Welcome to the British History Podcast.

My name is Jamie and this is Episode 265, the Battle of Tenton Hall and Zombies.

Maybe?

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There's so much that the Chronicle hides from us after the death of Alfred.

And Edward's Apple seems to have fallen fairly far from the tree because the record that

his court produces during his reign is relatively sparse, even by Anglo-Saxon standards.

But even with all of its contradictory statements and black holes, the Chronicle couldn't hide

the fact that a storm was coming.

The military under Alfred had been reformed.

Far from being a professional class of full-time warriors, now the bulk of the army was comprised

of conscripts drawn from the local population who were trained, outfitted, and served in

rotating shifts throughout the year.

The military might of Wessex now hinged on the ferd.

Now Mercia during this time had taken a similar posture and this meant that while the royal

personal guard and the warbands that served at the highest levels were probably still professional

soldiers, the way that the Anglo-Saxons carried out war was no longer a matter of warbands

...