Hello and welcome to the History of the Germans, Episode 238, Never Bigger.

The Habsburg Empire added Zenith.

Today we are celebrating the topping out ceremony of the Habsburg Empire.

By the middle of the 16th century, it reached its furthest extent as a political entity

ruled by just one man.

Over the last 42 episodes, we have seen this family of minor counts playing their game

of snakes and lettuce until they had amassed lordships over Austria, the Netherlands, Spain

and large parts of Italy. Today we look at how they finally got hold of the last bits, Bohemia and Hungary.

The story features a dutiful younger brother, the most cruel execution I've ever heard of,

a foolish duke and an even more foolish king, the collapse of a kingdom, a love story and the reason

for the incessant Habsburg inbreeding.

I hope that'll be enough to fill this last episode of the season.

Our key protagonist for today is Ferdinand, the aforementioned dutiful younger brother of Charles

V. Born 1503, he was

three years younger than the Emperor. Despite being full brothers, these two men met for the very

first time in 1518 when they were 18 and 14 years old. I think this is important to remember

when wondering why Charles was so hesitant to share power with his little brother.

He simply did not know him.

Whilst Charles had grown up in the Netherlands under the tutelage of his aunt Margaret of Orscia, Ferdinand had grown up at the court of his grandfather Ferdinand II, with whom he shared not only the

name but also his birthday.

So in the same way that Charles was a product of the Burgundian civilization, Ferdinand was

deeply rooted in Spanish, and specifically in Aragonese culture.

...