From the Roman fast food joints in the marvel that is Pompei, to the buzzing historical streets of Naples and the witches of Benevento, we're going off, thanks to Explore Worldwide, to explore the southern Italian Region of Campania. What happened to the tree of the witches? What is the "Naples Splitter"? Where is the most iconic coast of Italy? Can you actually move without tripping over a UNESCO world heritage site? Which city had bad wind? How many people can you fit on a scooter? You'll find...
Mar 04, 2025•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast After following the adventures of Julius II we go and visit with Venice , who is having ups and downs, losing influence as the attentipn of the world turns to the Atlantic, losing colonies to the Turks and starting to make enemies in Europe, powerful enemies that will come together in the league of Cambrai , leading to the dramatic battle of Agnedello in 1509. Oh and we also have the mysterious death of would-be doge Filippo Tron : was he murdered, or just seriously overweight?...
Feb 25, 2025•15 min•Ep 185•Transcript available on Metacast We start from Siena , with the story of how I almost got beaten up and why there is an extra bit of Siena cathedral added on and incomplete. The it's up to Florence to visit with the Medici, Da Vinci, Botticelli and Simonetta Vespucci, his Venus. From the capital of the Renaissance we head to their arch enemy Pisa and their wonky tower and then Lucca , with its Holy Face and medieval walls. After a bit of wine tasting in Val D'Orcia with some Brunello di Montalcino and Montepulciano we head to t...
Feb 18, 2025•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Giuliano della Rovere, after trying for more than a decade, finally manages to become pope Julius II in 1503. He gets to work breaking the last resistance of Cesare Borgia, then has to sort out his Papal States, gobbled up by Venice in the north with a whole series of local lords taking back power. In all of this, the pope calls in a special decorator to do some touch up work in the Sistine chapel, a certain Michelangelo Buonarroti. In the sketch we imagine the conversation between the two....
Feb 11, 2025•20 min•Ep 184•Transcript available on Metacast We stop and take a look back at the episodes that cover the late 1400's as Italy completed her transition from the middle ages to the Renaissance and the lead up to the Italian Wars after the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent. We retrace the campaign of king Charles VIII of France, the adventures of Ludovico Sforza, Il Moro, the end of the independence of the kingdom of Naples and, in the background the rise and fall of the Borgias, as well as the last stand of the Tigress of Forlì, Caterina Sfor...
Feb 04, 2025•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast We take a little trip around the region of Lombardy , going beyond the financial and fashion capital Milan , to explore the beautiful nature of lake Como and hear all about the lake, monster that resides there. On the way, we will hear about a bridge, built by the devil in Pavia and the ghost that horns, the castle above the city of Como . We will also also make a stop off in the picturesque Bergamo and find out why there is a family emblem with three sets of testicles in front of the chapel in ...
Feb 04, 2025•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Which is the Italian region that can drink you under the table? Tradition would say it's Veneto and with wines such as Amarone della Valpolicella and Prosecco , it's not gard to believe. We start our journey trying not to talk too much about Venice and then doing just that, seeing the legend of the heart of brick and why the Gondola got its shape. The theme of love then, of course, takes us to the Verona of Romeo and Juliet, but before we get there we will hear the true story of how the Venetian...
Jan 21, 2025•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Just when the Borgias seem at the top of their game and that nothing could possibly stop them, in August of 1503 pope Alexander VI , after a dinner party at a cardinal's house, becomes seriously ill and died after two weeks. His son Cesare also becomes very ill and cannot sum up the energy to control the fallout of the situation and outmanoeuvre the Borgia's arch enemy, cardinal Giuliano della Rovere. In the end the inevitable happens and he becomes pope Julius II, sealing the impedin...
Jan 14, 2025•21 min•Ep 183•Transcript available on Metacast In our first episode of the Regional Italy miniseries we explore the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna , travelling initially along the ancient Roman road created by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. We start from the beautiful castles of the province of Piacenza , then cross the river to Parma , the culinary capital of Euope. Then it's a visit with Matilda countess of Canossa in Reggio Emilia before visiting with Ferraris and Pavarotti in Modena . After that, remembering the battle of the bucket...
Jan 07, 2025•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast While wishing you a "Buon Anno" (Happy New Year" we are also excited to announce the launch of our new miniseries on the Italian regions: Regional Italy! Thanks to the support of our friends at Explore Worldwide, we'll be looking at the culture, landscape, legends and history of some of Italy's 20 beautiful regions. Join us! https://www.exploreworldwide.com/?utm_source=Podcast&utm_medium=Spotify&utm_campaign=History+of+Italy+Podcast...
