The Kings and Queens podcast

Edward II's (1307-27) reign was plagued with military and political incompetence. He was concerned not with the deeds of chivalry but in fulfilling his own desires. So dangerous were the men he allowed to control him that it bred a sinister and violent culture not seen in England for centuries. Characters Edward II - King of England  Edward I (longshanks) - Father of Edward II and former King...

Edward I – Longshanks (1272-1307) is one of the most important monarchs in English history. No other king left such a mark on the island of Britain. There were no bounds to his determination and to his malice. He treated Celts with belligerence sapping his own reign of wealth and peace. His reign saw the demolition of the last Welsh principality and brought Scotland to its knees. CHARACTERS Edward...

Henry III (1216-72) was not cut from the same cloth as his belligerent predecessors. He was placid, he hated tournaments and grew to hate war. He was known to made bold ambitious policy pronouncements but to lack the drive and determination to see them through. It was his relationship with lords and barons that would characterise his reign releasing his own predilection for tyranny. It would bolst...

In an extra episode we look at Michael (1927-30, 40-47) With Soviet troops approaching Bucharest in 1944, the apparent puppet king in Romania made a daring decision to defy Adolf Hitler and imprison his acolyte. After Soviet rule left Romania in decades of shadow, the king’s body was returned to his country 70 years after his banishment for full state honours. 

John (1199-1216) was described by historian Bishop Stubbs as ‘the very worst of our kings, a faithless son, treacherous brother, polluted with every crime. Whom no oaths could bind, there is no redeeming trait’. For Robin Hood he was the perfect iniquitous enemy. It’s a tale, popular throughout the centuries, that reflects his reputation among most contemporaries and historians alike. Credits Greg...

Answers to questions that have been sent in to the show!

The reign of Richard the Lionheart (1189-99) was a brief but costly interlude in English monarchy characterised by war and chivalry. He would not continue his father’s legacy of law and order, instead the Lionheart was transfixed by honour and conquest. He was a masterful campaigner and a fine soldier who struck terror into the hearts of his enemies, but his conquests would come at a tremendous co...

Henry II (1154-89) was the absolute image of a king, he was thick set, red-haired, strong, broad and powerful. As a contemporary claimed, he had a face upon which a man might gaze a thousand times and still feel drawn to gaze again. His accomplishments during his 34-year reign were unmatched in English history, he was Europe’s trailblazer. CREDITS Editing – Richard Gough Thomas sofonisbamusic – Tr...

King Stephen’s reign (1135-1154) was dominated by The Anarchy. A war between cousins vying for the crown which plagued England for nearly two decades. It led a country once rich and overflowing with luxuries into one that was wretched and desolate. CHARACTERS Stephen – King of England Matilda of Boulogne – Queen of England, wife of Stephen Henry of Blois – brother of Stephen, bishop of Winchester...

(1100-35) 'Against this man, no one could prevail except God himself’. The skillful, intelligent monarch championed not crushing warfare and submission but calming, shrewd diplomacy to meet his objectives. However, the nature of kingship and volatility of medieval life meant control over his biggest objective was dashed. CHARACTERS Henry I – King of England Matilda of Scotland – first wife of Henr...

William Rufus (1087-1100) was a king who shared many of the militaristic and oppressive tendencies of his conquering father, however the focus of his tyranny would differ. His modernity and defiance of rigid medieval etiquette along with his mockery and general disregard for the church would deeply damage his legacy when the very victims of his greed and ridicule became the scribes of his reign as...

William the Conqueror’s (1066-87) arrival on England’s shores shook the land to its very core. No leader left such a perennial legacy upon England as William the Conqueror. The language and the culture would be forever altered as the Norman conquest eviscerated Saxon civilisation. Discover the story of the young duke who went from an enduring a childhood with a target on his back in a crumbling du...