Episode 25 – Speyer Cathedral
The greatest of the Salian legacies are the great cathedrals, and above all, Speyer, the brainchild of Konrad II
Episode 19 – Henry II, the House of God
How Emperor Henry II reshaped his kingdom using the Imperial Church System and founds the bishopric of Bamberg
Episode 158 – Prague – A new Rome
Episode 158 – Prague – A new Rome
“Karl, by the grace of God, King of the Romans, ever august, and King of Bohemia [ ]
We have turned over in careful contemplation, and have been diligently pondering how our hereditary kingdom of Bohemia may flourish in all its beauty, thrive in peace, and not fear the loss of its riches to its enemies, and how the general good and benefit of the said kingdom may prosper, how its’ governance may grow from good to better, and how it could plant a new seed for the faith in god.
To soundly provide for these things, neither sparing our labors nor expenses, we have decided to extend, expand, and newly delineate the city of Prague, recently elevated to metropolitan status at our insistance and request, situated in the midst of the kingdom and in a most fertile place, frequented by peoples from various regions and parts of the world, whose houses and buildings, inhabitants, and the multitude of people surrounding it, as well as the influx of people to it, which no one can count, especially because of the general study that we have decided to establish in the said city, cannot conveniently accommodate.”
So begins the charter that founded one of the Middle Ages most ambitious infrastructure projects, the creation of Prague’s New Town, the third city to be created near the ancient castles of the kings of Bohemia, making the combined city larger in surface area than Cologne, only surpassed by Constantinople and the eternal city. A new Rome was to rise on the shores of the Vitava River, a place adorned with churches and monasteries evoking the holiest places of Christianity and squares on such a monumental scale that reminds one more of the 19th century than the 14th. Prague still today attracts “people to it which no one can count”
This is what we will talk about today. Not just what he built, but why and how….
Episode 153– The Rise of Nürnberg
How did this city grow within 200 years from an imperial castle far from the main transport links, without a harbour and on famously poor soil into one of the three most important urban centres in Germany whose merchants were well regarded in all corners of the world, whose printers published the works of Europe’s leading intellectuals, whose artists were and remain of global renown and whose engineers produced breakthrough after breakthrough.
Episode 126 – A Brief History of Bremen
It’s the Hanseatic city of Bremen that’s full of drama! Different from the rest with its gutsy antics – sheltering pirates and irritating fellow Hansards. Bremen’s relationship with the Hanseatic League was as stormy as an Atlantic squall: expelled multiple times, it kept stubbornly rowing back, playing a growing role as other Hansards declined. Full of rebellions and political flip-flops, it’s a cocktail of historical lunacy. Here’s to Bremen!
Episode 125 – The Rise of Hamburg
Wars with Denmark and England dominate the 15th century. Built into these conflicts are internal tensions between the Hanse Cities
Episode 105 – The Foundation of Lübeck
Episode 105 is out! today we look at how a small settlement on a minor river became the second largest city in the empire north of the Alps