Welcome to the British History Podcast. My name is Jamie and this is episode 358, King

Heartless Conjunct. This show is ad-free due to member support and is a way of thanking

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Today's story starts in 1039. It's a big year, and a lot has happened to get us here, so let's

recap really quickly. The death of Canute caused a cascade of consequences that reached up to the

tip of Scotland and even into the continent. This was an empire that was crumbling just as it had

been born, and the kingdoms that were within it, and neighboring it, were undergoing a rapid

series of changes as that empire came crashing down. Across the channel, in France, Duke William

the Bastard was ruling over Normandy, and by 1039 he was about 11 years old and he'd already

been ruling Normandy for about a third of his life, having inherited the Duchy when he was

nearly seven years old when his father, Duke Robert, arrival of Canutes, had died. And it turned

out that coming into adolescence with nearly unlimited power was not doing much to improve his

personality. Stick a pin in that one. Across the Irish Sea, in Ireland, the battle for Dublin was on.

Citric Silkbeard had just lost the kingdom to the forces of Ecmerc Ragnolson. However,

Iver McArralt and Thorfinn were proving to be a challenge to his power, and as the kingdom changed

hands over and over again, it became ever more destabilized. In Scotland, King Duncan was carrying

out his raid of Durham, and it was a raid that would fail. Then, less than a year later,

he'd make the mistake of going into Murray, and like many Scottish kings before him,

this would be the last mistake he would ever make. And in this case, when he met his end,

...