Æthelstan: The Birth of England

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 19 September 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Matt Lewis shifts the Gone Medieval spotlight from well-known Viking raiders and celebrated Anglo-Saxon kings to consider Æthelstan, an often overlooked yet crucial figure in British history. Æthelstan was the first monarch to unite the region that resembles modern England and to call himself King of the English. Matt is joined by David Woodman - author of The First King of England: Athelstan and the Birth of a Kingdom - for an in-depth exploration of Æthelstan's significance and legacy.

More

Murder in Anglo-Saxon England

The Witan: England's First Parliament?

Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. It was edited by Amy Haddow, the producers are Joseph Knight and Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

You can take part in our listener survey here: https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/6FFT7MK

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello, I'm Matt Lewis.
0:02.6	And I'm Dr. Eleanor Yonaga.
0:04.2	And we're just popping up here to tell you some insider info.
0:08.0	If you would like to listen to Gone Medieval ad-free and get early access and bonus episodes,
0:13.3	sign up to History Hit.
0:14.5	With the History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries.
0:20.6	Such as my new series on everyone's favorite
0:22.8	conquerors, the Normans, or my recent exploration of the castles that made Britain. There's a new
0:29.9	release to enjoy every week. Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe, or find a link in the show notes for this episode.
0:44.4	I'm always up before the birds and the kids. Good thing Costa Express is always up too.
0:55.8	Early starts are easier with great coffee.
0:58.7	And if I grab one for Bob, I might even get some decent company.
1:03.5	Large cappuccino for the bloke who's half asleep.
1:06.2	Oh, you legend.
1:08.6	Now that's a proper coffee.
1:10.3	Should kick in Justin Sanfut to remember which end of the screwdriver to use.
1:14.1	Hmm.
1:15.3	Costa Express.
1:16.8	Quality coffee every time.
1:21.9	Hello, I'm Matt Lewis.
1:23.7	Welcome to Gone Medieval from History Hit, the podcast that delves into the greatest millennium in human history.
1:30.5	We've got the most intriguing mysteries, the gobsmacking details and latest groundbreaking research
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.