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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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.