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Fredrick made six expeditions into
Italy leading to a wartime effort that lasted for over 40 years. In the first
campaign Pope Adrian IV crowned him the Holy Roman Emperor. In the autumn of 1155, he left Italy to prepare a stronger military
for the upcoming campaigns.
Disorder was rampant in Germany especially Bavaria. General peace was finally restored by Frederick's restructure of
power. The duchy of Bavaria was transferred from Henry II Jasomirgott, to Frederick's formidable younger cousin, Henry the
Lion. On June 9, 1156 at Würzburg, Frederick married Beatrice of Burgundy, daughter of Renaud III, and became the King of
Burgundy. This added the sizeable realm stretching from Besancon to the Mediterranean.
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| Frederick sends out the boy to see whether the ravens still fly. |
In 1147 Frederick became Duke of Swabia. He made his first trip
to the East on the second crusade, with his uncle, the German king Conrad III. The expedition proved a disaster, but Frederick
was distinguished, winning the confidence of the king. When Conrad died in 1152, only Frederick and the prince-bishop of Bamberg
were at his deathbed. They asserted that Conrad, in full possession of his mental powers, handed the royal insignia to Frederick
and indicating that he, rather than his six-year-old son, should succeed him as king. Fredrick was crowned the German king
at Frankfurt on the 4th of March.
The new king was anxious to restore the Empire to the position it occupied under Charlemagne and
Otto I the Great. Fredrick saw clearly that to restore the order in Germany it was necessary to enforce their imperial rights
in Italy. On his accession Frederick had communicated the news of his election to Pope Eugenius III, but neglected to ask
for papal confirmation. Eager to make amends with the Papacy, Frederick concluded a treaty with Rome in March 1153. In this
he promised to defend the papacy and make no peace with the enemies of the church without their consent.
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| Frederick in a 13th century Chronicle |
In June 1158, Frederick set out on his
second Italian expedition, accompanied by Henry the Lion. This resulted in the establishment of imperial officers in the cities
of northern Italy and the capture of Milan. Here began a long power struggle with Pope Alexander III. He excommunicated the
emperor in 1160. In response Frederick declared his support for Antipope Victor IV. Returning to Germany towards the close
of 1162, Frederick prevented the escalation of conflicts between Henry the Lion and a number of his neighboring princes that
were growing weary of his power. The next visit to Italy in 1163, for the conquest of Sicily, was ruined by the formation
of a powerful league of opposition. This was brought together by taxes collected from the imperial officers.
Next Frederick organized the magnificent
celebration for the canonization of Charlemagne at Aachen. In October 1166, he journeyed to Italy and secured the claim of
his Antipope Pascal and coroneted his wife Beatrice as Holy Roman Empress. Henry the Lion refused to join Frederick
on this trip, tending to his own disputes with neighbors and continuing his expansion into Slavic territories in northeastern
Germany. Frederick's campaign was stopped by the sudden outbreak of a plague, which threatened to destroy the Imperial army.
This drove the emperor to Germany where he remained for the next six years. Conflicting claims to various bishops
were decided and imperial authority was asserted over,
Bohemia, Poland, and Hungary. Friendly relations were entered into with the East Roman emperor Manuel. Attempts
were made to form a better understanding with Henry II of England and Louis VII of France.
In 1174, Frederick made his fifth expedition to Italy. In response a pro-papal Lombard League was formed to stand
against him. With the refusal of Henry the Lion to help in Italy the campaign was a complete failure.
Frederick suffered a heavy defeat at
the battle of Legnano near Milan, on May 29, 1176. He was wounded and for some
time believed dead. As a result Fredrick began negotiations for peace with Alexander III and the Lombard League. In the Peace
of Venice, 1177, Frederick and Alexander III reconciled.
The Emperor acknowledged the Pope's sovereignty over the Papal States. In return Alexander acknowledged the Emperor's
lordship of the Imperial Church. The Lombard cities continued to fight until 1183. In
the Peace of Constance, Frederick conceded their right to freely elect town magistrates.
Frederick
did not forgive Henry the Lion for his refusal to help in 1174. Taking advantage of the hostility from other German princes
to Henry, who had successfully established a powerful Saxony state in the north and east of Germany. Frederick had Henry tried
in absentia, by a court of bishops and princes in 1180. It was declared that Imperial law overruled traditional German law
and thereby, stripped Henry of his lands. He then invaded Saxony with an Imperial army. When Henry's allies deserted him,
he had to submit defeat in November 1181. He spent three years in exile at the court of his father-in-law, Henry II. He was
eventually allowed back into Germany as the Duke of Brunswick. After the fall of Jerusalem, Frederick embarked on the Third
Crusade (1189). This expedition was led in conjunction with the French and English army under the power of king Philip Augustus
and Richard Lionheart. Fredrick organized the army and followed an overland route to the Holy Land through Hungary and Romania.
He arrived at Constantinople in the autumn of 1189.
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| Death of Frederick of Germany" by Gustav Dore |
From there they pushed into Armenia, and approached Syria. The
approach of the immense German army greatly concerned Saladin and the other Muslim leaders. They began to rally troops and
prepared to confront Barbarossa's forces. On June 10, 1190, while crossing the Saleph River in Cilicia, Frederick was thrown
from his horse and the shock of the cold water caused him to have a heart attack. Weighed down by his armor, he drowned in
water that was barely hip-deep.
Frederick is the
subject of many legends, including that of a sleeping hero. Derived from an old Celtic legend of Bran the Blessed, he is said
not to be dead, but asleep with his knights in a cave at Kyffhäuser Mountain in Thuringia, Germany. It is said that when the
ravens should cease to fly around the mountain he would awake and restore Germany to its ancient greatness. According to the
story his red beard has grown through the table where he sits. His eyes are half closed in sleep, but now and then he raises
his hand and sends a boy out to see if the ravens have stopped flying.
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