The British History Podcast

This episode will roughly cover the eventful years between 685 and 689. The main characters today will be two kings, two wannabe kings, and a bishop… here we go: First we have King Aldfrith of Northumbria - He was the brother of the slain King Ecgfrith and also the son of King Oswiu, and he was ruling over Northumbria. Then we have King Hlothere of Kent - He was the brother of Ecgberht, who was the former King of Kent. And we’ll also be talking about Eadric - who was the son of King Ecgbert of Kent, and was also the nephew of King Hlothere. So he was a claimant to the throne… but you’ll note that he’s not a King. And then we have Caedwalla - Who was the exiled son of a former King of Wessex and also a staunch Pagan. and finally we have Bishop Wilfrid - Yep… he’s back. He was the former Bishop of Northumbria, the same guy who got involved in Northumbrian politics and even had his own army, and then when it didn’t work out he went and complained to the Pope , and despite having the Pope on his side, he still found himself imprisoned and then exiled. Apparently he also got into a fight to the death with some of the southern English after a shipwreck… this guy had a hell of an eventful life. And currently, he’s operating in the south and is rather grouchy with the Archbishop of Canterbury for not backing him up when he started throwing elbows in Northumbria. Support the Show

139 – The Rise of Aldfrith and Caedwalla

This episode will roughly cover the eventful years between 685 and 689. The main characters today will be two kings, two wannabe kings, and a bishop… here we go: First we have King Aldfrith of Northumbria - He was the brother of the slain King Ecgfrith and also the son of King Oswiu, and he was ruling over Northumbria. Then we have King Hlothere of Kent - He was the brother of Ecgberht, who was the former King of Kent. And we’ll also be talking about Eadric - who was the son of King Ecgbert of Kent, and was also the nephew of King Hlothere. So he was a claimant to the throne… but you’ll note that he’s not a King. And then we have Caedwalla - Who was the exiled son of a former King of Wessex and also a staunch Pagan. and finally we have Bishop Wilfrid - Yep… he’s back. He was the former Bishop of Northumbria, the same guy who got involved in Northumbrian politics and even had his own army, and then when it didn’t work out he went and complained to the Pope , and despite having the Pope on his side, he still found himself imprisoned and then exiled. Apparently he also got into a fight to the death with some of the southern English after a shipwreck… this guy had a hell of an eventful life. And currently, he’s operating in the south and is rather grouchy with the Archbishop of Canterbury for not backing him up when he started throwing elbows in Northumbria.

Alright, so last week we talked about how uneven and confused the conversion of Britain was. And how the beliefs of one village might not bare all that much similarity to the beliefs of another village even though they both might profess to worship the same god. Well, what about the people who’s job it was to worship and evangelize that god? What about the men and women of the cloth? Sure, as we learned last week, monasteries in many ways were a bit like snowflakes and even worse, simply because someone held the title of “priest” it was no guarantee that he would even know what the 10 commandments were… or even that there were 10 commandments. Father Unferth might have been professing the 7 Polite Suggestions, for all we know. “I am the lord, thy god… and I would appreciate it if you would write from time to time. But if you’re too busy, I understand.” And back in the alcohol episodes, we talked about the staggering amount of booze they were allotted. But we haven’t talked all that much about what their actual lives were like… and while some of the condemnations that we’ve heard about have made the island sound like it was full of ignorant drunk monks, lets not forget that great thinkers such as Alcuin and Bede came from British religious orders as well. So in order to get a fuller idea of what was occurring in Britain in this era, lets talk about a couple examples of what religious life was like. And, as you already know, life in Britain was extremely varied at this point so what I’ll be giving you isn’t an example of the average religious life but rather just a couple glimpses into individual lives. We can’t reliably assume that these exemplars can be applied to the majority of men and women of the cloth of this time, but it’s the best we’ve got. Here we go. By the seventh century, which is where we are, the Anglo Saxon kingdoms were already becoming peppered with religious communities. Religious Houses, with royal support, were establishing themselves in Kingdoms that were staunchly pagan only 100 years earlier. And we see abbeys of nuns being founded and headed up by powerful abbesses like Hild, and monasteries full of celibate men being lead by a Bishop… and we also see priests living among the people, and with their families. Yeah. Priests at this point were marrying, and presumably doing all the things that many married couples do… arguing over bills, discussing what to have for dinner, and of course, having kids. But like I said in the last episode, the monks and nuns were primarily the ones doing the heavy lifting at this point in time in Britain, so why don’t we look at a couple religious communities? And to start with, lets start with the double monastery at Hartlepool, since it has already been mentioned in the show (with it coming to prominence in our story with the story of Abbess Hild of Whitby… formerly Abbess Hild of Hartlepool).

138 – Religious Lives in Britain

Alright, so last week we talked about how uneven and confused the conversion of Britain was. And how the beliefs of one village might not bare all that much similarity to the beliefs of another village even though they both might profess to worship the same god. Support the Show

137 – Preaching in the Dark Ages

Today we're going to cover the crazy environment that early Christian converts found themselves in during the Dark Ages, and some of the bizarre notions they might have gotten regarding their religion thanks to poor access, education, and stubborn attachment to old pagan traditions. Also: we learn why mothers don't stuff their feverish daughters into ovens anymore. Seriously, that's something they used to do. Support the Show

Today we're going to cover the crazy environment that early Christian converts found themselves in during the Dark Ages, and some of the bizarre notions they might have gotten regarding their religion thanks to poor access, education, and stubborn attachment to old pagan traditions. Also: we learn why mothers don't stuff their feverish daughters into ovens anymore. Seriously, that's something they used to do.

136 – The Power of Mercia

This episode will cover the years 678 to 685 and its major characters will be… King Ecgfrith of Northumbria, the man who brought down Wulfhere, was wielding supreme power in Northumbria and was arguably exercising quite a bit of power south of the Humber as well. King AEthelred of Mercia, son of Penda and brother of Wulfhere. And a frighteningly savvy King, quite possibly the most like his father out of all of the sons of Penda. And he has been busy securing his religious flank while also working hard to secure his border territories. King Bridei of Pictland, the cousin of King Ecgfrith… and frankly, he probably owed his throne to Ecgfrith’s military intervention. Support the Show

This episode will cover the years 678 to 685 and its major characters will be… King Ecgfrith of Northumbria, the man who brought down Wulfhere, was wielding supreme power in Northumbria and was arguably exercising quite a bit of power south of the Humber as well. King AEthelred of Mercia, son of Penda and brother of Wulfhere. And a frighteningly savvy King, quite possibly the most like his father out of all of the sons of Penda. And he has been busy securing his religious flank while also working hard to secure his border territories. King Bridei of Pictland, the cousin of King Ecgfrith… and frankly, he probably owed his throne to Ecgfrith’s military intervention.

135 – A Reshuffling of Power

Today we’re going to cover the eventful years of 675 to 678, and our main characters will be… King Wulfhere of Mercia, Son of Penda and tough guy with a bloodied lip. King Ecgfrith of Northumbria, Son of Oswiu and guy who bloodied Wulfhere’s lip. And Bishop Wilfrid… the Northumbrian Bishop who was a key player in converting Northumbria to Roman Catholicism and also a key player in keeping King Ecgfrith childless. A remarkably stupid move for someone who was reported to be intelligent. Support the Show

Today we’re going to cover the eventful years of 675 to 678, and our main characters will be… King Wulfhere of Mercia, Son of Penda and tough guy with a bloodied lip. King Ecgfrith of Northumbria, Son of Oswiu and guy who bloodied Wulfhere’s lip. And Bishop Wilfrid… the Northumbrian Bishop who was a key player in converting Northumbria to Roman Catholicism and also a key player in keeping King Ecgfrith childless. A remarkably stupid move for someone who was reported to be intelligent.