Out of the ruins of the Carolingian empire a new polity emerges. It is not yet Germany, but it is no longer a pan-European Frankish empire. King Henry the Fowler elected by barely half the country forges a viable kingdom through cunning diplomacy and personal charm. His son, Otto the Great, elevates the role of King to Roman emperor, incorporates Italy, expands east beyond the Elbe, defeats the marauding Hungarians and gets recognition from the Emperor in Byzantium. Under his son, Otto II, the empire almost collapsed after a defeat against Muslim Sicily and a violent uprising of the pagan Slavs in the East. At his death, his son, Otto III is just 4 years old. He gets crowned in the nick of time but gets kidnapped by his cousin who wants to usurp the throne. Thanks to some cunning manoeuvring of his mother, Theophanu, his grandmother, Adelheid, and Gerbert of Aurillac, the smartest man in the 10th century, little Otto III is saved and the kingdom is stabilised. Otto III embarks on a madcap attempt to rebuild the Western Roman Empire with its capital in Rome. After his death the last of the dynasty, Henry II refocuses on Germany and creates the most powerful European state in the 10th/11th century.A narrative history of the German people from the Middle Ages to Reunification in 1991. Episodes are 25-35 min long and drop on Thursday mornings.
“A great many things keep happening, some good, some bad”. Gregory of Tours (539-594)
So far we have covered:
Ottonian Emperors (# 1- 21)
– Henry the Fowler (#1)
– Otto I (#2-8)
– Otto II (#9-11)
– Otto II (#11-14)
– Henry II (#15-17)
– Germany in 1000 (#18-21)
Salian Emperors(#22-42)
– Konrad II (#22- 25)
– Henry III (#26-29)
– Henry IV/Canossa (#30-39)
– Henry V (#40-42)
– Concordat of Worms (#42)
Early Hohenstaufen (#43-69)
– Lothar III (#43-46)
– Konrad III (#47-49)
– Frederick Barbarossa (#50-69)
Late Hohenstaufen (#70-94)
– Henry VI (#70-72)
– Philipp of Swabia (#73-74)
– Otto IV (#74-75)
– Frederick II (#75-90)
– Epilogue (#91-94)
Colonisation of the East (#95-108)
The Hanseatic League (#109-127)
The Teutonic Knights (#128-137)
From the Interregnum to the Golden Bull (#138 -185)
– Rudolf von Habsburg (#139-141)
– Adolf von Nassau (#142)
– Albrecht von Habsburg (#143)
– Heinrich VII (#144-148)
– Ludwig the Bavarian (#149-153)
– Karl IV (#154-163)
The Reformation before the Reformation
– Wenceslaus the Lazy (#165)
– The Western Schism (#166/167)
– The Ottomans (#168)
– Sigismund (#169-#184
The Empire in the 15th Century
– Mainz & Hessen #186
– Printing #187-#188
– Universities #190
– Wittelsbachs #189, #196-#199
– Baden, Wuerrtemberg, Augsburg, Fugger (#191-195)
– Maps & Arms (#201-#202)
The Fall and Rise of the House of Habsburg
– Early Habsburgs (#203-#207)
– Albrecht II (#208)
– Friedrich III (#209-#215)
– Maximilian I (#215-
The year is 919 AD and things are not going well. The mighty empire of Charlemagne has splintered into a multitude of puny kingdoms. Its feeble rulers are being pushed around by their formidable barons. The frontiers are breached. In the north the Vikings and Danes are ransacking towns and villages along the coasts and even deep inland. In the east the Slavs are burning Hamburg. And in the south the most terrifying of them all, the Magyars, a steppe tribe like the Huns and the Mongols, are marauding all the way from Bavaria to Northern Spain.
Cometh the time, cometh the man/woman?
Takeaways:
- The podcast introduces the tumultuous historical context of East Francia in 919 AD.
- Henry, Duke of Saxony, was elected king amidst a fractured political landscape.
- Henry’s strategic alliances with other dukes significantly strengthened East Francia’s unity.
- The Holy Lance was obtained by Henry, believed to provide divine support in battles.
- Henry’s military reforms transformed the peasant infantry into a professional fighting force.
- The victory against the Hungarians in 933 marked a pivotal moment for Henry’s reign.
Chapters:
- 00:04 – Introduction to the History of the Germans
- 00:27 – The Crumbling Kingdoms of 919 AD
- 04:24 – The Election of Henry the Fowler
- 06:16 – Unifying the Kingdom: Henry’s Strategy
- 27:07 – The Battle Against the Hungarians
- 30:42 – Henry’s Legacy and Final Reforms
- 32:23 – Outro and Next Episode Preview
The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.
