Northumbria: Britain's Forgotten Early‑Medieval Superpower

The episode unpacks how the kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia merged into a powerful northern state under kings like Edwin, Oswald and Oswiu, examining their Christianisation policies, key battles such as Hatfield Chase and Heavenfield, ecclesiastical reforms including Whitby, the cultural flowering at Lindisfarne and Wearmouth‑Jarrow, and the eventual Viking pressure that led to Northumbria’s decline. It balances surviving primary sources with later chronicler accounts to assess what contemporary actors actually did and how mythologised narratives evolved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices