnut had managed to get Eadric to go on the record calling for the execution of the English claimants to the throne… and then Cnut rejected the suggestion, and instead outlawed Eadwig, and exiled the sons of Edmund to Sweden. What the public likely didn’t know was the fact that Cnut […]

The post 340 – A Bit of a Cnut first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It’s been a strange few years. The fall of the House of Wessex and the rise of Cnut looks like a simple story of conquest. After all, it’s right there in the title. Virtually every book on this era has a chapter called “The Conquest of England.” And for good reason… Cnut /was/ a conqueror. […]

The post 339 – Cnut the Conqueror first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Edmund hadn’t lost, and for now that was enough. He had shown himself to be a contender. So Ironside took his remaining men and marched East… but the accounts are careful to point out that he stayed north of the Thames…. And this decision has lead scholars to believe that Mercia may have already been […]

The post 338 – The Fall of King Edmund Ironsides first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Can you feel it? It feels like there is a lull before the storm. AEthelred Unread is now gone, and Normandy is now officially on the board. 1066 is on the doorstep. But the lull is an illusion you experience because you know what is coming next. For the people living it, things are heating […]

The post 337 – The Rise of King Edmund Ironside first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Christmas is old. Older than Christianity, in fact. As a consequence, there’s a lot to it. Symbols and traditions that come from all over the world, and from all across time. It’s a complex event that, predictably, can provoke a complex set of emotions from people. But when you look past the trees, and the […]

The post 336 – The End Is The Beginning Is The End first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Morcar and Sigeferth were under a lot of stress. These two noble brothers from the North had only just managed to join the Wulf dynasty through Sigeferht’s marriage to Ealdgyth, the niece of the powerful Ealdorman AElfhelm of York and Wulfric Spot. And that really should have been a smart move, given how powerful that […]

The post 335 – Acts of Spasmodic Violence first appeared on The British History Podcast.

There are worse things than spending a holiday in Normandy. And one of those things is spending a holiday in Normandy because you just lost your entire Kingdom to the Danes. Support the Show

The post 334 – No Cnut November first appeared on The British History Podcast.

England in 1013 was a Kingdom begging to be conquered. Decades of bad decisions have eroded its foundations and now it sat as a mere shadow of its former glory. It had none of the military prowess established by King AEthelstan. None of the political stability enjoyed under King Edgar. And none of the smart […]

The post 333 – The Conquest of England first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Happy Halloween

The post Teig O’Kane and the Corpse first appeared on The British History Podcast.

So here we are.  With two full companies of Jomsvikings laying waste to southern England… and in response, the nobility… the people tasked with defending the population and the Kingdom… decided that this was an excellent chance to fight among themselves, do a bit of pirating, and arrange a political marriage. And at the same […]

The post 332 – The Jomsvikings first appeared on The British History Podcast.

AEthelred, for the first time in quite a while, had a chance for a breather.  King Sweyn Forkbeard, having been paid a king’s ransom, had withdrawn his forces with a promise never to return.

The post 331 – Thoughts and Prayers first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The Court of AEthelred had turned over three times during his reign. First, there was his regency council.  Then, when he took full power he replaced his regency council with his young friends and corrupt enablers. Then the old guard reasserted itself, along with the powerful Wulf dynasty of the midlands in the 990s.  And […]

The post 330 – The Purge first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When you go to your local grocery store there’s a pattern. You go down your usual aisles, grab your bread, your tea, that thing you know you’re not supposed to eat but do anyway because it is delicious and you have no self control.  And then, when you head to the register, something happens. You […]

The post 329 – Forkbeard first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The year 1002 was still 64 years away from 1066, but The House of Normandy had already begun a coup upon the Kingdom of England. The dynasty held only a minor Duchy, and for a fairly short amount of time, as it was only Duke Richard’s great grandfather Rollo who had established it. And in […]

The post 328 – The St Brice’s Day Massacre first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Now that we’ve checked in with the rest of the world, let’s get back to our story…which lately hasn’t been going so well. In the space of 70 years the Kingdom went from a preeminent power in the West to little more than a viking hunting preserve. By the year 1000, things had become so […]

The post 327 – Sail Away Sail Away Sail Away first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It’s so easy to lose the forest for the trees. This show is a show about one small island which, even at this part of the story, is still at the edge of civilization. It is very easy to forget that there is a whole other world out there… and, it is a world that […]

The post 326 – The Year 1000 first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we left off, England was reforming its legal structure. Now, law isn’t known for being a sexy subject…neither are lawyers for that matter. But law shapes our societies in ways that are so fundamental that they are often invisible to us. And these reforms are no exception. These codes go on to transform English […]

The post 325 – From Bad to Worse first appeared on The British History Podcast.

With the Scandinavian raiders gone, and with AElfric of Hampshire defanged, England was free to get back to work. And, as we saw last episode, this meant that the King was once again redistributing wealth from the have-a-lots to the have-even-mores.

The post 324 – Law and Lawlessness first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The Dowager Queen AElfthryth has returned to the King’s inner council following what looks like a political coup against AElfic of Hampshire and his faction. And just because it was political doesn’t mean it was bloodless. All of AElfric’s allies were dead.  Only AElfric himself, who appears to have been too big to fail, remained […]

The post 323 – Brotherhood of the Wolf first appeared on The British History Podcast.

(We aren’t)

The post PSA: Are We Dead? first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Ealdorman AElfirc of Hampshire was out… and Ealdorman AEthelweard the Chronicler was in. He would now be the King’s chief councillor… and he would be supported by his son, AEthelmaer… the King’s uncle, High Reeve Ordwulf of Devon, and the King’s mother, AEthelthryth.

The post 322 – We’re Absolutely Forked first appeared on The British History Podcast.

992 was a bad year. There was treason, Vikings, the King’s closest advisor absconded with half the navy, and tipped off an enemy invasion with just enough time to let them escape.

The post 321 – Course Corrections first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The Battle of Maldon was a catastrophe. The brave last stand of Ealdorman Byrhtnoth was never going to change that fact. He was the leading man of Essex and the second most powerful Ealdorman in England and now he was dead. And his Fyrd was defeated.

The post 320 – Our Wooden Wall first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Battles don’t appear out of thin air, not even in honor cultures. There’s a reason, a context, that develops long before soldiers or warriors enter a field prepared to do violence. And the Battle of Maldon comes with a lot of context. We left off in 988… and on that year, Archbishop Dunstan, who had […]

The post 319 – The Battle of Maldon first appeared on The British History Podcast.

