A Lord of Straw Devours a Vassal of Steel: 1150-1160
A year of Our Lord 1150. The contemporary historians write about the end of an old era and the beginning of a new one. They always do, as if being in the middle is not interesting enough. Take Middle Ages, for example – the very name makes you think about negative things. To my taste, those years were as good as any other. And 1150 was no better or worse. It was your normal year, which mankind spent killing, raping and pillaging. Womankind wished it was on top of things, but luckily the issues of emancipation was still centuries away, belonging to a different game altogether.
Europe in 1150
Konrad III was the King of Germany back then. He was also the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. It was still the empire, but holiness and roman customs were nowhere to be found inside its borders. At least there was a unity of religion, but it came with a price – greedy Popes in the south, who would have liked nothing more than to break the empire into many little archbishoprics and rule them all from Rome.
In addition, there were plenty of nobles who dreamed of being kings themselves. And since there were not so many crowns lying around in Germany they planned on breaking the kingdom into many little kingdoms and ruling them from many little castles with no regard for the empire, its future, its pride and its glory.
In short, Konrad had many enemies and but one friend – the emperor of the Romans, the eastern Romans that is, - Manuel I. The Byzantine ruler saved the Western Roman Emperor-elect during the Second Crusade and then married his sister-in-law Bertha of Salzburg. Later his niece married Konrad’s brother, Duke Henry of Austria. Two empires, two Caesars, two sets of problems – Byzantines were too busy protecting their eastern borders from Turks to aid Konrad against his foes.
German allies in 1150
After his defeat in the battle of Dorylaeum, Konrad had but one thousand knights and two thousand landsknechts to rely on. From his castle Hohenstaufen he attempted to rule twenty six provinces – three of them with no castles – and three Marches, whose barons had neither gold nor men to adequately protect them. It was clear that three thousand men would not be enough. The Emperor called upon his vassals to raise additional three thousand infantry and one thousand cavalry. With seven thousand warriors Konrad would attempt to overcome the days of darkness lying ahead.
Politically, German Kingdom was strong and respected. It was allied with Kingdom of Italy and Kingdom of Arles (Arelate) and held Gelre, Holland and Friesland as vassals. Being an exemplary vassal the Duke of vassal broke his oath as soon as he got a chance. He, however, did not have a common border with Germans and Gelre and Friesland did. Their rulers refrained from making any stupid moves for a time being. Holland’s time would come too, although not soon enough to give Konrad a joy of revenge.
In the West Normans in England still treated their country as the conquered territory and preferred to spend time in warmer lands of Gaul. They were yet to feel comfortable among the sea of Angles and Saxons. Come to think of it, Konrad too had enough trouble with Saxons – the old ones that had chosen to stay on the continent rather than traveling to Britannia.
The rulers of Saxony – the family of Welfs – were always the rivals of Hohenstaufens. They were always the first dogs, if this comparison can be allowed, to bite the emperor’s hand in times of trouble. Their lands were rich, their private army strong and they had the backing of the Pope. Their leader was a superior soldier and general. His name was Heinrich the Lion and, unlike the rest of the vassals, he did not want to have his own little kingdom. He wanted the crown of Germany, he wanted the crown of the empire, and he would want the world, for Christ’s sake, if he was not such a realist.
Unwilling to take on such a strong foe, Konrad decided to appease the Welfs and soon resigned from power. In 1152 his designated successor was elected the King and the Emperor in Frankfurt. He was Konrad’s nephew and the son of Friedrich II, duke of Swabia, and Judith, daughter of Henry IX, duke of Bavaria of Welfs. His name was Friedrich III Barbarossa and he had blood of Hohenstaufens and Welfs running through his veins.
