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- Friedrich I, "Barbarossa" Emperor Of The Holy Roman Empire called Barbarossa or
Red Beard, succeeded his uncle Conrad III as king of Germany in 1152. He
became Holy Roman Emperor in 1155. The German people admired and respected him
as a great national hero. In 1180, he defeated his great rival for power in
Germany, Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria. With the help of loyal
princes and an able administration, he enforced his authority in Germany and
the Slavic borderlands to the east.
He was less successful in a bitter struggle against Pope Alexander III and the
Lombard League of North Italian cities. The League defeated Frederick at the
Battle of Legnano in 1176. It was in this battle that foot soldiers recorded
their first great victory over feudal cavalry. The Lombard cities forced
Frederick to grant them self-government in the Peace of Constance in 1183. The
Emperor started on the Third Crusade to the Holy Land in 1189, but drowned the
next year while crossing a river. A German legend, however, says that
Barbarossa never really died but is sleeping beside a huge table in the
Kyffhauser Mountains. When his beard grows completely around the table, the
legend says, he will arise and conquer Germany's enemies.
Frederick I (Holy Roman Empire), called Frederick Barbarossa (1123?-90), Holy
Roman emperor and king of Germany (1152-90), king of Italy (1155-90), and as
Frederick III, duke of Swabia (1147-52, 1167-68). He was born in Waiblingen,
the son of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, duke of Swabia (1090-1147), and the
nephew of Conrad III, king of Germany. Conrad III, favoring Frederick over his
own son, on his deathbed recommended to the German princes that Frederick be
chosen for the German kingship and the imperial throne. Accordingly, after the
death of his uncle in 1152, Frederick Barbarossa was made German king and
elected Holy Roman emperor. He conceived of his imperial title as a grant from
God, through the German princes, and wished to restore the glory of the Roman
Empire. He consequently decided to consolidate the imperial position in Germany
and Italy and began by issuing a general order for peace among the princes of
Germany, at the same time granting them extensive concessions. In 1154 he
proceeded to Italy, where he received the Lombard crown at Pavia. The following
year he was crowned Holy Roman emperor by Pope Adrian IV, whose authority
Frederick had reinstated before his coronation.
In 1156 Pope Adrian aroused Frederick against the papacy by implying in a
letter to him that the emperor held lands only as a fief from the pope. Two
years later Frederick incurred the hostility of the Lombards by demanding
recognition of all his royal rights, including his power to appoint the
imperial podesta, or governor, in every town. Such cities as Milan, Piacenza,
Brescia, and Crema considered that demand a denial of their communal liberties
and in 1158 began a struggle that lasted until 1183 and required Frederick to
lead five expeditions to Italy. Between 1158 and 1162 Frederick warred with
Milan and its allies, subduing that city and confirming claims to other Italian
cities. Meanwhile Frederick had set up a series of antipopes in opposition to
the reigning pope, Alexander III, who espoused the cause of the Milanese and
their allies and who, in 1165, excommunicated Frederick. By attacking the
Leonine City in Rome in 1167-68, Frederick was able to install one of the
antipopes, Paschal III (died 1168), on the papal throne. The Lombard League,
consisting of the cities of Milan, Parma, Padua, Verona, Piacenza, Bologna,
Cremona, Mantua, Bergamo, and Brescia, was formed in 1167 and eventually
acknowledged Pope Alexander as leader. During the next seven years the league
acquired military strength, rebuilt Milan, constructed the fortress city of
Alessandria, and organized a federal system of administration. The fifth
expedition (1174-76) of Frederick to Italy terminated in defeat by the Lombard
League at Legnano. The defeat was significant in military history, because it
was the first major triumph of infantry over a mounted army of feudal knights.
Frederick was forced in 1177 to acknowledge Alexander III as pope and in 1183
to sign the Peace of Constance, acceding to the demands of the Lombards for
autonomy but retaining imperial suzerainty over the towns.
Although imperial control in Italy was virtually ended by his defeat at
Legnano, Frederick managed to enhance his prestige in central Europe. He made
Poland tributary to the empire, raised Bohemia to the rank of a kingdom, and
erected the margravate of Austria into an independent hereditary duchy. His own
power as emperor in Germany was firmly established in 1180, when he ended his
long struggle with the Welfs by putting down a revolt led by the Welf Henry the
Lion and depriving him of most of his lands.
Frederick initiated the Third Crusade in 1189, and in the next year, having
resigned the government of the empire to his son Henry, later Holy Roman
Emperor Henry VI, set out for Asia Minor. After gaining two great victories
over the Muslims at Philomelion (now Ak3ehir) and Iconium (now Konya), he was
drowned in the Calycadnus (now Goksu) River in Cilicia (now in Turkey) on June
10, 1190.
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Reference:
"The World Book Encyclopedia", 1968, p F422.
"Frederick I (Holy Roman Empire)," Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) 1993
Microsoft Corporation. Copyright (c) 1993 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation
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1121 - 1190 (69 years)