Ep. 156: Karl IV (1346-1378) - What Price a Crown
History of the Germans from the Middle Ages to Reunification
Dirk Hoffmann-Becking
4.9 • 550 Ratings
🗓️ 25 July 2024
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The year is 1346 and we have, yes, another succession crisis. Without checking through my 1500 pages of transcripts, I have counted a total f 14 contested imperial elections in the 427 years we have covered so far. Henry the Fowler, Herny II, Henry IV, Henry V, Lothar III, Konrad III, Philip of Swabia, Otto IV, Frederick II, Konrad IV, Richard of Cornwall, Adolf of Nassau, Albrecht of Habsburg and Ludwig the Bavarians all had to contend with anti-kings or severe opposition to their ascension to the throne.
I guess you are bored with these and so were the citizens of the empire. But here is the good news. From Karl IV’s reign onwards these succession crises will become fewer and fewer. Why? One reason is of course the Golden Bull we will discuss in a few episodes time. But there is another one, which had to do with the way Karl IV overcome the opposition. He claimed it was divine providence, but modern historians point to a much more temporal force that tied the imperial title to the heirs of the house of Luxemburg…
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.
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Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the history of the Germans, episode 156. |
| 0:09.7 | What price for a crown? |
| 0:12.6 | Which is also episode 18 of season 8 from the Interregnum to the Golden Bowl. |
| 0:18.7 | The year is 1346 and we have, yes, another succession crisis. |
| 0:23.6 | Without checking through my 1500 pages of transcripts, I have counted a total of 14 contested |
| 0:30.6 | imperial elections in the 427 years we have covered so far. |
| 0:35.6 | Henry the Fowler, Henry the 2nd, Henry the 4th, Henry 5th, Lothar the 3rd, |
| 0:41.3 | Philip of Swabia, Otto the 4th, Frederick the 2nd, Conrad the 4th, Richard of Cornwall, |
| 0:48.3 | Adolf of Nassau, Albrecht of Habsburg and Ludwig the Bavarian all had to content |
| 0:53.3 | with anti-kingings or severe opposition to |
| 0:55.8 | their ascension to the throne. I guess you're bored with these and so were the citizens |
| 1:02.6 | of the empire. But here's the good news. From Karl the 4th reign onwards, these succession crises |
| 1:08.3 | will become fewer and fewer. Why? Well, one reason is, of course, |
| 1:13.5 | the Golden Bull, we will discuss in a few episodes' time. But there's another one, which had to do |
| 1:19.5 | with the way Carl IV overcame the opposition. While he would have claimed divine providence, |
| 1:25.4 | but modern historians point to a much more temporal force |
| 1:28.3 | that tied the imperial title to the heirs of the House of Luxembourg. |
| 1:34.6 | But before we start, the usual reminder that the history of the Germans is advertising |
| 1:39.0 | free, and that is only possible because some of you are willing to make a contribution to the show. |
| 1:44.6 | As you know, you can do that either by signing up on patreon.com slash history of the Germans |
| 1:49.0 | or by making a one-time contribution on my website, |
| 1:52.4 | Historyof the Germans.com, under the support-the-show bracket. |
... |
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