The British History Podcast · Jamie Jeffers

Be Like Water

·39 min·2 clips

“No major battles were won. No territories were gained.”

1. The British History Podcast episode “Be Like Water” tracks William Rufus’s 1097 campaign in Wales. 2. Jamie is the host and sole narrator, and he uses William Rufus, Archbishop Anselm, and Welsh kings Griffith Ap Cunan and Cadogan Ap Bleddon to explain the conflict. 3. The episode asks whether Rufus can force Wales into the kind of battle he wants. 4. Rufus spent English money undermining Duke Robert of Normandy, then shifted priorities when Robert went on crusade and Normandy needed stability. 5. Henry was back in Rufus’s good graces and governing the Cotentin, which let the king return to England and handle the Welsh front. 6. Rufus planned to sail in early spring 1097, spend Easter in Winchester, and then invade Wales. 7. Bad weather delayed the crossing until April 4, 1097, and Rufus skipped Winchester and went straight to Windsor. 8. The Welsh were regaining land the Normans had taken, and Rufus had to muster an army despite crusade-related manpower losses. 9. The campaign records are described as vague and contradictory, but Jamie says the expedition ended in failure. 10. Rufus could not lure the Welsh into an open fight, because their commanders used hills, woods, ambushes, and night raids. 11. Griffith Ap Cunan is presented as a leading organizer of resistance from Gwynedd. 12. Cadogan Ap Bleddon of Powys is described as a major military leader, possibly the force that blackened Rufus’s eye. 13. Jamie emphasizes that the Welsh were kings defending their own kingdoms, not rebels in English framing. 14. A Norman monk named Richard kept pursuing Rufus over a promised cloak and finally extracted a 10-mark writ at Battle Abbey. 15. Jamie uses Richard’s persistence to underline how badly the Welsh campaign had gone for the king. 16. Rufus blamed Archbishop Anselm for the failure, even though Rufus had chosen the war, the strategy, and the deployment. 17. Anselm ignored the threat, asked to go to Rome, and then bluntly refused to stop asking the pope for support. 18. Jamie then contrasts Norman castle-centered warfare with the Welsh strategy by invoking Bruce Lee’s line, “be like water.” 19. Listeners who like medieval military history, Norman-Welsh conflict, and Anselm’s clashes with Rufus will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners looking for a short, low-conflict overview of English court politics may skip it.

As heard by us

A king's push for order runs into bishops, armies, and Wales.

This episode follows Rufus as he tries to trade the chaos he once financed in Normandy for something steadier, while Duke Robert, Anselm, and Pope Urban the second keep the pressure on from different sides.

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You get Rufus, Archbishop Anselm, and Wales as a very bad idea.

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