By 984 the Regency council had been broken and a new inner circle of nobles had been elevated.  And this development was accompanied by a rapid series of changes at the highest levels of the kingdom. The political rivals of this new council were rapidly losing power, with titles (and even lands) of wealthy dynasties […]

The post 318 – Chaos is a Ladder first appeared on The British History Podcast.

At 16 years old, King AEthelred was considered fully grown by Anglo Saxon standards. And as a bonus graduation present, the powerful Bishop AEthelwold of Winchester… who appears to have been the defacto head of state while AEthelred was a child… had died.

The post 317 – A Culture of Corruption first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Before we get back to our story, I’ve been seeing your conversations online and it made me realize I need to clarify something.   Some of you took the discussion of AEthelred’s unflattering nickname, and how he caught hell for some things that were out of his control or part of the common culture, and […]

The post 316 – The Old Guard first appeared on The British History Podcast.

“Under AEthelred nothing was done; or, more truly, throughout his whole reign he left undone those things which he ought to have done, and he did those things he ought not to have done.”   That is the damning conclusion of  Edward Augustus Freeman, a Victorian historian, and epic beard grower.

The post 315 – The Cracks in the Foundation first appeared on The British History Podcast.

King Edward, like those before him, had died under mysterious and apparently violent circumstances. And the next in line for this increasingly bloody throne of England was his 12 year old little half-brother. Æthelred.

The post 314 – Æthelred: Are You Ready? first appeared on The British History Podcast.

“No man can make himself king, but the people have the choice to choose as king whom they please; but after he is consecrated as king, he then has dominion over the people, and they cannot shake his yoke from their necks.”  

The post 313 – How to Make a Martyr first appeared on The British History Podcast.

King Edgar is Dead… and in his place reigned his son, King Edward of England. And you’d think that we’d be referring to him as King Edward the First.  Or, if you wanted to fudge it a bit and give Edward the Elder some credit for forming the Kingdom of the Anglo Saxons… maybe King […]

The post 312 – King Edward first appeared on The British History Podcast.

King Edgar the Peaceable was buried at Glastonbury in 975. But weirdly that isn’t the end of his story. William of Malmesbury tells us that nearly a century later, in 1053, the Abbot Ailward re-opened the King’s tomb. Malmsbury doesn’t tell us WHY the monk opened the grave, so I suppose we can just assume […]

The post 311 – Team Edward first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Human beings can’t really be summed up in a nickname. Usually we are more complicated than a word or two. And sometimes, the nickname just doesn’t reflect reality. If you take  Edward the Elder, for example, the name probably conjures up an image of Gandalf. But Edward was only in his early 50’s when he […]

The post 310 – Political Theater first appeared on The British History Podcast.

You would think that someone named Edgar the Peaceable enjoyed a good reputation. But the closer you look, the more things start to look…off. And if you look closer than that, you start to get the sense that maybe things WERE off.

The post 309 – Size Doesn’t Matter (until it does) first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Across the North Sea, in Scandinavia, a man named Harald Greycloak was struggling for dominance in the region.  He wasn’t just any man, he was a son of Erik Bloodaxe and Gunnhilde. And his fight brought him into direct conflict with King Haakon.

The post 308 – A Thirst for Reform first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The King is dead.  Long live the King. Eadwig, the 18 year old King known for his beauty, had died.  Somehow.

The post 307 – Cleaning House first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The King is dead, long live the King. So … last episode was a bit of a shocker wasn’t it? After it launched, I got an email from a listener (who hilariously, is the daughter of a Judge that once scared the hell out of me in Court)… small world. Understandably, she was confused that […]

The post 306 – King Eadwig first appeared on The British History Podcast.

History is known as a field for being a bit of a slog. Tracing events, and people, and social movements through decades and centuries is a huge task and the results are usually dense at the best of times. But once in a while, in between all the battles and the politics and the dynasties, […]

The post 305 – A Very Special BHP Valentine’s Day Episode first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Northumbria was always the hot mess of the heptarchy. There are a few exceptions where they manage to pull it together long enough to produce something important, like Bede, or when Leeds United won the premiership in 1991.

The post 304 – A Kingdom Divided first appeared on The British History Podcast.

We can probably assume that Harald Fairhair, the King of Norway, had fantastic hair. It was either big, or really long, or super glossy, and it was almost definitely blonde. But it wasn’t the only trait he was known for. Harald Fairhair was also  known for getting around… and around… and around. According to records, […]

The post 303 – Eric Bloodaxe first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Ok, where were we? With all this focus on culture, it’s been a little bit since we last talked about the political situation in Britain.  So lets remind ourselves of where things were politically.

The post 302 – King Eadred first appeared on The British History Podcast.

This isn’t going to end well.  

The post Chapter Eight – Twilight of the Anglo Saxons first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Today, we’re going to wrap up this cultural series with a focus on my favorite group of people.  The people who rarely, if ever, get talked about. The commoners.

The post 301 – Common Folk first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we left off, we were talking about Thegns. Specifically, we were talking about King’s Thegns and how they could wield degrees of power that could rival even the formidable Ealdormen.

The post 300 – Noble Lives first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Ealdormen… Thegns… Ceorls. These were the  important cogs in the machine of government. They had powerful roles, and held powerful spaces within anglo saxon culture. And it’s time we get to know these roles like the back of our hand. Support the Show

The post 299 – The Shape of Power first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Links to material referenced in the show. The Achavanich Beaker Burial ‘Ava’: a Beaker-associated woman from a cist at Achavanich, Highland, and the story of her (re-)discovery and subsequent study, Published in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe at Nature.com A summary […]

The post The Achavanich Beaker Burial Project: Ancient DNA with Maya Hoole first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Long ago there was a settlement that had been occupied and farmed by the British and the Anglo Saxons for centuries. In fact, by the time that the Scandinavians arrived on the island, this village known as Wharram Percy was already well established, and had been inhabited continually for centuries. And it held strong for […]

The post 298 – Uptown Ceorl first appeared on The British History Podcast.

We have spoken a lot about the life of a handful of individuals – namely the rulers that have descended from the line of Alfred. There are a couple of reasons for that. The first is the simple fact that by virtue of how limited literacy was during this era, these are the lives we […]

The post 297 – The Hundreds and the Wapentakes first appeared on The British History Podcast.

