![king under the mountain frederick barbarossa king under the mountain frederick barbarossa](https://www.icysedgwick.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/bran-the-blessed-wp.jpg)
A death in his wife's family gave him possession of Sicily, a source of vast wealth. Elected king even before his father's death, Henry went to Rome to be crowned emperor. Growing out of this courtly culture, German medieval literature reached its peak in lyrical love poetry, the Minnesang, and in narrative epic poems such as Tristan, Parzival, and the Nibelungenlied.įrederick died in 1190 while on a crusade and was succeeded by his son, Henry VI (r. It was also during this period that castles and courts replaced monasteries as centers of culture. A quickening economic life in Germany increased the number of towns and gave them greater importance. Because of this colonization, the empire increased in size and came to include Pomerania, Silesia, Bohemia, and Moravia. Offers of reduced taxes and manorial duties enticed many Germans to settle in the east as the area's original inhabitants were killed or driven away.
![king under the mountain frederick barbarossa king under the mountain frederick barbarossa](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wlHkis-jV14/UTPiXL9UFEI/AAAAAAAAOq8/oX9MqXMD1a4/s1600/barbarossa.png)
![king under the mountain frederick barbarossa king under the mountain frederick barbarossa](https://cdn.quotesgram.com/small/63/77/1234687536-Death_Frederick_Barbarossa.jpg)
He had vanquished one notable opponent and member of the Welf family, Saxony's Henry the Lion, but his hopes of restoring the power and prestige of his family and the monarchy seemed unlikely to be met by the end of his life.ĭuring Frederick's long stays in Italy, the German princes became stronger and began a successful colonization of Slavic lands. Frederick returned to Germany old and embittered. Under the skilled leadership of Pope Alexander III, the alliance suffered many defeats but ultimately was able to deny the emperor a complete victory in Italy. The papacy and the prosperous city-states of northern Italy were traditional enemies, but the fear of imperial domination caused them to join ranks to fight Frederick. He was soon crowned emperor in Italy, but decades of warfare on the peninsula yielded scant results.
![king under the mountain frederick barbarossa king under the mountain frederick barbarossa](http://www.greendragonsociety.com/images/Richard%20the%20Lionheart.jpg)
Because the German dukes had grown stronger both during and after the Investiture Controversy and because royal access to the resources of the church in Germany was much reduced, Frederick was forced to go to Italy to find the finances needed to restore the king's power in Germany. 1152-90), also known as Frederick Barbarossa because of his red beard, struggled throughout his reign to restore the power and prestige of the German monarchy, but he had little success. When Conrad died without adult heir in 1152, Frederick III succeeded him as King Frederick I.įrederick I (r. After Frederick II's death in 1147, he was succeeded as duke by his son Frederick III. However, after the death of Lothair II in 1137, Conrad became King of the Romans. This led to a civil war between the Staufens and the king, which ended with the submission of the Staufens in 1134. Frederick ran for king, but lost the election against Lothair II. Frederick and Conrad, the two current male Staufens, were grandsons of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor and nephews of Henry V. When the last male member of the Salian dynasty, Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, died without an heir in 1125 there was controversy about the succession. Around 1120, Frederick II married Judith of Bavaria from the rival House of Welf. Frederick II remained a close ally of the kings, and he and his brother Conrad were named the king's representatives in Germany when the king was in Italy. Frederick's brother Otto became bishop of Strasbourg in 1082.įrederick I was succeeded by his son Frederick II in 1105. He proved to be a close ally of Henry IV in his struggle against other Swabian lords, namely Rudolf of Rheinfelden (the previous duke), and the Zähringen and Welf lords. Nothing is known about Frederick's life before this event. At the same time, Frederick was engaged to the king's approximately seven-year old daughter, Agnes. In 1079, King Henry IV appointed Frederick of Büren as duke of Swabia. The castle was built by the first known member of the dynasty, Frederick I, Duke of Swabia. The dynasty is named after Hohenstaufen Castle, which was located on a mountain of the same name near Göppingen. Therefore the dynasty is sometimes also called Swabian dynasty after the family's origin. The proper name, taken from their castle in Swabia, is Staufen. In 1194 the Hohenstaufen became also Kings of Sicily. The Hohenstaufen (or the Staufer(s)) were a dynasty of Germanic Kings (1138-1254), many of whom were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor and Dukes of Swabia.