Podcast
cccA narrative history of the German people from the Middle Ages to Reunification in 1991. Episodes are 25-35 min long and drop on Thursday mornings.
“A great many things keep happening, some good, some bad”. Gregory of Tours (539-594)
HotGPod is now entering its 9th season. So far we have covered:
Ottonian Emperors (# 1- 21)
– Henry the Fowler (#1)
– Otto I (#2-8)
– Otto II (#9-11)
– Otto II (#11-14)
– Henry II (#15-17)
– Germany in 1000 (#18-21)
Salian Emperors(#22-42)
– Konrad II (#22- 25)
– Henry III (#26-29)
– Henry IV/Canossa (#30-39)
– Henry V (#40-42)
– Concordat of Worms (#42)
Early Hohenstaufen (#43-69)
– Lothar III (#43-46)
– Konrad III (#47-49)
– Frederick Barbarossa (#50-69)
Late Hohenstaufen (#70-94)
– Henry VI (#70-72)
– Philipp of Swabia (#73-74)
– Otto IV (#74-75)
– Frederick II (#75-90)
– Epilogue (#91-94)
Eastern Expansion (#95-108)
The Hanseatic League (#109-127)
The Teutonic Knights (#128-137)
The Interregnum and the early Habsburgs (#138 ff
– Rudolf von Habsburg (#139-141)
– Adolf von Nassau (#142)
– Albrecht von Habsburg (#143)
– Heinrich VII (#144-148)
– Ludwig the Bavarian (#149-153)
– Karl IV (#154-163)
The Reformation before the Reformation
– Wenceslaus the Lazy (#165)
– The Western Schism (#166/167)
– The Ottomans (#168)
– Sigismund (#169-#184
The Empire in the 15th Century
– Mainz & Hessen #186
– Printing #187-#188
– Universities #190
– Wittelsbachs #189, #196-#199
– Baden, Wuerrtemberg, Augsburg, Fugger (#191-195)
– Maps & Arms (#201-#202)
The Fall and Rise of the House of Habsburg
– Early habsburgs (#203-#207)
– Albrecht II (#208)
-Freidrich III (#209-
Hello and welcome to Season 3 of the History of the Germans Podcast – The Early Hohenstaufen 1125-1189.
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 Cappenberger Kopf, the image of emperor Frederick Barbarossa, this episode’s artwork as its star exhibit.
Nobody expected these numbers of visitors for what was just 3,000 square meters of exhibition space. At peak times there was barely a square meter per person. People fainted in the low and badly ventilated rooms. They sold 150,000 copies of the enormous four volume exhibition catalogue, one of which to my father who proudly displayed it in his office for 40 years and is now in a box en route over to mine.
Whilst most other medieval German rulers are all but forgotten, interest in the Hohenstaufen never completely disappeared. Why is that? They were by no means the most successful emperors, that crown has to go the Ottonians nor was their reign the most fateful, that was the reign of 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 really were. As always a great many things keep happening, some good, some bad.
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
Facebook: @HOTGPod
Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcast
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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:
Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy
Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen
Listen as seperate Podcast on Apple
Listen as seperate show on YouTube
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.
Overview
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.
As always a great many things keep happening, some good, some bad.
Key Events
Lothar III (1125-1138)
The age of the Hohenstaufen begins with an emperor who wasn’t a Hohenstaufen. Lothar of Supplinburg was a Saxon duke who had spent his early years in opposition to the reigning Salian house and their allies, the Hohenstaufen. The circumstances of his election victory against Frederick of Hohenstaufen kicks off the long lasting political antagonism between Staufer and Welf, between Guelphs and Ghibellines. But despite the outward differences in background and initial political positioning, Lothar III continued the Salian policy of forcing their will upon the princes and pushing back against the papacy. The new element he brings into imperial policy is the Eastern expansion that will ultimately bring about the Baltic empire of the Teutonic Knights and the Hanse.
1125
Death of Emperor Henry V and election of Lothar of Supplinburg as Emperor Lothar III.
1130-1138
Church falls victim to a schism that pulls in all European monarchs. Lothar fights his way to Rome but dies upon his return
Episode 45 & 46
Conrad III (1138-1152)
Conrad III manages to gain the crown against overwhelming odds. His opponent Henry the proud was the son-in-law of Lothar III and the most powerful prince in the land. The coup resulted in a continuation of the civil war between the houses of Welf and Hohenstaufen. Participation in the Second Crusade was an attempt to break the gridlock that backfired badly
1138-1142
Conrad III snatches the crown from Lothar’s designated successor, Duke Henry of Saxony from the House of Welf
1149-1152
The disastrous Second Crusade wipes out what was left of royal authority. The Reich falls into chaos
Frederick I Barbarossa (1152-1190)
The most famous of all the medieval German emperors. His reign divides into three parts, part 1 (1152-1160) when he brings peace to war torn Germany and rebuilds imperial authority, part 2 (1160-1177) where he struggles with the papacy and the Italian Communes, and finally part 3 (1177-1190 a period of consolidation ending in the Third Crusade.
1153-1155
Barbarossa mends the divisions between Welf and Staufer, finds an agreement with the church and gets crowned emperor
1155-1158
Barbarossa Second Italian Campaign, first defeat of Milan and the promulgation of theLaws of Roncaglia
Episode 53, 54 & 55
1159-1162
The cities of Crema and Milan reject the new governance of Northern Italy and are besieged, defeated and razed.
1160-1167
Political and ideological conflict with the papacy. A series of imperial anti-popes fail to get traction. Barbarossa besieges Rome
1162-1167
Alongside with the schism the Lombard cities chafe under imperial rule leading ultimately to the creation of the Lombard League
1168-1176
After the catastrophic disintegration of the army before Rome, Barbarossa fundamentally resets his agenda and sets out for his fifth Italian campaign
1176
The fifth Italian campaign is going from bad to worse as he is abandoned by his secular princes. The imperial army and the Milanese meet for a showdown in Legnano
1177
Peace has to be made with the Pope, the Lombard League, the King of Sicily and Emperor Manuel. The first international peace congress meets in Venice.
1177-1181
Upon his return he finds his cousin and friend Henry the Lion under enormous pressure from the Saxon nobles. Barbarossa cannot protect him
1182-1185
After the shock of seeing his political infrastructure collapse, Barbarossa picks himself up and seeks new routes to expand his family’s power
1185-1189
The Hohenstaufen also need a new ideology, an ideology that makes them independent of papal interference.
1190
Barbarossa sets out for his last adventure. Recapturing Jerusalem and laying down his crown at the church of the Holy sepulchre is the dream that ends in the river Saleph
later
Barbarossa remains the best known of the medieval emperors. his image has gone through so many iterations, it is now difficult to sperate the man from the myth