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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

King Edward came to England with a political migraine.

The post 361 – W A Poet 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.

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.