I love Halloween. I think it might be my favorite holiday, and it’s not really because I like spooky things. I actually kind of hate horror movies. The reason I love Halloween is because in the pantheon of modern holidays it stands out. Most holidays in the western world have been rebranded and repackaged to […]

The post The Halloween Special first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It begins in France. The struggle for power between King Louis IV and Hugh the Great had been raging for quite some time… When we last visited the continent, , Hugh the Great, King Otto of Germany, Duke William of Normandy, Count Herbert II, and various other supporting characters were allied against King Louis IV, […]

The post 296 – Darkening Skies first appeared on The British History Podcast.

You know the pieces on a chessboard? There’s the knight, and the queen, and the castle….and then there’s the bishop. There’s a reason why a game that simulates medieval power strategy has a piece called the bishop. Bishops had power. And it was a power that didn’t flow from the monarchy. And in britain, it […]

The post 295 – The Return of England first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The story of the last few episodes is a story about a lesson that humanity has had to re-learn again and again throughout history. When your society is ordered around a single figure it’s likely to descend into chaos the minute that figure goes away. And finding a new balance in the midst of sudden […]

The post 294 – It All Comes Crashing Down first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we left off, AEthelstan had recently died, Olaf had returned from Dublin and been crowned King of Jorvik (which meant that the Kingdom of Jorvik was back). The English Fyrd was still recovering from the bloodbath at Brunanburh. And the English Navy were currently sailing up and down the French Coast shouting “Liberte, Fraternite, […]

The post 293 – The Beacons are Lit first appeared on The British History Podcast.

How we understand any event comes down to what angle we are able to view it from. And the story of AEthelstan is no exception. On the one hand, it is easy to see AEthelstan as one of the greatest kings in English history, one to place on our shelf of real-life legends along with […]

The post 292 – King in the North first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When King Edward died, the plan was that his second son would take the throne. By all indications, neither Edward nor the power structures within Wessex, wanted AEthelstan. The young AEtheling had been discarded and sent to be raised in Mercia far from the halls of power. The throne of Wessex wasn’t for him. It […]

The post 291 – Pandemonium first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Brunanburh had been a titanic struggle. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle speaks of how the fighting lasted from morning to night, until “the field grew dark with the blood of men.” Blood spilled from warriors of no less than four separate kingdoms. The scribes speak of how the ground was littered with men impaled upon spears. […]

The post 290 – This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is My Land first appeared on The British History Podcast.

You can’t just go to war. I mean… I guess you can. But it’s not a good idea. War takes work. It takes planning. It takes preparation. War, to put it simply, is a pain in the ass. You really have to want it. And the workload only increases with the number of people involved. […]

The post 289 – Brunanburh first appeared on The British History Podcast.

I wonder if King Rudolph of France resented his crown. I mean, seeking the crown probably seemed like a good idea at the time but the whole thing had been turning out to be an enormous headache. And it all started when Rudolph’s father in law (Robert) rebelled against King Charles and drove him into […]

The post 288 – Extracurricular Activities first appeared on The British History Podcast.

For the last six years, AEthelstan had been ruling in a manner that hasn’t been seen in Britain for generations. Beyond being a warlord, or even a King… AEthelstan was acting more like an Emperor. All of the Anglo Saxon territories were annexed into his new Kingdom of England, the Kings of Wales were now […]

The post 287 – The Conquest of Scotland first appeared on The British History Podcast.

After generations of devastating war, England has found itself at peace. Which leaves a question we haven’t had to ask in a while. What did the Anglo Saxons actually do during peacetime? Support the Show

The post 286 – Noble Pursuits first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The Era of AEthelstan is one of contradictions. His behavior, his policies, his wars… pretty much everything that is happening during this period seems to have an element of duality. This man was discussed by scholars of his time in terms of his piety and his generosity both with the church and also with his […]

The post 285 – Full Court Press first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Last week, we ended with King AEthelstan’s aggression towards Kingdoms of Wales and Cornwall. We don’t know precisely what occurred, or why AEthelstan demanded crippling tributes from the Welsh and then violently expelled or executed the Cornish of Exeter. Support the Show

The post 284 – AEthelstan the Victorious first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Imagine that you went from being a disfavored bastard with little power, to the most powerful English king that had ever existed, in the space of just a few years. Support the Show

The post 283 – The Kingdoms of the Foreigners first appeared on The British History Podcast.

AEthelstan had completed his annexation of Jorvik, and in doing so he had outperformed every last one of his predecessors, including his grandfather, Alfred the Great. But there were a few loose ends that he still needed to knot up. And as he watched the defenses of Jorvik burn and dolled out Jorvik’s wealth to […]

The post 282 – How To Win Friends and Influence Jorvik first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The last couple of episodes have focused on the political tools that AEthelstan had at his disposal. Marriage alliances, fostering, dynastic cults and diplomatic entreaties were all powerful pieces moving on a huge dark age chess board. And the thing I want you to realize about these things is first, that they took time. A […]

The post 281 – England first appeared on The British History Podcast.

What is a King’s most important duty? Is it the defense of the realm? Or perhaps the growth of the kingdom’s borders? What about developing the economy? Fostering strong diplomatic alliances? Shepherding the souls of his subjects to Christ? How about just keeping his subjects happy and healthy? Support the Show

The post 280 – King AEthelstan’s Love Life first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Want to know something strange? When Edward died, the Irish annals said nothing. Not a mention about his death, nor the circumstances of it. And it’s not like the Irish Annals were disinterested with what was happening in the Anglo Saxon kingdoms. After all, they’re the source for our story about AEthelflaed’s defense of Chester. […]

The post 279 – Dynastic Cults first appeared on The British History Podcast.

There’s a dirty secret to history podcasts, and it only becomes clear when you actually start one. The truth is that many people will SAY that they want to learn something new, and hear new stories and hear new facts. But every time, without fail, the most popular episodes – and the most popular history […]

The post 278 – The Thunderbolt first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It’s important to hit the ground running when you start a new job. Especially if it is one that carries a lot of responsibility. When you’re new, people are often trying to work out who you are and how you’ll fit into the system, and the best way to put people at ease is to […]

The post 277 – King AEthelstan: Say Yes to the Dress first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The story of Edward is one of contradictions. There’s something about his rule that seems … complicated and requiring more nuance than many of our earlier rulers. Here we have a King that did what must have seemed impossible… he began his rule holding dominion over Wessex and Kent. Huge portions of his kingdom were […]

The post 276 – The Bastard Rebel King first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The story of Edward is undeniably odd. There are events that are at best, unexplained and at worst look potentially horrible. But he’s also a man of contradiction, because the one thing we haven’t talked about is the one thing you’re probably not expecting. He was an effective king. Support the Show

