Rex Factor

A global lockdown is not enough to stop Rex Factor! For the first time, we do a full episode via Skype, meaning Ali is in charge of his own recording equipment! After a slightly chaotic first ten minutes, we have an extended Correspondents Corner with lots of messages from listeners and then previews of some of our bonus content with a clip from our most recent Privy Chamber episode (on Matilda of...

We leave the Saxons behind and enter the Norman era. Matilda of Flanders was the first of the Norman consorts, bringing some prestigious French royal genes to the illegitimate William the Conqueror. Matilda was a trusted partner of William in Normandy and enjoyed great status as Queen of England after 1066. Revered for her piety, Matilda also had an independent streak and would clash with William...

Ealdgyth of Mercia is not a famous name, but her episode is full of Rex Factors. As consort to Harold Godwinson, she was the last Anglo-Saxon consort and her story has plenty to fascinate: Lady Godiva, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn and a Welsh/Mercian alliance, and of course the dramatic events of 1066. So will the Saxons go out on a high or is Ealdgyth another queen who will remain lost to history? Hosted...

With Edith of Wessex we come to the dramatic events of 1066 and the fall of the Anglo-Saxons. Edith was the daughter of the powerful earldoman, Godwin, sister to Harold Godwinson and queen consort to Edward the Confessor. Things got off to a shaky start with Edward, but Edith was able to establish herself as a powerful figure at court and tried to position herself for the succession. But when 1066...

When is a consort not a consort? When she's Ælfgifu of Northampton! Ælfgifu was married to Cnut while he was king but it was his other wife, Emma of Normandy, who was considered the consort. We decide to take a look at events from Ælfgifu's perspective, revealing a remarkable woman who was for a long time Emma's chief rival, with her dramatic life taking her from a powerful midlands dynasty all ac...

Emma takes us from the dark days of Vikings invasions under Æthelred the Unready to the threshold of 1066. Her remarkable and dramatic life saw her twice be Queen Consort, Queen Stepmother and Queen Mother! Emma was often forced to fight to retain her power as England veered between Saxon and Danish rule, but would she do enough to come out on top and gain the Rex Factor? Hosted on Acast. See acas...

We're back with the Saxons this week, reviewing Ealdgyth, consort to Edmund Ironside. Ealdgyth was from a prominent midlands family who fell out with King Æthelred the Unready in the difficult period of Viking invasions. We find out how these family links drove her into both danger and power amidst Saxon division and Viking invaders and decide what role she might have played in the. chaotic years...

We take a brief diversion from the Saxons to investigate the Viking consort of Sweyn Forkbeard, Sigrid the Haughty. Or is it? There is much debate about the true identity of Sweyn's wife (or wives) and whether Sigrid even existed at all as much of what we know of her comes from the Icelandic sagas. To help us unpack all of this and learn more about the sagas, we are joined by John and Andy from th...

We've back from a summer break! In this catch-up episode we explain why we've been busy (real life), read out some of your correspondence AND have an announcement about Rex Factor: The Animated Show. Without wanting to spoil the episode, we're asking you to help choose which queen (regnant) we should do next. The poll is open now and you just have one week (until Friday 13 September) to make your...

It's fair to say that we don't know quite as much about Æthelred the Unready's first consort, Ælfgifu of York, as we do about his mother (Ælfthryth) nor indeed his second consort (Emma of Normandy). We pick through what we can find about her and consider why there isn't more to go on. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoice...

Ælfthryth was Edgar the Peaceable's third consort but England's first crowned and anointed queen. By building alliances in the church, she was able to raise the office of queenship higher than anything enjoyed by her predecessors and was one of the most influential figures at court. However, she would still face a battle to get her son on the throne, not least from everyone's favourite (and seemin...

It's two episodes in one this time as we review the first two of Edgar the Peaceable's consorts. Very little is known about his first consort, Æthelflæd Candida/Eneda, so most of the episode is about Wulfthryth of Wilton, a source of much controversy because she was potentially a nun (or at least intended to become one!) As such, we take an in-depth look at the real history behind 'sex with nuns'....

Ælfgifu was part of one of the most (in)famous moments of Rex Factor scandal from our first series, but does she deserve her scandalous reputation or has Dunstan been besmirching her reputation? We find out who she was, what she was doing with King Eadwig and why Dunstan didn't like her. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastcho...

Æthelflæd of Damerham was (briefly) the second consort of Edmund I and a wealthy heiress in her own right. We have a deeper look into some of the rights and laws for Anglo-Saxon women and get to hear Æthelflæd's voice in the form of her own will. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury was the first wife of Edmund I and found an unusual career path in becoming a saint! We review her life and time as consort/saint then have a deeper look at the role of women in early Anglo-Saxon Christianity and how this led to Ælfgifu's lofty status. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adch...

We take a brief break from our normal series to tackle the epic fantasy TV series and books, Game of Thrones. In this feature-length episode, we go through the story of the show and draw out comparisons between the characters and events in the show vs. the real life history that inspired George RR Martin. This episode was recorded after Season 8 Episode 3 (The Long Knight) but before Episode 4 (in...

Eadgifu of Kent was the second consort to Edward the Elder, but it was as the mother of kings that her influence would truly be felt, demonstrating the potential opportunities that existed for consorts whose sons succeeded to the throne. Eadgifu achieved great prominence and was an early patron of monastic reform, helping bring to court a certain someone that Ali will be very pleased to see again....

Ælfflæd was the second consort of Wessex/England and like her predecessor, Ealhswith, struggling against an opposition to consorts being granted power. However, succession struggles for both her husband and sons provides an opportunity for her to assert greater queenly power - will she be successful, or be relegated to operating between the lines of history? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

Æthelflæd is one of the most remarkable and unfairly forgotten figures in English history. The eldest child of Alfred the Great and Ealhswith, she became consort to the Lord of the Mercians but really came to prominence after his death when she took over as a ruler and helped her brother, Edward the Elder, take back lands conquered by the Vikings. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more in...

We get the third series properly underway with out first consort: Ealhswith, who married King Alfred the Great. Biographical information is not extensive for Ealhswith, but we piece it all together and then find out from Alfred himself exactly why Ealhswith seems to have been neglected in the histories by taking a deeper look at Anglo-Saxon queenship. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...

Welcome to Series 3 of Rex Factor! This time we will be reviewing all the Queen and Prince Consorts of England from Ealhswith to Prince Philip. In this introductory episode, we explain how we will be reviewing consorts (as opposed to monarchs) in each of the factors and then have an interview with Privy Councillor Dr Emma Southon, who has written a brilliant book on a Roman Consort, Agrippina. You...

In our final live show of November 2018 we were in Glasgow for the Battle of the Queens where Mary Queen of Scots took on Elizabeth I, Queen of England. They were rivals in life but who would be the victor in history? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In our penultimate live show we came to Manchester for the Battle of the Saxons where Alfred the Great took on his grandson, Athelstan, to see which of these two Saxon kings truly deserves the epithet 'great'. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was the turn of the baddies for our live show in Leeds with John taking on Richard III in a bid to be crowned England's best baddy of the monarchs. But do either of these much-maligned kings really deserve their reputations or are they good guys in disguise? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ali's scandal bell was getting a good workout in our live show in Oxford as Charles II competed against George IV in the Battle of the Raucous Royals. Both kings got up to plenty of high jinks but who was the most scandalicious of all? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices