The Death of Thomas Becket: Murder in Canterbury Cathedral

The Death of Thomas Becket: Murder in Canterbury Cathedral

In this episode of The History of England, Lucas and Luna revisit one of the most shocking moments of the Middle Ages: the assassination of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral on December 29, 1170. We pick apart the dramatic conflict between Becket and his former friend King Henry II, from Becket's rise as Chancellor to his exile in France and the tense confrontation at Northampton. We explore the four knights who carried out the deed—Reginald FitzUrse, Hugh de Morville, William de Tracy, and Richard le Breton—and their motives. We discuss the immediate aftermath, including Henry's penance at Avranches and the gruesome details of Becket's martyrdom as recorded by eyewitness Edward Grim. The episode also covers the rapid canonization of Becket, the construction of his shrine at Canterbury, and the cult that turned him into one of Europe's most popular saints. Finally, we touch on the long-term consequences for the English Church and the Crown, and how Becket's story has been retold through the centuries, from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales to T.S. Eliot's play 'Murder in the Cathedral.' #ThomasBecket #MurderInTheCathedral #HenryII #Canterbury #MedievalHistory #EnglishHistory #ChurchAndState #Martyrdom #Canonization #EdwardGrim #ReginaldFitzUrse #Avranches #BecketShrine #CanterburyTales #TSEliot #FexingoHistory #History #Europe Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Tomb That Wasn't: King John's Lost Grave and the Washing of the Bones

King John of England died in 1216, but his corpse didn't stay put. His body was embalmed, then carried across a war-torn kingdom, and buried in Worcester Cathedral — or was it? In this episode of The History of England, Lucas and Luna follow the strange journey of John's remains: the open-casket funeral at Newark, the lost viscera buried at Croxton Abbey, the alleged theft of his bones during the Reformation, and the Victorian exhumation that claimed to find his skeleton. They explore what medieval burial practices reveal about power, piety, and the messy reality of royal death. Along the way they meet the Abbot of Croxton, the chronicler Roger of Wendover, and a 19th-century antiquarian named George Gilbert Scott. Did a 1797 flood really wash John's bones into the River Severn? And why does Worcester Cathedral's tomb have a hole in its base? This is medieval history through the lens of one restless king's final journey — and what we choose to believe about it. #KingJohn #WorcesterCathedral #MedievalBurial #CroxtonAbbey #RogerOfWendover #GeorgeGilbertScott #Reformation #Embalming #VisceraBurial #Angevin #MagnaCarta #NewarkCastle #RiverSevern #VictorianExhumation #13thCentury #RoyalDeath #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The First Parliament of 1295: Edward I and the Birth of Representation

In 1295, King Edward I of England summoned a parliament that would become a template for representative government across the Western world. Known as the Model Parliament, it included not only barons and clergy but also knights from every shire and burgesses from every borough—commoners with no hereditary title. This episode unpacks how Edward, facing war with France and rebellion in Scotland, needed broad consent for taxation and turned to a principle rooted in Roman law: 'quod omnes tangit'—what touches all must be approved by all. We trace the writs of summons, the election of local representatives, and the political calculus behind this revolutionary assembly. We also explore the limits: who was left out? Women, peasants, and the urban poor had no voice. And we ask whether Edward intended a lasting institution or a one-time expedient. The Model Parliament of 1295 didn't create modern democracy overnight, but it planted a seed that would grow into the House of Commons and the idea that governance requires consent. #ModelParliament #EdwardI #1295 #QuodOmnesTangit #HouseOfCommons #KnightsOfTheShire #Burgesses #MedievalParliament #EnglishConstitution #TaxationAndConsent #ParliamentaryHistory #RepresentativeGovernment #MedievalEngland #Plantagenets #History #FexingoHistory #BritishHistory #EuropeanHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Great Famine of 1315: When England Starved

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Great Famine of 1315–1317, a catastrophic period of rain, crop failure, and mass starvation that struck northern Europe, especially England. They discuss the relentless downpours that rotted grain in the fields, the desperate measures people took—from eating horses and dogs to abandoning infants—and the long-term social and economic consequences. The conversation covers the price spikes chronicled in the Chronicon of William of Malmesbury, the collapse of trade and order, and how the trauma of the famine contributed to later unrest like the Peasants' Revolt. Lucas draws on contemporary accounts, including the Vita Edwardi Secundi, to paint a vivid picture of a society pushed to the brink. They also touch on the role of climate change, the breakdown of manorial obligations, and the eerie parallels with modern crises. A sobering look at how medieval England weathered—or failed to weather—one of its greatest natural disasters. #GreatFamine #1315 #MedievalEngland #EdwardII #ClimateChange #CropFailure #Starvation #VitaEdwardiSecundi #WilliamOfMalmesbury #ManorialSystem #PeasantsRevolt #MiddleAges #England #History #MedievalHistory #Famine #Disaster #EuropeanHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Angevin Empire and the Rise of Common Law under Henry II

This episode dives deep into the legal revolution of Henry II's reign—how a restless, energetic king transformed England's patchwork of local customs into a unified common law. We explore the Assize of Clarendon (1166), which introduced trial by jury and standardized criminal procedure; the creation of the Court of Common Pleas; and the eyre system, where royal justices traveled the country bringing the king's law to every shire. We meet Ranulf de Glanvill, the justiciar who wrote the first treatise on English law, and examine the shift from old feudal courts to a centralized royal justice. Along the way, we discuss the tension between customary rights and royal authority, the role of the exchequer, and how the writ system made justice accessible—and profitable. This is the story of how England began to think of law as something that belonged to the whole realm, not just to local lords. #HenryII #CommonLaw #AssizeOfClarendon #RanulfDeGlanvill #CourtOfCommonPleas #EyreCircuit #AngevinEmpire #EnglishLegalHistory #TrialByJury #Exchequer #WritSystem #MedievalEngland #Plantagenets #ThomasBecket #LegalRevolution #History #FexingoHistory #12thCentury Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]