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.

“Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not show mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea.” Jeremiah 50: 41-42 This passage of the […] The post 176 – The Prophecy of Jeremiah first appeared on The British History Podcast.

A sea of blood. Support the Show The post 175 – Chapter Five: A Sea of Blood first appeared on The British History Podcast.

We start today with a few bare statements in the record. They’re easy to overlook, and most people do, but they hint at a very important aspect of Pictland in the 700s. The absolutely enormous amount of political wrangling. Here’s what we know. In 725, King Nechtan stepped down from the throne of Pictland and […] The post 174 – CeltCast Part 3 first appeared on The British History Podcast.

I’m continuing my quest to organize and bring all the stories back together and so today we’re going to move the timeline forward (to get us closer to the Vikings) and we will also be talking more about the kingdoms that were active in the region that would later become scotland. There were several of […] The post 173 – The CeltCast Part 2 first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Today we’re beginning the process of creating a singular British history podcast. The side casts made sense when the story was first beginning, but now (rather than helping you understand the story better) they’re confusing it) and so today we are merging the Scotcast and Welshcast into the Celtcast. I’m eager to get the story […] The post 172 – CeltCast Part 1 first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we left off last time, we were talking about how we have a limited understanding of this area of history due to a combination of scarce resources and the victorians building a mythology of englishness. We also covered the early middle ages and the turn that was occurring in Southern Britain in the 6th […] The post 171 – The Welshcast Part Seven first appeared on The British History Podcast.

It’s been two years since we checked in with the Britons of the West, and last time we spoke, a big part of our discussion was focused upon the people that Gildas hated. Which was pretty much everyone. Support the Show The post 170 – The Welshcast Part Six first appeared on The British History Podcast.

This season we’ve seen the Anglo Saxons come incredibly close to forming an early unified English Kingdom… in fact they will continue their attempts in this episode. Though we can guess how that will go because we have seen their culture and governmental structure hamstring their previous attempts at unity. From our vantage point of […] The post 169 – The Rise of Wessex first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we left off, King Beornwulf was reigning over Mercia. Beornwulf was the beginning of the creatively named B-Dynasty, due to the fact that Anglo Saxons seemed to denote their dynasties by selecting the same first letters for their kids. So Beornwulf had two kids named Berhfrith and Behrtric, a brother named Bynna, and it’s […] The post 168 – The Fall of Mercia first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Season Four is called Anglo Saxon Ascendancy because we have been seeing mighty kings like Offa, AEthelbald, and Coenwulf acquire vast amounts of power in Britain that enable them to nearly become the first kings of England. Their hegemonies were so big and impressive that we have one Mercian leader getting into arguments with Charlemagne […] The post 167 – The Beginning of the End first appeared on The British History Podcast.

We start today with a death. On the 28th of January, 814, Charlemagne died and the throne passed to Louis the Pious. The death of Charlemagne was a big deal for early medieval europe, not just because it meant that we wouldn’t have anymore passive aggressive comments about the quality of British wool, or weird […] The post 166 – Wulfred: The Rogue Archbishop first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Last week we talked about the impact that the Church was having on internal politics within the Anglo Saxon kingdoms, and that is something we will continue to talk about today. However, before we begin, let’s talk about something strange that’s happening on the continent. Support the Show The post 165 – Did Archbishop Wulfred Just Kill a Guy? first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we last left off, King Egbert was ruling over Wessex, King Cuthred (Coenwulf’s brother) was ruling over Kent… and Emperor Coenwulf held Mercia. I call him Emperor, by the way, because that’s what he called himself. And also because he does seem like he was a king of kings. His brother answered to him, […] The post 164 – Shadow Governments in Britain first appeared on The British History Podcast.

There’s a shift that’s happening in Anglo Saxon politics that’s occurring… we’ve had powerful queens in the Anglo Saxon kingdoms (especially in Mercia, where Queens were more powerful than most). But something is happening in Wessex that will impact around the next several hundred years. West Saxon Queens were getting demoted. Women on the throne, […] The post 163 – The South of Britain Grows Restless first appeared on The British History Podcast.

So today, lets briefly talk about the world context since we’ve largely just focused on our main character. No not Coenwulf, or Offa… the main character is and has been Britain… but sometimes it feels like it’s an island adrift and alone, when in actual fact there’s a whole world out there that’s been going […] The post 162 – Emperor Coenwulf, Emperor Charlemagne, and The World first appeared on The British History Podcast.

