Alle afleveringen
550 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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383 – The Death of King Edward
19 november 2021 · 1 uur 1 min
Christmas of 1065 would have been a grim affair. And as 1066 approached, the Court was likely consumed with anxiety. The King was childless and the throne was being eyed from all sides by foriegn dynasties and, according to sources like William of Poitiers, the King had been terribly ill for quite some time. Poitiers tells us that this illness had become so severe in 1063 that the King had made preparations for succession, believing he was already on his deathbed. Lees meer
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2021 Halloween Special
20 oktober 2021 · 17 min
A 14th century monk
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382 – Bros Before Thrones
15 oktober 2021 · 39 min
It was 1065. And King Edward was falling ever more ill.
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381 – Weekend at William’s
3 oktober 2021 · 46 min
Well, their King had been assassinated and their lands were carved up between rival nobles who were subservient to England.
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380 – Everybody Is Killing Everybody Else And Nobody Is Talking About It: Part 3
4 september 2021 · 27 min
Up in the hills of Snowdonia, pinned between the sea and the English midlands, King Gruffydd fought against the invading forces of the Godwinsons. And he was giving the English such a hard time that even the Life of King Edward admits it in the record. Lees meer
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379 – Everybody Is Killing Everybody Else And Nobody Is Talking About It: Part 2
29 augustus 2021 · 25 min
Earl AElfgar and his alliance with King Gruffydd of Wales was likely the one true barrier that stood between Harold Godwinson and the throne of England.
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378 – Everybody is killing everybody else and no one is talking about it
25 augustus 2021 · 23 min
On the year 1059, there is an enigmatic entry in the Welsh Chronicle.
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377 – The King of Wales
30 juli 2021 · 36 min
Water, and the ability to control water ways, was an important aspect in the Welsh imagination. In fact, the importance of Welsh power on the seas even appears in the Mabinogion.
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376 – Lost Years and Lost Lands
21 juli 2021 · 26 min
Things are moving quickly in our story, now. Pieces are moving into place, and the board is shifting rapidly. Thanks to the benefit of hindsight, we can see where this is going and see how these events are leading to a calamity in just a few years.
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375 – Life and Death Politics. But Mostly Death.
3 juli 2021 · 32 min
For the first time in a long time, Wales was experiencing a time of internal peace, thanks in large part to its unification under King Gruffydd.
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374 – Be Careful What You Wish For
22 juni 2021 · 29 min
1055 had been an absolutely crazy year. But, for the Godwinsons, it hadn’t been all bad. Having clearly given up on King Edward, Queen Edith was now fully on team Godwinson and bending all of her political and diplomatic talent towards advancing her brother’s positions…and since then they’d made significant advancements with large numbers of lands coming under their family’s control. Lees meer
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373 – The First King
5 juni 2021 · 42 min
Earl AElfgar was having a rough time. The clergy and local lords of East Anglia had never really warmed up to him since his appointment to the post in 1053. Their loyalty to Harold went so deep that we can still see evidence of their loyalty to the House of Godwin in surviving records. Lees meer
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372 – Hostile Takeover
21 mei 2021 · 27 min
If I could interview one figure from this period, I think it would be Queen Edith. Lees meer
That woman had a WEIRD life. She was married off to a King. Then she watched that King try to destroy her family…As thanks she got stuffed into a nunnery by said King… then got to watch as her family utterly spanked the King in a pirate fuelled civil war. Was finally pulled out of the nunnery only to get dropped right back where she started. In the King’s bedchamber.
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371 – Naked Ambition
13 mei 2021 · 41 min
Godwin was dead, and now Harold Godwinson found himself leading the family. Befitting this new role, he was due to inherit the wealthy and politically potent Earldom of Wessex. His father’s Earldom. And according to the Vita Edwardi, the Kingdom rejoiced at Harold’s impending promotion. Lees meer
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370 – Breaking Bread
22 april 2021 · 34 min
Earl Godwin and his family were back, baby. Lees meer
Well, mostly.
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Bonus Episode from the Archive: The Poet’s Curse
12 april 2021 · 27 min
This is an old one, but it was specifically requested. Please forgive the audio quality and delivery. Lees meer
The post Bonus Episode from the Archive: The Poet’s Curse first appeared on The British History Podcast.
