Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Germany" to "Gibson, William" Volume 11, Slice 8

It was not past hope that even yet some
of their former splendour might be restored, and for a brief period
monarchy did again stand high. Still, its foundations were sapped.
Incessant war, both at home and in Italy, had deprived it of its force;
it had lost moral influence by humiliations, of which the scene at
Canossa was an extreme type. Steadily, with unwearied energy, letting no
opportunity escape, the princes had advanced towards independence, and
they might well look forward to such a bearing in regard to the kings as
the kings had formerly adopted in regard to them.


  Conrad III.

Henry the Proud was confident that he would succeed Lothair, who had
died on his return from Italy in December 1137; but, by a hasty and
irregular election, Conrad of Hohenstaufen, duke of Franconia, was
chosen king in March 1138. Henry the Proud rebelled and was declared to
have forfeited his two duchies, Saxony and Bavaria, the former being
given to Albert the Bear, margrave of Brandenburg, and the latter to
Leopold IV., margrave of Austria. Henry defended his rights with vigour
and once again Germany was ravaged by war, for although he was unpopular
in Bavaria he was strongly supported by the Saxons, who, since the time
of Henry IV., had always been ready to join in an attack on the
monarchy, and he had little difficulty in driving Albert the Bear from
the land. However, in October 1139 Henry died suddenly, but his young
son, Henry the Lion, was recognized at once as duke of Saxony, while his
brother, Welf, upheld the fortunes of his house in Bavaria. The struggle
went on until May 1142, when peace was made at Frankfort. Saxony, with
the assent of Albert the Bear, was granted by Conrad to Henry the Lion,
and Bavaria was given to Henry Jasomirgott, who had just succeeded his
brother Leopold as margrave of Austria. But this was only a lull in the
civil strife, which was renewed after the king had made a successful
expedition into Bohemia. The princes clerical and lay were fighting
against each other, and the Bavarians were at war with the Hungarians,
who gained a great victory in 1146. Notwithstanding the many sources of
confusion Conrad was persuaded by the passionate eloquence of Bernard of
Clairvaux to take part in the second crusade; he left for the East in
1147 and returned to Germany in 1149, to find Welf again in arms and
Henry the Lion claiming Bavaria. The king had done nothing to stem the
rising tide of disorder when he died at Bamberg in February 1152. During
this reign the work of conquering and Germanizing the Slavonic tribes
east of the Elbe was seriously taken in hand under the lead of Albert
the Bear and Henry the Lion, and the foundation of the margraviate of
Brandenburg by Albert tended to make life and property more secure in
the north-east of Germany.


  Frederick I. becomes king.

After Conrad's death Germany passed under the rule of one of the
greatest of her sovereigns, Frederick I., called Barbarossa, nephew of
the late king and son of Frederick, that duke of Swabia who had fought
along with Conrad against Henry the Proud. Frederick himself had also
been closely associated with Conrad, who advised the princes to choose
his nephew as his successor. This was done, and the new king was crowned
at Aix-la-Chapelle in March 1152. Allied through his mother to the Welfs
of Bavaria, and anxious to put an end to the unrest which dominated
Germany, especially to the strife between the families of Welf and
Hohenstaufen, Frederick began his reign by promising to secure for Henry
the Lion the duchy of Bavaria, and by appeasing Henry's uncle, Count
Welf, by making him duke of Spoleto and margrave of Tuscany. But the new
king had another, and perhaps a more potent, reason for wishing to see
peace restored in Germany. For his adventurous and imaginative spirit
Italy and the imperial title had an irresistible charm, and in 1154, two
years after he had ascended the throne, he crossed the Alps, being
crowned emperor at Rome in June 1155. After this event the best years of
his life were spent in Italy, where, in his long and obstinate struggle
with the Lombard cities and with Pope Alexander III., he chiefly
acquired his fame. Although on the emperor's side this struggle was
conducted mainly with German troops it falls properly under the history
of Italy. In that country the record of this reign is a blood-stained
page, while in the history of Germany, on the contrary, Frederick's name
is associated with a peaceful and prosperous period.


  Bavaria and Saxony.

The promise that Bavaria should be granted to Henry the Lion was not
easily fulfilled, as Henry Jasomirgott refused to give up the duchy. At
last, however, in 1156, after his return from his first expedition to
Italy, Frederick reconciled the latter prince by making Austria into a
duchy with certain special privileges, an important step in the process
by which that country became the centre of a powerful state.