Hello and welcome to the history of the Germans.

Episode 39, the end of Henry IV.

This week we'll talk about the last years of Henry the 4th, which, as hard as that is to believe, holds one final humiliation that kept the pain

that man had already endured.

Before we start, just a reminder, the history of the Germans podcast is advertising free,

thanks to the generous support from patrons.

And you can become a patron too and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes

and other privileges

from the price of a latte per month.

All you have to do is to sign up

at patreon.com slash

History of the Germans

or on my website,

History of the Germans.com.

You find all the links in the show notes

and thanks a lot to John, Jason and Dimitri who've already

signed up. At the end of episode 37, Henry IV was finally allowed to return home, thanks to

the reconciliation with his southern German enemies, Wealth the 4th and Bertolt von Serringen.

The price Henry had to pay for this reconciliation was fairly straightforward.

He had to reinstate wealth the fourth as Duke of Bavaria, and most painful of all, except

that Bavaria became a hereditary duchy, in other words the king could no longer appoint the

Duke of Bavaria, let alone manage to duchy himself, as he had done for the past 14 years.

...