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.
80 – Bloodletting
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Ok, when we left off, Ida had become king of Bernicia and we had the beginnings of regional cultural groups. These groups were the result of a whole host of influences including everything from geographical features, to political decisions, to things as simple as wealth and a sense of cool. But the point is that we have gone from an island that saw itself as essentially Roman, to post-Roman (or sub-Roman, depending on which terminology you choose to use) where the system had broken down and (while you had communities moving to hillforts) you still had a continuation of the local culture… then we went to the early migration period where you had a blend of different cultural groupings all over the eastern part of the island, and now finally we’re getting to the point where those disparate pockets were starting to take the shape of larger communities with cultures that were distinct and separate from the sub-Roman culture as well as the cultures of the Germanic tribes where the settlers would have come from.
Sign up for membership to read the full transcript.
Members Only 34 – Jorvik with Andrew Jones part 2
79 – Saint Patrick’s Day Special
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
We begin our story in Bannaventa Berniae, a small town somewhere in the West of Britain, probably along the coast. This was probably a small typical Roman style settlement laid out on a grid with small Roman houses and a villa, or villas, for prominent families in the area. Though it’s doubtful it would have been too impressive of a Villa, especially when compared to those of Rome or even those of the major British cities. But for a small town in Britannia, it was probably fairly decent. Given the time period, we can assume it had some level of fortification, possibly a small turf wall or maybe even something larger with guard towers. After all, raids were rather common at this point.
Sign up for membership to read the full transcript.
Members Only 33 – Jorvik with Andrew Jones part 1
78 – It’s Only Natural
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
I’m going to wrap up the discussion of the development of regional cultures with a talk on an omnipresent (yet often ignored) influence on all of human development. This subject is often ignored in most disciplines, and it is definitely undervalued (unfairly) in many treatises on history. I speak, of course, of Nature.
Sign up for membership to read the full transcript.
77 – Cliques: How the In Crowd Created Our Culture
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Ok, when we last left off, we were talking about a new class of elites in sub-roman britain. A group of individuals we identify as anglo saxons and kings, and we also mentioned the class of nobles that was growing up around them. We also talked about how that change, the increase in social stratification, might have come about.
Sign up for membership to read the full transcript.
Members Only 32 – Staffordshire Cutting Room Floor
76 – Developing Class
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Today we start with a death.
Wihtgar, brother of beloved Stuff, warrior, conqueror of Cerdic’s-Ore, and ruler of the Isle of Wight died in 544.
Or did he?
Sign up for membership to read the full transcript.
75 – Cerdic and Cynric: A Story of… well… Probably Farmers
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Alright, so when we left off, Cerdic and his son had recently arrived on the island and the Battle of Mons Badonicus had just taken place. So that’s exciting. And Gildas says that it was followed by peace, and procopius tells us that Germans were fleeing from Britannia as late as about 30 years later. And from the archaeological record, and the scattered references in written texts, it doesn’t seem like there were a lot of military warbands invading… but rather, as we will discuss in this episode, this looks more like farmers who were migrating. And this might have been happening for quite some time, since we’re told the Saxons had been landing on British shores for at least 100 years.
Sign up for membership to read the full transcript.