The British History Podcast

Things are changing at the BHP, and here's a preview!

It's that time again!

We’re at a massive turning point for Britain. The Great Heathen Army is arriving on the Northern shores. I have been racking my brain for weeks trying to figure out how best to tell you this story deal with the Great Heathen Army, because it has all the elements that make a story nearly impossible to tell. On the one hand what remains to us of the Great Heathen Army has aspects that are almost certainly pure legend, along the lines of the story of King Arthur. It’s very tempting to just tell this story as a legend and discuss the legendary aspects in a direct way. Support the Show

197 – The Sons of Ragnar Lodbrok (versus Battle-Cattle)

When we left off last week we spoke about King AEthelberht’s ascension to the throne of Wessex in 860 and how, despite the insistence of the Chroniclers that his rule was marked by peace and tranquility, on that same year we had records of a Viking raid that struck the heart of the Kingdom of Wessex, Winchester… Support the Show

196 – Vikings and Mercs and Franks. Oh My!

Today's episode will focus upon the goings on in Britain for King AEthelberht, AEthelred, and Alfred. We will also cover what has been happening up in Northumbria... and predictably, it involves a lot of civil war. We will also have a quick discussion about stats, because why not? (History of Britain, History of England, History of Wessex, Vikings) Support the Show

195 – Red Sea Rising

The new episode is coming, but it won't come out today because I have no voice. Well, that's not true, I have a voice... but it sounds a bit like an asthmatic mouse trying to talk tough to his friends. It's squeaky, breathy, and gravelly in all the wrong places. When my voice comes back to me (please, immune system, let that happen soon) the new episode will launch. And until then, I'll just keep writing about Alfred, Vikings, and (apparently royal hemorrhoids). My job is odd. But the point is that once my voice is back, I'll catch up asap. Please accept my apologies.

King AEthelbald of Wessex, Queen Judith, Bjorn Ironsides, Prince Alfred, King Charles the Bald, Pope Nicholas I, Baldwin Iron Arm, Ivar the Boneless… this episode has it all! (History of Britain, History of England, History of Wessex, French History, Vikings, Roman History) NOTE ON RESEARCH I get a lot of questions about this episode asking for more detail on where it comes from and where to find more information. Answering that question is a bit difficult because it came from all over the place. I think I first heard of it from either Stenton or Justin Pollard.  Regardless, as I recall (now well over a year after the fact) it was Pollard who had the most concise version I'd seen and that was who got me to start digging.  Being that I knew he is a pop historian, I turned to more solid academic sources in order to verify the account. As I recall I looked to Abels and (maybe) DP Kirby for support.  Also, I think I might have turned to Barbara Yorke on that one too.  I turn to her on a lot of things.  As I was digging, though, I ran into a pretty big barrier.  Not all sources are translated into English, and not all translated sources are publicly released.  That leaves me somewhat hamstrung on esoteric stories (and this one is esoteric as hell).  Now Pollard's description matched with the documents I could get my hands on, and it also matched with the academic articles I was able to access. Moreover, those articles also included additional details, like Iron Arm's likely aggressive posture throughout the whole situation.  But because some of the items referenced materials that were in France and didn't appear to have an English translation available online or in libraries, there were portions I just had to take on faith and trust Pollard and other academic articles had better access to sources than I did. So unfortunately, one of my favorite episodes from a storytelling perspective, is also one of my least favorite on the research level because I had to trust secondary sources far more than I'm accustomed with. Furthermore, because I was unable to find any other succinct compilations of this story written in English, I don't have any books I can recommend you turn to for more information. This episode was literally everything I could find on her.  JSTOR can be a good resource, and if you have access to a good academic library you can do some research.  But I fear that you'll find, just as I did, that you can see glimpses of her in articles (articles that are often focusing on something else) but she's a rather murky figure and there really isn't much of anything directly focusing on her. But I thought that it's important that you know this before listening to the episode on Judith because it's important to know where information comes from. Here we are in 858 and everything has changed in Wessex. King AEthelbald has ascended to the throne and has married his father’s widow in an attempt to solidify his hold on power, and also avoid the awkwardness that could have come from Judith contesting him for the throne, which was a very real possibility. She was a consecrated queen, after all, and she witnessed charters as “regina” and of course she was the great grand-daughter of Charlemagne. If you were AEthelbald, you’d likely be thinking it was best to just nip that in the bud. Support the Show

194 – My Big Fat Dark Age Wedding

When we left off last week we were talking about Alfred’s upbringing and how he was a proficient hunter from a young age, and how he honed those skills throughout the rest of his life. But also how he lamented the fact that he was illiterate until he was twelve years old. Something which he blamed upon the poor state of education in Wessex. Support the Show

193 – Alfred the Young Part Two

192 – Alfred the Young

We’ve discussed Anglo Saxon propaganda, and what goes down in Anglo Saxon cities, now let’s get back to the main story. When last we checked in with the House of Wessex, King AEthelwulf had died, but thanks to his incredible fecundity he had a wealth of potential heirs. And the kingdom of Wessex, it was determined, would go to his eldest surviving son… AEthelbald. The fact that the new King AEthelbald had risen up in rebellion against his father only few years earlier was apparently forgiven….All water under the bridge. And then King AEthelbald married his father’s widow (meaning, AEthelbald’s own step mother, and the daughter of King Charles the Bald of Frankia… Queen Judith). Support the Show