The most iconic date in English history – a story of bravery, drama – and a close run thing
Cerdic
21 The Normans – a race unbridled
The Normans were wildly adventurous from Viking stock a carve out realms in France, Sicily – and England
20 Anglo Saxon England in the 11th Century
Governance, Law and Society before the Norman Conquest
19 Edward the Confessor
The Confessor rules at behest of his great men, but with some success
18 The End of the Danish Dynasty, Edward the Confessor and the Rise of the Great men
The late Anglo Saxon state was dominated by overmighty subjects
17 Cnut the Conqueror
The reign of the Northern Emperor
16 Edmund Ironside and Cnut
The last Anglo Saxon champion slugs it out with the Danish invader
15 Aethelred, Svein Forkbeard and years of misery
The Danish tide becomes the Danish Flood
14 Aetheled the Unready and the Rising Tide
Aethelred faces the terrors of the Viking and uses brutality, marriage and bribery to survive
13 The Golden Age
Edgar’s reign may represent the height of Anglo Saxon power
12 The last King in Jorvik
Edmund the Magnificent and Eadred finally defeat Eric Bloodaxe, the last king of Jorvik. But there are some social clouds on the horizon. The Hundred Ordinances These areRead More
11 His Years were full of Glory
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 theRead More
3 The Mercian Supremacy
Offa becomes king, extends his authority over all England south of the Humber, and hob nobs with Charlemagne
2 The Rise of Mercia
From the 650s, a power begins to emerge in the west midlands – the border people, Mercians
1.8 Revival
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 weRead More
1.7 Conversion
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 stillRead More
1.6 The Life and Times of Penda Part II
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 EastRead More
1.5 The Life and Times of Penda, Pt I
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 centralRead More
1.4 Founding Kingdoms
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 historyRead More
1.3 Building a New World
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?
1.2 Adventus Saxonum
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 GermanicRead More
1.1 Change and Calamity
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 ofRead More
1 The Anglo Saxons: Chronicles and Arguments
Introducing the Anglo Saxons, the series, and an episode about the people who kept a written record of the Anglo Saxon age. It’s also a good time to talk aboutRead More