Frederick I, Barbarossa, (1123-1190) was Holy Roman Emperor of the German Nation between 1155 to 1190. He led a powerful German Army to the Third Crusade (1189-1192). He had tried to impose his imperial rights on the Italian cities of northern Italy, but he was beaten at the Battle of Legnano in 1176. Thus, he was forced to accept the sovereignty of the Papal States in 1177. Later, he would drown as he crossed a river in full armor in Asia Minor on his way to the Third Crusade.
In 1147, Frederick became duke of Swabia when his father died. Then he joined his uncle, the German king Conrad III, on the Second Crusade, during which he distinguished himself in battle, winning the complete confidence of the king. Abandoning the cause of the Welfs, he fought for Conrad against them.
In 1152, on his deathbed, Conrad III recommended to the German princes that his nephew Frederick be chosen for the German kingship and the imperial throne. Accordingly, after the death of his uncle in 1152, Frederick I Barbarossa was made German king and elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1155. He considered his imperial title a grant from God, through the German princes, as he wished to restore the glory of the Roman Empire.
He consolidated the imperial position in Germany and northern Italy as he issued a general order for peace among the princes of Germany, at the same time granting them extensive concessions. In 1154 he went to Italy, where he received the Lombard crown at Pavia. In 1155 he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, whose authority Frederick had reinstated before his coronation.
Frederick Barbarossa’s main political objective was to extend and consolidate his conquest in northern Italy, where many cities had achieved almost total independence due to the liberties granted to them by the former kings from the house of Franconia. In 1158, to put an end to that situation that endangered the Italian unity and hence the Holy Roman Empire, Frederick I went down to Italy where he met with the Italian feudal lords at the Diet of Roncaglia and reminded them of their duties as he proclaimed the emperor’s rights to administer justice and levy taxes; and furthermore, he appointed a king’s representative in each of the Italian cities.
The prosperous Italian cities which governed themselves strongly opposed Frederick I’s policies. Milan led the insurrection and expelled the emperor’s representatives. Also the Pope Alexander III sided with the Italian cities which had organized into the Lombard League. In order to crush the rebellion, Frederick Barbarossa crossed the Alps once again as he headed towards Italy, but this time he was defeated at Legnano by armies of the Lombard League in 1176. Frederick was forced in 1177 to acknowledge Alexander III as pope and in 1183 to sign the Peace of Constance, agreeing to the demands of the Lombards for autonomy but retaining imperial authority over the towns.
Frederick I Barbarossa initiated the Third Crusade in 1189, and in the following year, having resigned the government of the empire to his son Henry, later Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, set out for Asia Minor. After gaining two great victories over the Muslims at Philomelion and Iconium, he drowned while fording the Saleph River in full armor on June 10, 1190.
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