Episodes
April 1, 2019
048 – Bye bye Byzantines -The end of Byzantine Italy part 2
In the second part of this miniseries we go from the time of king Rotari of the Lombards at the end of the seventh century to the fall of Bai and the end of the Byzantine presence in Italy.
March 20, 2019
047 – Bye bye Byzantines – The end of Byzantine Italy part 1
We take a look back at the Byzantine presence in Italy, from the Gothic War in 535 up to the start of the seventh century.
March 5, 2019
046 – Matilda of Tuscany, the iron countess of Canossa, part 2
We continue the story of Matilda of Canossa as war breaks out with Emperor Henry IV. We then see yet another failed attempt at marriage, the end of the fight against Henry IV and how things went with his son and successor, H...
Feb. 25, 2019
045 – Matilda of Tuscany, the iron countess of Canossa Part 1
1046 - 1080 We look at the life of Matilda of Canossa, starting from the history of her family through her childhood, the humiliation of Canossa and to the start of the war against Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV.
Feb. 16, 2019
044 – Goodbye Henry, goodbye Matilda and a can of worms
We see how Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV ended up, as well as his long-term nemesis Matilda of Tuscany, countess of Canossa. Meanwhile we change couple of popes and get a new Emperor, yet another Henry as he also struggles wit...
Feb. 10, 2019
Interview – The massacre of the Foibe and the Italian Istrian exodus with Roberta Alessandra Belulovich
On the "giornata del ricordo", a commemoration to remember the victims of the Massacre of the Foibe in Istria and Venezia Giulia in 1943 and 1945, we talk to Roberta Alessandra Belulovich, an Istria Italian about her family h...
Feb. 4, 2019
043 – A crusading we will go
1095 - 1099 We see how Urban II took the investiture controversy to a whole different level and scored major PR points for the papacy with the first crusade.
Jan. 28, 2019
Special: Italy's role in the holocaust
To commemorate Holocaust remembrance day, we look at Italy's role in the tragedy, from the initial indifference to the Jews in Italy, to the racial laws of 1938 and the deportations and killings of the war period.
Jan. 20, 2019
042 – An "Urban" pope and an imperial soap opera
1087 - 1095 We follow the start of one of the most famous papacies in history, that of Urban II and his fight against Henry IV alongside the countess Matilda of Canossa as things get personal, while the Normans try to sort th...
Jan. 12, 2019
041 – A Runaway pope and the end of the Fox
1085 - 1087 After the turmoil of the papacy of Gregory VII, we see a pope that just didn't want the job and follow the final years of the great Norman Robert Guiscard.
Jan. 5, 2019
NC 013 – Happy birthday podcast and national stereotypes
To celebrate the birthday of "A History of Italy" we are releasing a free versions of NewsCappuccino in which we talk about national stereotypes.
Jan. 3, 2019
040 – Half-time in the investiture controversy
1077 - 1085 The investiture controversy heats up with an anti-king elected in Germany and an anti-pope elected by Henry IV who then take the fight against Gregory and Matilde down into Italy with the Normans of Robert Guiscar...
Dec. 26, 2018
Christmas 2018 – Italian Christmas past and present and a Christmas witch
We have a look at important events in Italy on and around Christmas as well as explore the traditions, including that of the Christmas witch.
Dec. 19, 2018
039 – A sticky end and the humiliation of Canossa
1076 - 1077 Godfrey the Hunchback meets a sticky end and the investiture controversy reaches a high point and slips towards war
Dec. 12, 2018
038 – Gregory VII and marriage counselling
1073 - 1076 We follow the marital problems of Matilde of Canossa and Godfrey the Hunchback of Lorain while pope Gregory VII rolled up his sleeves and get's down to some serious posing and reforming.
Dec. 5, 2018
037 – The Normans run out of room and the papacy out of patience
1061 - 1073 The Normand, having conquered as much as they could in Southern Italy, head for Sicily while the struggle between the papacy and the empire heats up.
Nov. 28, 2018
036 – Introducing a beard, a hunchback and Matilda
1052 - 1061 Bonifacio Attone of Canossa dies leaving his wife Beatrice and stepdaughter to first look to the pope and then marry Godfrey the Bearded while in the backgrounds a couple of popes come and go and we also see a cha...
Nov. 22, 2018
035 – The lion, the fox and the Great Schism
1047 - 1054 Once pope Leo IX takes power, we follow his rather disastrous decision to challenge the Normans and Robert Guiscard. After that, we have a quick look at the start of the Great East- West Schism.
Nov. 11, 2018
034 – Another Henry, too many popes and naughtiness in the church
1039-1046 We follow the descent of Henry III into Italy and see how he deals with the church as a reform takes route
Oct. 28, 2018
033 – Here come the Normans, there goes the neighbourhood
We take a look at the arrival of the Normans in Southern Italy at the start of the XI century and follow their participation in the anti-Byzantines rebellions of the 1040's.
Oct. 19, 2018
032 – Saxons to Salians and a fake news legend
1024 - 1037 We look at the passage from Henry II to Conrad and look at the trouble caused for the new emperor by Bishop Aribert of Milan while he tries to consolidate his hold on Italy with the help of Bonifacio of Canossa an...
Oct. 10, 2018
031 – A rebellion in the south, a lion in the north and how Henry II got on
1009 - 1024 We take a look at a forgotten rebellion in the south of Italy headed by an apple tree, check in with the Canossa family to observe their growing power in the north and then see how Holy Roman emperor Henry II got ...
Sept. 30, 2018
Special: The massacre of Monte Sole
Between the 29th September and 5th October 1944, the Nazi occupiers of Italy, along with their Fascist allies, rounded up and killed almost 800 civilians, mostly elderly, women and children in the worst single episode of viol...
Sept. 26, 2018
030 – Saxons, Saracens, Sardinia
We leave Henry II waiting for a moment to look at the increasing Saracen raids in the early 11th century before taking a look at the unique history of the Sardinian "Giudicati".