20 Minute Monarch

In Episode 12 of 20 Minute Monarch , Pete and Chris turn to one of the most energetic and tragic figures in English history: Edmund Ironside. The son of Æthelred II inherited a kingdom collapsing under Viking assault. Yet unlike many around him, Edmund refused to surrender. In a single astonishing year — 1016 — he raised armies, fought repeated campaigns against the forces of Cnut the Great, survi...

In Episode 11 of 20 Minute Monarch , Pete and Chris turn to one of the most formidable figures of the Viking Age: Swein Forkbeard. We trace Swein’s rise as King of Denmark, his long-running campaigns against England, and how years of raids and pressure finally culminated in full conquest in 1013. This is the moment when Æthelred II fled the country — one of the most dramatic breaks in English roya...

Episode 10 completes our two-part deep dive into Æthelred II — and this is where the story turns sharply. We open with the St Brice’s Day massacre (1002) : what the sources say, what they don’t, and why it proved a disastrous turning point. From there, Pete and Chris track the chain reaction — renewed and intensified Danish campaigns, the rise of leaders such as Sweyn Forkbeard, and a pattern of E...

In Episode 9 of 20 Minute Monarch , Pete and Chris begin their two-part exploration of Æthelred II — one of England’s most misunderstood rulers. Part 1 focuses on the uneasy foundations of his reign. Æthelred comes to the throne in 978 as a child, following the murder of his half-brother Edward the Martyr. From the start, the kingdom is shaped by powerful figures around him — including his mother...

In Episode 8 Pete and Chris tackle the slippery, dramatic story of the teenager who became king in 975: Edward the Martyr . We cover his sudden elevation after his predecessor’s death, the uneasy relationship with the dowager queen Ælfthryth and the rival faction that favoured the young Æthelred (later known as Æthelred II). Expect a clear rundown of the contemporary record (especially the Anglo-S...

In Episode 7 of 20 Minute Monarch , Pete and historian Chris take a calm, source-aware tour of Edgar’s life and reign. We look at how the younger son who became king in 959 consolidated authority across England, why later monks remembered his era as a near-golden age, and how Edgar’s close partnership with church leaders (most famously Dunstan) produced a wave of monastic reform and impressive rit...

In Episode 6 of 20 Minute Monarch Pete and Chris tackle Eadwig — sometimes called Edwy or “Eadwig All-Fair” — who ruled from 955 to 959 . Eadwig bursts into the story as a young, energetic monarch who quickly clashed with powerful churchmen, issued an unusually large number of charters, and presided over a kingdom that briefly split between his rule in the south and his brother Edgar’s authority i...

In Episode 5 of 20 Minute Monarch Pete and Chris turn to Eadred, king from 946 to 955. We follow his surprising rise (younger brother, not the obvious heir), his campaigns to repress Viking and Norse claimants in Northumbria, the repeated political manoeuvres in York, and his use of ealdormen to stabilise the north. We’ll cover his health problems, his unmarried status, surviving documents such as...

King Edmund I , often overshadowed by his famous brother Æthelstan and his troubled sons, ruled England for just seven intense years — yet his reign was defined by relentless war, political consolidation, and the fragile survival of a united English kingdom. In this episode of 20 Minute Monarch , we explore the reign of Edmund the Magnificent , the warrior-king who spent most of his rule fighting...

In Episode 3 of 20 Minute Monarch , Pete and Chris unpack the life and reign of Æthelstan. We consider how a once-questioned heir became the most powerful Anglo-Saxon ruler of his day: taking York, securing the submission of northern kings and Welsh rulers, shaping royal ceremony and law, and creating the diplomatic ties that made England visible on the European stage. Along the way we explain why...

In Episode 2 of 20 Minute Monarch , Pete and Chris take a tidy break-time tour of Edward the Elder’s life and reign. We look at how Edward inherited a fragile kingdom from Alfred, beat back internal rivals, worked with powerful regional leaders (including his sister Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians), and pushed back the Danish-controlled Danelaw. Along the way we unpack the campaigns, the burh netw...

Welcome to 20 Minute Monarch , a bite-sized weekly podcast about every English and British king and queen from Alfred the Great to Elizabeth II. In Episode 1 Pete (your host) is joined by his historian friend Chris for a relaxed, chatty exploration of Alfred — the monarch everyone remembers as “the Great.” In twenty minutes we cover Alfred’s rise in Wessex during the Viking threat, the crisis of 8...