The British History Podcast

When we last left off, King Egbert was ruling over Wessex, King Cuthred (Coenwulf’s brother) was ruling over Kent… and Emperor Coenwulf held Mercia. I call him Emperor, by the way, because that’s what he called himself. And also because he does seem like he was a king of kings. His brother answered to him, the minor kingdoms like the Hwicce and Magonsaete answered to him, and it seems that Essex also answered to him (with their leaders appearing in his charters as dux or subregulus… sub king). Support the Show

164 – Shadow Governments in Britain

There’s a shift that’s happening in Anglo Saxon politics that’s occurring… we’ve had powerful queens in the Anglo Saxon kingdoms (especially in Mercia, where Queens were more powerful than most). But something is happening in Wessex that will impact around the next several hundred years. West Saxon Queens were getting demoted. Women on the throne, or next to it, were no longer referred to as Queens in Wessex. They were merely Ladies or the King’s wife. Support the Show

163 – The South of Britain Grows Restless

It's time for another quiz!

So today, lets briefly talk about the world context since we’ve largely just focused on our main character. No not Coenwulf, or Offa… the main character is and has been Britain... but sometimes it feels like it’s an island adrift and alone, when in actual fact there’s a whole world out there that’s been going on. And happily, it’s the year 800, so I think I’ll make this a tradition that we’ll do these check-in’s, giving you a rough outline of where the rest of the world is, at least once every 100 years. Here we go. Support the Show

162 – Emperor Coenwulf, Emperor Charlemagne, and The World

I've gotten this question a lot over the years and after quite a lot of thought, I've come up with a few basic pieces of advice. I talked it over with some fellow podcasters and they gave it the thumbs up, so hopefully it will help you out if you're looking to launch your own show. And if you're not looking to start a show, it might give you a bit of an insider's view on what it's like behind the mic.

Q&A: How to Start a Podcast

While Offa was an effective leader in Mercia during his life, his dynastic purge was a disaster. Looking at what followed, it appears that he heavily targeted extended members of his own family. Now this placed his immediate family in a very good position to pursue power… and we did see a seamless transfer of power to his son, as well as the placement of his daughters in prestigious positions (both through marriage, and also within the church, which was rapidly becoming an extension of royal power). And actually, the dynastic policies during Offa’s reign were so effective that even Queen Cynethryth (who was quite powerful while her husband was alive) continued to wield considerable power in Mercia after his death. Even managing to take possession of the monastery of Cookham. Support the Show

161 – King Ceonwulf’s Rise in Power

King Offa of Mercia has died after a surprisingly long and productive reign. The degree of power he had gathered for himself was truly something to behold. While his reach didn’t stretch into Mercia’s ancient enemies beyond the Humber, Northumbria, he had a stunning degree of influence over the English Kingdoms in the south. Throughout the history of Britain, Offa will continue to stand out as one of the great island rulers. Really, the only southern English kingdom that appears to have had any degree of independence at the end of Offa’s reign was Wessex. But even Wessex was closely tied and allied to Offa, as it’s current king held the throne thanks in no small part to Offa’s intervention in their civil war. Support the Show

160 – An Offa Inheritance

Lets start with Christmas Day 795. That’s the day Pope Hadrian died… so uh... Merry Christmas? Hadrian was actually a pretty decent Pope… not Pope Francis level of awesome, though really who is? But he was still pretty good, and upon hearing of his death, Charlemagne commissioned Alcuin to write a poem that was carved into a black marble gravestone that said “I shed tears for the father. I, Charles, had these verses written for him. I weep for you father my heartfelt love. I unite the names with shining titles: Hadrian and Charles, I a king, you a father. You who pray here and read these humble verses, speak: God show mercy and take pity on these two.” Support the Show

159 – An Offa End