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.

141 – King Aldfrith and St. Wilfrid

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Ok, when we left off, Bishop Wilfrid was jilted out of the Archbishopric of Canterbury, and instead Abbot Beorhtwald became Archbishop Beorhtwald. So Wilfrid readjusted and made an attempt to reunify the Bishopric of York and then head it up. But King Aldfrith didn’t agree and, presumably because the Wilfrid wouldn’t let it drop, he banished Wilfrid out of Northumbria. And then, when Wilfrid fled to Mercia and became the Bishop of the Middle Angles, King Aldfrith reclaimed the lands at Ripon which were once held by Wilfrid.

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140 – Wilfrid: How to Win Friends and Influence People

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Today’s episode will take place in the turbulent years from 686 to 692 and the main characters will be…

Aldfrith – King of Mercia, son of Oswiu, brother of Ecgfrith, and scholarly dude.

Wilfrid – Former Bishop of York, friend of the terrifying pagan king Caedwalla, and man you really don’t want to cross.

and Aethelred – King of Mercia, son of Penda, brother of Wulfhere, and (despite his rather pious upbringing) he really was his father’s son.

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139 – The Rise of Aldfrith and Caedwalla

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This episode will roughly cover the eventful years between 685 and 689.

The main characters today will be two kings, two wannabe kings, and a bishop… here we go:

First we have King Aldfrith of Northumbria – He was the brother of the slain King Ecgfrith and also the son of King Oswiu, and he was ruling over Northumbria.

Then we have King Hlothere of Kent – He was the brother of Ecgberht, who was the former King of Kent.

And we’ll also be talking about Eadric – who was the son of King Ecgbert of Kent, and was also the nephew of King Hlothere. So he was a claimant to the throne… but you’ll note that he’s not a King.

And then we have Caedwalla – Who was the exiled son of a former King of Wessex and also a staunch Pagan.

and finally we have Bishop Wilfrid – Yep… he’s back. He was the former Bishop of Northumbria, the same guy who got involved in Northumbrian politics and even had his own army, and then when it didn’t work out he went and complained to the Pope , and despite having the Pope on his side, he still found himself imprisoned and then exiled. Apparently he also got into a fight to the death with some of the southern English after a shipwreck… this guy had a hell of an eventful life. And currently, he’s operating in the south and is rather grouchy with the Archbishop of Canterbury for not backing him up when he started throwing elbows in Northumbria.

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138 – Religious Lives in Britain

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Alright, so last week we talked about how uneven and confused the conversion of Britain was. And how the beliefs of one village might not bare all that much similarity to the beliefs of another village even though they both might profess to worship the same god.

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137 – Preaching in the Dark Ages

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Today we’re going to cover the crazy environment that early Christian converts found themselves in during the Dark Ages, and some of the bizarre notions they might have gotten regarding their religion thanks to poor access, education, and stubborn attachment to old pagan traditions.

Also: we learn why mothers don’t stuff their feverish daughters into ovens anymore. Seriously, that’s something they used to do.

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136 – The Power of Mercia

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This episode will cover the years 678 to 685 and its major characters will be…

King Ecgfrith of Northumbria, the man who brought down Wulfhere, was wielding supreme power in Northumbria and was arguably exercising quite a bit of power south of the Humber as well.

King AEthelred of Mercia, son of Penda and brother of Wulfhere. And a frighteningly savvy King, quite possibly the most like his father out of all of the sons of Penda. And he has been busy securing his religious flank while also working hard to secure his border territories.

King Bridei of Pictland, the cousin of King Ecgfrith… and frankly, he probably owed his throne to Ecgfrith’s military intervention.

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135 – A Reshuffling of Power

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Today we’re going to cover the eventful years of 675 to 678, and our main characters will be…

King Wulfhere of Mercia, Son of Penda and tough guy with a bloodied lip.
King Ecgfrith of Northumbria, Son of Oswiu and guy who bloodied Wulfhere’s lip.
And Bishop Wilfrid… the Northumbrian Bishop who was a key player in converting Northumbria to Roman Catholicism and also a key player in keeping King Ecgfrith childless. A remarkably stupid move for someone who was reported to be intelligent.

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134 – The Power of Northumbria

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This episode covers the years 670 to 685.

The main characters are:
King Ecgfrith of Northumbria – son of Oswiu, former hostage of the Mercians, and generally tough dude.
King Wulfhere of Mercia – son of Penda, veteran warrior, and leader of a growing southern Hegemony.
Queen AEthelthryth of Northumbria – Queen of Ecgfrith’s, unhappy wife, and aspiring nun.
Bishop Wilfrid – The most powerful man in the Northern Clergy

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133 – Scotcast: Part Ten

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To start with, we have nine praise poems that tell us of a mighty king of Rheged named Urien, who reigned in the 580’s and 590’s. Urien was no slouch and from the records, it appears that his kingdom stretched all the way to the Solway and he was also given the title of “Defender of Aeon” or Ayrshire… so we’re talking about a king who controlled an enormous stretch of land that included territories on both sides of the Wall.

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