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125-554: The earliest records of Vigevano date back to 963, when for the first time is mentioned in documents the castle of Vigevano. Vigevano was given in 1154 by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in Pavia . Vigevano was accordingly besieged and taken by the Milanese in 1201 and again in 1275. In 1328 it finally surrendered to Azzone Visconti , and thereafter shared the political fortunes of Milan. The Church of San Pietro Martire (St Peter Martyr)

250-814: A Jew. On 29 March, Frederick and the rabbi rode through the streets together. Frederick successfully prevented a repeat of the massacres that had accompanied the First Crusade and Second Crusade in Germany. Because Frederick had signed a treaty of friendship with Saladin in 1175, he felt it necessary to give Saladin notice of the termination of their alliance. On 26 May 1188, he sent Count Henry II of Dietz to present an ultimatum to Saladin. A few days after Christmas 1188, Frederick received Hungarian, Byzantine, Serbian and Seljuk envoys in Nuremberg . The Hungarians and Seljuks promised provisions and safe-conduct to

375-681: A barbarian kingdom in opposition to the Empire, establishing their authority over much of Italy, except the Exarchate of Ravenna and the duchies of Rome , Venetia , Naples and the southernmost portions. In the 8th century, estrangement between the Italians and the Byzantines allowed the Lombards to capture the remaining Roman enclaves in northern Italy. However, in 774, they were defeated by

500-725: A boy out to see if the ravens have stopped flying. A similar story, set in Sicily, was earlier attested about his grandson, Frederick II . To garner political support the German Empire built atop the Kyffhäuser the Kyffhäuser Monument , which declared Kaiser Wilhelm I the reincarnation of Frederick; the 1896 dedication occurred on 18 June, the day of Frederick's coronation. King of Italy King of Italy (Italian: Re d'Italia ; Latin: Rex Italiae )

625-532: 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. The Salian line had died out with the death of Henry V in 1125 and 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

750-485: A day's negotiation, Frederick agreed to perform the required ritual, reportedly muttering, " Pro Petro, non Adriano – For Peter, not for Adrian." Rome was still in an uproar over the fate of Arnold of Brescia, so rather than marching through the streets of Rome, Frederick and Adrian retired to the Vatican . The next day, 18 June 1155, Adrian IV crowned Frederick I Holy Roman Emperor at St Peter's Basilica , amidst

875-474: A framework to legitimize his claim to the right to rule both Germany and northern Italy. In the old days of Henry IV and Henry V, the claim of divine right of kings had been severely undermined by the Investiture controversy . The Church had won that argument in the common man's mind. There was no divine right for the German king to also control the church by naming both bishops and popes. The institution of

1000-578: A general order for peace, he made lavish concessions to the nobles. Abroad, Frederick intervened in the Danish civil war between Svend III and Valdemar I of Denmark and began negotiations with the Eastern Roman Emperor, Manuel I Comnenus . It was probably about this time that the king obtained papal assent for the annulment of his childless marriage with Adelheid of Vohburg , on the grounds of consanguinity (his great-great-grandfather

1125-636: A generalized social desire to "create greater Germany" by conquering the Slavs to the east. Although the Italian city states had achieved a measure of independence from Frederick as a result of his failed fifth expedition into Italy, the emperor had not given up on his Italian dominions. In 1184, he held a massive celebration, the Diet of Pentecost , when his two eldest sons were knighted, and thousands of knights were invited from all over Germany. While payments upon

1250-745: A guarantee that the crusaders would not sack local settlements until they depart the Byzantine territory. In March 1190, Frederick left Adrianople for Gallipoli at the Dardanelles , to embark to Asia Minor. The armies coming from western Europe pushed on through Anatolia, where they were victorious at the Battle of Philomelium and defeated the Turks in the Battle of Iconium , eventually reaching as far as Cilician Armenia . The approach of Barbarossa's victorious German army greatly concerned Saladin , who

1375-575: A historian of the Crusades, outlined Frederick's endeavors and Saladin's dilemma, in which he reported: While these were the varied fortunes of the first in the field, Frederick, the Roman emperor, set out on his journey by land with great power and a countless host of warriors. Passing over the borders of Germany, he crossed Hungary, Macedonia, and Greece and marched through the land of the Saracens with

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1500-526: A joint council with King Louis VII of France in 1162 to decide the issue of who should be pope. Louis neared the meeting site, but when he became aware that Frederick had stacked the votes for Victor, Louis decided not to attend the council. As a result, the issue was not resolved at that time. The political result of the struggle with Pope Alexander was an alliance formed between the Norman state of Sicily and Pope Alexander III against Frederick. In

1625-593: 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. The Welf duke of Saxony, Henry the Lion , would not be appeased, however, remaining an implacable enemy of

1750-463: A marked turning point in the transition from medieval feudalism. While continental feudalism had remained strong socially and economically, it was in deep political decline by the time of Frederick Barbarossa. When the northern Italian cities inflicted a defeat on Frederick at Alessandria in 1175, the European world was shocked. With the refusal of Henry the Lion to bring help to Italy, the campaign

1875-519: A mighty hand and a stretched-out arm. He took Iconium, Philomena, and many other cities, and reached Armenia, where, during great heat, he went into the river, which the natives call the Iron River, to bathe, and therein for our sins was miserably drowned, and so died to the loss of all Christendom. Saladin so greatly feared his approach that he ordered the walls of Laodicia , Gibelet , Tortosa , Biblium and Beyrout , to be pulled down, sparing only

2000-527: A new Roman emperor. Roman law gave a rational purpose for the existence of Frederick and his imperial ambitions. It was a counterweight to the claims of the Church to have authority because of divine revelation. The Church was opposed to Frederick for ideological reasons, not the least of which was the humanist nature found in the revival of the old Roman legal system. When Pepin the Short sought to become king of

