S9 E10 | The Battle of St Albans

THIS IS HISTORY — A DYNASTY TO DIE FOR

Sony Music

History, Society & Culture

4.8 • 2.5K Ratings

🗓️ 10 March 2026

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Royal favourites, we want your voice notes in our new miniseries on historical failures. Look out for Producer Al’s callout post on patreon.com/thisishistory. It’s there where you can listen to this week’s bonus episode, where Dan gives you a primer on the pirate-cum-warlord, the Earl of Warwick. Plus, Dan makes good on his promise to tell the story of when he absolutely lost it over something rather inconsequential. All the drift and failure of Henry VI’s reign is coming home to roost. The fizzer of a king’s dodging arrows and men coming his way — and they’re not holding back. It’s 1455, and in the old Roman town of St Albans, the royal court are met with a battle. Richard, Duke of York — along with the Nevilles — are leading an insurgency that wants to topple the Queen’s favourite, Edmund, Duke of Somerset. Amid all the fracas, the king tries to intervene. He dabbles in kindergarten-level peace making by literally making his warring nobles hold hands. The loveday beckons. – A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices – Written and presented by Dan Jones Producer - Alan Weedon Senior Producer - Dominic Tyerman Executive Producer - Simon Poole Production Manager - Jen Mistri Production coordinator - Eric Ryan Mixing - Amber Devereux Head of content - Chris Skinner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, friends and welcome. Now last time I left you on a cliffhanger with the first battle of
0:05.5	the Wars of the Roses about to kick off. We'll be picking up that story in a moment. But before we do,
0:12.9	I need to let you know that this episode contains a number of instances of hardcore ultraviolence
0:19.2	directed towards men and beasts.
0:22.9	While I've got you, I also want to tell you about a couple of things.
0:28.1	The first is that there are now special, signed, numbered editions of my books,
0:34.2	the Plantagenets and the Hollow Crown, available via millennia books.
0:39.6	And if you're a royal favourite, you can get a discount on both. Just visit our Patreon
0:45.8	to get your code and links. I also want your help. Next month, my new mini-series
0:53.6	History's Greatest Fails launches. It's a co-lab with my dear friend
0:58.2	and fellow history nerdazoid, Elizabeth Day. We'll be discussing how failure is the lifeblood of
1:05.9	historical achievement. And in the bonus episodes, producer Al will be stepping into the studio and he and I
1:13.0	will be discussing your favourite failures from history. We'd love you to leave us voice notes to get that
1:20.1	chat started. Again, head to our Patreon to find out how to leave us a message. Okay, that's enough plugs.
1:29.4	Let's get back to the thugs.
1:32.1	Battle is looming in St Albans,
1:34.4	and it's going to be messy after this short break.
1:38.6	Hello, I'm Dan Jones, a medievalist,
1:41.3	and I'm thankful I'm not actually in the middle ages. Why? Because a restless
1:46.5	boss didn't bode well for employees. Well, I'm glad to say that finding the right hire now is
1:54.5	safe and super convenient with Indeed. But don't take my word for it. There are more than
2:00.3	3.3 million workplaces worldwide
	...

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