Podcast Episodes

Ep. 215 – The Bold in the Cold, the end of Charles of Burgundy.

Episode 215

The rise of the Habsburgs to world domination pivots on one crucial moment, the marriage of Maximilian of Habsburg to Mary of Burgundy, the daughter of Charles the Bold, last of the Grand Dukes of th…

Published on 5 hours ago

Ep. 214 - The Siege that Woke up an Empire (Neuss 1474/75)

Episode 214

The venerable city of Neuss between Cologne and Düsseldorf was founded in 16 BC as a Roman army camp, making it one of the oldest in Germany. Its history is marked by the usual mix of feuds with its …

Published on 1 week ago

Ep. 213 – Duping a Duke and the Awakening of Friedrich III

Episode 213

How long can an emperor not be an emperor. The official record stands at 25 years, that is how long Friedrich III had stayed out of the core areas of the Holy Roman Empire. That meant 25 ears of Impe…

Published on 2 weeks ago

Ep. 212 – The Library of the Raven King

Episode 212

Today we will talk a lot about Matthias Corvinus, the legendary renaissance king of Hungary whose library outshone that of the Medici in Florence and whose standing army was one of the greatest – and…

Published on 3 weeks ago

Ep. 211 – Hitting Rock Bottom

Episode 211

It is November 1462 and the emperor Friedrich III and his young family are huddling together in the cellars of the Hofburg. The citizens of Vienna are shooting cannonballs into the 13th century castl…

Published on 4 weeks ago

Ep. 210 – Ladislaus Postumus, Lord of all, Ruler of No One

Episode 210

Our journey today will take us away from the emperor Friedrich III who will spend most of the episode holed up in his castle at Wiener Neustadt, fretting and gardening.

Instead we look at the dramati…

Published on 1 month ago

No Mojo in my Dojo - Next episode in a Week

Episode 210

Hello friends of the History of the Germans. I am afraid there will not be an episode this week. I would have preferred to say that I have caught a bug or something, but the truth is, I just could no…

Published on 1 month, 1 week ago

Ep. 209 – The First Habsburg Emperor

Episode 209

Today we – and the Habsburgs – stride back on to the grand stage of European politics. Not with a titan of history or monarch whose long and fruitful reign resonates across the centuries, but with Fr…

Published on 1 month, 2 weeks ago

Ep. 208 - Boy Meets Princess, Boy Becomes King (Albrecht II)

Episode 208

Last week we saw the family slowly climbing out of the hole that Friedrich IV of the Tyrol had dug them. But despite all these consolidation efforts, the family was still in the second league of Euro…

Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago

Ep.207 Of Land and Lip – How the Habsburgs got their Chin

Episode 207

“The Habsburgs ruled half of Europe with a chin that entered the room five minutes before they did,” is one of those witticisms that made the 19th century so amusing. But by then the Habsburg jaw had…

Published on 2 months ago