Category: Storyline

Every episode of The British History Podcast that moves the story forward in a chronological way.

167 – The Beginning of the End

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Season Four is called Anglo Saxon Ascendancy because we have been seeing mighty kings like Offa, AEthelbald, and Coenwulf acquire vast amounts of power in Britain that enable them to nearly become the first kings of England. Their hegemonies were so big and impressive that we have one Mercian leader getting into arguments with Charlemagne and another claim the title of Emperor.

But we are reaching the end of that era. The Viking armies are coming…. and the great Kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia, which could have functioned as bulwarks against continental aggression 100 years earlier… are collapsing under their own weight.

The line of Ida in Northumbria had largely died out about 100 years ago. The Idingas were fierce and effective leaders… but they also tended to die young, and sometimes without children. And now with their end, the warnings of Bede regarding the weaknesses of the Northern Kingdom are starting to look like prophecy. For the last century, Northumbria has been wracked by civil war, with 5 families enthusiastically murdering each other in their attempt to claim the throne. There are too many kings of Northumbria to count who met an untimely death, many times without kids… And it might lead you to wonder whether the kingdom have been strong enough to stop the Norse invasion if King AEthelred I of Northumbria hadn’t been murdered. Or if any of the other kings and claimants hadn’t been murdered.

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166 – Wulfred: The Rogue Archbishop

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We start today with a death. On the 28th of January, 814, Charlemagne died and the throne passed to Louis the Pious. The death of Charlemagne was a big deal for early medieval europe, not just because it meant that we wouldn’t have anymore passive aggressive comments about the quality of British wool, or weird tantrums over weddings, or (my personal favorite) utter freak-outs because an exiled queen thought Louis was hotter than Charlemagne… No, the death of Charlemagne would trigger a series of events that would shake the foundations of Europe and, in turn, impact our story for years to come. That’s something we will be keeping our eyes on.

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165 – Did Archbishop Wulfred Just Kill a Guy?

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Last week we talked about the impact that the Church was having on internal politics within the Anglo Saxon kingdoms, and that is something we will continue to talk about today. However, before we begin, let’s talk about something strange that’s happening on the continent.

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163 – The South of Britain Grows Restless

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There’s a shift that’s happening in Anglo Saxon politics that’s occurring… we’ve had powerful queens in the Anglo Saxon kingdoms (especially in Mercia, where Queens were more powerful than most). But something is happening in Wessex that will impact around the next several hundred years. West Saxon Queens were getting demoted. Women on the throne, or next to it, were no longer referred to as Queens in Wessex. They were merely Ladies or the King’s wife.

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162 – Emperor Coenwulf, Emperor Charlemagne, and The World

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So today, lets briefly talk about the world context since we’ve largely just focused on our main character. No not Coenwulf, or Offa… the main character is and has been Britain… but sometimes it feels like it’s an island adrift and alone, when in actual fact there’s a whole world out there that’s been going on. And happily, it’s the year 800, so I think I’ll make this a tradition that we’ll do these check-in’s, giving you a rough outline of where the rest of the world is, at least once every 100 years. Here we go.

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161 – King Ceonwulf’s Rise in Power

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While Offa was an effective leader in Mercia during his life, his dynastic purge was a disaster. Looking at what followed, it appears that he heavily targeted extended members of his own family. Now this placed his immediate family in a very good position to pursue power… and we did see a seamless transfer of power to his son, as well as the placement of his daughters in prestigious positions (both through marriage, and also within the church, which was rapidly becoming an extension of royal power). And actually, the dynastic policies during Offa’s reign were so effective that even Queen Cynethryth (who was quite powerful while her husband was alive) continued to wield considerable power in Mercia after his death. Even managing to take possession of the monastery of Cookham.

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160 – An Offa Inheritance

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King Offa of Mercia has died after a surprisingly long and productive reign. The degree of power he had gathered for himself was truly something to behold. While his reach didn’t stretch into Mercia’s ancient enemies beyond the Humber, Northumbria, he had a stunning degree of influence over the English Kingdoms in the south. Throughout the history of Britain, Offa will continue to stand out as one of the great island rulers. Really, the only southern English kingdom that appears to have had any degree of independence at the end of Offa’s reign was Wessex. But even Wessex was closely tied and allied to Offa, as it’s current king held the throne thanks in no small part to Offa’s intervention in their civil war.

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159 – An Offa End

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Lets start with Christmas Day 795. That’s the day Pope Hadrian died… so uh… Merry Christmas?

Hadrian was actually a pretty decent Pope… not Pope Francis level of awesome, though really who is? But he was still pretty good, and upon hearing of his death, Charlemagne commissioned Alcuin to write a poem that was carved into a black marble gravestone that said “I shed tears for the father. I, Charles, had these verses written for him. I weep for you father my heartfelt love. I unite the names with shining titles: Hadrian and Charles, I a king, you a father. You who pray here and read these humble verses, speak: God show mercy and take pity on these two.”

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158 – Offa With His Head

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Last week was dark, wasn’t it? Not only that, but it only covered the first half of 793. The end of the 8th century was an eventful period so lets pick up right where we left off and talk about what else was happening in the other half of 793… and specifically with King Offa and Charlemagne.

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157 – Lindisfarne

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Northumbria was no stranger to problems… blood feuds, regicide, and kinslaying… they really have it all up there. But as 793 began, it was clear that things were taking an even darker turn. As the new year dawned, a massive whirlwind slammed into the northeastern coast. The sky was ignited with flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder could be heard throughout the land.

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