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369 – Move or You Will Be Moved: Part 4
26 maart 2021 · 34 min
When you come at the King, you best not miss… and now the Godwins had the King of France and the Holy Roman Emperor acting as their surrogates while they were constructing no less than two invasion fleets just off of two separate English coasts … which means Edward probably realized he had went at the real King and missed. Lees meer
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368 – Move or You Will Be Moved: Part 3
20 maart 2021 · 23 min
This poem about Godwin and his children is found, not in the Chronicle, nor in a document dedicated to Godwin… but in the Vita AEdwardi… the Life of King Edward.
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367 – Move, or You Will Be Moved Part 2
2 maart 2021 · 22 min
Swegn Godwinson was exiled….again. Only this time it was for life. As that judgment came down, the Godwins must have realized they had been maneuvered into blind dependence on the King’s mercy.
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366 – Move, or You Will Be Moved: Part 1
27 februari 2021 · 32 min
The summer of 1051 must have felt like some sort of nightmare. Lees meer
A French aristocrat rode into Dover, picked a fight and then slaughtered the townsfolk. And that man’s cousin, the King of England, told the townsfolk’s lord (Earl Godwin of Wessex) to go back and finish the job...by butchering his own people on behalf of that French aristocrat.
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365 – The Red Cliffs of Dover
13 februari 2021 · 38 min
In 1050, Thorrfinn the Jarl of Orkney went to Rome. And on trip to Rome is complete without a visit with the Pope. And when Thorrfin had his meeting, we’re told that Pope personally absolved the Jarl’s sins.
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364 – Reconciliation
31 januari 2021 · 30 min
Complex societies are able to do incredible things. By having an interconnected civilization, with people from all over the place contributing to it, people are able to specialize… and that specialization allows for entire classes of people who can do things that would be impossible if they had to meet their own basic needs all by themselves. Lees meer
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363 – Treason!
13 januari 2021 · 29 min
Piece by piece, the board was being set for a comeback. The Godwin family had been thrown from power decades ago. But Godwin knew how to be patient and grind it out. And now he was back on top, the second most powerful person in England.
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362 – Meet the Godwins
9 december 2020 · 29 min
History is just the story of humans across time. Therefore, like humanity, history is varied, it’s emotional, it’s complex. And often it’s just f*cking messy.
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361 – W A Poet
5 december 2020 · 26 min
King Edward came to England with a political migraine.
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360 – The Long Game
19 november 2020 · 30 min
In 1040, while England was dealing with the chaos of Harthacnut’s reign and the threat of yet another succession mess, Scotland was dealing with its own set of problems. Lees meer
The northern Kingdom just lost its king. And that wasn’t anything new for Scotland… their Kings rarely lasted long.
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359 – Play Autocrat Games; Win Autocrat Prizes
30 oktober 2020 · 29 min
In 1040, England once again had a new King. But England was finding Harthacnut a tough pill to swallow.
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The Witch of Fife
24 oktober 2020 · 10 min
Happy Halloween! Lees meer
The post The Witch of Fife first appeared on The British History Podcast.
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358 – King Harthacnut
16 oktober 2020 · 30 min
The death of Cnut caused a cascade of consequences that reached up to the tip of Scotland and even into the continent. It was an empire crumbling just as it had been born, and the kingdoms with in it (and neighboring it) were undergoing a rapid series of changes as Cnut’s empire came crashing down. Lees meer
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357 – Walter Map’s Courtly Trifles
6 oktober 2020 · 29 min
The early 11th century was an unlikely time of heroes. By heroes I unfortunately don’t mean people of good character and brave deeds, but just people who perform extraordinary feats for their time. One of these was the very first King of Wales, Gruffudd ap Llewelyn. Lees meer
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356 – Macbeth
15 september 2020 · 45 min
Here is the story of Macbeth. If you have just tuned into this episode because of the title, know that it is the second episode in a two-part series. You will want to go to the previous episode, Double Double Toil and Trouble, and listen to that first. There you will learn about the peculiar region that spawned this shadowy highland King. Lees meer
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355 – Double, Double Toil and Trouble
21 augustus 2020 · 44 min
As we have been covering the Dark Ages, we have been at the mercy of the scribes. If they don’t write something down, there is almost no way for us to know about it. One of the biggest casualties in this dynamic has been Scotland.
