king under the mountain frederick barbarossa

He owed his election party to his personal qualities, and partly to the fact that the united in himself the blood of the rival families of Welf and Waiblingen.įrederick’s first concern was to establish peace at home. Frederick was chosen German king at Frankfort in 152, and crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle. In 1152 the dying king advised the princes to choose Frederick as his successor to the exclusion of his own young son. When his father died in 1147, Frederick became duke of Swabia, and immediately afterward accompanied his uncle, the German king Conrad III, on his disastrous crusade. 1123-1190), Holy Roman emperor called “Barbarossa” or “Red Beard” by the Italians, was the son of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, duke of Swabia, and Judith, daughter of the Welf Henry IX, duke of Bavaria. This emperor was a magnanimous, shrewd, mild, strong and righteous man and, except for his persecutions of the church, so highly esteemed, that in greatness of accomplishment the like of him is hardly to be found in history after Charles the Great.įrederick I (c. But an unhallowed hour undermined the hopes of the Christians for one day when the emperor was heated and covered with sweat he accidentally or thoughtlessly went into a stream of water to bathe and he was drowned. He then proceeded to Lesser Armenia, where he subjugated everything, so much so that Saladin, the Turkish sultan, was never before nor at any time since more worried about his extinction. He took the city of Philomenia from the Turks, and then appeared before Iconium, plundering and burning it and the adjacent country. From there he was assisted to the Bosphorus by Isaac, the Greek emperor. Then he took up the Cross against the infidels, and with eleven wagon-forts proceeded through Hungary, Bulgaria, and Thrace to Constantinople. Now when Emperor Frederick was at last reconciled to the pope in the matter of his dealings against the church, he held a session of the princes at Nuremberg and there he confirmed the peace treaty and published it throughout Germany. When the emperor’s son Otto was taken prisoner at Venice, and Frederick secured pardon and absolution through the diligence of the Venetians, as stated above, he made gifts to Duke Sebastian and his successors, and endowed the senate of Venice with privileges and treasures. But since the emperor feared the power of the pope, he craftily negotiated with the pope. When news of this reached the emperor, he called together all of his Germans, and with the assistance of those of Pavia and Cremona, proceeded to Verona. These proceedings so touched the hearts of the rest of the Italian people that those of Verona, Padua, and Vicenza formed an alliance against the emperor. He also caused the city of Tortona much distress. He also plundered the city of Tortona, leveled Milan to the ground, and forced the inhabitants to take up their abode at a distance of ten miles. But after Pope Adrian’s death the emperor became antagonistic to Alexander, his successor and he besieged the wealthy city of Crema, in Lombardy, and attacked the estates and territories of the Roman Church at the same time. Simultaneously he made the duke of Bohemia a king, and made a duchy of the Austrian margraviate. On the ground of consanguinity he divorced his wife, the daughter of Margrave Diepold of Voburg, and espoused Beatrice, daughter of the count of Burgundy.

This enraged the emperor, but the pope pacified him, and the emperor returned to Germany. At the same time the Romans kept the gates of the city of Rome closed, and afterwards with a large force fell upon the Germans who remained outside. But after the exchange of many messages King Frederick came to the pope with due respect and humility, assured the pope of safety, and received of him the imperial crown. Having taken that city he proceeded to Rome with such speed that the pope with his cardinals fled in fear to the Old City. After he settled all controversies and restored peace in Germany, he proceeded to Lombardy with a large army, appearing before the city of Tortona (Terdonam). He was elected to succeed King Conrad at Frankfurt, in the Year of the Lord 1153, at a general election held by the electors and he reigned 33 years. Frederick (Fridericus) the First, surnamed Barbarossa, a native of Swabia, son of Duke Frederick of Swabia (a brother of King Conrad), was born of the illustrious line of Charles the Great.

King under the mountain frederick barbarossa