195 - Italian Wars 12 - The sack of Rome (again) and the end of the Sforza (1526 - 1530)

Just when the Borgias seem at the top of their game and that nothing could possibly stop them, in August of 1503 pope Alexander VI, after a dinner party at a cardinal's house, becomes seriously ill and died after two weeks. His son Cesare also becomes very ill and cannot sum up the energy to control the fallout of the situation and outmanoeuvre the Borgia's arch enemy, cardinal Giuliano della Rovere.In the end the inevitable happens and he becomes pope Julius II, sealing the impeding doom of Cesare Borgias who, after some time in captivity, seems to take the option of going out in a blaze of glory.

14 Tammi 20min

In our first episode of the Regional Italy miniseries we explore the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, travelling initially along the ancient Roman road created by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus.We start from the beautiful castles of the province of Piacenza, then cross the river to Parma, the culinary capital of Euope. Then it's a visit with Matilda countess of Canossa in Reggio Emilia before visiting with Ferraris and Pavarotti in Modena. After that, remembering the battle of the bucket takes us from Modena to Bologna. We leave the Via Emilia for a moment to explore the lands of the ancient house of Este in Ferrara and then the ancient imperial capital of Ravenna. Heading south brings us to the lands of Caterina Afroza, the "Tigress of Forlì" before we cross the Rubicon and end our tour in Rimini, visiting the bridge of Tiberius, the arch of Augustus and the Malatesta castle where we find the Federico Fellini museum.Our guide in the tour will be Explore Worldwide:Click here for Adventure Travel inspiration from our friends at Explore Worldwide. Don’t Just Travel, Explore!

7 Tammi 31min

While wishing you a "Buon Anno" (Happy New Year" we are also excited to announce the launch of our new miniseries on the Italian regions:Regional Italy!Thanks to the support of our friends at Explore Worldwide, we'll be looking at the culture, landscape, legends and history of some of Italy's 20 beautiful regions.Join us!https://www.exploreworldwide.com/?utm_source=Podcast&utm_medium=Spotify&utm_campaign=History+of+Italy+Podcast

31 Joulu 20246min

Just a quick one to wish you a happy whatever you are celebrating, or not celebrating and give you the gift of my rendition of the famous poem "a visit from Alaric" also known as "T'was the night before Saturnalia".

24 Joulu 20242min

People in Italy are getting very nervous about Cesare Borgia's successes, at times reached with treachery, and some of the unhappy party are actually Il Valentino's captains. When rebellion breaks out they see their chance and jump on the bandwagon. However, when things don't turn out as planned, the captains have to hope Cesare's forgiveness is sincere...

10 Joulu 202417min

Just a quick update to apologise for a publishing delay and tell you a little about our sketches, the Italian school system and the current political situation in Italy

4 Joulu 20247min

After doing his part for the French in the second Italian War Cesare Borgia heads back to Rome to concur with his father pope Alexander VI. They take care of some internal business with the Colonna, Orsini and Savelli and Cesare takes some time to kill some bulls and impregnate a few women.Then Cesare heads back to expand his duchy of Romagna aiming for Camerino and Urbino of the Montefeltro, while his captains, particularly Vitelozzo Vitelli and Giampsolo Baglioni.As Cesare rises higher, those around him, even the allies, start to worry.

19 Marras 202415min

We first follow the life of the military captain Ettore Fieramosca (Hector Proudfly) and his troubled love story with Ginvenra da Monreale which ended tragically after the intervention of Cesare Borgia.We then move to the lead up and action to one of the most famous duels in Italian history, the Challenge of Barletta (La Disfida di Barletta) in which 13 Italian knights faced off against 13 French knights lead by Guy De La Motte to defend the honour of Italian arms.The duel would resound throughout Italian history reaching through the Italian Risorgimento to the Fascist era.The Italians:Francesco SalamoneMarco CorollarioRiccio Da Parma Gugliemo albamonte Mariano marcio AbignenteGiovanni Capoccio da Giovanni BrancaleoneLudocivo AbenavoloEttore GiovenaleGiovanni Bartolomeo Fanfulla Romanello da ForlìEttore Gioveneale de pazzisThe French:Charles de torguesMarc De FrigneGirout de ForsesClaude Grajan D'asteMartellin de lambrisPierre de liayeJacques de la fontaineEliot de barautJean De LandesSacet de saceetFrancois de piseJacques de GuignesNaute de la Faise

5 Marras 202416min