Ep. 213: Friedrich III (1440-1493) – Duping the Duke of Burgundy
History of the Germans
Dirk Hoffmann-Becking
4.9 • 550 Ratings
🗓️ 6 November 2025
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How long can an emperor not be an emperor. The official record stands at 25 years, that is how long Friedrich III had stayed out of the core areas of the Holy Roman Empire. That meant 25 ears of Imperial Diets without the presence of an Emperor, 25 years of stasis on the challenges of the time, the reform of the empire and the defense against the Ottoman expansion.
But sometime in the late 1460s the apathic emperor Friedrich III, dubbed the Imperial Arch Sleepy head awakes and does what he had never done before, something. And that something turned into a lot of things, some related toimperial reform, but the most significant something for European history was a marriage, well, an engagement for now, followed by a flight down the river Mosel away from the intended father of the bride.
Yes, it is that famous marriage, just not in the way you may have thought it happened.
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 213, Duping a Grand Duke, |
| 0:10.0 | or the Awakening of Friedrich III, which is also episode 11 of Season 11, the fall and rise of the House of Habsburg. |
| 0:19.0 | How long can an emperor not be an emperor? |
| 0:23.8 | The official record stands at 25 years. |
| 0:26.5 | That's how long Friedrich III had stayed out of the core areas of the Holy Roman Empire. |
| 0:31.5 | That meant 25 years of imperial diets without the presence of an emperor, |
| 0:35.7 | 25 years of stasis on the challenges of the time, |
| 0:39.3 | the reform of the empire and the defense against the Ottoman expansion. |
| 0:43.3 | But sometime, in the late 1460s, the apathic emperor Friedrich III, dubbed the Imperial Arch sleepyhead, |
| 0:51.3 | awakes, and does what he had never done before. |
| 0:56.5 | Something. |
| 0:58.1 | And that's something turned into a lot of things. |
| 1:01.5 | Some related to imperial reform, but the most significant something for European history was a marriage, |
| 1:08.0 | well, an engagement for now, followed by a flight down the river Mosul, |
| 1:12.6 | away from the intended father of the bride. |
| 1:15.6 | Yes, it is that famous marriage, just not in the way you may have thought it happened. |
| 1:22.6 | But before we start, I wanted to ask you what you want for Christmas. |
| 1:26.6 | There are so many of you who contribute to the show, either financially or by telling their |
| 1:31.0 | friends and family about the history of the Germans. |
| 1:33.5 | And I had originally thought I would provide a regular flow of bonus episodes for you, |
| 1:37.9 | but this was ultimately not feasible. |
| 1:40.3 | As we moved out of the early and high Middle Ages into the late Middle Ages and the early |
... |
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