Ep. 197 – The Landshuter Hochzeit – Love and War in Bavaria (Part 2)

On November 14th and 15th 1475 one of the grandest events in the history of the Holy Roman Empire took place, the Landshuter Hochzeit, the nuptials of Georg, the Rich, son of Ludwig, the Rich and grandson of Heinrich, the Rich, all of them dukes of Bayern-Landshut, and Hedwig, the daughter of king Kasimir IV of Poland and Lithuania.

The event attracted 10,000 guests, amongst them the Counts Palatine on the Rhine, the Dukes of Württemberg, the archduke Maximilian of Austria and the emperor Friedrich III himself. It lasted several days during which the eminent invitees as well as the citizens of Landshut ate, drank, danced and watched an endless row of tournaments, plays and musical performances.

The fame of these festivities reverberated through the ages, so that in the 19th century the burghers of the town decided to stage the event again, initially annually and nowadays every 4 years. The reenactment involves over 2,000 participants, and culminates in a procession through the city, complete with bridal carriage, musicians and Landsknechte, all in splendid historical costumes.

Which leaves us with more questions than answers. How come the most powerful ruler of central Europe, Kasimir King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania married one of his precious daughters to the son of the ruler of half a duchy, hundreds of miles from his capital; secondly, how such a duke became so rich he could afford to stage an event that counted amongst the grandest weddings of this already very ostentatious century; and lastly, why Landshut is today a gorgeous, but only medium sized country town, and by no means the beating heart of Bavarian commerce, culture and politics.

That is what we are going to explore in this episode.

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.

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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