Remember, he came to power during the Middle Ages, where decentralization of government was the only path considered to be right. His uncle behaved as if he was the Roman Emperor of old. Roman Empire fell and so would Germany if it did not adapt to new ways of life. Feudalism was still relatively young system that promised the right answers to all questions. Why try to govern the realm yourself, when you can have your vassals do it for you. As long as you appoint the right people to the right places, nothing can go wrong. Luckily for German Kingdom and the Empire, Friedrich decided to avoid the enlightened politics of the present and tried to stick to his predecessors’ rules. That is, he decided he wanted all the power for himself and would not share it with anyone.
It is a rather simplistic approach that most of the rulers take anyway, but at his time it took balls to make such a decision. He was challenging the authority of all the nobles in his realm, who thought themselves his equal and would fight to keep their power.
As it was the custom during Middle Ages, as soon as the King would make an intelligent decision that would benefit the kingdom later, the stability dropped (-3), barons demanded higher compensation for their knights (aristocracy -1), and peasants and nobles alike rushed to the churches across the country to bargain with God for help (-2 innovativeness). Pope did not like this decision either (-50 relations with Papal States) and a possibility of the general uprising became all too real (+4 revolt risk). Of course, Friedrich had more power now, but how was anyone to know whether it was a good thing or not.
Archbishop of Salzburg requested autonomy first. Friedrich denied the petition without even thinking about it. Archbishop gathered peasant rubble, strengthened it with his monks and tried to get the autonomy anyway. He reminded Friedrich of Peter the Hermit and his ragtag army of peasants. He dealt with it accordingly.
Meanwhile, King Henry of England had conquered Wales and married Eleanor of Aquitaine, strengthening his positions in France. As Christian kingdoms of Iberia united in the face of a new Almohad invasion, Kingdom of France united Burgundy, Anjou, Blois-Champagne and Brittany against possible invasion from England.
In 1153 the Archbishop of Mainz demanded his autonomy. The Pope added his voice this time. He definitely did not like watching another “army of God” to be cut down by Barbarossa’s knights. He had to suffer through it anyway. Needless to say, the relations between German Kingdom and Papal States deteriorated fast. Friedrich’s reputation of a noble King and Emperor had suffered again and stability dropped throughout the kingdom.
In 1154 King Henry annexed the duchy of Anjou to kingdom of England, creating an empire that ruled over large chunks of Britain and France. Aquitaine soon pleaded allegiance to this empire, betraying the House of Capet.
In 1155 the city of Genoa rebelled against the Emperor authority and declared its independence from the Kingdom of Italy. Being the ruler of both Germans and Italians, Friedrich felt no remorse in attacking Genoa and annexing it to the German Kingdom. The siege lasted three long years. The Italians were rather upset, especially since it was their own King who robbed them of this trading center. Of course, if they took care of their affairs a little bit more carefully, this situation would not have happened.
The conquest of Genoa plunged the country into a new period of instability and further ruined the reputation of Barbarossa. He was now considered not only a harsh ruler, but also a dangerous neighbor. His army of eight thousand was denied passage through Italian territory – the Italians still hoped to convince their King to return Genoa to them. In response, Friedrich called on his vassals to raise another army back in Baden. This time he could only raise and support 1,000 knights and 5,000 landsknechts. Most of his treasury went into constructing fortresses in Saxony and Munster. The last was finished only in 1160.
Throughout the decade the Kingdom was in turmoil. All technological progress has died with all money going into improving the situation. Frequent river floods in the north devastated the economy of Saxon and Wiendish lands. Constant threat of rebellion kept all Imperial forces occupied with garrison duty. On the good side the political stance of the kingdom was improving. Gelre and Friesland joined the alliance and Bohemia became a kingdom within the Holy Roman Empire with Emperor’s blessing. To Bohemians’ dismay, the blessing was rather costly, as now Bohemian Kings became vassals of the German rulers. In theory the Bohemian King could became an emperor too, and then the German King would pay homage to him. His chances, of course, were rather small.
In 1156 the Welfs led by Heinrich the Lion demanded the autonomy for their Austrian and Bavarian lands. Friedrich had to make a tough decision. On one hand he could give one-third of his country to his rival. On another he could keep one-third of his country and weaken his rival. Plus he could spill rivers of blood – all belonging to his political opponents. The loss of stability did not worry him – the country was as unstable as it ever could be. Where is the catch, he wondered, there has to be a catch.
