In 1719, the 17-year-old Polish Princess Maria Clementina Sobieska was seized by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. While the move shocked many in Europe, in the following months a group of Irish exiles plotted a daring rescue of Maria Clementina. This led to a dramatic 400-kilometer chase across 18th-century Europe. In this episode, I am joined by historian Richard Maher, an expert in the area, who explains why Irish exiles, known as the Wild Geese, risked their lives to rescue this Polish princess and how they hoped she might change the course of Irish history. You can follow Richard on Linkedin at https://ie.linkedin.com/in/richard-maher-a5ab8068 Subscribe to my new podcast with historian Damian Shiels. Its called Transatlantic - An Irish American History Podcast. You can hear the latest episode here https://linktr.ee/transatlanticpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
