Best Zurek Podcasts (2024)

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Ep. 169 – Sigismund, the (not yet) Emperor 45:43

20m ago45:43

45:43

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 Ottoma…

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Ep. 168 - From Osman to Nicopolis: The Rise of the Ottoman Empire 43:42

7d ago43:42

43:42

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 cult…

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Ep. 167 - The Great Western Schism - Part 2 43:07

7d ago43:07

43:07

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 temp…

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Ep. 166 – The Great Western Schism – Part 1 42:29

14d ago42:29

42:29

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…

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Ep. 165 - Wenceslaus the Lazy and Ruprecht of the Empty Pocket 35:37

21d ago35:37

35:37

“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 E…

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Season 9 - The Reformation before the Reformation - Season Opener 44:34

28d ago44:34

44:34

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…

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Germany at War - A Guest Episode from Not so Quiet on the Western Front 1:15:33

1M ago1:15:33

1:15:33

As you know I am still working on getting season 9 to the staring blocks. The good news is that we will be kicking off on October 3 embarking on journey that will take us to the council of Constance, the Hussite wars, the emergence of Burgundy and the rise of a completely new threat- the Ottoman empire. Everything changes as we leave the Middle Age…

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Charles IV. A Portrait of a Medieval Ruler - Interview with Václav Žůrek 40:07

2M ago40:07

40:07

The Emperor and King Charles IV (1316-1378) represents today an untouchable monument in Czech history, carved into the marble of admiration and clichés. Although a new and thorough study of his reign is yet to be written, it is nevertheless useful to introduce Charles IV from a new perspective. In many regards, historical research has already broug…

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Ep. 163 – Succession and Legacy 24:41

2M ago24:41

24:41

This is the last episode of this season and it is time to say goodbye to Karl IV, Ludwig the Bavarian, Henry VII, Albrecht of Habsburg, Adolf von Nassau and Rudolf of Habsburg. These have been some eventful 138 years. When Karl IV died in 1378 he left behind an impressive list of achievements but also a number of failures. And he left behind a son,…

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Ep. 162 – Schisms and Deals 29:49

2M ago29:49

29:49

For more than a hundred years the Holy Roman Empire was a mess of constant infighting between and within the great princely families. But by the 1360s the consistent policies and elaborate diplomacy of emperor Karl IV had produced a degree of stability not seen by anyone alive. With the home front calm, the emperor can again assume a role on the Eu…

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Ep. 161 – A Luxemburg Empire 26:24

2M ago26:24

26:24

All is well in the empire. The Golden Bull had been debated, agreed, sealed and then celebrated at the great diet in Metz in 1357. The first time in decades that all the Prince Electors had come together and performed the ancient duties of their offices. Even the Dauphin of France had come to do homage to Karl IV for the lands he held inside the em…

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Ep. 160 – The Golden Bull of 1356 26:27

2M ago26:27

26:27

“Every realm that is divided internally will go to uin, for its princes have become the comrades of thieves. The Lord has poured out the spirit of deceit among them, so that they grope about at midday as though in darkness, and He has withdrawn the light from their dwellings, so that they are blind and leaders of the blind. And those who wander in …

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Ep. 159 – The Rise to Imperial Power, Charles IV journey to Rome 34:32

3M ago34:32

34:32

This season has now gone on for 22 episodes. We started with the interregnum of largely absent rulers and after a brief renaissance under Rudolf von Habsburg the empire became a sort of oligarchy where 3 families, the Luxemburgs, the Wittelsbachs and the Habsburgs took turns on the throne. Succession usually involved some form of armed conflict bet…

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Ep. 158 – Prague – The New Rome? Karl IV’s great plans for his capital city 32:51

3M ago32:51

32:51

“Karl, by the grace of God, King of the Romans, ever august, and King of Bohemia [ ] We have turned over in careful contemplation, and have been diligently pondering how our hereditary kingdom of Bohemia may flourish in all its beauty, thrive in peace, and not fear the loss of its riches to its enemies, and how the general good and benefit of the s…

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Ep. 157 – The Black Death and other Calamities 34:57

3M ago34:57

34:57

In around 1320 near the lake Issy-Kul in Kyrgysistan the rats started dying. Shortly after the inhabitants became affected with terrible diseases. Some started coughing up blood and all who did, died within 3 days. Others developed swellings of the lymph nodes, particularly in the groins and armpits. Roughly half of them died within five days. A sm…

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Ep. 156 – What Price a Crown - Karl IV fight for the throne 25:11

3M ago25:11

25:11

The year is 1346 and we have, yes, another succession crisis. Without checking through my 1500 pages of transcripts, I have counted a total f 14 contested imperial elections in the 427 years we have covered so far. Henry the Fowler, Herny II, Henry IV, Henry V, Lothar III, Konrad III, Philip of Swabia, Otto IV, Frederick II, Konrad IV, Richard of C…

