Podcasting is so much fun that I have been rather breeding them, so here is a brief guide. You may select the series you want from the drop down, or see them all after this message.
Members: There are over 22 hours of Shedcasts. They cover all sorts of things usually in English history which fire my enthusiasm. There are topics like Nationalism and its growth in medieval England; lots of biographies, some historiography, and then from time to time we have something a bit less worthy; such as how Henry VIII started a fashion for beards.
Then there’s The History of Scotland 18 hours of listening so far, the history of Scotland from the dawn of time to 1900. And then Britain and the Sea, an occasional series which add depth and stories to accompany the History of England podcast. And of course new episodes join all the series all the time!
Free podcasts: There is the History of England of course. But why not also try History in Technicolor where Wolf and I talk about history films, or the Things that made England – where Roifield and I talk about the cultural and historical habits and history that male England as she is.
27 Hateful to his People and Odious to God
Rufus fell out big time with Anselm, his Archbishop of Canterbury. Unusually for Medieval Man he was impious and irreverent. Meanwhile, the Welsh struggled for independence against Norman tyranny, and makeRead More
26 William Rufus, Normandy and the First Crusade
William Rufus was a flamboyant, red faced, pudgy and irreverant bloke, but none the less his father's favourite son. So Dad tipped him the wink and he left the deathRead More
25 Death of a Conqueror
The last years of William the Conqueror’s reign were mainly the meat and drink of the Norman King – beating off other feudal lords, keeping your nobles down, trying notRead More
24a The Anglo Saxon view of the outside world
The Anglo Saxons seem a very insular bunch – what was their view of the outside world, how much interaction did they have? A good deal more than we mightRead More
24 Revolt of the Earls
It took William the Conqueror a few more years until he felt safe from the English. But when the Revolt of the Earls collapsed in 1075, English revolution was overRead More
23 William the Conqueror and the subjugation of England
After 1066 William the Conqueror set about ruling his new kingdom. The impression we get is that England rolls over rather easily – where was the heroic struggle we mightRead More
22a Questions about Marriage, Law, Trade and Language
Here's a supplementary episode to answer some questions sent in – they were hard but fun, so keep the questions coming! Sadly, my brother was over so we did itRead More
22 1066 and Goodbye to all That
1066 was a year that changed a lot of things – though not as much as you might think. 3 experienced war leaders fought for control of England – andRead More
21 The Normans – a race unbridled
The Normans made a massive impact on Europe, not just England. They went on to establish a kingdom in Southern Italy, and lead the Crusades and the resulting state ofRead More
20 Anglo Saxon England in the 11th Century
Anglo Saxon England has been seen by some commentators as a bit of a basket case by 1066 – out of date and ready to be conquered. But actually EnglandRead More
19 Edward the Confessor
Edward enjoyed one year of independence in 1051-2, before the return of Godwin forced him into humiliating submission. But after Godwin’s death the following year, the rest of his reignRead More
18 The End of the Danish Dynasty, Edward the Confessor and the Rise of the Great men
Cnut’s dynasty survived him by only 7 years, and in 1042 the house of Cerdic returned in the form of Edward the Confessor. Edward is an enigma – weak manRead More
17 Cnut the Conqueror
Cnut was pretty much the complete king. Conqueror of the English, ruler of a Scandinavian empire that spanned 4 countries. And a man who knewRead More
16 Edmund Ironside and Cnut
In 1012, Aethelred looked down and out. But Svein died, and Edmund Ironside appeared on the scene. Suddenly, Aethelred was a real king and all action, and Cnut was forcedRead More
15 Aethelred, Svein Forkbeard and years of misery
The Danish threat is notched up a few levels, and Aethelred the Unready and the English state is brought to it knees. The Vikings are too fast, skillful and mobile,Read More
14 Aetheled the Unready and the Rising Tide
Aethelred’s mother gets her son onto the throne at last. But it’s not long before the disadvantages of kingship become clear, as the Danes begin to return with increasing force.Read More
13 Another and last Golden Age
Edgar the Peaceable’s reign was a golden age of peace, prosperity and monastic reform. Unfortunately, once he’d gone his wife stuck a knife into her stepson, and the trouble startsRead More
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 in the History of England. TheRead 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
10 English Reconquest
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 settledRead More
9 Pillar of the Western People
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,Read More
8 Reconstruction and Defence
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 theRead More
7 Alfred and the Fight for Survival
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. The Campaigns In 870 theRead More
6 The Great Heathen Army
Everything changed for Anglo Saxon England in 866; the sons of Ragnar Lothbrok came for conquest, not just treasure and slaves. The Arrival in East Anglia, 866 In 866, aRead More
5 The Noble Wolf
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 betterRead More
5a Pirates from the North
The Vikings visited fire, destruction – and trade – on a bemused and terrified 8th C Europe. Who were they, where did they come from, where did they go andRead More
4 Greater Wessex
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 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
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