Hello and welcome to the history of the Germans, episode 63, recovery.

Following the peace of Venice and the fall of Henry the Line, our great emperor has reached

the end of the road.

Being a man of infinite resource and sagacity, he climbs out of the hole, resets his political

allegiances and recovers

some of his previous standing.

Now as always, this episode has a dedicated website with a transcript and maps, pictures

and additional comments to read along.

It is to be found at History of the Germans slash 63-2.

But before we start, as always, a reminder.

The History of the Germans podcast is advertising free, thanks to the general 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 sign up at patreon.com slash History of the Germans or on my website

historyof the Germans.com.

You find all the links in the show notes.

And thanks a lot to Caitlin and Christopher who've already signed up.

Now last week we left Barbarossa at the Assembly of

Airford crying tears of rage and self-pity as he raised his cousin Henry the

lion up and gave him the kiss of peace. His great imperial political plan had been

unraveling for the last 15 years. It was time for a fundamental revision of the process.

We already talked about one part of that great U-turn, a shift in his domestic policies in Germany.

No longer does he act as the independent arbiter between the princes, but he has become one of them.

...