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Ep. 155: The Youth of the Emperor Karl IV 28:29

4M ago28:29

28:29

You have heard me complaining regularly over the last 154 episodes that what we report as political ambitions or strategic plans of the kings and emperors was pure conjecture derived from their actions and public statement. But we could never know what they were really thinking because none of them kept a diary, or if they did they did not survive …

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Ep. 154 - The Blind King John of Bohemia 40:06

4M ago40:06

40:06

The noble and gallant King of Bohemia, also known as John of Luxemburg because he was the son of the Emperor Henry of Luxemburg, was told by his people that the battle had begun. Although he was in full armour and equipped for combat, he could see nothing because he was blind. He asked his knights what the situation was and they described the rout …

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Ep. 153 – The Rise of the city of Nürnberg 27:24

5M ago27:24

27:24

“In the same way that Jerusalem is the navel of the world, is Nurnberg the navel of Germany” is how Matthäus Dresser described the city in 1581. The astronomer Johannes Regiomontanus moved to Nurnberg in 1471 because there" ...one can easily associate with learned men wherever they live. Because of the cosmopolitanism of its merchants, this place i…

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Ep.152 - The (not so) Ugly Duchess Margarete Maultasch 35:00

5M ago35:00

35:00

“The twelve-year-old Margarete, Princess of Carinthia and Tyrol, was travelling from her seat near Meran to Innsbruck for her wedding with the ten-year old Prince Johann of Bohemia. [..] Still and serious she sat, in ceremonial pomp. Her bodice was so tight that she had had to be laced into it; her sleeves of heavy green satin, in the very extreme …

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Ep. 151 – The Kurverein zu Rhens – featuring William of Ockham 37:15

5M ago37:15

37:15

This week we look at the central intellectual debate of the 14th century, did Jesus own property? If yes, then it was right and proper that the church owned land, privileges, entire counties and duchies, yes that the pope was not just the spiritual but also the secular ruler of all of Christianity. And if not, then the pope as a successor to the ap…

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Ep. 150 – The Last Chivalric Battles – Morgarten and Mühldorf 38:25

5M ago38:25

38:25

The 14th century is a time of fundamental change in practically all areas of social, political and economic life. It is a time when the certainties of the Middle Ages are replaced by a process of trial and error, sometimes successful, but almost always violent. We see new frameworks of how society and in particular the religious authorities should …

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Ep. 149 – The Real Ludwig of Bavaria 39:39

5M ago39:39

39:39

A few months after emperor Henry VII had died in the Tuscan village of Buonconvento and before a successor had been elected, a young man, Ludwig, second son of the duke of Upper Bavaria made his name defeating a much larger Habsburg force. This success could not have come at a more opportune time as it propelled him into contention for the title of…

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Ep. 148 - Imperial Swansong – the End of Henry VII’s Campaign in Italy 37:14

6M ago37:14

37:14

The year is 1312 and Henry VII is finally embarking on his journey to Rome that will bring about the first imperial coronation in almost a century and hence the formal end to the Interregnum, the time without emperors. Becoming emperor is hard enough, but being emperor is even harder, as the first Luxemburger to ascend the throne of Charlemagne wil…

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Ep. 147 – Brescia or Bust – Henry VII’s Big Mistake(s) 34:43

6M ago34:43

34:43

Henry VII had gained control of most of Northern Italy in less than three months. It will take him 9 months to lose it all again. How did he go from bringer of peace and justice and all out saviour of Italy to brutal conqueror and godless tyrant? Let’s find out. The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel …

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Ep. 146 – The Return of the King – Henry VII’s Journey to Rome 33:49

6M ago33:49

33:49

In the winter of 1310 the emperor elect Henry VII not yet 40 years of age and every inch a king appears in Italy. An Italy torn apart by incessant violence, between and within the cities. Allegedly it is a struggle between the pro-imperial Ghibellines and the pro-papal Guelphs, but 60 years after the last emperor had set foot on Italian soil and se…

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Ep. 145 - How to make Friends and Influence People – The Luxemburgs become Kings of Bohemia 29:46

7M ago29:46

29:46

Henry, the new king of the Romans, just 30 years of age, tall and blond, every inch his forebearer the great Charlemagne had a one track mind. There was one thing he wanted and that was the imperial crown. It is now 60 years since there last had been a crowned emperor. We had such an interregnum before, in the 10th century between the death of empe…

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Ep. 144 - The Rise of the House of Luxembourg - The election of Emperor Henry VII 23:35

