A Chronological History of Britain
Every episode of The British History Podcast that moves the story forward in a chronological way.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Ok, when we left off, a fleet of 120 ships set sail from Scandinavia. And at their head, according to legend, was Ragnar Lodbrok. Ragnar Hairy Breeches.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
When we left off last week, the Vikingrs had established fortified bases in Ireland… Not only that, but after building the bases they decided to hang out there for the winter, choosing to stay in the relatively warmer climes of the British isles rather than return home to freeze in the long northern nights.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
It’s 838. Only two years earlier the West Saxons were defeated by a fleet of Vikingrs, and they responded to this loss the way you would expect them to… by completely ignoring the loss and, instead, focusing on dynastic politics and making endowments to the church at Canterbury.
And now another fleet of Vikingrs was sailing south, towards their allies in Cornwall.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
When we left off last week, 35 ships launched from Denmark and set their course for England. As we have been learning, the Anglo Saxon kingdoms were now seriously in danger of Vikingr attacks for the first time, having lost the protection of the Frankish coast guard. Not only that, but over the last approximately 40 years, the Vikingrs and the kingdoms that supported them had been growing quite wealthy and powerful from plundering their neighbors and absolutely hammering Scotland and Ireland.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
When we last left off we were talking about what a big deal King Egbert of Wessex was. And for good reason. In 829, King Egbert of Wessex held virtually all of the south and even demanded the submission of Northumbria after a battle at the River Dore, an event that earned King Egbert the incredibly rare title of Bretwalda… Britain ruler. This is how rare it was… there were only nine recorded Bretwaldas in all of British history. Just /nine/ times. His conquests also gained him a tremendous amount of money because, he had seized the mint of London and began issuing coins in his own name as the King of Mercia. King Egbert’s dramatic rise in power from 825 to 829 was meteoric and he absolutely earned his title of Britain ruler. At least from 825 to 829
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Last episode I gave you a forest view of where we are going and, roughly, who these Viking raiders were as well as the scale of the impact that they will have upon Europe. And it really is something to behold. The Viking Age isn’t very long, but Europe hadn’t seen this level of rapid cultural, economic, and political change since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Not even Charlemagne had the kind of far reaching impact as the Northern kingdoms and raiders.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
“Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not show mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea.” Jeremiah 50: 41-42
This passage of the Bible, and others like it, were on the minds of the literate men of the church in the 9th century And you can see why, can’t you? The Christian nations of the west, even their monasteries and other religious houses, were being attacked by pagans. By the enemies of god himself. The vikings seemed to be the fulfillment of a dark prophecy.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
We start today with a few bare statements in the record. They’re easy to overlook, and most people do, but they hint at a very important aspect of Pictland in the 700s. The absolutely enormous amount of political wrangling.
Here’s what we know.
In 725, King Nechtan stepped down from the throne of Pictland and entered a monastery. The throne went to a new king named Drest, and on that same year Simul son of Drest was imprisoned.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Today we’re beginning the process of creating a singular British history podcast. The side casts made sense when the story was first beginning, but now (rather than helping you understand the story better) they’re confusing it) and so today we are merging the Scotcast and Welshcast into the Celtcast. I’m eager to get the story moving forward, and I’m guessing you are too, so I’m going to give a whirlwind tour of what has been going on in scotland and Wales (since we have already most of the story in the main podcast) and /just/ give you the stuff that’s important for the Welsh and Scottish kingdoms. Sort of a forest view of what has been happening, with some added details. But if you’d like more information, the main podcast will include a lot more material that is relevant specifically for the Anglo Saxons.