The British History Podcast

Episodes page 4 of 6

1. 384 – King Harold Godwinson

   2 Dec 2021 · 47 min · S8 E384

   Edward was dead. Harold was King. Edith was sidelined. And as far as the Vita Edwardii was concerned, this was the moment where the wheels came completely off the wagon.

2. 385 – The Audacity of Boats

   6 Jan 2022 · 50 min · S8 E385

   Dear Harry, I was saddened to hear of King Edward’s death. but, I am writing to inform you that my beloved cousin promised me the throne a while back. Don’t worry if this is news to you, it was a secret so I understand…

3. 386 – God’s Messenger

   18 Jan 2022 · 41 min · S8 E386

   William had secured his promises. Each Baron and lesser noble of Normandy swore to serve him faithfully and take part the invasion of England. And William made sure the nerds wrote every single oath down on paper.

4. 387 – The Douche is Cast

   28 Jan 2022 · 40 min · S8 E387

   War was coming. That much was clear.

5. 388 – The Stupid Before The Storm

   11 Feb 2022 · 42 min · S8 E388

   We left off in the Court of Harald Hardrada. And you probably feel like you know a lot about this man by now.

6. 389 – The Tyrant and the Muddy Crossing

   27 Feb 2022 · 1 h 01 min · S8 E389

   The shores of Saint Valery must have been quite the sight. Looking at the records, which discuss the size of this fleet and other notes that let us estimate the size of the original fleet launched from the River Dives,…

7. 390 – Stamford Bridge

   20 Mar 2022 · 1 h 17 min · S8 E390

   King Harold, his Huscarls, and the fyrd of Wessex were driving north as fast as they could.

8. 391 – The Battle of Hastings

   18 Apr 2022 · 3 h 24 min · S8 E391

   Stamford Bridge had been a nightmare. Thousands of dead… untold numbers of wounded. And the fallout was just beginning. All over Britain, all over Europe, families would slowly be learning the fate of their loved ones.…

9. Chapter Nine – The Normans

   28 Apr 2022 · 3:42 · S9 E391

   The King is dead.

10. A Quick Update From Zee

    2 May 2022 · 1:19

    A New Shoptalk Just Dropped

11. 392 – The Night is Dark and Full of Terrors

    12 May 2022 · 24 min · S9 E392

    Chaos. The orderly rhythm of attacks… and the steady wall of the war hedge had dissolved, and it was replaced by a raging melee.

12. 393 – To Kill a Legend

    20 May 2022 · 33 min · S9 E393

    Here is how you probably heard the story of the Battle of Hastings. William the Conqueror boarded a ship, won a battle at Hastings, and was crowned King. Kingdom. Conqueror. Conquered.

13. 394 – Godwinson’s Revenge

    10 Jun 2022 · 45 min · S9 E394

    The Battle of Hastings had been brutal - even for the Normans. The invading army had suffered terrible losses.

14. 395 – Rearranging the Deck chairs on HMS England

    5 Jul 2022 · 47 min · S9 E395

    It was autumn of 1066 and after weeks of deliberation, political wrangling, and arguing the English nobility had finally selected their next King. This may seem like a long time, considering there was a whole invasion…

15. 396 – King William I of England

    27 Jul 2022 · 54 min · S9 E396

    Duke William was experienced at wielding terror. Whether he was at home or on campaign, William often employed terror tactics. The people of France were well aware of this, and now the English were learning his skill…

16. 397 – William: The Devil Inside

    8 Aug 2022 · 35 min · S9 E397

    It was Christmas Day of 1066 and England was crowning its new King.

17. 398 – William: Winning Friends and Influencing People Is For Suckers

    20 Aug 2022 · 37 min · S9 E398

    Do you remember the holy man who asked Edgar the AEtheling to confirm him as the Abbot of Peterborough, just after the Battle of Hastings?

18. 399 – Into the Wild

    1 Sep 2022 · 36 min · S9 E399

    1067 was a time of incredible change within England. Fortresses were being constructed everywhere. Existing fortresses were seized and then manned by foreign mercenaries. Estates and farms in the surrounding areas were…

19. 400 – William: This is Fine

    9 Sep 2022 · 34 min · S9 E400

    Feudalism had officially come to England, courtesy of the Normans…

20. 401 – Norms and Normans

    16 Sep 2022 · 38 min · S9 E401

    Last week we left off with Dover with some good old fashioned french on french violence… Count Eustace had attacked and attempted to seize the Southern Town…

21. 402 – Fire Sale

    24 Sep 2022 · 44 min · S9 E402

    Earl Osulf II of Bamburgh was a Northumbrian, and he had earned his seat ruling over the region North of the Tyne in true Northumbrian fashion.

22. 403 – The Siege of Exeter

    20 Oct 2022 · 34 min · S9 E403

    Exeter stood in open defiance against William and his army.

23. 404 – The Coronation of Queen Matilda

    3 Nov 2022 · 31 min · S9 E404

    Gytha and her supporters had fled into the Severn Estuary, and it was the final nail in the coffin of the Exeter rebellion.

24. 405 – Hereward the Wake: The Bourne Identity

    17 Nov 2022 · 1 h 03 min · S9 E405

    Here is the beginning of Hereward the Wake. And to tell this story, we have to begin with the legend. Because nothing in this story is straightforward. Probably because at least some of it is true.

25. 406 – King’s Rook Takes Pawn

    2 Dec 2022 · 38 min · S9 E406

    In early 1068… as William was preparing for the tactical Coronation of Matilda… the three sons of Harold Godwinson were in Ireland. They had come to meet with King Diarmad of Dublin and prepare an invasion force to…

26. 407 – Robbing the Hood

    6 Jan 2023 · 44 min · S9 E407

    I feel for the English commoners in the late 1060’s. They had nothing to do with the arrival of the Normans… everything they suffered was the result of the actions of the nobles. Exclusively.

