Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Frederick Barbarossa
By the 11th century the over-extended Holy Roman Empire was ill equipped to administer
its thriving Italian colonies. The growth and prosperity of the cities gave their citizens the
desire to run their own affairs. Unwilling to accept an absentee foreigner with doubtful
rights of sovereignty, they were soon electing their own leaders, running their own courts
and raising their own militias.
Frederick I (1122-90), Duke of Swabia, who became emperor in 1155, was determined
to reverse this drift and restore the Empire to the powerful force it was under Charlemagne.
A feted warrior, with grandiose notions of his rights, he became renowned as a symbol of
Teutonic unity, a hero to German romantics and an inspiration for Adolf Hitler.
The defiance of anti-imperial Milan, the largest Italian city, and its subjugation of pro-
imperial neighbours Pavia, Lodi and Como inspired Frederick to invade Italy. He captured
Milan in 1162 and destroyed it utterly, earning his nickname Barbarossa (red beard) both
for the colour of his beard and the ferocity with which he fought. He also obliterated the
towns of Cremona and Crema, who likewise resisted him.
But these triumphs and the humiliations of the conquered, who were made to parade be-
fore Frederick barefoot with swords and ropes around their necks, were to be short-lived as
his actions prompted the formation of the Lombard League (1167). Uniting 16 Lombard
cities, the League promised to aid anyone threatened by Frederick's armies, and although a
few member states dropped out in subsequent years, the League held long enough to rout
Frederick's armies at Legnano in 1176. This historic defeat forced Barbarossa to the negoti-
ating table, and at the Treaty of Constance in 1183 he conceded the rights of the
comune
(city-state) to elect their own leaders, make their own laws and administer their own territ-
ories.
