Podcast Episodes | The British History Podcast

Alright, so when we last left Edwin he was installed as King of Northumbria by King Raedwald, Bretwalda. And he had wielded his newly granted power to exact revenge upon King Ceretic of Elmet, probably in response to the British King poisoning Edwin’s Nephew. But for as powerful as Edwin was in the north, Raedwald […] The post 106 – If You Give Edwin an Inch… first appeared on The British Hi...

Alright, so last episode we learned all about Edith and Basil’s experience at Sutton Hoo, and we covered the opening of four of the 18 mounds… and the excavation of the Burial Chamber of Mound 1. But we haven’t discussed what was actually found and what it means. So guess what we’re going to be […] The post 105 – Sutton Hoo: Treasures of the Dead first appeared on The British History Podcast...

Raedwald… King of East Anglia… Bretwalda. When he is mentioned, if you had heard that name before this show, chances are you heard it in connection with Sutton Hoo, which is possibly his burial site. And Sutton Hoo is one of the most famous archaeological digs in Britain. Just the name conjures images of the […] The post 104 – Sutton Hoo: The Finding of Raedwald… and Rabbits first appeared o...

Alright, last week we finally saw the fall of AEthelfrith and the rise of Edwin of Deira and King Raedwald of East Anglia… Bretwalda! As you probably gathered, that was not the last would will hear of Edwin. Support the Show The post 103 – Edwin the Conqueror first appeared on The British History Podcast .

Ok, when we left off, Edwin… the exile from Deira, had been on the run for quite some time. The King of Bernicia, AEthelfrith, now occupied the throne held by his father, and his father’s father, and so on and so forth. His sister, Acha, had given birth to a child with the man who […] The post 102 – Have Exile, Will Travel first appeared on The British History Podcast .

Today we’re going to talk quite a bit about Northumbria. And actually, Northumbria is going to start to get really important in our story going forward. Now much of what we know of Northumbria during this period is due to the efforts of Bede, and other Northumbrians who maintained his tradition of keeping annals. And […] The post 101 – I Ran (So Far Away): The Life and Times of Edwin of Deir...

So you might not know this about me… but I used to have long hair. Really long hair. That flowed down my back in ringlets and, if I left conditioner in it, sausage curls. Basically, I had captain hook hair. And of course, I had all manner of people taking an interest in my hair […] The post 100 – There’s a New Barber In Town first appeared on The British History Podcast .

This episode is going to have a lot of moving pieces and a lot of AEthel’s. So many AEthels. I’ll do my best to keep reminding you who I’m talking about and what they rule over and why they’re important, but this might be an episode you’ll want to relisten to. A lot of important […] The post 99 – False Starts first appeared on The British History Podcast .

Ok, when we last left off, Augustine had become the Archbishop of England, had been given orders to make London the seat of the English Church, and had some Papal answers to some rather odd questions. Support the Show The post 98 – The Zeal of Augustine first appeared on The British History Podcast .

So last week we ended with Augustine converting the people of Kent to Christianity and AEthelberht coming out as Christian… was he converted by Augustine or had he already been converted? We just don’t know. Support the Show The post 97 – Augustine and Gregory Make a Diocese first appeared on The British History Podcast .

In the last several episodes we’ve been speaking about religion. We’ve spoken about the paganism that existed on the island, the christians that lived on the island, the reasons why individuals and rulers might want to convert, and of course we’ve spoken about what the church in Rome was up to and what their plans […] The post 96 – The Conversion of King AEthelberht first appeared on The Bri...

Ok, so lets leave Britain for this episode and head to Rome. I hear it’s nice this time of year. Actually, I hear it’s really hot this time of year. But it seems like everywhere is right now… so Rome it is! Support the Show The post 95 – Two Old Men and a Slave Boy first appeared on The British History Podcast .

As we go forward in this series, what I hope you’re beginning to get a sense of from both the WelshCast and all the other shows focusing on the so called Dark Ages, is how fragmented life in Britain was at this point in history.  The post 94 – Dark Age Beliefs first appeared on The British History Podcast .

It has been nearly two hundred years since Rome withdrew from Britannia setting this small island at the edge of the world on a course that could not have been predicted. Over the generations, a new culture has developed in the lands that will one day become England, and with that new culture came new […] The post 93 – Chapter Three: The Warriors of God first appeared on The British History...

Alright, so we have two more kings of Wales before we leave Gildas and his spittle flecked rantings. And something that you might notice as we go forward is that we don’t haven’t been provided a Tyrant of Powys nor are any of the Eastern Kingdoms listed. Sure, we don’t know where Aurelias Conanus ruled, […] The post 92 – WelshCast Part Five: More People that Gildas Hated first appeared on Th...

Today, we’re going to talk about some of the people who were really pissing Gildas off. People that drove him so batty that he just couldn’t contain his rage. And since Gildas was Welsh, he was predictably focusing his ire upon the Welsh kings. Though, like I mentioned earlier, the term “Wales” isn’t something that […] The post 91 – WelshCast Part Four: Three Kings of Wales Who Really Annoye...

As you probably remember from the main podcast, before we had the appearance of major Anglo Saxon kingdoms, there was an initial migration and invasion in the sub-Roman period, with famous Germanic leaders like Hengest, Horsa, and Aelle appearing in Kent and Sussex. But there was also a staunch British resistance to these incursions lead, […] The post 90 – WelshCast Part Three: The Silent Tr...

We’re now at the point where Rome has withdrawn from Britannia (and more important to our story, from Wales), and today we’re going to talk about the impact that had upon the people. Support the Show The post 89 – WelshCast Part Two: All The Comforts of Rome (well… some of them) first appeared on The British History Podcast .

Ever since I did the Scotcast I’ve been receiving messages on facebook, on twitter, on the forums, and I’ve even been getting personal emails asking for more about Wales. And my response has always been the same, I’ll do it but not yet. Support the Show The post 88 – WelshCast Part One: From the Stone Ages to the Withdrawal of Rome first appeared on The British History Podcast .

Ok, so last episode we ended at 597. For those of you who are really into Anglo Saxon history, you might recognize that date as the date that Christianity gets reintroduced to Anglo Saxon Britain. It’s a big deal. A huge deal, in fact. It will bring war, it will bring chaos, and it will […] The post 87 – Concubinage and Apartheid in Anglo Saxon England first appeared on The British History P...

Ok, from the title you might have gathered that we’re going to be talking about Ceawlin today. Now from all this discussion of various anglo saxon leaders, you might have noticed that while I’ve been saying Cynric, Cerdic, and Ceawlin… with C being a CH sound… we also have this Cutha fellow in Wessex, and […] The post 86 – The Fall of Ceawlin… and others first appeared on T...

So it’s 568. And things in what will someday become England are still chaotic. Remember what was going on up north in Bernicia? Where Ida, who was probably part of some sort of Anglian group, had taken control of Bamburgh, then he died, and then his sons started taking over for him? Well, that’s still […] The post 85 – Ceawlin and the Sons of Ida first appeared on The British History Podcast...

We made it to 100! How awesome is that? (Well, it was the 100th episode before I combined a bunch of episodes… and now it’s the 84th episode). Support the Show The post 84 – The Q&A Episode! first appeared on The British History Podcast .

Ok, so last time we talked about how Aethelberht of Kent invaded the kingdom of Wessex and was pushed out by Ceawlin and his army. We don’t have a lot of facts regarding that conflict, we aren’t even told why they were fighting, but we know that they were both destined to become Bretwaldas and […] The post 83 – Dark Age Warfare Combo Episode first appeared on The British History...

So the year is 586, and Ceawlin is the leader of the men of Wessex. Wessex has been expanding their holdings to the north and the west, and have been growing in power. Conversely, in the East are the men of Kent under the leadership of AEthelbehrt, who (we are told) has been ruling since […] The post 82 – War. What Is It Good For? first appeared on The British History Podcast .