Episode 100 – The Saxon War (Take II)
The conflict between Saxons and the empire is now hitting the hot stage, resulting in a rebellion that precedes Henry IV in Canossa.
The Harzburg (1065-1075)
There are nearly 20,000 castles in Germany, some are famous for good reason like Trifels, Wartburg or the Hambacher Schloss. Some are historically irrelevant pastiches like Neuschwanstein or Schwerin. And very few are really important to the point of being almost protagonists by themselves. One of these few is the Harzburg.
The Harzburg symbolises the shift in imperial power under Henry IV from the previous model built around oaths of fealty and royal assemblies to the raw projection of territorial control. The Harzburg both provoked the uprising of the Saxons in 1073 and brings it to an end when the sacking by the Saxon peasant army goes to far.