Ep. 1: Henry the Fowler (919-936) - A New Beginning

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:

1. The podcast introduces the tumultuous historical context of East Francia in 919 AD.
2. Henry, Duke of Saxony, was elected king amidst a fractured political landscape.
3. Henry's strategic alliances with other dukes significantly strengthened East Francia's unity.
4. The Holy Lance was obtained by Henry, believed to provide divine support in battles.
5. Henry's military reforms transformed the peasant infantry into a professional fighting force.
6. The victory against the Hungarians in 933 marked a pivotal moment for Henry's reign.

Chapters:

1. 00:04 - Introduction to the History of the Germans
2. 00:27 - The Crumbling Kingdoms of 919 AD
3. 04:24 - The Election of Henry the Fowler
4. 06:16 - Unifying the Kingdom: Henry's Strategy
5. 27:07 - The Battle Against the Hungarians
6. 30:42 - Henry's Legacy and Final Reforms
7. 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

Bluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.social

Instagram: history_of_the_germans

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:

The Ottonians

Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy

Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen

Frederick II Stupor Mundi

Saxony and Eastward Expansion

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

The Reformation before the Reformation

The Empire in the 15th century

The Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs