Anglo-Saxon England

William faces resistance to his new regime. Credits –  Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media -  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

October 12th 1066, the day Anglo-Saxon England ended. Our journey, though, is far from over. Credits –  Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media -  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We meet the Duke William, the man who would end Anglo-Saxon England. Credits –  Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media -  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

King Harold faces off against the first of the challengers for his throne: King Harald Hadrada of Norway. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Harald Sigurdsson, who would invade England to claim her throne in 1066, was, by his mother Åsta, half-brother to King Olaf Haraldsson, aka St Olaf, by whose side he fought at Stiklestad in 1030 when Olaf unsuccessfully tired to reclaim the Norwegian throne from Cnut. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media -  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Edward the Confesor died leaving no children or close male blood-relatives it opened a succession dispute that was to lead to the end of an independent Anglo-Saxon England. Of course, no one knew that at the time but with hindsight the succession dispute provoked by Edward was the short term cause of the Norman Conquest. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Due to an unexpected medical issue there isn't a new episode this week, but in light of recent news around remains found in Winchester, it seemed like an ideal time to look back at our assessment of King Alfred and his legacy. Credits –  Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening⁠ Social Media -  Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053⁠ Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/⁠ YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA⁠  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today, we are diving deep into the Vita Ædwardi Regis, or The Life of King Edward who rests at Westminster. Written in Latin right on the knife-edge of the Norman Conquest of 1066, this text is not your standard medieval hagiography. It is a complex artefact of its time and an embodiment of how the Anglo-Saxons understood their defeat in 1066. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We come to the end of Edward the Confessor's reign, storm clouds gather. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Edward faces all-out rebellion spearheaded by Godwine. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 1049, Edward massed his fleet on the coast of Sandwich and events careen towards conflict that will change the fate of England. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We begin our look at Edward the Confessor by looking at his early reign in the 1040s. Credits –  Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Encomium Emmae Reginae is an 11th-century Latin encomium – a work meant to praise a person – in honour of the English queen Emma of Normandy. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Harold Harefoot died on 17 March 1040, Harthacnut was well underway preparing an invasion of England to depose his brother. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

King Harold Harefoot emerged into a contested political landscape following the death of Cnut in which the influence of two powerful women was decisive. Both sought to secure the English throne for their own sons and built rival political factions to do so. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We look at the works of perhaps the most accomplished author in the Old English canon: Ælfric of Eynsham. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Unlocked bonus episode: A very brief intro to the history and focus of Old English prose. Credits –  Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening⁠ Social Media -  Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I want to take a short detour from a strictly chronological telling of events to loop back and focus on the lives and works of two men who were particularly influential in shaping the legal, religious, and literary world of late Anglo-Saxon England: Wulfstan of York and Ælfric of Eynesham. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We look at Canute's wider realm encompassing Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Dublin. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In honour of the on-going discussion in the UK about recognising 927 as the official beginning of England I wanted to seize the opportunity for engaging in this dialogue by releasing a special compilation episode on Æthelstan covering his entire reign. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In honour of the season I present an unlocked episode from the bonus feed covering the poem known as 'The Advent Lyrics' or, more traditionally, 'Christ I'. Credits –  Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening   Social Media -  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Canute's reign profoundly transformed England and set the stage for the final decades of Anglo-Saxon rule. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We introduce Canute, one of Anglo-Saxon England's most successful and powerful rulers. Credits –  Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We look at the brief reign of King Edmund Ironside. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How 'unready' was King Æthelred? Credits –  Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media -  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We conclude our narrative of Æthelred’s reign with his final catastrophic decade. Next time we will take a look at the reign as a whole and consider whether Æthelred’s reputation is warranted. