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…
We look at the background to the expedition by King Charles VIII of France into Italy to claim the throne of Naples. This takes us to explore the situation i Milan, with Duke Gian Galeazzo Sforza and his uncle Ludovico il Moro, then to Naples, where king Alphonse II has…
Before charging into the modern age, we take our usual look back on past episodes for a recap. In this case we look at the middle to late 15th century as the "big five" Naples, Milan, Venice, Florence and the Papal States struggle for dominance in a complicated balance, without…
We go back to a quiet mountain valley of north-eastern Italy where the peace was forever broken by one of the country's most ambitious architerctural and engineering projects that ended in one of the worst disasters in the history of Italy in the 20th century. This is the story of…
Just a few seconds to let you knwo that we are almost ready to get back on track, but we need for the surroundings to go back so some minimal for of tranquility
We linger yet another episode in the Middle Ages to take a look at the Duchy of Urbino and in particular the "condottiero" Federico da Montefeltro, he of th eodd shped nose. There is also a murder mystery surrounding the death of his predessssor and some macbre pasrts with intimate…
Just a quick annoucement to update on goings on in the AHoI family life as well as plans for the near future
We take a look at what life was like in the middle ages for the average Giuseppe and Lucrezia, from birth to death, sickness, medicine, work, free time, travel and sex and all the naughtiness connected to it.
Just a quick update to apologise for a publishing delay and tell you a little about our sketches, the Italian school system and the current political situation in Italy
We take a little trip around the region of Lombardy, going beyond the financial and fashion capital Milan, to explore the beautiful nature of lake Como and hear all about the lake, monster that resides there. On the way, we will hear about a bridge, built by the devil in…
Click on the link to see the tours: https://voicemap.me/publisher/a-history-of-italy-podcast Or choose eon of VoiceMap's over 1000 self-guided audio tours for locations around the world