Frederick Barbarossa

Lore & Background

Frederick's nickname Barbarossa ("Red Beard" in Italian) was first used by the Florentines only in 1298 to differentiate him from his grandson, Frederick II. In reality, his hair was blond, though a contemporary described his beard as "reddish." In German he was known as Kaiser Rotbart ("Emperor Redbeard"). The prevalence of the Italian nickname reflects the centrality of his Italian campaigns. Two years after his imperial coronation, 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. Frederick joined the Third Crusade and opted to travel overland to the Holy Land. In 1190, he drowned attempting to cross the Saleph River, leading to most of his army abandoning the Crusade before reaching Acre. His contributions to Central European society include the re-establishment of the Corpus Juris Civilis, or Roman rule of law, which counterbalanced papal power that had dominated German states since the Investiture controversy. Due to his popularity, he was used as a political symbol by the Risorgimento, Wilhelmine Germany, and the Nazi movement (Operation Barbarossa, Barbarossa decree).

In Their Own Story

In early 1147, Frederick decided to join the Second Crusade after his uncle, King Conrad III, took the crusader vow on 28 December 1146. Frederick's father, Duke Frederick II, strongly objected, berating his brother for permitting his son to go. The elder Frederick died on 4 or 6 April, and Frederick succeeded him as Duke of Swabia. The German crusader army departed from Regensburg seven weeks later. In August 1147, while crossing the Byzantine Empire, an ill crusader was robbed and killed in a monastery outside Adrianople. Conrad ordered Frederick to avenge him. The duke razed the monastery, captured and executed the robbers, and demanded the stolen money returned. The Byzantine general Prosuch prevented further escalation. On 8 September, Frederick and Welf VI were among the few German crusaders who survived when a flash flood destroyed the main camp—they had encamped on a hill away from the main army. Conrad III attempted to lead the army across Anatolia but turned back after constant Seljuk Turk attacks near Dorylaeum; the rearguard was annihilated. Conrad sent Frederick ahead to inform King Louis VII of France of the disaster. When Conrad fell ill around Christmas in Ephesus, he returned to Constantinople by ship with his personal retinue, including Frederick. With Byzantine ships and money, the German army left Constantinople on 7 March 1148 and arrived in Acre on 11 April. After Easter, Frederick visited Jerusalem and was impressed by the Knights Hospitaller. At the council of Acre on 24 June, it was decided to attack Damascus. The Siege of Damascus (24–28 July) lasted five days and ended in failure. Gilbert of Mons recorded that Frederick "prevailed in arms before all others in front of Damascus."

Reader's Guide

When Conrad III died in February 1152, only Frederick and the prince-bishop of Bamberg were at his deathbed. Both asserted Conrad had, in full possession of his mental faculties, handed the royal insignia to Frederick and indicated he—rather than Conrad's six-year-old son—should succeed him as king. Frederick energetically pursued the crown, and at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 the prince-electors designated him the next German king. He was crowned King of the Romans at Aachen on 9 March 1152. Frederick inherited a Germany that was a patchwork of more than 1,600 individual states. For a quarter-century after Henry V's death in 1125, the German monarchy was largely nominal with no real power. The king was given no resources outside his own duchy and was prevented from exercising real authority. Frederick had the duchies of Swabia and Franconia, the force of his own personality, and very little else to construct an empire. The Welf duke of Saxony, Henry the Lion, remained an implacable enemy of the Hohenstaufen monarchy. Frederick's reign involved balancing vassal princes against papal authority, often using imperial elections and crusades to secure loyalty. His story concludes during the Third Crusade, where he drowned crossing the Saleph River in 1190, leading most of his army to abandon the Crusade before reaching Acre.

Did You Know?

• Frederick's nickname 'Barbarossa' was first used by the Florentines only in 1298, over a century after his death, to differentiate him from his grandson Frederick II.
• Despite being called 'Red Beard,' Frederick's hair was actually blond, though a contemporary described his beard as 'reddish.'
• The term 'sacrum' ('holy') first appeared in a document in connection with his empire two years after his imperial coronation in 1155.
• Frederick could neither read nor write and was unable to speak Latin until later in life.
• He was crowned King of Germany on 9 March 1152 in Aachen, King of Italy on 24 April 1155 in Pavia, and emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155 in Rome.