428 – Tightening the Grip

It was January of 878. The dead of British winter – and Alfred was running. Through fields, past hamlets, keeping out of sight whenever he could. He ran. He headed for the Somerset Levels. This was a ...

1 Des 201630min

For generations, the Anglo Saxon dominance in eastern Britain has gone largely unchallenged. In the face of this, the warlike vagabonds that first came to these lands had been transformed into gentry....

23 Nov 20161min

How do you redeem a year like 877? If you’re Alfred, how do you fix something like this? Even if he cast it in the best possible light, the story of 877 would still be the story of how Wessex lost con...

17 Nov 201628min

At some point early in the Viking Age, a group of Northmen came across a natural harbor on the western side of the Irish Sea. Being that they were a seafaring people, having places in foreign lands wh...

11 Nov 201623min

When we left off, Guthrum had marched into the heart of Wessex without being noticed, lead his forces right past Alfred’s hold in Winchester, and seized the Royal tun of Wareham. In response to this, ...

3 Nov 201626min

It’s the year 876 and historians Dudo and Flodoard tell us that a fleet of Vikings slammed into the Frankish city of Rouen and nearly leveled it to the ground. In response to this attack, King Louis t...

29 Okt 201631min

I repeat to you, gentlemen, that your inquisition is fruitless. Detain me here forever if you will; confine or execute me if you must have a victim to propitiate the illusion you call justice; but I c...

21 Okt 201618min

Today we begin in Orkney. The history of Orkney is rather obscure, and that fact is reflected in the show… with it appearing only occasionally in the Scotcasts and Celtcasts. However, in the last 80 y...

19 Okt 201638min