2125-639: A number of independent duchies and kingdoms in the region. This title is present in Italian laws proclaimed by Napoleon I: [Name], by the Grace of God and the Constitutions, Emperor of the French and King of Italy. During and after the Revolutions of 1848 , sentiment on the peninsula grew for the establishment of a unified Italian kingdom. Southern Italy had not been united with northern Italy since

2250-509: A vigorous propaganda campaign designed to diminish Frederick and his ambition. To a large extent, this was successful. Frederick did little to encourage economic development in Germany prior to the autumn of 1165. In that year he visited the lower Rhineland, the most economically advanced region in Germany. He had already travelled to northern Italy, the most economically advanced region in the Empire, three times. From 1165 on, Frederick pursued economic policies to encourage growth and trade. There

2375-723: Is considered to be the founding emperor of the Holy Roman Empire , and the Kingdom of Italy was considered one of the constituent realms of the Empire. Beginning in the 12th century, states such as the Republic of Venice and the Papal States captured more and more territory from the Kingdom of Italy, and the Empire's territory on the Peninsula shrunk over time. After Charles V , the emperors stopped being crowned with

2500-420: Is in places heavily dependent on classical precedent. For example, Rahewin's physical description of Frederick reproduces word-for-word (except for details of hair and beard) a description of another monarch, Theodoric II written nearly eight hundred years earlier by Sidonius Apollinaris: His character is such that not even those envious of his power can belittle its praise. His person is well-proportioned. He

2625-598: Is no question that his reign was a period of major economic growth in Germany, but it is impossible now to determine how much of that growth was owed to Frederick's policies. The number of mints in Germany increased ninefold in the reign of Frederick and his son Henry, from about two dozen mints at the start of his reign to 215 mints in 1197 and from a mere two royal mints to 28. Frederick himself established at least twelve royal mints, including those of Aachen, Donauwörth, Ulm, Haguenau, Duisburg, Kaiserswerth, Frankfurt, Gelnhausen and Dortmund. He also granted privileges exempting

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2750-581: Is not dead, but asleep with his knights in a cave in the Kyffhäuser mountains in Thuringia or Mount Untersberg at the border between Bavaria, Germany, and Salzburg , Austria , and that when the ravens cease to fly around the mountain he will awake and restore Germany to its ancient greatness. According to the story, his red beard has grown through the table at which he sits. His eyes are half closed in sleep, but now and then he raises his hand and sends

2875-726: Is shoemaking. Handily shoemaking began to expand during the First World War and, by the 1950s, Vigevano was known as Italy's "shoe capital". Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (German: Friedrich I ; Italian: Federico I ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 1152. He

3000-433: Is shorter than very tall men, but taller and more noble than men of medium height. His hair is golden, curling a little above his forehead ... His eyes are sharp and piercing, his beard reddish [ barba subrufa ], his lips delicate ... His whole face is bright and cheerful. His teeth are even and snow-white in color ... Modesty rather than anger causes him to blush frequently. His shoulders are rather broad, and he

3125-512: Is strongly built ... In the opinion of Norman Cantor, Frederick's charisma led to a fantastic juggling act that, over a quarter of a century, restored the imperial authority in the German states. His formidable enemies defeated him on almost every side, yet in the end he emerged triumphant. When Frederick came to the throne, the prospects for the revival of German imperial power were extremely thin. The great German princes had increased their power and land holdings. The king had been left with only

3250-802: The foederati in control of the Italian peninsula. He was deposed by the Ostrogoths, who established their own kingdom. Theodoric the Great was invited by the emperor Zeno to take Italy from Odoacer and rule it in Zeno's name. He defeated Odoacer in 493, establishing a new kingdom in place of Odoacer's. Officially, the Ostrogothic kings ruled the Roman citizens in Italy as a viceroy of the Roman emperors, and their own Gothic people as their king, though functionally they ran their kingdom entirely independently from

3375-576: The Angevin Empire . He returned home after he signed the Treaty of Ramla agreeing that Jerusalem would remain under Muslim control while allowing unarmed Christian pilgrims and traders to visit the city. The treaty also reduced the Latin Kingdom to a geopolitical coastal strip extending from Tyre to Jaffa. The increase in wealth of the trading cities of northern Italy led to a revival in

3500-504: The Byzantine Empire , an ill crusader stopped in a monastery outside Adrianople to recuperate. There he was robbed and killed. Conrad ordered Frederick to avenge him. The duke of Swabia razed the monastery, captured and executed the robbers and demanded they return the stolen money. The intervention of the Byzantine general Prosuch prevented further escalation. A few weeks later, on 8 September, Frederick and Welf VI were among

3625-620: The Franks under Charlemagne , who deposed their king and took up the title "king of the Lombards". After the death of Charles the Fat in 887, Italy fell into instability and a number of kings attempted to establish themselves as independent Italian monarchs. During this period, known as the Feudal Anarchy (888–962), the title Rex Italicorum ("King of the Italians" or "King of the Italics")

3750-699: The House of Savoy to overthrow the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and the people voted in a plebiscite to join Sardinia to form the Kingdom of Italy in 1861; the Papal States and the city of Rome were annexed to the Kingdom in 1870, completing the Unification of Italy . This kingdom lasted until the aftermath of World War II , when the 1946 Italian institutional referendum ended the monarchy. Up until

3875-569: The Jews of Germany to fund the crusade. He also put the Jews under his protection and forbade anyone to preach against the Jews. When mobs threatened the Jews of Mainz on the eve of the assembly in March, Frederick sent the imperial marshal Henry of Kalden to disperse them. Rabbi Moses then met with the emperor, which resulted in an imperial edict threatening maiming or death for anyone who maimed or killed

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4000-611: The Kingdom of Sicily , over the objections of Pope Urban III . Pope Urban III died shortly after, and was succeeded by Pope Gregory VIII , who even as Papal Chancellor had pursued a more conciliatory line with the Emperor than previous popes and was more concerned with troubling reports from the Holy Land than with a power struggle with Barbarossa. Around 23 November 1187, Frederick received letters that had been sent to him from

