14 Aetheled the Unready and the Rising Tide

Aethelred's mother gets her son onto the throne at last. But it's not long before the disadvantages of kingship become clear, as the Danes begin to return with increasing force. Aethelred turned 18 in 983, and by 984 has sent his mother away and reigns with his own men. But three years of raids, 997-999 beging to demonstrate the weakness of the English reponse. And by 1002, England face a national opponent as Svein Forkbeard joins the party.

14 Aetheled the Unready and the Rising Tide rm

 

 

Below is a really rubbish map I have done, which has the main place names in this week's podcast; it does have the Shires as they'd have been in the 10th Century though, which is nice. There's also another much better map further down, but you'd have to print it to read.

 

 

This map (phot) below is from Tinity college Cambridge's website. It shows all the raids between 991 and 1005.

View this photo

 

 

Comments

[ian hobbs]

Hi David
Just wanted to say that I came across your podcast and am really enjoying listening in. I appreciate the accessible and conversational style and am learning a great deal. It is making my daily commute a much richer experience.

Thanks

Ian

[Petes]

Hey David, I like the podcast, keep it up. I knew absolutely nothing about this era before listening. No, I won't be volunteering as a guest podcaster :-).

Keep posting maps, even if rubbish. As a Yank, I don't know English geography very well and can't tell where all the action is happening.

You know what would also be nice? Some sort of family tree or roadmap of all the various kings. I keep losing track of who disposed whom. You do a good job of pointing out the relationships in the podcast but a written reference would be quite handy.

[The History of England]

Thanks Ian - very nice of you. Thank fully, I thoroughly enjoy doing it, so at the moment we are both winning ! I hope it remains so . ..

[The History of England]

Well, the maps are as much for me ! I realise my own geography is more than a bit shocking. Thanks for the suggestion and support; there's a family tree with episode 15 . .

[Rob Shinnick]

Minor slip of the tongue at about 21:16- you say “nineTEEN ninety-four” when you obviously mean “NINE ninety-four”. No big thing, really. I only point it out in case you’re able to polish and edit these after the fact (assuming you even wanted to).

Keep up the good work- I guess I’m coming up towards 1066, now, so I’m still not quite caught up, yet!

[The History of England]

Thanks Rob; I suspect you will find other errors along the way. I try to do the quality control as much as I can, but sometimes time just doesn't permit. There's one horrendous episode around the mid 20's with no start and end...anywya, despite that hope you keep enjoying it.

[Aodhan H.]

Hi David. I discovered your podcast some time ago but didn't get to listening to it. I recently started and haven't been able to put it down, as it were. Lively, instructional, and entertaining. Good pace, not too deep into the weeds.

One question I've had, and I know you're centuries beyond this, but it sounds like of odd to hear that the 'Danes' conquered 'Anglo-Saxon' England. I mean, The Angles, Jutes, and Saxons all resided in what is now Denmark, which would appear to make the Danish invasion something of a civil war rather than foreign conquest, right?

The fighting between the Anglo-Saxons versus the 'Danes' sounds a little like the 'East Anglians' taking on the English. Other possible analogies would be the relationship between Scottish clans or the Angevins and the Kings of France.

Why is the Danish invasion always treated like the Mongol or Hunnish invasion? Any ideas?

I hope you get this, love the podcast, keep up the good work.

P.S.: When listening to the podcast, I rarely have a computer in front of me, so the verbal descriptions of places and their geographic relationships are a big help. Thanks!