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

As we set the scene for the start of Cesare Borgia's military campaign, we start to observe the ominous signs of what is to come in Rome with the arbitrary accusation and confiscations of the Roman nobility. Then we go exploring to see what we intend with the term "Romagna" and trace it back to Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, the Byzantines and Julius Cesar's famous "The die is cast" speech, pronounced in Rimini after crossing the Rubicon river which we will also do to visit with the Malatesta of Rimini before Cesare comes to face of with Caterina Sforza to start his conquest. See link to Romagna explanation:https://emilia-o-romagna.netlify.app

10 Sep 202419min

King Louis XII prepares to descend upon Milan to stake his claim to the duchy. Before he sees out he needs to make deals with England, The Swiss and the Italian powers, Savoy and Ve3nice.Meanwhile, duke Ludovico il Moro is also preparing and doing a really bad job of it. The results will show.

27 Aug 202416min

We follow the last stand of Caterina Sforza as the French once again descend upon Italy with king Louis XII and Cesare Borgia, made representative of Romagna by his father Pope Alexander VI, closes in on the lands of Caterina as she prepares for her last great battle.

13 Aug 202421min

After the assassination of her husband Girolamo Riario, Caterina is in full control as regent for her son, Ottaviano Riario.She has to navigate regional issues in Romagna, another assassination in Faenza and then the tricky balancing act during the descent of Charles VIII of France.During all of this she managed to start a new passionate relationship with Giacomo Feo, which will also end in murder and in her thirst for vengeance, Caterina will lose sight of her role as a head of state.

30 Jul 202415min

After settling in to their new signoria, Caterina Sforza and her husband Girolamo Riario have to deal with continuous plots, the War of Ferrara and the death of uncle pope Sixtus IV. After that Caterina will really show what she's made of by taking and holding Castel Sant Angelo, her sword at her side, while seven months pregnant.In the end after her husband's assassination, she will stand alone to face the conspirators in one of Italian Renaissance history's most famous legendary scenes.

16 Jul 202419min

We look at the early years of the woman who would come to be known as "The Tigress of Forlì", Caterina Sforza starting with her youth at the court of her father, duke of Milan Galeazzo Maria.We then move on to the traumatic start to her marriage to Girolamo Riario, nephew of pope Sixtus IV, as he starts his ambitious rise to power, that will eventually lead him to his doom.

2 Jul 202420min

Having met Francesco II Gonzaga, at the battle of Fornovo, we take some time to go back and have a look at the beautiful city of Mantua from its legendary origins, surrounded by lakes created by the tears of a prophetess, through the period of our heroine, Matilda of Tuscany, countess of Canossa, to see the arrival and rise of the Corradi of Gonzaga. They would take over control of the city of Mantua and set up a county, and then a Marquisate that would put them in third place as the longest lasting dynasty in Italy On the way, they will have to battle with the greedy Visconti of Milan, and have arguments with famous painter Andrea Mantegna who refused to make the ugly Gonzaga good looking and had issues with apples.We will also answer the question of what happened to King Charles the eighth of Franc's porn collection.

18 Jun 202421min

To celebrate 2nd June, Republic Day as well as the release of the related film "C'è ancora domani" (There's still tomorrow) by director Paola Cortellesi, we are brushing up our episode on the Historical events that lead up to the referendum od 1946 which abolished the Italian monarchy, sending the Savoy family into exile.All of this against the background of post war Italy which was on the brink of civil war.

4 Jun 202417min