The arrival of resident landowners and the ever present danger of economic disaster would change the way many lived their lives and create the system of serfdom so centralRead More
Sh 31b LLASE Life on the Scir - Members Only
New petty kingdoms and lordships, scirs, began to form around tribal groups and identities, and then to consolidate into Anglo Saxons kingdoms we will begin to recognise. How were thoseRead More
Sh 31a LLASE – Settlers - Members Only
A new series – Life and Landscape in Anglo Saxon England. In this episode, the Anglo Saxon settlement, and early settlements in South Oxfordshire
147 Women and Anglo Saxon England
Unaccustomed as I am to social and economic history…here is the first of a bit of a thread over the next few weeks and months about some social stuff, andRead More
55 The History of Medieval Europe, Part I
From Charles Martel and the battle of Tours in 732, through Charlemagne and Otto the Great, the first installment concentrates on France, Germany and Italy and takes us to theRead More
31a Anglo Saxon Questions – Church Conversion and Economy
Chris and Matt sent some interesting questions that take us back to Anglo Saxon England. So here's a free, supplementary episode. We talk about: How much did daily life reallyRead More
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 The Anglo Saxons: Chronicles and Arguments
Before we start, an episode is about the people who kept a written record of the Anglo Saxon age, and what later generations thought about the Anglo Saxons. Check outRead More