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354 – The West, after Cnut
4 augustus 2020 · 33 min
The death of Cnut and the fall of his near-Empire would obviously have impacts on his own dynasty. But while Harold was trying to secure England, Emma was trying to regain power, and poor Edward was trying to stay out of the whole mess, the political tsunami was roaring over the shores of the Irish Sea. Lees meer
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353 – Mother of the Year
17 juli 2020 · 31 min
The Medieval chronicler, Adam of Bremen, was writing at around this point in history and among the many things he tells us he also includes how Cnut planned his almost empire. And Adam tells us that Cnut intended Sweyn to rule Norway, Harthacnut to rule Denmark, and Harold Harefoot to rule England. Lees meer
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352 – Chaos
8 juli 2020 · 20 min
It was November 11 of 1035 and King Cnut was dead. He was buried at Winchester Cathedral. Lees meer
Cnut, and likely the Court, seemed to anticipate his death. Possibly because he had been ill for some time. But the ruling classes of Europe were still completely unprepared for the chaos that followed.
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351 – Collapse
26 juni 2020 · 28 min
I wonder if Cnut could see what was coming. All the signs were in front of him. Everything was starting to line up. But was he actually putting it together?
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350 – A Tough Cnut to Crack
12 juni 2020 · 23 min
We have another mystery on our hands. We have a missing year. And I don’t think it was because nothing was happening.
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349 – AElfgifu’s Tale
25 mei 2020 · 23 min
Successful Kings don’t rule alone. This is especially true for Kings with as much going on as Cnut. Lees meer
And one of Cnut’s most influential right-hand men was actually his Queen. And Emma was more than just an advisor. She was wielding considerable power in her own right, power that likely expanded every time Cnut journeyed out of England.
But Queen Emma wasn’t Cnut’s only wife.
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348 – Ruling Hard or Hardly Ruling
13 mei 2020 · 30 min
Europe was in chaos in the 1020s. Crises just kept coming, and the powerful were trying to capitalize on disorder. And in times like these, actions can have outsized impact, even the smaller ones.
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347 – Aggressive Diplomacy
2 mei 2020 · 25 min
What we call history was, at one point, just current events. And world affairs never happen in a vacuum. It’s never just one thing happening after another…
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346 – Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Drakkars
22 april 2020 · 31 min
It’s 1025 Cnut had a problem on his hands. Barely a year after putting down Thorkell’s rebellion, Cnut was sailing for Denmark… again. To war, again.
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345 – Building Blocks
10 april 2020 · 20 min
In the early 11th century, the English were crushed by the Scots in the Battle of Carham. We are told that King Malcolm of Scotland, supported by King Owain of Strathclyde, brought their combined armies to bear against the forces of Ealdorman Uhtred of Bernicia in 1018… and there, they slaughtered the English. Lees meer
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Bonus Episode: Slavery
20 maart 2020 · 31 min
More material is coming, but here is a bonus episode to keep you company while you're practicing social distancing.
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344 – Cnut’s Mad Lads
13 maart 2020 · 30 min
In the year of 1021, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle tells us two things. Lees meer
A Bishop died.
And Thorkell the Tall was expelled from the country. And that’s all it tells us.
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343 – By Thorkell’s Beard
28 februari 2020 · 23 min
This is a story of palace intrigue, murder, and atypical alopecia… and it all begins where these things usually do… with a real estate transaction.
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Bonus Episode: Shrove Tuesday
25 februari 2020 · 11 min
Today is Shrove Tuesday. And if you’re not in Britain, you might be wondering what Shrove Tuesday is, and even if you are British, you might be wondering why you’re celebrating it.
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342 – King Cnut of Denmark and England
14 februari 2020 · 30 min
If you have heard of King Cnut, what you probably heard was the story of Cnut and the Tides. The most common version of it goes like this.
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341 – King Cnut of England
5 februari 2020 · 29 min
Cnut made a lot of smart moves in a very short amount of time. He outlawed much of the corruption that had plagued the courts of AEthelred. He scrubbed his new kingdom of the loyalists to Edmund Ironsides. He granted key lands to key followers. Executed the main claimant to the throne, Eadwig. He executed Eadric Streona. Lees meer
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340 – A Bit of a Cnut
23 januari 2020 · 32 min
When we left off, Cnut had managed to get Eadric to go on the record calling for the execution of the English claimants to the throne… and then Cnut rejected the suggestion, and instead outlawed Eadwig, and exiled the sons of Edmund to Sweden.
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339 – Cnut the Conqueror
17 januari 2020 · 24 min
The fall of the House of Wessex and the rise of Cnut looks like a simple story of conquest. After all, it’s right there in the title. Virtually every book on this era has a chapter called “The Conquest of England.” And for good reason… Cnut /was/ a conqueror. Lees meer