Ep. 50: Frederick Barbarossa (1152-1190) - Unification of the Empire - Barbarossa Begins

History of the Germans from the Middle Ages to Reunification

Dirk Hoffmann-Becking

Education, History, Society & Culture

4.9 • 551 Ratings

🗓️ 10 March 2022

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

(1149-1152) In his last few years the ill and exhausted king Conrad III relies more and more on his nephew, Frederick, the duke of Swabia called Barbarossa because of his ginger beard. Barbarossa forms the cornerstone linking the warring houses of Welf and Waiblingen. His military capabilities and diplomatic skills propell the barely 30 year old to the top of domestic and international politics. When Conrad III died suddenly, he sees his chance. Pushing aside his cousin, the 8-year-old son of Conrad III, he gains support from both the old family allies as well as from its archrivals, Henry the Lion and Welf VI. He had to promise a lot, but it was enough for him to be elected and crowned in a record 24 days. But that is where the hard work starts. Conrad had left a realm in anarchy. Can Barbarossa calm it down? The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0. As always: Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.com Facebook: @HOTGPod Twitter: @germanshistory Instagram: history_of_the_germans Reddit: u/historyofthegermans Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Historyofthegermans

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the history of the Germans.
0:09.2	Episode 50, Barbarossa begins.
0:13.8	This week we'll bring the reign of Conrad Ithor to its long overdue end, and we watched
0:18.4	a rise of the most famous and the most popular of the medieval
0:21.5	emperors, Frederick I, Barbara Rosa. Before we start, just a reminder, the history of the
0:28.4	Germans podcast is advertising free, thanks to the generous support from patrons. And you can
0:33.6	become a patron too and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes and other privileges from
0:38.2	the price of a latte per month.
0:40.5	All you have to do is sign up at patreon.com slash history of the Germans or on my website
0:46.1	History of the Germans.com.
0:48.3	You find all the links in the show notes.
0:50.7	And thanks a lot to Daniel, Sean and Peter who have already signed up.
0:56.1	Last week, we left Conrad III surveying the wreckage of his grand strategy.
1:01.3	His attempt to stamp his authority on the realm by capturing Edessa and returning as grand
1:06.3	protector of Jerusalem had backfired badly.
1:10.1	His army was destroyed long before it got anywhere near the Holy Land.
1:13.8	His subsequent attempts at capturing Damascus and Ascalon had failed in the most humiliating
1:18.2	way. He arrived back in the Empire in early 1149, hoping that he may score at least one success.
1:27.3	He intended to embark on his long overdue journey
1:29.7	to Rome, get crowned emperor and then attack Roger II, King of Sicily. He may have been looking
1:37.7	forward to that since the last campaign against Roger II in 1138 was one of the very few highlights
1:43.6	of his military career.
	...

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