BBC - King Alfred and the Anglo Saxons (2013) Part 3 Aethelstan The First King of England

Series in which Michael Wood examines the careers of three Anglo-Saxon rulers. Michael Wood argues that the most important and influential British kings were a father, son and grandson who lived over a thousand years ago during the age of the Vikings.

Part 3: Aethelstan: the First King of England

Travelling from Devon to Cumbria, Scotland and Rome, Michael tells the tale of King Alfred's grandson Aethelstan's wars, his learning and his lawmaking, showing how he created a national coinage and tracing the origin of the English parliament to the king's new assembly politics. But there's also a dark side, with later legends that the king had his brother drowned at sea. In his last desperate struggle, Aethelstan defeated a huge invasion of Vikings and Scots in what became known as the Anglo-Saxon 'Great War'. Wood argues that Aethelstan was one of the greatest English monarchs, and with his grandfather Alfred, his father Edward and his aunt Aethelflaed, a member of our most remarkable royal family.

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