We follow Cesare Borgia as he continues his conquest ousting Giovanni Sforza from Pesaro, Pandolfo Malatesta from Rimini and Astorre Manfredi from Faenza. We are also introduced to one of his most important generals, Vitelozzo Vitelli and his vengeful hatred for the Republic of Florence who executed his brother. Finally,…
With the French hold on Milan looking weak, Ludovico il Moro sees his chance to take his duchy back, but only manages for a while before he is defeated at the Battle of Novara, made prisoner and taken to France where he will spend the rest of his days in…
As we set the scene for the start of Cesare Borgia's military campaign, we start to observe the ominous signs of what is to come in Rome with the arbitrary accusation and confiscations of the Roman nobility. Then we go exploring to see what we intend with the term "Romagna"…
King Louis XII prepares to descend upon Milan to stake his claim to the duchy. Before he sees out he needs to make deals with England, The Swiss and the Italian powers, Savoy and Ve3nice. Meanwhile, duke Ludovico il Moro is also preparing and doing a really bad job of…
We follow the last stand of Caterina Sforza as the French once again descend upon Italy with king Louis XII and Cesare Borgia, made representative of Romagna by his father Pope Alexander VI, closes in on the lands of Caterina as she prepares for her last great battle.
After the assassination of her husband Girolamo Riario, Caterina is in full control as regent for her son, Ottaviano Riario. She has to navigate regional issues in Romagna, another assassination in Faenza and then the tricky balancing act during the descent of Charles VIII of France. During all of this…
After settling in to their new signoria, Caterina Sforza and her husband Girolamo Riario have to deal with continuous plots, the War of Ferrara and the death of uncle pope Sixtus IV. After that Caterina will really show what she's made of by taking and holding Castel Sant Angelo, her…
We look at the early years of the woman who would come to be known as "The Tigress of Forlì", Caterina Sforza starting with her youth at the court of her father, duke of Milan Galeazzo Maria. We then move on to the traumatic start to her marriage to Girolamo…
Having met Francesco II Gonzaga, at the battle of Fornovo, we take some time to go back and have a look at the beautiful city of Mantua from its legendary origins, surrounded by lakes created by the tears of a prophetess, through the period of our heroine, Matilda of Tuscany,…
To celebrate 2nd June, Republic Day as well as the release of the related film "C'è ancora domani" (There's still tomorrow) by director Paola Cortellesi, we are brushing up our episode on the Historical events that lead up to the referendum od 1946 which abolished the Italian monarchy, sending the…
After leaving the Papal States with Cesare Borgia waiting for us, we head into the Republic of Florence to look at the struggle with the other Italian powers over Pisa and also stop to talk a little about the man who named America, the Florentine Amerigo Vespucci. After that it's…
After seeing French King Charles VIII out of the Italian peninsula, we take a quick tour around to see what the situation is at the end of the 15th century and make sure everyone is on the same page. We look at Sardinia, Sicily, the Kingdom of Naples and the…
Charles VIII of France is on his way out as king Ferrandino of Naples, along with Gonzalo de Cordoba, are gradually taking back the kingdom. Meanwhile Charles is headed off by the Holy League of Venice at the town of Fornovo in the Apennines of Parma. In the ensuing battle,…
Charles VIII of France finally managed to get to Naples, but doesn't hang around long, the players on the Italian scene feel he has worn out his welcome and Venice, Milan, the pope, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian and Ferdinand II of Spain band together in the Holy league to threaten…
A chance visit to the beautiful Ligurian town of Porto Venere, staying in a 900 year-old tower, Torre Capitolare (https://www.capitolare.com/) gave us the opportunity to meet not only with medieval history, the Republic of Genoa and Pisa, the Castle of the Doria, but also with the Romantic ports: Byron, Keats,…
After his election as pope Alecander VI Rodrigo Borgia gets straight down to business, sorting out the lawlessness in Rome, tinkering with the delicate national balance with the Duchy of Milan, the Republics of Florence and Venice as well as the kingdom of Naples. He then has to also deal…
To celebrate the "A History of Italy" podcast joining the "Sentire" media network (sentire.media), we take a look at one of the most maligned women in history, Lucrezia Borgia. By the 20th century, her reputation was turned around a bit and from the poisoning murder and sexual predator, she became…
To celebrate A History of Italy of joining the Sentire podcast network (sentire.media (https://sentire.media) ) we go back to visit with a peculiar young girl who went from early, rather graphic and violent religious visions to become one of the most influential people of her time, able to grasp the…
To celebrate the A History of Italy podcast becoming a member of the Sentire Media (https://www.SentireMedia.com) podcast network we go back and visit with one of our personal favourites, Matilda of Canossa Margarine of Tuscany, a woman of power in a time, the late 11th century when women were not…
After seeing Charles VIII though Rome with an uncertain deal with pope Alexander VI, Rodrigo Borgia, we go back to see how the Borgias came to Italy from Spain with Alphonse of Aragon, rose to the papacy with Callixtus III who in turn raised his nephew Rodrigo. He would eventually,…
To celebrate our 6th anniversary on 3rd January, we look back on some of the most memorable sketches that have accompanied the regular episodes. From the first appearance of the Great Turnip, through the fish, frog, falcon fly king, strange trade corporations in Florence, agreeing on baguette battles to a…
We spoke to Travel book author, adventurer and novelist Simon Gaul about his new book "White Suicide" which covers a dark period of Italian history in which Christian Democrat Party leader Aldo Moro was kidnapped and assassinated just as he was about to sign a historical deal which would have…
We follow the life of mystic, prophet and monk, Gerolamo Savonarola, who came to have a great moral influence over Florence, particularly after the expulsion of the Medici. His increasing fiery denunciation of the immorality of the Florentines and then the church and pope Alexander VI made him more and…
Charles VIII of France starts to head into Italy, beginning with the lands of Savoy where a 2-year-old duke leaves things to his mum to deal with the expensive guest who also asks her for a loan. Meanwhile, the Neapolitans try to go on the offensive by attacking locations along…