frederick barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa, like other men of his age, was influenced by a growing resurgence of neoclassical sensibilities. It should not therefore be considered surprising that he would have considered himself ruling as "Frederick, by the grace of God emperor of the Romans and august forever..".(A letter to Otto of Freisling) He like other leaders before and since saw and welcomed the prestige and sense of legitimacy offered by the title of Roman Emperor. To achieve this, kings since the time of Charlamegne had often traveled to Rome in order to be crowned Emperor. The pope as heir to the Church of Constantine provided the symbolic link between the Roman past and the present Empire. It was in this light that in 1154 Frederick entered Italy, to be crowned in Rome and assert his domination over Northern Italy as such. His subsequent involvement in Italy was to bring him and his family line into conflicts, which would have severe effects on the future of the Hohenstaufen line and the German Monarchy. As a result, at a time when other dominant royal families were laying the cornerstones of powerful national monarchies, Hohenstaufen power and the Holy Empire crumbled.
Despite the original intent of Frederick Barbarossa and his successors to consolidate and strengthen the Imperial sway over Italy in order to increase the power and legitimacy of their family lines, most of the ultimate gains were made by the German princes. The princes who aided the Emperors against Henry the Lion and later anti imperialists considered themselves defenders of the Empire and redistributed amongst themselves the possessions of the defeated Welfs. Many concessions had to be made to the princes by the embattled Emperors to attempt to gain their support. In one example, Frederick confirmed the practice that any lands left to the crown had to be granted again within a year and a day to a new lord. This subsequently made it much more difficult for German Emperors to acquire new lands, as compared with other European Monarchs of the time. As a result, even as the power of the German princes was growing, the growth of the Hohenstaufen line stagnated. By 1216, it was established that the emperor could neither abolish principalities or create new ones at random. Unlike other Monarchs of the era, the attempts made by the Hohenstaufen line to make the crown hereditary were unsuccessful. The right of election would be reserved for the princes. Ultimately, in Germany, the misfortunes of the Emperors led to the increasing codification and strengthening of the perceived inalienable feudal rights of the Princes. Instead of emerging from the period as a bourgeoning nation state, as would occur in other parts of Europe, The Empire would grow into a loose confederation of some 300 states. the same time making Austria into a new duchy as a counterweight to Henry's power. pacifying the constantly feuding German princes. In 1174 he returned to Italy. He was decisively defeated at Legnano by the Lombard League in 1176, partly because of lack of support from the German princes, perhaps most notably Henry the Lion. After his defeat Frederick submitted to the pope; he agreed to recognize Alexander III as pope and was afterwards restored to communion. He made peace with the Lombard towns, which was later confirmed by the Peace of Constance in 1183 and arranged a truce with the pope's Sicilian allies. After his return to Germany, Frederick brought about the downfall of Henry the Lion, whose large duchies were partitioned. Frederick's divisions of the German territories were to be of much future consequence. The process of division of German territorial integrity would not be reversed for hundreds of years. In 1186 he arranged the marriage of his son and successor, Henry (later Henry VI), to Constance, heiress of Sicily, in an attempt to insure peace with Sicily and build on the base of royal power, thereby tying the future of his family even closer to the Italian quagmire. The heavy handedness of his German officials led to the revolt of Milan, Brescia, Crema, and their allies, in 1159. The revolt was secretly encouraged by Adrian IV. After a long siege, Frederick stormed and burned
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Approximate Word count = 2057
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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