Dec 31, 2024•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Just a quick one to wish you a happy whatever you are celebrating, or not celebrating and give you the gift of my rendition of the famous poem "a visit from Alaric" also known as "T'was the night before Saturnalia".
Dec 24, 2024•3 min•Transcript available on Metacast People in Italy are getting very nervous about Cesare Borgia's successes, at times reached with treachery, and some of the unhappy party are actually Il Valentino's captains. When rebellion breaks out they see their chance and jump on the bandwagon. However, when things don't turn out as planned, the captains have to hope Cesare's forgiveness is sincere...
Dec 10, 2024•17 min•Ep 182•Transcript available on Metacast Just a quick update to apologise for a publishing delay and tell you a little about our sketches, the Italian school system and the current political situation in Italy
Dec 04, 2024•8 min•Ep 182•Transcript available on Metacast After doing his part for the French in the second Italian War Cesare Borgia heads back to Rome to concur with his father pope Alexander VI. They take care of some internal business with the Colonna, Orsini and Savelli and Cesare takes some time to kill some bulls and impregnate a few women. Then Cesare heads back to expand his duchy of Romagna aiming for Camerino and Urbino of the Montefeltro, while his captains, particularly Vitelozzo Vitelli and Giampsolo Baglioni. As Cesare rises higher, thos...
Nov 19, 2024•15 min•Ep 181•Transcript available on Metacast We first follow the life of the military captain Ettore Fieramosca (Hector Proudfly) and his troubled love story with Ginvenra da Monreale which ended tragically after the intervention of Cesare Borgia. We then move to the lead up and action to one of the most famous duels in Italian history, the Challenge of Barletta (La Disfida di Barletta) in which 13 Italian knights faced off against 13 French knights lead by Guy De La Motte to defend the honour of Italian arms. The duel would resound throug...
Nov 05, 2024•17 min•Ep 180•Transcript available on Metacast Naples once again falls to the French of king Luis XII, but once again they can't hold on to it for long as the delicate agreement with the Spanish of Queen Isabella and king Ferdinand quickly melts away and the legendary general Gonzalo De Cordoba manages to win the kingdom of Naples for his sovereigns with great victories at Cerignola and on the Garigliano river among others. We also see a little involvement of our old pal Cesare Borgia and hear about a tragic love triangle he was involved in ...
Oct 22, 2024•21 min•Ep 179•Transcript available on Metacast We follow Cesare Borgia as he continues his conquest ousting Giovanni Sforza from Pesaro, Pandolfo Malatesta from Rimini and Astorre Manfredi from Faenza. We are also introduced to one of his most important generals, Vitelozzo Vitelli and his vengeful hatred for the Republic of Florence who executed his brother. Finally, France and Spain reach a secret pact for the division of the kingdom of Naples. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Province_1454.jpg...
Oct 08, 2024•16 min•Ep 178•Transcript available on Metacast With the French hold on Milan looking weak, Ludovico il Moro sees his chance to take his duchy back, but only manages for a while before he is defeated at the Battle of Novara, made prisoner and taken to France where he will spend the rest of his days in captivity.
Sep 24, 2024•18 min•Ep 177•Transcript available on Metacast As we set the scene for the start of Cesare Borgia's military campaign, we start to observe the ominous signs of what is to come in Rome with the arbitrary accusation and confiscations of the Roman nobility. Then we go exploring to see what we intend with the term " Romagna " and trace it back to Marcus Aemilius Lepidus , the Byzantines and Julius Cesar's famous " The die is cast" speech, pronounced in Rimini after crossing the Rubicon river which we will also do to visit with the Malatesta of R...
Sep 10, 2024•19 min•Ep 176•Transcript available on Metacast King Louis XII prepares to descend upon Milan to stake his claim to the duchy. Before he sees out he needs to make deals with England, The Swiss and the Italian powers, Savoy and Ve3nice. Meanwhile, duke Ludovico il Moro is also preparing and doing a really bad job of it. The results will show.
Aug 27, 2024•16 min•Ep 175•Transcript available on Metacast We follow the last stand of Caterina Sforza as the French once again descend upon Italy with king Louis XII and Cesare Borgia, made representative of Romagna by his father Pope Alexander VI, closes in on the lands of Caterina as she prepares for her last great battle.
