Ep. 228: Maximilian I (1493-1519) - The Princes and the Emperor.

About this episode

This episode discusses the challenges Maximilian I faced from the princes of the Holy Roman Empire in his quest for power.

If there was one group that consistently thwarted Maximilian’s grand plans for world domination, it was the princes of the Holy Roman Empire. He had given in to their demands for Imperial Reform, had granted the Reichstag far reaching powers, had established the Reichskammergericht as a law court independent of imperial authority and had announced the much longed for ban on feuding. But did the princes, counts, knights and cities hold up their end of the bargain and paid him taxes to raise the armies needed to defend the borders of the empire – well you bet. They left him hanging before Livorno, they collected berries instead of fighting in the Swiss war, and – spoiler alert – they will not raise a little finger to help Ludovioco il Moro to regain his duchy of Milan, even though Milan had been an imperial fief since the days of Charlemagne and Otto the Great. No money, no soldiers, nothing. 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…

People in this episode

Host: Dirk Hoffmann-Becking

Topics covered

• Maximilian I
• Holy Roman Empire
• Imperial Reform
• Princes
• Military History

Keywords

• Maximilian I
• Holy Roman Empire
• Imperial Reform
• Ludovioco il Moro
• Swiss war

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Holy Roman Empire

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