The 2nd special episode from the reenactment weekend of 12th, 13th of July 2008 in the town of Oudenaarde in Belgium.
This was the 300th anniversary of the battle of Oudenaarde in which the forces of the Anglo Dutch Austro German alliance managed to achieve a convincing victory over Louis XIV and the forces of the French and Spanish crowns.
We interview some of the reenactors (including Colonel Holcroft Blood’s Regiment)

and try to capture some of the atmosphere of the town square at night.

Hope you enjoy it.

I’ve taken many many pictures of the reenactors in their glorious costumes.
I’ve uploaded a few of them to flickr including a bunch from the parade around Oudenaarde town square on Saturday.
Saturday Parade in Oudenaarde
Photos from the reenactment

and I’ve put together a few photos and little video clips from the parade and reenactment into a very short youtube video.

Some of the sources I use for this podcast can be found at Amazon.co.uk in the UK
or at Amazon.com in the United States.

If you wish to comment on the podcasts then please visit the website, historyzine.com or visit the contact page and leave me an email using the contact form there.

A special episode featuring a report from the reenactment of the battle of Oudenaarde over the weekend of 12th and 13th of July, 2008. I’ve travelled over to Belgium and am staying in the town of Oudenaarde as they commemorate this battle from 300 years just outside the town. Reenactors from all over Europe are here with guns, cannons, horses and bags of enthusiasm.
This is only a short podcast and is out of sequence with the series on the Spanish Succession that we’ve been doing. We’re on 1704 at the moment and Oudenaarde is 1708 but I wanted to try and communicate some of my delight at being here while I’m actually in Oudenaarde.

Hope you enjoy it.

I’ve taken many many pictures of the reenactors in their glorious costumes.
I’e uploaded a few of them to flickr including a bunch from the parade around Oudenaarde town square on Saturday.
Saturday Parade in Oudenaarde
Photos from the reenactment

Some of the sources I use for this podcast can be found at Amazon.co.uk in the UK
or at Amazon.com in the United States.

If you wish to comment on the podcasts then please visit the website, historyzine.com or visit the contact page and leave me an email using the contact form there.

This issue features a review of the Richard Holmes book on Marlborough and in the section on the War of the Spanish Succession we look at the march of the allied troops across Europe and take a peek at some of the planning and attention to detail that made this march a success.

John Churchill

Some of the sources I use for this podcast can be found at Amazon.co.uk in the UK
or at Amazon.com in the United States.

If you wish to comment on the podcasts then please visit the website, historyzine.com or visit the contact page and leave me an email using the contact form there.

In this episode we explore the phrase to gird your loins. We examine the case of Admiral Byng

who was executed to encourage the others and we interview Tony Cox of the Binge Thinking History Podcast.
There’s a shout out for a splendid forum at http://historum.com. I hope to meet up with some of you on there.

In our section on the War of the Spanish Succession we continue to follow the events of 1702. We follow Admiral Rooke into Cadiz and then ponder the black-hearted treachery of Max Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria.

If you wish to comment on the podcasts then please visit the website, historyzine.com or visit the contact page and leave me an email using the contact form there.

In episode 6 of Historyzine we look at early 18th century sieges, the changing nature of warfare and some of the reasons behind the reticence to commit troops to a fully fledged battle in this War of the Spanish Succession. We will focus particularly on the great French engineer Vauban, his fortresses and his techniques for laying siege to a fortress. There’s a plan of a Vauban type fortress here

If you take a look at this pdf document you will be able to see some really good aerial photographs of Vauban fortresses that give a fine indication of how it works as a piece of defensive technology.

Finally here’s a picture showing the lines of circumvallation and contravallation and the three parallels the besiegers would dig as part of the siege of a fortress town.

We mention in the podcast one of the finest references on the net for the War of the Spanish Succession www.spanishsuccession.nl and also give a shout out to the Genealogy Gems podcast plus a mention for a site simply jammed full of history podcast reviews http://anneisaman.blogspot.com/
Latest news on the Oudenaarde re-enactment for the 300th anniversary of the battle of Oudenaarde is that I have booked my hotel room and the reenactment will be taking place over the weekend 12th and 13th of July.

Our review this time is of a podcast from the History Network and is an audio tour of a walk around Soho in London.

If you wish to leave feedback on the podcast then do so through the site http://historyzine.com/ or use the contact page to send a form email http://historyzine.com/contact/

In episode 5 of Historyzine we have a review of the National Archives Podcast Series;
Historical webby gems Harry Lamin’s war correspondence

Here we go around Wakefield Prison’s Mulberry Bush.

And

Episode 5 of our series on The War of the Spanish Succession features the campaigns of the Allies against the French forces on the Meuse in 1702. Marlborough is twice thwarted in his attempts to bring the French to battle, once by his Dutch deputies and then by the delightful General Opdam but then engages in a fine series of sieges which takes back the Meuse and reconnects the English and Dutch forces with Maastricht.

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In this episode we review Parnell’s History Podcast and History Podcast plus we look at the requirement to read the Banns before a wedding can be legalised.

In the feature on the War of the Spanish Succession the allies are busily arguing among themselves at the Hague trying to decide who will lead the allied armies. The French are threatening Nijmegen and John Churchill who is eventually appointed as leader of the alliance rushes off to try and organise his forces.
The focus this time is upon the Duke of Marlborough and we do a potted history of the Duke and try to get a feel for the genius of this great English General.

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In this episode we take a look at the podcast series, Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History.
We pick apart the phrase, ’sleep tight, mind the bed bugs don’t bite’ and of course we have the next part of our series looking at the War of the Spanish Succession.
This week Eugene performs some fancy footwork in Northern Italy and the rest of the allies try to sort out some sort of compromise which will give them an excuse not to go to war against Louis XIV.

Sources for the War of the Spanish Succession

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or, to send a form email visit this page http://historyzine.com/contact/

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In this episode we review the delightful podcast TPN Napoleon, hosted by Cameron Reilly and J. David Markham and offer a shout out to ‘The Binge Thinking History podcast which, in episode 3 of that podcast gives some useful background to the English situation at the end of the 17th century.
The main feature of this week is, of course, our running guide to the War of the Spanish Succession and in this episode we attempt to unravel the many strands that are the various claimants to the Spanish throne and finish upon the opening of hostilities in Northern Italy.

Different claimants come and go but the main power blocs interested in grabbing the Spanish Empire for themselves are the Bourbons of France, headed by Louis XIV and the Austrian Habsburgs led by Leopold I, the Holy Roman Emperor. The United Provinces and England are looking for a succession that maintains a balance of power in Europe so their own security isn’t threatened. The stage therefore is set for a great deal of politicking and quite likely war. I think it was Clausewitz some time later who gave us the maxim that war is just a continuance of diplomacy and so it is in this case.

We’ll have a closer look at one of the great Imperial generals, Prince Eugene of Savoy and chart his rise to glory and his fighting apprenticeship battling against the Ottoman Turks. We’ll also make passing reference to his second favourite pastime (war being his favourite) of building palaces and stocking them full of art treasures.

Sources for the War of the Spanish Succession

If you wish to comment upon this podcast then send feedback through the site http://historyzine.com

or, to send a form email visit this page http://historyzine.com/contact/