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We continue our look at Æthelred’s reign at its peak: 993 to 1006. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media -  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As I work on the rest of the Æthelred overview, I wanted to highlight one of the major events and poems of the period: The Battle of Maldon. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There are few kings in English history that are as maligned as Ethelred. Forever remembered as ‘the Unready’, Ethelred’s reign was regarded even by those writing only fifteen years after its end as a time of chaos when England was beset by a renewed Viking menace and the king himself was forced to flee the kingdom, albeit temporarily. Ultimately though, Ethelred’s reign would set the stage for a successful Danish invasion and the rise of Cnut. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode I wanted to look back at where we have been from the perspective of the high-water mark of Anglo-Saxon history that was the reign of Edgar. In this retrospective analysis, I want to consider some aspects of ‘history from below’ that were not focused on as much in earlier episodes, specifically the economic base of society, slavery, and the position of women in Anglo-Saxon society. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Following Edgar’s death, we enter into what would be one of the most turbulent periods of Anglo-Saxon history which would see murder, renewed Viking activity, and invasion bring England to its knees. It all began with a dispute over the succession. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We wrap up our look at possibly the greatest of all Anglo-Saxon monarchs. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oswald of Worcester (d.992) is usually viewed as one of three episcopal leaders of monastic reform in tenth-century England, but this interpretation conflates Oswald’s motivations and interests with those of Dunstan (d.988) and Æthelwold (d.984). This article uses the surviving source-material to re-examine how far Oswald was genuinely connected with his contemporaries’ reforming ideology and how this differed from Æthelwold’s specifically. Ultimately two distinct movements emerge from this re-evaluation, one centred on Winchester and the other on Worcester (and its associated houses), both based on distinct ideologies of monastic reform. Credits –  Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We look at the last of the Big Three reformers, Oswald, and set up a discussion of what exactly the reformers in England wanted to achieve. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

If you read about the English Benedictine Reforms today, the older narrative focused on Dunstan as the its spearhead will have been largely replaced by a view that positions his student Æthelwold as the driving force behind reform. It is Æthelwold who composed the main source texts of English reform and it was he who sought to guide the politics of England by cultivating close links with the family of King Edgar. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Benedictine reforms in England were, in the traditional narrative, spearheaded by three key ecclesiastics: Dunstan, Æthelwold, and Oswald. The exact relationship of these three has been subject to regular revaluation since the late tenth century and I will offer my own revaluation in due time. Starting in this episode, I will present the lives of each reformer in the traditional mould so that later we can look again at their stories when we consider the nature and impact of English Benedictine reform. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media -  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Although the Benedictine reform movements that found royal favor in England in the late-tenth century are usually associated with King Edgar, their origins predate him quite substantially with roots going all the way back to the reign of Æthelstan. The true origins of Benedictine reform, though, came not from England but from Francia. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watchv=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media -  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Since a major part of King Edgar’s legacy is based on his advocacy of church reform, it is reasonable to spend some time considering the state of the Church in the mid-tenth century and the role it played in society. It’s easy to fall into rhetoric which assumes that the Church is the same in all places and at all times. This obviously cannot be true, thus why we tend to talk about the Church in medieval England or the Church in the ancient world. But it can be easy to forget that even within an historical period – like the period of ‘Anglo-Saxon England’ – ideas and institutions did not remain static. The Church of the conversion period was different from the Church of the Norman Conquest. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Edgar, son of Edmund, is not that well known today to those not already interested in Anglo-Saxon history, yet there can be no doubt that he, along with Alfred and Æthelstan, is one of the most important rulers in terms of their contribution to the formation of the English kingdom. Through his patronage of Benedictine monastic reforms Edgar oversaw the creation of an ideology which united Church and Crown in a manner that had not yet been seen in England. