About this episode

A discussion with Rory Naismith about the life of Offa, a significant yet poorly documented English king.

Running for about 177 miles along the Welsh-English border is the remains of an earthwork, a fortification over a hundred miles longer than Hadrian’s Wall. Built sometime in the eighth century, it is known as Offa’s Dyke, one of the few surviving reminder of one of the most formidable kings in English history. “As a man,” writes my guest Roy Naismith, “Offa is effectively lost.” Winston Churchill framed the issue thus: “In studying Offa we are like geologists who instead of finding a fossil find only the hollow shape in which a creature of unusual strength and size undoubtedly resided.” Or as the historian Kenneth Sisam observed, Offa “seems to have had all the attributes of a great ruler except a contemporary historian.” But if he is effectively lost, then how can Naismith have written a new book titled Offa: King of the Mercians ? Because he has, to paraphrase modern terminology, historyed it. This is a conversation about a great English king; but it’s really a master class in the careful and demanding work of historical inference.

People in this episode

Host: Al Zambone

Guest: Rory Naismith

Topics covered

• Offa the King
• historical inference
• English history
• biography
• eighth century
• Offa's Dyke

Keywords

• Offa
• Rory Naismith
• historical inference
• English kings
• Offa's Dyke
• biography
• eighth century

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Offa: King of the Mercians

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