7M ago23:35

23:35

On November 27th, 1308 the prince electors chose Henry VII, count of Luxemburg to be their new king of the Romans and future emperor. Little did they know that this decision will give rise to a dynasty that will rule the empire for as many decades as the Ottonian, the Salian and the Hohenstaufen had. A dynasty that featured such emblems of chivalri…

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Ep. 143 – The Murder of a King - Albrecht I von Habsburg. 34:45

7M ago34:45

34:45

The late 13th century was the sniper’s alley for many a powerful family. The disappearance of great dynasties, the Arpads of Hungary, the Premyslids of Bohemia, the Zaehringer, Babenbergs, the counts of Holland to name just a few wasn’t down to lack of fertility but down to violence. Murder became so common, even those who did not have swords stick…

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Ep. 142 - Adolf von Nassau - A Shadow of a King 30:05

8M ago30:05

30:05

After the death of Rudolf von Habsburg the Prince Electors chose another, now truly impecunious count, Adolf von Nassau to be king. They chose him over Rudolf’s son Albrecht and over the overwhelmingly most powerful prince in the empire, King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia. This cultured and competent man became known to German history as a Schattenkönig…

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Ep. 141 - Rudolf von Habsburg Semper Augustus - Allezeit Mehrer des Reiches 32:59

8M ago32:59

32:59

Martin Rady in his highly amusing and exceptionally well written book on the Habsburg said: “The remainder of Rudolf’s reign up to his death in 1291 was a failure. He did not manage to have himself crowned emperor by the pope and had to make do with the title of king…it was a false dawn, both for the Holy Roman empire and for the Habsburgs” I most …

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Ep. 140 – Rudolf von Habsburg and the Golden King Ottokar II of Bohemia 34:48

8M ago34:48

34:48

This week we will look at what the poor count Rudolf of Habsburg does once he had been elected King of the Romans. This is not the first time the electors have chosen a man of much more modest means than themselves. William of Holland and Hermann von Salm had failed to leverage their elevated status into tangible gains. But Rudolf is different. Thr…

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Ep. 139 – The End of the Interregnum - The Election of Rudolf von Habsburg in 1273 37:01

8M ago37:01

37:01

On October 1, 1273 seven princes elected a new king of the Romans. Their choice was a momentous one that set European history further down its path away from a universal empire to separate kingdoms and principalities. The pope had demanded that they come to a unanimous decision so that the empire could again participate in a crusade to stop the rem…

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Season 8 From the Interregnum to the Golden Bull (1250-1356): Catch-up Episode 50:44

9M ago50:44

50:44

This episode is something I never thought I would do, it is a run through the history of the Holy Roman Empire from 919 AD to 1250, pretty much most of the periods I have covered so far. Why do it? If you’re one of those who have listened religiously to all 137 episodes so far and feel completely up to date with what happened in the past, this will…

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Ep. 137 – The Conversion - Albrecht, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order becomes a protestant duke 29:18

9M ago29:18

29:18

This week we will talk about the end of the rule of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia. Instead of a land ruled by a chivalric order answering to the pope, Prussia became a secular state, ruled by a protestant prince and run by a newly created class of land-owners, the famous Prussian Junkers whose impact on German history stretched well into the 20th…

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Ep. 136 – 13 Years of War - The Prussian League shifts allegiance 28:24

9M ago28:24

28:24

The theocratic state of the Teutonic Knights had survived the devastating defeat at Tannenberg with most of its territory intact. But underneath the foundations of the edifice are crumbling. The economy is in tatters, the theological justification for their existence has disappeared and their power as a military force has failed to keep up with the…

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Ep. 135 - After Tannenberg - The rule of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia weakened 26:51

10M ago26:51

26:51

Last week we ended with the famous battle of Tannenberg or as the Poles would call it Grunwald and the Lithuanians Zalgiris. This battle is not just famous for its outcome but also for the various accounts of what happened. There is a Polish version there is a Lithuanian version and there's obviously a German version, actually 2 German versions. Th…

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Ep. 134 – Tannenberg / Grunwald / Žalgiris - A battle of many names 41:11

10M ago41:11

41:11

This week we look at the reasons the golden age of the Teutonic knights came to an abrupt end at the beginning of the 15th century. It is a sequence of events that involve some remarkable Polish and Lithuanian princes, the Templars, and of course – The brothers of the house of St. Mary of the Germans in Jerusalem. Ah, and a very famous battle. Epis…

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Ep. 133 – The Order of the Order - The organisational structure of the Teutonic Knights 31:43

10M ago31:43

31:43

In the century that followed the last of the Prussian and Livonian uprisings the states of the Teutonic Order in the Baltic experienced a period of economic growth and internal and external stability that is almost unique in the chaotic 14th century. Whilst Europe was in the grip of the Hundred-Years War, an incessant merry go round of internecine …

