Storyline | The British History Podcast

Today’s episode is going to go all over the kingdoms of the Heptarchy. We have the Kings of Kent, Wessex, East Anglia, Northumbria, and of course, Mercia all involved. It’s a busy one. But Offa will continue to be our main character. Support the Show The post 150 – King Offa: The Turnover first appeared on The British History Podcast .

Today we’re starting a series on one of the most influential Mercian kings in history. King Offa. But before we start this story, I need to fess up to a couple things. Support the Show The post 149 – King Offa Ascends the Throne first appeared on The British History Podcast .

Alright, as you already know, King AEthelbald of Mercia had a bit of a rough start… what with being exiled and living in a swamp. But once he was able to take the throne, he hit the ground running and it wasn’t long before he was the supreme power in the South with even Bede […] The post 148 – The Fall of King AEthelbald first appeared on The British History Podcast .

This year for our Christmas special, I thought I would give you an idea of what Christmas was like for some of the people in Middle Ages Britain. Now, Christmas in the middle ages was quite different from our modern experience in many ways. And like with everything else, it would have varied from location […] The post 147 – The Twelve Days of Christmas first appeared on The British History P...

The first half of this episode is a combination of letting you know what is happening in the Heptarchy (basically, chaos unless you’re in Mercia) and it’s also setting the stage for the second half, which… I’m not going to lie to you… is going to get a little weird. But stick with me. Support […] The post 146 – King AEthelbald: A Whirlpool of Perdition first appeared on The British History P...

Ok, so we ended our last episode with the death of King Ceolred at a banquet. And he went out swinging… or at least gibbering and cursing the heavens. Let’s face it, Ceolred was a colorful character and really brought his A game right until the end. I mean, you really have to work hard […] The post 145 – The Rise of King AEthelbald of Mercia first appeared on The British History Podcas...

Ok, so recently we’ve chatted about some cultural matters and I’ve also given you a broad overview of the failed dynastic politics of Northumbria and where this is all headed. But we really didn’t cover too much of what was going on elsewhere. We hinted at it, but I’m sure you’re curious about the other […] The post 144 – King Ceolred: A Lunatic Running the Asylum first appeared on The Briti...

Now today is going to be a little complex. But if you keep the theme in mind, you should be largely ok… and that theme is the bloody dynastic politics in the midlands and the north are getting completely out of hand. And Wilfrid is Wilfrid. Support the Show The post 142 – The Failed Dynastic Politics of Mercia and Northumbria first appeared on The British History Podcast .

Ok, when we left off, Bishop Wilfrid was jilted out of the Archbishopric of Canterbury, and instead Abbot Beorhtwald became Archbishop Beorhtwald. So Wilfrid readjusted and made an attempt to reunify the Bishopric of York and then head it up. But King Aldfrith didn’t agree and, presumably because the Wilfrid wouldn’t let it drop, he […] The post 141 – King Aldfrith and St. Wilfrid first appe...

Today’s episode will take place in the turbulent years from 686 to 692 and the main characters will be… Aldfrith – King of Mercia, son of Oswiu, brother of Ecgfrith, and scholarly dude. Wilfrid – Former Bishop of York, friend of the terrifying pagan king Caedwalla, and man you really don’t want to cross. and […] The post 140 – Wilfrid: How to Win Friends and Influence Peopl...

This episode will roughly cover the eventful years between 685 and 689. The main characters today will be two kings, two wannabe kings, and a bishop… here we go: First we have King Aldfrith of Northumbria – He was the brother of the slain King Ecgfrith and also the son of King Oswiu, and he […] The post 139 – The Rise of Aldfrith and Caedwalla first appeared on The British History Podc...

This episode will cover the years 678 to 685 and its major characters will be… King Ecgfrith of Northumbria, the man who brought down Wulfhere, was wielding supreme power in Northumbria and was arguably exercising quite a bit of power south of the Humber as well. King AEthelred of Mercia, son of Penda and brother […] The post 136 – The Power of Mercia first appeared on The British History Po...

Today we’re going to cover the eventful years of 675 to 678, and our main characters will be… King Wulfhere of Mercia, Son of Penda and tough guy with a bloodied lip. King Ecgfrith of Northumbria, Son of Oswiu and guy who bloodied Wulfhere’s lip. And Bishop Wilfrid… the Northumbrian Bishop who was a key […] The post 135 – A Reshuffling of Power first appeared on The British History Podcast .

