History of the Germans Ep. 44: Welf vs Staufer - Lothar III (1125-1137) - A Saxon Emperor
With just a 24h delay here is Episode 44.
Lothar III being duly elected and crowned declares a 12 month peace for the whole realm., only to break it himself a few months later.
Frederick of Hohenstaufen, his rival for the crown is unwilling to hand over the crown lands he is still holding. And after gentle insistence did not achieve much, cold hard steel need to be put to work.
In the first 5 years, Lothar is beset with a spot of bad luck. Sieges fail and he even gets beaten by the duke of Bohemia. The Hohenstaufen elect Frederick's younger brother Konrad to be king. Konrad rushes off to Italy to be crowned King of Italy and even makes a bid for the imperial crown.
Being king isn't what it was made out to be. Follow us as Lothar extracts himself from the malaise and even kicks off a new policy arena that will drive Eastern European history for 300 + years.
The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.
As always:
Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.com
If you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans Podcast
For do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans Podcast
Facebook: @HOTGPod
Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcast
Bluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.social
Instagram: history_of_the_germans
Twitter: @germanshistory
To make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.
So far I have:
Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy
Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen
The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356
The Reformation before the Reformation