Ep. 70: Henry VI (1189-1197) - Conquest of Sicily - From Father to Son

History of the Germans from the Middle Ages to Reunification

Dirk Hoffmann-Becking

History, Education, Society & Culture

4.9 • 551 Ratings

🗓️ 7 August 2022

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When Barbarossa drowns in the river Saleph in 1190 the crown transfers to his eldest surviving son, Henry, known to History as Henry VI. This is the first time since the accession to personal rule of Emperor Henry III in 1039 that the imperial crown moves from father to grown up son without a glitch. In the previous 150 years, the passing of an emperor had been a dramatic event where all the cards were dealt anew. Just remember, Henry IV came to the throne as a child, Henry V by rebellion against his father, Lother III wasn’t in any meaningful way related to the imperial family, Konrad III came in by a coup against the named heir, as did Barbarossa. The French meanwhile had five transitions from father to son, with only one 6-year regency. This consistency in reproduction is one of the key reasons the Capetion dynasty was so much more successful than their German counterparts, though the greatest of the Capetions has only just appeared, Phillipp II Augustus (1180 to 1223). More, and a lot more about him later. Talking about famous protagonists, the other contemporary of Henry VI is of course Richard the Lionheart (1189 to 1199). Of him we will hear even more. But today’s episode is mainly about the lay of the land and the first attempt to achieve the main aim of his reign, control of the kingdom of Sicily. As always, this episode has a dedicated website with the transcript and maps, pictures and additional comments to read along. It is to be found at https://historyofthegermans.com/70-2/ 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. As always: Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.com Facebook: @HOTGPod Twitter: @germanshistory Instagram: history_of_the_germans Reddit: u/historyofthegermans Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Historyofthegermans

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the History of the Germans, episode 70, from father to son.
0:10.9	I know, I know, you were expecting another Germany and 1200 episode talking about feudalism
0:16.4	and chivalry culture, and that was really the episode I wanted to produce. But as it happened,
0:23.2	Cleo, the muse of history, refused to snog me, an event much reminiscent of my teenage years.
0:29.2	I probably read too many books and articles on feudalism, which left me utterly confused with
0:33.9	nothing interesting to say. I would never dare to say that this debate, on which so many eminent historians have voiced an opinion,
0:40.3	is nothing but a wild goose chase.
0:42.3	I have someone to do that for me.
0:45.3	If you want to hear a straightforward perspective on what feudalism was and wasn't,
0:49.3	check out Lecture 5 of the High Middle Ages course on the Great Courses Plus.
0:55.0	Philip Daylinder does a much better job than I could ever do.
0:59.0	Now which means we can resume our narrative again.
1:02.0	Hooray!
1:04.0	So when Barbarossa drowns in the River Salaf in 1190,
1:08.0	the crown transfers to his eldest surviving son, Henry, known to history as Henry
1:13.6	the 6.
1:14.6	To get your head around how unusual this is, let's just take a look back.
1:21.6	This is the first time since the accession of Henry III in 1039 that that the imperial crown moves from father to a grown-up
1:29.8	son without a glitch. In the previous 150 years, the passing of an emperor had been a dramatic
1:36.2	event, where all the cards were dealt anew. Just remember, Henry IV came to the throne as a child,
1:43.5	Henry V by rebellion against his father.
1:46.7	Lothar III wasn't in any meaningful way related to the imperial family.
	...

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