Members Only 46 – The History Channel’s Vikings: Part Three


A Chronological History of Britain


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Ok, so when we left off, Bishop Paulinus thought he was about to get Edwin to convert… but then Edwin pulled a bait and switch, and said that god hadn’t jumped through enough hoops yet. And that he wanted to speak with his council and then deliberate privately before making a decision.

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Alright, so when we last left Edwin he was installed as King of Northumbria by King Raedwald, Bretwalda. And he had wielded his newly granted power to exact revenge upon King Ceretic of Elmet, probably in response to the British King poisoning Edwin’s Nephew. But for as powerful as Edwin was in the north, Raedwald was the true power in Britain. He was referred to Rex Anglorum by Bede… King of the Angles. And he was certainly that. But unfortunately, the battle at the river Idle is the last entry we have about Raedwald. He just vanishes. So lets hit pause on him for a minute and look south. To Raedwald’s neighbors in Essex.


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Alright, so last episode we learned all about Edith and Basil’s experience at Sutton Hoo, and we covered the opening of four of the 18 mounds… and the excavation of the Burial Chamber of Mound 1. But we haven’t discussed what was actually found and what it means. So guess what we’re going to be talking about today?

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Raedwald… King of East Anglia… Bretwalda.
When he is mentioned, if you had heard that name before this show, chances are you heard it in connection with Sutton Hoo, which is possibly his burial site. And Sutton Hoo is one of the most famous archaeological digs in Britain. Just the name conjures images of the great Anglo Saxon helmet, with its impressive faceplate and ornate decorations in bronze, iron and tin. But there’s much more to it than that. And today, we’re going to talk about some of what makes Sutton Hoo so special.


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Alright, last week we finally saw the fall of AEthelfrith and the rise of Edwin of Deira and King Raedwald of East Anglia… Bretwalda! As you probably gathered, that was not the last would will hear of Edwin.

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Ok, when we left off, Edwin… the exile from Deira, had been on the run for quite some time. The King of Bernicia, AEthelfrith, now occupied the throne held by his father, and his father’s father, and so on and so forth. His sister, Acha, had given birth to a child with the man who was hunting him (and we aren’t sure what the circumstances to that were). His nephew, Hereric, had been poisoned at the court of Ceretic of the Elmet. He had married a Mercian princess, possibly as a condition for ensuring his safety and an attempt to build alliances with common enemies of King AEthelfrith. War had broken out between his former home and the British kingdoms that had offered him safety… and things had been turning against the British and towards Northumbria (with the British kingdoms of Wales being effectively cut off from their compatriots to the north, following the Battle of Chester). King Iago of Gwynedd was now dead, as well as a number of other British leaders who had stood against this menace that had risen in the North that was relentlessly pursuing him.

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Today we’re going to talk quite a bit about Northumbria. And actually, Northumbria is going to start to get really important in our story going forward. Now much of what we know of Northumbria during this period is due to the efforts of Bede, and other Northumbrians who maintained his tradition of keeping annals. And actually, it’s been argued that even the term “Northumbria” might have been coined by Bede himself. So clearly this is a very important source for us.