Podcasts · History

The History of England

David Crowther

300 episodes

This my re-telling of the story of England. I aim to be honest, and rigorous - but always loving of my country's history. It is a regular, chronological podcast, starting from the end of Roman Britain. There are as many of the great events I can squeeze in, of course, but I also try to keep an eye on how people lived, their language, what was important to them, the forces that shaped their lives and destinies, that sort of thing. To listen free of adverts, support the podcast, access a library of 150+ hours of shedcasts of me warbling on, and get new shedcasts every month, why not become a member at https://thehistoryofengland.co.uk/become-a-member ? You know it makes sense...

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Episodes page 2 of 6

  1. 424 King Cromwell

    · 54 min · S8 E68

    After a year of the rule of the major generals, there was no money to support their militia. Now, the obvious solution was to repeat and continue the decimation tax; but the Council of State felt that parliament must…

  2. 423 Designs and Major Generals

    · 40 min · S8 E67

    There was much about Cromwell that was Elizabethan. He was fiercely patriotic, he dreamed of building as trading nation, and laying low the Spanish Empire with a Protestant Alliance. The Western Design against the…

  3. 422 Healing and Settling?

    · 39 min · S8 E66

    Cromwell might have felt that the first 9 months went rather well, from his perspective - the Council of State was working well, getting things done, the settlement of the Commonwealth was proceeding and rebellions…

  4. Announcing the 2025 History of England Podcast Tour

    · 6:31 · S8 E65

    This year we go to York and West Yorkshire, from 8th to 17th September. We'll stay in the Spa town of Harrogate, and in glorious York, Capital of the North with its Cathedral, the Minster, the medieval shopping street…

  5. 421 Completing the Settlements

    · 40 min · S8 E64

    Between 1654 and 1657, the the Tender of Union with Scotland and the Act of Settlement of Ireland were played out. They were very different in character. Over the following centuries, the former was largely consigned…

  6. The Lionheart - Ransom and Revenge

    · 30 min

    I am very pleased that Dirk Hoffman-Becking, of the History of the Germans podcast, has put together this episode about a very favourite event - the capture and hostage of Richard the Lionheart. Why Henry VI did it -…

  7. 420 Lord Protector

    · 43 min · S8 E63

    Whether or not Cromwell knew about John Lambert's 'coup' of December 1653, by the end of the month England had a new constitution and a new Head of State - the Lord Protector. Cromwell was installed in Whitehall and…

  8. Cromwell and the Poets

    · 44 min · S8 E62

    Contemporary poets found it difficult to deal with Cromwell, both before and after his death. Margaret Oakes talks about how the approach they took, and what they chose to reflect of the man and his career For maps,…

  9. 419 Cromwell and his Reputation

    · 45 min · S8 E61

    "Never man was highlier extolled, and never man baselier reported of and vilified” write Richard Baxter - a contemporary of Oliver Cromwell, who was not a fan. In this he was closer to the truth than Samuel Johnson,…

  10. Nelson with Dominic Sandbrook

    · 55 min · S8 E60

    Nelson was a military genius and fierce patriot, idolised by his men and the British public - and held up to ridicule too, for his affair with Emma and his treatment of Fanny. In his book for children, 'Nelson, Hero of…

  11. AAG 1649-1653 The Commonwealth

    · 1 h 02 min · S8 E59

    In 1649 the English parliament proudly declared that freedom had been restored and that King and Lords had been rejected. But in other ways, the new Commonwealth failed to bring about a new world. True there were…

  12. AAG 1646-1649 To Kill a King

    · 1 h 04 min · S8 E47

    In 1646, Charles secretly left Oxford, not sure whether to appeal to the English in London, or the Scots at Newark. It was the start of a long process of three years, which would see torturous negotiations - and the…

  13. 418 Barebones

    · 42 min · S8 E57

    In his haste to expel the Rump which had failed so badly, Cromwell and the Army officers came up with a temporary expedient. The Nominated assembly would be chosen from the most sober, Godly and intelligent of society,…

  14. 417 Kicking the Rump

    · 39 min · S8 E56

    The promised land looked for so longingly by so many seemed in 1653 to be stubbornly remote. Legal reform blocked, religious programmes cancelled, an apparently corrupt parliament, high taxes, and still no fresh…

  15. Milton, Nedham and the Commonwealth with Anthony Bromley

    · 46 min · S8 E55

    John Milton and Marchamont Nedham were unlikely bedfellows; and yet they became friends, worked closely together and in their very different ways sought to promote the English Republic to the country and outside world.…

