Frederick I Holy Roman emperor

Frederick I , (born c. 1123—died June 10, 1190), duke of Swabia (as Frederick III , 1147–90) and German king and Holy Roman emperor (1152–90), who challenged papal authority and sought to establish German predominance in western Europe. He engaged in a long struggle with the cities of northern Italy (1154–83), sending six major expeditions southward. He died while on the Third Crusade to the Holy Land.

Early years Frederick was the son of Frederick II , duke of Swabia, and Judith, daughter of Henry IX , duke of Bavaria , of the rival dynasty of the Welfs. After succeeding his father as duke of Swabia, Frederick was elected German king on March 4, 1152, in Frankfurt, succeeding his uncle, Emperor Conrad III . Frederick’s contemporaries believed that, because he united in himself the blood of the Welfs and the Hohenstaufen, he would solve the internal problems of the kingdom. The announcement of his election, which he sent to Pope Eugenius III , made it plain that Frederick I was not ready to recognize the preeminence over the emperors that the popes had won during the quarrel over the right of investiture of bishops and abbots. Frederick, moreover, filled several vacant episcopal sees, thereby violating the Concordat of Worms of 1122. Nevertheless, he was to learn that he could not prevail against the papacy as easily as the earlier emperors, Otto I and Henry III , had done because the political balance of the West had changed. Under the powerful emperor Manuel I Comnenus , the Byzantine Empire had grown to be a political factor in the Mediterranean and in Italy . Southern Italy and Sicily were united in the Norman kingdom of Roger II . The cities of the Lombards , which had been little more than a nuisance to the earlier emperors, had now become more powerful.

Frederick started his struggle for the old goal of the predominance of the Empire over the European monarchies with great political skill. By not recognizing the treaty of alliance between his predecessor, Conrad III, and Manuel I Comnenus of Byzantium against Roger II of Sicily, Frederick forced Pope Eugenius III to sign the Treaty of Constance (1153) with him because the Pope was more exposed to pressure from the Norman kingdom to the south as well as from Arnold of Brescia in Rome . Frederick promised not to make peace with the Roman commune, headed by Arnold (whom he hanged) or with the Normans without the agreement of the Pope. He also promised not to concede any Italian land to the Byzantine Emperor and, finally, to maintain the position of the papacy ( honor papatus ). Eugenius III, on his part, promised that Frederick would receive the imperial crown and that the rights of the empire would be maintained. When Manuel of Byzantium offered Frederick a Byzantine princess as wife and attempted to induce him to fight against the Norman kingdom, Frederick refused. The successor of Eugenius III, Pope Adrian IV , honoured the Treaty of Constance and crowned Frederick emperor on June 18, 1155, in Rome.

The German princes refused to give Frederick the support necessary to attack the Sicilian kingdom, which, under Roger’s son William I (reigned 1154–66), was passing through a crisis. Although Manuel now formed an allegiance with the rebellious Norman barons, the city of Genoa, and the Pope, Adrian still would not accept the Byzantine offer of help against William I of Sicily. After William had brought his crisis to an end, he was able to force the Pope to sign the Concordat of Benevento in 1156 by which Adrian gave William Sicily and the Norman principalities on the mainland as far north as Naples and Capua and granted him special rights for the Sicilian church. This new treaty was in violation of the Treaty of Constance. Cardinal Roland (later Pope Alexander III ) was supposed to explain the Pope’s new policy to the princes and to the Emperor at the imperial Diet of Besançon 1157. A letter from the Pope, which was translated in an inflammatory manner by the imperial chancellor Rainald of Dassel , caused a critical argument between the papal delegation and the German princes over whether or not the empire was dependent upon the papacy. Adrian explained later that he meant the word beneficium, which had caused all the trouble, to mean benefit and not fief .

Attempt to regain imperial rights In 1158, after Frederick had solved several decisive domestic problems (see below), he began his second campaign in Italy, seeking the complete restoration of the imperial rights. After laying siege to and conquering Milan , which had attempted to oppose him, Frederick opened the Diet of Roncaglia . The goal of this Diet was to define and guarantee the rights of the emperor, which would bring the empire an estimated 30,000 pounds of silver per year. Frederick attempted, beginning in 1158 and especially after 1162, not only to achieve the granting of these rights but also to put a systematic financial administration into effect. His goal was to reduce imperial Italy to a system of well-controlled castles, palaces, and cities, with the self-government of the cities controlled by imperial officials. What the Emperor saw as a restoration of the imperial rights, however, was considered by the cities as a curtailment of their freedom. A tax called the fodrum was levied on all the inhabitants of imperial Italy; in return the Italian nobles and communes were excused from service in Frederick’s armies and were guaranteed his protection. A portion of the Italian money went to the German princes; this enabled Frederick to win their support without making too many political concessions to them in Germany . The ecclesiastical princes of the empire, however, still had to render full service for Italy; the archbishopric of Mainz suffered severe financial losses because Archbishop Christian was active for a long time in Italy as imperial legate. The Italian taxes allowed Frederick to enlist mercenaries (Brabantini) in order to free himself militarily, to a certain extent, from the fief holders. The money of Italy was not, however, the only motive of Frederick’s Italian policy.