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Following Eadred’s early death the eldest son of Edmund, Eadwig, was finally of an age to become king. Through his uncle’s years of intensifying illness, the court had become adept at governing with minimal royal input. The young and healthy Eadwig was not content to let things proceed as they had under Eadred, however. In attempting to bend the system to his will, Eadwig would become one of the most scandalous kings of the Anglo-Saxon period and bring the kingdom literally to breaking point.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Edmund was killed in 946 his two sons, Eadwig and Edgar, were still just infants. Thus, the witan chose to elevate Edmund’s brother, Eadred, to the throne so as to avoid the dangers of having a child king. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Edmund was an important ruler in shaping the future course of English history whatever his personal failings. In the end he died too soon to know how he would have fared without his mother or when powerful nobles began to chafe under his authority. Perhaps that is for the best since as it stands he can easily be held in some, albeit qualified, esteem.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Last time we looked at how Æthelstan ruled his kingdom but this is only half of the story of his reign. Much like his grandfather Æthelstan sought to forge close links with rulers and ecclesiastics throughout western Europe in an effort to solidify the intellectual, cultural, and political prestige of England on an international stage.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Æthelstan is routinely regarded as one of Anglo-Saxon England’s greatest kings. This is a reputation ascribed to him not only for his military and political achievements, but also for the remarkable impression that his decades on the throne have left in the historical record. The abundance of material provides unparalleled insight into how the royal government of Æthelstan functioned and how the king’s policies shaped English culture for the next several generations.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We look at the second half of Æthelstan's reign from its peak to its complex end.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The story of Æthelstan from his debated birth to his becoming the first King of England.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Æthelflæd, one of the most important women in Anglo-Saxon history, ruled Mercia during the reign of Edward the Elder. Through her military endeavours, she was instrumental in securing the reconquest of the southern Danelaw and securing the Kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons from future attack.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Edward the Elder (899-924) is often overlooked given the towering fame of his father and son. When we look at his career, though, we find a king whose actions earn him acclaim and criticism.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle we have not only an account of Anglo-Saxon history but also an attempt at identity creation which served part of the mission to forge a new united English identity from the disparate collection of tribes and kingdoms that was the base of Anglo-Saxon society. Even taken with a hefty spoonful of salt, it is nevertheless one of the single most important texts produced from the Anglo-Saxon period and continues to inform the narrative of English history up to the present day.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We look back on the achievements of King Alfred and ask: how do we define someone as 'great'?Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

One day, when he was a boy, the future Alfred the Great, along with his brothers, was pulled aside by his mother, Osburh. She showed them a book filled with English poetry and promised that she would give it to whichever one of them could learn it by heart the fastest. The young Alfred, smaller than all his brothers, was enchanted by the decorated capital letter on the book’s first page. He immediately took the manuscript from his mother and took it to his tutor who helped him to swiftly memorize the poetry. Upon returning to Osburh, the boy recited the poems for her, and she happily gave the book of poetry to him.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In addition to his military and political achievements, King Alfred also undertook an ambitious plan for intellectual revival meant to restore learning and piety to his new kingdom. In this episode, we meet the men who helped him undertake this massive task.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Although he had no way of knowing it, in 878 Alfred secured for Wessex over a decade of peace from Viking attack. In that time, Alfred would set about remaking his kingdom so that it could withstand any future invasions. This program would see innovations on many fronts which would provide greater security for the English people, a more reliable military force, and the emergence of a new polity which had at its core not the old ethnic kingdoms but a new conception of a single English kingdom. Behind this political and military innovation was an ideological basis which saw Viking invasion as divine punishment for impiety. To this end, Alfred spearheaded a program of intellectual and spiritual renewal which ran alongside and supported his vision of a more secure kingdom. This rebirth of Latin and Old English learning, the so-called Alfredian Renaissance, will be the focus of the next two episodes. In today’s episode, we will focus on Alfred’s military and political achievements. Between them, these episodes will demonstrate why Alfred remains the only English king to have the appellation ‘the Great’.