History of the Germans
A narrative history of the German people from the Middle Ages to Reunification in 1991. Episodes are 25-35 minutes long and drop on Thursday mornings. The podcast covers major periods such as the Ottonian and Salian Emperors, the Hohenstaufen dynasty, the Hanseatic League, and the Teutonic Knights, among others.
Episodes
Ep. 238: The Habsburg Empire at its Zenith - Ferdinand I and the Siege of Vienna
Today we celebrate the topping out of the Habsburg empire. By the middle of the 16th century it reached its furthest extent as a political entity ruled by one man. Over the last 42 episodes we have seen this family of minor counts playing their game of snakes and ladders until they had amassed lordships over Austria, the Netherlands, Spain and large parts of Italy. Today we look at how they finall
Ep. 237: How Italy Fell to the Habsburgs - From the Peace of Madrid to the Sack of Rome 1527.
We are coming closer to the end of our series on the Fall and Rise of the House of Habsburg. We have seen the reconsolidation of Austria, the acquisition of Burgundy, the inheritance of Spain and today, we will look at the last stages of the Italian wars. This conflict, kicked off by king Charles VIII in 1494 had given “rise to changes of dominions, subversion of kingdoms, desolation of countries,
Ep. 236: Charles V (1520-1555) - The Battle of Pavia
In 1521 four men dominated Europe. They were all in their twenties: King Henry VIII of England, born 1491, King Francois I of France, born 1494, Suleiman the Magnificent, Ottoman Sultan, born that same year, 1494 and the youngest of them, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Sicily, Naples and Sardinia, lord of the Netherlands, duke of Austria and Count of Tyrol.How the world had changed.
Ep. 235: The Youth and Election of the Emperor Charles V (1520-1555)
Born during a ball in Ghent on 24 February 1500, Charles of Habsburg would grow up to rule an empire stretching from the Philippines to Prague and from Lima to Lauwersoog. But who was the man behind one of history's most powerful titles — and how did an unremarkable teenager come to be elected Holy Roman Emperor?In this episode, we explore the remarkable — and often dysfunctional — upbringing of C
Ep. 234: The Charisma of Emperor Maximilian (1493-1519)
Maximilian I died on January 12th, 1519. But his likeness is everywhere. None of his predecessors left behind as many depictions of their life, from being fed by his nurse as a toddler to the Totenbild, the picture of the emperor in death, stripped of all his paraphernalia, even his teeth broken out.If you search in google for the most reproduced image of a Holy Roman Emperor, two come up, the por
Ep. 233: Maximilian I (1493-1519) - Last Days and Legacy
The last decade of emperor Maximilian’s reign was overshadowed by all three challenges to the emerging Habsburg empire gaining strength. The Ottoman empire was piling on resources by taking over Syria, Lebanon and Egypt. A vigorous new king of France, Francois I was turning the tide in the incessant Italian wars into his favor. And finally the greatest of threats to the dynasty emerged as the Prin
Ep. 232: The Ottomans – From Mehmet the Conqueror to Selim the Grim (1444-1520)
These last dozen or so episodes we have examined the genesis of two of the three major strategic preoccupations of the Habsburg empire, the rivalry with the French kings and the relationship with the imperial princes. Today we will look at the build-up of the third major strategic challenge to the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, the Ottomans. One can argue, and many have, that the threat of an Ot
Ep. 231: Maximilian I (1493-1519) - Marrying Bohemia and Hungary
You have almost certainly seen the image in today’s episode artwork before. It is a family portrait showing Maximilian, his first wife Marie of Burgundy, his son, Philip the Handsome and three children. When Bernhard Strigel painted this image in around the year 1516, Philip the Handsome was already dead for 10 years and Marie of Burgundy had gone more than 30 years before. Then there are the insc
Ep.230: Margaret of Austria (1480-1530) - The League of Cambrai
Another Thursday and another episode dealing with another epic fail of our hero, Maximilian I. But despite a military campaign that once again failed for all the usual reasons, no money, no strategy, no luck, this time he is rescued not by a marriage or imperial princes suddenly inflicted with an unlikely case of backbone, but by his daughter, Margaret, archduchess of Austria, dowager duchess of S
Ep. 229: Joanna the (not?) Mad (1504-1555) - How the Habsburgs gained Spain
“Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube" – ‘Let others wage war; thou, happy Austria, marry’ is one of the few terms that almost anyone with a cursory interest in European history knows, only rivalled by the Voltaire quote thou shall not utter in my presence ever. It evokes the image of a handsome alpine boy full of charm and apple strudel wooing some princess into peacefully handing over the ri
Ep. 228: Maximilian I (1493-1519) - The Princes and the Emperor.