The post 275 – King Edward the Almost First King of England first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In the last several episodes I’ve been breaking down the weird evidence that surrounds Edward towards the end of his reign. It’s been a deep dive and has been focused on some pretty granular details, and the reason why I’ve done that is because I can’t conclusively make a statement on what he did… it’s […]

The post 274 – The Missing Shire first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Last episode we talked about the rapid growth of AEthelflaed’s power, Edward’s militarizing AEthelflaed’s borders, Edward visiting her at her capital city and bringing his army with him… the fact that she died shortly thereafter and Edward ordered his army to occupy the city… and then the signs of rebellion coming out of Northern Mercia, […]

The post 273 – I Do… Do I? first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Trying to tell the story of AEthelflaed is like trying to study gravity. We know her indirectly, by the impressions she left and the political shifts that happen around her. We can see the impact she left both on her lands, and in the devotion of her subjects. And so in many respects, we know […]

The post 272 – The End of the Age of AEthelflaed first appeared on The British History Podcast.

For the last several years, the Anglo Saxons had been on a true war footing. AEthelflaed and Edward had been showing skill and audacity in the field, and it had paid dividends. Under their leadership, the Anglo Saxon kingdoms of the south had been taking the fight to the Danish controlled lands and were seizing […]

The post 271 – How to Break a Kingdom in Six Months first appeared on The British History Podcast.

There’s an entry from the Irish Fragmentary annals that caught my attention. It talks about the defeat of Hroald and Ohter at the hands of AEthelflaed… and it specifically gives credit to AEthelflaed for this battle, and then goes on to say that following that victory her fame spread in all directions. Support the Show

The post 270 – War in the Five Boroughs first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Wessex and Mercia have had a busy decade. Both kingdoms militarized their borders, fought off invasion forces, and even took the offensive and marched into neighboring kingdoms. And even though the Chronicle is mysteriously tight lipped on all of these fights, it’s clear that way more than just construction work was going on at all […]

The post 269 – The Western Front first appeared on The British History Podcast.

AEthelflaed, Lady of Mercia, and her brother, King Edward, had been bringing the fight to the Danes… they had been stretching their borders into Danish controlled lands and they haven’t just been on the offense… they’ve been winning. When an army was raised out of Leicester in 913 for the express purpose of countering the […]

The post 268 – Viking Invasion first appeared on The British History Podcast.

O potent elfleda! Maid, men’s terror! You did conquer nature’s self; worthy The name of man! More beauteous nature’s form of A woman; but your valour shall secure Man’s higher name. For name you only need Not sex to change: unconquerable queen, King rather, who such trophies have obtained! O virgin and virago both farewell! […]

The post 267 – The Southern Expansion first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The Battle of Tettenhall, as we discussed last episode, remains a mystery to us. We aren’t certain of the circumstances that started the battle, exactly where the battle took place, nor which Anglo Saxon leaders actually fought in it. But one thing scholars agree upon is that Mercia and Wessex won a resounding victory – […]

The post 266 – The Rise of AEthelflaed and the Breaking of Northumbria first appeared on The British History Podcast.

There is so much that the Chronicle hides from us after the death of Alfred. Edward’s apple seems to have fallen fairly far from the tree, because the record his court produces during his reign is spare even by Anglo Saxon standards. But even with all of its contradictory statements and black holes, the Chronicle […]

The post 265 – The Battle of Tettenhall; and Zombies, maybe. first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In the year 909 we get an odd entry from the Chronicle. “This year St. Oswald’s body was removed from Bardney into Mercia.” It’s an weird entry that caps a very strange section of the Chronicle. In the seven year period from 902 to 909 we’ve got three blank years, two star gazing entries, one […]

The post 264 – The Lost Rebellion first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we left off last episode, war had come to Mercia. Ingimund and his Scandinavian allies abandoned their peace treaty and were seeking to expand their borders, but according to the Irish Annals and the Welsh annals, it wasn’t AEthelred Lord of Mercia who was organizing the defenses. It was AEthelflaed, Queen of the Saxons. […]

The post 263 – AEthelflaed and Ingimund first appeared on The British History Podcast.

A year after Edward took the throne – in year 901, while he was still fighting AEthelwold’s rebellion – something strange appeared in the Charters. This event doesn’t get discussed in the Chronicle. But these Charters reveal that in 901, there was an enormous gathering of the important political figures of Wessex. This gathering took […]

The post 262 – AEthelred and AEthelflaed first appeared on The British History Podcast.

I hope that after the last few episodes (and honestly, the last few years) have dispelled the myth of elegance that surrounds monarchy. Especially medieval monarchy. Support the Show

The post 261 – The Anglo Saxon Chronicle and the Mercian Register first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Sometimes life comes at you fast. So much happens in such a short space of time that you barely have a chance to take note of where you’re at and, only after it’s all passed, only /then/ do you have a chance to say “oh my god, what /was/ all of that?” I wonder if […]

The post 260 – King Edward’s Forgotten Love Life first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It was an audacious move. To take possession of two towns, to fortify himself inside the Royal Estate of Wimborne (the resting place of his father), and to do all of this after taking an unnamed nun as his wife. But that was what AEthelwold son of AEthelred did. As we discussed last week, we […]

The post 259 – The Last Stand of the House of AEthelred first appeared on The British History Podcast.

On October 26th, 899, Alfred the Great died. He left behind his wife, Eahlswitha, as well as his grown children. I imagine that the loss of Alfred was probably quite difficult on all of them. It’s always hard to lose a family member. But for Edward… the designated heir… what must that have been like? […]

The post 258 – The Rise of King Edward I of Wessex first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Things in Britain are changing rapidly. In Scotland the MacAlpin dynasty is rising, and with it comes the merging of the Scottish and Pictish cultures. A similar blending is happening in the Anglo Saxon regions. As we’ve see in the last few episodes – cities are changing, economies are emerging. And the sudden appearance of […]

The post 257 – Political Accommodation Within The Danelaw first appeared on The British History Podcast.

For the last few episodes we’ve been discussing the way life has been changing in Southern Britain. While the dramatic battles and political maneuvering dominated the story of the last season, you’re now learning of the many of the changes that were changing how lives were lived on the island, and some of them weren’t […]

The post 256 – Scandinavian Settlement in England first appeared on The British History Podcast.

London is a world unto itself, and it has been for most of its very, very long history. One of the weirdest things about the city is that it contains its own separate city – distinct from the rest of London. It has its own laws, its own government, its own walls. The City of […]

The post 255 – Londonwic to London first appeared on The British History Podcast.

