Ep. 238: The Habsburg Empire at its Zenith - Ferdinand I and the Siege of Vienna

Today we celebrate the topping out of the Habsburg empire. By the middle of the 16th century it reached its furthest extent as a political entity ruled by one man. Over the last 42 episodes we have seen this family of minor counts playing their game of snakes and ladders until they had amassed lordships over Austria, the Netherlands, Spain and large parts of Italy. Today we look at how they finally got hold of the last bits, Bohemia and Hungary. The story features a dutiful younger brother, the most cruel execution I have ever heard of, a...