#29 Hildebold and Charlemagne – a lifelong friendship – The History of Cologne

A fateful encounter at the end of the 8th century. A young priest named Hildebold is celebrating mass in a small village church just outside the city of Cologne. A huntsman enters the church and is immediately taken by the priest's modesty and piety. What Hildebold does not know, however. This man is not a hunter. He is Charlemagne. Why does the King of the Franks disguise himself as a hunter here in Cologne? You will find out in this episode.

A fateful encounter at the end of the 8th century. A young priest named Hildebold is celebrating mass in a small village church just outside the city of Cologne. A huntsman enters the church and is immediately taken by the priest’s modesty and piety. What Hildebold does not know, however. This man is not a hunter. He is Charlemagne. Why does the King of the Franks disguise himself as a hunter here in Cologne? You will find out in this episode.

Charlemagne and Kunibert of Cologne become best friends in the 780s. With the king’s help Hildebold gets appointed as the new bishop of Cologne. Together they reform the Frankish Empire. The so-called Carolingian Renaissance would reform the Frankish Empire and the whole of Western Europe forever.

#96 The Holy Roman Empire at the Time of the Battle of Worringen – The History of Cologne

How could such a violent battle at Worringen in 1288 happen? Just north of Cologne's city limits? In this episode we take a short look at the Empire as a whole and how it was fundamentally changing on its way into the Late Middle Ages and affecting the events to unfold in the Battle of Worringen.

1. #96 The Holy Roman Empire at the Time of the Battle of Worringen 29:04
2. #95 The 1275 Friendship Treaty: Siegfried von Westerburg and Cologne’s New Gothic City Seal 38:02
3. #94 The Expulsion of the Wise Men and the Aftermath of the Battle of Ulrepforte 35:29
4. #93 The Battle at Ulrepforte 39:40
5. #92 Retrospective: High Medieval Cologne and the Rise of the Citizenry 33:33

Charlemagne (Charles the Great)

Krieler Dömchen (Kriel Cathedral)

Pfalz in Cologne