Overview
Frederick I
(c. 1122—1190) king of Germany and Holy Roman emperor 1152–90
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Absolon
Is the author of a lost Middle High German epic poem dealing with the exploits and death of the Emperor Barbarossa (see Friedrich I, Kaiser). He is mentioned by Rudolf ...

Adlerorden
Name of two Prussian orders of chivalry.(1) Der schwarze Adlerorden was the highest Prussian order. It was founded in 1701 by Friedrich I of Prussia. Recipients, if not already of ...

Adrian IV
(born Nicholas Breakspear) (c. 1100–59) Pope (1154–59). The only Englishman to have held this office, he opposed Frederick I's (Barbarossa's) claims to power.

Akademien
In the sense of corporations of scholars, scientists, and men of learning such as the Royal Society in Great Britain, were founded in Germany in the 18th c. The most ...

Albert of Jerusalem
(c.1150–1214)*Canon Regular of Mortara, bishop of Bobbio (1184), of Vercelli (1185–1205), and Patriarch of Jerusalem (1205–14). He legislated for the canons of Biella and in 1201 for the Humiliati. ...

Alexander III
(d. 1181), Pope from 1159. After his election, an antipope (Victor IV) was immediately set up and supported by the Emp. Frederick I. During the 17-year schism, Alexander lived mainly in France. Here ...

Alsace
The territory between the Vosges Mountains, Rhine river, and Jura Mountains, known by the 7th century as ‘Alsace’. Roman military settlement in the area included a base at what would ...

Anagni
An ancient city of pre-Roman origin (capital of the Ernici), situated south-east of Rome. An episcopal see from the 5th c. (probably founded by Leo the Great), its ecclesiastical and ...

Andreas Schlüter
(c. 1659–1714).Born in Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland), he is claimed as a major Baroque sculptor and architect by both Germany and Poland. His first works included decorations at the Royal Chapel, ...

Angelos
(Ἄγγελος, fem. ᾽Αγγελίνα), a noble Byz. lineage founded by Constantine from Philadelphia, who married Theodora (born 1096), the daughter of Alexios I. According to a 12th-C. historian (Zon. ...

Archpoet
The name given to the anonymous German writer of Goliardic Latin poetry. His best‐known poem is the ‘Confession’. The term was used by Pope and Fielding as equivalent to poet laureate.

Arnold of Brescia
(d. 1155), reformer. A canon regular, c.1139 he had to leave Brescia after taking part in a conflict between the bishop and reformers. In France he supported Peter Abelard and at the Council of Sens ...

Assisi
A town in the province of Umbria in central Italy, famous as the birthplace of St Francis, whose tomb is located there.

Augsburg
(city, bishopric) Attested since the 8th century on the site of Roman Augusta Vindelicorum. A document of 1156 confirms the bishop’s lordship, conditioned by the citizens’ community. An imperial city ...

Babenberg
Name of two noble families, whose relationship is uncertain. The older Babenberg counts occupied a castle in Bamberg and succumbed in 906 to the Konradiner, with whom they had been ...

Barbarossa
The Italian nickname of the Emperor Friedrich I. It is also the title of a poem by F. Rückert, written in 1813, which embodies the legend of Barbarossa's readiness to return in time of need.[...]

Battle of Arcadiopolis
(1194)The reign of the Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelos (r. 1185–1195) was plagued by unrest in the Balkans, further complicated by the passage of German Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa ...

Battle of Carcano
In July 1160 Milan was ascendant in its struggle against the Holy Roman emperor Frederick Barbarossa (r. 1152–1189), and dispatched an army of 600 knights and 6,000 infantry to besiege ...

Battle of Legnano
The battle of Legnano was fought on 29 May 1176 between the Lombard League of northern Italian cities and Frederick I Barbarossa, King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor. It ...

Bergamo
Situated in the present-day Italian region of Lombardy, the city of Bergamo lies close to the Alpine foothills. During Lombard rule (568/9–774), it was the site of an important duchy ...