Frederick I, or Frederick Barbarossa, German king and Holy Roman emperor,was one of the outstanding medieval German emperors. An intelligentstatesman of imagination and determination, he was also an ideallychivalric personality. He entertained an exalted concept of his dignityas Roman emperor and introduced the use of the word Holy in the title.This was intended to reflect a mystical association between himself andthe destiny of Christianity as well as his ties with Charlemagne and theancient caesars.
Born probably in 1122, Frederick was the nephew of the German king ConradIII, whom he was elected to succeed in 1152. His Hohenstaufen dynasty hadits base in Swabia and Franconia, and he added to his patrimony anddeveloped its resources by encouraging urban expansion. Burgundy cameinto his hands by his marriage (1156) to its heiress, Beatrix.
Frederick's concept of government was feudal and hierarchical. He createdthe rank of Reichsfurst, prince of the empire, for his chief vassals; inreturn for their support he aided them against rivals within theirdomains. His own chief rival was the Welf, or Guelph, Henry the Lion. Toplacate Henry, Frederick in 1154 confirmed his rights as duke of bothSaxony and Bavaria. When Henry later refused military service, Frederickin 1180 broke his power and seized his duchies. Frederick also dominatedthe church in Germany.
Anxious to assert his imperial power in Italy, Frederick undertook sixexpeditions across the Alps. On his first expedition (1154-55) heoverthrew the republican Arnold of Brescia in Rome and was crowned (1155)by the pope. Later his chief foe was the Lombard towns, who formed theLombard League against him. Because Frederick fomented a schism bypromoting an antipope, Pope Alexander III cooperated with the Lombards.The Lombards finally defeated Frederick at Legnano in 1176. The emperormade his peace with the pope in the Treaty of Anagni (1176), and thesubsequent Treaty of Constance (1183) acknowledged his sovereignty overLombardy but reduced his actual control.
In 1186, Frederick arranged the marriage of his son, the future Henry VI,to Constance, heiress of Sicily; this soon brought the Norman kingdom ofSicily into Hohenstaufen hands. Joining the Third Crusade, Frederick ledhis army across Europe into Anatolia, where he drowned on June 10, 1190.
Raymond H. Schmandt
Bibliography: Barraclough, Geoffrey, The Origins of Modern Germany, 2ded. (1957); Hampe, Karl, Germany under the Salian and HohenstaufenEmperors, trans. by Ralph Bennett (1973); Munz, Peter, FrederickBarbarossa (1969); Pacaut, Marcel, Frederick Barbarossa (1970).
Frederick was the nephew of the German king Conrad III, whom he waselected to succeed in 1152. His Hohenstaufen dynasty had its base inSwabia and Franconia, and he added to his patrimony and developed itsresources by encouraging urban expansion. Burgundy came into his hands byhis marriage (1156) to its heiress, Beatrix.
Henry VI, b. 1165, d. Sept. 28, 1197, brought the Holy Roman Empire tothe peak of its power. He gained experience in ruling under his father,Frederick I, who also made the arrangements for his marriage (1186) toConstance, heiress of the Norman kingdom of Sicily. With the death ofWilliam II of Sicily (1189) and Frederick (1190), Henry inherited bothrealms. He was crowned emperor in 1191.
The Sicilians, led by Tancred of Lecce (1130-94), resisted Henry'sattempt to take control of that kingdom in 1191. German opposition thenarose from the Welfs and the Rhenish princes. Henry was implicated,perhaps unjustly, in the murder of Bishop Albert of Liege in 1192. In1193, Richard I of England, who was allied with both opposition groups,came into Henry's custody. Henry forced his prisoner to become his vassaland pay a huge ransom to secure release. Illness and death theneliminated the emperor's principal foes: the Welf Henry the Lion andTancred. With the aid of the English ransom, Henry conquered Sicily in1194.
Henry VI proposed a plan to make the empire hereditary. The popeobjected, as did the German princes; the latter, however, did recognizeHenry's infant son, Frederick II, as their king. Ambitious to dominatethe Byzantine Empire and the East, Henry was about to depart on crusadeto the Holy Land when he died at Messina.
Raymond H. Schmandt
Bibliography: Hampe, Karl, Germany under the Salian and HohenstaufenEmperors, trans. by Ralph Bennet (1973).
Isaac II, b. c.1155, d. February 1204, was raised to the throne of theByzantine Empire in 1185 by a mob rising up against the tyrant AndronicusI Comnenus. Isaac ruled until he was deposed and blinded in 1195 by hiselder brother Alexius III. In 1203 the Fourth Crusade restored him to thethrone as coemperor with his son Alexius IV, but they were bothoverthrown in January 1204.
During his first reign Isaac fought successfully against invading Normansfrom Italy (1185), but he could not overcome the rebellious Walachiansand Bulgarians nor prevent Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I from passingthrough his lands on the Third Crusade. In his second reign Isaac wassenile, a helpless pawn of others.
Charles M. Brand
