Germany during the Crusades
Frederick I (1152-1190)
Frederick was one of the most important emperors during our period. He took an empire that was shaky and put it on solid ground. He did so at the price of giving away many rights to the German princes, and the wisdom of that has been much debated by historians, but at the time and for centuries afterward, he was regarded as one of the greatest of monarchs.
He transformed the political structure of Germany. He created eight new duchies: Westphalia, Styria, Austria, Brabant, Pomerania, Merania, Würzburg and Zähringen. He also elevated Bohemia to the status of a kingdom.
When chosen as King of Germany in 1152, he was the Duke of Swabia and of not much else. His family, the Hohenstaufen, had long been rulers in southern Germany but were distinctly of the second rank. Perhaps, when they chose him, the electors hoped they had selected a man who would be too weak to annoy them much. From the beginning, though, Frederick determined he would be a ruler in fact as well as in name.
Crowned emperor in 1154 (Conrad had never managed that), Frederick expanded his personal holdings by marrying the Duchess of Burgundy, bringing that wealthy land into his realm. He was friends with his potentially greatest rival, the young Henry, Duke of Saxony. With Germany relatively secure, Frederick decided to assert himself in the Kingdom of Italy, which is to say in northern Italy; specifically, in the city of Milan, which opposed any attempt to assert royal authority. It was the Italians who gave the invader his nickname, Barbarossa (Redbeard).
The Emperor moved into Italy in 1157. His ally, Pope Adrian IV, died in 1159 and was replaced by Alexander III, who immediately allied with Milan to oppose the Emperor. But Frederick was too strong. He captured Milan in 1162, and seemed to be at the height of his power. With Germany, Burgundy and Italy under his control, much of Charlemagne's empire was again in one pair of hands. And then things began to unravel.
The Italian cities, alarmed by imperial success, joined together in 1167 to form the Lombard League. Supported by the papacy, the League obdurately resisted imperial officials and eventually forced Frederick to return to Italy. But, in the meantime, Frederick had quarreled with Duke Henry of Saxony. Without the support of Duke Henry, the imperial forces were defeated at the Battle of Legnano in 1176. Frustrated in Italy, Frederick returned to Germany and dealt with Henry, depriving him of his estates and banishing him to England.
The Emperor returned once again to Italy, to settle accounts with the Lombard League. He didn't achieve total victory, but in 1183 he managed at least a truce. It was just after this that he arranged the marriage of his son, Henry, to Constance of Sicily, setting the stage for endless future complications.
Frederick's rule set the stage in other important respects as well. The quarrel between Frederick and Henry of Saxony was the foundation of a feud between the Hohenstaufen (Frederick's family name) and the Welfs (Henry's family name) that would last for two centuries. The strategy of giving the German princes whatever they wanted in exchange for their support in Italy would likewise be followed. In fact, the feud itself carried down into Italy, and until well into the 1300s factions could be found in most north Italian towns that called themselves Ghibelline and Guelf—the one imperial, the other the papal faction.
Frederick was the first German ruler to use the term "holy empire" ("Holy Roman Empire"—the term you will find in many history books—was not used until much later). Even as he was creating a truly imperial court, he also was granting away imperial rights to the German princes. To take one important example, he confirmed the practice that any lands escheated to the crown had to be granted again within a year and a day; that is to say, if the lord of a territory died without heirs, the land became the Emperor's, but he was required to grant it to a new lord within one year and one day. This meant that imperial lands could never increase. The emperor had to rely mainly on his family lands. This is in sharp contrast with France, for example, where during these same centuries the French kings were keeping a tight hold on escheated lands.
Still not clear, though, was whether the position of King of Germany (who by this time was by custom the only one who could claim to be Emperor) was an elected position or a hereditary one. Precedents had been set in both directions. Frederick lived to a ripe old age, though, and his son was not only fully grown but was well established as heir when Frederick died while on the Third Crusade in 1190.