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As discussed in the previous episode, the Viking invasion of England can be roughly divided into two phases, that which occurred prior to the arrival of the Great Summer Army in 871 and that which occurred after. In late 870, the Norse were at a crossroads. They had recently conquered East Anglia, but their leadership was crumbling. Ivar had departed, probably for Ireland, and it was not clear how they should continue their raiding. To the south were London and the Kingdom of Wessex which presented tantalizing possibilities for further loot, but it was difficult to maintain momentum. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Great Heathen Army that devastated England in the 860s and 870s was, tradition claims, spear-headed by three of the sons of Ragnar Lothbrok. As discussed last time, legend had it that they invaded to avenge their father’s execution at the hands of King Ælle of Northumbria. It is not clear how true this is. But it does serve to lead us into a consideration of three of the most prominent Vikings in Anglo-Saxon history. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Viking activity in England evolved over time. What began as small-scale raids on vulnerable monasteries gradually evolved into attacks on key trading settlements and, ultimately, into full-blown invasion. It is incorrect to suggest that Viking activity was always the same. Rather it became larger and more ambitious as time passed.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Viking looms large over the early medieval period as a whole, despite only erupting onto the scene in the late eighth century, several centuries after the period is usually thought to have begun. They were such a disruptive force that inspired such profound spiritual and cultural shock among the states of Europe that they are even given their own sub-period – the Viking Age – within the larger period of the Early Middle Ages. But who were the Vikings? And what prompted their dramatic interventions into history?Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After just under 70 episodes, we come to a point that I have always imagined as the dividing line in this series: the Norse invasions. What is coming is a huge undertaking, so I wanted to take the opportunity to look back on where we have been; to highlight key themes and to clarify my stance on the term ‘Anglo-Saxon’.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Surrey, much like Hwicce and Lindsey, has a history that can only be told by looking askance at sources. What emerges, though, is a frontier kingdom that was often subject to the vicissitudes of fate.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Everything, Everywhere Daily talks about the Dark Ages and whether they really were all that dark. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The great professor of Anglo-Saxon history, Simon Keynes, once called Lindsey a ‘kingdom without a history’. This is because there is no written evidence from the kingdom itself and only a tiny amount written about it from contemporaries. However, there is some evidence in the form of archaeology which has shed valuable light on aspects of Lindsey’s history. In today’s episode, we will ask how accurate it is to say that Lindsey is a kingdom without a history.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode we will be looking at one of the most elusive of the small kingdoms which proliferated in early Anglo-Saxon England. The Hwicce were located mainly in what is today Worcestershire, Warwickshire, and Gloucestershire. Their history is extremely patchy, but from what can be said they offer a unique view of the emergence and downfall of a tribal kingdom caught between the worlds of the Britons and the Anglians.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

With the death of Sighere in 688, Essex’s tendency for pagan reaction came to an end. This did not mean that the kingdom was left in peace, however.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The kingdom of the East Saxons was one of the mid-sized early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and the last in our survey of the construct made by later historians called the ‘Heptarchy’. A kingdom repeatedly wracked by pagan reaction, Essex's early history is one filled with religious upheaval and intrigue making it an explosive send-off to the Heptarchy.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Following Cædwalla’s death in 688 Sussex seemingly did not regain its independence. As with the early history of Sussex, the kingdom’s history post-688 is again one of long stretches of obscurity occasionally broken by flashes of insight. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Last time I discussed the origin myth of Sussex and how this compares to the archaeological record for early Saxon presence in the southeast of England. According to legend, the final notable date of early South Saxon history was 491 with Ælle’s and Cissa’s victory over the Britons of Andredes cester. We saw how these later legends do not line up with the archaeological record which indicates that Saxons only occupied all of what became Sussex by the 470s. This time, we jump ahead two hundred years to look at the earliest recorded history of Sussex and its struggle with Wessex for control of the Isle of Wight.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Let us turn south from East Anglia and head back towards the English Channel. Down here, to the southwest of Kent, lies the region of Sussex. Among the oldest Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Sussex nevertheless has a storied history. This episode we will begin with the legend of its founder and the archaeological evidence which casts light on the shadows cast by myth.Credits –Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media -Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 869, when the Norse killed Edmund, East Anglia was left prostrate before them. Later legend tells us that they had demanded Edmund yield half of his kingdom to them, a demand the king obviously refused, for which he paid with his life. Precisely what the Norse did in East Anglia after killing Edmund is shrouded in mystery, as it is in all of what would become known as the Danelaw. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

