Episode 37 – The two Grooms
The wedding of the 60-year old countess Matilda of Tuscany to the strapping 18-year old Welf IV was organised by the Pope – for power not love
Episode 35 – To Rome! to Rome! – Henry IV takes Revenge on pope gregory VII
Suddenly the boot os on the other foot and emperor Henry IV chases pope Gregory VII out of Rome and into exile in Salerno
Episode 39 -The Final Betrayal
It is hard to believe, but the last years of Henry IV’s tumultuous reign still held one final humiliation that capped the pain this man had already endured.
Episode 33 – Canossa Finally
It is time – we are finally going to Canossa. Expect imperial power to go up in smoke, greedy mothers-in-laws, frozen passes, hoisted horses and tobogganing empresses.
Episode 32 – Not Pope but False Monk
The rise of the papacy since 1046 is almost linear. Popes free themselves from the Roman aristocracy, take over leadership of the church reform movement and claim universal leadership of Christianity. Conflict with the other universal power, the emperor is inevitable..
Episode 31 – The (second) Saxon War
King Henry IV embarks on his ambitious castle building project around Goslar, Otto of Northeim delivers a rousing speech, Saxons rebel, royal bones are thrown in the rubbish, brother fights brother…and more!
Episode 30 – The Three Roads to Canossa
Emperor Henry III is dead. The realm is now in the hands of his widow, Agnes of Poitou who rules on behalf of the six-year-old king Henry IV. Agnes is no Theophanu and no Adelheid. Not that she is incompetent, she just isn’t absolutely brilliant, and absolutely brilliant is the baseline necessary to manage this fragile situation.