History of the Germans from the Middle Ages to Reunification

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 Common Creative Licence 3.0.

As always:

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

If you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans Podcast

For do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans Podcast

Facebook: @HOTGPod

Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcast

Bluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.social

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

Twitter: @germanshistory

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

Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy

Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen

Frederick II Stupor Mundi

Saxony and Eastward Expansion

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

The Reformation before the Reformation

The Empire in the 15th century

The Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs

(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

If you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans Podcast

For do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans Podcast

Facebook: @HOTGPod

Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcast

Bluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.social

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

Twitter: @germanshistory

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

Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy

Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen

Frederick II Stupor Mundi

Saxony and Eastward Expansion

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

The Reformation before the Reformation

The Empire in the 15th century

The Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs

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

If you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans Podcast

For do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans Podcast

Facebook: @HOTGPod

Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcast

Bluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.social

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

Twitter: @germanshistory

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

Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy

Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen

Frederick II Stupor Mundi

Saxony and Eastward Expansion

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

The Reformation before the Reformation

The Empire in the 15th century

The Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs

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

If you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans Podcast

For do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans Podcast

Facebook: @HOTGPod

Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcast

Bluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.social

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

Twitter: @germanshistory

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

Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy

Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen

Frederick II Stupor Mundi

Saxony and Eastward Expansion

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

The Reformation before the Reformation

The Empire in the 15th century

The Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs

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 disagree.

Will it be the German nobles or again the church who will be deciding the election? We know where the pope stands who had fallen out with Henry the Proud over some ransom money two years earlier...

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

If you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans Podcast

For do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans Podcast

Facebook: @HOTGPod

Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcast

Bluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.social

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

Twitter: @germanshistory

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

Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy

Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen

Frederick II Stupor Mundi

Saxony and Eastward Expansion

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

The Reformation before the Reformation

The Empire in the 15th century

The Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs

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 large Norman /Saracen army.

And hat is in it for him? A rewriting of the Concordat of Worms? Ownership of the lands of the great countess Matilda? or something entirely different?

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

If you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans Podcast

For do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans Podcast

Facebook: @HOTGPod

Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcast

Bluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.social

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

Twitter: @germanshistory

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

Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy

Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen

Frederick II Stupor Mundi

Saxony and Eastward Expansion

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

The Reformation before the Reformation

The Empire in the 15th century

The Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs

Before Lothar III can claim the imperial crown, he needs a pope to give it to him. There's just one problem — in 1130, Rome has two of them.

In this episode we take a vital detour to the eternal city, where medieval papal politics are every bit as violent, corrupt, and compelling as anything happening north of the Alps. Murder, torture, family vendettas, a pope dragged through the streets by his hair — and that's before the schism even begins.

We trace the bitter rivalry between Rome's two great dynastic clans, the Frangipani and the Pierleoni, whose struggle for control of the papacy has been simmering for decades. We meet the remarkable Pope Honorius II — a peasant's son who rose to become one of the most respected men in Christendom — and ask how his death in 1130 is about to blow the lid off every tension in the medieval church simultaneously.

But this episode is also about something much bigger than Roman clan politics. It's about a church splitting three ways at once — between old-school Gregorian reformers and the new austerity of the Cistercians, and between the soaring mysticism of Bernard of Clairvaux and the razor-sharp logic of Peter Abelard, the most controversial theologian of the age.

Along the way we cover the origins of Limbo, a medieval monk's digestive catastrophe, the most explicit sermon ever preached on the Song of Solomon, and the story of Heloise and Abelard — one of the great love affairs of the Middle Ages, ending in castration and a life in the cloister.

But the real head of the church is an abbot from Burgundy, Bernard of Clairvaux who is longing for an ecstatic union with the heavenly bridegroom - hence the picture (Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the Ecstasy of Santa Teresa, 1647-1654)

Topics covered in this episode:

• The Frangipani and Pierleoni clans and their violent grip on the medieval papacy
• How the Gregorian reform transformed — and alienated — Rome's aristocracy
• The rise of the Cistercian order and the extraordinary influence of Bernard of Clairvaux
• Peter Abelard, scholasticism, and the birth of logical theology
• The love story of Abelard and Heloise — and its brutal ending
• The looming papal schism of 1130 and the impossible choice it poses for Lothar III

Keywords: medieval papacy, papal schism 1130, Bernard of Clairvaux, Peter Abelard, Cistercian order, Frangipani, Pierleoni, Lothar III, Holy Roman Empire, scholasticism, medieval church history, Heloise and Abelard, History of the Germans podcast, Gregorian reform, medieval Rome

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

If you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans Podcast

For do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans Podcast

Facebook: @HOTGPod

Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcast

Bluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.social

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

Twitter: @germanshistory

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

Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy

Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen

Frederick II Stupor Mundi

Saxony and Eastward Expansion

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

The Reformation before the Reformation

The Empire in the 15th century

The Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs

The election of Lothar III in 1125 was a humiliation for the House of Hohenstaufen — nephews of the last emperor, passed over in favour of their greatest rival. But Frederick and Konrad of Hohenstaufen are not the type to quietly accept defeat. What follows is nearly a decade of civil war, a daring Italian adventure, and one of the most ambitious power grabs in medieval German history.

