Episodes

  • In this episode we will come to the end of the Investiture controversy, the end of the Salian dynasty and the end of Season 2  – and ask the question, what was all that about? Does the conflict between spiritual and temporal power rank alongside the great revolutions, the French Revolution if 1789 and the Russian Revolution of 1917?

    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

  • In this week’s episode the last of the Salians will find that despite all his efforts, the tide of history cannot be stemmed, almost leaving him in exactly the same place his father ended up in 1076.

    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

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  • In this episode we will see whether young Henry V will do any better at ending the conflict between Pope and Emperor, featuring one of the most audacious political moves seen in this conflict.

    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

  • This week we will talk about the last years of Henry IV, which, as hard as it is to believe, holds a final humiliation that capped the pain this man had already endured.

    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

  • In 1095 Pope Urban II launches the First crusade. Emperor Henry IV and his allies would rather be strung up below a beehive covered in honey than join a scheme devised by the Gregorian Pope.

    The lack of support by the high aristocrats did not stop the common people most of whom perish before the crusade had really begun. And some turn their religious fervour into a very different endeavour, bringing untold pain to the Jewish communities in Germany..

    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

  • The wheel of fortune turns again, tumbling our antihero Henry IV down from the heights he had so recently scaled. We will see him sink to the point of utter despair. And all that because a 43 year old woman marries an 18 year old.

    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

  • His coronation barely two months hence, Henry IV leaves Rome without capturing Gregory VII. The Pope's powerful vassal, Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and greatest of Norman warlords was approaching with an army of 36,000. Henry no longer needs Rome, what he needs to do is get back to Germany and bring peace to the war-ravaged country. A u-turn in his policies helps to gain support amongst bishops and magnates so that by 1089, the country is largely pacified for the first time in 17 years.

    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

  • The Rebellion in Germany under control Henry can finally go after his true nemesis, Pope Gregory VII. He sets out for Rome on a journey he thought may just take four months but ended up taking four years..

    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

  • Henry IV departs from Canossa having been released from the ban. But does that mean all his troubles are over? Far from it. His enemies in Germany gather to elect a new king and the war of words turns into a war of swords.

    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

  • It is time - we are finally going to Canossa. Expect imperial power to disappear in smoke, greedy mothers-in-laws, frozen passes, hoisted horses and tobogganing empresses. All that ends with the enduring picture of a king first kneeling before a woman and then before a pope.....

    That is the the episode you have to listen to!

    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

  • The rise of the papacy since 1046 is almost linear. The popes throw off the chokehold of the roman aristocracy, they take over leadership of the church reform movement from the emperors, and by the end of the pontificate of Alexander II the Holy See has become universal with kings hailing the pope and not the emperor as their overlord.

    In 1073 Hildebrand, the eminence grise of the last 20 years ascends the throne of St. Peter. His view of the role of the papacy goes even further than his predecessors. We know this because he laid it out in one of the most remarkable documents of the middle ages, the Dictatus Papae.

    This ever expanding role of the papacy had to collide at some point with the other universal power, the emperor Henry IV. Letters are exchanged and words are spoken that set events in motion that will destroy them both.

    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

  • In 1065 king Henry IV begins his personal rule. After 9 years of regency., the last 3 of which under a government of barons headed by archbishop Anno of Cologne, imperial power is much diminished. Prelates and lords are raiding the imperial purse, when the barons force the young king to dismiss his main adviser, he realises that the previous model of kingship no longer operates. He cannot rely on the oaths of fealty sworn by his counts and dukes, nor can he put faith in the Imperial Church System his predecessors could draw on.

    He chooses the royal lands around the rich silver mines of Goslar as the nucleus for his new, territorial power base. He builds mighty castles on the tops of mountains that project royal power, he installs a governor, rather than a count as the head of his administration, and most of the castles’ garrison and administrators are ministeriales, unfree men trained in war.

    This new policy clashes with the Saxons, the stem who had already stood in opposition to Henry's father and had plotted to murder him when he was only a child. In 1073 the Saxons gather in an assembly to hear Otto of Northeim 's famous speech that turned disaffection into outright rebellion. In 18 months, Henry IV's Saxon War will become a rollercoaster where he goes from unconditional surrender to triumph - but is the triumph going to last?

    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

  • Emperor Henry III is dead. The realm is now in the hands of his widow, Agnes of Poitou who rules on behalf of the six-year-old king Henry IV. Agnes is no Theophanu and no Adelheid. Not that she is incompetent, she just isn't absolutely brilliant, and absolutely brilliant is the baseline necessary to manage this fragile situation.