If there was one group that consistently thwarted Maximilian’s grand plans for world domination, it was the princes of the Holy Roman Empire. He had given in to their demands for Imperial Reform, had granted the Reichstag far reaching powers, had established the Reichskammergericht as a law court independent of imperial authority and had announced the much longed for ban on feuding. But did the pr
Ep. 227: Landsknechte vs. Swiss Mercenaries – The Swabian (Swiss) War of 1499
Why are the Swiss called the Swiss? After all, Schwyz in only of 26 cantons, and not one of the largest ones. How did the proud and prosperous citizens of Zurich or Berne, mighty city states in their own right, decide they wanted to be named after a mountainous region largely inhabited by peasants tending to their gorgeous brown cattle, the Braunvieh. They even called their national airline Swissa
Ep. 226: Maximilian I (1493-1519) - A Grand Plan for a Great War
Europe's political landscape is shifting fundamentally. No longer are wars fought between kings and their vassals, and emperors against popes - it is all about the balance of power. and this balaance is firmly out of whack. The largest, richest and most populous part of Europe, the empire that still formally included Italy, the Low Countries, the Swiss Confederation, Bohemia and Burgundy, was also
The Imperial Reform of 1495 with Prof. Duncan Hardy
Prof Duncan Hardy is one of the leading experts in the history of the Holy Roman Empire and one of his main topics is the Imperial reform of 1495, making him the ideal guest for our show.In his first book, Associative Political Culture in the Holy Roman Empire he tries to define what the Holy Roman Empire was a question we will almost certainly spend quite some time discussing today.His forthcomin
Ep. 225: Imperial Reform 1495 - The Ewige Landfrieden (Public Peace) of 1495
Let me start today’s episode with some outrageous national stereotypes. If an Englishman is disappointed with the way the affairs of state are conducted, he writes a letter to his member of Parliament. A Frenchman in that same situation rents a tractor and dumps manure outside the Palais d’Elysee. A German threatens to file a lawsuit with the constitutional court, the Bundesverfassungsgericht.Wher
Ep. 224: Imperial Reform 1495 – The Reichstag of the Holy Roman Empire
I am afraid today’s episode is not your usual swordplay and skullduggery. What we are looking at today is the Reichstag as it operated throughout the Holy Roman Empire from 1495 to 1803. Sounds a bit like dour constitutional law, but bear with me.We will look at a couple of classic tropes, like, whether the empire consisted of more than 300 sovereign states who could do whatever they wanted, wheth
Ep. 223: Imperial Reform 1495 – The Diet of Worms
We are now 7 episodes into the action-packed life of emperor Maximilian and he is only 35 years old. We still have another 24 years to go and they will be again full of wars, outlandish schemes, including one where he wants to make himself pope and of course marriages that create an empire. But if you look into German history schoolbooks, the thing that Maximilian is most famous for is what we wil
Ep. 222: Maximilian I (1493-1519) – Italian Wars and Spanish Marriages
The world is a-changing. Maximilian I may still dream of the medieval universal empire where he will lead Christendom in an epic crusade to expel the Turks from the European mainland, even reconquering Jerusalem. Meanwhile his main adversary, king Charles VIII of France unleashed the fury of war in Italy, kicking off a struggle that would last for 50 years and replaced the medieval world of popes
Ep. 221: Maximilian I (1493-1519) – Taking Back Austria and Tyrol
After 13 years of fighting in the Low Countries, Maximilian, the newly elected king of the Roman, returns home to a rammed full inbox. There is his cousin, the dissolute count Sigismund of Tyrol who is about to sell out the family fortune to the dukes of Bavaria. The king of Hungary is still occupying Vienna – and there is a new heiress out on the market, Anne of Brittanny.Some of the issues he ta
Ep. 220: Maximilian I (1493-1519) - The Burgundian Experience(s)
In this episode the 15-year long war over the Burgundian succession will come to its end. You may have thought it was done last time, but no. The revolutionary spirit of the Flemish cities is not yet broken and their most audacious move is still to come. And this time they are not going up against an archduke and regent, but against a newly elected king of the Romans.Maximilian of Habsburg’s exper
Where To Go in Germany - Part 2
