Ep. 229: Joanna the (not?) Mad (1504-1555) - How the Habsburgs gained Spain
History of the Germans
Dirk Hoffmann-Becking
4.9 • 550 Ratings
🗓️ 19 March 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
“Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube" – ‘Let others wage war; thou, happy Austria, marry’ is one of the few terms that almost anyone with a cursory interest in European history knows, only rivalled by the Voltaire quote thou shall not utter in my presence ever. It evokes the image of a handsome alpine boy full of charm and apple strudel wooing some princess into peacefully handing over the richest lands is Europe. And this narrative of peaceful transition to a benign dynasty is another one of the great propaganda successes of the house of Habsburg.
The saying was attributed to Matthias Corvinus, the king of Hungary who had once occupied Vienna, then to the humanist Ulrich von Hutten, but first evidence of its use dates back to 1654, more than 150 years after the famous marriages that made an empire. From 1680 it was read out at Habsburg weddings to emphasise the peaceful nature of its rulers.
It definitely did not originate in the days of Maximilian I when all these dynastic alliances were formed and bore fruit. Talking about gentle and peaceful transition was preposterous against the backdrop of a 15 -year long war over the succession to the grand Dukes of Burgundy, and the roller coaster ride that is today’s topic, the way the Habsburgs acquired the crown of Spain.
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. |
| 0:06.7 | Episode 229 How the Habsburgs gained Spain. |
| 0:11.8 | Bella Gerand Ali to Felix Austria Nube. |
| 0:16.6 | Let others wage war, though happy Austria marry, is one of the few terms that almost |
| 0:22.0 | anyone with a cursory interest in European history knows. |
| 0:25.5 | It's only rivaled by that Voltaire quote, though shalt not utter in my presence ever. |
| 0:32.4 | It evokes the image of a handsome alpine boy, full of charm and apple-stoodle, wooing some |
| 0:37.4 | princes into peacefully handing over the richest lands in Europe. And this narrative of the peaceful transition to a benign dynasty is another one of the great propaganda successes of the House of Habsburg. The saying was attributed to Matthias Covinas, the King of Hungary who had once occupied Vienna, |
| 0:57.0 | then to the humanist Ulrich von Huttain, but first evidence of its youth dates back to 1654, |
| 1:03.0 | more than 150 years after the famous marriages that made an empire. |
| 1:08.0 | From 1680 onwards it was read out at Habsburg Weddings to emphasize the peaceful nature |
| 1:13.7 | of its rulers. |
| 1:15.9 | It definitely did not originate in the days of Maximilian I when all these dynastic alliances |
| 1:21.3 | were formed and bore fruit. |
| 1:23.9 | Talking about a gentle and peaceful transfer of power was preposterous against the backdrop |
| 1:29.9 | of a 15-year-long war over the succession to the Grand Dukes of Burgundy. |
| 1:35.0 | And the roller coaster ride, that is today's topic, the way the Harpsburgs acquired the |
| 1:40.1 | Crown of Spain. |
| 1:43.2 | But before we start, just a quick message about merch. |
| 1:47.7 | Most podcasts offer you merchandise t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, phone cases. |
| 1:52.8 | I have not yet done so, even though many of you have asked, because of the economics. |
| 2:00.3 | If I offer, for example, a t-shirt at 30 pounds, |
... |
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