A Chronological History of Britain
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.
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Today we’re starting a series on one of the most influential Mercian kings in history. King Offa. But before we start this story, I need to fess up to a couple things.
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Alright, as you already know, King AEthelbald of Mercia had a bit of a rough start… what with being exiled and living in a swamp. But once he was able to take the throne, he hit the ground running and it wasn’t long before he was the supreme power in the South with even Bede writing of how he dominated the kingdoms south of the Humber.
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This year for our Christmas special, I thought I would give you an idea of what Christmas was like for some of the people in Middle Ages Britain. Now, Christmas in the middle ages was quite different from our modern experience in many ways. And like with everything else, it would have varied from location to location. However, in general the celebration would have been guided by a book called the Use of Sarum. The Use was compiled at Salisbury Cathedral, and it quickly became the predominant ceremonial book in England and Scotland and remained a bestseller until about the 16th century and the rise of protestantism in England. So, while there are always variations from town to town, and by now you probably instinctively know that there isn’t a monolithic English or Scottish culture, but rather just a patchwork of smaller cultures… the Use of Sarum does provide at least some degree of uniformity on how Christmas was celebrated during the Middle Ages in England and Scotland.
So here’s what some of them did.
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The first half of this episode is a combination of letting you know what is happening in the Heptarchy (basically, chaos unless you’re in Mercia) and it’s also setting the stage for the second half, which… I’m not going to lie to you… is going to get a little weird. But stick with me.
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Ok, so we ended our last episode with the death of King Ceolred at a banquet. And he went out swinging… or at least gibbering and cursing the heavens. Let’s face it, Ceolred was a colorful character and really brought his A game right until the end. I mean, you really have to work hard to completely destroy Penda’s dynasty.
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Ok, so recently we’ve chatted about some cultural matters and I’ve also given you a broad overview of the failed dynastic politics of Northumbria and where this is all headed. But we really didn’t cover too much of what was going on elsewhere. We hinted at it, but I’m sure you’re curious about the other heavy hitter in England. Mercia. As Northumbria lost steam faster than a boy band approaching its 30’s… Were the Mercians going through a similar collapse?
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Often times, the way the Middle Ages are presented, are as an era where everyone was lily white and a time when men were men and women were women. A time of hyper masculinity where all the guys were muscle bound warriors with big bushy beards and a bone structure that makes them look like extras from Clan of the Cave Bear.
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Now today is going to be a little complex. But if you keep the theme in mind, you should be largely ok… and that theme is the bloody dynastic politics in the midlands and the north are getting completely out of hand. And Wilfrid is Wilfrid.