4125-556: The Lombards , invaded from the north and established their kingdom in 568. The Lombards under Alboin established their kingdom in the extreme north of Italy in 568, gradually pushing the Byzantine Romans back from the peninsula until only the Exarchate of Ravenna remained under Roman control. This finally fell in the 750s, with the Lombards gaining control of most of the peninsula. The last Lombard King of Italy, Desiderius,

4250-609: The Milan Cathedral . The next year, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II abdicated his imperial title. From the deposition of Napoleon I (1814) until the Italian Unification (1861), there was no Italian monarch claiming the overarching title. The Risorgimento successfully established the House of Savoy dynasty over the whole peninsula and, uniting the kingdoms of Sardinia and the Two Sicilies , it formed

4375-593: The Peace of Venice in 1177, Frederick and Alexander III were formally reconciled. With decisions of Paschal III nullfied, Beatrice ceased to be referred as empress. The scene was similar to that which had occurred between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor at Canossa a century earlier. The conflict was the same as that resolved in the Concordat of Worms : Did the Holy Roman Emperor have

4500-639: The Scirians and the Heruli, as well as a large segment of the Italic Roman army, proclaimed Odoacer Rex Italiae ('King of Italy). In 493, the Ostrogothic king Theoderic the Great killed Odoacer, and set up a new dynasty of kings of Italy. Ostrogothic rule ended when Italy was reconquered by the Byzantine Empire in 552. In 568, the Lombards entered the peninsula and ventured to recreate

4625-645: The Shrine of the Three Kings in the Cologne cathedral . After the death of the antipope Victor IV, Frederick supported antipope Paschal III , but he was soon driven from Rome, leading to the return of Pope Alexander III in 1165. In the meantime Frederick was focused on restoring peace in the Rhineland, where he organized a magnificent celebration of the canonization of Charlemagne at Aachen, under

4750-571: The legacy of Frederick , attempt to untangle legend from historical reality—these efforts result in new perspectives on both the emperor as a person and the social developments associated with him. Frederick was born in mid-December 1122 in Haguenau , to Frederick II, Duke of Swabia and Judith of Bavaria . His father was from the Hohenstaufen family, and his mother was from the Welf family,

4875-437: The prince-bishop of Bamberg were at his deathbed. Both asserted afterwards that Conrad had, in full possession of his mental faculties, handed the royal insignia to Frederick and indicated that he, rather than Conrad's own six-year-old son, the future Frederick IV, Duke of Swabia , succeed him as king. Frederick energetically pursued the crown and at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 the kingdom's princely electors designated him as

5000-586: The 11th century. Central Italy, along the Rome-Ravenna axis, was part of the Papal States , under the direct personal rule of the pope. The Duke of Savoy was de jure a vassal of the Holy Roman Emperor, with the Duke being Prince and Perpetual Vicar of the Holy Roman Empire. Charles V was the last emperor to be crowned king of Italy or to officially use the title. The Habsburg emperors claimed

5125-554: The Crusader army under the command of the rivals Philip II and Richard , who had traveled to Palestine separately by sea, and ultimately led to its dissolution. Richard continued to the East where he fought Saladin, winning territories along the shores of Palestine, but ultimately failed to win the war by conquering Jerusalem itself before he was forced to return to his own territories in north-western Europe, known to modern historians as

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5250-424: The English feudalistic system. While in England the pledge of fealty went in a direct line from overlords to those under them, the Germans pledged oaths only to the direct overlord, so that in Henry's case, those below him in the feudal chain owed nothing to Frederick. Thus, despite the diminished stature of Henry the Lion, Frederick did not gain his allegiances. Frederick was faced with the reality of disorder among

5375-415: The Franks in the 8th century, the church needed military protection, so Pepin found it convenient to make an ally of the pope. Frederick, however, desired to put the pope aside and claim the crown of old Rome simply because he was in the likeness of the great emperors of old, who tended to have a domineering role over the church, Caesaropapism . Pope Adrian IV was naturally opposed to this view and undertook

5500-537: The German army sailed out of Acre. On the route home, Conrad III and Frederick stopped in Thessaloniki where they swore oaths to uphold the treaty that Conrad had agreed with Emperor Manuel I Komnenos the previous winter. This treaty obligated the Germans to attack King Roger II of Sicily in cooperation with the Byzantines. After confirming the treaty, Frederick was sent ahead to Germany. He passed through Bulgaria and Hungary and arrived in Germany in April 1149. When Conrad died in February 1152, only Frederick and

5625-403: 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. 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

5750-575: The German princes and ending the civil wars within the kingdom, Frederick further appeased Henry by issuing him with the Privilegium Minus , granting him unprecedented entitlements as Duke of Austria. This was a large concession on the part of Frederick, who realized that Henry the Lion had to be accommodated, even to the point of sharing some power with him. Frederick could not afford to make an outright enemy of Henry. On 9 June 1156 at Würzburg , Frederick married Beatrice of Burgundy , daughter and heiress of Renaud III , thus adding to his possessions

5875-562: The German states, where continuous civil wars were waged between pretenders and the ambitious who wanted the crown for themselves. Italian unity under German rule was more myth than truth. Despite proclamations of German hegemony, the pope was the most powerful force in Italy. When Frederick returned to Germany after his defeat in northern Italy, he was a bitter and exhausted man. The German princes, far from being subordinated to royal control, were intensifying their hold on wealth and power in Germany and entrenching their positions. There began to be

6000-404: 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. The Germany that Frederick tried to unite was a patchwork of more than 1,600 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. The titles afforded to

6125-437: 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 perspicacity. His contributions to Central European society and culture include the re-establishment of the Corpus Juris Civilis , or the Roman rule of law, which counterbalanced

