The Story of Medieval England: From King Arthur to the Tudor Conquest

Discussing how the geography of Britain shapes political events over the centuries; introducing the significance of English history between the 5th-century fall of the Roman Empire and the 1485 advent of the Tudor dynasty.

The collapse of Roman rule, arrival of barbarian raiders and resistance to Germanic immigration serve as a backdrop to a mystery; whether the unidentified champion who temporarily halts the barbarians could be the King Arthur of later legend.

How the victories of the shadowy figure possibly identified with Arthur offer temporary stability; the initiative soon shifts to the Germanic immigrants; the societies that produce them and how their culture is transformed by contact with Britain's.

The parallel stories of the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity and the emergence of England's seven preeminent regional kingdoms; those kingdoms draw, depending on their location, upon two different sources of Christian influence.

The substance of daily life for Anglo-Saxons of all social levels; illness and mortality; moving from paganism to Christianity; farming; trade; raiding; there is tremendous variation in the economic and religious experience of the population.

The one or two boat raids of the late eighth century grow into vast armies by the ninth; intent on settling permanently, the invaders' influence in eastern England is profound; landholding, legal institutions and even language altered forever.