A History of Italy

We speak with Margherita Berti, founder of Italian Matters, an online Italian language school that helps adult learners build confidence and make consistent progress in Italian through a practical, structured approach. In this conversation, she shares effective learning strategies, common mistakes to avoid, and the habits, resources, and mindset that can help learners speak Italian. To learn more...

Just a quick message to let you know that the podcast may be slowing down a bit over the next month or so as i am studying for the exam to become a recognised Italian tour guide. Also to give you a little hint for an upcoming surprise...

In this episode of A History of Italy , we explore the extraordinary life of Isabella d’Este , one of the most influential women of the Italian Renaissance and arguably the closest thing the 15th and 16th centuries had to a modern celebrity influencer. Born into the powerful House of Este in Ferrara and married into the Gonzaga dynasty of Mantua, Isabella navigated the violent and unstable politic...

We are opening a new section of the podcast website with contributions from you, dear listener! You can send in articles, thoughts, family stories and so on. They should be: Pertinent to Italy, trips to I taly Italian culture and history or Italians abroad. Not contain vulgarity /unless required for the story of quoted) hate speech, promote gambling and so on Contain references to sources You can...

When the president of the brand new Republic of Italy, Luigi Einaudi decides in 1946 he wants to exercise his right to select 5 illustrious Italians to be senators for life, one of his choices falls on world famous conductor Arturo Toscanini . The candidates, however, must have a spotless reputation and the check into the conductors life soon reveals that he was present in the small sleepy Tuscan...

Episode Summary The 16th century didn’t start kindly for the Republic of Venice—but if history has taught us anything, it’s that Venice had a knack for bouncing back. In this episode, we follow Venice from near-collapse during the War of the League of Cambrai through its remarkable recovery by 1516. But survival came at a cost: a shifting role in European trade, rising global powers, and increasin...

Here are your show notes , in the same structured style and tone as before: Show Notes Link to Trentino tour: https://voicemap.me/tour/trento/italy-s-gateway-to-europe-from-medieval-to-modern-trento Episode Overview In 1525, revolutionary ideas inspired by the Protestant Reformation spread from Germany into the Alpine valleys of Trentino. What followed was a dramatic — if short-lived — uprising of...

Episode Overview Continuing our tour of the Italian peninsula in the early 1500s, we move north from the Kingdom of Naples , through the Papal States and Tuscany, across the Apennines, past Genoa, and into what is today the region of Piedmont . In this episode we explore the key political players in the region — the Marquisate of Saluzzo, the Marquisate of Monferrato, and above all the Duchy of Sa...

Episode Overview Having toured Spanish Sardinia and turbulent Sicily, we now complete our circuit of southern Italy by turning to the Kingdom of Naples . Once secured for Spain by the legendary Gonzalo de Córdoba, Naples became one of the crown jewels of the Spanish Empire — wealthy, strategic, and politically delicate. In this episode, we follow the kingdom from consolidation under Spanish rule t...

Episode Overview Having raced through the early 1500s following the Italian Wars, the Medici popes, Leonardo da Vinci, and the creation of the Medici duchy in Florence, it’s time to slow down and look at the parts of Italy we’ve left slightly out of focus. In this episode, we take a tour of the Italian peninsula’s two great islands — Sardinia and Sicily — and the Kingdom of Naples’ wider Mediterra...

To celebrate the 200th anniversary episode, which coincided with the 8th anniversary, we decided to hear from you, dear constant listener to create a special episode to celebrate this great milestone with many more hopefully to come. As well as greetings, we'll hear about: Sieges vs Battles Moving Michelangelo artwork An influential writer at the court of pope Leo X The legend of the heart of bric...

Episode Summary With Giovanni dalle Bande Nere gone, we return to Florence to witness the dramatic collapse of the centuries-old Florentine Republic and the emergence of Medici princely rule. Against the backdrop of the Sack of Rome, religious extremism, political infighting, and imperial intervention, this episode follows Florence’s final republican experiment and introduces one of its most contr...