6250-1079: The Holy Roman Empire; Prince of Carmagnola , Montmélian with Arbin and Francin , Prince bailiff of the Duchy of Aosta , Prince of Chieri , Dronero , Crescentino , Riva di Chieri and Banna , Busca , Bene , Bra , Duke of Genoa , Monferrat , Aosta , Duke of Chablais , Genevois , Duke of Piacenza , Marquis of Saluzzo (Saluces), Ivrea , Susa , of Maro , Oristano , Cesana , Savona , Tarantasia , Borgomanero and Cureggio , Caselle , Rivoli , Pianezza , Govone , Salussola , Racconigi over Tegerone , Migliabruna and Motturone , Cavallermaggiore , Marene , Modane and Lanslebourg , Livorno Ferraris , Santhià , Agliè , Centallo and Demonte , Desana , Ghemme , Vigone , Count of Barge , Villafranca , Ginevra , Nizza , Tenda , Romont , Asti , Alessandria , of Goceano , Novara , Tortona , Bobbio , Soissons , Sant'Antioco , Pollenzo , Roccabruna , Tricerro , Bairo , Ozegna , delle Apertole, Baron of Vaud and of Faucigni , Lord of Vercelli , Pinerolo , of Lomellina , of Valle Sesia , of

6375-454: The Hungarian Prince Géza , brother of King Béla III of Hungary , to join the Crusade. The king agreed, and a Hungarian army of 2,000 men led by Géza escorted the German emperor's forces. Later on, Frederick camped in Philippopolis , then in Adrianople in the autumn of 1189 to avoid the winter climate in Anatolia , in the meantime, he received imprisoned German emissaries who were held in Constantinople, and exchanged hostages with Isaac II, as

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6500-454: The Imperial army and drove the emperor as a fugitive to Germany, where he remained for the ensuing six years. During this period, Frederick decided conflicting claims to various bishoprics, asserted imperial authority over Bohemia, Poland, and Hungary, initiated friendly relations with Manuel I, and tried to come to a better understanding with Henry II of England and Louis VII of France . Many Swabian counts, including his cousin

6625-399: The Iron Crown of Lombardy and the Italian title fell into disuse. Imperial control in Italy receded to Trent and South Tyrol until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806. Southern Italy had never been part of the Holy Roman Empire; it remained initially under the control of various Byzantine fiefs until the Norman Kingdom of Sicily (later the Kingdom of Naples ) took control of the area in

6750-428: The Italian crown until 1801. The empire continued to include Italian territories until its dissolution in 1806. In 1805, Napoleon established a client state in northern Italy, named the Kingdom of Italy. He established himself as King of Italy, in personal union with his role as Emperor of the French . This client state did not survive the end of the Napoleonic era; in its place, the Congress of Vienna established

6875-440: The Justinian code was used, perhaps unscrupulously, by Frederick to lay claim to divine powers. In Germany, Frederick was a political realist, taking what he could and leaving the rest. In Italy, he tended to be a romantic reactionary, reveling in the antiquarian spirit of the age, exemplified by a revival of classical studies and Roman law. It was through the use of the restored Justinian code that Frederick came to view himself as

7000-422: The Lion and his Saxon troops. This expedition resulted in the revolt and capture of Milan , the Diet of Roncaglia that saw the establishment of imperial officers and ecclesiastical reforms in the cities of northern Italy, and the beginning of the long struggle with Pope Alexander III . Milan soon rebelled again and humiliated Empress Beatrice (see Legend below). The death of Pope Adrian IV in 1159 led to

7125-711: The Lion for refusing to come to his aid in 1176. By 1180, Henry had successfully established a powerful state comprising Saxony, Bavaria, and substantial territories in the north and east of Germany. Taking advantage of the hostility of other German princes to Henry, Frederick had Henry tried in absentia by a court of bishops and princes in 1180, declared that imperial law overruled traditional German law, and had Henry stripped of his lands and declared an outlaw. He then invaded Saxony with an imperial army to force his cousin to surrender. Henry's allies deserted him, and he finally had to submit to Frederick at an Imperial Diet in Erfurt in November 1181. Henry spent three years in exile at

7250-403: The Middle Ages. The last Emperor to claim the title was Charles V in the 16th century. During this period, the holders of the title were crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy . A Kingdom of Italy was restored from 1805 to 1814 with Napoleon as its only king, centred in Northern Italy . It was not until the Italian unification in the 1860s that an independent Kingdom of Italy covering

7375-410: The Roman authority in Constantinople. Their greatest extent was during Theodoric's reign; as Roman Emperors from the east began to exert more power and retake control of Roman territory, the last Ostrogothic king fell to the Emperor Justinian in 553. Roman authority in Italy was briefly re-established under Justinian, though his gains were lost under his successor Justin II, after a new Germanic tribe,

7500-424: The Salians through his mother Judith as she hailed from Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu . Therefore, Frederick carried on the bloodline of Emperor Otto the Great and his wives, Eadgyth and Adelaide . He learned to ride, hunt and use weapons at an early age, but could neither read nor write, and was also unable to speak the Latin language until later in life. He took part in several Hoftage during

7625-420: The Two Cities ) had been an exposition of the Civitas Dei ( The City of God ) of Augustine of Hippo , full of Augustinian negativity concerning the nature of the world and history. His work on Frederick is of opposite tone, being an optimistic portrayal of the glorious potentials of imperial authority. Otto died after finishing the first two books, leaving the last two to Rahewin , his provost. Rahewin's text

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7750-402: The acclamations of the German army. The Romans began to riot, and Frederick spent his coronation day putting down the revolt, resulting in the deaths of over 1,000 Romans and many more thousands injured. The next day, Frederick, Adrian, and the German army travelled to Tivoli . From there, a combination of the unhealthy Italian summer and the effects of his year-long absence from Germany meant he

