Category: Podcast Episodes

Every episode of The British History Podcast. This category includes cultural history, storyline episodes, English history, Welsh history, Scottish history, and even some Irish history and Roman history thrown in.

166 – Wulfred: The Rogue Archbishop

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We start today with a death. On the 28th of January, 814, Charlemagne died and the throne passed to Louis the Pious. The death of Charlemagne was a big deal for early medieval europe, not just because it meant that we wouldn’t have anymore passive aggressive comments about the quality of British wool, or weird tantrums over weddings, or (my personal favorite) utter freak-outs because an exiled queen thought Louis was hotter than Charlemagne… No, the death of Charlemagne would trigger a series of events that would shake the foundations of Europe and, in turn, impact our story for years to come. That’s something we will be keeping our eyes on.

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165 – Did Archbishop Wulfred Just Kill a Guy?

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Last week we talked about the impact that the Church was having on internal politics within the Anglo Saxon kingdoms, and that is something we will continue to talk about today. However, before we begin, let’s talk about something strange that’s happening on the continent.

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164 – Shadow Governments in Britain

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When we last left off, King Egbert was ruling over Wessex, King Cuthred (Coenwulf’s brother) was ruling over Kent… and Emperor Coenwulf held Mercia. I call him Emperor, by the way, because that’s what he called himself. And also because he does seem like he was a king of kings. His brother answered to him, the minor kingdoms like the Hwicce and Magonsaete answered to him, and it seems that Essex also answered to him (with their leaders appearing in his charters as dux or subregulus… sub king).

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163 – The South of Britain Grows Restless

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There’s a shift that’s happening in Anglo Saxon politics that’s occurring… we’ve had powerful queens in the Anglo Saxon kingdoms (especially in Mercia, where Queens were more powerful than most). But something is happening in Wessex that will impact around the next several hundred years. West Saxon Queens were getting demoted. Women on the throne, or next to it, were no longer referred to as Queens in Wessex. They were merely Ladies or the King’s wife.

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162 – Emperor Coenwulf, Emperor Charlemagne, and The World

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So today, lets briefly talk about the world context since we’ve largely just focused on our main character. No not Coenwulf, or Offa… the main character is and has been Britain… but sometimes it feels like it’s an island adrift and alone, when in actual fact there’s a whole world out there that’s been going on. And happily, it’s the year 800, so I think I’ll make this a tradition that we’ll do these check-in’s, giving you a rough outline of where the rest of the world is, at least once every 100 years. Here we go.

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Q&A: How to Start a Podcast

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I’ve gotten this question a lot over the years and after quite a lot of thought, I’ve come up with a few basic pieces of advice. I talked it over with some fellow podcasters and they gave it the thumbs up, so hopefully it will help you out if you’re looking to launch your own show. And if you’re not looking to start a show, it might give you a bit of an insider’s view on what it’s like behind the mic.

161 – King Ceonwulf’s Rise in Power

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While Offa was an effective leader in Mercia during his life, his dynastic purge was a disaster. Looking at what followed, it appears that he heavily targeted extended members of his own family. Now this placed his immediate family in a very good position to pursue power… and we did see a seamless transfer of power to his son, as well as the placement of his daughters in prestigious positions (both through marriage, and also within the church, which was rapidly becoming an extension of royal power). And actually, the dynastic policies during Offa’s reign were so effective that even Queen Cynethryth (who was quite powerful while her husband was alive) continued to wield considerable power in Mercia after his death. Even managing to take possession of the monastery of Cookham.

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