If you read of old Britain… even if you read of modern Britain… you’d be forgiven if you thought it was all London. And London does soak up a ton of the spotlight. It’s like the Stonehenge of the non-neolithic period. You can’t avoid it. And we won’t here, either. London will be covered regularly, […]

The post 254 – Worcester first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Cultures change all the time – yours is changing right now, in ways you may or may not realize. It’s a completely normal, everyday fact that has been with humanity since we began. Probably before we began. And yet, telling the story of how a culture changed is extremely challenging. Cultural shifts are messy, they’re […]

The post 253 – Anglo Saxon Market Towns in the Viking Age first appeared on The British History Podcast.

At the start of 867, there were four major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in Britain. By 874, three of the four – Northumbria, East Anglia, and Mercia – had lost their independence. That’s a timespan of only 7 years, and in that 7 years the political landscape of Britain had changed dramatically and permanently. That’s insane. For […]

The post 252 – The Coming of the Anglo-Scandinavians first appeared on The British History Podcast.

We are entering a new era in the BHP. Support the Show

The post 251 – Chapter Seven: England first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It’s the year 900. We’ve closed out another century, and the 900’s are looking as tumultuous as the 800’s. But before we move forward in our story of our Island – still in many ways at the end of the world – the BHP is going to take a moment to look at what is […]

The post 250 – The Year 900 first appeared on The British History Podcast.

We’ve reached the end of an era. It was late 899, and Alfred (who has been our central figure for dozens of episodes) was at last at rest. But with his death, there was a sudden opening at the top levels of West Saxon politics and Alfred’s son, Edward, was a top contender for that […]

The post 249 – Kenneth MacAlpin and the Birth of Scotland first appeared on The British History Podcast.

By 897, everything Alfred had known…. changed. He was barely in his 20s when he took the throne and he hadn’t had a chance to stop for a breath for the decades that followed. He had been king for over half of his life, and in those years he’d proven himself to be an energetic […]

The post 248 – The Death of Alfred the Great first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The Danes encamped at Bridgnorth had been campaigning for years. Many had come here with Haesten and the Appledore fleet. They were the veterans of the continental campaigns. And for years now they had been fighting tooth and nail with the Anglo Saxons. But despite all the time they had spent here. Despite their massive […]

The post 247 – Our Wooden Wall first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When I write an episode I begin by looking at what has happened in the past, then at what will come in the future, and only after that do I allow myself to focus on what is occurring for this episode. I do this because I want to know the context of these events. The […]

The post 246 – The Hard Edge of Soft Power first appeared on The British History Podcast.

For the Viking army fleeing Shoebury, there wasn’t much to look forward to in a winter holiday at Chester. It would be wet. It would be cold. It would be creepy. The old Roman settlement had been abandoned for quite some time, and that probably didn’t sit well with the superstitious danes. And besides being […]

The post 245 – King Alfred: Infrastructure is Sexy first appeared on The British History Podcast.

“Then came the king’s troops, and routed the enemy, broke down the work, took all that was therein money, women, and children and brought all to London. And all the ships they either broke to pieces, or burned, or brought to London or to Rochester.” That’s what the Chronicle has to say about AEthelred’s siege […]

The post 244 – Haesten’s Advance first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Learn more about Dr. Sheridan and her work Dr. Sheridan’s Wiki page Dr. Sheridan’s Great Archaeology page Dr. Sheridan’s Academia.edu page The Achavanich Beaker Burial Project Links Twitter: @AvaBeakerBurial Facebook: facebook.com/achavanichbeakerburial Website: https://achavanichbeakerburial.wordpress.com/ Support the Show

The post The Achavanich Beaker Burial Project: The Beaker People with Dr. Alison Sheridan first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Imagine that you’re in your 20s. You are a member of the royal dynasty… the next in line for the throne. But your future court is filled with powerful Ealdormen who expect their king to be a warrior. Given the mood of the nobles, and how some of them are chaffing at your father’s style […]

The post 243 – The Sieges of AEthelred of Mercia first appeared on The British History Podcast.

892 was not a very good year. Alfred’s gambit to pacify the forces of Hastein through the power of baptism and gifts had failed utterly, and now they were encamped in Benfleet Essex, launching raids into Wessex and (probably) Mercia. And as for the gargantuan fleet of 250 ships to the south at Appledore? It […]

The post 242 – Edward AEtheling at Farnham first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Twitter: @AvaBeakerBurial Facebook: facebook.com/achavanichbeakerburial Website: https://achavanichbeakerburial.wordpress.com/ Canmore: Canmore.org.uk Support the Show

The post The Achavanich Beaker Burial Project: Discovering Ava with Maya Hoole first appeared on The British History Podcast.

What was Alfred’s reaction to the news of a massive viking fleet crossing the channel? Was it a surprise? Did he just expect it at this point? Was he angry that he would have to fight for his kingdom yet one more time? Based on his apparent devotion to his religion, I imagine he wondered […]

The post 241 – Haesten first appeared on The British History Podcast.

A massive fleet was off the coast of Kent, heading directly for Alfred’s realm. It was a fleet of 250 ships teeming with skilled, highly experienced raiders. But fleets don’t materialize out of thin air. They come from somewhere… And curiously, over the last 14 years, the scribes of the Anglo Saxon Chronicle were actually […]

The post 240 – Viking Roadshow: Rollo edition first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Today we’re going to cover 5 or 6 years, and we’re going to cover a fascinating theory that (if true) should color virtually everything we know about the life of Alfred the Great… and that’s because the Life of Alfred the Great might not have been written for Alfred. But I’m getting ahead of myself. […]

The post 239 – The Dying Time first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The Sons of Rhodri Mawr were in a difficult position. Their father had been a powerful ruler in Britain… he was a man who had gained vast swaths of territory for his dynasty and was one of the few kings in British history that could claim the title of “the great.” Now when he died, […]

The post 238 – A Patchwork of War first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The Sons of Rhodri, rulers of vast swaths of Wales, have followed in their father’s footsteps in their quest to bring all of the Western Kingdoms under a command of a single dynasty. Their dynasty. In aid of this, they sought common cause with the Danes of Jorvik and their new King… a man called […]

The post 237 – Asser first appeared on The British History Podcast.

“I can not find anything better in man, than that he know, and nothing worse than that he be ignorant.” That’s a quote from Alfred, and I think it’s my favorite quote. The nice thing about Alfred is that he’s a man for all seasons. There’s something in his reign for everyone. He’s got an […]

The post 236 – A Return to Scholarship first appeared on The British History Podcast.