7875-440: The authority of Manuel I; at the same time, his forces achieved a great victory over the Romans at the Battle of Monte Porzio . Heartened by this victory, Frederick lifted the siege of Ancona and hurried to Rome, where he had his wife crowned empress and also received a second coronation from Paschal III. His campaign was halted by the sudden outbreak of an epidemic ( malaria or the plague ), which threatened to destroy

8000-626: The authority of the antipope Paschal III. Concerned over rumours that Alexander III was about to enter into an alliance with the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I , in October 1166 Frederick embarked on his fourth Italian campaign, hoping as well to secure the claim of Paschal III and the coronation of his wife Beatrice as Holy Roman Empress. This time, Henry the Lion refused to join Frederick on his Italian trip, tending instead to his own disputes with neighbors and his continuing expansion into Slavic territories in northeastern Germany. In 1167 Frederick began besieging Ancona , which had acknowledged

8125-409: The close of 1162, Frederick prevented the escalation of conflicts between Henry the Lion from Saxony and a number of neighbouring princes who were growing weary of Henry's power, influence, and territorial gains. He also severely punished the citizens of Mainz for their rebellion against Archbishop Arnold. In Frederick's third visit to Italy in 1163, his plans for the conquest of Sicily were ruined by

8250-528: The constituent kingdoms of the Empire. Beginning with Louis the Pious in 818, the Kingdom was ruled directly by the Carolingian Emperor himself. After 887, Italy fell into instability, with many rulers claiming the kingship simultaneously: In 896, Arnulf and Ratold lost control of Italy, which was divided between Berengar and Lambert: In 951 Otto I invaded Italy and was crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy . In 952, Berengar and Adalbert became his vassals but remained kings until being deposed by Otto. Otto

8375-411: The court of his father-in-law Henry II of England in Normandy before being allowed back into Germany. He finished his days in Germany, as the much-diminished Duke of Brunswick. Frederick's desire for revenge was sated. Henry the Lion lived a relatively quiet life, sponsoring arts and architecture. Frederick's victory over Henry did not gain him as much in the German feudalistic system as it would have in

8500-402: The cross through messengers and then in a personal meeting on 25 December on the border between Ivois and Mouzon . On 27 March 1188, at the Diet of Mainz , the archbishop of Cologne submitted to Frederick. Bishop of Würzburg, Godfrey of Spitzenberg , preached a crusade sermon and Frederick asked the assembly whether he should take the cross. At the universal acclaim of the assembly, he took

8625-400: The crusader's vow. His second son, the duke of Swabia, followed suit. The eldest, Henry VI, was to remain behind in Germany as regent. At Mainz Frederick proclaimed a "general expedition against the pagans". He set the period of preparation as 17 April 1188 to 8 April 1189 and scheduled the army to assemble at Regensburg on 23 April 1189. At Strasbourg, Frederick had imposed a small tax on

8750-433: The crusaders. The envoys of Stefan Nemanja , grand prince of Serbia, announced that their prince would receive Frederick in Niš . Only with difficulty was an agreement reached with the Byzantine envoy, John Kamateros . Frederick sent a large embassy ahead to make preparations in Byzantium. On 15 April 1189 in Haguenau , Frederick formally and symbolically accepted the staff and scrip of a pilgrim and set out. His crusade

8875-415: The design to Antonio da Lonate . The edifice was completed in 1606. The interior is on the Latin cross plan, with a nave and two aisles, and houses works by Macrino d'Alba , Bernardino Ferrari and others, as well as tempera polyptych of the school of Leonardo da Vinci . For centuries, the city was a manufacturing centre, especially for the silk and cotton industry. The key sector of Vigevano industry

9000-529: The dissolution of the monarchy in 1946, the full titles of the Kings of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946) were: [Name], by the Grace of God and the will of the Nation, King of Italy, King of Sardinia , Cyprus , Jerusalem , Armenia , Duke of Savoy , count of Maurienne , Marquis (of the Holy Roman Empire ) in Italy; Prince of Piedmont , Carignano , Oneglia , Poirino , Trino ; Prince and Perpetual Vicar of

9125-521: The duke berated his brother for permitting his son to go. The elder Frederick, who was dying, expected his son to look after his widow and younger half-brother once he had passed on, not risk his life by going on a crusade. Perhaps in preparation for the crusade, Frederick married Adelaide of Vohburg sometime before March 1147. His father died on 4 or 6 April and Frederick succeeded him as the Duke of Swabia. The German crusader army departed from Regensburg seven weeks later. In August 1147, while crossing

9250-507: The early medieval period, being mostly under the rule of the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies . Northern Italy, in the early 19th century, came under the domination of the Kingdom of Sardinia , which besides its namesake island, also ruled the expansive Piedmont and Savoy regions along the French-Italian borderlands. The formerly republican leader in southern Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi , made common cause with

9375-545: The election of two rival popes, Alexander III and the antipope Victor IV , and both sought Frederick's support. Frederick, busy with the siege of Crema , appeared unsupportive of Alexander III, and after the sacking of Crema demanded that Alexander appear before the emperor at Pavia and to accept the imperial decree. Alexander refused, and Frederick recognised Victor IV as the legitimate pope in 1160. In response, Alexander III excommunicated both Frederick I and Victor IV. Frederick attempted to convoke

9500-678: The emperor's overlordship of the Imperial Church. Also in the Peace of Venice, a truce was made with the Lombard cities, which took effect in August 1178. The grounds for a permanent peace were not established until 1183, however, in the Peace of Constance , when Frederick conceded their right to freely elect town magistrates. By this move, Frederick recovered his nominal domination over Italy, which became his chief means of applying pressure on

9625-458: The entire Italian Peninsula was restored. From 1861 the House of Savoy held the title of King of Italy until the last king, Umberto II , was exiled in 1946 when Italy became a republic. After the deposition of the last Western Emperor in 476, Heruli leader Odoacer was appointed Dux Italiae (Duke of Italy) by the reigning Byzantine Emperor Zeno . Later, the Germanic foederati ,