The Pope, as well as the cities, felt threatened by a tightly organized imperial state in Italy. In 1159 Cardinal Octavian was elected Pope Victor IV with the support of Frederick, and Cardinal Roland was elected Pope Alexander III in a tumultuous and disputed voting session. Alexander, supported by many cardinals, was also immediately recognized by William of Sicily as the true pope. At the council of 1160 in Pavia , convened by the Emperor, only Victor IV was present and was declared the rightful pope, thereby earning for Frederick Alexander’s hostility.

Relations with Pope Alexander III of Frederick I Alexander III , one of the greatest lawyers of the church, wanted to found a papacy that would be independent of the Emperor; he excommunicated Frederick in 1160. France, England, Spain, Hungary, the Lombards, and even Emperor Manuel joined Alexander’s party; under imperial pressure, Alexander retired to France in 1161, where he remained until 1165. John of Salisbury asked at that time: “Who made the Germans judges of the nations?” Barbarossa’s attempt to persuade King Louis VII of France to try to heal the schism when they met at Saint-Jean-de-Losne on the Saône was of no avail. Alexander attempted to bring Frederick back into the church but with no success. At Alexander’s urging, the Byzantine emperor Manuel Comnenus now prepared to form an alliance with France and was ready to recognize the Pope. In 1162 Milan was destroyed by Frederick.

When Victor IV died in 1164, Paschal III (reigned 1164–68) was quickly elected as the new imperial pope on the urging of Rainald of Dassel , perhaps against the will of the Emperor. Because of friction between Louis VII and Henry II of England and because the latter was embroiled in an argument with Thomas Becket, Barbarossa decided to form an alliance with Henry II . At the Diet of 1165 in Würzburg, Frederick swore not to recognize Alexander III. The promises made by the English delegates that Frederick’s political wishes would be recognized were denied by Henry II, who preferred to keep Alexander under pressure, thus making things more difficult for Becket.

Following the death of William I of Sicily in 1166, Frederick felt that the time had come to strike a decisive blow against Alexander III, who had returned to Rome , and against Sicily. The Lombard League was formed to defend against the Emperor’s fourth expedition to Italy . Frederick’s expedition ended in disaster, however, when malaria broke out in his army. Rainald of Dassel died in Rome at this time, causing a change in the imperial strategy. When Frederick negotiated peace between Louis VII and Henry II and then sent the Bishop of Bamberg in 1170 to Alexander III and envoys to Byzantium, a détente resulted that even Alexander could not escape. In his fifth Italian campaign (1174) Frederick did not defeat the Lombards militarily, but they were forced to subject themselves to him in the Armistice of Montebello. Because Duke Henry the Lion of Saxony refused to come to his aid, however, Frederick lost the Battle of Legnano against the Lombards. He was now ready to deal with the Pope, and in 1176 they signed the Treaty of Anagni. In the Peace of Venice (1177) Barbarossa acknowledged Alexander III as the true pope. In front of the Church of St. Mark’s, Barbarossa received the kiss of peace from the Pope. At Venice the imperial delegates had been able to improve the Emperor’s position. Above all was the fact that, although a truce had been negotiated with the Lombards, they were not included in the peace treaty. A treaty with the Lombards was finally confirmed in the year 1183.

Barbarossa meanwhile had also initiated sweeping changes in his empire, where Duke Henry the Lion of Saxony was the strongest prince next to him. When Barbarossa took office, Henry had laid claim to Bavaria, the domain of the margrave Henry II Jasomirgott of Austria. Barbarossa bestowed Bavaria on Henry the Lion, and as compensation he elevated the margravate of Austria to a dukedom, with special rights. The Emperor also left the dukedom of Saxony and Mecklenburg under Henry the Lion’s control, and in 1154 the Duke received the privilege of investing bishops in the colonial land east of the Elbe. The year 1158 was of great importance for the empire; Barbarossa founded the imperial territory of Pleissnerland (south of Leipzig), elevated Duke Vladislav II of Bohemia to king , and granted the Archbishop of Bremen important privileges, restoring the Bishop’s lost political power. Also in 1158 Frederick promised to enfeoff Waldemar I the Great of Denmark—that is, make him his vassal with certain rights.