I’ve gotten this question a lot over the years and after quite a lot of thought, I’ve come up with a few basic pieces of advice. I talked it over with some fellow podcasters and they gave it the thumbs up, so hopefully it will help you out if you’re looking to launch your own […] The post Q&A: How to Start a Podcast first appeared on The British History Podcast.

While Offa was an effective leader in Mercia during his life, his dynastic purge was a disaster. Looking at what followed, it appears that he heavily targeted extended members of his own family. Now this placed his immediate family in a very good position to pursue power… and we did see a seamless transfer of […] The post 161 – King Ceonwulf’s Rise in Power first appeared on The British History Podcast.

King Offa of Mercia has died after a surprisingly long and productive reign. The degree of power he had gathered for himself was truly something to behold. While his reach didn’t stretch into Mercia’s ancient enemies beyond the Humber, Northumbria, he had a stunning degree of influence over the English Kingdoms in the south. Throughout […] The post 160 – An Offa Inheritance first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Lets start with Christmas Day 795. That’s the day Pope Hadrian died… so uh… Merry Christmas? Hadrian was actually a pretty decent Pope… not Pope Francis level of awesome, though really who is? But he was still pretty good, and upon hearing of his death, Charlemagne commissioned Alcuin to write a poem that was carved […] The post 159 – An Offa End first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Last week was dark, wasn’t it? Not only that, but it only covered the first half of 793. The end of the 8th century was an eventful period so lets pick up right where we left off and talk about what else was happening in the other half of 793… and specifically with King Offa […] The post 158 – Offa With His Head first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Northumbria was no stranger to problems… blood feuds, regicide, and kinslaying… they really have it all up there. But as 793 began, it was clear that things were taking an even darker turn. As the new year dawned, a massive whirlwind slammed into the northeastern coast. The sky was ignited with flashes of lightning and […] The post 157 – Lindisfarne first appeared on The British History Podcast.

When we left off things were looking pretty good for Mercia. Wessex was now acting as a subkingdom, with their King (Beohtric) married to Offa’s daughter… Kent was thoroughly dominated, East Anglia appears to have been brought fully under Offa’s control. Really, Offa’s only neighbors that he didn’t have command over, appear to have been […] The post 156 – An Offa Marriage first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Back to our story, when we last left off, King Offa of Mercia was doing pretty well. He had just received Papal support for his plans of succession and he was demonstrating that he was a mover and shaker not just among the English kingdoms, but on the world’s stage. On his southern border, King […] The post 155 – Its Always Sunny in Mercia: The Gang Throws a Party first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Today we’re covering more about King Offa, and the reason is that he’s a really big deal. He reigned for about as long as King Henry VIII, he constructed one of the wonders of the world, he was the starting point for the continuous use of currency in England, Alfred the Great ranked Offa’s laws […] The post 154 – Having it Offa first appeared on The British History Podcast.

As you might have guessed, today we’re talking mostly about Offa. But before we get into some of the cool things that were going on under Offa’s reign… lets start with something shady. Support the Show The post 153 – An Offa You Can’t Refuse first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Today we begin in Northumbria. King AEthelred of Northumbria, son of AEthelwold Moll, was sitting the throne, having taken it from a man who claimed to be from the Line of Ida. And initially it seems that many people were quite happy with AEthelred, and we’re told that he was put in power with a […] The post 152 – Limited Time Offa first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Alright, where did we leave off. We had a new Archbishop of Canterbury, King Offa of Mercia was on the rise, Kent was in decline, and the minor kingdoms were being brought to heel by… yep, Offa of Mercia. Support the Show The post 151 – Offa and Acceptance first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Today’s episode is going to go all over the kingdoms of the Heptarchy. We have the Kings of Kent, Wessex, East Anglia, Northumbria, and of course, Mercia all involved. It’s a busy one. But Offa will continue to be our main character. Support the Show The post 150 – King Offa: The Turnover first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Today we’re starting a series on one of the most influential Mercian kings in history. King Offa. But before we start this story, I need to fess up to a couple things. Support the Show The post 149 – King Offa Ascends the Throne first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Alright, as you already know, King AEthelbald of Mercia had a bit of a rough start… what with being exiled and living in a swamp. But once he was able to take the throne, he hit the ground running and it wasn’t long before he was the supreme power in the South with even Bede […] The post 148 – The Fall of King AEthelbald first appeared on The British History Podcast.