(Apologies that this episode is a bit late. I recently started a new job and have been forced to rework my recording schedule. Going forward the episodes will be back to their usual schedule.)Following the major shifts in international power that occurred in the late 820s following the fall of Beornwulf and the ascendency of Ecgberht of Wessex, East Anglia entered its final period of independence. It did so under the leadership of a new king who seemingly had little connection to the realm’s historical dynasty. This didn’t stop him and his heirs from presiding over about four decades of seeming peace and prosperity before calamity finally struck again.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Following the execution of Æthelberht II, Offa did in East Anglia what he had already done to the Hwicce: he assumed direct control. Thus began a period of Merican control in East Anglia. This is a period that is poorly served by primary evidence but it is nevertheless possible to reconstruct a loose history of this turbulent period.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Following the fall of the Wuffingas dynasty in 749, East Anglia entered a period of political uncertainty. Such uncertainty often breeds instability, but in the case of East Anglia it became significantly more perilous with the ascendency of Offa of Mercia, a king who if you will recall sought to establish a Mercian empire through seizing unprecedented levels of control over his subject kingdoms. Dynastic instability could not have come at a worse time for the East Anglians.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The rule of the Wuffingas dynasty in East Anglia came to an end in 749. Despite this, though, the end of the Wuffingas’ monopoly on power was not characterized by disruption or upheaval. Instead, the final two kings of the Wuffingas line, Ealdwulf and Ælfwald, presided over an extended period of relative stability and prosperity, a fact marked by both kings reigns lasting for multiple decades. Besides this, copious archaeological evidence remains which demonstrates that during their time at the head of the East Anglian kingdom the realm experienced marked economic growth through the expansion of international trade and the use of coinage.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Following Anna’s death at the hands of Mercian invaders in 653, East Anglia was left entirely at the mercy of King Penda and his forces. Having been put on the back foot by the dramatic events of the Mercian invasion, the East Anglians scrambled for any stability in the storm. They turned, hopeful for respite, to Æthelhere, brother of the slain king.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Following Penda’s attack in 635, East Anglia became a pawn in the emerging cold war between Mercia and Northumbria. Keen to check the growing power of the midland kingdom, Oswald of Northumbria was eager to support a new ruler in East Anglia who might manage to check Penda’s obvious ambitions to overlordship of southern England. His gaze soon settled on a nephew of Raedwald by the name of Anna.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A common feature of early Anglo-Saxon history, at least as presented by Bede, is what is called ‘pagan reaction’. Since Bede was writing an ecclesiastical history, that is a history of the Church, reactions against the spread of Christianity of course greatly disturbed him. Usually, these reactions took the form of kings who aggressively reversed the policies of their Christian predecessors by ending royal patronage of the Church in favour of support for traditional practitioners of pagan religiosity. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The burial at Sutton Hoo is one of the enduring symbols of Anglo-Saxon England, but who is the man that is often said to be buried there? In this episode we take a look at the life of one King Raedwald and the famous burial that may be he enduring legacy.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Of all the early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, East Anglia has probably the richest legendary history. While the historicity of this history is of course questionable, I believe that it is important to discuss it since it serves to situate the East Anglians (as well as their heirs the Mercians) in a larger North Sea cultural zone, but also because it links some of the most famous works of Old English literature to the history of this small kingdom.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

East Anglian history poses a particular problem for historians of Anglo-Saxon England. The Kingdom of East Anglia was one of just four kingdoms still in existence when the Great Heathen Army landed in England in 865, but hardly anything written records have survived from its time as an independent kingdom, most likely due to its having suffered the bulk of the Army’s initial onslaught which seemingly destroyed the kingdom’s major religious and administrative centres. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

