(1168-1174) This week we talk about Barbarossa’s next moves after his disastrous fourth Italian campaign. It takes him a few years to come to grips with the failure of his great imperial programme before he makes one last attempt to resurrect it. The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0 . As always: Ho...
May 12, 2022•30 min•Ep 59•Transcript available on Metacast (1162-1167 again) This week we will talk about the second part of the pincer movement that brought that Hohenstaufen construct of imperial power crashing down to earth. The first was the schism in the Latin church and the second was the link-up of almost all northern Italian communes in a coalition against Barbarossa, the Lombard League. The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and a...
May 05, 2022•34 min•Ep 58•Transcript available on Metacast This week we do what we have done so many times and seem to be unable to avoid, talk about the conflict between pope and emperor. And that always means trouble, bad decisions and a siege of Rome. But boy, this time is not another standard schism, this time it is showdown. The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Crea...
Apr 28, 2022•38 min•Ep 57•Transcript available on Metacast 1159-1162 This week we will see how the Italian Communes take the Laws of Roncaglia. Not well is the understatement of the 12th century. Prepare for some epic sieges and harsh imperial justice. The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0 . As always: Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: ...
Apr 21, 2022•33 min•Ep 56•Transcript available on Metacast By September 1158 Barbarossa had completed one of the shortest and most efficient Italian campaigns of the medieval period. He had set off from Augsburg in mid-July and by early September Milan had capitulated. By October, most troop contingents both those from north of the Alps and those of the communes were on their way home and all of Italy was his. Barbarossa meanwhile is not going home. He takes a tour of Lombardy, visits Monza where his uncle had been crowned king of Italy and then calls a...
Apr 14, 2022•29 min•Ep 55•Transcript available on Metacast (1158) This week we will see Barbarossa try using his freshly minted army to take down the city of Milan, a city of 150,000 and the one commune that he needs to defeat if he really wants to establish imperial rule in Italy The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0 . As always: Homepage with maps, photos...
Apr 07, 2022•31 min•Ep 54•Transcript available on Metacast (1155-1158) This week we will see how Barbarossa addresses the big issue he had in his first Italian campaign, the size of the army and how he creates the Holy Roman Empire in the process. The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0 . As always: Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www....
Mar 31, 2022•34 min•Ep 53•Transcript available on Metacast 1153-1155 This week we finally get our narrative going. Barbarossa will boost the honour of the empire by burning cities, hanging heretics, slaughtering rabble-rousing Romans and inventing the concept of the university. With an introduction by Robin Pearson from the History of Byzantium. Check out his website here: https://thehistoryofbyzantium.com/ The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) per...
Mar 24, 2022•40 min•Ep 52•Transcript available on Metacast 1152 In this episoe we examine Barbarossa's background, childhood and education. What is it that made him so exceptional? And we investigate whether the Cappenberger Head is indeed an individual likeness of the emperor, or just another image of what an emperor is supposed to look like. The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Com...
Mar 17, 2022•19 min•Ep 51•Transcript available on Metacast (1149-1152) In his last few years the ill and exhausted king Conrad III relies more and more on his nephew, Frederick, the duke of Swabia called Barbarossa because of his ginger beard. Barbarossa forms the cornerstone linking the warring houses of Welf and Waiblingen. His military capabilities and diplomatic skills propell the barely 30 year old to the top of domestic and international politics. When Conrad III died suddenly, he sees his chance. Pushing aside his cousin, the 8-year-old son of Co...
Mar 10, 2022•27 min•Ep 50•Transcript available on Metacast 1147-1149 The title is a bit of a spoiler. Suffice to say that Cornad III's great crusade does not go quite as planned. He had set off with an army of between 20,000 and 60,000 from Regensburg in June 1147 making his way doen to Constantinople via Hungary and the Balkans. Ever eager for glory he had set off a month before his rival, king Louis VII of France and he presses on towards Jerusalem. Before the year is out he will find himself in Ephesos, severly wounded, his army broken and spread acr...
