Anglo-Saxon Archives - Aspects of History

Harold: Warrior King – Tom Licence Interviewed

The medieval historian discusses fronting up to long-held myths surrounding the last Anglo-Saxon king with Paul Bernardi, explains his approaches to the primary sources that recount 1066, and considers the man behind the defeat at Hastings.

Tom Licence

Welcome to Aspects of History, Tom. I feel I should begin by thanking you for Harold: Warrior King. I enjoyed every moment of reading it. (I appreciate that’s not a question, but I just wanted to get that out of the way!) Thank you, Paul – I’m glad you enjoyed it. One...

Eadric Streona: Archvillain of English History

One of Anglo-Saxon England’s most notorious figures, his murderous ambition and repeated betrayals triggered Danish conquest and the upheavals that resulted in 1066.

Adam Staten

‘The worst traitor there ever was.’ Writing in the 12th Century, this is how the chronicler Henry of Huntingdon describes Eadric Streona. John of Worcester described him as ‘crafty and treacherous’. William of Malmesbury called him ‘the dregs of mankind and a disgrace...

How England Began: From Roman Britain to the Anglo-Saxons, by Nicholas Higham

How England Began work steers away from one-dimensional approaches, focussing on exploiting multiple sources of information, without necessarily giving one more priority or credence over another. What we are left with is a detailed, yet accessible analysis of the years from the late 4th century to the 6th century.

Paul Bernardi

Back in the (late) 1980s when I was at university, it was the period leading up to and following AD 410 that most filled me with trepidation. Almost nothing in the way of contemporary written sources, combined with archaeological findings that were only really just...

Can Aethelred the Unready Be Rehabilitated?

The author asks whether he was England’s most incompetent king, or whether history unfairly blames him for Viking successes and overlooks his achievements?

Adam Staten

Aethelred II of England, known to history as Aethelred the Unready, is considered to be one of our most hopeless monarchs. For a thousand years he has had a reputation for failure that is perhaps only outdone by Bad King John. Yet Aethelred was the longest reigning...

Offa: King of the Mercians, by Rory Naismith

A worthy re-evaluation of the reign of Offa, showing through varied evidence how his power shaped Mercia’s dominance and early English state formation.

Paul Bernardi

When studying Anglo-Saxon history at university, it often felt to me that (with apologies to East Anglia), Mercia was left holding the thin end of the wedge in terms of the big three kingdoms of the Heptarchy. With Northumbria to the north and Wessex to the south, it...

Offa: King of the Mercians – Rory Naismith Interviewed

The historian discusses his new portrait of Offa with Paul Bernardi, dissecting the obstacle of limited sources, projections of kingship through coins and monuments, and how the 8th-century monarch laid the groundwork for a united England.

Rory Naismith

Let me begin, Rory, by offering my congratulations on the publication of Offa: King of the Mercians. A truly magnificent piece of work. The jacket notes refer to this book as a ‘breathtaking piece of historical investigation’ (with which I cannot argue); how would you...

Lichfield: England’s Third Archbishop

In the age of Offa, a short-lived archbishopric at Lichfield (787–803) reflected the expansion and consolidation of Mercian rule, though later Canterbury sources recast it as a contentious and anomalous creation.

Rory Naismith

The pair of Anglican archbishops at Canterbury and York have been pillars of England’s ecclesiastical establishment for centuries, going back long before the Church of England itself. However, for a brief period between 787 and 803 England had a third archbishopric,...

AoH Fiction Book of the Month: MJ Porter on King of Kings

The author discusses the historical inspiration, characters, and research behind King of Kings, and explores the rich, often overlooked world of 10th-century Saxon England.

MJ Porter

King of Kings begins the Brunanburh series, which recreates the events that led to the mighty battle of Brunanburh, and it’s aftermath. Why was this story so appealing? There are rare moments in the history of Saxon England where we seem to have a lot of information...

King of Kings: ‘England’ in the 10th Century

An overview of the political and territorial complexity of 10th-century Britain, tracing the emergence of a unified England under Athelstan.

MJ Porter

The 10th century sees the creation of what we would recognise as ‘England’ – the combining of the Saxon kingdoms of Wessex with Mercia, with the additions of Kent, the kingdom of the East Angles, the Danish Five Boroughs, and the kingdom of York, and also the...

Nicholas Higham on How England Began

During a wide-ranging conversation, the historian contemplates his new study of Late Roman Britain and early Anglo-Saxon England and recent evidence and perspectives found in the period that sits uneasily between the two.

Paul Bernardi

First of all, Nicholas, congratulations on the publication of this endlessly fascinating and absorbing work. In the introduction, you describe the book as a fresh look at the subject rather than a rehash of your earlier work, Rome, Britain and the Anglo-Saxons, some...