With Kent wrapped up, and while I’m working on the next part of the podcast, I wanted to do another patron request episode. I have been asked to talk a bit about good books and resources for studying Anglo-Saxon history. This episode will be more free form than others, I just going to go through what for me are some of my go to resources. Some of these are academic books, so when they are likely to be expensive I will say so and I will try to suggest good alternatives where possible. Resources recommended in this episode:-       A Guide to Old English by B. Mitchell and F. C. Robinson-       http://www.oldenglishaerobics.net/-       https://www.memrise.com/-       English Historical Documents: Volume 1: c.500–1042, edited by D. Whitelock-       Councils and Synods: with other documents relating to the English Church, vol. I, part I: A.D. 871–1066, edited by D. Whitelock, M. Brett and C. N. L. Brooke.-       The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles by M. Swanton-       Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Oxford Medieval Texts), transl. and ed. B. Colgrave and R. A. B. Mynors-       The Complete Old English Poems (The Middle Ages Series), transl. C. Williamson-       https://oldenglishpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/-       The Anglo Saxon Literature Handbook by M. C Amodio-       Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary by J. R. R. Tolkien-       https://esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk/about/index.html-       The Anglo-Saxons, ed. J. Campbell-       The Anglo-Saxon World by N. J. Higham and M. Ryan-       The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England by M. Morris-       The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England, ed. M. Lapidge, J. Blair, S. Keynes, and D. Scragg-       The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society by J. Blair-       The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England by H. Mayr-Harting-       Signals of Belief in Early England: Anglo-Saxon Paganism Revisited, ed. M. Carver, A. Sanmark, and S. Semple-       Alfred the Great: War, Kingship and Culture in Anglo-Saxon England by R. Ables-       Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and Other Contemporary Sources, transl. S. Keynes and M. Lapidge-       Aethelstan: The First King of England by S. Foot-       Aethelred the Unready by L. Roach-       Edward the Confessor: Last of the Royal Blood by T. LicenceCredits -Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The history of Kent as a kingdom ends in the year 825. In one sense it was the result of Mercia's destruction of its native dynasty, but in another it saw the return of a legitimate Kentish dynasty to Canterbury.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Following the death of Wihtred Kent entered a period of instability which left it open to the expanding ambitions of Mercia. What followed was almost 50 years of on and off Mercian overlordship which saw Kent invaded and restructured several times. In that time, the once great kingdom was brought to its knees.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

King Wihtred, the king who restored Kentish independence, had a long but largely mysterious reign. However from what survives we can tell that his rule marked a final restoration of Kent as a free power able to negotiate with other kingdoms on its own terms. Wihtred also left a law code which allows us to see how markedly Kentish society had changed within the space of one hundred years from that which Augustine and the missionaries encountered in 597. In this episode we will consider Wihtred's reign as well as the evidence provided by his laws to build a picture of Kent at the close of the seventh century.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The late 680s in Kent are another of those periods that have become quite familiar to us in our study so far: a period of upheaval following on the heels of war. In this case, the war was fought between Kent and the Gewisse between 686 and 688. It began, apparently, when Cædwalla invaded Kent in 686 and saw the subjection of Kent until his abdication in 688. After this date, though, Kent was further subjugated by its neighbors and did not truly regain independence until at least 692. No one alive at the time could have known, but the period 686 to 692 was just a foretaste of the dynamics which would shape the rest of Kentish history.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After the death of Ecgberth in 673, the throne of Kent passed to his younger brother Hlothhere. There is some debate as to whether Hlothhere succeeded Ecgberht immediately or after an interregnum. While this may suggest some instability in Kent in the 670s, when seen as part of the kingdom’s larger political history it is clear that the line of Eorcenberht had now fully established its grip on the Kentish throne. However, the uncertainty that greeted Hlothhere’s reign was an ominous foretaste of troubles to come. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

