The British History Podcast

304 – A Kingdom Divided

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. But generally, it’s a bit of a shitshow.  Sort of like Leeds United.

302 – King Eadred

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.  

301 – Common Folk

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.

300 – Noble Lives

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. At this point in this short series, the hope is that you have a sense of what incentives the economic structure created, the way that power flowed in this era, and what these titles meant in action.   Support the Show

The Achavanich Beaker Burial Project: Ancient DNA with Maya Hoole

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 of the Nature.com article* Scotland’s Rock Art Project

297 – The Hundreds and the Wapentakes

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 know the most about. The other reason is that the formation of England is very much a story of politics. It was battles, and treaties, and allegiances. Support the Show

296 – Darkening Skies

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 Archbishop of Rheims, and Count Arnulf of Flanders. In response, King AEthelstan tried to intervene by sending a fleet to support the embattled king… Suddenly King AEthelstan died, and rather than supporting the young French King, the English fleet instead opted to raid the French coast. Support the Show

294 – It All Comes Crashing Down

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 cascading failures is a difficult task that many peoples in history have failed to do. Support the Show

292 – King in the North

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 his grandfather. And for good reason… much like Alfred, AEthelstan wasn’t content to just hold his throne and maintain the status quo. He strived to restructure the very foundations of his kingdom. Support the Show

290 – This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is My Land

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. This was human devastation on a scale that hadn’t been on the island in living memory. And now the Scots, Northmen, and Strathclyde Britons were fleeing the field… but this wasn’t over. Support the Show

288 – Extracurricular Activities

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 Lorraine. Pretty soon thereafter, Robert got himself crowned as King of the Franks. And that’s not too bad… a father in law who was King of the Franks? Sounds great. Support the Show

287 – The Conquest of Scotland

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 mere members of his Court, and he was receiving tributes and gifts from Scotland, Norway, and Frankia. And the next generation of monarchs were living in his Court. Support the Show

285 – Full Court Press

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 subjects. And there is plenty of real evidence that AEthelstan was a kind king and role model to those around him, and that he took his role as a ruler seriously and with care. Support the Show

283 – The Kingdoms of the Foreigners

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

281 – England

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 strategic mind – a mind like AEthelstan’s – would see the long game and set his moves accordingly knowing they wouldn’t fully materialize for years to come. The second is that these tools were highly cultural. There’s nothing inherently political about marriage or fostering until a people make it so. By examining the tools that political actors wield we learn something important about the culture and society that underlies it. What it values, and how it prioritizes people and things. And all of these slow, important tools are working constantly in the background throughout AEthelstan’s reign. Support the Show

279 – Dynastic Cults

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. They were so interested that they told us about the bees. And it’s not like the Irish annals didn’t bother to record deaths of Anglo Saxon figures. For example, they recorded the death of Eadwulf of Bamburgh, a man whose biggest accomplishment in the record seems to be that he was the father of Ealdred (the guy who allied with Scotland and fought against Ragnald… and lost). But the Irish mention his death, and ignore the King of the Anglo Saxons… Support the Show

277 – King AEthelstan: Say Yes to the Dress

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 work diligently to get up to speed as quick as possible. Support the Show

275 – King Edward the Almost First King of England

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

273 – I Do… Do I?

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, and Edwards eventual capture and disinheriting of his niece, AElfwynn Second Lady of Mercia. Judging by your e-mails, you found that series of events as suspect as I did. Support the Show

271 – How to Break a Kingdom in Six Months

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 massive portions of key territories. But the Northmen weren’t about to take this assault on their newly won lands lying down. Scandinavian fleets from across the sea, as well as large armies surging from the Five Boroughs and Northumbria, were mustering to challenge the Anglo Saxon gains in the south. Support the Show

269 – The Western Front

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 of the burhs. There were battles being waged. Battles that largely went unrecorded for some reason… but battles nonetheless. We know this because other sources from that time tell us that real blood, sweat, and tears were going into the acquisition and defense of these border shires. Support the Show

267 – The Southern Expansion

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! No caesar yet such triumphs hath deserved As you, than any, all, the Caesar’s more renowned! That’s a translation of a Latin praise poem for AEthelflaed. It was included in the writings of the 12th century scribe, Henry of Huntingdon. Support the Show

265 – The Battle of Tettenhall; and Zombies, maybe.

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 couldn’t hide the fact that a storm was coming. Support the Show

263 – AEthelflaed and Ingimund

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. Support the Show

262 – AEthelred and AEthelflaed

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 place in Southampton, and the charters reveal that (with the exception of the Bishop of Worcester), all of the Bishops of Kent, Sussex, and Wessex were present. This council was also attended by AEthelweard, Edward’s younger brother, as well as Edward’s two sons… AEthelstan (his eldest son, and the son of Ecgwynn), and the infant Aelfweard (the newborn son of Edward’s new wife, AElfflaed). Accompanying Edward to this meeting was his household, his thegns, and important figures from Winchester. There is a lot of interesting things going on at this meeting, as revealed in the witness lists of these charters. One of them is that, the infant AElfweard (the child of Edward’s new marriage) was listed above AEthelstan, Edward’s first born. Support the Show