27. 408 – Kerosene

    14 Jan 2023 · 35 min · S9 E408

    Happy New Year! It was 1069… nice… and as the new year dawned…things in England were getting a bit weird.

28. 409 – The First Sparks

    20 Jan 2023 · 26 min · S9 E409

    Earl Robert lay dead at Durham. Along with 700 of his men. At least. The Chronicle bumps the numbers up a bit, claiming Earl Robert had died 900 of his soldiers at Durham. Either way, that’s a lot of dead Normans.

29. 410 – The F Word

    27 Jan 2023 · 27 min · S9 E410

    They appeared as if from nowhere. A great force of men and horses… armed to the teeth… charging towards the city of York.

30. New Members Episode and a Site Update

    3 Feb 2023 · 1:06

31. 411 – Tell it to St. Peter

    11 Feb 2023 · 29 min · S9 E411

    Things in the North were dire. This was a problem, because as Orderic tells us, this wasn’t just a minor local revolt. This was intended to be much bigger.

32. 412 – The B Word

    18 Feb 2023 · 33 min · S9 E412

    The Godwinsons are back in England. Harold’s sons, along with a fleet of 64 Irish ships loaded down with fighters, have just hit the shores. And it seems like they were students of history, because they were taking up…

33. 413 – The D

    4 Mar 2023 · 43 min · S9 E413

    It was Fall of 1069, and the Danes were coming.

34. 414 – The Uprising

    17 Mar 2023 · 27 min · S9 E414

    News of the victory at York spread fast, and people everywhere were finding their courage.

35. 415 – Cry Me a River

    24 Mar 2023 · 44 min · S9 E415

    William was charging North. If he was going to hold on to his new kingdom, he had to counter this threat in person.

36. 416 – The Harrying of the North

    17 Apr 2023 · 51 min · S9 E416

    Weeks in the rain and cold, marching through mud and picking through forests, had finally - in spite of Northumbria’s best efforts - ended with William reaching his goal. The King arrived in York.

37. New Member’s Episode on the Wild Hunt

    24 Apr 2023 · 3:06

38. 417 – The (far more than four) Horsemen

    1 May 2023 · 40 min · S9 E417

    When we ended the last episode. William and his knights had ravaged the North. He had spared nothing and no one. Men, women, children, animals, buildings, even the plants. Everything between York and Durham was…

39. 418 – God’s Chosen

    12 May 2023 · 48 min · S9 E418

    When we left off, William (satisfied with the damage he had inflicted upon the people of the North) marched south towards Chester.

40. 419 – The Wake at Peterborough

    26 May 2023 · 37 min · S9 E419

    You may have noticed that Hereward the Wake seems to keep disappearing from the story and then reappearing again. This reflects the actual record, where he pops up only to vanish back into the mist just as quickly. His…

41. 420 – The Wake and the Earl

    9 Jun 2023 · 38 min · S9 E420

    Hereward was returning to Ely with his men. The upside was they were taking literal boatloads of treasure with them.

42. 421 – The Wake at Ely

    20 Jun 2023 · 34 min · S9 E421

    Word soon reached King William’s Court that Hereward remained free. Even worse, the man tasked with capturing the Wake (William de Warenne) had barely escaped with his life.

43. 422 – Hereward: The Man, the Myth, The Legend

    28 Jun 2023 · 43 min · S9 E422

    The situation in Ely was getting out of hand. The Liber Eliensis speaks of how Hereward and his army carried out raids far and wide, bringing with him bands of a hundred men or more.

44. 423 – Hereward: The Lion, The Witch, and the War Hero

    7 Jul 2023 · 26 min · S9 E423

    Ok, when we left off William hired a witch to help with his rebel problem, Hereward disguised himself as a potter and infiltrated the Norman camp while William was out hunting, and in the end a bunch of Normans were…

45. 424 – Hereward: ft. Judas Priest

    27 Jul 2023 · 34 min · S9 E424

    If the story of Hereward wasn’t what you were expecting, you’re not alone. Researching this tale has been just as wild an experience as hearing it. In fact, between this episode and the last one, I came across another…

46. 425 – Hereward: The Fall of Ely

    7 Aug 2023 · 50 min · S9 E425

    It was late October of 1071, and Hereward was out with a column of his rebel fighters, foraging and pillaging Norman allied settlements for supplies.

47. 426 – Everyone Has Their Limits

    21 Aug 2023 · 48 min · S9 E426

    The once mighty Godwinson dynasty was gone… I guess Harold’s poor baby brother, Wulfnoth, was still alive, given that he was still assumed to be breathing in one of William’s dungeons. But he never again saw freedom…

48. 427 – Hereward: Back Into the Mist

    28 Aug 2023 · 41 min · S9 E427

    Thirty thousand pounds. That’s what the Gesta claims Hereward charged the Normans for the return of their warlike Abbot Turold.

49. 428 – Tightening the Grip

    12 Sep 2023 · 34 min · S9 E428

    Five years of fighting. The conquest of England wasn’t something that was resolved on a single day in October of 1066. William had been fighting this thing for five years… and they were long years.

50. 429 – Power Brokers and Power Breakers

    27 Sep 2023 · 48 min · S9 E429

    To the North, in Scotland, reigned King Malcolm Canmore. We have been following his story for a long time now, and for good reason. After all, it literally intersects with the infamousMacbeth… But King Malcolm Canmore…