I
Frederick I was one of the most famous of German emperors. He was
a tall, stalwart man of majestic appearance. He had a long red
beard and so the people called him Barbarossa, or Red-Beard. He
came to the throne in 1152.
At that time the province of Lombardy in northern Italy was a part
of the German empire.
In 1158 Milan (_mï-lan'_), the chief city of Lombardy, revolted.
Then over the Alps came an army of a hundred thousand German soldiers,
with Frederick at their head. After a long siege the city surrendered.
But soon it revolted again. The emperor besieged it once more and
once more it surrendered. Its fortifications were destroyed and
many of its buildings ruined.
But even then the spirit of the Lombards was not broken. Milan
and the other cities of Lombardy united in a league and defied
the emperor. He called upon the German dukes to bring their men
to his aid. All responded except Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony,
Frederick's cousin, whom he had made duke of Bavaria also. Frederick
is said to have knelt and implored Henry to do his duty, but in
vain.
[Illustration: FREDERICK AT THE FEET OF HENRY THE LION]
In his campaign against the Lombards Frederick was unsuccessful.
His army was completely defeated and he was compelled to grant
freedom to the cities of Lombardy. Everybody blamed Henry the Lion.
The other dukes charged him with treason and he was summoned to
appear before a meeting of the nobles. He failed to come and the
nobles thereupon declared him guilty and took from him everything
that he had, except the lands he had inherited from his father.
Frederick now devoted himself to making Germany a united nation.
Two of his nobles had been quarreling for a long time and as a
punishment for their conduct each was condemned, with ten of his
counts and barons, to carry dogs on his shoulders from one country
to another.
Frederick finally succeeded in keeping the nobles in the different
provinces of Germany at peace with one another, and persuaded them
to work together for the good of the whole empire. He had no more
trouble with them and for many years his reign was peaceful and
prosperous.