A History of Italy

We see the rise of the Visconti family in Milan as they battle the power of the Della Torre for control over the city and subsequently much of Northern Italy. First however, I take a personal look at my relationship with Milan and tell the story of how my mother was an unwitting baby sitter to the Mafia.

words and culture, to give the citizens of his city schools, homes all the elements that are fundamental rights, stolen by the Mafia and then handed out as favours.

We have a look at the opus magna of Dante Alighieri, the Divine Comedy, before seeing him off to the end of his days and beyond, with the adventures of his corpse

On 3rd September, the anniversary of his death, we look at the struggle against organised crime of Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, general of the Italian Carabinieri police force who dedicated his life to the fight against terrorism and the Sicilian Mafia.

We are going to take a look at some of the brave men and women who have given their lives to fight organised crime in Italy. known as "Le Mafie", the mafias, which include Cosa Nostra, the 'Ndrangheta, the Stidda, the Sacra Corona Unita and the Camorra. On the anniversary of their deaths, we will look at the lives and struggle of people such as General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, Peppino Impastato...

After definitively defeating the Ghibellines, the Florentine Guelphs need new enemies so they split into White and Black Guelphs, catching Dante Alighieri, who had entered politics just a few years before, in a crossfire that will have dire consequences. On a literary level, he starts to get the idea of a sort od mid life crisis travel book...

We start to take a look at the life and times of the great poet Dante Alighieri, taking the opportunity to look more closely at the history of his city, Florence.

We see how the descent of Emperor Henry VII reignites the conflict between Frederick of Sicily and the new king of Naples, Robert. The animosity will last as long as the two men live.

The papacy, under Clement V heads off for its long exile to Avignone and then Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII tries to move back the clock on the Italian scene.

1298- 1303 Boniface VIII crushes the internal opposition of the Colonna, organises the first Jubilee, dabble in Italian politics including Florence and then clashes once again with Philipp IV of France, which seals his fate.

1295 - 1297 We go back to the abdication of pope Celestine V in 1295 and see the rise to power of one of the most controverstial popes in history, Boniface VIII in this first of two episodes on the man and his time.

Before finally getting on to the 14th century, we see how the end of the 13th marked the beginning of the end of the Sardinian Judicates, before of course going back to look at what they actually were.

the politics of late 13th century Pisa as an example of the general situation in the communes as well as touching on Sardinia.

Before saying goodbye to the 13th century, we take a quick tour of the peninsula to tie up some loose ends, such as the maritime, republics, Piedmont and the situation with the communes.

Marco Polo finally leaves on his great voyage which will take him to the ends of the known earth to meet a whole series of different cultures to then come back to Venice and live though one of the republic's most dangerous moments

In this first episode on the 13th century explorer Marco Polo we look at some background on Venice at his time and his family as well as introducing the figure of the Great Khan Kublai.

A special episode for the 75th anniversary of the liberation from Nazi and Fascist occupation

1285 - 1302 The War of the Italian Vespers gets quite confusing, but in the end finally leads to the Peace of Calbelotta in 1302 in which the island of Sicily is separated from the rest of the kingdom.

1282 - 1285 The start of the War of the Sicilian Vespers and a strange duel to attempt to put an end to it.

Before going into the war of the Italian Vespers, we get some help from David Cot of "The History of Spain" podcast to bring us u to date on the kingdom of Aragon and Peter III and his sons.

1266-1282 Charles of Anjou settles down to govern his new kingdom... and make a mess if it, provoking the rebellion of the Sicilian Vespers.

Marco Cappelli tells us about the last stand of Conradine of Hohenstauen at the battle that took place near Marco's home town Tagliacozzo.

1250 - 1266 We take a look at what happened to the sons of Frederick II, Conrad, Henry and Manfredi. In the case of Manfredi we see his rise to influence over almost all of Italy before it all came crashing down with the invasion of Charles of Anjou.

1248 -1272 We start taking a look at how things progressed after the death of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, starting with his son Enzo, who fell prisoner to the Coomune of Bologna, giving rise to a whole series of legends

We take a look at some of the factors that made the 13th century the golden age of the communes such as trade and finance as the consular communes transformed into popular communes as early signs of the coming era of the "signorie" loomed.