One of the legacies of the Holy roman empire is that Germany does not have just one place where everything happens, where politicians, entrepreneurs, bankers, artists, and actors travel on the same underground trains and eat at the same restaurants. Berlin is the capital with its political class of members of the Bundestag, journalists and lobbyist and at the same time a major gathering place for
Where To Go in Germany - Part 1
As you are still awaiting your presents, mine has already arrived, which is the chance to make this show. Despite all my occasional moaning and groaning about how much work it is, I have never enjoyed anything as much this. Who could have imagined that digging through often dusty books and articles and trying to put together an interesting and compelling narrative together for a discerning audienc
Ep.219: Maximilian I (1493-1519) – The Fall of Ghent
The words High and Late Middle Ages conjures up images of fog rising up over a field where knights in shining armor are trading blows with double handed swords, mighty bishops overseeing the construction of monumental cathedrals and peasants toiling on the land as serfs.The reason we see it that way goes back to the chivalric literature that celebrated the aristocratic lifestyle where tournaments
Ep. 218: Maximilian I (1493-1519) – The Death of Mary of Burgundy
By 1477 the rules of war that had been enshrined in the laws of chivalry are gone. The contest between the French and the Habsburgs over the inheritance of the Grand Dukes of the West gives us a foretaste of the things to come.This war isn’t just fought between the opposing armies lining up for the decisive battle, but include wholesale starving out of the population, funding local uprisings and u
Ep. 217: Maximilian I (1493-1519) – When Mary Met Maxi
How often have you heard this phrase “Let others wage war; you, happy Austria, marry". It goes back to a whole string of marriages, first Maximilian of Habsburg married the heiress of the duchy of Burgundy, then his son married the heiress of Spain and finally his grandson married the heiress of Hungary and Bohemia. And bish bash bosh, an empire is created in the horizontal.That is nice and neat b
Ep. 216: Maximilian I (1493-1519) - The Youth of an Emperor
What is it like to grow up the son of the emperor? For most of the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire we have covered so far, no idea. There are scarce reports about the way the princes grew up, safe for tales like the emperor Ludwig the Bavarian being kidnapped by his pet monkey. But now, as the Late Middle Ages make way for the Renaissance, we can see the boy who would be king at play, being fed by
Ep. 215: Charles the Bold (1433-1477) - Death in the Cold
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 the West.The usual story is that young Maximilian one day walked down the aisle of some splendid cathedral and was handed the richest principality in Europe on an jewel-encrusted golden platter by the fa
Ep. 214: Friedrich III (1440-1493) - The Siege that Woke up an Empire
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 archepiscopal overlord and the establishment of a trading and pilgrimage hub.Despite its Roman remains, the impressive church of St. Quirinius, and proximity to where I grew up, Neuss may never have ap
Ep. 213: Friedrich III (1440-1493) – Duping the Duke of Burgundy
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 Imperial Diets without the presence of an Emperor, 25 years of stasis on the challenges of the time, the reform of the empire and the defense against the Ottoman expansion.But sometime in the late 1460s th
Ep. 212: Matthias Corvinus (1443-1490) – The Library of the Raven King
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 most expensive - military forces in 15th century Europe.Why are we talking about a Hungarian ruler in a series about the Habsburgs? Trust me, there is a good reason beyond it being a fascinating life
Ep. 211: Friedrich III (1440-1493) – Hitting Rock Bottom
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 castle, the walls are crumbling and any moment now the angry crowds may break in. Outside, supporting the insurrection stood his own brother, calling on him to give up.Two crowns he has already lost and a t
Ep. 210: Ladislaus Postumus (1440-1457) - Lord of all, Ruler of No One
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 dramatic life of his younger cousin, Ladislaus Postumus, king of Hungary, king of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria. This will take us back to Prague and its complex religious politics, to Vienna where the peopl
Ep. 209: Friedrich III (1440-1493) - The First Habsburg Emperor
