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

The post 304 – A Kingdom Divided 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.

The King is dead, long live the King. So … last episode was a bit of a shocker wasn’t it?

The post 306 – King Eadwig 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.

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.

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. Support the Show

The post 309 – Size Doesn’t Matter (until it does) 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.

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.

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.

“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.”   So reads the homily written by the famed writer, AElfric. He was […]

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