Frederick I Barbarossa (1152-1190)
The most famous of all the medieval German emperors. His reign divides into three parts, part 1 (1152-1160) when he brings peace to war torn Germany and rebuilds imperial authority, part 2 (1160-1177) where he struggles with the papacy and the Italian Communes, and finally part 3 (1177-1190 a period of consolidation ending in the Third Crusade.
(1149-1152)
In his last few years the ill and exhausted king Conrad III relies more and more on his nephew, Frederick, the duke of Swabia called Barbarossa because of his ginger beard.
Barbarossa forms the cornerstone linking the warring houses of Welf and Waiblingen. His military capabilities and diplomatic skills propell the barely 30 year old to the top of domestic and international politics.
When Conrad III died suddenly, he sees his chance. Pushing aside his cousin, the 8-year-old son of Conrad III, he gains support from both the old family allies as well as from its archrivals, Henry the Lion and Welf VI. He had to promise a lot, but it was enough for him to be elected and crowned in a record 24 days.
But that is where the hard work starts. Conrad had left a realm in anarchy. Can Barbarossa calm it down?
The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.
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To make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.
So far I have:
Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy
Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen
The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356
The Reformation before the Reformation
The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.
#50 Barbarossa begins
A Stolen Election?
The Holy Roman emperor with the best PR starts with bang. Having hastily put his uncle three feet under he becomes the capstone of the empire
#51The Barbarossa
Who was the Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa?
Barbarossa’s background, childhood and education. What is it that made him so exceptional?
#52 The Honour of The Empire
Bringing the broken Empire back together
Barbarossa will boost the honour of the empire by burning cities, hanging heretics, slaughtering rabble-rousing Romans and inventing the concept of the university.
#53 Sacrum Imperium
Rainald von Dassel invents the Holy Roman Empire
Rainald von Dassel’s Latin translations have come in for a bit of criticism. First his choice of words almost kills a cardinal, then he invents the Holy Roman Empire
#54 A Bohemian Bluff
Barbarossa conquers Milan for the first time
Barbarossa’s attempt to capture Milan faced challenges, until the duke of Bohemia made a daring move.
#55 The Laws of Roncaglia
Barbarossa brings back Roman Law
Milan defeated and the other Italian communes brought into submission, Barbarossa begins a process aimed at establishing Roman Law and the Authority of the (Roman) emperors
#56 The Siege of Crema
…and then Barbarossa razes Milan to the ground
The Laws of Roncaglia did not go down well with the communes. It is the tiny city of Crema that rose up first, and fell. And then it was Milan’s turn
#57 The Siege of Rome 1167
The Hand of God brings down Barbarossa’s Empire
Barbarossa brings down the largest army the empire had ever fielded to take Rome, capture Alexander III and subdue the Italian Communes
#58 The Lombard League
Italy united against Frederick Barbarossa
Barbarossa’s tyrannical rule in Italy achieves the impossible, a Lombard League of the communes who had been at war since they were created.
#59 The City of Straw
Barbarossa’s failed siege of Alessandria
After the last disastrous campaign, Barbarossa stays six years in Germany before he claims revenge before Alessandria, the “City of Straw”
#60 Battle of Legnano
Barbarossa’s final defeat in Italy
1176 – The battle between Barbarossa and the Lombard League that (may have) sealed the fate of Northern Italy and still reverberates today
#61 The Peace of Venice
The reconciliation between Barbarossa and Pope Alexander III
Frederick Barbarossa’s Italian ambitions hit the wall and he has to submit to Pope Alexander III and make peace with the Lombard League
#62 The Fall of Henry the Lion
Frederick Barbarossa has to let his Frenemy Henry the Lion go down
1181 the most powerful vassal of Frederick Barbarossa, his cousin Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony and Bavaria falls. Who pushed him and why?
#63 Recovery
Barbarossa rebuilds his reign after defeats in Italy and at home
1182-85 Following the Peace of Venice and the Fall of Henry the Lion, our great emperor has reached the end of the road. Being a man of infinite resource and sagacity he climbs out of the hole, resets his political allegiances and recovers some of his previous standing.
#64 The Heirs of Troy
Joachim of Fiore’s Prophecies about the Emperor and Thousand Years of Bliss
1186-1189 Barbarossa seeks a new source of legitimacy of his power. He finds two of them! And gets ready to go on crusade.
#65 The Third Crusade
The Death of Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa
The last act in Barbarossa’s eventful life. In 1189 he sets on the Third Crusade. Along the way he almost attacks Constantinople, defeats the Turkish Sultan and finally drowns
#66 The Myths of Barbarossa
The Emperor asleep under the Kyffhäuser Mountain
No medieval German ruler had been pressed into national service as a foil of contemporary hopes and beliefs as often as Barbarossa
#67 Germany in the Year 1200 – The Peasants
How much do we actually know about Peasant’s living conditions?
What was the life of a peasant like in Germany around 1200? To what degree does he participate in the economic boom of the Middle Ages?