Episode Details
Back to EpisodesÆthelstan - The First King of England
Description
Eleven hundred years ago, a young king stood in Kingston upon Thames and was crowned, and in that moment, something entirely new began to take shape.
His name was Æthelstan.
In this episode of Rearview Mirror Chronicles, we explore the life and reign of the man who forged the first recognisable Kingdom of England, not through inheritance alone, but through strategy, diplomacy, and decisive force. From a contested succession and a fractured landscape of rival kingdoms, to the submission of kings and the brutal victory at Brunanburh, this is the story of how England was not simply born, but built.
And yet, for all his achievements, Æthelstan remains one of history’s most overlooked figures, a king who created a kingdom, but was never fully written into its memory.
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