Best Schwaben Podcasts (2024)

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Ep. 21 (90) - Things are Falling Apart - Parma and Piero delle Vigne 30:29

3h ago30:29

30:29

This week things will indeed be falling apart. The never-ending war is exactly what it is, a never ending, unwinnable war against an enemy that hides on the other side of the Alps and cannot be attacked. Money is running seriously low, and Frederick II is getting concerned about the loyalty of his closest associates. And those he will lose, one due…

1
Ep. 20 (89) - Holy War - Innocent IV's crusade against emperor Frederick II 31:23

7d ago31:23

31:23

This week the epic struggle between empire and papacy goes into its final stretch. The pope has fled to Lyon. There he calls a church council which Frederick is now unable to forestall. Pope Innocent IV deposes Frederick, and – for the first time in history – calls a crusade, not against the Muslims, not against pagans, not against heretics or Gree…

1
Ep. 19 (88) - A Road to Peace - Can Genghis Khan force reconcile Frederick II and the Papacy? 32:17

14d ago32:17

32:17

This week our story kicks off with the death of pope Gregory IX, nonagenarian impeccable foe of emperor Frederick II. Peace is in the air. Of the 11 cardinals getting together in the dilapidated Septizonium once built by emperor Septimus Severus, half wanted a more conciliatory vicar of Christ, but the other half did not. The very first papal concl…

1
Ep. 18 (87) - The Beast out of the Sea - The War of Words between Pope and Emperor8 |( 34:15

21d ago34:15

34:15

“Out of the sea rises up the Beast, full of the names of blasphemy who, raging with the claws of the bear and the mouth of the lion and the limbs and likeness of the leopard, opens its mouth to blaspheme the Holy Name and ceases not to hurl its spears against the tabernacle of God and against the saints who dwell in heaven. With fangs and claws of …

1
Ep. 17 (86) - Oops, we did it again - Frederick II is excommunicated again! 32:50

29d ago32:50

32:50

Emperor Frederick II has knocked the Milanese for six at Cortenuova. Their war cart, symbol of communal freedom has been captured and taken into Cremona in triumph. The Lombard league that once defeated his grandfather Barbarossa is falling apart and pope Gregory IX is cowering in the Lateran Palace. What shall he do now? Negotiate peace or go for …

1
Ep. 16 (85) - Cortenuova - The great (and only) victory of emperor Frederick II over Milan 32:20

1M ago32:20

32:20

This week we are back to action stations. We resume our narrative in 1235 when Frederick II gathered his vassals in Mainz to implement his grand plan to regain the imperial rights in Northern Italy. He picks up where his grandfather Barbarossa and his father Henry VI had to leave things, trying again, but this time with the resources of Southern It…

1
Ep. 15 (84) - The Art of Hunting with Birds 27:32

2M ago27:32

27:32

This is a whole episode about a book, a book called "De Arte Veneri cum Avibus" the Art of Hunting with Birds. Hunting books are similar to books about fishing, riveting for those who do it, crushingly boring to those who do not. But this book is not about hunting in the same way as the The Old Man and the Sea is about fishing. But this book is not…

1
Ep. 14 (83) - The Court of Emperor Frederick II 32:37

2M ago32:37

32:37

Near the town of Andria in Puglia rising from a rock that makes it visible for miles stands entirely on its own a stone structure we call the Castel del Monte. Its ground plan is unique, and like many other of the Emperor's buildings it was probably sketched by Frederick himself: a regular octagon of yellowish limestone; its smooth perfectly-fittin…

1
Ep. 13 (82) - The Constitution of the Realm - The Mainzer Landfriede on 1235 24:08

2M ago24:08

24:08

What do you do once you have condemned your eldest son and heir to life imprisonment? Exactly, you have a party, or more precisely you have two parties. But as always with Frederick II, these are not just knees-up for entertainment, but elaborately staged political events. The first is a wedding, the second a grand get-together of the whole realm a…

