The British History Podcast

108 – The Christmas Special

on December 23, 2013April 21, 2021 By Jamie 2 Comments

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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107 – Edwin’s Conversion

on December 16, 2013April 21, 2021 By Jamie

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Ok, so when we left off, Bishop Paulinus thought he was about to get Edwin to convert… but then Edwin pulled a bait and switch, and said that god hadn’t jumped through enough hoops yet. And that he wanted to speak with his council and then deliberate privately before making a decision.

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106 – If You Give Edwin an Inch…

on December 6, 2013April 21, 2021 By Jamie 6 Comments

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Alright, so when we last left Edwin he was installed as King of Northumbria by King Raedwald, Bretwalda. And he had wielded his newly granted power to exact revenge upon King Ceretic of Elmet, probably in response to the British King poisoning Edwin’s Nephew. But for as powerful as Edwin was in the north, Raedwald was the true power in Britain. He was referred to Rex Anglorum by Bede… King of the Angles. And he was certainly that. But unfortunately, the battle at the river Idle is the last entry we have about Raedwald. He just vanishes. So lets hit pause on him for a minute and look south. To Raedwald’s neighbors in Essex.

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105 – Sutton Hoo: Treasures of the Dead

on November 25, 2013April 21, 2021 By Jamie 9 Comments

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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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104 – Sutton Hoo: The Finding of Raedwald… and Rabbits

on November 14, 2013April 21, 2021 By Jamie 2 Comments

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Raedwald… King of East Anglia… Bretwalda.

When he is mentioned, if you had heard that name before this show, chances are you heard it in connection with Sutton Hoo, which is possibly his burial site. And Sutton Hoo is one of the most famous archaeological digs in Britain. Just the name conjures images of the great Anglo Saxon helmet, with its impressive faceplate and ornate decorations in bronze, iron and tin. But there’s much more to it than that. And today, we’re going to talk about some of what makes Sutton Hoo so special.

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103 – Edwin the Conqueror

on November 5, 2013April 21, 2021 By Jamie 6 Comments

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Alright, last week we finally saw the fall of AEthelfrith and the rise of Edwin of Deira and King Raedwald of East Anglia… Bretwalda! As you probably gathered, that was not the last would will hear of Edwin.

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102 – Have Exile, Will Travel

on October 28, 2013April 21, 2021 By Jamie 10 Comments

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Ok, when we left off, Edwin… the exile from Deira, had been on the run for quite some time. The King of Bernicia, AEthelfrith, now occupied the throne held by his father, and his father’s father, and so on and so forth. His sister, Acha, had given birth to a child with the man who was hunting him (and we aren’t sure what the circumstances to that were). His nephew, Hereric, had been poisoned at the court of Ceretic of the Elmet. He had married a Mercian princess, possibly as a condition for ensuring his safety and an attempt to build alliances with common enemies of King AEthelfrith. War had broken out between his former home and the British kingdoms that had offered him safety… and things had been turning against the British and towards Northumbria (with the British kingdoms of Wales being effectively cut off from their compatriots to the north, following the Battle of Chester). King Iago of Gwynedd was now dead, as well as a number of other British leaders who had stood against this menace that had risen in the North that was relentlessly pursuing him.

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101 – I Ran (So Far Away): The Life and Times of Edwin of Deira

on October 21, 2013April 21, 2021 By Jamie 8 Comments

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Today we’re going to talk quite a bit about Northumbria. And actually, Northumbria is going to start to get really important in our story going forward. Now much of what we know of Northumbria during this period is due to the efforts of Bede, and other Northumbrians who maintained his tradition of keeping annals. And actually, it’s been argued that even the term “Northumbria” might have been coined by Bede himself. So clearly this is a very important source for us.

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100 – There’s a New Barber In Town

on October 7, 2013April 21, 2021 By Jamie

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So you might not know this about me… but I used to have long hair. Really long hair. That flowed down my back in ringlets and, if I left conditioner in it, sausage curls. Basically, I had captain hook hair.

And of course, I had all manner of people taking an interest in my hair and what I did with it. Generally, if someone took an interest, they were going to tell me I needed to cut it.

Anyway, ever since, I’ve been fascinated by the attention we pay to hair. And I started to wonder if the Anglo Saxons had a similar thing going on in their culture. Which lead to some research, and ultimately this episode. I hope you enjoy it.

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99 – False Starts

on September 30, 2013April 21, 2021 By Jamie

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This episode is going to have a lot of moving pieces and a lot of AEthel’s. So many AEthels. I’ll do my best to keep reminding you who I’m talking about and what they rule over and why they’re important, but this might be an episode you’ll want to relisten to. A lot of important things are going to happen. And all of the action will take place in just over a decade. A very very messy decade.

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