9750-400: The few German crusaders who survived when a flash flood destroyed the main camp. They had decided to encamp on a hill a ways away from the main army. The remains of the army reached Constantinople the following day. Conrad III attempted to lead the army across Anatolia but finding this too difficult in the face of constant Turkish attacks near Dorylaeum, decided to turn back. The rearguard

9875-720: The formation of a powerful league against him, brought together mainly by opposition to imperial taxes. In 1164, Frederick took what are believed to be the relics of the "Biblical Magi" (the Wise Men or Three Kings ) from the Basilica di Sant'Eustorgio in Milan and gave them as a gift (or as loot) to the Archbishop of Cologne , Rainald of Dassel . The relics had great religious significance and could be counted upon to draw pilgrims from all over Christendom . Today they are kept in

10000-520: The fortresses, that is the citadels and towers. Frederick's death caused several thousand German soldiers to leave the force and return home through the Cilician and Syrian ports. The German-Hungarian army was struck with an onset of disease near Antioch , weakening it further. Only 5,000 soldiers, a third of the original force, arrived in Acre . Barbarossa's son, Frederick VI of Swabia, carried on with

10125-563: The great patron born in the town, who transformed the fortification/hunting lodge of Luchino Visconti (who in turn had re-used a Lombard fortress) into a rich noble residence, at the cusp of Gothic and Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci was his guest at Vigevano, as was Bramante , who is ascribed with the tall tower that watches over the piazza from the Castello Sforzesco. The old castle has a unique raised covered road, high enough for horsemen to ride through, that communicates between

10250-570: The knighting of a son were part of the expectations of an overlord in England and France, only a "gift" was given in Germany for such an occasion. Frederick's monetary gain from this celebration is said to have been modest. Later in 1184, Frederick again moved into Italy, this time joining forces with the local rural nobility to reduce the power of the Tuscan cities. In 1186, he engineered the marriage of his son Henry to Constance of Sicily , heiress to

10375-478: The law of the state as a reflection of natural moral law, the principle of rationality in the universe. By the time Frederick assumed the throne, this legal system was well established on both sides of the Alps. He was the first to use the availability of the new professional class of lawyers. The Civil Law allowed Frederick to use these lawyers to administer his kingdom in a logical and consistent manner. It also provided

10500-522: The majority of his army had already departed toward Hungary on land, Frederick sailed from Regensburg down the River Danube. When he came to the village of Mauthausen, Frederick ordered the village to be burned for levying a toll on the crusader army. The Crusaders then passed through Hungary , Serbia , and Bulgaria before entering Byzantine territory. While in Hungary, Barbarossa personally asked

10625-431: The meantime, Frederick had to deal with another rebellion at Milan, in which the city surrendered on 6 March 1162; much of it was destroyed three weeks later on the emperor's orders. The fate of Milan led to the submission of Brescia , Placentia , and many other northern Italian cities. In August 1162 he triumphantly entered Turin and was crowned with his consort in the cathedral on August 15. Returning to Germany towards

10750-541: The merchants of Aachen, Gelnhausen, Haguenau, Monza, Rome, Pisa and Venice from all tolls within the Empire. Otto of Freising , Frederick's uncle, wrote an account of his reign entitled Gesta Friderici I imperatoris (Deeds of the Emperor Frederick), which is considered to be an accurate history of the king. Otto's other major work, the Chronica sive Historia de duabus civitatibus ( Chronicle or History of

10875-595: The modern Kingdom of Italy . The monarchy was superseded by the Italian Republic , after a constitutional referendum was held on 2 June 1946, after World War II . The Italian monarchy formally ended on 12 June of that year and Umberto II left the country. Initially named Dux Italiae (Duke of Italy) by Zeno, the Roman Emperor in Constantinople, he later was recognized as King of Italy by

11000-572: The new palace and the old fortifications; there is a Falconry, an elegant loggiato supported by 48 columns, and, in the rear area of the mastio , the Ladies' Loggia made for Duchess Beatrice d'Este . Vigevano's main attraction is the Piazza Ducale, an elongated rectangle that is almost in the proportions 1:3, built for Ludovico Sforza , starting in 1492-93 and completed in record time, unusual for early Renaissance town planning. Piazza Ducale

11125-486: The next German king. He was crowned King of the Romans at Aachen several days later, on 9 March 1152. 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 behind it. The king, chosen by

11250-559: The outside of town is the La Sforzesca , a rectangular villa-fortress with corner palace-towers, built in 1486 by Ludovico il Moro. In the 17th century one end of the Piazza Ducale was enclosed by the concave Baroque façade of the Cathedral, cleverly adjusted to bring the ancient duomo into a line perpendicular to the axis of the piazza and centered on it. The Cathedral was begun in 1532 under Duke Francesco II , who commissioned

11375-565: The papacy, to make no peace with king Roger II of Sicily or other enemies of the Church without the consent of Eugene, and to help Eugene regain control of the city of Rome. Frederick undertook six expeditions into Italy. In the first, beginning in October 1154, his plan was to launch a campaign against the Normans under King William I of Sicily . He marched down and almost immediately encountered resistance to his authority. Obtaining

11500-509: The papacy. In a move to consolidate his reign after the disastrous expedition into Italy, Frederick was formally crowned King of Burgundy at Arles on 30 June 1178. Although traditionally the German kings had automatically inherited the royal crown of Arles since the time of Conrad II , Frederick felt the need to be crowned by the Archbishop of Arles, regardless of his laying claim to the title from 1152. Frederick did not forgive Henry

11625-649: The papal power that dominated the German states since the conclusion of the Investiture controversy . Due to his popularity and notoriety, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, he was used as a political symbol by many movements and regimes: the Risorgimento , the Wilhelmine government in Germany (especially under Emperor Wilhelm I ), and the Nazi movement ( Operation Barbarossa , Barbarossa decree ) resulting in mixed legacies. Modern researchers, while exploring

