{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Empire in the 15th Century","title":"Württemberg, or How to Build a Success","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2843,"description":"The counts, dukes and ultimately kings of Württemberg had risen to the top by winning the genetic lottery. Their eldest sons tended to be competent, some even extremely so, their wives brought in dowries and sometimes entire counties, and they ruled for long enough that the next generation took over when they were ready.\nBut all that falls apart in the 15th century. They are suddenly afflicted with the disease of dynasties, states inherited by babies and buffoons, some of them managing to be both. That would normally be the death nail for a noble House, but not this time.\nThe Landtag, the Estates of Württemberg step in to protect the fledgling state, deposing buffoons when necessary and ruling on behalf of the babies. This is one of the lesser known and even more extraordinary political histories in europe and well worth listening to.\nAnd as a bonus we also investigate why the regions around Stuttgart, Mannheim, Karlsruhe and Freiburg have become hubs of technology and precision engineering, an area where there was no coal, no mining or any other natural advantage – except for the wine – no seriously, it was the wine.\nCan Winegrowing Cause Rural Development? Evidence from Baden-Württemberg | European Review of Economic History | Oxford Academic (https://academic.oup.com/ereh/advance...)\nhe music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.\nAs always:\nHomepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.com\nIf you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans Podcast\nFacebook: @HOTGPod \nThreads: @history_of_the_germans_podcast\nBluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.social\nInstagram: history_of_the_germans\nTwitter: @germanshistory\nTo make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts....","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/O-CxGqNgqtOk8A16_kJJKQspeJOpdQs1EivUErUSFRQ/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kYzll/MzM2ZWI5N2ViMjY3/YWQ2OWU1MTZkNGQ0/Y2JhZS5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}