Welcome to the British History Podcast.

My name is Jamie and this is Episode 295, The Return of England.

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You know the pieces on a chessboard?

There's the knight, the queen, the castle, and then there's the bishop.

Well, there's a reason why a game that simulates medieval power strategies has a piece called

the bishop.

Bishops had power.

And it was a power that didn't flow from the monarchy.

And in Britain, it wasn't a power that necessarily had to be aligned with the monarchy, either.

We're going to see this over and over again on the island.

If you're trying to rule in Britain, the holy men that were already present in Britain

were often a wild card in your hand van Bishops.

And the more powerful the holy man, the bigger the potential for an upset.

An archbishop Wolfstand of Jorvik had been a serious problem for England and for quite

some time.

He was installed into his position by King Atholstand back in the days when Jorvik was part

of England.

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