11750-611: The power to name the pope and bishops? The Investiture controversy from previous centuries had been brought to a tendentious peace with the Concordat of Worms and affirmed in the First Council of the Lateran . Now it had recurred, in a slightly different form. Frederick had to humble himself before Alexander III at Venice. The emperor acknowledged the pope's sovereignty over the Papal States, and in return Alexander acknowledged

11875-423: The prince-electors, was given no resources outside those of his own duchy and he was at the same time prevented from exercising any real authority or leadership. 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 was chosen as king in 1152, royal power had been in effective abeyance for over twenty-five years, and to

12000-862: The reign of his uncle, King Conrad III , which were a form of informal and irregular assembly popular among the nobles of the Holy Roman Empire. One took place in 1141 in Strasbourg , another in 1142 in Konstanz , 1143 in Ulm , 1144 in Würzburg and 1145 in Worms . In early 1147, Frederick decided to join the Second Crusade after his uncle, King Conrad III, had taken the crusader vow in public on 28 December 1146. Frederick's father, Duke Frederick II , strongly objected to this and according to Otto of Freising ,

12125-706: The remnants of the German army, along with the Hungarian army under the command of Prince Géza, with the aim of burying the emperor in Jerusalem , but efforts to preserve his body in vinegar failed. Hence, his flesh was interred in the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Antioch, his bones in the Cathedral of Tyre, and his heart and inner organs in Saint Paul's Church , Tarsus . The unexpected demise of Frederick left

12250-451: The restoration of Milan in 1169. In 1174 Frederick made his fifth expedition to Italy. (It was probably during this time that the famous Tafelgüterverzeichnis , a record of the royal estates, was made. ) He was opposed by the pro-papal Lombard League (now joined by Venice , Sicily and Constantinople ), which had previously formed to stand against him. The cities of northern Italy had become exceedingly wealthy through trade, representing

12375-659: 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 . Frederick joined the Third Crusade and opted to travel overland to the Holy Land . In 1190, Frederick drowned attempting to cross the Saleph River, leading to most of his army abandoning the Crusade before reaching Acre. Historians consider him among

12500-532: The rulers of the Crusader states in the Near East urging him to come to their aid. Around 1 December, Cardinal Henry of Marcy preached a crusade sermon before Frederick and a public assembly in Strasbourg . Frederick expressed support for the crusade but declined to take the cross on the grounds of his ongoing conflict with Archbishop Philip of Cologne . He did, however, urge King Philip II of France to take

12625-715: The sizeable realm of the County of Burgundy . In an attempt to create comity, Emperor Frederick proclaimed the Peace of the Land , written between 1152 and 1157, which enacted punishments for a variety of crimes, as well as systems for adjudicating many disputes. He also declared himself the sole Augustus of the Roman world, ceasing to recognise Manuel I at Constantinople. The retreat of Frederick in 1155 forced Pope Adrian IV to come to terms with King William I of Sicily, granting to William I territories that Frederick viewed as his dominion. This aggrieved Frederick, and he

12750-519: The study of the Justinian Code , a Latin legal system that had become extinct centuries earlier. Legal scholars renewed its application. It is speculated that Pope Gregory VII personally encouraged the Justinian rule of law and had a copy of it. The historian Norman Cantor described Corpus Juris Civilis (Justinian Body of Civil Law) as "the greatest legal code ever devised". It envisaged

12875-536: The submission of Milan , he successfully besieged Tortona on 13 February 1155, razing it to the ground on 18 April. He moved on to Pavia , where he according to some historians received the Iron Crown and the title of King of Italy on 24 April in the Basilica of San Michele Maggiore . Other historians instead suggest his coronation took place in Monza on 15 April. Moving through Bologna and Tuscany , he

13000-478: The traditional family domains and a vestige of power over the bishops and abbeys. The backwash of the Investiture controversy had left the German states in continuous turmoil. Rival states were in perpetual war. These conditions allowed Frederick to be both warrior and occasional peace-maker, both to his advantage. Frederick is the subject of many legends, including that of a Kyffhäuser legend . Legend says he

13125-599: 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 . Frederick was also a descendant of the Salian dynasty through his paternal grandmother Agnes as she was the daughter of Emperor Henry IV and Bertha of Savoy . He also had ties to

13250-496: The young Duke of Swabia, Frederick IV, died in 1167, so he was able to organize a new mighty territory in the Duchy of Swabia under his reign in this time. Consequently, his younger son Frederick V became the new Duke of Swabia in 1167, while his eldest son Henry was crowned King of the Romans in 1169, alongside his father who also retained the title. Increasing anti-German sentiment swept through Lombardy, culminating in

13375-451: Was "the most meticulously planned and organized" up to that time. According to one source written in the 1220s, Frederick organized a grand army of 100,000 men (including 20,000 knights) and set out on the overland route to the Holy Land; This number is believed to be inaccurate by modern scholars using incomplete contemporary sources that place the size of his army at 12,000–15,000 men, including 3,000–4,000 knights. On 11 May 1189, after

13500-509: Was a brother of Adela's great-great-great-grandmother, making them fourth cousins, once removed). He then made a vain attempt to obtain a bride from the court of Constantinople . On his accession, Frederick had communicated the news of his election to Pope Eugene III , but had neglected to ask for papal confirmation. In March 1153, Frederick concluded the Treaty of Constance with the Pope, wherein he promised, in return for his coronation, to defend

13625-554: Was a complete failure. Frederick suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of Legnano near Milan, on 29 May 1176, where he was wounded and for some time was believed to be dead. This battle marked the turning point in Frederick's claim to empire. He had no choice other than to begin negotiations for peace with Alexander III and the Lombard League. In the Peace of Anagni in 1176, Frederick recognized Alexander III as pope, and in

