Podcasts · History · Education

The British History Podcast

Jamie Jeffers

300 episodes · in order

The BHP is a chronological retelling of the history of Britain with a particular focus upon the lives of the people. You won’t find a dry recounting of dates and battles here, but instead you’ll learn about who these people were and how their desires, fears, and flaws shaped the scope of this island at the edge of the world. And some of those desires are downright scandalous.

Episodes page 1 of 6

  1. 244 – Haesten’s Advance

    · 25 min · S6 E244

    “Then came the king’s troops, and routed the enemy, broke down the work, took all that was therein money, women, and children and brought all to London. And all the ships they either broke to pieces, or burned, or…

  2. 245 – King Alfred: Infrastructure is Sexy

    · 25 min · S6 E245

    For the Viking army fleeing Shoebury, there wasn’t much to look forward to in a winter holiday at Chester. It would be wet. It would be cold. It would be creepy. The old Roman settlement had been abandoned for quite…

  3. 246 – The Hard Edge of Soft Power

    · 36 min · S6 E246

    When I write an episode I begin by looking at what has happened in the past, then at what will come in the future, and only after that do I allow myself to focus on what is occurring for this episode. I do this because…

  4. 247 – Our Wooden Wall

    · 23 min · S6 E247

    The Danes encamped at Bridgnorth had been campaigning for years. Many had come here with Haesten and the Appledore fleet. They were the veterans of the continental campaigns. And for years now they had been fighting…

  5. 248 – The Death of Alfred the Great

    · 25 min · S6 E248

    By 897, everything Alfred had known…. changed. He was barely in his 20s when he took the throne and he hadn’t had a chance to stop for a breath for the decades that followed. He had been king for over half of his life,…

  6. 249 – Kenneth MacAlpin and the Birth of Scotland

    · 34 min · S6 E249

    We’ve reached the end of an era. It was late 899, and Alfred (who has been our central figure for dozens of episodes) was at last at rest. But with his death, there was a sudden opening at the top levels of West Saxon…

  7. 250 – The Year 900

    · 37 min · S6 E250

    It’s the year 900. We’ve closed out another century, and the 900’s are looking as tumultuous as the 800’s. But before we move forward in our story of our Island – still in many ways at the end of the world – the BHP is…

  8. 251 – Chapter Seven: England

    · 2:08 · S7 E251

    We are entering a new era in the BHP. Support the Show The post 251 – Chapter Seven: England first appeared on The British History Podcast.

  9. 252 – The Coming of the Anglo-Scandinavians

    · 26 min · S7 E252

    At the start of 867, there were four major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in Britain. By 874, three of the four – Northumbria, East Anglia, and Mercia – had lost their independence. That’s a timespan of only 7 years, and in that…

  10. 253 – Anglo Saxon Market Towns in the Viking Age

    · 26 min · S7 E253

    Cultures change all the time – yours is changing right now, in ways you may or may not realize. It’s a completely normal, everyday fact that has been with humanity since we began. Probably before we began. And yet,…

  11. 254 – Worcester

    · 23 min · S7 E254

    If you read of old Britain… even if you read of modern Britain… you’d be forgiven if you thought it was all London. And London does soak up a ton of the spotlight. It’s like the Stonehenge of the non-neolithic period.…

  12. 255 – Londonwic to London

    · 34 min · S7 E255

    London is a world unto itself, and it has been for most of its very, very long history. One of the weirdest things about the city is that it contains its own separate city – distinct from the rest of London. It has its…

  13. 256 – Scandinavian Settlement in England

    · 28 min · S7 E256

    For the last few episodes we’ve been discussing the way life has been changing in Southern Britain. While the dramatic battles and political maneuvering dominated the story of the last season, you’re now learning of…

  14. 257 – Political Accommodation Within The Danelaw

    · 37 min · S7 E257

    Things in Britain are changing rapidly. In Scotland the MacAlpin dynasty is rising, and with it comes the merging of the Scottish and Pictish cultures. A similar blending is happening in the Anglo Saxon regions. As…

  15. 258 – The Rise of King Edward I of Wessex

    · 27 min · S7 E258

    On October 26th, 899, Alfred the Great died. He left behind his wife, Eahlswitha, as well as his grown children. I imagine that the loss of Alfred was probably quite difficult on all of them. It’s always hard to lose a…

  16. 259 – The Last Stand of the House of AEthelred

    · 30 min · S7 E259

    It was an audacious move. To take possession of two towns, to fortify himself inside the Royal Estate of Wimborne (the resting place of his father), and to do all of this after taking an unnamed nun as his wife. But…

