History of Venice Podcast

Today we want to try to understand what kind of place Venice was as the 13th century dawned; how much it had changed in the hundred years since we last took a close look at it, back in Episode 31; and how the arrival of fresh artworks and spoils of war from the east would fuel both its own ongoing beautification and the historical narratives and myths that the city’s public appearance was aiming to promote.
Email us at histvenicepod@gmail.com, or find us on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.
Intro and outro music is Primavera from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

Sebastiano Ziani and Enrico Dandolo battle it out for our vote as the Top Doge of the 12th Century. Find out who we pick and tell us whether you agree.
Email us at histvenicepod@gmail.com, or find us on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.
Intro and outro music is Primavera from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

We're away on holiday this week, so there's no time to research and write a normal episode. So we've quickly rounded up what eventually happened to most of the characters we've been following on the Crusade story, and then had a final broad chat about what on earth just happened.
Email us at histvenicepod@gmail.com, or find us on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.
Intro and outro music is Primavera from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

The Crusade was over. The Crusaders had won. They had pushed Humpty Dumpty off the wall, and now they were the kings of all the broken pieces. If this had been their plan all along, then whoever was responsible for working out what came next had been asleep at the wheel. Once the celebrations of Easter Week 1204 brought an end to the initial rush of looting and vandalism, all semblance of this being a united force with a common goal vanished into the springtime air like dandelion seeds in the breeze.
Email us at histvenicepod@gmail.com, or find us on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.
Intro and outro music is Primavera from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

We're joined by two very special guests this week to discuss what the Fourth Crusade looks like from the perspective of Constantinople. Marco Cappelli from Storia d'Italia podcast and Robin Pierson from the History of Byzantium podcast share their fascinating and well researched perspectives.
You can find Marco's show at: https://italiastoria.com/
You can find Robin's show at: https://thehistoryofbyzantium.com/
Both are highly recommended by much more discerning sources than us, and are well worth your time and support.
You know where to find us, of course. 
Email us at histvenicepod@gmail.com, or find us on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.
Intro and outro music is Primavera from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

April 1204. Constantinople. The story of this ridiculous crusade finally reaches its climax. You probably know how it ends, but for the participants the peril is off the scale as both sides fight for their survival.
Email us at histvenicepod@gmail.com, or find us on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.
Intro and outro music is Primavera from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

The Crusaders’ stunning victory in July 1203 had resolved nothing. They had won, perhaps by default, but it can hardly have been a surprise that the people of Constantinople had never welcomed them. After a few months of phoney peace, by December the war was back on again. As the Crusaders overwintered in Galata, a new, more aggressive opponent emerged in Constantinople. Will the man known as Big Eyebrows save the Empire?
Email us at histvenicepod@gmail.com, or find us on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.
Intro and outro music is Primavera from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

There’s no more room left on the knife-edge that’s balancing everyone’s fortunes on the night of 17th July 1203. Daybreak will bring unexpected clarity, and a victory for one side or the other. But when you find yourself gratefully jumping out of the frying pan, where do you land? Nowhere good, that’s for sure. For all its apparent success, this Crusade has the reverse-Midas touch, rapidly transforming gold into dusty death. And it’s only getting worse. As one war ends, another one soon begins.
Email us at histvenicepod@gmail.com, or find us on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.
Intro and outro music is Primavera from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org