As always:
Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.com
If you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans Podcast
For do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans Podcast
Facebook: @HOTGPod
Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcast
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Twitter: @germanshistory
To make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.
So far I have:
Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy
Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen
The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356
The Reformation before the Reformation
Listen as seperate Podcast on Apple
Listen as seperate show on YouTube
The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.
Overview
Out of the ruins of the Carolingian empire a new polity emerges. It is not yet Germany, but it is no longer a pan-European Frankish empire. King Henry the Fowler elected by barely half the country forges a viable kingdom through cunning diplomacy and personal charm.
His son, Otto the Great, elevates the role of King to Roman emperor, incorporates Italy, expands east beyond the Elbe, defeats the marauding Hungarians and gets recognition from the Emperor in Byzantium.
Under his son, Otto II, the empire almost collapsed after a defeat against Muslim Sicily and a violent uprising of the pagan Slavs in the East. At his death, his son, Otto III is just 4 years old. He gets crowned in the nick of time but gets kidnapped by his cousin who wants to usurp the throne.
Thanks to some cunning manoeuvring of his mother, Theophanu, his grandmother, Adelheid, and Gerbert of Aurillac, the smartest man in the 10th century, little Otto III is saved and the kingdom is stabilised. Otto III embarks on a madcap attempt to rebuild the Western Roman Empire with its capital in Rome.
After his death the last of the dynasty, Henry II refocuses on Germany and creates the most powerful European state in the 10th/11th century.
Henry The Fowler (919 - 936)
Henry the Fowler becomes the most unlikely and most successful king of the Eastern Franks in a century.
Elected by only 3 of the five dukes, he consolidates the kingdom in seven simple steps. He brings the Bavarians and Swabians into the fold, he wrestles Lotharingia from the West Francians, builds a new military, expands into the east, acquires the Holy Lance, Defeats the Hungarians and expands into Schleswig.
Jobs a good’on
#1 A New Beginning
The Election of King Henry I The Fowler
In the Year 919 when Henry the Fowler becomes king, the Carolingian Empire is in dire straits. The job is a hospital pass but….
Otto the Great – Germany’s luckiest emperor. Almost destroying all his father had built through his own recklessness he emerges from a civil war as the most powerful ruler the Carolingian empire had seen in a long time.
In 955 he comprehensively beats the bane of the age, the Magyars at the Lechfeld.
He acquires Italy with arms and charms, gets crowned emperor in Rome and even gets recognised by the Eastern Emperor in Constantinople.
His path is also littered with the most fascinating, powerful and glamorous women German history has on offer – Mathilda of Ringelheim, Eadgith of Wessex, Adelheid of Italy and Theophanu, the not quite real princess from the east. Never a dull moment!
#2 A Dog’s breakfast
Otto the not yet great makes some bad mistakes
Otto I’s reign is off to a very rocky start. He alienated his mother and his half brother – and condemns his most powerful vassal to carry dogs…
#3 A Series of Fortunate Events
The Last Minute Rescue of Otto I’s Kingdom
Otto the Great, or not yet great, is getting rescued from the utmost peril by a man with a profound dislike for women and apples
#4 A Foe Wherever You Go
King Otto I settles into being a medieval ruler
As Otto the Great consolidates his reign, enemies pop up on every corner – Bohemians, Poles, French, Danes, you name it…
#5 The Father, the Son and the Uncle
Otto I has to deal with his son Liudolf
The lovely Adelheid gets pulses racing across Europe. Not just Otto I, but his son Liudolf and his brother Henry give it a try..
#6 The Battle on the Lechfeld
A Conversation with Swords
The world is not enough for the Hungarians who take the war into the East Francian kingdom, until that fateful day in the Lechfeld
#7 A New Caesar
Otto the Great is crowned emperor
With Otto’s coronation as emperor the Holy Roam Empire that had almost disappeared under the last Carolingian rises again
#8 An Imperial Bride
The Empress Theophanu arrives from Byzantium
The last years of Otto’s reign are dominated by his aim to be recognised by the Byzantine emperor, who finally gives his niece Theophanu…
As much as Otto the Great was lucky, Otto II was unlucky. He gets ambushed by the king of France, loses the largest battle of the century in the South of Italy and in his last year the Slavs, having been brutally oppressed by his father’s generals rise up, burn cities and churches and regain their freedom
#9 A Matter of Habit
The new emperor Otto II has to face the usual rebellions
When Otto the Great was the luckiest of emperors, his son Otto II was one of the unluckiest. Things go wrong right from the beginning
#10 The Misfortunes One Can Endure…
Otto II’s Fateful Journey to Southern Italy
The unfortunate Otto II embarks on its most audacious adventure yet – The conquest of Southern Italy
Otto III comes to the throne aged 4 when his father unexpectedly died of Malaria.
