Ep. 16 (59) - The City of Straw - Barbarossa's failed siege of Alessandria

We have just spent 15 episodes talking about the life and times of the actual Frederick Barbarossa. Exciting as his life was, his afterlife is almost as interesting. Don’t panic I will not go on for 1...

30 Sep 202434min

This week, after 15 episodes we will finally leave the emperor Barbarossa behind, though it is almost impossible to ever get away from him. No other medieval ruler is still so present in the national ...

23 Sep 202435min

his week we will discuss how Barbarossa attempts to rebuild a new ideological underpinning of his role and how that leads to renewed conflict with the popes. But then one of the most devastating event...

16 Sep 202429min

Following the Peace of Venice and the Fall of Henry the Lion, our great emperor Barbarossa has reached the end of the road. Being a man of infinite resource and sagacity he climbs out of the hole, res...

9 Sep 202430min

This episode deals with, guess what, the fall of Henry the Lion from his position as duke of Saxony and Bavaria. The interesting bit is not so much whether it happened, that is pretty obvious, but why...

2 Sep 202440min

This week we will talk about the great peace conference in Venice where Barbarossa is finally reconciled with the papacy, the Lombards and the Sicilians. It is also the time he has to bend the knee be...

26 Aug 202431min

1176 This week we talk about the next leg in this the fifth Italian campaign Barbarossa undertakes. It involves an aborted battle, attempts at peace, a mediation award, a refusal of support and the mo...

19 Aug 202433min