Episodes

Penda's career is one of the most dramatic in Anglo-Saxon history yet very little is known about him apart from what others tell us about him. In this episode I cut through the uncertainty to give you a glimpse of this man, what he accomplished, and how ...

Mercia, the kingdom which grew out of the English Midlands, dominated England south of the Humber from the 620s until its final fall in the late 800s. It was a military and cultural powerhouse for much of that time, yet its origins are mysterious, even m...

The collapse of Northumbria in the ninth century was a result of long standing crises being compacted by the sudden arrival of a new threat the likes of which they could not have imagined. The memory of Northumbria would echo down the centuries, but as t...

Even as its glory days slipped into the past, Northumbria was still able to produce one last great mind who would have a profound impact on the rest of the world. Alcuin of York came from an obscure family but would go on to find success in the court of ...

This episode, ahead of the big episode on the Northumbrian collapse,  we take a break from politics to look at one of the most important artefacts from Anglo-Saxon England: the Lindisfarne Gospels. It is my hope that this episode will give you a groundin...

After Osred's death in 716, Northumbria entered a period of political upheaval which eventually saw the emergence of a new dynasty to claim the throne. This family, descendants of Leodwald, quickly achieved prominence during a period of peaceful foreign ...

This week we look at fallout of Nechtansmere and the end of Athelfrithing domination of Northumbrian politics. Ironically, this coincided with one of the more famous kings of the dynasty, famed for his wisdom and piety. But wisdom and piety cannot save a...

This week we meet the single most important Anglo-Saxon scholar of them all. Bede lived an extremely quiet life, but his intellectual world was fantastically productive. He produced works which provided the the framework for all subsequent English schola...

This week we step back from royal politics to look at some of the main saints to emerge from Northumbria in the 7th C. We also look at how the distinctive culture that these people fostered set the scene of the flourishing of intellectual activity that w...

Following the death of Oswald, Northumbria was reduced to a fragmented vassal of Mercia. But that was changed under the leadership of Oswald's brother, Oswiu. Oswiu reunited Northumbria and led it to a new period of power and hegemony... that all came cr...

After the death of Edwin, Northumbria was thrown into chaos by the ravages of Cadwallon who swiftly deposed the kings who rose to replace him. But, in 633, a young Northumbrian noble returned from exile in western Scotland and defeated the rampaging Wels...

This week we begin a miniseries on the Kingdom of Northumbria from the early 7th to the mid 9th C. We start with a look at one of the most famous Northumbrian kings: Edwin. The first Christian king and a ruler who established Northumbria's place as one o...

After last week's absence, we return with a new chronological episode as we continue our journey. This week we turn to the beginning of the conversion of England. We meet a lot new figures and finally come to the first definite date in Anglo-Saxon histor...

In this episode we take a big picture look at the working and development of Anglo-Saxon kingship. This is the first of two episodes meant to help you better follow what is coming in the podcast by introducing you to the history, ideas, and sources of An...

This week we take a dive into the mysterious and often complicated world of Anglo-Saxon paganism. We discuss what we mean by 'paganism' today and look at the ways people have attempted to reconstruct the beliefs of the pre-Christian Anglo-Saxons. The res...

In this episode we begin our discussion of Anglo-Saxon history proper with the arrival of the Saxons. Where did they come from? How many people settled in Sub-Roman Britain? And what happened to the Britons when they did? It's a complicated topic but it'...

This week we take a look at the work and thought of the main written source for sub-Roman Britain and the Saxon migration: Gildas. We discuss the problems we have trying to reconstruct his biography and look in depth at the uniquely Roman worldview of th...

The second part of our look at the work the Saxons' encountered. In this episode we focus on the culture of sub-Roman Britain and the political fragmentation that paved the way for the arrival of the Saxons. Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps...

In this first episode, we begin a two part look at the Britain encountered by the Saxons in the mid-fifth century. We discuss the reasons for and the results of the collapse of Roman society in Britain. Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdeninghttps://ww...