Ep. 228: Maximilian I (1493-1519) - The Princes and the Emperor.
History of the Germans
Dirk Hoffmann-Becking
4.9 • 550 Ratings
🗓️ 12 March 2026
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
If there was one group that consistently thwarted Maximilian’s grand plans for world domination, it was the princes of the Holy Roman Empire. He had given in to their demands for Imperial Reform, had granted the Reichstag far reaching powers, had established the Reichskammergericht as a law court independent of imperial authority and had announced the much longed for ban on feuding. But did the princes, counts, knights and cities hold up their end of the bargain and paid him taxes to raise the armies needed to defend the borders of the empire – well you bet.
They left him hanging before Livorno, they collected berries instead of fighting in the Swiss war, and – spoiler alert – they will not raise a little finger to help Ludovioco il Moro to regain his duchy of Milan, even though Milan had been an imperial fief since the days of Charlemagne and Otto the Great. No money, no soldiers, nothing.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the History of the Germans, Episode 228, The Princess and the Emperor. |
| 0:11.6 | If there was one group that had consistently thwarted Maximilian's grand plans for world domination, |
| 0:18.5 | it was the Princess of the Holy Roman Empire. |
| 0:21.7 | He had given in to their demands for imperial reform. He had granted the Reichstag far-reaching |
| 0:26.0 | powers. He had established the Reichs Kama Gerich as a law court independent of Imperial |
| 0:31.5 | Authority, and he had announced the much longed for ban on feuding. But did the princes |
| 0:37.3 | counts, knights and cities hold up their end of the bargain |
| 0:40.3 | and paid him taxes to raise the armies needed to defend the borders of the empire? |
| 0:45.5 | Well, you bet. |
| 0:47.9 | They left him hanging before Livorno. |
| 0:50.0 | They collected berries instead of fighting in the Swiss war, |
| 0:52.8 | and they will not raise a little |
| 0:54.7 | finger to help Ludovico Il Moro to regain his Duchy of Milan, even though Milan |
| 0:59.8 | had been an imperial thief since the days of Charlemagne and Otto the Great. |
| 1:04.0 | No money, no soldiers, no nothing. |
| 1:07.5 | When Maximilian called a Reichstag in Augsburg in 1500 to raise support for his ally |
| 1:11.8 | the Duke of Milan, the princess stalled the opening until news arrived that Ludovico |
| 1:16.2 | had been captured and marched off to a French prison where he would end his days. |
| 1:22.5 | Small sidebar here. Ludovico Il Moro had been Maximilian's most important source of |
| 1:26.8 | fine-hand. He had paid him a sum total of a million florins over the years, many multiples of the |
| 1:32.8 | empire's contributions. |
| 1:34.8 | And when Ludovico finally demanded payback for Maximilian, the emperor had to raise his |
... |
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