One of the interesting things about piecing together the life of Alfred is that we find little windows into who he was in the strangest of places. Most kings of this era didn’t write much down for us to read… but Alfred did. In fact, he translated entire books (which we’re going to talk about […]

The post 235 – Alfred’s Educational Reforms first appeared on The British History Podcast.

This episode has been difficult to write. In fact, the last several have been difficult, and it all comes down to issues of time. Not space time flexing due to gravitational pull, and issues of whether a minute for Alfred in Wessex was the same as a minute for someone climbing the alps. Just good […]

The post 234 – The Sons of Rhodri and AEthelred’s Beautiful Hair first appeared on The British History Podcast.

While all of the political wrangling was occurring in Tamworth, Guthrum-AEthelstan was relocating to East Anglia, and he was bringing serious changes with him. Culture isn’t something that you can easily uproot in a person – it goes deep. Sure, Guthrum had spent 12 days feasting like and Anglo Saxon, and even gave that one […]

The post 233 – Alfred’s Powerplay and the Restructuring of Wessex first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Dr. Hills discussed material culture, ethnicity, Anglo Saxon migration, and more in this fascinating interview. You can learn more about what Dr. Hills at her departmental website here. Support the Show

The post 232 – Fifth Century Britain with Dr. Catherine Hills first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Follow Rory on Twitter @Rory_Naismith and make sure to follow him at his Academic page at Kings College London as well as on Academia.edu. This episode covers how the economy transitioned from food rent to coinage, how currency was a reflection of the soul, why King Offa had such funky hair, and much more. Support […]

The post 231 – Anglo Saxon Economics and Money with Professor Rory Naismith first appeared on The British History Podcast.

For Alfred, everything had changed at Chippenham. It was at Chippenham where he had lost his crown and his kingdom… it’s also possible that he was the victim of a coup, considering how Guthrum’s conquest had gone virtually unchallenged. Chippenham was a place of great shame for the House of Wessex. That is, until now. […]

The post 230 – Guthrum Gets a Bath first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Thank you for always being there for me, Nanna. <3 Support the Show

The post A Ten Year Old in WWII: A Memorial first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Four months is a long time. It might not seem it. And in many ways, four months can pass in the blink of an eye. But four months is around 120 days. It’s a full season. In four months, the harshness of winter can be replaced by the the bright warmth of spring. Four months […]

The post 229 – The Battle of Edington first appeared on The British History Podcast.

In spite of everything standing against them, Alfred and AEthelnoth are bringing the war directly to Guthrum on a daily basis. We know this thanks to Asser and the Chronicle, but both sources neglect to tell us exactly HOW the rebel army was bringing the war to Guthrum. The one time I want more information […]

The post 228 – Alfred and Odda: The Audacity of Nope first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The last episode ended with an account by Ethelweard which told us that after the arrival of AEthelnoth, Alfred was attacking Guthrum on a daily basis. Alfred was no longer just trying to survive, he was trying to take his kingdom back. Support the Show

The post 227 – Alfred’s War for the Mind first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Today, we are going to talk about the early steps of Alfred’s guerrilla war against King Guthrum. We will talk about the elements of this sort of war, the circumstances of the West Saxons under Guthrum’s rule, and the resulting fallout within Wessex. Support the Show

The post 226 – Alfred and Legitimacy: The First Steps to War first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It was January of 878. The dead of British winter – and Alfred was running. Through fields, past hamlets, keeping out of sight whenever he could. He ran. He headed for the Somerset Levels. This was a coastal plane during the 9th century – a dense network of impassable marshes. It wasn’t ideal, but at […]

The post 225 – Alfred in Somerset first appeared on The British History Podcast.

For generations, the Anglo Saxon dominance in eastern Britain has gone largely unchallenged. In the face of this, the warlike vagabonds that first came to these lands had been transformed into gentry. Power had calcified into the hands of a few, war had become a ritualized way for dynasties to settle arguments over wealth, and […]

The post 224 – Chapter Six: Wessex first appeared on The British History Podcast.

How do you redeem a year like 877? If you’re Alfred, how do you fix something like this? Even if he cast it in the best possible light, the story of 877 would still be the story of how Wessex lost control of two of its major coastal strongholds, was unable to directly counter the […]

The post 223 – King Alfred and Chippenham first appeared on The British History Podcast.

At some point early in the Viking Age, a group of Northmen came across a natural harbor on the western side of the Irish Sea. Being that they were a seafaring people, having places in foreign lands where they could safely make port was a significant advantage. Orkney was already showing its usefulness, and now […]

The post 222 – Viking Kings and The Black Pool first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we left off, Guthrum had marched into the heart of Wessex without being noticed, lead his forces right past Alfred’s hold in Winchester, and seized the Royal tun of Wareham. In response to this, Alfred raised the Fyrd, marched upon the southern port town, and besieged it. Now all of our surviving sources are […]

The post 221 – Alfred and Guthrum: The Price of Peace first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It’s the year 876 and historians Dudo and Flodoard tell us that a fleet of Vikings slammed into the Frankish city of Rouen and nearly leveled it to the ground. In response to this attack, King Louis the Stammerer, brother of Judith, launched a campaign to oust them… but he never saw this completed because […]

The post 220 – Alfred and Guthrum: Magic, Madness, Heaven, Sin first appeared on The British History Podcast.

I repeat to you, gentlemen, that your inquisition is fruitless. Detain me here forever if you will; confine or execute me if you must have a victim to propitiate the illusion you call justice; but I can say no more than I have said already. Everything that I can remember, I have told with perfect […]

The post 219 – The Halloween Special: The Statement of Randolph Carter first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Today we begin in Orkney. The history of Orkney is rather obscure, and that fact is reflected in the show… with it appearing only occasionally in the Scotcasts and Celtcasts. However, in the last 80 years, things have been changing rapidly for the inhabitants of this misty land, and the people of Orkney started to […]

The post 218 – The Kingdom of Jorvik first appeared on The British History Podcast.

