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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

The Essay Podcast

The Essay

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond, themed across a week - insight, opinion and intellectual surprise.

The Essay: Anglo-Saxon Portraits

The Essay: Anglo-Saxon Portraits: Episode 24: Athelstan

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Factual: History

Anglo-Saxon Portraits

Episode 24

Episode 24: Athelstan

Athelstan

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A claim for King Athelstan to be reinstated as a more significant historical figure.

Sarah Foot makes a passionate claim for King Athelstan to be reinstated as a more significant figure in British history.

The return of the major series which rediscovers the Anglo-Saxons through vivid portraits of thirty individuals - women as well as men, famous we well as humble - written and presented by leading historians, archaeologists and enthusiasts in the field.

24. Athelstan

The son of King Alfred, Athelstan's concern for his people's well-being is apparent in his attempts to raise the age at which criminals might face the death penalty, to introduce the idea of prison as an alternative form of punishment, and to stop trading on Sundays - although this last provision did not catch on, and he was forced to revoke it later.

Sarah Foot makes a passionate claim for King Athelstan - whom the twelfth century historian, William of Malmesbury called the most law-abiding ruler that England had ever had - to be reinstated as a more significant figure in British history.


Producer : Beaty Rubens.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Portraits of ground-breaking Anglo-Saxon men and women from the era between 550 and 1066AD

Series of portraits of ground-breaking Anglo-Saxon men and women from the era between 550 and 1066AD

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Episode 24: Athelstan

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