Aug 13, 2024•21 min•Ep 174•Transcript available on Metacast After the assassination of her husband Girolamo Riario , Caterina is in full control as regent for her son, Ottaviano Riario. She has to navigate regional issues in Romagna , another assassination in Faenza and then the tricky balancing act during the descent of Charles VIII of France. During all of this she managed to start a new passionate relationship with Giacomo Feo, which will also end in murder and in her thirst for vengeance, Caterina will lose sight of her role as a head of state....
Jul 30, 2024•16 min•Ep 173•Transcript available on Metacast After settling in to their new signoria, Caterina Sforza and her husband Girolamo Riario have to deal with continuous plots, the War of Ferrara and the death of uncle pope Sixtus IV . After that Caterina will really show what she's made of by taking and holding Castel Sant Angelo, her sword at her side, while seven months pregnant. In the end after her husband's assassination, she will stand alone to face the conspirators in one of Italian Renaissance history's most famous legendary scenes....
Jul 16, 2024•20 min•Ep 172•Transcript available on Metacast We look at the early years of the woman who would come to be known as "The Tigress of Forlì", Caterina Sforza starting with her youth at the court of her father, duke of Milan Galeazzo Maria. We then move on to the traumatic start to her marriage to Girolamo Riario , nephew of pope Sixtus IV , as he starts his ambitious rise to power, that will eventually lead him to his doom.
Jul 02, 2024•21 min•Ep 171•Transcript available on Metacast Having met Francesco II Gonzaga, at the battle of Fornovo, we take some time to go back and have a look at the beautiful city of Mantua from its legendary origins, surrounded by lakes created by the tears of a prophetess, through the period of our heroine, Matilda of Tuscany, countess of Canossa, to see the arrival and rise of the Corradi of Gonzaga. They would take over control of the city of Mantua and set up a county, and then a Marquisate that would put them in third place as the longest las...
Jun 18, 2024•21 min•Ep 170•Transcript available on Metacast To celebrate 2nd June, Republic Day as well as the release of the related film " C'è ancora domani" (There's still tomorrow ) by director Paola Cortellesi, we are brushing up our episode on the Historical events that lead up to the referendum od 1946 which abolished the Italian monarchy, sending the Savoy family into exile. All of this against the background of post war Italy which was on the brink of civil war.
Jun 04, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast After leaving the Papal States with Cesare Borgia waiting for us, we head into the Republic of Florence to look at the struggle with the other Italian powers over Pisa and also stop to talk a little about the man who named America, the Florentine Amerigo Vespucci. After that it's over to the Duchy of Milan where duchess Beatrice d'Este dies in 1497 and the threat of French invasion becomes very real when Luis XII takes the throne. The last stop takes us to Venice and yet another clash with Ottom...
May 21, 2024•16 min•Ep 169•Transcript available on Metacast After seeing French King Charles VIII out of the Italian peninsula, we take a quick tour around to see what the situation is at the end of the 15th century and make sure everyone is on the same page. We look at Sardinia, Sicily, the Kingdom of Naples and the Papal States under the Borgias , but also take time to talk about syphilis and some naughty nighttime activities . Visit our partner for great travel ideas: Exlore Worldwide...
May 07, 2024•16 min•Ep 168•Transcript available on Metacast Charles VIII of France is on his way out as king Ferrandino of Naples, along with Gonzalo de Cordoba, are gradually taking back the kingdom. Meanwhile Charles is headed off by the Holy League of Venice at the town of Fornovo in the Apennines of Parma. In the ensuing battle, he manages to get through, but not without losing all the supplies and spoils of his campaign. The league commander Francisco Gonzaga , comes out of the affair looking pretty good. After he finally leaves and Luis of Orleans ...
Apr 23, 2024•19 min•Ep 167•Transcript available on Metacast Charles VIII of France finally managed to get to Naples , but doesn't hang around long, the players on the Italian scene feel he has worn out his welcome and Venice, Milan, the pope, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian and Ferdinand II of Spain band together in the Holy league to threaten France. Things kick off in the south with the new king of Naples Ferrandino ready to fight back supported by the Spanish and in the north the Milanese and Venetians lay siege to the French in Novara. Visit our partne...
Apr 09, 2024•22 min•Ep 166•Transcript available on Metacast 