We begin our story in Alt Clut. Alt Clut was an ancient British Kingdom and it could trace itself back to Roman Britannia – and possibly even further. At the center of this kingdom was an old fortress on a River, the River Clyde. The Kingdom’s name derived from the Brythonic name for the rock […]

The post 217 – Halfdan’s Ravaging of the North first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Click here to go the Summary of Zee’s PhD that I talked about. We are coming to a major turning point in the story of Britain.The Anglo Saxon kingdoms never had a chance of turning the Great Heathen Army back, and now it looks like they’re here to stay. There’s no denying it anymore. But […]

The post 216 – The Great Heathen Army: Always Be Prepared first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It’s 873 and so far Halfdan has extracted THREE Danegelds from King Burgred in exchange for promising to not occupy Mercia. And, of course, he’s gone on to occupy Mercia… most recently in a town called Torksey. He also put down a rebellion in Jorvik and reclaimed the city. He pushed King Ricsige of Northumbria […]

The post 215 – King Burgred and the end of the Danish Sausage Fest first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It’s 872 and Halfdan’s year has been a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, he had received a major Danegeld from Mercia, to add to the one he received from Wessex in the previous year. And now he was residing within London. But on the other hand, he had just gotten word […]

The post 214 – National Lampoon’s Viking Vacation first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Last time we left off, Alfred… who we have been following since his earliest days, and whom we now know the most intimate details of, including the state of his butt (which was swollen) and the state of his libido (which apparently was also swollen)… well, by mid 871 his brother was dead and he […]

The post 213 – Danegelds, Peace, and Shame first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It’s mid April of 871. For four long months, the House of Wessex has been battling against an invasion army of Danes who are holding the Royal Tun of Reading. Battle after battle had resulted in bruising defeats at the hands of these pagans. They had won against the Danes in Ashdown, true, but what […]

The post 212 – Alfred the Last AEtheling first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It’s January of 871, still… A tremendous amount has happened in the last fortnight, and the year had barely even begun. People tend to compress the past… especially periods they are unfamiliar with… into short blurbs. It’s why many people are completely willing to accept minute by minute accounts of World War II, but balk […]

The post 211 – The Battles of Basing and Meretun first appeared on The British History Podcast.

“God, in his goodness and justice so much offended by our sins, had thus worn down the lands and kingdoms of the Christians.” That’s a quote from Prudentius of Troyes, who was struggling to explain why the Franks met abysmal failure every time they fought the Scandinavians. While that quote came from from across the […]

The post 210 – The Battle of Ashdown first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we left off, the Danes had occupied Reading, fortified it for several days, and then sent a detachment West along the river Kennet… In response, Ealdorman AEthelwulf of Berkshire had raised the local Fyrd, killed one of the Danish lords, and for the first time in a very long time, at Englefield, the West […]

The post 209 – The Battle of Reading first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we left off the Great Heathen Army had conquered East Anglia, established their dominion, and then a good portion of it returned to their territory of Jorvik. However, not everyone returned north or stayed in East Anglia. Their leaders, Ivarr and Ubbe… brothers in battle and sons of Ragnarr, departed. Some accounts state that […]

The post 208 – The Battle of Englefield first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Here is part two to our story of religion and religious life at the age of the Great Heathen Army and the Danish invasion of Britain. Last episode, I told you about how the stories we’re often told – of violent atrocities committed against Christian spaces and against Christendom itself – didn’t actually originate from […]

The post 207 – Christianity in Early Danelaw first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Last week we covered the events of 869. The situation was dire. We have at least one dead Anglo Saxon king, two Anglo Saxon kingdoms that were now under the thumb of the Danes, and as far as the record tells us, everyone else was just keeping their heads down. They may have taken comfort […]

The post 206 – Did the Great Heathen Army Persecute Christians? first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Last episode we ended with the engagement of Prince Alfred to Ealhswith, daughter of Ealdorman AEthelred Mucel of Mercia and descendant of King Coenwulf of Merica, and I briefly mentioned political implications of such a match. But there was a personal aspect to this as well. Not the marriage itself, though that was certainly personal… […]

The post 205 – Saint Edmund the Martyr first appeared on The British History Podcast.

At the end of last episode, the gates of Jorvik had opened and the Great Heathen Army marched forth. They were headed South, to the Kingdom of Mercia. Mercia makes sense for the Northmen. The leaders of the Great Army had already bolstered their northern border, through their puppet King Ecgberht. East Anglia had been […]

The post 204 – Snottingham first appeared on The British History Podcast.

I’d like to start today’s episode with a poem. Not about my feelings, or about a tough breakup… but a skaldic poem from the 12th century. It’s called The Lay of Kraka, and it was probably recorded somewhere in Scotland. The reason why it’s important is that it contains what is claimed to be Ragnar […]

The post 203 – Jorvik first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we left off last time, King Edmund of East Anglia had paid a Danegeld to the Great Heathen Army… and rather than leaving, the army had set up camp in his Kingdom. It was a situation that would have caused all manner of havoc for virtually everyone who lived in the small eastern Kingdom. […]

The post 202 – The Fall of Eoforwic first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Here we are, with a new king in Wessex. King AEthelred, son of AEthelwulf, was now sitting the throne. He was in his 20s, and despite having a large family back when he was a child… now his only family left were his wife… Queen Wulfthryth (and good on you Wulfthryth for insisting on being […]

The post 201 – East Anglia’s Danegeld first appeared on The British History Podcast.

To celebrate the 200th episode, I took questions from the community which gave me a good excuse to complain about bad GI Joe villains, Rome, Lack of Sources, Rome, and a dearth of available female historical figures to crush on…. and Rome. (It was bad, you guys.) Guest spots from… Jamie Redfern of A History […]

The post 200 – The Q&A first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It’s 865 and we just had yet another King of Wessex die. Alfred has been losing family members fast and furious, and this time it was his older brother, King AEthelberht. What’s worse is King AEthelberht seemed like he was a pretty decent fellow, and Wessex could have really used long reign by a fair […]

The post 199 – AEthelred vs Alfred: One of the Most Exciting Moments in Probate History first appeared on The British History Podcast.

On 864 or 865, a great Scandinavian fleet of Dragon ships, or Drakkars, beached themselves at Thanet in Kent. For the people of the south, this would have been terrifying It had been scarcely more than a decade since the last fleet of Drakkars landed in Thanet, and the army exploded forth from those ships […]

The post 198 – The Great Heathen Army Begins first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Things are changing at the BHP, and here’s a preview!

The post The April Fool’s Episode first appeared on The British History Podcast.

