Episode 76 – Urchin to Emperor
Aged 5 he had lost both parents, gained and lost a crown. Did he really roam the streets of Palermo alone and hungry before becoming emperor?
Episode 75 – Wet Pants and Other Miracles
Frederick II rose from the confines of his besieged royal palace in Palermo to sole ruler of the empire through a series of miracles
Episode 74 – The War that broke the Empire
For 10 years Otto IV. and Philipp of Swabia struggle for leadership in Germany, a war fought as much with money and verse as with steel
Episode 73 – One Pope, Three Emperors
Henry VI’s sudden death threw both the kingdom of Sicily and the Empire into turmoil. In 1198, two new kings are elected, Philipp of Swabia and Otto IV – and baby Frederick II had been elected too…
Episode 72 – Clouds on the Horizon
Henry VI. is at the top of the tree, king of Sicily and empreror on inheritance only. But he needs one person to agree to all that, the pope..
Episode 71 – To Catch a King
In 1194 Henry VI. gets properly lucky – Richard the Lionheart is captured. Only one guess where the ransom money will be deployed…
Episode 70 – From Father to Son
In 1190 Henry VI. takes over from his father Barbarossa and one event after another draws his attention until he is defeated before Naples..
Episode 67 Germany in the year 1200 – The Peasants
What was the life of a peasant like in Germany around 1200? To what degree does he participate in the econoimic boom of teh Middle Ages?
Episode 66 – The Myths of Barbarossa
No medieval German ruler had been pressed into national service as a foil of contemporary hopes and beliefs as often as Barbarossa
Episode 65 – The Third Crusade
The last act in Barbarossa’s eventful life. In 1189 he sets on the Third Crusade. Along the way he almost attacks Constatinople, defeats the Turkish Sultan and finally drowns