Mar 03, 2022•33 min•Ep 49•Transcript available on Metacast 1144-1147 - King, not really Emperor Conrad III may have signed a precarious peace with his greatest opponent, Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony. But the kingdom remains in turmoil. Feuds are everywhere, devastating the land. His half-brother bishop Otto of Freising sees all that death and destruction as a clear portend of the imminent arrival of the Antichrist. Though Conrad is methodically addressing his underlying weaknesses, he needs a boost to his authority and he needs is quick. The tradition...
Feb 24, 2022•32 min•Ep 48•Transcript available on Metacast 1138-1142 This week we will watch another candidate having the royal title snatched from his fingers. Henry the Proud, duke of Bavaria, duke of Saxony, Margrave of Tuscany and Este, richest landowner in Germany and Italy, son-in-law of the previous emperor and his designated successor is a shoo in for the imperial title. Only Conrad of Hohenstaufen, failed anti-king and hero of the Italian campaign together with his friend, Albero, archbishop of Trier and James Bond of the 12th century dare to d...
Feb 17, 2022•29 min•Ep 47•Transcript available on Metacast 1130-1137 - Emperor Lothar III is getting embroiled in the schism between popes Innocent II and Anaclet II. Anaclet II is properly elected and holds Rome whilst Innocent II enjoys the support of the most influential church leader of the time, St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Fear of St. Bernard drives Lothar into the camp of Innocent II which means he has to go down to Italy and conquer Rome for the Pope. Not only that but it also means a conflict with Roger II by now king of Sicily and master of a lar...
Feb 10, 2022•36 min•Ep 46•Transcript available on Metacast This week we take a little detour to catch up with our friends in Rome, the popes. Do not worry, the popes are no longer all goody two shoes, we are back to the usual shenanigans of murder, backstabbing, betrayal and the Normans. The church is divided three ways, between the two rival Roman clans of the Frangipani and the Pierleoni, between the old school Gregorian reformers and their more radical successors, led by Bernard of Clairvaux and between mystics and scholastics. Everyone has to take s...
Feb 03, 2022•31 min•Ep 45•Transcript available on Metacast With just a 24h delay here is Episode 44. Lothar III being duly elected and crowned declares a 12 month peace for the whole realm., only to break it himself a few months later. Frederick of Hohenstaufen, his rival for the crown is unwilling to hand over the crown lands he is still holding. And after gentle insistence did not achieve much, cold hard steel need to be put to work. In the first 5 years, Lothar is beset with a spot of bad luck. Sieges fail and he even gets beaten by the duke of Bohem...
Jan 28, 2022•28 min•Ep 44•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome to Season 3 of the History of the Germans Podcast - The Early Hohenstaufen 1125-1189. Between March and June of 1977 675,000 people visited the Alte Schloß in Stuttgart to see an exhibition entitled “Die Zeit der Staufer” (the Time of the Hohenstaufen in English). Over 1,000 items from 17 countries were on display, with the Cappenberger Kopf, the image of emperor Frederick Barbarossa, this episode’s artwork as its star exhibit. Nobody expected these numbers of visitors for what...
Jan 20, 2022•35 min•Ep 43•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode we will come to the end of the Investiture controversy, the end of the Salian dynasty and the end of Season 2 – and ask the question, what was all that about? The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0 . As always: Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyo...
Dec 09, 2021•42 min•Ep 42•Transcript available on Metacast In this week’s episode the last of the Salians will find that despite all his efforts, the tide of history cannot be stemmed, almost leaving him in exactly the same place his father ended up in 1076. The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0 . As always: Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog:...
Dec 02, 2021•25 min•Ep 41•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode we will see whether young Henry V will do any better at ending the conflict between Pope and Emperor, featuring one of the most audacious political moves seen in this conflict. The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0 . As always: Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: ...