We’re at a massive turning point for Britain. The Great Heathen Army is arriving on the Northern shores. I have been racking my brain for weeks trying to figure out how best to tell you this story deal with the Great Heathen Army, because it has all the elements that make a story nearly impossible […]

The post 197 – The Sons of Ragnar Lodbrok (versus Battle-Cattle) first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we left off last week we spoke about King AEthelberht’s ascension to the throne of Wessex in 860 and how, despite the insistence of the Chroniclers that his rule was marked by peace and tranquility, on that same year we had records of a Viking raid that struck the heart of the Kingdom of […]

The post 196 – Vikings and Mercs and Franks. Oh My! first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Today’s episode will focus upon the goings on in Britain for King AEthelberht, AEthelred, and Alfred. We will also cover what has been happening up in Northumbria… and predictably, it involves a lot of civil war. We will also have a quick discussion about stats, because why not? (History of Britain, History of England, History […]

The post 195 – Red Sea Rising first appeared on The British History Podcast.

King AEthelbald of Wessex, Queen Judith, Bjorn Ironsides, Prince Alfred, King Charles the Bald, Pope Nicholas I, Baldwin Iron Arm, Ivar the Boneless… this episode has it all! (History of Britain, History of England, History of Wessex, French History, Vikings, Roman History) NOTE ON RESEARCH I get a lot of questions about this episode asking […]

The post 194 – My Big Fat Dark Age Wedding first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we left off last week we were talking about Alfred’s upbringing and how he was a proficient hunter from a young age, and how he honed those skills throughout the rest of his life. But also how he lamented the fact that he was illiterate until he was twelve years old. Something which he […]

The post 193 – Alfred the Young Part Two first appeared on The British History Podcast.

We’ve discussed Anglo Saxon propaganda, and what goes down in Anglo Saxon cities, now let’s get back to the main story. When last we checked in with the House of Wessex, King AEthelwulf had died, but thanks to his incredible fecundity he had a wealth of potential heirs. And the kingdom of Wessex, it was […]

The post 192 – Alfred the Young first appeared on The British History Podcast.

You might not realize it, but we on the precipice of a major change in Britain. Alfred the Great is about to reach adulthood and enter the scene. The era of Danelaw is coming. Things are about to come to a head. But if I’m being honest, we’ve been seeing pretty big changes happening for […]

The post 191 – Urban Fervor first appeared on The British History Podcast.

This episode is going to be a bit different from most, because I’m going to be addressing something which has been bugging me about the 800s, and Wessex in particular. I feel like I haven’t done a good job pointing something out. So I’m going to explain something crucial about the house of Wessex and […]

The post 190 – House (of Wessex): Everybody Lies first appeared on The British History Podcast.

This episode is going to be a little different from most episodes. We’re going to break from the main story briefly and talk in larger terms about what is going on in Eastern Britain, because I realized that my slavish attention to the main storyline has probably allowed you to miss something truly astounding. And […]

The post 189 – What on earth is an English first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Before we begin, I’d like to address something from our last episode. I told you about reports of Vikingr armies marching around the countryside near the Wrekin. I offered a variety of methods of reaching the Wrekin, all of which would have involved quite a bit of work. However, as some of you have noted […]

The post 188 – Rebellion and Succession in the Kingdom of Wessex first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It’s Christmas day 854. King AEthelweard of East Anglia, a king who we know almost nothing about, is dead. The only evidence we really have that he was alive in the first place are his coins, and this is likely due to the fact that, throughout the Viking Age, succeeding bands of Scandinavian pyromaniacs destroyed […]

The post 187 – The Queen of Wessex: aka The Worst Midlife Crisis Ever first appeared on The British History Podcast.

This episode is getting a bit into the political weeds and it’s for a very important reason. We’re seeing the development of that dynastic juggernaut we all know and love, the House of Wessex, and I want you to see how and why it’s forming into what it will eventually become. Because the successes of […]

The post 186 – Wessex: A story of Myth building, Opportunism, and Annexation first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we left off last time, we were taking a look at the problem facing Europe that no one wanted to talk about. And this wasn’t like plague of people mistaking tights for pants. In that situation, the only solution is to ignore it until it retreats back to the darkest recesses of fashion. The […]

The post 185 – Building the House of Wessex first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we left off last time we discussed the viking raids of Paris and Hamburg… though they were far more than the raids we’d seen in the last 40-50 years. Now we’re looking at fleets that number in the hundreds and we’re seeing the nobility on the continent, especially the Frankish nobility, hiring many of […]

The post 184 – The Chaos of Bad Governance first appeared on The British History Podcast.

This is a big event for Medieval Western Europe, and it doesn’t come out of nowhere. The surge of Northmen, and in particular the Danish attacks against Frankia, had a starting point. This wasn’t a simple matter of pagans picking a random point on the map and charging… the Vikingrs may have been motivated largely […]

The post 183 – Ragnar’s Siege of Paris first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Ok, when we left off, a fleet of 120 ships set sail from Scandinavia. And at their head, according to legend, was Ragnar Lodbrok. Ragnar Hairy Breeches. Support the Show

The post 182 – Ragnar Lodbrok first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we left off last week, the Vikingrs had established fortified bases in Ireland… Not only that, but after building the bases they decided to hang out there for the winter, choosing to stay in the relatively warmer climes of the British isles rather than return home to freeze in the long northern nights. Support […]

The post 181 – Vikingrs Gotta Viking first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It’s 838. Only two years earlier the West Saxons were defeated by a fleet of Vikingrs, and they responded to this loss the way you would expect them to… by completely ignoring the loss and, instead, focusing on dynastic politics and making endowments to the church at Canterbury. And now another fleet of Vikingrs was […]

The post 180 – The Cracks in the Shieldwall first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The Music of Erich Zann By H. P. Lovecraft You can read a copy of the story at hplovecraft.com. Happy Halloween!

The post Halloween Special: H.P. Lovecraft’s The Music of Erich Zann first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we left off last week, 35 ships launched from Denmark and set their course for England. As we have been learning, the Anglo Saxon kingdoms were now seriously in danger of Vikingr attacks for the first time, having lost the protection of the Frankish coast guard. Not only that, but over the last approximately […]

The post 179 – The Battle of Carrum first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we last left off we were talking about what a big deal King Egbert of Wessex was. And for good reason. In 829, King Egbert of Wessex held virtually all of the south and even demanded the submission of Northumbria after a battle at the River Dore, an event that earned King Egbert the […]

The post 178 – Dereliction of Duty first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Last episode I gave you a forest view of where we are going and, roughly, who these Viking raiders were as well as the scale of the impact that they will have upon Europe. And it really is something to behold. The Viking Age isn’t very long, but Europe hadn’t seen this level of rapid […]

The post 177 – The Road to 830 first appeared on The British History Podcast.