His mother and grandmother have to wrestle the guardianship out of the hands of his perfidious cousin, Henry the Quarrelsome.
Once matured he becomes a fascinating figure oscillating between excessive brutality and excessive piety. His attempt at a “Restauration of the Roman Empire” fails catastrophically and his friends barely manage to repatriate his body back to Germany.
#11 Woe to the Land that is Governed by a child…
The abduction of Otto III
The 4-year old Otto III is being crowned in Aachen when messengers appear announcing his father the emperor Otto II had just died
#12 The Regency of Theophanu and Adelheid
Two Women Ruling a Medieval Empire
The Byzantine princess Theophanu suddenly finds herself in charge of the empire, an empire under threat from Slavs and Western Franks
#13 Otto III – The Wonder of the World
A Half German, Half Byzantian Teenager on the Throne of the Western Empire
Otto III usually seen as a kind and esoteric youth also had a bloody side. He took Rome twice, killing its tyrant Crescentius
#14 Otto III The End of a Dream
The Last Emperor to live in Rome
The emperor Otto III goes to Poland to visit the shrine of his friend St. Adalbert and to make friends with Boleslaw the Brave…
Germany in the Year 1000
A look around the economic, social and political structure of Germany in the year 1000. An economic boom fuelled by climate change and social changes drive an expansion of population and wealth. The major barons have managed to assert their rights to inheritance of ducal and baronial titles and rights. The empire relies more and more on the church infrastructure to gather resources and maintain the peace.
#15 Germany in the Year 1000 (Part 1)
Climate, Agriculture, Economy and Medieval Hygiene
Germany in the Year 1000 seems an alien place to us today. Lords are ruling, the church is praying and peasants are toiling, but it was also a period of dramatic economic expansion.
#16 Germany in the year 1000 (Part 2)
The Imperial Church System
The economy, infrastructure, social states, and political structure of Germany in the year 1000.
The last of the Ottonians, though much more akin to the Salian emperors who follow in his wake. After a complex route to kingship, Henry focuses on the war with his increasingly powerful neighbour to the east, Boleslav the Brave of Poland. He shocks his contemporaries by entering into an alliance with the pagan Slavs against a Christion ruler. Though he has to ultimately concede defeat he did strengthen the internal structure of his kingdom by further expanding the Imperial church system.
#17 The (not yet holy) emperor Henry II
Fighting the rivals for the imperial crown
Henry, Duke of Bavaria’s journey to kingship amid political intrigues, succession disputes, and power struggles
#18 Henry II goes forth!
The Wars with Boleslaw Chrobry
Henry II, his struggles to hold on to power, conflict with Boleslaw the Brave of Poland, and his rule in Italy,
#19 Henry II, the House of God
How a pious monarch organises his succession
How Emperor Henry II reshaped his kingdom using the Imperial Church System and founds the bishopric of Bamberg
The Ottonians a Blank Canvas? And Other Questions
These two episodes try to get a bit closer to the question of what the Ottonians mean for us today. Episode 20 – A Blank Canvas traces the way historians have perceived and interpreted the Ottonian period since the beginning of the 19th century which is almost a 1:1 reflection of contemporaneous events – leaving us with the question whether the current interpretation is also just a reflection of where we are today. The second episode is an attempt to answer all the questions you sent me over the last couple of months.
#20 A Blank Canvas
The perception history of the Ottonians
The perception of the Ottonians throughout history has changed regularly, reflecting contemporary biases more than historical reality
#21 Questions and Answers
Audio only
The Teophano episode contains an error concerning the first contacts with Polish state under Mieszko. It implies that after the initial fights with Gero, Mieszko agreed to be baptised and took a wife from Saxony. This is incorrect. Mieszko’s first Christian wife as well as the Church mission involved in the baptism was Czech. There is no express record of his intentions, but it is reasonable that he was going out of his way to show he was not being forcibly converted by the Brandenburg marchers. He married a Saxon woman when his first wife died, but this was long after the baptism.
I apriciate your explanatios. Could you please summariize the comments in a small Book and make this available. That would be a great help. Many thanks in advance. Wk
Really loved your first season, sorry I am starting so late, but I am trying to catch up fast… I can not wait to start visiting these places! I’m a decendant of Germans but my ancestors left Germany in the 1800’s, but now we are back. Thank you for this amazing podcast! Already started season 2!