Ep. 222: Maximilian I (1493-1519) – Italian Wars and Spanish Marriages
History of the Germans
Dirk Hoffmann-Becking
4.9 • 550 Ratings
🗓️ 22 January 2026
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The world is a-changing. Maximilian I may still dream of the medieval universal empire where he will lead Christendom in an epic crusade to expel the Turks from the European mainland, even reconquering Jerusalem. Meanwhile his main adversary, king Charles VIII of France unleashed the fury of war in Italy, kicking off a struggle that would last for 50 years and replaced the medieval world of popes and emperors with a system based on the balance of powers.
In the near term, this expedition to conquer the kingdom of Naples triggered not only the outbreak of Syphilis, but also the double marriage between Habsburg and Spain that Maximilian did not want, but ended up being the second of the three marriages that created an empire.
Lots to get through, none of it boring..
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the history of the Germans, Episode 222 Italian Wars and Spanish Marriages. |
| 0:13.0 | The world is a changing. |
| 0:16.0 | Maximilian I may still dream of the medieval Universal empire where he will lead Christendom in an |
| 0:21.5 | epic crusade to expel the Turks from the European mainland, even reconquering Jerusalem. |
| 0:28.1 | Meanwhile, his main adversary, King Charles VIII of France, unleashed the fury of war in Italy, |
| 0:35.4 | kicking off a struggle that would last for 50 years and replaced the medieval |
| 0:39.4 | world of popes and emperors with a system based on the balance of powers. |
| 0:45.6 | In the near term, this expedition to conquer the Kingdom of Naples triggered not only |
| 0:50.2 | the outbreak of syphilis, but also the double marriage between Habsburg and Spain |
| 0:55.1 | that Maximilian did not want, but ended up being the second of the three marriages that |
| 1:00.2 | created an empire. |
| 1:02.5 | Lots to go through. |
| 1:03.9 | None of it boring. |
| 1:06.3 | But before we start, it is once more time for me to go to Augsburg and back for some more |
| 1:11.7 | funds to raise and equip my modest podcast setup. |
| 1:16.5 | I know that you know that I can never pay it back, other than with my sincere, heartfelt |
| 1:22.3 | and eternal gratitude. |
| 1:24.6 | And if you too hanker after such deep- felt sentiment, go to History of the Germans.com |
| 1:29.5 | slash support and join the most generous Mary J.H., Barry T. Alexander A., Tudor C., Matthew |
| 1:37.1 | J., Carnikelli, and Brett C. |
| 1:41.3 | And a little bit of housekeeping. |
| 1:43.1 | In the previous version of this episode, there were a number |
... |
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