This Week in History recalls memorable and decisive events and personalities of the past.
March 4th 1152 – Frederick I Barbarossa is elected King of Germany
Frederick Barbarossa (Barbarossa meaning ‘red beard’) would come to be known to history as one of the greatest rulers of medieval Germany. Born into the chaotic world of high medieval Germany, he would leave a great impression on the minds of his contemporaries before dying in an accident, leaving open a fascinating ‘what if’.
Barbarossa was born in 1122 in the town of Haguenau, which is today in France, close to the border with Germany. His parents were senior members of the nobility, and his childhood was spent in the usual way for young men of his time, learning to ride a horse, fight with a variety of weapons and hunt game in the local forests. In his twenties he briefly served in the court of his uncle, who was the King in the Holy Roman Empire at the time.
In 1147 Barbarossa joined the Second Crusade, which had been called to reinforce the crusader kingdoms in the Middle East. This was over the objections of his dying father, who wanted Barbarossa to stay and care for his family and estates. Shortly before the crusade set out, Barbarossa’s father died, and Barbarossa became the Duke of Swabia. Despite his sudden elevation Barbarossa set out on the crusade with his uncle, King Conrad.
During the crusade Barbarossa was tasked with dealing with a monastery in the Eastern Roman Empire where a visiting crusader noble had been robbed and murdered. Demonstrating his decisiveness and cruelty Barbarossa not only demanded the return of the stolen goods, but burned the monastery to the ground and executed the men accused of the robbery. Things almost escalated into conflict with the Romans until an Eastern Roman general intervened and soothed tempers.
Barbarossa escaped many more disasters on the difficult crusade, such as floods and attacks by Turkish troops. He eventually reached Jerusalem along with the rest of the German army and participated in the failed siege of Damascus, which effectively destroyed the Second Crusade. Despite the disaster, writers attribute great skill in battle to Barbarossa during the siege.
After this the army returned to Germany in 1149, Conrad III dying three years later in 1152. At the time the Kingdom of Germany was part of the Holy Roman Empire. Unlike some other European kingdoms, such as France and England, the kings and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire were elected to their positions, with some holding senior positions in the nobility being granted the title of ‘Prince Elector’, which allowed them to elect the successor king and emperor when the old one died.
Barbarossa and the bishop of Bamberg were the only witnesses of the old king’s death and both claimed that Barbarossa, rather than his six-year-old cousin, had been designated the successor by the old king. After a few weeks of political manouevring, Barbarossa was elected King of Germany and of Burgundy on 9 March 1152.
Prior to Barbarossa’s reign, the kings of Germany and the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire (at the time closely related titles) had lost most of their power over the nobility and, beyond the lands they controlled directly, were largely powerless. The Holy Roman Empire, a complex empire founded by Charlemagne and again by Otto the Great, was a huge sprawling mess of over 1 600 feudal principalities across Germany and northern Italy.
Barbarossa sought to restore the power of the king over his empire and upon his election immediately began improving his control over the realm. Many concessions were given to the nobility in return for the recognition of some important royal rights. He would also intervene in the politics of neighbouring kingdoms and slowly built up his power.
Most of Barbarossa’s reign would be spent trying to simultaneously pacify the cities of Italy and the nobles of Germany. Three years after his election as king, Barbarossa crowned himself King of Italy in Pavia and then Holy Roman Emperor in Rome.
During his lifetime Barbarossa battled with a powerful German noble known as Henry the Lion, who constantly undermined him in Germany.
Barbarossa would send six expeditions to Italy during his reign to crush revolts by the Italians against his rule.
Battles with the Pope, the Milanese and Henry the Lion meant that between 1152 and 1187 Barbarossa would be engaged in almost constant struggle for control of his empire.
In late 1187 Barbarossa received word from the Crusader states of the Middle East that they were in a perilous position and desperately needed reinforcements from Europe.
A year later, he decided he would join the Third Crusade, which the kings of France and England were already embarking on. To fund his crusade he levied a small extra tax on the Jews of his empire. Much as was the case with earlier crusades, preaching in its support coincided with a rise in antisemitism. Barbarossa, wanting to reward the Jews for loyally paying their taxes, issued an imperial edict threatening maiming or death to any who injured or killed a Jew. This edict combined with decisive enforcement prevented a repeat of the pogroms which plagued Germany during the First Crusade.
According to medieval sources, Barbarossa set out for his crusade with a massive army of 100 000 (the largest ever sent on crusade) and he arranged safe passage and supply for his army from both the Seljuk Turks and Hungarians. He was delayed for a time crossing into Asia as the Eastern Romans had negotiated a secret alliance with Saladin (the Muslim ruler of Egypt) and so tried to delay the German army.
Barbarossa’s army entered Asia and won a victory against the Turkish Sultan of Rum on 18 May 1190 and his army pressed on, reaching the northern edge of modern-day Syria.
While conflicting accounts exist, the most plausible says that as his army approached the Saleph River Barbarossa decided he wanted to take a swim. He was an experienced swimmer, yet – possibly due to exhaustion or a heart attack – he drowned. He was 67.
In the chaos that followed, his mighty crusading army collapsed and much of it left for Europe, the remainder joining the French and English armies. Ultimately without Barbarossa’s support the feuding kings of France and England, while winning some battles against Saladin, would fail to recapture Jerusalem, the goal of the entire crusade. The loss of Jerusalem would lead to the slow collapse of the crusader kingdoms.
Many wonder today how much longer Catholic power might have persisted in the Middle East had Barbarossa not died when he did.
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