Charles VIII of France is on his way out as king Ferrandino of Naples, along with Gonzalo de Cordoba, are gradually taking back the kingdom. Meanwhile Charles is headed off by the Holy League of Venice at the town of Fornovo in the Apennines of Parma. In the ensuing battle, he manages to get through, but not without losing all the supplies and spoils of his campaign. The league commander Francisco Gonzaga, comes out of the affair looking pretty good. After he finally leaves and Luis of Orleans leaves Novara to the besieging Sforza, an uneasy peace fans over Italy. Visit our partner for this e ..read more

Charles VIII of France finally managed to get to Naples, but doesn’t hang around long, the players on the Italian scene feel he has worn out his welcome and Venice, Milan, the pope, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian and Ferdinand II of Spain band together in the Holy league to threaten France. Things kick off in the south with the new king of Naples Ferrandino ready to fight back supported by the Spanish and in the north the Milanese and Venetians lay siege to the French in Novara. Visit our partner’s website at Exlore Worldwide ..read more

After his election as pope Alecander VI Rodrigo Borgia gets straight down to business, sorting out the lawlessness in Rome, tinkering with the delicate national balance with the Duchy of Milan, the Republics of Florence and Venice as well as the kingdom of Naples. He then has to also deal with the descent of French King Charles VIII, but most of all, he wants to sort out his children, Cesare, Giovanni, Lucrezia and Goffredo. When the pope decides to pin all hopes for a future Borgia dynasty on Giovanni, Cesare is not at all pleased and makes some plans of his own, which may have included his b ..read more

After seeing Charles VIII though Rome with an uncertain deal with pope Alexander VI, Rodrigo Borgia, we go back to see how the Borgias came to Italy from Spain with Alphonse of Aragon, rose to the papacy with Callixtus III who in turn raised his nephew Rodrigo. He would eventually, thanks to one of his many lovers, have three children before becoming pope, Cesare, Giovanni and Lucrezia, who would all go on to their own adventures ..read more

We follow the life of mystic, prophet and monk, Gerolamo Savonarola, who came to have a great moral influence over Florence, particularly after the expulsion of the Medici. His increasing fiery denunciation of the immorality of the Florentines and then the church and pope Alexander VI made him more and more enemies, ready to pounce on him the moment his popularity waned. https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/57921319/download.mp3 ..read more

Charles VIII of France starts to head into Italy, beginning with the lands of Savoy where a 2-year-old duke leaves things to his mum to deal with the expensive guest who also asks her for a loan. Meanwhile, the Neapolitans try to go on the offensive by attacking locations along the Tuscan and Ligurian coast to no avail. Charles then meets with Ludovico il Moro, then the real duke of Milan Gian Galeazzo Sforza, who then dies a week after the meeting, saying goodbye to his dogs and horses at his deathbed. Then it is to Florence, where the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Piero, after sitting on t ..read more

We look at the background to the expedition by King Charles VIII of France into Italy to claim the throne of Naples. This takes us to explore the situation i Milan, with Duke Gian Galeazzo Sforza and his uncle Ludovico il Moro, then to Naples, where king Alphonse II has just succeeded his father Ferrante. We see the diplomatic and military preparation that once again sees the Italian powers, Milan, Venice, Florence, the Papal States and Naples have to decide which side to line up on, with the novelty of the most powerful army in Europe heading into the peninsula.This is the start of ..read more

We take our usual tour around Italy, this time focusing on the latter part of the 15th century and the start of the Renaissance with: Aragonese in Sardinia and Sicily Alphonse then Ferrante in the kingdom of Naples until his death in 1494 A series of interesting popes including Martin V, Eugene IV, Sixtus IV and Innocent VIII The Medici in Florence, from Cosimo the Elder to Lorenzo the Magnificent The Genoa of Christopher Columbus The Savoy and the possible hoax of the Holy Shroud of Turin Milan with Francesco Sforza taking over from the Visconti, then the assassination of Gian Galeazzo Sforza ..read more

We go back to a quiet mountain valley of north-eastern Italy where the peace was forever broken by one of the country’s most ambitious architerctural and engineering projects that ended in one of the worst disasters in the history of Italy in the 20th century. This is the story of how progress and profit was put before thousands of human lives, this is the story of Vajont, a story that must be remenered ..read more

We linger yet another episode in the Middle Ages to take a look at the Duchy of Urbino and in particular the “condottiero” Federico da Montefeltro, he of th eodd shped nose. There is also a murder mystery surrounding the death of his predessssor and some macbre pasrts with intimate bit being detatched ..read more