Frederick Barbarossa

Frederick I Barbarossa (1122–1190)

1122 This seems to be the year when Frederick I, called Barbarossa, was born, probably at Waiblingen, Germany. Frederick I Barbarossa came to the throne because of Conrad III’s wish, whose nephew he was. Dying, this said to his German parents that he wanted Frederick as his successor.

1125 He was chosen at Frankfurt and crowned at Aachen as King of Germany.

1154 He was crowned King of Italy at Padova.

1154-1183 People in the North of Italy did not agree his ambitions because during this period a long conflict started.

1155 He was crowned Emperor of Holy Roman Empire by Pope Adrian IV, who he came into a conflict.

1165 Papacy was by Italian cities’ side led by Milan, excommunicating Frederick.

1167 The conflict became stronger, Italian cities: Milan, Parma, Padova, Verona, Brescia, Piacenza, Bologna, Cremona, Mantua and Bergamo established an alliance called “Lombardy League”.

1176 The alliance made by Italian cities succeeded to remove Frederick’s influence in Italy, defeated him on May 29th at Legnano, especially that Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, refused to help.

1177 Frederick and the Pope signed a treaty at Venice and the emperor recognized Alexander III as the real Pope. In front of Saint Mary Church, Frederick received the kiss of peace by Pope, but a humbling kiss.

Henry the Lion’s betrayal made Frederick angry. Duke of Saxony was the strongest prince of the Germans, he had important possessions from the emperor and the right to invest bishops on the lands from the Eastern part of Elba river. Economical power of Duke increased after the foundation of Munchen and Lubeck. After Legnano battle the emperor accused him for betrayal, conquered Lubeck and took his equities. He obliged Henry the Lion to leave into an exile in England, to his father-in-law, Henry II.

After this, Frederick I Barbarossa succeeded to threaten papacy authority in Italy, unifying Kingdom of Sicily with the Empire, married his son, Henry IV, to the Norman heir princess from here. Conflicts with papacy did not stop him to answer the calls to the crusade, especially because he was an admirer of chivalric ideals.

1178 He was crowned at Arles as Burgundy King.

1184 This year, at Mainz, within a special ceremony during the festival, he raised his sons at the rank of knights.

1188 At “Diet of Christ”, as diet from Mainz was called, he accepted to go to the Orient to free Jerusalem. In a gesture of goodwill towards papacy he agreed to give back Countess Matilda of Toscana’s Duchy to the Papal State. His gesture made the Pope glad but did not help him within his campaign against faithful people.

1189-1990 During this period he was one of the leaders of Crusade III together with King Philip II of France and King Richard I of England.

1190 He died on June 10th, drowned on Saleph river (nowadays Gosku), in Anatolia, Minor Asia, river that he was trying to cross [ro.biography.name].

 

 

Bibliography:

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