Ep. 204: Habsburg Dukes (1308-1437) – Rudolf IV, Founder and Forger
Rudolf IV of Habsburg (1339–1365), son of Albrecht “the Wise,” reigned as Duke of Austria for just seven years but left a lasting mark. Born when the dynasty seemed close to extinction, Rudolf secured...
28 Aug 202532min
Ep. 203: Early Habsburgs – From Rudolf I to Albrecht the Wise
The Habsburg dynasty, originating from Radobot’s castle in 11th-century Switzerland, rose from obscurity to European prominence. In 1273 Rudolf of Habsburg was elected King of the Romans. Far from the...
21 Aug 202525min
The Fall and Rise of the House of Habsburg - Trailer
"Let others wage war: you, happy Austria, marry’. Is that really it? Did this family acquire an empire where the sun never sets through just luck and longevity?That is what we will try to find out in ...
14 Aug 20256min
Ep. 202 - Arms and Armour
In 1550 Spanish court records show that the Augsburg armorer Kolman Helmschmied was paid an advance of 2,000 ducats for a full armour for king Philipp II. The final price for this piece was 3,000 duca...
24 Jul 202535min
Ep. 201 – Mapping the World, or how Germans invented America
When you enter the great hall of the Thomas Jefferson building at the Library of Congress in Washington, the first exhibit you will be facing is their Gutenberg Bible. And it is one of the finest Gute...
17 Jul 202548min
Ep. 200 – Divide and Lose, the Leipziger Teilung
When two brothers, Ernst and Albrecht of Saxony divided up their enormous inheritance that comprised Thuringia, Meissen and the electorate of Sachsen-Wittenberg, they not only undermined their power b...
3 Jul 202528min
Ep. 199 – How Holland was Lost to the Holy Roman Empire (Part 2 - the Economy)
So, why did Holland really leave the empire? Was it because the valiant and tragic countess Jacqueline was “hunted down from one land to the other, all of them mine”. Was it a story of misogyny, betra...
26 Jun 202535min
Ep. 198 – How Holland was Lost to the Holy Roman Empire (Part 1 - the Politics)
Today begins a two part series about how the Low countries modern day Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg shifted out of the Holy Empire. These lands, with the exception of Flanders, had been part of t...
19 Jun 202542min
