Summary: About a year and a half ago I did a series on the Staffordshire hoard. And talking with the experts and viewing the relics was easily one of my favorite moments from the entire experience of putting together the BHP. As you might remember, the hoard was found in Mercia and it is dated to roughly around the era that we’re talking about right now. In fact, I would be willing to wager that for most of you, the first time you heard the name “Wulfhere” was during those episodes. Because it’s possible that the Hoard had some level of connection to him, and it might have actually been his. So I thought that it might be a good idea to talk about Wulfhere in a single place, since while we have talked a bit about him, as his life touches upon many different stories that have been taking place in the show, it has all been through the lens of King Oswiu of Northumbria. I mean, I love the story of Oswiu and he really was the best way to frame the story of the last couple decades, since much of what was happening revolved around him. However, he wasn’t the only Anglo Saxon heavyweight at the time, and rather than simply talking about everything in the context of how impacts everyone’s favorite kinslaying King, I thought we probably should spend an episode focusing entirely on the other major powerhouse in Eastern Britain at the time. Namely, Wulfhere, son of Penda, King of Mercia. And it will mostly cover the years 655 to 670.