This episode covers the years 670 to 685. The main characters are: King Ecgfrith of Northumbria – son of Oswiu, former hostage of the Mercians, and generally tough dude. King Wulfhere of Mercia – son of Penda, veteran warrior, and leader of a growing southern Hegemony. Queen AEthelthryth of Northumbria – Queen of Ecgfrith’s, unhappy […] The post 134 – The Power of Nor...

To start with, we have nine praise poems that tell us of a mighty king of Rheged named Urien, who reigned in the 580’s and 590’s. Urien was no slouch and from the records, it appears that his kingdom stretched all the way to the Solway and he was also given the title of “Defender […] The post 133 – Scotcast: Part Ten first appeared on The British History Podcast .

This episode will cover the years 506 to 584 and will focus primarily upon: King Brude (also known as King Bridie), the King the the Northern Picts … also referred to as King of Fortriu and St. Columba, the man credited with converting the Northern Picts… and lesser known monster expert. Support the Show The post 132 – Scotcast Part Nine: St. Columba and King Brude first appeared on The British Hi...

So we will begin the account of what was going on with the Picts following the withdrawal of Rome with a rather discouraging fact… isn’t it nice when I can start an episode on an up note? In the Group A version of the Pictish Chronicle there are only 3 Pictish Kings before Kenneth MacAlpin […] The post 131 – Scotcast Part Eight first appeared on The British History Podcast .

The last time we had episodes focusing upon the Scotcast, it was at the end of Season Two… at the end of roman Britannia, and quite a lot of things have changed for our friends in the north. So, as is our custom, now that we’re changing gears and focusing on a new era in […] The post 130 – Scotcast Part Seven – Who Were The Picts? first appeared on The British History Podcast .

It began with Cassivellaunus. The first recorded King to have commanded the submission of most, if not all, of the British tribes and who fought valiantly against Caesar and his legions. And although the hegemony under Cassivellaunus didn’t last, it presented a tantalizing new possibility. Unity. A century later, the Romans returned… and this time […] The post Chapter Four: Anglo Saxon Ascen...

About a year and a half ago I did a series on the Staffordshire hoard. And talking with the experts and viewing the relics was easily one of my favorite moments from the entire experience of putting together the BHP. As you might remember, the hoard was found in Mercia and it is dated to […] The post 129 – The Life of King Wulfhere first appeared on The British History Podcast .

The episode covers 664 to 670 and the major characters are… King Oswiu, ruler of Northumbria, son of AEthelfrith, and all around terrifying fellow King Alhfrith of Deira, Oswiu’s son and one of his probable rivals Wilfrid, abbott of Ripon, guy who argued for Rome at Whitby, and all around ambitious guy. and King Wulfhere, […] The post 128 – The End of King Oswiu’s Hegemony first appeared on...

The major players for today will be Hild (who was the daughter of King Edwin’s nephew, Hereric), King Oswiu of Bernicia, Bishop Colman of Lindisfarne, Wilfred the abbot of Ripon, and Bishop Cedd. And they will be, ostensibly, arguing over Easter. See? Once again, we’ve got Easter causing trouble in Britain. Cadburys chocolate can’t come […] The post 127 – The Synod of Whitby first appeared o...

Today we’re going to tackle the history from 660 right up to the lead up to the Synod of Whitby… and we’re going to have a lot of moving parts, but the theme that is developing here is one of the last gasps of Paganism in Britain and the rise of two rival imperiums: one […] The post 126 – The End of an Era: The Triumph of Christianity in Britain first appeared on The British History Podcast...

So in late 655, following his victory at the Winwaed, King Oswiu occupied and ruled Northern Mercia and thus now ruled over an additional 7,000 households, according to Bede. Consider how much power that was conferring upon the King. We’re talking about 7,000 hides of land. Think of how many Ceorls and Thegns now answered […] The post 125 – King Oswiu: A Gathering Storm first appeared on The...

The Battle of the Winwaed is over and Penda is dead along with 30 noble warleaders who had joined him in battle… with them was King Anna’s brother, King AEthelhere of East Anglia… and as for King AEthelwald of Deira… well, I’m not sure what happened to him. But he isn’t in the histories any […] The post 121 – King Oswiu: The Aftermath of the Winwaed first appeared on The British History Podc...