Showing results by author "Dirk Hoffmann-Becking" in All Categories

Most other medieval German rulers are all but forgotten, so why has interest in the Hohenstaufen never completely disappeared. They were by no means the most successful emperors, that crown has to go the Ottonians, nor was their reign the most fateful, that award goes to the later Salians. Frederick Barbarossa and his grandson Frederick II have been such fascinating personalities that almost any age could project their own perceptions and expectations onto them, from champion of national unity to modern man before his time. Time to find out what really happened, who they actually were. This is...

The podcast that does what it says on the tin: a narrative history of the German people that starts in the year 919 AD and hopes to get all the way to 1991. Episodes are 25-35 min long and drop on Thursday mornings. As Gregory of Tours (539-594) said: "A great many things keep happening, some good, some bad" . The show is now entering its 8th season. So far we have covered: The Ottonian Emperors (Ep. 1- 21) - Henry the Fowler (Ep. 1) - Otto I (Ep. 2-8) - Otto II (Ep.9-11) - Otto II (Ep. 11-14) - Henry II (ep. 15-17) - Germany in the Year 1000 (ep. 18-21) The Salier and the Investiture ...

I promised you a History of the Germans but I am afraid there is no such thing. All I can give you is the histories of the German people. The previous 94 episodes you have heard one of the histories of the Germans, the one about the mighty emperors and their political, military and spiritual struggle with the papacy. It is a great story, and it was fun to tell it. But today we kick off another of the histories, the history of the North of Germany, the part that looked east, rather than south. It is a story of a frontier culture where an estimated 7% of the population of the western part of the...

A narrative history of the Salian Emperors and their epic struggle with the papacy in weekly 25-25 minute episodes. Note, this is season 2 of the History of the Germans Podcast republished as a separate podcast. The century of Salian rule from 1024 to 1125 is the crucial turning point not just for German, but for European history more generally. It is in this period that the Investiture Controversy pits Popes against Emperors. The dispute is nominally about the role secular powers play in the selection of bishops and abbots. But in reality, it is about much more than that. It is about whether ...

The later Hohenstaufen, Henry VI, Philipp von Schwaben, Otto IV, Frederick II and Konradin cover some of the most famous events of the High Middle Ages. The capture of Richard the Lionheart, the conquest of Sicily, the battle of Bouvines, the Fifth Crusade, the court of Frederick II, Cortenuova and the epic final struggle between the pope and the emperor. This is a narrative history in weekly 25-30 minute episodes that had initially been published in the History of the Germans Podcast. This is a re-release, so if you want to listen ahead, just go to https://historyofthegermans.com/frederick-ii...

The 10th century medieval dynasty that started with Henry the Fowler, king of East Francia and rose to the imperial throe with Otto the Great left an indelible mark on europe in general and Germany in particular. This show follows their history in 22 episodes from humble beginnings to great victories and even sainthood, This show is a re-release of the first 22 episodes of the History of the Germans Podcast that traces the history of the Germans and of Germany from 919AD to reunification in 1991 in weekly 25-35min episodes.

A narrative history podcast taking you from the fall of the House of Hohenstaufen to the Golden Bull, which laid down the constitution of the Holy Roman empire with its Prince-electors, diets, courts and elaborate ceremonies. Episodes appear weekly and are 25-35 min long.

the Teutonic Knights or to give them their full title, the knights of the hospital of St. Mary of the House of the Germans in Jerusalem loom large not just in German history. Follow us as we trace their development from a field hospital in Palestine to the formation of a powerful sttae in the Baltic