This year for our Christmas special, I thought I would give you an idea of what Christmas was like for some of the people in Middle Ages Britain. Now, Christmas in the middle ages was quite different from our modern experience in many ways. And like with everything else, it would have varied from location […] The post 147 – The Twelve Days of Christmas first appeared on The British History Podcast.

The first half of this episode is a combination of letting you know what is happening in the Heptarchy (basically, chaos unless you’re in Mercia) and it’s also setting the stage for the second half, which… I’m not going to lie to you… is going to get a little weird. But stick with me. Support […] The post 146 – King AEthelbald: A Whirlpool of Perdition first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Ok, so we ended our last episode with the death of King Ceolred at a banquet. And he went out swinging… or at least gibbering and cursing the heavens. Let’s face it, Ceolred was a colorful character and really brought his A game right until the end. I mean, you really have to work hard […] The post 145 – The Rise of King AEthelbald of Mercia first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Ok, so recently we’ve chatted about some cultural matters and I’ve also given you a broad overview of the failed dynastic politics of Northumbria and where this is all headed. But we really didn’t cover too much of what was going on elsewhere. We hinted at it, but I’m sure you’re curious about the other […] The post 144 – King Ceolred: A Lunatic Running the Asylum first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Often times, the way the Middle Ages are presented, are as an era where everyone was lily white and a time when men were men and women were women. A time of hyper masculinity where all the guys were muscle bound warriors with big bushy beards and a bone structure that makes them look like […] The post 143 – Man Up: Gender in the Middle Ages first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Now today is going to be a little complex. But if you keep the theme in mind, you should be largely ok… and that theme is the bloody dynastic politics in the midlands and the north are getting completely out of hand. And Wilfrid is Wilfrid. Support the Show The post 142 – The Failed Dynastic Politics of Mercia and Northumbria first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Ok, when we left off, Bishop Wilfrid was jilted out of the Archbishopric of Canterbury, and instead Abbot Beorhtwald became Archbishop Beorhtwald. So Wilfrid readjusted and made an attempt to reunify the Bishopric of York and then head it up. But King Aldfrith didn’t agree and, presumably because the Wilfrid wouldn’t let it drop, he […] The post 141 – King Aldfrith and St. Wilfrid first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Today’s episode will take place in the turbulent years from 686 to 692 and the main characters will be… Aldfrith – King of Mercia, son of Oswiu, brother of Ecgfrith, and scholarly dude. Wilfrid – Former Bishop of York, friend of the terrifying pagan king Caedwalla, and man you really don’t want to cross. and […] The post 140 – Wilfrid: How to Win Friends and Influence People first appeared on The British History Podcast.

This episode will roughly cover the eventful years between 685 and 689. The main characters today will be two kings, two wannabe kings, and a bishop… here we go: First we have King Aldfrith of Northumbria – He was the brother of the slain King Ecgfrith and also the son of King Oswiu, and he […] The post 139 – The Rise of Aldfrith and Caedwalla first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Alright, so last week we talked about how uneven and confused the conversion of Britain was. And how the beliefs of one village might not bare all that much similarity to the beliefs of another village even though they both might profess to worship the same god. Support the Show The post 138 – Religious Lives in Britain first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Today we’re going to cover the crazy environment that early Christian converts found themselves in during the Dark Ages, and some of the bizarre notions they might have gotten regarding their religion thanks to poor access, education, and stubborn attachment to old pagan traditions. Also: we learn why mothers don’t stuff their feverish daughters into […] The post 137 – Preaching in the Dark Ages first appeared on The British History Podcast.

This episode will cover the years 678 to 685 and its major characters will be… King Ecgfrith of Northumbria, the man who brought down Wulfhere, was wielding supreme power in Northumbria and was arguably exercising quite a bit of power south of the Humber as well. King AEthelred of Mercia, son of Penda and brother […] The post 136 – The Power of Mercia first appeared on The British History Podcast.

Today we’re going to cover the eventful years of 675 to 678, and our main characters will be… King Wulfhere of Mercia, Son of Penda and tough guy with a bloodied lip. King Ecgfrith of Northumbria, Son of Oswiu and guy who bloodied Wulfhere’s lip. And Bishop Wilfrid… the Northumbrian Bishop who was a key […] The post 135 – A Reshuffling of Power first appeared on The British History Podcast.