Category: Culture

Episodes of The British History Podcast that include cultural history matters. You’ll learn about the diets, economics, and all the other aspects of daily life for the Celts, Romano-British, Britons, Anglo Saxons, and more.

130 – Scotcast Part Seven – Who Were The Picts?

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The last time we had episodes focusing upon the Scotcast, it was at the end of Season Two… at the end of roman Britannia, and quite a lot of things have changed for our friends in the north. So, as is our custom, now that we’re changing gears and focusing on a new era in the main story, lets break away from our Anglo-Saxon focus and check in with what’s been happening outside of the Anglo Saxon territories.

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127 – The Synod of Whitby

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The major players for today will be Hild (who was the daughter of King Edwin’s nephew, Hereric), King Oswiu of Bernicia, Bishop Colman of Lindisfarne, Wilfred the abbot of Ripon, and Bishop Cedd. And they will be, ostensibly, arguing over Easter.

See? Once again, we’ve got Easter causing trouble in Britain. Cadburys chocolate can’t come soon enough. This is getting out of hand.

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124 – Social Mobility: Getting a Raise in Anglo Saxon Kingdoms

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Today we’re going to wrap up this talk that we’ve been having on the development of social classes in Anglo Saxon britain. Hopefully, once we’re done, much like our talks on other matters like food, clothing, and warfare… you’ll have a fuller understanding of who these people were, what their lives were like, and where we come from.

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123 – Retail Therapy: The Rise of Anglo Saxon Towns

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Alright, lets get to history. Specifically, lets talk about towns. And to start with, lets establish a couple terms I’m going to be using a lot. When I talk about towns and cities, what I’m largely talking about are larger communities that have a permanent population of traders and craftsmen and whose economy is focused largely upon trade. Conversely, villages are smaller communities that are built largely around agriculture. Villages might have more land than a town, but their population density will be much less (by nature of the work they do and the amount of arable land they require) and their economies tend to be more localized and based upon subsistence when compared with towns and cities.

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116 – Wait, Where Are We? Part two of the history of Britain so far.

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It’s been about 2 years and 100 episodes since I did a recap episode to remind you where we were, what the flow of history was, and give you a forest view of the whole thing.

Seriously, 100 episodes!

And since then, we have gotten to know the Anglo Saxons and their culture really well. Even though our sources are limited, we still are getting a sense for what makes them tick. And we are also learning about the events were occurring in their political lives that shaped their home lives.

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115 – Maserfield: Blood Makes The Grass Grow

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Edwin, Osric, Eanfrith, Eadfrith, Cadwallon, Sigeberht, Ecgric… Following Hatfield Chase, we have seen a blood letting of the aristocracy of Anglo Saxon Britain of epic proportions. And we are only hearing about the very highest echelons… but how many Thegns, AEthlings, and minor nobles have also lost their lives in these power struggles? If the life of Edwin is indicative of how these power struggles tended to go, it wouldn’t have just been the Kings and their warbands who died in the struggle. Their entire dynasty could find themselves in danger if a victor was feeling particularly ruthless. And that seems to have been rather common since even Oswald, who is portrayed as Saintly by Bede, was a bit ruthless and dangerous to rival dynasties, if we read between the lines.

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113 – Religious Ambitions: The Rise of Oswald (and Others)

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When we last left off, Oswald son of AEthelfrith and Acha, defeated and killed Cadwallon of Gwynedd at the battle of Heavenfield. The defeat was a serious blow for the Northern Welsh kingdom. In fact, in the praise poem written about Cadwallon, we see the first use of the term which would become the modern name for the Wales… Cymru. The land of the western Cumbrogi…or comrades.

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108 – The Christmas Special

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Ever since I was a kid in Catholic school, I’ve been somewhat fascinated by the date of Christmas. I often wondered where it came from, given that it doesn’t appear anywhere in the Bible, and (as the feast is celebrating the birth of Jesus) it seemed rather odd to set the date so close to midwinter given the fact that the middle east gets pretty nippy in Winter and the story of the Nativity takes place pretty much outside… with lambs and stuff. So what was going on there? Was one of the sheep just looking to get a mid-year quickie and had an unscheduled surprise? Did Mary and Joseph just pack a lot of blankets and thermal undies? Or was something else going on?

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105 – Sutton Hoo: Treasures of the Dead

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Alright, so last episode we learned all about Edith and Basil’s experience at Sutton Hoo, and we covered the opening of four of the 18 mounds… and the excavation of the Burial Chamber of Mound 1. But we haven’t discussed what was actually found and what it means. So guess what we’re going to be talking about today?

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