In this episode, we follow the turbulent early reign of Lothar III as he struggles to assert royal authority over a realm fractured by 50 years of civil war. His problems begin almost immediately — a failed military campaign in Bohemia, a bruising dispute over the archbishopric of Magdeburg, and the near-impossible task of reclaiming the Salian crown lands now firmly in Hohenstaufen hands.

Meanwhile, the brothers Frederick and Konrad launch a full-scale rebellion. They elect an anti-king, hold Germany's first recorded tournament outside the walls of Würzburg, and — in a bold strategic gamble — take the fight to Italy, where Konrad is crowned king of Italy by the Archbishop of Milan and marches on Rome in a bid to outrank Lothar altogether.

We also look at one of the most consequential but least celebrated developments of this period: the beginning of the great eastward expansion of German settlement beyond the Elbe — the policy that would eventually give rise to Brandenburg, Prussia, and reshape the ethnic map of central Europe for centuries.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Lothar III's difficult early reign and his struggles with the Hohenstaufen inheritance dispute
• The Hohenstaufen civil war: sieges, tournaments, and the election of an anti-king
• Konrad of Hohenstaufen's Italian campaign and his coronation as king of Italy in Milan
• The Welf alliance and how Henry the Proud became the most powerful lord in Germany
• Lothar's policy of eastern colonisation and the origins of the Margraviate of Brandenburg
• The final submission of the Hohenstaufen brothers in 1134

Keywords: Holy Roman Empire, Hohenstaufen, Lothar III, medieval German history, Konrad of Hohenstaufen, Frederick of Swabia, Welf dynasty, eastern colonisation, Ostsiedlung, Brandenburg, History of the Germans podcast, medieval civil war, king of Italy, anti-king

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

If you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans Podcast

For do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans Podcast

Facebook: @HOTGPod

Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcast

Bluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.social

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

Twitter: @germanshistory

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

Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy

Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen

Frederick II Stupor Mundi

Saxony and Eastward Expansion

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

The Reformation before the Reformation

The Empire in the 15th century

The Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs

Welcome to Season 3 of the History of the Germans, diving into one of the most dramatic and consequential periods of medieval German history — the age of the Hohenstaufen. But before the Hohenstaufen can take centre stage, someone else has to get out of the way first.

It is 1125, and the Salian dynasty is dying with Emperor Henry V in the palace of the Bishop of Utrecht. After a century of Salian rule — marked by civil war, the Investiture Controversy, and a catastrophic weakening of imperial authority — the princes of the realm face a fundamental question: what is an emperor actually for?

In this episode, we set the scene for the next great chapter of German medieval history by exploring the three strategies available to any new emperor seeking to rebuild royal power, and then watch as those strategies are tested almost immediately — at one of the most chaotic and dramatic royal elections the Holy Roman Empire ever produced.

At Mainz in August 1125, four great dynasties — the Hohenstaufen, the Welf, the Babenberg, and the Supplinburg — converge to elect a new king. What follows is a masterclass in medieval political theatre: tearful refusals, procedural confusion, a man jumping on a horse at entirely the wrong moment, and a last-minute betrayal that will echo through German and Italian politics for the next 150 years.

Topics covered in this episode:

• The collapse of Salian imperial authority and the legacy of the Investiture Controversy
• The three strategic options facing any new Holy Roman Emperor
• The key players at the election of 1125: Lothar of Supplinburg, Frederick of Hohenstaufen, Henry the Black of Bavaria, and Leopold of Austria
• Why not wanting the crown was the surest way to win it
• The Welf betrayal that ignited the Guelf vs Ghibelline conflict across medieval Europe
• The election of Lothar III — and why the age of the Hohenstaufen paradoxically begins without one

Keywords: Holy Roman Empire, Hohenstaufen, Salian dynasty, Lothar III, medieval German history, Welf dynasty, Guelph Ghibelline, election 1125, Frederick of Hohenstaufen, History of the Germans podcast, medieval Europe, Investiture Controversy, House of Babenberg

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

If you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans Podcast

For do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans Podcast

Facebook: @HOTGPod

Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcast

Bluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.social

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

Twitter: @germanshistory

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

Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy

Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen

Frederick II Stupor Mundi

Saxony and Eastward Expansion

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

The Reformation before the Reformation

The Empire in the 15th century

The Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs