Alright, welcome to the British History Podcast.

My name is Jamie and this is episode 189.

What on Earth is in English?

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If you're interested in supporting the show and helping us out, you can do so over at

the British History Podcast.com.

And thank you very much to Laura, Heather and Catherine for contributing already.

This episode is going to be a little different from most episodes.

We're going to take a break from the main story briefly and talk in larger terms about

what's going on in Eastern Britain.

Because I realize that my slavish attention to the main storyline has probably allowed

you to miss something truly astounding.

And really, it's hard to see unless you're given an overview that highlights it.

But it's really important for our understanding of what's happening on the island, what

will continue to happen, and why these people are doing what they're doing.

We're seeing the first real sprouts of a people called the English taking root.

They've been there for a while.

They were there about 150 years earlier when Bede wrote his ecclesiastical history of

the English people.

But they were so small that you could easily overlook them.

Even now in the midnight century, they would be unlikely to draw your attention unless

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