Meanwhile, Henry the Lion founded the cities of Munich and Lübeck (1158). The founding of Lübeck brought German merchants to the Baltic Sea . The Duke closed a contract between the Germans and the inhabitants of Gotland and sent envoys to Scandinavia and Russia. A trade agreement was closed in 1189 with Novgorod. About 1180 German merchants reached Riga; their advance was protected by Henry’s conquest of Mecklenburg (1177). By 1148 Henry had the county and the town of Stade, the most important harbour on the Elbe, in his control.

Deposition of Henry the Lion At the same time German colonists had settled in Brandenburg under the margrave Albert I the Bear and in Silesia. Barbarossa had restored the dependence of the Polish dukes during two expeditions to Poland in 1157 and 1172. Henry the Lion, the most powerful prince in northern Germany , made Brunswick his residence. He had repeatedly challenged other princes in feuds, but Archbishop Wichmann of Magdeburg, Albrecht of Brandenburg, Landgrave Louis III of Thuringia , and Archbishop Rainald of Cologne offered repeated resistance. It is not completely certain that Duke Henry’s refusal of aid to Frederick in 1176 was the sole cause of his downfall. Apparently his manifold breach of the peace of the land caused the Emperor to accuse him, to conquer Lübeck, and, in 1180, through a council of the princes in Gelnhausen, to depose him. Henry lost his dukedom; Westphalia was given to the Archbishop of Cologne, and Bavaria was granted to Otto of Wittelsbach. Henry, who was married to Mathilde of England, went in exile to King Henry II of England. As a result of Henry the Lion’s trial, the feudal system was made a still stronger basis of the imperial constitution. Thereafter, only those princes who had received their land directly from the Emperor were admitted to the exclusive circle of imperial princes ( Reichsfürsten ). Barbarossa elevated the princes of Pomerania to dukes, and the counts of Andechs became the dukes of Merania (in the neighbourhood of Trieste). Steiermark became a dukedom. Another important measure of Barbarossa was the elevation of the Bishop of Würzburg to duke of Franconia in 1168.

Barbarossa had attempted to hold the increasing power of the princes in check. By 1152 he had found a solution for the area of Burgundy , which also belonged to the empire. He made Duke Berthold IV of Zähringen his representative for the dukedom of Burgundy as far as the Mediterranean and married Béatrix, the daughter of Count Rainald of Burgundy (1156). Barbarossa attempted to build his own imperial territory between the areas controlled by the princes. This territory was composed of castles, cities, landholdings, ministerial seats, and single rights that were more or less thickly scattered from Swabia to Thuringia. This large territory was ruled by imperial ministerials ( ministeriales imperii ). These men had great power because many of them belonged to the Emperor’s circle. The most famous of them was Kuno of Münzenberg, whose castle is preserved in the Wetterau north of Frankfurt and who founded the town of Friedberg. The territorial “peace laws” belong to his efforts to keep the Emperor in power.

Chivalry gave Barbarossa’s time a special stamp. He expressed his enthusiasm for knighthood as the ideal way of life at the festival of Pentecost at Mainz in 1184, where he dubbed his sons knights. This festival was surpassed by the “Diet of Jesus Christ” in 1188, when the margravate of Namur was transformed into an imperial principality. More important was Barbarossa’s call to the Third Crusade in the spring of 1189 to free Jerusalem from Saladin’s army, which had captured it in 1187. Before his departure he returned the former possessions of the Countess Mathilde of Tuscany , a part of the papal state, to the Pope. In 1190 the Emperor drowned while trying to cross the Saleph River.

Legacy of Frederick I Frederick Barbarossa had attempted to continue the imperial policy of the rulers of the Saxon and Salian lines. His state was still founded upon the noble, the high noble, and above all the newly founded rank of the imperial servants. The imperial cities in Germany were governed by royal officials ( advocatis sculteti ), and the citizens had their part in the government. The cities played no role in politics. Frederick had to recognize that the church, after the quarrel of investiture, had become a firmly controlled institution, with its powers strictly defined by law. The church had joined itself to the struggle for freedom of the economically powerful states in upper Italy . Pope Alexander III was able to force the kings of Europe (especially Louis VII of France) not to enter into a political agreement with Barbarossa. Only Philip II Augustus of France signed a treaty with Barbarossa in order to free himself from the pressures created by the Anglo-Norman occupation on the mainland. There was no chance that a continuation and increase of the imperial policy in the territories controlled by the empire would have broken the power of the princes. Germany developed into a system of territorial states after Barbarossa’s death, while France developed during the time of Philip II Augustus into a centralized monarchial state. Barbarossa had a strong feeling for law and imperial prestige . His steadfast opposition to the popes and to Henry the Lion made him the symbol of German unity in the romantic glorification of the 19th century. People since the 14th century believed he was sleeping in the imperial castle of Kyffhäuser and hoped for his return. A monument to him was erected there during the years 1890–96.

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