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 Friedrich III, better known as the Reichserzschlafmütze - the imperial arch sleepy head, Or perhaps more fittingly the imperial arch dawdler.He ruled from 1440 to 1493, a total of 53 years - the longest
Ep. 208: Albrecht II (1438-1439) - Boy Meets Princess, Boy Becomes King
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 European princely families.Then, just 25 years after Ernst the Iron married down into minor Polish royalty, his first cousin once removed, Albrecht V became King of Hungary, King of the Romans and King of
Ep.207: Habsburg Dukes (1308-1437) - How the Habsburgs got their Chin
“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 long receded.It had its heyday in the 16th and 17th century when people in Spain called out to the future emperor Charles V: “Your majesty, shut your mouth! The flies of this country are very insolent
Ep. 206: Habsburg Dukes (1308-1437)– Division, Destruction and Degradation
Success for a princely family in the Late Middle Ages has a lot to do with reproductive luck. Not having any offspring, in particular no male offspring is a bit of a knockout. But having too many sons that could be a major issue too.And in 1386 the Habsburgs struggled with exactly that problem. Their territory was already divided between an Albertine and a Leopoldine line. But then Leopold had fou
Ep. 205: Habsburg Dukes (1308-1437) – Sempach, Birth of a Nation
On July 9th, 1386 in a field near the Sempach lake., the armies of archduke Leopold of Austria line up against the forces of the city of Lucerne and the men of Uri, Schwyz and NidwaldenMuch of what hads been told about this batte, the backstory of the Swiss Confederation and the objectives of the Habsburgs have been drenched in myth. Myths that are in the main debunked. That being said, the story
Ep. 204: Habsburg Dukes (1308-1437) – Rudolf IV, Founder and Forger
Rudolf IV of Habsburg (1339–1365), son of Albrecht “the Wise,” reigned as Duke of Austria for just seven years but left a lasting mark. Born when the dynasty seemed close to extinction, Rudolf secured Austria’s survival and prestige. Politically, he sought to elevate Vienna by founding the University of Vienna (1365) and beginning construction of St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Though he fulfilled his fa
Ep. 203: Early Habsburgs – From Rudolf I to Albrecht the Wise
The Habsburg dynasty, originating from Radobot’s castle in 11th-century Switzerland, rose from obscurity to European prominence. In 1273 Rudolf of Habsburg was elected King of the Romans. Far from the later myth of a poor, humble count, Rudolf was wealthy, shrewd, and ruthless. He expanded his family’s holdings through inheritance, war, and diplomacy, eventually securing Austria and Styria after d
The Fall and Rise of the House of Habsburg - Trailer
"Let others wage war: you, happy Austria, marry’. Is that really it? Did this family acquire an empire where the sun never sets through just luck and longevity?That is what we will try to find out in this season where we follow the family from the murder of king Abrecht I in 1308 to the election of emperor Charles V in 1519.For most of that period the Habsburgs had been languishing in the wilderne
Ep. 202: Arms and Armour
In 1550 Spanish court records show that the Augsburg armorer Kolman Helmschmied was paid an advance of 2,000 ducats for a full armour for king Philipp II. The final price for this piece was 3,000 ducats. At the same time Raphael could charge at max 170 ducats for an altarpiece. Even the Renaissances’ best paid artist, Michelangelo received just 3,000 gold florins for the painting of the ceiling of
Ep. 201: Mapping the World, or how Germans invented America
When you enter the great hall of the Thomas Jefferson building at the Library of Congress in Washington, the first exhibit you will be facing is their Gutenberg Bible. And it is one of the finest Gutenberg bibles around, one of only three surviving pristine copies on vellum. This was the kind of bible that was so expensive to produce, it bankrupted Gutenberg. When the Library of Congress bought it
Ep. 200: Divide and Lose, the Division of Saxony - Leipziger Teilung in 1485
When two brothers, Ernst and Albrecht of Saxony divided up their enormous inheritance that comprised Thuringia, Meissen and the electorate of Sachsen-Wittenberg, they not only undermined their power base as the de facto #2 amongst the imperial principalities and planted the seed for a conflict that would play a key role in the Reformation but they also laid the foundations for the modern Länder of
