Download Podcasts as MP3
Search for a podcast, browse episodes, and download MP3 files directly from the publisher's website. Transcripts included when available.
Episodes from A History of Italy
Isabella d’Este — The First Lady of the Renaissance
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 political world of Renaissance Italy with intelligence, diplomacy and cultural sophistication. While others became famous through warfare or scandal, Isabella built her power through patronage, image, political skill and culture....
Call for contributions for the podcast website
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 Italy Italian culture and history or Italians abroad.Not contain vulgarity /unless required for the story of quoted) hate speech, promote gambling and so onContain references to sourcesYou can also add a quick bio if you likehello@ahistoryofitaly.com
Interview episode: The Toscanini conspiracy with Filippo Iannarone
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 of Piazze at the time of an infamous murder, that of a famous doctor, Alberto Rinaldi.Retired Colonel Luigi Mari is assigned to investigate and soon discovers that the truth to...
205 - Venice back on its feet (more or less (1516 to 1540)
Episode SummaryThe 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 increasingly complex political alliances.As Venice navigates between France, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire, we explore how the Republic relied on its tradit...
204 - The Rustic War in Trentino
Here are your show notes, in the same structured style and tone as before:Show NotesLink to Trentino tour: https://voicemap.me/tour/trento/italy-s-gateway-to-europe-from-medieval-to-modern-trentoEpisode OverviewIn 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 peasants against nobles and clergy.In this episode, we explore how social tensions, natural disasters, and religious reform combined to ignite rebellion in the region, how leaders like Michael Gaismair attempted to reshape soci...
203 - Piedmont and the Savoy in the early 1500's - How to lose a duchy
Episode OverviewContinuing 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 Savoy.Once an expanding Alpine power controlling vital mountain passes, Savoy would find itself caught between the ambitions of France and the Habsburg Empire during the It...
202 - Spanish Italy in the early 1500's -The Kingdom of Naples
Episode OverviewHaving 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 through internal tensions, shifting viceroys, the Battle of Ravenna, and finally to the dramatic French siege of Naples in 1528 — a moment when the city came dangerously close to slipping from Spani...
201 - Spanish Italy in the early 1500’s - Sardinia and Sicily
Episode OverviewHaving 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 Mediterranean context. Though often treated as peripheral, these territories were central to Spanish power in Italy and deeply affected by war, rebellion, piracy, and imperial amb...
200th episode 8th anniversary
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 BattlesMoving Michelangelo artworkAn influential writer at the court of pope Leo XThe legend of the heart of bricks hidden among the alleyways of VeniceA warning from the lovely town of CarpiThe story of the...
199 – The dying gasp of the Fiorentine Republic and the first duke
Episode SummaryWith 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 controversial rulers: Alessandro de’ Medici, the first Duke of Florence.Key Topics CoveredThe Aftermath of the Sack of Rome (1527)Pope Clement VII’s humiliation after the Sack of Rome by mutinous imperial landsknechts and th...
198 - Giovanni dalle Bande Nere part 3: Pietro Aretino and shot down in a blaze of glory
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 conflict forever.Key Topics CoveredPietro Aretino: Scandal, Satire & SurvivalEarly life in Arezzo, his refusal of his father’s name, and his rise as a sharp-tongued writer and showman in the papal court of Le...
197 - Giovanni of the Black Bands part II - The invincible very naughty boy
Episode SummaryPicking 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 Medici family — only grow.Host Mike Corradi unpacks the dangerous charisma, discipline, and contradictions of this larger-than-life condottiero: a man both feared and admired, ruthless yet loyal, reckless yet revered. From duels a...