  17. 260 – King Edward’s Forgotten Love Life

    · 24 min · S7 E260

    Sometimes life comes at you fast. So much happens in such a short space of time that you barely have a chance to take note of where you’re at and, only after it’s all passed, only /then/ do you have a chance to say “oh…

  18. 261 – The Anglo Saxon Chronicle and the Mercian Register

    · 24 min · S7 E261

    I hope that after the last few episodes (and honestly, the last few years) have dispelled the myth of elegance that surrounds monarchy. Especially medieval monarchy. Support the Show The post 261 – The Anglo Saxon…

  19. 262 – AEthelred and AEthelflaed

    · 27 min · S7 E262

    A year after Edward took the throne – in year 901, while he was still fighting AEthelwold’s rebellion – something strange appeared in the Charters. This event doesn’t get discussed in the Chronicle. But these Charters…

  20. 263 – AEthelflaed and Ingimund

    · 25 min · S7 E263

    When we left off last episode, war had come to Mercia. Ingimund and his Scandinavian allies abandoned their peace treaty and were seeking to expand their borders, but according to the Irish Annals and the Welsh annals,…

  21. 264 – The Lost Rebellion

    · 39 min · S7 E264

    In the year 909 we get an odd entry from the Chronicle. “This year St. Oswald’s body was removed from Bardney into Mercia.” It’s an weird entry that caps a very strange section of the Chronicle. In the seven year…

  22. 265 – The Battle of Tettenhall; and Zombies, maybe.

    · 32 min · S7 E265

    There is so much that the Chronicle hides from us after the death of Alfred. Edward’s apple seems to have fallen fairly far from the tree, because the record his court produces during his reign is spare even by Anglo…

  23. 266 – The Rise of AEthelflaed and the Breaking of Northumbria

    · 24 min · S7 E266

    The Battle of Tettenhall, as we discussed last episode, remains a mystery to us. We aren’t certain of the circumstances that started the battle, exactly where the battle took place, nor which Anglo Saxon leaders…

  24. 267 – The Southern Expansion

    · 26 min · S7 E267

    O potent elfleda! Maid, men’s terror! You did conquer nature’s self; worthy The name of man! More beauteous nature’s form of A woman; but your valour shall secure Man’s higher name. For name you only need Not sex to…

  25. 268 – Viking Invasion

    · 27 min · S7 E268

    AEthelflaed, Lady of Mercia, and her brother, King Edward, had been bringing the fight to the Danes… they had been stretching their borders into Danish controlled lands and they haven’t just been on the offense……

  26. 269 – The Western Front

    · 27 min · S7 E269

    Wessex and Mercia have had a busy decade. Both kingdoms militarized their borders, fought off invasion forces, and even took the offensive and marched into neighboring kingdoms. And even though the Chronicle is…

  27. 270 – War in the Five Boroughs

    · 26 min · S7 E270

    There’s an entry from the Irish Fragmentary annals that caught my attention. It talks about the defeat of Hroald and Ohter at the hands of AEthelflaed… and it specifically gives credit to AEthelflaed for this battle,…

  28. 271 – How to Break a Kingdom in Six Months

    · 58 min · S7 E271

    For the last several years, the Anglo Saxons had been on a true war footing. AEthelflaed and Edward had been showing skill and audacity in the field, and it had paid dividends. Under their leadership, the Anglo Saxon…

  29. 272 – The End of the Age of AEthelflaed

    · 29 min · S7 E272

    Trying to tell the story of AEthelflaed is like trying to study gravity. We know her indirectly, by the impressions she left and the political shifts that happen around her. We can see the impact she left both on her…

  30. 273 – I Do… Do I?

    · 24 min · S7 E273

    Last episode we talked about the rapid growth of AEthelflaed’s power, Edward’s militarizing AEthelflaed’s borders, Edward visiting her at her capital city and bringing his army with him… the fact that she died shortly…

  31. 274 – The Missing Shire

    · 27 min · S7 E274

    In the last several episodes I’ve been breaking down the weird evidence that surrounds Edward towards the end of his reign. It’s been a deep dive and has been focused on some pretty granular details, and the reason why…

  32. 275 – King Edward the Almost First King of England

    · 36 min · S7 E275

    The story of Edward is undeniably odd. There are events that are at best, unexplained and at worst look potentially horrible. But he’s also a man of contradiction, because the one thing we haven’t talked about is the…