Ep. 199: How Holland was Lost to the Holy Roman Empire (Part 2 - the Economy)
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, betrayal, incompetence and ruthless power politics. Yes, it was.But it was a also a story of economic and climate change and one that links into the herring trade of the Hanseatic League, the decline of Te
Ep. 198: How Holland was Lost to the Holy Roman Empire (Part 1 - the Politics)
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 the empire for hundreds of years, ever since Henry the Fowler acquired Lothringia for East Francia in 925 – not by conquest but through diplomacy – as was his way.There are two ways to tell the story
Ep. 197: The Landshuter Hochzeit – Love and War in 15th Century Bavaria (Part 2)
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 grandson of Heinrich, the Rich, all of them dukes of Bayern-Landshut, and Hedwig, the daughter of king Kasimir IV of Poland and Lithuania.The event attracted 10,000 guests, amongst them the Counts Palatin
Ep. 196: Agnes Bernauer - Love and War in 15th Century Bavaria – (Part 1)
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, but ultimately, a canned voice is not the same thing.Fortunately, I am now fully recovered, and I have now re-recorded the same episode again, and this time the names of towns and cities will bear a bi
Ep. 195: Engraving the German Renaissance - Dürer, Holbein, Burgkmair, Riemenschneider et. al
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 England. This exhibition has now ended, but there is still a great summary available on the Städel website.Though obviously not present at the exhibition, one key focus was the Fugger chapel in the church of
Ep. 194: The Fuggers of Augsburg
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 Man Who Ever Lived, but there are many more contenders, my favorite being an African, Mansa Musa, the ninth Mansa of the Mali empire whose generous gifts during a visit to Mecca in 1324 triggered a cur
Ep. 193: The Trade and Tribulations of the Free Imperial Cities
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 Zeppelins, and the city of Ulm and its majestic church tower.If you have heard of it, it may be because of Ravensburger, the publisher of puzzles and boardgames, but you would not have associated it with an
Ep. 192: Duchy of Württemberg - Turning Wine into Winning
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 dowries and sometimes entire counties, and they ruled for long enough that the next generation took over when they were ready.But all that falls apart in the 15th century. They are suddenly afflicted with
Ep. 191: The Margraviate of Baden - Enlightened Excesses
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 century their main territory, a slither of South-West Germany, just 60km long was too small to play on the European, even on the German stage, but too big to escape the need of massive palaces and war
Ep. 190: A (very) brief History of the German Universities
Between the time the first Nobel Prize was awarded in 1901 and 1933, a total of 31 were awarded to German scientists and politicians. To name just a few, Wilhelm Röntgen (1901), Max Planck (1918), Albert Einstein (1921) and Werner Heisenberg (1932) for Physics, Emil Fischer (1902), Fritz Haber (1918), Walther Nernst (1920) and Hans Fischer (1930) for chemistry, Emil von Behring (1901), Robert Koch
Ep. 189: The Count Palatine on the Rhine
This week it is back to the political landscape of the empire. We will travel upriver from Mainz via Worms and the not yet existent cities of Mannheim and Ludwigshafen to Heidelberg, my old hometown.And there we will meet the man who held one of the empire’s most confusing titles, the count Palatinate of the Rhine, Elector and High Steward of the Empire. His name is Friedrich, Friedrich der Siegre
Ep. 188: What Has Printing Ever Done For Us?
“We should note the force, effect, and consequences of inventions which are nowhere more conspicuous than in those three which were unknown to the ancients, namely printing, gunpowder and the compass. For these three have changed the appearance and the state of the world.” wrote Francis Bacon in 1620. And almost everybody agreed.Printing changed everything, but how exactly did it change everything
Ep. 187: Johannes Gutenberg’s Pressing Matters
This podcast is now well into its fourth year and I have established my process for research, script writing and recording. As for research, that usually means going to the London Library and bend down to the lowest shelf to dig up some age-old copy of a German language book that happens to be the one and only works that goes into the kind of detail on the topic at hand you guys have gotten used t