Nov 25, 2021•28 min•Ep 40•Transcript available on Metacast This week we will talk about the last years of Henry IV, which, as hard as it is to believe, holds a final humiliation that capped the pain this man had already endured. The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0 . As always: Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans...
Nov 18, 2021•28 min•Ep 39•Transcript available on Metacast I did promise you an episode on Matilda of Tuscany, and here it is. But, it is not mine. This episode is from the fantastic podcast "A History of Italy" by Mike Corradi. I cam across it when I was researching the Matilda Episode and I realised in horror, that if I wee to create a Matilda Episode, it would be very much like this one, only worse. So I asked Mike whether I could borrow his work. Listening to Mike will give you a great though different perspective of the same events and I get the ch...
Nov 14, 2021•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast In 1095 Pope Urban II launches the First crusade. Emperor Henry IV and his allies would rather be strung up below a beehive covered in honey than join a scheme devised by the Gregorian Pope. The lack of support by the high aristocrats did not stop the common people most of whom perish before the crusade had really begun. And some turn their religious fervour into a very different endeavour, bringing untold pain to the Jewish communities in Germany.. The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-fl...
Nov 11, 2021•34 min•Ep 38•Transcript available on Metacast The wheel of fortune turns again, tumbling our antihero Henry IV down from the heights he had so recently scaled. We will see him sink to the point of utter despair. And all that because a 43 year old woman marries an 18 year old. The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0 . As always: Homepage with maps...
Nov 04, 2021•26 min•Ep 37•Transcript available on Metacast His coronation barely two months hence, Henry IV leaves Rome without capturing Gregory VII. The Pope's powerful vassal, Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and greatest of Norman warlords was approaching with an army of 36,000. Henry no longer needs Rome, what he needs to do is get back to Germany and bring peace to the war-ravaged country. A u-turn in his policies helps to gain support amongst bishops and magnates so that by 1089, the country is largely pacified for the first time in 17 years. The ...
Oct 28, 2021•25 min•Ep 36•Transcript available on Metacast The Rebellion in Germany under control Henry can finally go after his true nemesis, Pope Gregory VII. He sets out for Rome on a journey he thought may just take four months but ended up taking four years.. The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0 . As always: Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and...
Oct 21, 2021•24 min•Ep 35•Transcript available on Metacast Henry IV departs from Canossa having been released from the ban. But does that mean all his troubles are over? Far from it. His enemies in Germany gather to elect a new king and the war of words turns into a war of swords. The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0 . As always: Homepage with maps, photos...
Oct 14, 2021•28 min•Ep 34•Transcript available on Metacast It is time - we are finally going to Canossa. Expect imperial power to disappear in smoke, greedy mothers-in-laws, frozen passes, hoisted horses and tobogganing empresses. All that ends with the enduring picture of a king first kneeling before a woman and then before a pope..... That is the the episode you have to listen to! The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by&nb...
Oct 07, 2021•33 min•Ep 33•Transcript available on Metacast The rise of the papacy since 1046 is almost linear. The popes throw off the chokehold of the roman aristocracy, they take over leadership of the church reform movement from the emperors, and by the end of the pontificate of Alexander II the Holy See has become universal with kings hailing the pope and not the emperor as their overlord. In 1073 Hildebrand, the eminence grise of the last 20 years ascends the throne of St. Peter. His view of the role of the papacy goes even further than his predece...
Sep 30, 2021•46 min•Ep 32•Transcript available on Metacast In 1065 king Henry IV begins his personal rule. After 9 years of regency., the last 3 of which under a government of barons headed by archbishop Anno of Cologne, imperial power is much diminished. Prelates and lords are raiding the imperial purse, when the barons force the young king to dismiss his main adviser, he realises that the previous model of kingship no longer operates. He cannot rely on the oaths of fealty sworn by his counts and dukes, nor can he put faith in the Imperial Church Syste...
Sep 23, 2021•38 min•Ep 31•Transcript available on Metacast 
