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Episodes
- S1 E1 - From Britannia to BritainFebruary 21, 202434minA discussion of how the geography of Britain has shaped political events over the centuries introduces you to the significance of English history between the 5th-century fall of the Roman Empire and the 1485 advent of the Tudor dynasty.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E2 - Roman Britain and the Origins of King ArthurFebruary 21, 202433minThe collapse of Roman rule, arrival of barbarian raiders and settlers, and resistance to Germanic immigration serve as a backdrop to a tantalizing mystery. Examine the evidence as to whether the unidentified champion who temporarily halted the advance of the barbarians could have been the King Arthur of later legend.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E3 - The Early Anglo-Saxon KingdomsFebruary 21, 202432minSee how the victories of the shadowy figure possibly identified with Arthur offered only temporary stability, with the initiative soon shifting to the Germanic immigrants. Examine what we know about the societies that produced them and how their laws and culture were transformed by contact with Britain's.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E4 - The Conversion of the Anglo-SaxonsFebruary 21, 202432minFollow the parallel stories of the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity and the emergence of England's seven preeminent regional kingdoms. Those kingdoms drew—depending on their location—upon two different sources of Christian influence and custom.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E5 - Work and Faith in Anglo-Saxon EnglandFebruary 21, 202431minPlunge into the substance of daily life for Anglo-Saxons of all social levels, including illness and mortality, the transition from paganism to Christianity, farming, trade, or even raiding. What is clear is that there is tremendous variation in the economic and religious experience of the population.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E6 - The Viking InvasionsFebruary 21, 202432minWatch as the one- or two-boat raids of the late 8th century grew into vast armies of 50 ships or more by the middle of the 9th. Intent on settling permanently, the invaders' influence in eastern England would be profound, with patterns of landholding, legal institutions, and even language altered forever.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E7 - Alfred the GreatFebruary 21, 202432minExplore the career of Alfred the Great, who led the heroic resistance that kept Wessex free of Viking control. Separate fact from legend in the life of the man who would create the Wessex dynasty that would eventually become the first ruling house of a united England.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E8 - The Government of Anglo-Saxon EnglandFebruary 21, 202433minGrasp the well-organized ways in which the Anglo-Saxon state became perhaps the most successful in Christian Europe, with sophisticated coinage and access to the court system by all levels. Although crude by modern standards, it functioned quite well compared to its contemporaries.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E9 - The Golden Age of the Anglo-SaxonsFebruary 21, 202429minLearn why the 10th century is often referred to as the Golden Age of the Anglo-Saxons. It produces not only vernacular literary masterpieces like "Beowulf" and "The Battle of Maldon" but inspiring sermons, monastic reform, and an artistic renaissance encompassing book production, metalwork, and needlework.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E10 - The Second Viking ConquestFebruary 21, 202430minThe Golden Age ended as the Wessex dynasty was overturned by a second wave of Viking invaders, with Denmark's King Cnut seizing the throne and marrying the Wessex queen. See how the well-organized Wessex state functioned until Edward the Confessor restored the "legitimate" dynasty in 1042.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E11 - The Norman ConquestFebruary 21, 202431minLearn the reasons behind the overturning of the Anglo-Saxon regime by external invasion. This tightly focused lecture examines both the battle to succeed Edward the Confessor, who died childless, and the defeat of his successor by William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E12 - The Reign of William the ConquerorFebruary 21, 202433minWitness an extraordinary consolidation of power as William used the military to overcome early resistance to his rule, systematically expropriated the nobility to install his own followers, and used both legal and administrative measures to fortify his position.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E13 - Conflict and AssimilationFebruary 21, 202432minOpen a window on what life was like in post-conquest England through a variety of sources, including the famous Domesday Book compiled at William's order. This extraordinary compilation offered the king an unprecedented survey of English landholding and thus very exact information about wealth and the ability to pay taxes.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E14 - Henry I - The Lion of JusticeFebruary 21, 202432minExamine the reign of Henry I in a lecture ranging from his many administrative innovations—including the development of royal accounting at the Exchequer—to the legendary temper that led to the castration of all the royal moneyers discovered to be cheating the treasury.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E15 - The Anarchy of Stephen's ReignFebruary 21, 202431minExperience the 14 years of civil war that erupted 4 years after Henry's death in 1135, with his daughter and nephew battling over Stephen's throne - largely because England's barons had no wish to be ruled by a queen.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E16 - Henry II - Law and OrderFebruary 21, 202432minSee how England returned to order as Henry II razed castles built without the crown's permission, consolidated justice in royal hands, and standardized its operations. But he also raced toward a fateful and ultimately deadly confrontation with his former chancellor and best friend, Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E17 - Henry II - The Expansion of EmpireFebruary 21, 202434minWith Becket dead and martyred, Henry faced the difficult task of keeping a secure hold on his many continental dominions and managing his children's futures. Learn how the many royal titles created by his family's politically intertwined bloodlines created just as many possible conflicts.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E18 - Courtly LoveFebruary 21, 202431minTake a pause from political intrigue to look at the culture that flavored the royal and princely courts, with a focus on the rise of courtly love, the music and poetry that were its backdrop, and the creation of a rich tradition of vernacular Arthurian romances.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E19 - Richard the Lionheart and the Third CrusadeFebruary 21, 202432minView the reign of Richard the Lionheart primarily through the lens of his experience as a crusader, with implications focusing on the position of Jews in England, the development of royal administration in his absence, and the ambitions of his brother.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E20 - King John and the Magna CartaFebruary 21, 202432minExperience the disastrous reign of King John. His technical violation of a feudal oath to the French king led to the loss of Normandy and several expensive efforts to regain his lost land—efforts that ultimately led to the signing of the Magna Carta.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E21 - Daily Life in the 13th CenturyFebruary 21, 202432minAnother pause in the political narrative allows for a close look at life in a 13th-century English village—life that had changed materially for the better since the Anglo-Saxon and Norman periods.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E22 - The Disastrous Reign of Henry IIIFebruary 21, 202431minA key theme of the course comes into sharp focus as you see how Henry's many ill-advised foreign ventures created a never-ending need for money to be provided by England's barons. Their frustration triggered a revolt and the nucleus of what would ultimately become Parliament.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E23 - The Conquests of Edward IFebruary 21, 202433minExplore the reign of Henry's far more talented son, Edward I, from the perspective of both his military career—as a crusader and in Scotland, Wales, and France—and his role as a lawgiver, including greatly expanding the role of Parliament in making statute law.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E24 - Edward II - Defeat and DepositionFebruary 21, 202432minStep into the life of a king whose reign was one of great controversy. Edward is beset by intimations of sexually based patronage given to a favored knight, growing baronial resentment, an infamous defeat by the Scots, deposition by his own wife, and ultimately his murder.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
- S1 E25 - Edward III and the Hundred Years' WarFebruary 21, 202432minSee how repeated trade conflicts with the French drove Edward to claim the French throne. What would become the Hundred Years War produced both stunning victories and years of stalemate and plundering that left the French countryside impoverished but made the fortunes of many English knights and soldiers.Free trial of The Great Courses Signature Collection or buy
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- Content advisory
- Violence foul language sexual content
- Subtitles
- None available
- Producers
- The Great Courses
- Cast
- Jennifer Paxton
- Studio
- The Great Courses
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