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In early February of 1102 Queen Matilda was giving birth.
494 – Power Struggles: Part One
Category: Storyline
Every episode of The British History Podcast that moves the story forward in a chronological way.
493 – The Price of Peace
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The Treaty penned at Alton had avoided outright war, but it wasn’t truly official. It needed to be finalized at Winchester.
492 – The War for Perception
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In 1668, John Dryden became England’s very first Poet Laureate. But he had a rival. No, not just a rival. A nemesis.
This man’s name was Thomas Shadwell, and I can’t overstate how much Dryden hated him.
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491 – All Hats On Deck
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Duke Robert Curthose was back in Normandy, having reclaimed the Duchy unopposed… and now he was looking to assert his claim on England.
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490 – Messengers from France
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King Henry’s first Christmas Court in the closing days of 1100 had felt…off.
489 – From Normandy With Love
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Ok, let’s face it, last year was a lot. Rampant corruption, threats of war, tyrannical leaders, actual war, a greedy feckless aristocracy, rulers weaponizing the legal system, rulers completely disregarding the legal system, rulers making grandiose promises they had no interest in actually delivering on, international intrigue, at least one incredibly suspicious death, and finally rumors about that death which continue to haunt the halls of power.
Just… so much.
487 – Stealing a Wife From God
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Edith, the daughter of King Malcolm Canmore, has appeared from time to time in our story and (by this point) she was about 20 years old… and many of those years had been weird ones.
486 – Stealing a Crown from your Brother
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The cart carrying the body of King Rufus eventually reached the cathedral at Winchester. And if we are to believe Malmesbury, blood had been dripping from it from the forest all the way into the Cathedral. Though, at some point it must have stopped. I mean, even if no one… ya know… sorted it out, he would have run out of blood eventually.
The First Crusade Sample
485 – What Happened?
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It was a calm August afternoon in Winchester.
The Royal Palace (or potentially the Conqueror’s castle… our scribes aren’t precise when discussing the location, but probably the Palace)… either way, Winchester would have been full of activity, but nothing out of the ordinary. Just Royal functionaries carrying out their duties while the King was away, and townsfolk going about their business.