13750-463: Was actually planned to form a noble forecourt to his castle, unified by the arcades that completely surround the square, an amenity of the new North Italian towns built in the 13th century. The town's main street enters through a sham arcaded façade that preserves the unity of the space as at the Place des Vosges . Ludovico demolished the former palazzo of the commune of Vigevano to create the space. At

13875-480: 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. Eager to restore the Empire to the position it had occupied under Charlemagne and Otto I the Great , the new king saw clearly that the restoration of order in Germany was a necessary preliminary to the enforcement of the imperial rights in Italy. Issuing

14000-558: Was built, with the adjacent Dominican convent, by Filippo Maria Visconti in 1445. In the last years of Visconti domination it sustained a siege by Francesco Sforza . Once he was settled in power in Lombardy, Sforza arranged for Vigevano to be set up as the seat of a bishop and provided its revenues. Vigevano is crowned by the Castello Sforzesco , a stronghold rebuilt 1492–94 for Ludovico Maria Sforza ( Ludovico il Moro ),

14125-501: Was crowned King of Italy on 24 April 1155 in Pavia and emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155 in Rome . Two years later, the term sacrum ("holy") first appeared in a document in connection with his empire. 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; in German, he

14250-406: Was deposed by his son-in-law Charlemagne, who folded it into the larger Carolingian Empire , which evolved over time into the Holy Roman Empire . Charlemagne ruled over northern Italy as King of the Lombards . In 781, he named his son Pepin as King of Italy, though he still maintained suzerainty over the land. Charlemagne was crowned Roman Emperor in 800, while the Kingdom of Italy became one of

14375-526: Was forced to put off his planned campaign against the Normans of Sicily . On their way northwards, they attacked Spoleto and encountered the ambassadors of Manuel I Comnenus, who showered Frederick with costly gifts. At Verona , Frederick declared his fury with the rebellious Milanese before finally returning to Germany. Disorder was again rampant in Germany, especially in Bavaria, but general peace

14500-591: Was forced to weaken his force at the Siege of Acre and send troops to the north to block the arrival of the Germans. Barbarossa opted on the local Armenians' advice to follow a shortcut along the Saleph River. Meanwhile, the army started to traverse the mountain path. On 10 June 1190, he drowned near Silifke Castle in the Saleph River. There are several conflicting accounts of the event: Jacques de Vitry ,

14625-579: Was further displeased when Papal legates chose to interpret a letter from Adrian to Frederick in a manner that seemed to imply that the imperial crown was a gift from the Papacy and that in fact the Empire itself was a fief of the Papacy. Disgusted with the pope, and still wishing to crush the Normans in the south of Italy, in June 1158, Frederick set out upon his second Italian expedition, accompanied by Henry

14750-492: Was impressed by the charitable works of the Knights Hospitaller . He took part in the council of Acre on 24 June, where a decision was reached that the crusaders would attack Damascus . The Siege of Damascus (24–28 July) lasted a mere five days and ended in failure. Gilbert of Mons , writing fifty years later, recorded that Frederick "prevailed in arms before all others in front of Damascus". On 8 September,

14875-474: Was introduced. After the breakup of the Frankish Empire, Otto I added Italy to the Holy Roman Empire and continued the use of the title Rex Italicorum . The last to use this title was Henry II (1004–1024). Subsequent emperors used the title "King of Italy" until Charles V . They were crowned in Pavia , Milan and Bologna . In 1805, Napoleon I was crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy at

15000-518: Was known as Kaiser Rotbart , which in English means "Emperor Redbeard." The prevalence of the Italian nickname, even in later German usage, reflects the centrality of the Italian campaigns under his reign. Frederick was by inheritance Duke of Swabia (1147–1152, as Frederick III) before his imperial election in 1152 . He was the son of Duke Frederick II of the Hohenstaufen dynasty and Judith , daughter of Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria , from

15125-469: Was not charged with heresy. As Frederick approached the gates of Rome, the Pope advanced to meet him. At the royal tent the king received him, and after kissing the pope's feet, Frederick expected to receive the traditional kiss of peace. Frederick had declined to hold the Pope's stirrup while leading him to the tent, however, so Adrian refused to give the kiss until this protocol had been complied with. Frederick hesitated, and Adrian IV withdrew; after

15250-519: Was restored by Frederick's vigorous, but conciliatory, measures. The duchy of Bavaria was transferred from Henry II Jasomirgott , margrave of Austria, to Frederick's formidable younger cousin Henry the Lion , Duke of Saxony , of the House of Guelph , whose father had previously held both duchies. Henry II Jasomirgott was named Duke of Austria in compensation for his loss of Bavaria. As part of his general policy of concessions of formal power to

15375-441: Was soon approaching the city of Rome. There, Pope Adrian IV was struggling with the forces of the republican city commune led by Arnold of Brescia , a student of Abelard . As a sign of good faith, Frederick dismissed the ambassadors from the revived Roman Senate, and Imperial forces suppressed the republicans. Arnold was captured and hanged for treason and rebellion. Despite his unorthodox teaching concerning theology, Arnold

15500-587: Was subsequently annihilated. Conrad sent Frederick ahead to inform King Louis VII of France of the disaster and ask for help. The two armies, French and German, then advanced together. When Conrad fell ill around Christmas in Ephesus , he returned to Constantinople by ship with his personal retinue, which included Frederick. With Byzantine ships and money, the German army once again left Constantinople on 7 March 1148 and arrived in Acre on 11 April. After Easter, Conrad and Frederick visited Jerusalem , where Frederick

15625-608: Was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The first to take the title was Odoacer , a barbarian warlord, in the late 5th century, followed by the Ostrogothic kings up to the mid-6th century. With the Frankish conquest of Italy in the 8th century, the Carolingians assumed the title, which was maintained by subsequent Holy Roman Emperors throughout

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