With the death of Eadbald, we find ourselves square in the middle of a complicate textual history regarding the foundation legend of the monastery of Minster-in-Thanet. The various narratives which make up this history are all collectively known as the ‘Kentish royal legend’ or sometimes as the ‘Mildreth legend’ after St Mildreth (sometimes Mildred), the great-granddaughter of King Æthelberht who was the first abbess of the royal monastery on the island of Thanet. Despite being mainly concerned with the foundation of Minster-in-Thanet, the legend also contains a lot of details and family legends about the descendants of King Æthelberht, making it a potentially rich source for the history of Kent in the 7th C. However, as the title ‘legend’ should make clear, the story contains much that is supernatural and many of its components are difficult to corroborate as historical facts.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Despite Æthelberht’s official adoption of the new Christian creed, he seems to have been largely unsuccessful in promoting it among his courtiers. His own son, Eadbald, refused to adopt the faith. Upon his father’s death in 616 his pagan heir ascended to the throne of Kent. So began Kent's 'pagan reaction', a time in which the Church at Canterbury lost its influence over the rulers of the kingdom. It would bounce back, but only in a reduced form with its ability to achieve its ambitions curtailed. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Any list of the most consequential Anglo-Saxons would need to include King Æthelberht of Kent. As the king who welcomed the Augustinian Mission in 597 and gave them his protection Æthelberht was personally responsible foe the start of England’s official conversion to Christianity; an event which would have massive cultural and political implications for later generations. At least that’s the traditional narrative. To what extent is Æthelberht’s reputation deserved? As I will show in this episode, much of what he pioneered vanished soon after his death and consequently it seems that his actual importance to early Anglo-Saxon England is somewhat overstated by later hagiography.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kent consists of a small spur sticking out of the south-eastern tip of England. To its north lies the mouth of the River Thames and to its south it the English Channel. As the closest point between Britain and mainland Europe, Kent has always been an entry point into the British Isles. This means that it has often been a hub of international trade and communication, but it also means that it has one of the most vulnerable parts of England to invasion. The Kingdom of Kent that emerged here would serve as the entry point for wealth and new ideas to flow into England. The earliest history of Kent is mysterious, but what we can say demonstrates some of the major trends that shaped the course of Kentish history.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As historians we thrive on the material culture of the past. You don’t need to be an historical materialist to recognize that without material culture our understanding of history is severely limited. Objects are the raw material from which we make history. What then do objects tell us about the early development of Anglo-Saxon history and society? When we look at this we can chart the material evolution of Anglo-Saxon England from a migrant society of farmers to a kingdom with towns and villages. At the centre of this development lies trade.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The period of West Saxon consolidation under Ine had major implications not just for Wessex but for peoples elsewhere in Britain and even on the Continent. One man who embodies the international impact of Ine’s reign is Boniface, a West Saxon who devoted his life to missionary work in what is today Germany and Austria. A product of Wessex’s western expansion, Boniface’s eventful life brought him into contact with popes and kings and saw him leave an indelible mark on many of the peoples and countries of Europe’s Germanic centre.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Michael Lapidge called Aldhelm the first English ‘man of letters’ on account of his vast learning. Bede said of him that he was ‘most learned in every respect’ and that he was both a mast of style as well as possessing an unrivalled knowledge of both classical and patristic writings. Aldhelm’s writings set the standard for Anglo-Latin literature that would continue to be imitated up to the time of the Norman Conquest. Indeed each of his works inspired Latin and Old English imitators who through their engagement with Aldhelm’s legacy advanced the development of Anglo-Saxon intellectual history. Therefore, although he is not well known today, Aldhelm’s influence was truly immense, greater perhaps even than Bede’s.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s probably no exaggeration to say the Alfred the Great is one of the most, if not the most, famous Anglo-Saxon of them all. The only British monarch given the epithet ‘the Great’, the traditional account of his life is one of a scholar forced into the role of a war leader who defied the odds to save and unite not just his people, but all the English. Indeed, Alfred is usually cast as the man who saved England, without whom all of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms would have fallen to Scandinavian invasion. However, it is not just for his military successes that Alfred is remembered. He was also celebrated as a wise king who cared deeply for law, religion, and learning. The revival of Latin and Old English learning that is called by scholars the ‘Alfredian Renaissance’ is usually attributed to Alfred’s vision of a just and pious English nation which he sought to realise by gathering to himself the learned man of Britain, Ireland, and the Continent. It is important to be wary, though, of mythmaking and the ‘great man’ interpretation of history. While Alfred was without question a great leader, we must take a step back and look at his life with dispassionate eyes so that we can cut through the layers of legend to reach the core of the man who saved England.