General Notes

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Frederick I (Holy Roman Empire), called Frederick Barbarossa
(11 23?-1190), Holy Roman emperor and king of Germany (1152-1190) and king
of Ita ly (1155-1190). He was born in Waiblingen, the nephew of King
Conrad III of G ermany. After the death of his uncle in 1152, Frederick
Barbarossa was made G erman king and elected Holy Roman emperor.
From the 1150s to the 1170s Frederi ck was occupied with asserting his
power in Italy. He fought with popes Adria n IV and Alexander III, and
also with the Lombards. The Lombard League, consi sting of the cities of
Milan, Parma, Padua, Verona, Piacenza, Bologna, Cremon a, Mantua, Bergamo,
and Brescia, was formed in 1167 and acknowledged Pope Ale xander as its
leader. In 1176 Frederick was defeated by the Lombard League at Legnano.
The defeat was significant in military history because it was the f irst
major triumph of infantry over a mounted army of feudal knights. After
the defeat, Frederick acceded to the demands of the Lombards for autonomy
bu t retained imperial suzerainty over the towns.
Meanwhile, Frederick made Polan d tributary to the Holy Roman Empire,
raised Bohemia to the rank of a kingdom , and made Austria into an
independent hereditary duchy. He also consolidated his power in Germany.
Frederick initiated the Third CrusaDe in 1189, and the next year he set
out for Asia Minor. After gaining two victories over the Mu slims, he was
drowned in the Calycadnus (now Göksu) River in Cilicia (now in Turkey).
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