Podcast Episodes

Ep. 199 – How Holland was Lost to the Holy Roman Empire (Part 2 - the Economy)

Episode 199

So, why did Holland really leave the empire? Was it because the valiant and tragic countess Jacqueline was “hunted down from one land to the other, all of them mine”. Was it a story of misogyny, betr…

Published on 4 months, 3 weeks ago

Ep. 198 – How Holland was Lost to the Holy Roman Empire (Part 1 - the Politics)

Episode 198

Today begins a two part series about how the Low countries modern day Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg shifted out of the Holy Empire. These lands, with the exception of Flanders, had been part of …

Published on 5 months ago

Ep. 197 – The Landshuter Hochzeit – Love and War in Bavaria (Part 2)

Episode 197

On November 14th and 15th 1475 one of the grandest events in the history of the Holy Roman Empire took place, the Landshuter Hochzeit, the nuptials of Georg, the Rich, son of Ludwig, the Rich and gra…

Published on 5 months, 1 week ago

Ep. 196 – Agnes Bernauer - Love and War in Bavaria – (Part 1)

Episode 196

When I first recorded this episode, my nose was so bunged up, I could barely speak. So I cloned my voice and produced a whole episode using an Ai generated version of me. That was a cool experiment, …

Published on 5 months, 2 weeks ago

The Berliner - A Filling Episode

Unfortunately I have been felled by manflu a much belittled affliction. So no Agnes Bernauer and Bavarian dukes. That will be next week.

For now some completely random stories about the Berliner, aka …

Published on 5 months, 3 weeks ago

Ep. 195 – Engraving the German Renaissance

Episode 195

Last year I went to an exhibition at the Städel museum in Frankfurt that was entitled Holbein and the Renaissance in the North. That is the elder Holbein, the father of the Holbein who came to Englan…

Published on 5 months, 4 weeks ago

Ep. 194 – The Fuggers of Augsburg

Episode 194

Hello and welcome to the History of the Germans: Episode 194 – The Fuggers of Augsburg, which is also episode 10 of Season 10 “The Empire in the 15th Century”

Jakob Fugger had been dubbed the Richest …

Published on 6 months ago

Ep. 193 - The Trade and Tribulations of the Free Imperial Cities

Episode 193

Ravensburg, and you are very much forgiven if you cannot place it on the map, is today a town of 50,000 in the far south eastern corner of Baden-Württemberg between Friedrichshafen, home of the Zeppe…

Published on 6 months, 1 week ago

Ep. 192 - Württemberg, or How to Build a Success

Episode 192

The counts, dukes and ultimately kings of Württemberg had risen to the top by winning the genetic lottery. Their eldest sons tended to be competent, some even extremely so, their wives brought in dow…

Published on 6 months, 2 weeks ago

Ep. 191 – The Margraviate of Baden

Episode 191

What is it like to be a prince? Well, not quite what it is set out to be, in particular when you are a smaller prince, not in stature, but in land.

The margraves of Baden are such princes. In the 15th…

Published on 6 months, 3 weeks ago