Episode 101 – Gottschalk & Adalbert
This week we will follow the history of two men who could not be more different. On one side is Gottschalk, leader of the pagan Abodrites, who first comes to prominence as a brutal raider killing Saxons all across Holstein in revenge for his father’s killing. The other is Adalbert, son of a count, brother of the count palatinate of Saxony, friend and confidant of Henry III, a man who refused the offer of becoming pope for his ambition to convert all of Scandinavia and the Baltic.
Episode 127 – Art and Culture of the Hanse
Art and culture of the Hanse is defined by the splendour of its town halls and the soaring spires of its parish churches, but there is more…
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 119– What was the Hansa
Historians have re-intepreted the Hanse for 200 years. The latest notion is that it was a network like ebay or Amazon. Does that make sense?
Episode 118– Pirates
Klaus Stortebecker may have been a legend, but there were pirates in the Baltic in the 14th century and they were a danger to the Hansa