Episode 97 – Rebellion
The pagan Slavic peoples living east of the Elbe wake up one morning to find their oppressors fatally weakened.
Episode 96 – Meet the Neighbours
To get our bearings we undertake a tour de force of the history of Bohemia, Poland and Denmark before 973.
Episode 95 – Callous Kings and Murderous Margraves
There is no such thing as German history in a straight line. In this season we look at the North of the country that went on its own path
Episode 93 – Frederick II’s Afterlife
The Emperor Frederick II refuses to die. A revenant for 50 years, by1920 he is forgotten until Ernst Kantorowics produces his biography
Episode 92 – Papal Epilogue
45 years after the triumph over the Hohenstaufen, the papacy gets slapped in the face and their Babylonian Captivity begins
Episode 91 – Hohenstaufen Epilogue
Frederick II died in 1250 leaving behind four capable heirs. But over the next 18 years all of them died in the struggle with the pope
Episode 90 – Things Are Falling Apart
After the destruction of Victoria Frederick lashes out against his trusted advisor, Pietro da Vinea. Then Enzio is captured. The end is nigh.
Episode 89 – Holy War
Pope Innocent IV declared a crusade against the emperor, the first purely political crusade. It culminates in a showdown before Parma
Episode 88 – A Road to Peace
Frederick II was desperate to reconcile with the pope. Though his foe Gregory IX had died, and he offered submission, things did not improve..
Episode 87 – The Beast out of the Sea
Excommunication is not the end, but deposition could be. Frederick must to avoid that at all cost – even by battle at sea