History

Frederick Barbarossa

by History of the Germans

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The Reformation! (1517-1555)

From History of the Germans

History of the Germans from the Middle Ages to Reunification

Similar topics: frederick and hohenstaufen

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Latest episodes

Ep. 11 (54) - A Bohemian Bluff - Barbarossa conquers Milan for the first time

July 8, 2024 · 31 min

(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…
Ep. 10 (53 - Sacrum Imperium - The moment when the Empire becomes Holy and Roman

July 1, 2024 · 34 min

(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…
Ep. 9 (52) - The Honour of the Empire - Bringing the broken Empire back together

June 24, 2024 · 40 min

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…
Ep. 8 (51) - The Barbarossa - Who was the Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa?

June 17, 2024 · 19 min

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…
Ep. 8 (50) - Barbarossa Begins - A Stolen Election?

June 10, 2024 · 27 min

(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…

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Ep. 7 (49) - Konrad's Catastrophe - The Disaster that is the Second Crusade

June 3, 2024 · 33 min

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…
Ep. 6 (48) - Konrad's Conundrum - Imperial Coronation or Crusade?

May 27, 2024 · 32 min

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…
Ep. 5 (47) - Konrad's Coup - The Hohenstaufen Konrad III snatches the crown from the Welf

May 20, 2024 · 29 min

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…
Ep. 4 (46) - A Topsy Turvy World - Lothar III and the schism between Anaclet II Innocent II

May 13, 2024 · 36 min

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…
Ep.3 (45) - Triple Division - The role of Bernard of Clairvaux

May 6, 2024 · 31 min

This week we take a little detour to catch up with our friends in Rome, the popes. Do not worry, the popes are no longer all goody two shoes, we are back to the usual shenanigans of murder, backstabbing, betrayal and the Normans. The…
Ep. 2 (44) - A Saxon Emperor - Lothar III takes the crown and ends in a civil war with the Hohenstaufen

April 30, 2024 · 28 min

Lothar III being duly elected and crowned declares a 12 month peace for the whole realm., only to break it himself a few months later. Frederick of Hohenstaufen, his rival for the crown is unwilling to hand over the crown lands he is still…
Ep. 1 (43)- All Change, All Change - The tumultuous Election of Emperor Lothar III

April 27, 2024 · 35 min

Between March and June of 1977 675,000 people visited the Alte Schloß in Stuttgart to see an exhibition entitled “Die Zeit der Staufer” (the Time of the Hohenstaufen in English). Over 1,000 items from 17 countries were on display, with the…

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About the show

Most other medieval German rulers are all but forgotten, so why has interest in the Hohenstaufen never completely disappeared. They were by no means the most successful emperors, that crown has to go the Ottonians, nor was their reign the most fateful, that award goes to the later Salians. Frederick Barbarossa and his grandson Frederick II have been such fascinating personalities that almost any age could project their own perceptions and expectations onto them, from champion of national unity to modern man before his time. Time to find out what really happened, who they actually were. This podcast is part of the broader History of the Germans podcast that aims to track the history of the German people from the Early Middle Ages to Reunification in 1991. If you enjoy this show, check out any of the other seasons or follow the main show. So far I have the following seasons: The Ottonians (919 AD-1024 AD) Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy (1024 AD-1125 AD) Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen (1125-1190) Frederick II Stupor Mundi (1190-1268) Saxony and Eastward Expansion The Hanseatic League The Teutonic Knights The Holy Roman Empire (1250 AD -1356 AD) The Reformation before the Reformation (1356AD -1439 AD) The Empire in the 15th Century The Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs (1439AD -1519 AD)