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Ep. 12 (81) - The King in Brackets - The sad story of Henry (VII), son of the emperor and rebel 35:27

2M ago35:27

35:27

If you have only listened to the last 5 episodes or so, you may be wondering whether this is really the History of the Germans or whether you have accidentally stumbled into A History of Italy minus the eloquence and humour of Mike Corradi. So today we will leave the shores of the Mediterranean to travel up north, though not with a train of mules c…

1
Ep. 11 (80) - A different kind of Emperor - The Constitutions of Melfi 35:05

2M ago35:05

35:05

A medieval ruler that has a Muslim fighting force at his back and call and who negotiates Jerusalem out of the hands of the Sultan of Egypt is not what you expected when you began listening to the History of the Germans Podcast. I am afraid you aint seen nuttin yet! This week we come to what was long believed to be his masterpiece, the Constitution…

1
Ep. 10 (79) - Return to Sicily - Frederick II as a state builder in Sicily 26:54

3M ago26:54

26:54

This week we look in a bit more detail how Frederick II regained his beloved kingdom of Sicily. For 30 years after the death of the last Hauteville king in 1190 the institutions of that kingdom had been eroded, the crown estate squandered, and powerful local forces had been riding roughshod over the royal administration. Fredrick will bring this la…

1
Ep. 9 (78) – A Crusade without Crusaders - The Sixth Crusade that brings Jerusalem back 46:12

3M ago46:12

46:12

This is a story I was looking forward to telling for quite some time. It has everything – crossed wires, stubbornness and vitriol as well as diplomacy, cultural awareness and stunning success. It is the story of the crusade of Frederick II, that has no parallel, for one because Frederick did undertake it whilst banned by the pope and further, becau…

1
Ep. 8 (77) - A Nail in the Coffin - Frederick II in Germany and the Sanctification of Charlemagne 30:02

3M ago30:02

30:02

This week we take a look at the reign of Frederick II in Germany from 1212 to 1220. Most of what he did was putting a nail in an actual coffin whilst also putting the metaphorical nail into the carcass of imperial rule in Germany. And was that such a bad thing? What happens when the emperor just hands out what is left of the royal demesne? Cathedra…

1
Ep. 7 (76) – From Urchin to Emperor - The upbringing of emperor Frederick II 24:00

3M ago24:00

24:00

This week we will go back 20 years and pick up the other strain of our history of the Hohenstaufen. The last three episodes we focused on events in Germany and the struggle between Philipp of Swabia and Otto IV. Today we take a closer look at the early years of Frederick II, before he came up to Germany and took over. Little is known but much has b…

1
Ep. 6 (75) – Wet Pants and other Miracles - Otto IV attacks Sicily and Frederick II chases him back to Germany 35:50

4M ago35:50

35:50

Otto IV, scion of one of the oldest and most aristocratic families in the world had achieved what so many of his ancestors have craved, ruling the empire. This week we will follow him to his coronation and the sequence of errors that will leave him back home in Brunswick, alone and forgotten. At the same time his nemesis, the child of Pulle, the im…

1
Ep. 5 (74) - A Breaking of Oaths - The Civil War between Philipp of Swabia and Otto IV 32:00

4M ago32:00

32:00

The kingdom is in turmoil. Two pretenders fight for supremacy. On the one side, Philipp of Swabia, son of the emperor Barbarossa, brother of Emperor Henry VI. and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. In the opposite corner stands Otto IV., son of Henry the Lion, protégé of king Richard the Lionheart and preferred candidate of pope Innocent III. prota…

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Ep. 4 (73) - One Pope, Three Emperors - Emperor Henry VI is dead and his son just 3 years old 30:43

4M ago30:43

30:43

This week we will see the reverse of 1046 when there was one emperor choosing between three popes. Today, we have one Pope, given the choice between three emperors. How could that happen? Last time we looked we had Henry VI. at the peak of his reign, being king of Sicily, having pushed through the inheritability of the imperial title and de-facto e…