Ep. 186: Mainz and Hessen - An Origin Story
This week we are setting off on our tour of the empire for real. And where better to start than with the most senior, most august of the seven prince Electors, the archbishop of Mainz, archchancellor of the empire, and holder of the decisive vote in imperial elections.We have already encountered a number of archbishops of Mainz in this podcast, from the treacherous Frederick who tried to overthrow
Ep. 185: A Time Between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance -Season Opener
Many German histories skip over this period in order to get to the Reformation, which is a shame. Because the 15th century did not just shape the physical appearance of the country, but much of its geographical and mental make-up.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
Ep. 184: A German Messallina? - Empress Barbara of Celje (1392-1451)
Barbara ist geil und ruchlos is the title of a 17th century description of emperor Sigismund’s second wife, Barbara of Celje and it goes on as follows:“Barbara, was a German Messalina, a woman of insatiable lust; so nefarious / that she had no god / nor angel nor devil / nor heaven nor hell/that she believed in. When her handmaidens fasted and prayed / she scolded them / that they tortured their b
Ep. 183: Hussite Revolt (1419-1434) - The Aftermath of a Revolution
This week we bring the series about the reformation before the reformation to an end. It is time to take stock. What changes did 20 years of opposition to the established church and 15 years of war bring to Bohemia?How did Jan Hus, Jan Želivský, Wenceslas Koranda and Petr Chelčický influence Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Müntzer and von Hutten? How did Zizka’s reform impact the Swiss mercenaries and th
Ep. 182: Hussite Revolt (1419-1434) - Sigismund Returns to Bohemia
We have a tendency to overlook the history of the smaller European nations even though they do quite often provide the laboratory where one could have seen the sign of things to come or calamities that could be avoided. One of these nations is Czechia, where events took place that could, should or did impact the History of the Germans, in 1989, in 1968, in 1938, in 1618 and in 1419-1437. Today we
Ep. 181: Hussite Revolt (1419-1434) - Zizka's Drum
“And anyone who would not want to keep and truly fulfill the above written pieces and articles, and would not want to help protect and defend them; such a one, without regard to person, we will not suffer amongst us and in this army fighting with God’s help, nor on the castles and in the fortresses, nor in the cities and in the towns, walled or open, nor in the villages and hamlets, no place excep
Ep. 180: Hussite Revolt (1419-1434) - Adamites and the battle of Kutna Hora
The Czech language has been a severe impediment to my storytelling this season and you may have noticed that I often avoid to name places and people, instead I talk about a major baron or a medium sized city. There are however two Czech words I have no difficult pronouncing, Howitzer and Pistol. Which may tell you what we will be talking about today, the battle of Kutna Hora, when a blind general
Ep. 179: Sigismund (1410-1433) - Meanwhile in the Empire
Sigismund, king of the Romans, king of Hungary and recently crowned king of Bohemia is not doing too well. Despite his long list of glittering titles he is stuck in the town of Kutna Hora, the revolutionaries have taken Prague, built strongholds, created a completely new army for a completely new form of warfare and were taking over more and more of his ancestral kingdom.When one of his most strat
Ep. 178: Hussite Revolt (1419-1434) - No Hill to Die On
“It is we, the followers of master Jan Hus, who are obeying the law of God, we who are the true followers of Christ. Thus therefore, who oppose us, oppress us, kill us, are themselves heretics, trying to thwart the will of God. Out of this deep, passionate conviction was born the determination not to yield, not to surrender, but to challenge if need be, all the forces of the religious and politica
Ep. 177: Hussite Revolt (1419-1434) - The Day after the End of Days
“To our great shame and sorrow, we must acknowledge how our brethren have been cleverly seduced by Satan, and how they have departed from Holy Scriptures in strange and unheard-of ideas and acts. When Satan first came to them it was not with an open face, as the devil, but in the shining garb of voluntary poverty, [..], and in the zealous work of preaching to and serving the people and in giving t
Ep. 176: Hussite Revolt (1419-1434) -A Great Idiot of History?