    The relationship between the central imperial power and the magnates has flipped, and instead of all-powerful emperors, the dukes, counts and bishops do what they like. And Henry III's bête noire, Godfrey the Bearded is more powerful than ever.

    The laity calls for a church that is more like the church of the apostles, pious and dedicated to the poor. They demand an end to simony and the licentiousness of priests.

    And the papacy asserts its independence. Not that they necessarily intend to throw off the imperial yoke, but the reformers need protectors against the Roman aristocracy that literally used popes as footstools and ATMs.

    All this culminates in a situation where the young king Henry IV sees no other way to escape from his opponents than by jumping into the cold and fast flowing River Rhine, choosing death over captivity.

    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

  • In 1046 Henry III reached the zenith of his rule. He deposed three unworthy popes and replaced them with serious churchmen who will bring the necessary reforms about. Domestically he is in control of the three Eastern European states, Poland, Bohemia and Hungary and the restless Lotharingians seem settled.

    How did it come about that by 1056 the chronicler writes that "both the foremost men and the lesser men of the kingdom began more and more to murmur against the emperor. They complained he had long since departed from his original conduct of justice, peace, piety, fear of god and manifold virtues in which he ought to have made progress"

    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

  • In 1046 Henry III finally has time to go to Rome and claim the imperial crown. All he wants is get in, get crowned and get out before the Malaria season. He encounters a problem when he finds out that the current pope Gregory VI has bought the papacy for cold hard cash, a sin that could invalidate his coronation. Henry III gets involved, deposes all three competing popes and inadvertently starts a chain of events that ends in what Norman Cantor calls "the first of the three world revolutions".

    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

  • The main role of a medieval monarch is to bring peace to his subjects. Peace is not so much absence of major international conflict, but protection from feuding lords. Whilst in France central power is far too weak to maintain any semblance of order giving rise to the Peace of God movement, the empire under Henry III can rely on its monarch to fulfil his role.

    But his rule is not without tension. The dukes of Saxony and Lothringia are moving into opposition to the king and emperor who falls severely ill in 1045.

    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

  • For the first time in almost 70 years the transition from one king/emperor to the next is smooth. Konrad II was not only one of the most successful medieval rulers, he also managed to live long enough for his son Henry III to grow up to adulthood before taking over.

    Henry III is outwardly quite different from his father, well educated, deeply immersed in the concepts of sacred kingship and immensely powerful even before he had become king. But at the same time he shares Konrad's steely determination and aggressive nature.

    Items 1-3 on his agenda are Poland (a mess), Bohemia (a pseudo-Boleslav) and Hungary (an old grudge).

    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

  • In his last years Konrad tries to further strengthen his power, first by fighting the Hungarians, unseating the duke of Carinthia and a second Italian expedition. Al three of these endeavours backfire. The Hungarians win the war, the duke of Carinthia gets unexpected support from Konrad's son Henry III and the Italian campaign ends in a fiasco entirely of Konrad's making.

    Despite these setbacks Konrad leaves a well ordered kingdom when he finally dies in 1039 after 15 years of rule. His kingdom is booming, the creation of Ministeriales and the growth of the cities create opportunities for peasants who find themselves under increasing pressures from their landlords. Castles and churches are being built on an unprecedented scale, culminating in the Cathedral of Speyer, the largest building in Europe at the time (together with the Abbey Church of Cluny)

    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

  • The event looming over Imperial politics since around 1000 is the Burgundian succession. King Rudolf III is childless leaving several contenders with varying degrees of blood relations. If Henry II who was a nephew of Rudolf III had outlived the king of Burgundy, thigs would have been easy. But the old codger outlived the sickly emperor. His successor, Konrad II had no real inheritance right to Burgundy, apart from what came from the tips of spears. Follow the epic fight against Odo of Blois over the ultimately modest riches of the Burgundian Kingdom…

    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

  • In this episode Emperor Konrad II (1024-1039) consolidates his reign adding a secular leg to his control of the imperial church by placing his son Henry on the ducal throne of Bavaria,. This is the first of many ducal and royal titles he will acquire.

    This push for centralised control leads to a rebellion, led by the emperor's 16-year old stepson, duke Ernst II of Swabia (1012-1030). Ernst fights bravely but when his vassals put the oath to the emperor above the fidelity they owe the duke, he has to succumb. Konrad first locks him up but is prepared to reinstate him if he hands over his friend and loyal vassal Werner of Kiburg. When Ernst refuses he becomes an outlaw and - in the legend - has great adventures in weird and foreign lands where the Flat Hoofs and the Grippians live...

    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