History of Venice Podcast

"Tu oublieras aussi Henriette". The words scratched with diamond on a window of the finest hotel in Geneva remained scored on Casanova's soul for 50 years. This week, we tell the story of the woman he...

11 Feb 57min

Christmas 1201. Hagenau, Alsace. While the faraway Venetian shipyards are busy building a massive fleet for the crusading army, two men with ambitions to rule the Eastern and Western Empires respectiv...

4 Feb 1h 15min

Pope Innocent wants a Crusade. The Venetians are good and devout Catholics, but what they really want is trade. How do these two forces combine in the preparations for the Pope’s glorious attempts to ...

28 Jan 53min

We've finally reached the Fourth Crusade. To kick us off with the background, we speak to history podcaster and author Marco Cappelli, whose recent book "Quando Venezia Distrusse l'Impero Romano" lays...

21 Jan 53min

In 1192, Venice elects a new Doge. In an age of warrior kings, the Venetian electoral college picks an 85-year-old blind man. It’s time for us to meet the legendary Enrico Dandolo. Recommended reading...

14 Jan 52min

We’ve been so focused on the dramatic events of the second half of the 12th century recently that we haven’t had much chance to look at the people who led the city of Venice through these dramatic tim...

7 Jan 57min

Byzantine chronicler Niketas Choniates tells a lurid tale of the chaos that engulfed the Empire between 1180 and 1185 -- the crucial period when the Venetian hostages were finally released. It's an ex...

1 Jan 1h 38min

A few episodes ago, we left thousands of Venetians languishing in makeshift Byzantine prisons. As the fires of history burned their way through the 1170s, those hostages could have been forgiven for f...

29 Des 202533min