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The Story of London — Government
The Story of London

Welcome to The Story of London, a podcast dedicated to telling the history of London as a single narrative tale; from its birth until the present day.

Each episode takes us along that tale, a chronicle of the most fascinating and vibrant city on Earth.

There is a lot of content in here and each listener can enjoy it in a variety of ways. You can listen to an episode by itself for a slice of life from London’s past; or, if you have a favourite period of time you want to explore, find the era and follow the Chapters in that section.

Or maybe you want to join us on the grand journey, starting at the beginning and following along? Whatever option, welcome to the chronological tale of this amazing place.

The Story of London covers events as they happened, from the actions of the great and the good, down to those of the poor and marginalised. We try to be as historically precise as possible, sometimes stumbling upon little gems of history that change the way we see the past, and never take ourselves too seriously.

Feel free to join us… new episodes every week.

Copyright: © Saul Boyle 2022

Latest Episodes:

Chapter 27- The War of the Thames (1003-1009) Mar 08, 2023

Show notes

In the winter of the year 1009, an overlooked conflict broke out on the river Thames; on one side the fleet of the most feared Vikings in Europe.

The other? London.

This chapter explains how this campaign came about, and how and why London triumphed.

Cover features picture of the Gokstad Boat, Viking Ship Museam, Oslo.

Chapter 26- A most just extermination? (1001-1003) Mar 03, 2023

Show notes

London was to witness one of the darkest moments of the era with the St. Brice’s Day Massacre; but what actually happened?

Did a King really order the deaths of all the Danes of England?

And how did that impact London going forward?

Cover includes part of a photo of the Ridgeway Hill Viking burial site, Dorset.

Chapter 25- The Wolves of London (995-1001) Feb 22, 2023

Show notes

Fresh from the defence of the city, the residents of London suddenly have to cope with some dramatic changes. A new Bishop of London exploded upon the city, with barnstorming sermons and a ferocious legal mind… and the King suddenly began a new, aggressive foreign policy.

Cover features photograph of Eurasian Wolf.

Chapter 24- The Battle of London (993-994) Feb 15, 2023

Show notes

London suddenly, and without warning, found itself facing a giant fleet sailing right up the Thames to sack the place but the Vikings were running into a town who had come a long way from the small village it use to be. What follows? Sounds like a bloodbath… the first battle of London had begun.

Cover includes picture of King Æthelred I, from the illuminated manuscript, The Chronicle of Abindon.

Chapter 23- London Roars (982-992) Feb 08, 2023

Show notes

As England lurches from crisis to crisis, London finds itself growing, becoming more influential and eventually spearheading a new offensive against the Viking raiding fleets… only to be met with betrayal at the highest level.

Cover includes picture of the Abingdon Sword, found in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

Chapter 22- The Anglo-Saxon Omnicrisis (980-982) Feb 01, 2023

Show notes

So in order to get to just how drastic some of the future actions by London were to be, we need to look at what drove them to do what they will do. This episode (which has way too many Vikings in it), looks at the political and military crisis tracking place in England and elsewhere that would trigger the events that would see London become the capital of England.

Cover features Legs Cross, Darlington, England.

Chapter 21- Meeting God’s People (960-980) Jan 25, 2023

Show notes

London during the 10th century began to transform into a town known for its strong religious feelings; a chapter that examines some of the causes of this, plus how it was to witness the chaos caused by the sudden death of the King…

Cover induces picture of Anglo-Saxon cross, Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, Cambridge.

Chapter 20- Laying the Foundations (917-960) Jan 19, 2023

Show notes

We get stuck into tenth century London with a detailed look as to the era when the city began to go from A Saxon town, to THE Saxon town and why this process began during the reign of King Æthelstan.

Cover includes picture of the remains of the burgh wall, Winchester.

Chapter 19- The Great Game (912-980) Jan 12, 2023

Show notes

We return to the Story of London by briefly going over the events in Britain going on around London, and which would influence London over the next few decades. A massive series of wars between the Kings of Wessex and the forces of the Vikings… welcome, then, to the Great Game and Book 2 of the Story of London, ‘The Kingdom of London’.

Chapter 18- The Story so far… (pre-History to c950 CE) Jan 03, 2023

Show notes

We come to a natural end in the Story of London; all that was past is prologue. This is a special episode, where we go over the history of the place in a nice short summery, condensing the previous 17 episodes in a nice re-cap. After all, we have covered a LOT of territory.

Cover features replica of the Sutton Hoo helmet.

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