Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick I Barbarossa (1125-1190) was elected king of Germany on March 4, 1152 in succession to his uncle Conrad III, and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1155.
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As the son of Frederick of Hohenstaufen, duke of Swabia, and Judith of Bavaria, of the rival Guelph dynasty, Frederick was descended from Germany's two principal families, making him an acceptable choice for the Empire's princely electors as heir to the Imperial crown.
He undertook six expeditions into Italy, in the first of which he was crowned emperor in Rome by Pope Adrian IV in the aftermath of the overthrow by Imperial forces of the republican city commune headed by Arnold of Brescia.
Thereafter, relations between Emperor and Pope descended into bitter conflict culminating in Frederick's defeat at Legnano near Milan (1076) by the pro-Papal Lombard League of northern Italian cities.
After making his peace with Pope Alexander III, Frederick embarked on the Third Crusade (1189) with Philip Augustus of France and Richard I of England; he drowned while crossing the Saleph river in Cilicia in south-eastern Anatolia.
Frederick was succeeded as king and emperor by his son Henry, who also reigned as Henry VI of Germany.
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Preceded by: |
List of German Kings and Emperors |
Succeeded by: |