Individual

Go to List of Family Names Go to List of People    < Previous Next >

Birth:          1122 of Swabia, Bavaria
Death:          10 Jun 1190 Saleph, Sicilcia on 3d Crusade
Cause of Death: drowned
Burial:         Tyre, Palestine

Notes
Crusader (3d Crusade)
Emperor of Germany as Frederick I
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_I,_Holy_Roman_Emperor
Frederick I (German: Friedrich; 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick 
Barbarossa, was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death. He was elected 
King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 
1152. He became King of Italy in 1155 and was crowned Roman Emperor by Pope 
Adrian IV on 18 June 1155. 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 has the same meaning.

Before his imperial election, Frederick was by inheritance Duke of Swabia (1147–1152, 
as Frederick III). 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.

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 perspicuity. Among his contributions to Central 
European society and culture include the reestablishment 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.
Life and reign[edit]

Early years[edit]

Frederick was born in 1122. In 1147 he became Duke of the southern German region 
of Swabia (Herzog von Schwaben), and shortly afterwards made his first trip to the 
East, accompanied by his uncle, the German king Conrad III, on the Second Crusade. 
The expedition proved to be a disaster,[3] but Frederick distinguished himself and won 
the complete confidence of the king. When Conrad died in February 1152, only 
Frederick and the prince-bishop of Bamberg were at his deathbed. Both asserted 
afterwards that Conrad had, in full possession of his mental powers, handed the royal 
insignia to Frederick and indicated that Frederick, rather than Conrad's own six-year-
old son, the future Frederick IV, Duke of Swabia, succeed him as king.[4] Frederick 
energetically pursued the crown and at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 the kingdom's 
princely electors designated him as the next German king.[4] He was crowned King of 
the Romans at Aachen several days later, on 9 March 1152.[5] Frederick's father was 
from the Hohenstaufen family, and his mother was from the Welf family, the two most 
powerful families in Germany. The Hohenstaufens were often called Ghibellines, which 
derives from the Italianized name for Waiblingen castle, the family seat in Swabia; the 
Welfs, in a similar Italianization, were called Guelfs.[6]

The reigns of Henry IV and Henry V left the status of the German empire in disarray, 
its power waning under the weight of the Investiture controversy. For a quarter of a 
century following the death of Henry V in 1125, the German monarchy was largely a 
nominal title with no real power.[7] The king was chosen by the princes, was given no 
resources outside those of his own duchy, and he was prevented from exercising any 
real authority or leadership in the realm. The royal title was furthermore passed from 
one family to another to preclude the development of any dynastic interest in the 
German crown. When Frederick I of Hohenstaufen was chosen as king in 1152, royal 
power had been in effective abeyance for over twenty-five years, and to a 
considerable degree for more than eighty years. The only real claim to wealth lay in 
the rich cities of northern Italy, which were still within the nominal control of the 
German king.[8] The Salian line had died out with the death of Henry V in 1125. The 
German princes refused to give the crown to his nephew, the duke of Swabia, for fear 
he would try to regain the imperial power held by Henry V. Instead, they chose Lothair 
III (1125–1137), who found himself embroiled in a long-running dispute with the 
Hohenstaufens, and who married into the Welfs. One of the Hohenstaufens gained the 
throne as Conrad III of Germany (1137–1152). When Frederick Barbarossa succeeded 
his uncle in 1152, there seemed to be excellent prospects for ending the feud, since 
he was a Welf on his mother's side.[4] The Welf duke of Saxony, Henry the Lion, 
would not be appeased, however, remaining an implacable enemy of the 
Hohenstaufen monarchy. Barbarossa had the duchies of Swabia and Franconia, the 
force of his own personality, and very little else to construct an empire.[9]

The Germany that Frederick tried to unite was a patchwork of more than 1600 
individual states, each with its own prince. A few of these, such as Bavaria and 
Saxony, were large. Many were too small to pinpoint on a map.[10] The titles afforded 
to the German king were "Caesar", "Augustus", and "Emperor of the Romans". By the 
time Frederick would assume these, they were little more than propaganda slogans 
with little other meaning.[11] Frederick was a pragmatist who dealt with the princes by 
finding a mutual self-interest. Unlike Henry II of England, Frederick did not attempt to 
end medieval feudalism, but rather tried to restore it, though this was beyond his 
ability. The great players in the German civil war had been the Pope, Emperor, 
Ghibellines, and the Guelfs, but none of these had emerged as the winner.[12]
Issue[edit]

Frederick's first marriage, to Adelheid of Vohburg, did not produce any issue and was 
annulled.[89]

From his second marriage, to Beatrice of Burgundy,[89] he had the following children:
1.Beatrice (1162–1174). She was betrothed to King William II of Sicily but died before 
they could be married.
2.Frederick V, Duke of Swabia (Pavia, 16 July 1164 – 28 November 1170).
3.Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (Nijmegen, November 1165 – Messina, 28 September 
1197).[89]
4.Conrad (Modigliana, February 1167 – Acre, 20 January 1191), later renamed 
Frederick VI, Duke of Swabia after the death of his older brother.[89]
5.Gisela (October/November 1168 – 1184).
6.Otto I, Count of Burgundy (June/July 1170 – killed, Besanηon, 13 January 1200).[89]
7.Conrad II, Duke of Swabia and Rothenburg (February/March 1172 – killed, Durlach, 
15 August 1196).[89]
8.Renaud (October/November 1173 – in infancy).
9.William (June/July 1176 – in infancy).
10.Philip of Swabia (August 1177 – killed, Bamberg, 21 June 1208) King of Germany in 
1198.[89]
11.Agnes (1181 – 8 October 1184). She was betrothed to King Emeric of Hungary but 
died before they could be married.

Parents
VON HOHENSTAUFEN Friedrich II (1090 - 6 Apr 1147)
OF BAVARIA Judith (19 May 1100 - 27 Aug 1130)

Siblings
____ Frederick (Friedrich) III "Barbarossa" (1122 - 10 Jun 1190)
VON HOHENSTAUFEN Judith (occ. Bertha) (EST 1124 - )

Marriage To OF BURGUNDY (OF MACON) Beatrice (Beatrix) (1143 - 15 Nov 1184)
    m. Jun 1156 Wurzburg

Notes

Parents
____ Reynold (Renaud) (Raimond) III (ABT 1093 - 19 Jan 1148)
OF LORRAINE Agatha (ABT 1120 - Apr 1147)

Children by OF BURGUNDY (OF MACON) Beatrice (Beatrix) 1143 - 15 Nov 1184
____ Henry (Heinrich) VI (Nov 1165 - 28 Sep 1197)
VON HOHENSTAUFEN Philipp II (Feb 1177 - 21 Jun 1208)

Produced by Fzip 1.7 6/20/2017