Listen Now

Athelstan was a dynamic and effective ruler, in war, law, and diplomacy. As a war leader he established at least nominal overlordship of all Britain; his marriage alliances included the greatest of European rulers; and he increased the age of legal responsibility from 12 to 16. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The story of a brother and a sister - Æthelflæd and Edward, and their bid to reclaim the lands of the Danelaw, the north and east of England being settled by the Danes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 892, the vikings returned - and found a very different, much better prepared Wessex waiting for them. Until in 899, Alfred died to be succeeded by his Son, Edward, who would in the end turn the tables on the Vikings. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alfred had earned Wessex and period of respite, between 878 and 892. In this time, Alfred laid the foundations not just for the defense against renewed invasions, but for the successes of the 10th century. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Between 871 and 878, Wessex came close to extinction, as the Great Heathen Army, the Great Summer Army, and Guthrum the Dane came to conquer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everything changed for Anglo Saxon England in 866; the sons of Ragnar Lothbrok came for conquest, not just treasure and slaves. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Æthelwolf hasn't always had the best press. None the less he laid the basis of an effective and well organised state centred on the traditional heartlands of Wessex, and one better placed to meet the Viking threat than other kingdoms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's installment in the History of England is about the Pirates of the north that changed the course of England's history - the Vikings. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The death of Offa & his son led to the bloodletting normal when the succession was a bun fight. But this time round, it would have longer term consequences for the balance of power. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After Wulfhere, Aethelred and Aethelbald laid the foundations, a prince from the Hwicce, Offa, took Mercia to its greatest achievements. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pretty much a century in just one, fun-filled episode - 650 ish to 750 is. It's Mercia's turn - an increasingly integrated Mercia, growing in power. With yer Wulfhere's and Æthelbalds, Mercia's hegemony was held back only by Ine of Wessex and Wihtred of Kent. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Towns had simply disappeared along with the post Roman economy by 500. But slowly by 600 there's tiny shoots of recovery discernible - so we talk about towns. And we have a hack at something a little tiny bit more literary, and talk of Continental Missionaries. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the start of the 7th century England was a basically pagan country; by the end of it it was officially at least Christian. While no doubt many pagans still held on, Whitred of Kent's laws began to embed Christianity into the fabric of English kingdoms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Through much of the 7th Century, Penda increased the power and influence of the Mercians. He built his kingdom as a traditional warrior, tribal leader - defeating the Northumbrians, and East Anglians, raiding and gathering treasure, rewarding his followers; spreading his influence by marriage, exercising control by influence where he could, by force where he could not. In the long run, Penda was part of the past, rather than the future - the role of leadership was changing for those that called themselves king; the arts of peace and prosperity based around a geographical were called for now; the time of the tribal war leader bringing tribes together under his leadership was fading. That doesn't mean Penda didn't leave a legacy; he created a consolidated, powerful Mercian state that would dominate the 8th century, and England until the Vikings arrived to shake everything up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

7th Century England was inherently unstable, populated by a patchwork of communities, petty kingdoms successful and less so. Into this pagan mix also comes the lure of Christianity again. Meanwhile, in central England a pagan warrior called Penda became king, probably in 626. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's difficult to know how much to believe of the stories relayed in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle about the formation of the early kingdoms - do they simply reflect the history they wished they'd had? Plus, was Arthur a legend or reality? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What kind of society had arrived in Roman Britain? How how did societies and communities form and become the kingdoms before the days of the Heptarchy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The traditional story of the arrival of the Anglo Saxons is one of death and destruction, and the catastrophic and complete replacement of a British population by a new Germanic race within a generation. But there are other theories too - much more peaceful, much more gradual.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the story of late antique Britain. How in the 3rd to 5th centuries, Britain went through two waves of economic dislocation and transformation, that changed the face of British society.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week is about the people who kept a written record of the Anglo Saxon age, and what later generations thought about the Anglo Saxons.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.