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Ep. 3 (72) - Clouds on the Horizon - Pope and emperor Henry VI clash over Sicily 29:50

4M ago29:50

29:50

This week we will watch Henry VI’s attempts to make the papacy comfortable with the fact that their neighbour to the south is now the same as their neighbour to the North. Pope Celestin may see it as encirclement by a family whose track record as sons of mother church had been to say it politely, a bit patchy. But Henry VI thinks there is a way to …

1
Ep. 2 (71) - To Catch a King - What to do with Richard the Lionheart and his ransom? 27:50

5M ago27:50

27:50

There is one story from the Middle Ages that most people know, the imprisonment and ransom of King Richard the Lionheart of England. The chivalric knight and hero of the Third Crusade is cowardly set upon by a gallery of villains, his brother, John Lackland, the King of France, Phillippe Auguste and the money grabbing emperor Henry VI, ably assiste…

1
Ep. 1 (70) - From Father to Son - Emperor Henry VI takes over 32:20

5M ago32:20

32:20

When Barbarossa drowns in the river Saleph in 1190 the crown transfers to his eldest surviving son, Henry, known to History as Henry VI. This is the first time since the accession to personal rule of Emperor Henry III in 1039 that the imperial crown moves from father to grown up son without a glitch. In the previous 150 years, the passing of an emp…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Schwaben Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

1
Frederick II Stupor Mundi

Dirk Hoffmann-Becking

1
Ep. 21 (90) - Things are Falling Apart - Parma and Piero delle Vigne 30:29

1
Ep. 20 (89) - Holy War - Innocent IV's crusade against emperor Frederick II 31:23

1
Ep. 19 (88) - A Road to Peace - Can Genghis Khan force reconcile Frederick II and the Papacy? 32:17

1
Ep. 18 (87) - The Beast out of the Sea - The War of Words between Pope and Emperor8 |( 34:15

1
Ep. 17 (86) - Oops, we did it again - Frederick II is excommunicated again! 32:50

1
Ep. 16 (85) - Cortenuova - The great (and only) victory of emperor Frederick II over Milan 32:20

1
Ep. 15 (84) - The Art of Hunting with Birds 27:32

1
Ep. 14 (83) - The Court of Emperor Frederick II 32:37

1
Ep. 13 (82) - The Constitution of the Realm - The Mainzer Landfriede on 1235 24:08

1
Ep. 12 (81) - The King in Brackets - The sad story of Henry (VII), son of the emperor and rebel 35:27

1
Ep. 11 (80) - A different kind of Emperor - The Constitutions of Melfi 35:05

1
Ep. 10 (79) - Return to Sicily - Frederick II as a state builder in Sicily 26:54

1
Ep. 9 (78) – A Crusade without Crusaders - The Sixth Crusade that brings Jerusalem back 46:12

1
Ep. 8 (77) - A Nail in the Coffin - Frederick II in Germany and the Sanctification of Charlemagne 30:02

1
Ep. 7 (76) – From Urchin to Emperor - The upbringing of emperor Frederick II 24:00

1
Ep. 6 (75) – Wet Pants and other Miracles - Otto IV attacks Sicily and Frederick II chases him back to Germany 35:50

1
Ep. 5 (74) - A Breaking of Oaths - The Civil War between Philipp of Swabia and Otto IV 32:00

1
Ep. 4 (73) - One Pope, Three Emperors - Emperor Henry VI is dead and his son just 3 years old 30:43

1
Ep. 3 (72) - Clouds on the Horizon - Pope and emperor Henry VI clash over Sicily 29:50

1
Ep. 2 (71) - To Catch a King - What to do with Richard the Lionheart and his ransom? 27:50

1
Ep. 1 (70) - From Father to Son - Emperor Henry VI takes over 32:20

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