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Ep. 132 – The Battle on the Ice - Alexander Nevsky, Sergei Eisenstein and what really happened 38:17

11M ago38:17

38:17

This week we look at the activities of the Teutonic order in Livonia during the 13th century. The situation in Livonia was profoundly different to Prussia and posed a number of new challenges for the brothers. In Livonia there were the powerful bishops of Riga to contend with who had led the crusade there since its inception in the 1180s. The Hanse…

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Ep. 131 – The Conquest of Prussia (Part II) - The second, third and n-th Prussian uprising 31:59

11M ago31:59

31:59

Last week we left the action after the Teutonic Knights had signed the peace of Christburg in 1249 to put an end to the first Prussian revolt. The local population had risen up with the help of duke Swantopolk of Pomerelia who feared for the commercial success of his main city, the city of Danzig/Gdansk. After 7 years of war and devastation the pop…

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Ep. 130 – The Conquest of Prussia (Part I) - from Konrad of Masovia's offer to the first Prussian revolts 35:30

11M ago35:30

35:30

Last week we heard about Konrad of Masovia’s offer of the Kulmer Land to the Teutonic knight. This week we will talk about what they did once they had accepted the offer. The first knights arrived in 1226 but it would take almost 6o years before their new principality of Prussia was fully established. The Prussians, despite initially being lightly …

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Ep. 129 - Hermann von Salza - Diplomat and Grand Master of the Teutonic Order 38:13

11M ago38:13

38:13

“.. the far-sighted planning of Grand Master Brother Hermann von Salza had so strengthened the Teutonic Order that it had many members and such power, riches and honour that word of its fame and good reputation had spread the length and breadth of the empire.” So describes the chronicler Nicolaus von Jeroschin the role of the fourth and arguably mo…

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Season 7 The Teutonic Knights: Ep. 128 - A Chivalric Order 41:21

12M ago41:21

41:21

Hello and welcome to a new season of the History of the Germans, the Teutonic Knights or to give them their full title, the knights of the hospital of St. Mary of the House of the Germans in Jerusalem. Even though the state they had created in Prussia has been wiped off the map with all its cultural markers, the Teutonic Knights are not forgotten. …

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An Interview with Carsten Jahnke 39:57

12M ago39:57

39:57

Professor Carsten Jahnke, one of the leading historians on the Hanse has kindly granted us an interview where we discuss how the Hanse network functioned and how the perception of the Hanse has changed dramatically over the last 200 years, a story that almost as interesting as the history of the Hanse itself. As listeners of the last season of the …

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Ep. 127 - The Art and Culture of the Hanse 25:21

1y ago25:21

25:21

Our history of the Hanse has come to an end, not with a bang but with a whimper. Of the things that have remained we have already talked a lot, the ideal of the honourable Hanseatic merchant, the cultural and political links to Scandinavia and the stories. The stories of the famous pirates, Klaus Störtebecker and Hans Benecke, the heroics of the wa…

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Ep. 126 - A Brief History of Bremen 33:01

1y ago33:01

33:01

Bremen was geographically and politically quite different from the other cities, ploughing its own furrow. In response the other Hansards did not trust the citizens of Bremen. There is also the minor issue that Bremen sheltered a lot of pirates. Still as the Hanse declined politically, Bremen took on an ever-larger role until becoming one of the la…

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Ep. 125 – The Rise of Hamburg in the 16th century and beyond 34:22

1y ago34:22

34:22

The last two episodes may have left you with a sense of gloom and foreboding about the great Hanseatic cities. But here is the counterintuitive fact, the Hanse may continuously loose political power and economic relevance, but the cities that make up the association are flourishing. Not all of them but some, Hamburg and Danzig in particular. Why it…

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Ep. 124 – Decline and Fall (Part 2) - Jürgen Wullenwever's and Lübeck's last stand 41:49

1y ago41:49

41:49

1531-1535, a period of just 4 years is enough to capsize Lübeck’s position as the diplomatic heart of the Baltic Sea, general secretary of the Hanse, ally of both the king of Denmark and the king of Sweden and early member of the Schmalkaldic League. How can that happen? As Edward Gibbon would say: History, in fact, is no more than a list of crimes…

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Ep. 123 – Decline and Fall (Part 1) - Emperors, kings and princes are closing in on Hanse cities 37:07

1y ago37:07

37:07

1474-1531 was a time of immense change and upheaval for the Hanseatic League, and not just for them. The Habsburg empire is bedded into being, England’s war of the Roses is over, in the North the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth stretches all the way from Kyiev to Gdansk. The kingdoms and princes are getting stronger. Columbus tries to sail to India …

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