In the later years of his reign the emperor's chief enemy was Henry the
Lion. Rendered arrogant by success and confident that his interests were
in northern, and not in southern Europe, the Saxon duke refused to
assist Frederick in the campaign which ended so disastrously at Legnano.
Ascribing his defeat to Henry's defection, Frederick returned to Germany
full of anger against the Saxon duke and firmly resolved to punish him.
The immediate cause of Henry's downfall, however, was not his failure to
appear in Italy, but his refusal to restore some lands to the bishop of
Halberstadt, and it was on this charge that he was summoned before the
diet. Three times he refused to appear, and early in 1180 sentence was
pronounced against him; he was condemned to lose all his lands and to go
into banishment. For some time he resisted, but at length the emperor in
person marched against him and he was forced to submit; the only favour
he could secure when peace was made at Erfurt in November 1181 was
permission to retain Brunswick and Lüneburg, which have remained in the
possession of his descendants until our own day. Bavaria was granted to
Otto of Wittelsbach, but it lost some of its importance because Styria
was taken from it and made into a separate duchy. The extensive duchy of
Saxony was completely dismembered. The name was taken by the small
portion of the former duchy which was given to Bernard, son of Albert
the Bear, the founder of a new Saxon line, and the extensive western
part was added to the archbishopric of Cologne. The chief prelates of
Saxony and many of the late duke's most important feudatories were made
virtually independent of all control save that of the crown. Frederick's
object in thus breaking up the two greatest duchies in his kingdom was
doubtless to strengthen the imperial authority. But in reality he made
it certain that the princes would one day shake off the imperial power
altogether; for it was perhaps more difficult for the sovereign to
contend with scores of petty nobles than with two or three great
princes.
Frederick and Philip of Heinsberg.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account