Frederick Barbarossa

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 Creative Licence 3.0.

As always:

Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.com

Facebook: @HOTGPod 

Twitter: @germanshistory

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

Reddit: u/historyofthegermans

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Historyofthegermans

To make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.

So far I have:

The Ottonians:

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

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: www.historyofthegermans.com

Facebook: @HOTGPod 

Twitter: @germanshistory

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

Reddit: u/historyofthegermans

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Historyofthegermans

To make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.

So far I have:

The Ottonians:

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

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 an Imperial Assembly on the fields of Roncaglia for November 11th.

For the Italians this whole thing starts to look a little bit odd. Why is he still here? Milan has fallen, imperial honor has been restored and the army has returned home, so surely the emperor is going home too. There must be some domestic issue or feud or something that requires his presence up north. But it can’t be helped; they show up as requested, hoping that all he wants is a last knees-up before going home.

They are in for a shock. Barbarossa is going to unleash on them a new and unexpected weapon, more devastating than a trebuchet and more cunning than a Bohemian king, I talk of course of the professional lawyer and the Roman Law.

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.com

Facebook: @HOTGPod 

Twitter: @germanshistory

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

Reddit: u/historyofthegermans

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Historyofthegermans

To make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.

So far I have:

The Ottonians:

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

(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, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.com

Facebook: @HOTGPod 

Twitter: @germanshistory

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

Reddit: u/historyofthegermans

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Historyofthegermans

To make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.

So far I have:

The Ottonians:

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

(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.historyofthegermans.com

Facebook: @HOTGPod 

Twitter: @germanshistory

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

Reddit: u/historyofthegermans

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Historyofthegermans

To make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.

So far I have:

The Ottonians:

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

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.

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.com

Facebook: @HOTGPod 

Twitter: @germanshistory

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

Reddit: u/historyofthegermans

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Historyofthegermans

To make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.

So far I have:

The Ottonians:

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

With an introduction by Robin Pearson from the History of Byzantium. Check out his website here: https://thehistoryofbyzantium.com/

1152 In this episode 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.

(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 Conrad III, he gains support from both the old family allies as well as from its archrivals, Henry the Lion and Welf VI. He had to promise a lot, but it was enough for him to be elected and crowned in a record 24 days.

But that is where the hard work starts. Conrad had left a realm in anarchy. Can Barbarossa calm it down?

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.com

Facebook: @HOTGPod 

Twitter: @germanshistory

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

Reddit: u/historyofthegermans

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Historyofthegermans

To make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.

So far I have:

The Ottonians:

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

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 across the four winds. But being a man of infinite- resource-and-sagacity, he keeps going, trying to gain at least one small bit of glory in the Holy Land.....

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.com

Facebook: @HOTGPod 

Twitter: @germanshistory

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

Reddit: u/historyofthegermans

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Historyofthegermans

To make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.

So far I have:

The Ottonians:

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

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 traditional route of an imperial coronation in Rome is a no go for a long list of reasons. In this desperate situation news arrive that the most fragile of the crusader states, the county of Edessa had fallen to the Muslims. Is this the opportunity Conrad had been praying for?

All that plus the usual accoutrements of mad saints, power crazy popes and treacherous nephews...

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.com

Facebook: @HOTGPod 

Twitter: @germanshistory

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

Reddit: u/historyofthegermans

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Historyofthegermans

To make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.

So far I have:

The Ottonians:

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356