Rex Factor

In 1016, fifty years before Hastings, England is under threat of conquest from the young Viking leader, Cnut. Aethelred the Unready had proved unable to defend his kingdom, but his son Edmund proves a...

29 Nov 201037min

The last of the boy kings and one of the most infamous of the Saxons, poor Aethelred has a rather torrid time. As if coming to the throne after his brother was murdered was not enough, he is faced wit...

22 Nov 201049min

Following the triumphal reign of Edgar the Peaceable, everything was looking rosy for the Saxons, but life is far from easy for our fifth boy king and the nation's fortunes enter into something of a r...

6 Nov 201031min

After several difficult reigns, Edgar oversees something of a golden age for the Anglo-Saxons and despite his nickname is also a rather colourful character to boot. In our longest podcast thus far we ...

24 Okt 201046min

Eadwig's accession to the throne in 955 sees a new generation wearing the crown in Anglo-Saxon England, but the ministers of state remain the same and from the very start Eadwig finds himself at odds ...

18 Okt 201035min

At 23 years old, Eadred is perhaps a little old to be the second "boy king", which is just as well because facing him is the most notorious Viking to grace these shores: Eric Bloodaxe! Will this grand...

14 Okt 201039min

Our story thus far has been one of constant triumph for the Anglo-Saxon kings, and in 939AD the young Edmund I inherits a fully fledged English kingdom. But can the first "boy king" live up to the glo...

30 Sep 201034min

We're back from our summer break and to kick us off we have King Athelstan, the first true king of all England (if not Britain). He was a powerful warrior, a prolific law-maker and he even managed to ...

21 Sep 201042min