Ep.207: Habsburg Dukes (1308-1437) - How the Habsburgs got their Chin
History of the Germans
Dirk Hoffmann-Becking
4.9 • 550 Ratings
🗓️ 18 September 2025
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
“The Habsburgs ruled half of Europe with a chin that entered the room five minutes before they did,” is one of those witticisms that made the 19th century so amusing. But by then the Habsburg jaw had long receded.
It had its heyday in the 16th and 17th century when people in Spain called out to the future emperor Charles V: “Your majesty, shut your mouth! The flies of this country are very insolent.” And when they looked at his later descendant, king Charles II who was probably the worst affected, they said, he was “more Habsburg than human”.
But where is the Habsburg Jaw from? The view repeated again and again in history books is that it came from Cymburga of Masovia, the wife of duke Ernst the Iron, but was she really responsible? Or was it something quite different that caused that deformation, and what has it to do with the prostration of duke Friedrich IV before emperor Sigismund in 1415?
That is what we are looking at in this episode.
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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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the History of the Germans, Episode 207 of Land and Lip, |
| 0:09.0 | how the Habsburgs got their chin, which is also episode 5 of season 11, the fall and rise of the house of Harpsburg. |
| 0:17.0 | The Habsburgs ruled half of Europe with a chin that entered the room five minutes before |
| 0:23.6 | they did. |
| 0:24.6 | That is one of those witticisms that made the 19th century so amusing. |
| 0:29.6 | But by that time the Harpsburg jaw had long receded. |
| 0:34.6 | It had its heyday in the 16th and 17th century, when the people in Spain called out |
| 0:40.1 | to the future Emperor Charles V, Your Majesty, please shut your mouth, the flies of this country |
| 0:46.5 | are very insolent. |
| 0:49.1 | And when they looked at his later descendant, King Charles II, who was probably the worst |
| 0:53.9 | defected, they said, well, II, who was probably the worst affected. |
| 0:54.5 | They said, well, he was more Habsburg than human. |
| 0:59.5 | But where is that famous Harpsburg jaw from? |
| 1:03.6 | The view repeated again and again in the history books is that it came from Symbulga |
| 1:07.9 | of Mesovia, the wife of Duke Ernst the Iron. |
| 1:12.3 | But was she really responsible? |
| 1:14.9 | Or was it something quite different that caused that deformation? |
| 1:18.5 | And what has that all to do with the prostration of Duke Friedrich IV before Empress Sigismund |
| 1:24.2 | in 1415? |
| 1:27.2 | That is what we're looking at in this episode. |
| 1:31.7 | But before we start, just the usual handing round of the begging bowl. |
| 1:36.4 | I guess you know the drill by now, but if you are still listening, maybe you feel it |
... |
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