Episode 88 - A Road to Peace

Published: Dec. 22, 2022, 5 a.m.

This week our story kicks off with the death of pope Gregory IX, nonagenarian impeccable foe of emperor Frederick II. Peace is in the air. Of the 11 cardinals getting together in the dilapidated Septizonium once built by emperor Septimus Severus, half wanted a more conciliatory vicar of Christ, but the other half did not. The very first papal conclave followed as the senator Matteo Orsini locks the cardinals up in horrible conditions. When finally one of them is chosen, he died just 17 days later from the exertions.\nBy now all the cardinals have fled and the church remains without a head for almost 2 years. At the same time the descendants of Genghis Khan descend upon Europe. Jerusalem falls to the Turks, the Latin empire of Constantinople is on its last leg.. \nIs it time for the emperor and the pope to bury the hatchet and face the real enemies of Christendom\u2026..?\nEpisode webpage with transcript and images can be found here: Episode 88 - A Road to Peace \u2022 History of the Germans Podcast\nThe 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.\nAs always:\nHomepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.com\nFacebook: @HOTGPod \nTwitter: @germanshistory\nInstagram: history_of_the_germans\nReddit: u/historyofthegermans\nPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/Historyofthegermans