Episodes
May 9, 2020
087 – Marco Polo part 2
Marco Polo finally leaves on his great voyage which will take him to the ends of the known earth to meet a whole series of different cultures to then come back to Venice and live though one of the republic's most dangerous mo...
April 30, 2020
086 – Marco Polo part 1
In this first episode on the 13th century explorer Marco Polo we look at some background on Venice at his time and his family as well as introducing the figure of the Great Khan Kublai.
April 25, 2020
Special: 25th April Liberation
A special episode for the 75th anniversary of the liberation from Nazi and Fascist occupation
April 17, 2020
085 – The war of the Sicilian Vespers gets confusing
1285 - 1302 The War of the Italian Vespers gets quite confusing, but in the end finally leads to the Peace of Calbelotta in 1302 in which the island of Sicily is separated from the rest of the kingdom.
April 10, 2020
084 – The war of the Sicilian Vespers
1282 - 1285 The start of the War of the Sicilian Vespers and a strange duel to attempt to put an end to it.
April 2, 2020
083 – Who are these Aragonese anyway? With David Cot of "The History of Spain"
Before going into the war of the Italian Vespers, we get some help from David Cot of "The History of Spain" podcast to bring us u to date on the kingdom of Aragon and Peter III and his sons.
March 27, 2020
082 – Charles in charge and the Sicilian Vespers
1266-1282 Charles of Anjou settles down to govern his new kingdom... and make a mess if it, provoking the rebellion of the Sicilian Vespers.
March 19, 2020
081 – The last stand of the house of Staufen with guest host Marco Cappelli
Marco Cappelli tells us about the last stand of Conradine of Hohenstauen at the battle that took place near Marco's home town Tagliacozzo.
March 13, 2020
080 – Frederick II's boys and here come the French
1250 - 1266 We take a look at what happened to the sons of Frederick II, Conrad, Henry and Manfredi. In the case of Manfredi we see his rise to influence over almost all of Italy before it all came crashing down with the inva...
March 5, 2020
079 – The Prisoner King and the rest of Frederick II's boys
1248 -1272 We start taking a look at how things progressed after the death of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, starting with his son Enzo, who fell prisoner to the Coomune of Bologna, giving rise to a whole series of legends
Feb. 27, 2020
078 – The Golden age of communes
We take a look at some of the factors that made the 13th century the golden age of the communes such as trade and finance as the consular communes transformed into popular communes as early signs of the coming era of the "sig...
Feb. 20, 2020
077 – The situation in the 13th century and revenge in Florence
We take a look at how our communes are evolving in the 13th century with the whole messy Guelphs and Ghibellines business and have a look at the legend of how the factions were formed in Florence with the tragic tale of Buon...
Feb. 11, 2020
Recap 04: Episodes 051 – 076 from the Concordat of Worms to the death of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II
We stop for our usual recap to look back over episodes 051 to 076 going from the Concordat of Worms in 1122 to the death of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, with a look at the rise of the Commune city states and the maritime ...
Feb. 6, 2020
076 – St. Francis of Assisi
We look at the life and ideas of one of the most famous and influential figures in religious and non religious history, a young man who deemed of being a great soldier, who became one of the greatest champions of peace.
Jan. 21, 2020
075 – Heresies and the Inquisition
We take a break to look at the increase in heretical ideas and movement in the 12th and 13th centuries such as the Cathars and Waldensians and how the church decided to dea with the rising tide of critical opposition to it.
Jan. 14, 2020
074 – Goodbye Freddie II
We see the reign of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II to its end as he faces off with Gregory IX and then Innocent IV, all the while dealing with the ever rebellious communes of northern Italy in their continuous struggle betwe...
Jan. 8, 2020
073 – Frederick II stupor mundi (and a bit naughty)
1231 - 1237 We take a moment to look more into the provate life of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and see how his court, as well as seeing a little naughtiness going on, was a cradle of culture and science. We than deal with...
Dec. 29, 2019
072 – Frederick II takes the reigns and trouble starts
1220 - 1231 After his coronation as Holy Roman Emperor in 1220, Frederick II has to first consolidate the south, facing the Muslim rebellion and then deal with the insistence of the popes for a new Crusade, an issue he will f...
Dec. 23, 2019
071 – Wonderboy rising: Freddie II
1197 - 2020 We see the early life of Frederick I of Sicily, son of Constance of Sicily and Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI up to the point when he becomes Emperor Frederick II himself with great regret from the popes who had hope...
Dec. 12, 2019
070 – No more Normans and Horrid Henry
1186 - 1197 We sadly saw goodbye to the Norman kings in Sicily and usher in a new era in which the Hohenstaufen, under emperor Henry VI, son of Barbarossa, extend their dominion from the north sea to the centre of the Meditte...
Dec. 4, 2019
069 – Venice part 06
This is the last in our miniseries on Venice, taking us from the mid twelfth century back up to the notorious 4th Crusade, but not before we look at a 1997 attempt at Venetian independence using a WWII machine gun and a home-...
Nov. 28, 2019
068 – Venice part 05
This episode takes us through Venice in the 12th century, overcoming issues with Normans, Hungarians and seeing trouble starts with the Eastern Roman Empire as well as more interest towards the rest of Italy. Also there is a ...
Nov. 14, 2019
067 – Venice part 04
After being guided into the new millenium by Domenico II Orsoleo, we follow the (all too high) rise and downfall of the family as Venice itself rises and falls along its way through the 11th century with its new Norman threat...
Nov. 7, 2019
066 – Venice part 03
After addressing some listener questions on Venice, we first see Venice pass through a period of division and crisis before it finds a "saviour" in Pietro II Orsoleo who bring the city triumphantly into he new millenium.