Revolutions are exceedingly rare in world history. And they are so rare because they require a whole host of things going wrong and going wrong all at the same time. In 1419/1420 a whole host of things are going wrong in the kingdom of Bohemia.We did already hear about the defenestration, the first in Czech history. As dramatic an event that was, there was no reason to believe that death and destr
Ep. 175: Hussite Revolt (1419-1434) - Death and Defenestration
The Bohemians had already protested against the treatment of Jan Hus when he was arrested and anger was brewing throughout his trial. Hus hadn’t come to Constance on his own. Several noblemen, including the brave knight John of Chlum had come along to support him. One these man, Petr Mladenovics returned to Prague shortly after the trial and recounted the proceedings in every little detail, comple
John Wycliffe - a Guest Episode from the History of England
Today the History of the Germans is honoured to host David Crowther, doyen of the guild of podcasters and host of the most excellent History of England Podcast. Wycliffe's writings were to prove controversial and proved an interesting early echo of the Reformation. They heavily influenced the view of Jan Hus and the movement in Bohemia. And his ability to develop and present those views owed a lot
Ep. 174: Council of Constance (1414-1418) - The Trial of Jan Hus
“They will roast a goose now, but after one hundred years they will hear a swan sing, and him they will have to endure.” These were allegedly the last words of a certain Jan Hus whose surname meant goose and who was burned at the stake on July 6, 1415.Almost exactly one hundred years later a spiritually tormented monk, frightened by a vengeful God who sought to damn him, was assigned to teach the
Ep. 173: Council of Constance (1414-1418) - The End of the Schism
We have talked about church reform for almost four years, the council of Constance talked about church reform for about the same amount of time and Luther will talk and write about church reform until he did no longer believe that the church could be reformed.But what is church reform. Or more specifically, what did the delegates in Constance mean when they debated church reform, why did they fail
Ep. 172: Council of Constance (1414-1418) - A Gathering of the (Christian) World
In November 1414 30,000 academics and aristocrats, bishops, blacksmiths and bakers, cardinals, counts and chefs, doctors, dancers and diplomats, princes, prelates and public girls descended on a town in Southern Germany built to house 6 to 8,000 people. They planned to stay a few weeks, 2-3 months max. But 3 and a half years later most of them were still there.What did they get up to? The great te
Ep. 171: Council of Constance (1414-1418) - Removing surplus Popes
The Council of Constance marked a pivotal moment in the history of the Catholic Church and the history of Europe in general.One issue on the agenda was the ongoing schism that the council of Pisa had failed to resolve. Another the reform of the increasingly corrupt clergy all the way up to the pope himself. And then there were a number of individual questions this gathering of thousands had to add
Ep. 170: Jan Hus (1369-1415), Reformer and Rebel?
“Master Jan Hus, preacher of the Holy Scriptures from the chapel of Bethlehem, was also present at this council, who in his preaching continuously criticized and exposed the hypocrisy, pride, miserliness, fornication, simony, and other sins of the clergy, in order to bring the priesthood back to the apostolic life. He was immensely hated by these pestiferous clerics.”This is how Laurence of Brezov
Ep. 169: Sigismund (1410-1433) - The Not Yet Emperor
The late 14th and early 15th century was a period of upheaval, the certainties of the Middle Ages, that the pope ruled the world and that knights were invincible were crumbling away, the long period of economic growth, of eastward expansion and conversion of the pagans made way for war, plague and famine. The church was split in half and the Ottomans were coming.This was an age that called forth l
Ep. 168: Ottoman Empire (1280-1396) - From Osman to Nicopolis
This week we delve into the transformative period of the Ottomans from Osman to the Battle of Nicopolis. It highlights how Osman, the son of an Anatolian warlord, laid the foundations for what would become one of the world's greatest empires, despite starting as just one of many Turkic beys in a tumultuous landscape. The narrative explores the cultural and military strategies that enabled the Otto
Ep. 167: The Great Western Schism (1378-1417) - The Impact of the Schism
When the Great Western Schism was finally resolved at Pisa and Constance, Christendom rejoiced.Or so we have been told. But was it really such a devastating, catastrophic event that left the papacy mortally wounded, so impaired that it crumbled when next the power of the pope “to bind and to loosen” was questioned? Or was it just an affair, a temporary misunderstanding created by some drafting err
Ep. 166: The Great Western Schism (1378-1417) - Popes and antipopes from Urban VI-John XXIII
If you are a longstanding listener to the History of the Germans, you will already know that sometime in the late 14th century the catholic church broke apart into 2 and then 3 different obediences, three popes residing in different places and being recognised by different nations.But what you may not know is how exactly this had happened. Why did the exact self-same cardinals elect one pope in Ap
Ep. 165: Wenceslaus the Lazy (1378-1400) and Ruprecht of the Palatinate (1400-1410)
“And since these especially ruinous harms to all of Christendom are not to be tolerated or suffered any longer, so we have completely agreed – with a well-considered disposition, by means of much and various discussion and counsel, which we have earnestly undertaken concerning this among ourselves and with many other princes and lords of the Holy Empire, for the assistance of the Holy Church, the
Ep. 164: Council of Constance and Hussite Revolt (1378-1437) - Season Opener
On 31st of October 1517 a hitherto unknown professor at the smallish university of Wittenberg published 95 theses. And by doing so, he unleashed a sequence of events that would fundamentally change the face of Europe and still defines communities and nations.The interesting question about the 95 theses is not why Luther rote them, but why they had any impact at all. Martin Luther stands at the end
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