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Æthelwulf’s will attests to his desire that upon his death Wessex would pass into the hands of his sons. This desire was fulfilled when his eldest surviving son Æthelbald became king following his father’s death in 858. The years that passed between this accession and the rise of the youngest son, Alfred, to the throne in 871 would see a complex detente form between the four brothers as Wessex rapidly passed from one to another. Histories of Wessex tend to overlook the years between Æthelwulf and Alfred, preferring to focus instead of Alfred, his father, and his grandfather to give the sense of a simple progression of a united Wessex developing into a united kingdom of England. However the reigns of Alfred’s three older brothers deserve to be discussed in detail since it is under them that several key factors in Alfred’s reign fully emerge into West Saxon history such as the transition from Scandinavian raiding into Scandinavian conquest and the alliance with Mercia, both of which would bear fruit in Alfred’s reign and shape the earliest form of the kingdom of England.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Æthelwulf, father of Alfred the Great, was perhaps the most innovative king Wessex had seen since the reign of Ine. Although he would dedicate much of his reign to securing the throne, through the dual impact of intense Viking raiding and personal hubris his experiment would finally explode in his face casting a permanent shadow on his legacy but also setting the scene for the rise of his mighty son.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 786 King Cynewulf was murdered throwing Wessex into disorder. In the midst of the feuding that followed King Offa of Mercia moved in to secure the West Saxons’ passivity by elevating a puppet to the throne. He did this in the form of his son-in-law Beorhtric. This manoeuvre did not go unchallenged, though, and Beorhtric faced opposition from at least one West Saxon nobleman, Ecgberht, who warred against Beorhtric but wa ultimately driven into exile in Francia for his troubles. Upon Beorhtric’s death in 802, Ecgberht would return from his exile and claim the West Saxon throne, and so would begin a period in which the political map of southern England was changed forever as Ecgberht led a reconquest of all the lands south of the Thames and secure West Saxon pre-eminence in southern England.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Following Ine’s abdication in 726, the rest of the eighth century was a time of uncertainty for Wessex. It is a period that is not well served by the primary evidence, and we don’t really get detailed accounts of the kingdom’s history again until the rise of Ecgberht in 802. It is a period in which Wessex was often threatened by the ascendant power of Mercia to the north and by internal instability as new dynasties vied for the throne. I have called it the ‘dark’ eighth century and that is a deliberate play on the dual meanings of the word dark. Traditional historiography has tended to see this period as one of West Saxon decline sandwiched between the revolutionary reigns of Ine and Ecgberht, in that sense it could be seen as a dark age for Wessex, although as I will argue in this episode that traditional narrative is overly simplistic and underplays the achievements of the kings who ruled in these decades. The other meaning of dark is of course referring to something mysterious and that certainly describes these decades quite well. The kings and their undertakings are mysterious to us and that makes these decades into a puzzle that must be solved. I will attempt to do so here.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode I interview author and historical reenactor John Fletcher about his book 'The Western Kingdom: The Birth of Cornwall'. It's an accessible and fascinating history of Cornwall in the early middle ages and well worth picking up if you are at all interested in the history of south-western Britain or in Cornwall since it really dives into the political, cultural, and military history of the region.Find John at: https://www.instagram.com/authorjohnfletcher/Find the book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Kingdom-Birth-Cornwall/dp/1803990007Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Of all the kings of Wessex prior to the reign of King Alfred, Ine is the one with probably the greatest reputation. This rests mostly on the respect afforded to his law code by King Alfred in the preface to his own collection of legal rulings. There Alfred explicitly set himself in a tradition following from Moses and Ine in making laws for his people. This is high praise and surely must attract the interest of readers. Who was this Ine? Why were his laws so notable? And does the reality live up the expectation set by Alfred’s praise? In this episode we will seek to answer these questions and discover that Ine’s legacy is decidedly more complicated that a surface reading of Alfred’s preface would suggest.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Upon the abdication of Centwine in 685 the Gewisse were thrown into chaos. From the forests on their eastern frontier came news of an exiled noble massing an army to press his claim to the throne. He had already cut his teeth on the South Saxons by driving out their king and facing a revolt by his nobles, but now he was looking to return home to seize the opportunity of an empty throne. His name was Cædwalla and though he would reign for only three years, they would be some of the most transformative years in the history of Wessex. But that transformation would be a bloody one and would draw the people of the south west into the violent contest that was Anglo-Saxon power politics thereby remaking them and eventually England as a whole.Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8DdeningSocial Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonenglandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAngloInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.