Global InformationFrederick Barbarossa information
| Frederick Barbarossa | |
|---|---|
| Emperor of the Romans | |
 A golden bust of Frederick, given to his godfather Count Otto of Cappenberg in 1171. It was used as a reliquary in Cappenberg Abbey and is said in the deed of the gift to have been made "in the likeness of the emperor". | |
| Holy Roman Emperor | |
| Reign | 1155 – 10 June 1190 |
| Coronation | 18 June 1155, Rome |
| Predecessor | Lothair III |
| Successor | Henry VI |
| King of Italy | |
| Reign | 1155 – 10 June 1190 |
| Coronation | 24 April 1155, Pavia |
| Predecessor | Conrad III |
| Successor | Henry VI |
| King of Germany | |
| Reign | 4 March 1152 – 10 June 1190 |
| Coronation | 9 March 1152, Aachen |
| Predecessor | Conrad III |
| Successor | Henry VI |
| King of Burgundy | |
| Reign | 1152 – 10 June 1190 |
| Coronation | 30 June 1178, Arles |
| Duke of Swabia | |
| Reign | 6 April 1147 – 4 March 1152 |
| Predecessor | Frederick II |
| Successor | Frederick IV |
| Born | Mid-December 1122 Haguenau, Duchy of Swabia, Kingdom of Germany (modern-day France) |
| Died | 10 June 1190 (aged 67) Saleph River, Cilician Armenia (modern-day Göksu River, Silifke, Turkey) |
| Burial |
|
| Spouses | Adelheid of Vohburg
(m. 1147; ann. 1153)Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy
(m. 1156; died 1184) |
| Issue more... |
|
| House | Hohenstaufen |
| Father | Frederick II, Duke of Swabia |
| Mother | Judith of Bavaria |
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (German: Friedrich I; Italian: Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 1152. He was crowned King of Italy on 24 April 1155 in Pavia and emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155 in Rome. Two years later, the term sacrum ("holy") first appeared in a document in connection with his empire.[1] He was later formally crowned King of Burgundy, at Arles on 30 June 1178. He was named Barbarossa by the northern Italian cities which he attempted to rule: Barbarossa means "red beard" in Italian;[2] in German, he was known as Kaiser Rotbart, which in English means "Emperor Redbeard." The prevalence of the Italian nickname, even in later German usage, reflects the centrality of the Italian campaigns to his career.
Frederick was by inheritance Duke of Swabia (1147–1152, as Frederick III) before his imperial election in 1152. He was the son of Duke Frederick II of the Hohenstaufen dynasty and Judith, daughter of Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria, from the rival House of Welf. Frederick, therefore, descended from the two leading families in Germany, making him an acceptable choice for the Empire's prince-electors.
Frederick joined the Third Crusade and opted to travel overland to the Holy Land. In 1190, Frederick drowned attempting to cross the Saleph River, leading to most of his army abandoning the Crusade before reaching Acre.
Historians consider him among the Holy Roman Empire's greatest medieval emperors. He combined qualities that made him appear almost superhuman to his contemporaries: his longevity, his ambition, his extraordinary skills at organization, his battlefield acumen, and his political perspicacity. His contributions to Central European society and culture include the re-establishment of the Corpus Juris Civilis, or the Roman rule of law, which counterbalanced the papal power that dominated the German states since the conclusion of the Investiture controversy.[3]
Due to his popularity and notoriety, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, he was used as a political symbol by many movements and regimes: the Risorgimento, the Wilhelmine government in Germany (especially under Emperor Wilhelm I), and the Nazi movement resulting in both golden and dark legends.[4][5][6] Modern researchers, while exploring the legacy of Frederick, attempt to uncover the legends and reconstruct the true historical figure—these efforts result in new perspectives on both the emperor as a person and the social developments associated with him.
- ^ Peter Moraw, Heiliges Reich, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, Munich & Zurich: Artemis 1977–1999, vol. 4, pp. 2025–2028.
- ^ Iba & Johnson (2015), p. 29
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Schindler, Andrea; Stieldorf, Andrea (2016). WeltkulturerbeN: Formen, Funktionen und Objekte kulturellen Erinnerns im und an das Mittelalter ; Vorträge der Ringvorlesung des Zentrums für Mittelalterstudien der Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg im Sommersemester 2013 (in German). University of Bamberg Press. pp. 9–14. ISBN 978-3-86309-385-3. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
- ^ Clemens, Gabriele B. (2021). Geschichte des Risorgimento: Italiens Weg in die Moderne (1770–1870) (in German). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. p. 67. ISBN 978-3-412-52094-6. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
- ^ Schloon, Jutta Saima (2019). Modernes Mittelalter: Mediävalismus im Werk Stefan Georges (in German). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 186. ISBN 978-3-11-061913-3. Retrieved 22 February 2022.