Need I say more? The Welfs received nothing. The revolt risk in Austria and Bavaria became extremely high (+8). Stability did not suffer a bit; a bottom low has been hit long ago. Austrian provinces started to pay fewer taxes, as rebels robbed and pillaged the countryside. Friedrich responded with yet another call on his barons. This gave him another 6,000 troops to put down the rebellion and kept the nobility occupied. The more they fight the less they think, was his reasoning.
In the Fall of 1158 Byzantines gave up their claims on southern Italy and paid tribute to the Seljuk Turks. Fighting against Normans and Muslims at the same time proved to be a bad idea. Friedrich could only hope his country would never have to face a war on two fronts. In order to take his mind off these things, he held a grand tournament in Hohenstaufen, which somewhat improved the mood of the population. The things were not going to well for the peasants and nobles alike, but the sight of armored knights clashing with each other did raise their spirits (+1 stability) and brought some cash into the treasury (25,000 ducats)…
While Iberian Kingdoms went into war against French Duchies, the Italians were becoming restless again. The city of Milan declared its independence of Italian Kingdom and the other cities were ready to follow its suit. The Emperor “decided to pursue the old laws which bound the cities to the Imperial crown and pronounced on the diet of Roncaglia in 1158 new constitutions for Italy which mostly beheld the restoration of the old rights of the emperor to lead the city governments or at least to influence their choice and of securing of imperial income from the cities.” Most Italian cities accepted the regalia – 15,000 German troops on the border could be very persuasive. Kingdom of Italy agreed to pay 100,000 ducats, become forever bound to the German Kingdom as its vassal and provide 8,000 infantrymen to Barbarossa’s army.
Only people of Milan dared to oppose the Germans. Counting on help from the Pope they raised an army and awaited the Germans at the gates of their city. In February two armies approached Milan from south and north. Any hopes Milanese might have had disappeared. The southern force was Barbarossa’s main army marching from Liguria.
The battle of Milan was quick and brutal. 4,000-strong Milanese army made mostly of new recruits did stand a chance against Friedrich’s 15,000-strong veteran army. The city fell in July of 1159. After extracting light tribute, Friedrich’s army retreated and let the Italians have their share of fun. Soon after Milan has again become a part of the Kingdom of Italy.
As usual though, good news came along with bad. The Milanese Uprising allowed the King of Arles to cancel his alliance with Barbarossa and throw his lot with the King of France. Gelre and Friesland also decided to wait out the storm and refused to send their troops to the Emperor’s aid. Unfortunately for Friesland, there is God in Heaven. In June of 1159 the Duchy of Holland declared war on Friesland. Holland’s allies included Flanders, Zeeland and Denmark. Friesland could only count on German Kingdom and the Emperor was not inclined to help the traitors.
The reminder of 1159 Friedrich spent in strengthening his positions in Italy. In September he supported Pope Alexander’s claim to the throne of Papal States, finally making friends with the Church. With Imperial lands in Italy pacified, the Emperor was able at last to return north to Germany. It has been four long years. In his stead he left Reynald von Dassel and 7,000 men in Liguria.
In winter German merchants began trading in Genoa – at first meeting disaster after disaster. But soon they will establish themselves as a power to reckon with and then… then maybe, just maybe, the ships carrying the golden banner with black eagle will sail the waters of the Mediterranean.
In Saxony Heinrich the Lion continued to plot against his suzerain. He was a persistent man that never abandoned his plans and he was still a danger to the throne. Still, as powerful as he was, Heinrich was but a vassal of Friedrich and the King would always triumph over his vassals… as long as he behaves like a King. The Emperor knew that a lord of straw devours a vassal of steel. One should never be afraid to assert his authority. It might cost you your life, but I am sure there is an answer to that as well...
German Kingdom in 1160