logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2021
30m 33s

Daily: 660 AD and All That: The Anglo-Sa...

PODMASTERS
About this episode

The Anglo-Saxons represent one of the most vital and important periods in English history, but then why do we know so very little about them? Marc Morris, historian and author of The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England, takes Nick Cohen on a journey though one of England’s most fascinating chapters, and how their influence is still felt today.

  • “We’re taught about the Anglo-Saxons as young children, which means we only learn about them in basic terms.”
  • “Only by the 18th century was Alfred the Great idolised, but there was a lot of the original Alfred which is worthy of admiration.”
  • “English counties are basically as they were in the 10th century, and a great many villages and towns were founded by the Anglo-Saxons.”

Presented by Nick Cohen. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Up next
Today
The men who hate women – How sexism powers the far right
Online hatred doesn’t stay online and women often bear the brunt. From harassment campaigns to real-world violence, from Andrew Tate and the “groypers” to terror attacks like the Gretchen Whitmer kidnap attempt, misogyny is behind some of the most dangerous forces in our politics ... Show More
37m 17s
Yesterday
Viceroy City – Why governing Gaza could be beyond Tony Blair
Thought viceroys and colonial administrators were a thing of the past? Tony Blair is being lined up to run the “Board of Peace” for a reconstruction authority for post-conflict Gaza and observers are agog. Historian and Bunker regular Alex von Tunzelmann takes us on a tour of the ... Show More
29m 9s
Oct 8
The draft and the furious – Is Russia running out of soldiers?
Vladimir Putin has ordered 135,000 new conscripts into the Russian military this autumn, just months after another 160,000 were called up. Officially, these recruits aren’t supposed to serve in Ukraine but as the war drags into its third year, it’s getting harder for Russia to fi ... Show More
23m 58s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2022
1066: What Became Of The Anglo-Saxon Children?
1066 is a year carved into the history of western Europe. It radically transformed the cultural, political and built landscape of England in a way that is hard to overstate - and yet its immediate aftermath is often forgotten. By Domesday, just 20 years later, around 94 percent o ... Show More
32m 14s
Jun 2024
Cumbria: the forgotten Anglo-Saxon kingdom
William of Normandy sailed across the Channel and swiftly conquered England in 1066 – or at least that’s how the story goes. But, in this Long Read written by Sophie Thérèse Ambler and James Morris, we reveal how the northern stronghold of Cumbria remained untouched for another 2 ... Show More
19 m
Apr 2023
Excavating An Anglo-Saxon Palace: Ad Gefrin
Though today it is just a muddy field, the small hamlet of Yeavering was once a bustling centre of Anglo-Saxon power in the North of England. At its heart was a 7th century palace - known in Latin as Ad Gefrin - which was built by King Edwin in 616 AD, the first king of a united ... Show More
31m 56s
Aug 2023
Æthelstan: First King of the English
The grandson of Alfred the Great, Æthelstan the Glorious was the first King of England, reigning from 924 to 939. Æthelstan inherited the title King of Mercia from his father Edward the Elder, but was not immediately accepted as King of England. Shortly after his crowning he marr ... Show More
26m 49s
Jan 2024
Almanacs and Day Planners
People have kept diaries and recorded notes since writing was invented. But planners as we think of them today have their roots in almanacs.  Research: Atkins, Samuel. “Kalendarium Pennsilvaniense.” W. Bradford. 1685. https://books.google.com/books/about/Kalendarium_Pennsilvanien ... Show More
33m 15s
Jan 2020
S2E13 For King and Country
Three soldiers of the Black Watch are put to death at the Tower of London. Their sentence: mutiny. Their silence, historic. Why did they choose not to defend themselves? Is the truth wound up with the mysterious stranger who visited them on the eve of their court martial, and how ... Show More
17m 46s
Nov 2016
Colin Holmes, “Searching for Lord Haw-Haw: The Political Lives of William Joyce” (Routledge, 2016)
During the Second World War millions of Britons tuned in nightly to hear the broadcasts of Lord Haw-Haw coming from Nazi Germany. Though the label was broadly applied to a number of English-speaking broadcasters, it was most famously associated with William Joyce. In Searching fo ... Show More
52m 31s
Mar 2015
Beowulf
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the epic poem Beowulf, one of the masterpieces of Anglo-Saxon literature. Composed in the early Middle Ages by an anonymous poet, the work tells the story of a Scandinavian hero whose feats include battles with the fearsome monster Grendel and ... Show More
46m 29s
Sep 2023
The Bones of Anglo Saxon England
It's the 13th of December, 1642, and Parliamentarian soldiers have just stormed the city of Winchester. They burst into the city's grand cathedral on horseback, and begin tearing it apart. The soldiers smash windows, burn tables and tapestries and steal anything of value. Stashed ... Show More
27m 14s
May 2021
The curious tale of an Anglo-Saxon giant
Tom Morcom and Helen Gittos discuss the Cerne Abbas Giant, a huge hill-carving in Dorset which has recently been re-dated to the Anglo-Saxon period The Cerne Abbas Giant, a huge hill-carving in Dorset, has made the news recently for been re-dated to the Anglo-Saxon period. Dr Tom ... Show More
37m 23s