A Chronological History of Britain
Learn about the rise of England, Scotland, and Wales in episodes of the British History Podcast that cover the so-called Dark Ages.
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“No man can make himself king, but the people have the choice to choose as king whom they please; but after he is consecrated as king, he then has dominion over the people, and they cannot shake his yoke from their necks.”
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King Edgar the Peaceable was buried at Glastonbury in 975.
But weirdly that isn’t the end of his story.
William of Malmesbury tells us that nearly a century later, in 1053, the Abbot Ailward re-opened the King’s tomb. Malmsbury doesn’t tell us WHY the monk opened the grave, so I suppose we can just assume Ailward was going through a goth phase.
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Human beings can’t really be summed up in a nickname. Usually we are more complicated than a word or two. And sometimes, the nickname just doesn’t reflect reality. If you take Edward the Elder, for example, the name probably conjures up an image of Gandalf. But Edward was only in his early 50’s when he died.
And you may have noticed that quite a few of these 10th century kings have nicknames that don’t seem to fit.
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You would think that someone named Edgar the Peaceable enjoyed a good reputation.
But the closer you look, the more things start to look…off.
And if you look closer than that, you start to get the sense that maybe things WERE off.
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Across the North Sea, in Scandinavia, a man named Harald Greycloak was struggling for dominance in the region. He wasn’t just any man, he was a son of Erik Bloodaxe and Gunnhilde. And his fight brought him into direct conflict with King Haakon.
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The King is dead. Long live the King.
Eadwig, the 18 year old King known for his beauty, had died. Somehow.
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History is known as a field for being a bit of a slog. Tracing events, and people, and social movements through decades and centuries is a huge task and the results are usually dense at the best of times.
But once in a while, in between all the battles and the politics and the dynasties, the record cradles a story so short, and sweet, and perfect that it deserves to stand alone.
And this very special BHP Valentine’s Day episode is just this sort of story.
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We can probably assume that Harald Fairhair, the King of Norway, had fantastic hair. It was either big, or really long, or super glossy, and it was almost definitely blonde. But it wasn’t the only trait he was known for. Harald Fairhair was also known for getting around… and around… and around. According to records, he had as many as 20 sons. Twenty!
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Long ago there was a settlement that had been occupied and farmed by the British and the Anglo Saxons for centuries. In fact, by the time that the Scandinavians arrived on the island, this village known as Wharram Percy was already well established, and had been inhabited continually for centuries. And it held strong for centuries more, even though it was located perilously close to the Scandinavian stronghold of Jorvik, and even after the arrival of the Great Heathen Army. In fact, this little village could well have been part of the very same lands that were shared out by Halfdan himself. Wharram Percy survived it all.
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We have spoken a lot about the life of a handful of individuals – namely the rulers that have descended from the line of Alfred. There are a couple of reasons for that. The first is the simple fact that by virtue of how limited literacy was during this era, these are the lives we know the most about. The other reason is that the formation of England is very much a story of politics. It was battles, and treaties, and allegiances.