  16. 416 Acts of Settlement and War

    · 44 min · S8 E54

    The English Commonwealth took a very different approach to settling the threats which had faced it in 1649, and the future of the three kingdoms. In Ireland, the guiding principle was retribution; in Scotland some…

  17. 415 Rumpers

    · 39 min · S8 E53

    So, while the army was away, August 1649 to September 1651 what had the Rump parliament been doing to build the promised new world of Liberty? We find out that social reform takes a back seat to moral reform - the…

  18. 414 The Ground of Liberty

    · 43 min · S8 E52

    The deal struck between the Covenanters and Charles brought an invasion from the Commonwealth that faced annihalation at Dunbar in September 1650. Exactly a year later, the end game of Charles' attempt to detroy the…

  19. 413 Cromwell in Ireland

    · 38 min · S8 E51

    The Council of State were convinced that only General Cromwell could deliver victory in Ireland; and Cromwell used this to negotiate the best possible supply of men, money and material. From August 1649 to May 1650…

  20. Part II Sam and David's English Revolution Q&A

    · 54 min · S8 E50

    Part two, about 30 questions I think; Religion, the public Sphere, culture - and a couple of 'What Ifs' which were really good fun For maps, resources, transcripts or to become a member, head for…

  21. Part I Sam and David English Revolution Q&A

    · 1 h 05 min · S8 E49

    We had a vast number of brilliant quesrtions. Sam (Pax Britannica) and David (of this parish) had a lovely time - but went on a bit, there's no denying it. So this is part I, about 25 questions, mostly about politics…

  22. 412 Levelers and Diggers

    · 37 min · S8 E48

    In April 1649 the new Commonwealth was under siege, enemies with and without. The Levelers saw the new Commonwealth as a betrayal of the revolution, and set out to raise rebellion against the Rump and the Grandees, to…

  23. 411 Commonwealth and Free State

    · 46 min · S8 E47

    On 30th January, Charles I went to the scaffold, the first king to be publicly tried and executed by his people. He died with enormous dignity - and was duly proclaimed a martyr. With the king gone, a new state was…

  24. Britain's Prehistory with Richard Grove

    · 28 min

    I am about to start a new series for Shedcast members, called Birth of Britain. It takes British history from the year dot to somewhere around 600. So I am starting the series off with an interview with friend and…

  25. 410 Tyrant, Traitor, Murderer

    · 54 min · S8 E46

    Once the decision was taken to put Charles on trial, the Commissiobners agonised about the detail at Westminster; the trial must be seen to be fair. But few can have doubted its outcome. The theatre of the trial was…

  26. 409 Agreement of the People

    · 47 min · S8 E45

    The New Model, Levellers and Radical MPs reacted with steely determination to the adoption of the Newport treaty. It was probably Ireton that inspired Pride's Purge. Ireton it was also that drove the development of the…

  27. 408 The Treaty of Newport

    · 48 min · S8 E44

    In July. Hamilton launched his army of Scots across the border, in confident expectation that his 14,000 would be swelled by enthusiastic English royalists. England would know it's fate at Preston, when the opposimg…

  28. 407 The Peoples' Distress

    · 47 min · S8 E43

    If the people of England had gone to war to build a better world, by January 1648 they were seriously unimpressed with what Utopia looked like. The issues that distressed the people were legion - taxes, religion,…

  29. 406 Engagements

    · 39 min · S8 E42

    In November 1647 at Corkbush field near Ware, Fairfax faced a dangerous threat to army unity - the work of the Leveller Agitators had incited some regiments to mutiny, in support of the Agreeent of the People.…

  30. 405 The Putney Debates

    · 52 min · S8 E41

    Following the attenpt by parliament to close the army down without pay, and the resulting August 1647 coup, the army was a seething mass of worries and resentments. Thrown into the mix were the radical political ideas…

  31. 404 A New Model Coup

    · 51 min · S8 E40

    In July, England had the prospect of king, Fairfax and Army triumphantly entering London with a new, open and tolerant constitution and a bright future. But Charles had killed that. So, in the face of the hostility of…

  32. 403 No Mere Mercenary Army

    · 46 min · S8 E39

    With the king under their control, the determination of Fairfax's Army made Presbyterian parliamentarians buckle. And when Ireton presented the carefully worked Heads of Proposals to the Officers and Agitators at the…

