Hello everyone and welcome to the History of England episode 1.4 Founding Kingdoms.

This week I have to start with some notices. Firstly, the Ogora Podcast Network.

The what? The Ogora Podcast Network. Essentially what this is is a group of us like-minded

podcasters getting together. We thought we'd go to Gora just like the marketplace of the

Ancient Greeks full of chat and debate and naked wrestlers. It's early days but we have

a website you can go to and see lots of other great podcasts. It's called agorapodcastnetwork.com.

I shall post a link but it's early days. And then secondly, in the Ogora Podcast Network

we agree that we'd let you know about other podcasts in the network and so I'm going

to recommend a podcast called When Diplomacy Fails by Zach.

Full of Brio and enthusiasm with a great concept about how conflicts comes about and what

impact it leaves afterwards. Okay, enough of notices. Onward and upward.

Now last time we talked about the general story of the growth of Anglo-Saxon England in

the 6th century, the emergence of an elite culture and the start of the change from the

society of Roman Britain to the tribal Anglo-Saxon England. Over the next few episodes we're

going to travel through the wonderful, diverse 7th and 8th centuries with all their political

and religious meatherings. Walking through the 7th and 8th centuries

folks is like walking through an old and deep forest on a sunny summer's day. For much

of the time you are sunking gloom. It's difficult to see. You rather guess what's going

on from the movement of the trees and the wind and the birds and the bees. Till every

so often you come out into a clearing and a blaze of light. Before traveling once more

into the gloom. Slightly melodramatic of me but hopefully you get the point, sources and

information are patchy. Just to give you the big picture then before

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