Episodes

  • History from Below

    History from Below
    Aug 23 2025
    This episode I wanted to look back at where we have been from the perspective of the high-water mark of Anglo-Saxon history that was the reign of Edgar. In this retrospective analysis, I want to consider some aspects of ‘history from below’ that were not focused on as much in earlier episodes, specifically the economic base of society, slavery, and the position of women in Anglo-Saxon society. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    20 mins
  • Edward the Martyr

    Edward the Martyr
    Aug 9 2025
    Following Edgar’s death, we enter into what would be one of the most turbulent periods of Anglo-Saxon history which would see murder, renewed Viking activity, and invasion bring England to its knees. It all began with a dispute over the succession. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    20 mins
  • King Edgar: Part 2

    King Edgar: Part 2
    Jul 26 2025
    We wrap up our look at possibly the greatest of all Anglo-Saxon monarchs. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    23 mins
  • The Ideology of Benedictine Reform

    The Ideology of Benedictine Reform
    Jul 12 2025
    Oswald of Worcester (d.992) is usually viewed as one of three episcopal leaders of monastic reform in tenth-century England, but this interpretation conflates Oswald’s motivations and interests with those of Dunstan (d.988) and Æthelwold (d.984). This article uses the surviving source-material to re-examine how far Oswald was genuinely connected with his contemporaries’ reforming ideology and how this differed from Æthelwold’s specifically. Ultimately two distinct movements emerge from this re-evaluation, one centred on Winchester and the other on Worcester (and its associated houses), both based on distinct ideologies of monastic reform. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    43 mins
  • Oswald

    Oswald
    Jun 28 2025
    We look at the last of the Big Three reformers, Oswald, and set up a discussion of what exactly the reformers in England wanted to achieve. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    15 mins
  • Æthelwold

    Æthelwold
    Jun 14 2025
    If you read about the English Benedictine Reforms today, the older narrative focused on Dunstan as the its spearhead will have been largely replaced by a view that positions his student Æthelwold as the driving force behind reform. It is Æthelwold who composed the main source texts of English reform and it was he who sought to guide the politics of England by cultivating close links with the family of King Edgar. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    18 mins
  • St Dunstan

    St Dunstan
    May 31 2025
    The Benedictine reforms in England were, in the traditional narrative, spearheaded by three key ecclesiastics: Dunstan, Æthelwold, and Oswald. The exact relationship of these three has been subject to regular revaluation since the late tenth century and I will offer my own revaluation in due time. Starting in this episode, I will present the lives of each reformer in the traditional mould so that later we can look again at their stories when we consider the nature and impact of English Benedictine reform. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    15 mins
  • The Beginnings of Benedictine Reform

    The Beginnings of Benedictine Reform
    May 17 2025
    Although the Benedictine reform movements that found royal favor in England in the late-tenth century are usually associated with King Edgar, their origins predate him quite substantially with roots going all the way back to the reign of Æthelstan. The true origins of Benedictine reform, though, came not from England but from Francia. Credits – Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watchv=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    13 mins