042 – An "Urban" pope and an imperial soap opera
1087 - 1095 We follow the start of one of the most famous papacies in history, that of Urban II and his fight against Henry IV alongside the countess Matilda of Canossa as things get personal, while the Normans try to sort themselves out after the death of Robert Guiscard.
20 Jan 201918min
041 – A Runaway pope and the end of the Fox
1085 - 1087 After the turmoil of the papacy of Gregory VII, we see a pope that just didn't want the job and follow the final years of the great Norman Robert Guiscard.
12 Jan 201919min
NC 013 – Happy birthday podcast and national stereotypes
To celebrate the birthday of "A History of Italy" we are releasing a free versions of NewsCappuccino in which we talk about national stereotypes.
5 Jan 20199min
040 – Half-time in the investiture controversy
1077 - 1085 The investiture controversy heats up with an anti-king elected in Germany and an anti-pope elected by Henry IV who then take the fight against Gregory and Matilde down into Italy with the Normans of Robert Guiscard waiting in the wings.
3 Jan 201917min
Christmas 2018 – Italian Christmas past and present and a Christmas witch
We have a look at important events in Italy on and around Christmas as well as explore the traditions, including that of the Christmas witch.
26 Dec 201820min
039 – A sticky end and the humiliation of Canossa
1076 - 1077 Godfrey the Hunchback meets a sticky end and the investiture controversy reaches a high point and slips towards war
19 Dec 201818min
038 – Gregory VII and marriage counselling
1073 - 1076 We follow the marital problems of Matilde of Canossa and Godfrey the Hunchback of Lorain while pope Gregory VII rolled up his sleeves and get's down to some serious posing and reforming.
12 Dec 201819min
037 – The Normans run out of room and the papacy out of patience
1061 - 1073 The Normand, having conquered as much as they could in Southern Italy, head for Sicily while the struggle between the papacy and the empire heats up.
5 Dec 201818min