  33. 276 – The Bastard Rebel King

    · 32 min · S7 E276

    The story of Edward is one of contradictions. There’s something about his rule that seems … complicated and requiring more nuance than many of our earlier rulers. Here we have a King that did what must have seemed…

  34. 277 – King AEthelstan: Say Yes to the Dress

    · 23 min · S7 E277

    It’s important to hit the ground running when you start a new job. Especially if it is one that carries a lot of responsibility. When you’re new, people are often trying to work out who you are and how you’ll fit into…

  35. 278 – The Thunderbolt

    · 23 min · S7 E278

    There’s a dirty secret to history podcasts, and it only becomes clear when you actually start one. The truth is that many people will SAY that they want to learn something new, and hear new stories and hear new facts.…

  36. 279 – Dynastic Cults

    · 43 min · S7 E279

    Want to know something strange? When Edward died, the Irish annals said nothing. Not a mention about his death, nor the circumstances of it. And it’s not like the Irish Annals were disinterested with what was happening…

  37. 280 – King AEthelstan’s Love Life

    · 26 min · S7 E280

    What is a King’s most important duty? Is it the defense of the realm? Or perhaps the growth of the kingdom’s borders? What about developing the economy? Fostering strong diplomatic alliances? Shepherding the souls of…

  38. 281 – England

    · 32 min · S7 E281

    The last couple of episodes have focused on the political tools that AEthelstan had at his disposal. Marriage alliances, fostering, dynastic cults and diplomatic entreaties were all powerful pieces moving on a huge…

  39. 282 – How To Win Friends and Influence Jorvik

    · 25 min · S7 E282

    AEthelstan had completed his annexation of Jorvik, and in doing so he had outperformed every last one of his predecessors, including his grandfather, Alfred the Great. But there were a few loose ends that he still…

  40. 283 – The Kingdoms of the Foreigners

    · 23 min · S7 E283

    Imagine that you went from being a disfavored bastard with little power, to the most powerful English king that had ever existed, in the space of just a few years. Support the Show The post 283 – The Kingdoms of the…

  41. 284 – AEthelstan the Victorious

    · 27 min · S7 E284

    Last week, we ended with King AEthelstan’s aggression towards Kingdoms of Wales and Cornwall. We don’t know precisely what occurred, or why AEthelstan demanded crippling tributes from the Welsh and then violently…

  42. 285 – Full Court Press

    · 29 min · S7 E285

    The Era of AEthelstan is one of contradictions. His behavior, his policies, his wars… pretty much everything that is happening during this period seems to have an element of duality. This man was discussed by scholars…

  43. 286 – Noble Pursuits

    · 30 min · S7 E286

    After generations of devastating war, England has found itself at peace. Which leaves a question we haven’t had to ask in a while. What did the Anglo Saxons actually do during peacetime? Support the Show The post 286…

  44. 287 – The Conquest of Scotland

    · 26 min · S7 E287

    For the last six years, AEthelstan had been ruling in a manner that hasn’t been seen in Britain for generations. Beyond being a warlord, or even a King… AEthelstan was acting more like an Emperor. All of the Anglo…

  45. 288 – Extracurricular Activities

    · 24 min · S7 E288

    I wonder if King Rudolph of France resented his crown. I mean, seeking the crown probably seemed like a good idea at the time but the whole thing had been turning out to be an enormous headache. And it all started when…

  46. 289 – Brunanburh

    · 33 min · S7 E289

    You can’t just go to war. I mean… I guess you can. But it’s not a good idea. War takes work. It takes planning. It takes preparation. War, to put it simply, is a pain in the ass. You really have to want it. And the…

  47. 290 – This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is My Land

    · 29 min · S7 E290

    Brunanburh had been a titanic struggle. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle speaks of how the fighting lasted from morning to night, until “the field grew dark with the blood of men.” Blood spilled from warriors of no less than…

  48. 291 – Pandemonium

    · 27 min · S7 E291

    When King Edward died, the plan was that his second son would take the throne. By all indications, neither Edward nor the power structures within Wessex, wanted AEthelstan. The young AEtheling had been discarded and…

  49. 292 – King in the North

    · 21 min · S7 E292

    How we understand any event comes down to what angle we are able to view it from. And the story of AEthelstan is no exception. On the one hand, it is easy to see AEthelstan as one of the greatest kings in English…

  50. 293 – The Beacons are Lit

    · 25 min · S7 E293

    When we left off, AEthelstan had recently died, Olaf had returned from Dublin and been crowned King of Jorvik (which meant that the Kingdom of Jorvik was back). The English Fyrd was still recovering from the bloodbath…

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