In this episode, we trace the final chapters in the life of Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, the last great condottiero of Renaissance Italy, and his unlikely, enduring friendship with the scandalous writer Pietro Aretino. From political satire in Rome to blood-soaked battlefields in Lombardy and Umbria, this story intertwines art, warfare, ambition, and the sweeping changes that transformed European co...

Episode Summary Picking up where we left off,  Giovanni de’ Medici , son of Caterina Sforza and known to history as  Giovanni of the Black Bands , continues his meteoric rise through the bloody and chaotic world of Renaissance warfare. Backed by a Medici pope and driven by his fierce loyalty to his men, Giovanni’s legend as a mercenary commander — and his troubles with the powerful Medic...

Hello You! for our 220th and 8th anniversary episode I thought I would invite contributions from the most VIP I could think of... YOU! So please send in a sound file or, if you don't feel like it, written message with a contribution, consideration, question, something i didn't mention or talk about enough. Please send by 31st December at the very latest.

In this episode, we reunite with an old friend of the show —  Caterina Sforza , the indomitable “Tigress of Forlì.” From her, we follow the turbulent and violent early life of her son,  Giovanni de’ Medici , known as  Il Gran Diavolo  — the Great Devil — a man whose passions, battles, and excesses would shape the future of both the  Sforza  and  Medici dynasties....

In this episode, we pick up with Emperor  Charles V  consolidating his power over Italy after the  Battle of Pavia (1525) , where the French king  Francis I  was captured. The uneasy Italian states, including  Pope Clement VII (Giulio de’ Medici) , soon realized they had traded one master for another and formed the  League of Cognac (1526)  — an anti-imperia...

After three episodes exploring the life of Leonardo da Vinci, we return to the turbulent stage of the Italian Wars. In this episode, we pick up in the early 1520s, a period shaped by papal politics, dynastic rivalries, and the shifting fortunes of France and Spain. Highlights include: The succession of popes after Leo X: Hadrian VI and Clement VII, and their struggles with reform, neutrality, and...

This is a guest episode by Dirk Hoffmann of the history of the German podcast, in which he tells us all about the impact of one of the most important inventions in human history, Gutenberg printing press.

Just to let you know I haven’t disappeared!

We explore the fascinating intersection between one of the world’s most famous relics and one of its most brilliant minds:  Leonardo Da Vinci  and the  Shroud of Turin . Was Da Vinci somehow connected to this mysterious cloth? Could he have had the knowledge, access, and motive? 🕯️ What You’ll Hear: The scientific investigation into the Shroud of Turin by the STURP team in 1978 and...

Early Life & Education Born illegitimate, Leonardo spent his youth sketching and observing nature. After moving to Florence, he entered the prestigious workshop of Andrea Verrocchio, where he learned not only painting but also the chemistry behind pigments and the mechanics of sculpture and engineering. 🎨 Artistic Breakthroughs By 1472, Leonardo was a member of the painters’ guild and began p...

Starting from reasons to have a good cry, particularly concerning hair, we then head to Vinci, outside Florence in the mid 1400's to witness the birth and early childhood of Leonardo to see the start of some of the characteristics that will accompany him for the rest of his life. We hear about who gave and didn't give him affection and how his status as an illegitimate child was not all for the wo...

In this episode, we dive into the dramatic papacy of Pope Leo X, exploring his efforts to secure Medici power, his architectural and social reforms in Rome, and his role in the early days of the Protestant Reformation. We track how his favoritism toward Florence shaped papal policy, the challenges he faced with Martin Luther, and the growing religious divide that would soon shake Europe to its cor...

Of course! Here's the revised version of the  summary show notes  with  key words and phrases bolded  for emphasis: In this episode, we explore the  turbulent political and religious landscape  of  Italy and Europe  in the  late 1510s —a pivotal prelude to the  Protestant Reformation . 🔹  Power Shifts in Europe 1516 :  Ferdinand of Arago...