  33. 402 Enemies of the State

    · 43 min · S8 E38

    In 1647 The New Model Army became a battleground between Independant and Presbyterian factions. Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell were caught in the middle. As Holles came closer and closer to destroying the New…

  34. 401 The Mind of a Martyr

    · 49 min · S8 E37

    In June 1646 Charles' path had taken him to the Scots, on the hope he could persuade them to put him back on the English throne. But he was not prepared to pay their price, and in England Holles and the Presbyterian…

  35. 400 Many Thousand Citizens

    · 41 min · S8 E36

    The Levellers were not an organized, structured politial party or pressure group. They were a loose association of radicals who found they shared new ideas that sprang from their religious view, the chaos and freedoms…

  36. AAG 1643-1646 The First Civil War

    · 1 h 05 min · S8 E35

    In one sense this is a Tale of Two Cities - Oxford and London, HQs of King and Parliament. But the First Civil war is a conflict that reaches into every town, village and parish. There are national armies, regional…

  37. 399 End Game

    · 45 min · S8 E33

    Charles options in 1645 were increasingly limited, as Fairfax and Cromwell closed down garrison after garison, and parliament defeated the few remaining royalist field armies. In Ireland he sent an envoy with secret…

  38. Jonathan Healey and the Blazing World

    · 51 min · S8 E34

    17th Century was a century of change and revolution, a world beautifully described in the a rich and varied book, The Blazing World. Historian Jonathan Healey comes along to talk through some of the themes and events…

  39. 398 The Clubmen

    · 40 min · S8 E32

    After Naseby, Fairfax took the New Model on the Western Campaign, to deal with the last remaining significant royalist army in the field - George Goring at Taunton. On the way, and after victory at Langport, he met the…

  40. 397 In Assurance of Victory

    · 49 min · S8 E31

    We come to 1645, and the first test of the New Model Army. To Charles and Rupert this was an opportunity to destroy it while full of raw recruits. Through the sack of Leicester they lured the 'brutish' general Fairfax…

  41. 396 The New Model Army

    · 45 min · S8 E30

    Despite the realities of the strategic situation, parliament and people were deeply discouraged by the failures of the Lostwithial and Newbury campaigns. Parliament was fractious, divided and argumentative. But from…

  42. Anglo Saxon Rendlesham

    · 31 min

    Excavations in Suffolk near Sutton Hoo have revealed fascinating news about the royal centre at Rendlesham, active from 570 to 730 ish. There's that - and news of a new Anglo Saxon series for you all For maps,…

  43. 395 Forever Newbury

    · 45 min · S8 E29

    In his efforts to secure Oxford's safety,Charles was faced at Newbury by a far larger army. Find out what happens - and then we go north, where Montrose and Macolla give the Covenanters a nasty shock. For maps,…

  44. 394 Lost With It All

    · 45 min · S8 E28

    The defeat at Marston Moor in July 1644 raised the very, very strong possibility of the king's defeat. In the Midlands, a small force under the king faced the much larger combined armies of Essex and Waller. Against…

  45. 393 We Saw No Light

    · 52 min · S8 E27

    1644 opened with Charles' 'Mongrel parliament' at Oxford, and was the model of compliance. Not so at York where the noose of the Scots and Fairfax tightened around York. Enter Rupert, stage Lancashire, a whirlwind of…

  46. 392 The Neighbourhood War

    · 36 min · S8 E26

    The Civil Wars used to be thought of as a rather neighbourly affair, not like those brutal foreign wars. But it's become clear that there was far more death and destruction than just the major battles, and the…

  47. 391 The National War

    · 43 min · S8 E25

    Between a quarter and a third of adult males up to 50 will fight in the first civil war. Most families will be affected in some way. Here is the story of those great marching armies, what kept them together, what made…

  48. Madame Tussaud, Maria Manning, and the True Crime Controversy of 1849

    · 1 h 01 min

    Gavin Whitehead gives a guest episode from the Art of Crime podcast - where True crime, History and Art meet. Today - Maria Manning and the Bermondey horror. Find more from Gavin at www.artofcrimepodcast.com For maps,…

  49. 390 Leagues and Covenants

    · 49 min · S8 E24

    In August 1643 came one of the defining moments of the course of the Revolution - the swearing of the Solemn League and Covenant between England and Scotland. It would bring an army - and division. But for 6 months…

  50. 389 Newsheets and Newbury

    · 43 min · S8 E23

    In July 1643 the propaganda war was in full swing, and newsheets opened up from both Oxford and London. London was rent by protests, while the royalist cause was finely fettled - in control in the North and ready from…

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