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Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (November 1165, Nijmegen – September 28, 1197, Messina) was king of Germany 1190-1197, and Holy Roman Emperor 1191-1197. Henry was the son of the emperor Frederick Barbarossa and Beatrix of Burgundy, and was crowned King of the Romans at Bamberg in June 1169, at the age of four. After having taken the reins of the Empire from his father, engaged in the Crusade, in 1189-1190 he suppressed a revolt of Henry the Lion, former duke of Saxony and Bavaria and relative of Frederick. Constance of Sicily was betrothed to Henry in 1184, and they were married on January 27, 1186. Constance was the sole legitimate heir of William II of Sicily, and, after the death of the latter in November 1189, Henry found the possibility to add the Sicilian crown to the Imperial one, as his father had also died in Syria in June 1190. In the April of 1191, in Rome, Henry and Constance were crowned Emperor and Empress by Pope Celestine III. The crown of Sicily, however, was to be harder to gain, as the barons of southern Italy had chosen a local relative of the Norman ruling family, Tancred, count of Lecce, as their king. Henry began his work besieging Naples, but he had to leave the siege after his army had been decimated by a plague and the Salernitane had taken prisoner his wife, bringing her to Tancred. Moreover, Henry the Lion had revolted again forcing him to return to Northern Germany in the August of that year. His difficulties soon diseappeared when the duke of Austria Leopold gave him his prisoner, the king of England Richard I. Henry managed to receive from the English a ransom of 150,000 silver marks, a huge sum for that age, and with this money cuold attend with a powerful army the conquest of southern Italy. Henry was granted free passage in Northern Italy signing with the Italian communes a treaty in January 1194, and in the following April he also settled the question with Henry the Lion. In February Tancred died, leaving as heir a 7 year old boy, William III. Henry met little resistance and entered in Palermo, capital city of the Kingdom of Sicily, on November 20, and was crowned on December 25. He also had the young William blinded and castrated, while many Sicilian nobles were burned alive. At that point he was the most powerful monarch of the Mediterranean and Europe, since the Kingdom of Sicily added to his personal and Imperial revenues an income of money without parallel in Europe. Henry felt strong enough to send back home the Pisane and Genoese ships without giving their governments the promised concessions in Southern Italy, and even got a tribute from the Byzantine Empire. In 1194 he was born a son, Frederick, the future emperor and king of Sicily and Jerusalem. Henry secured his position in Italy naming his friend Conrad of Urslingen as duke of Spoleto and giving the Marche to Markward of Anweiler. His next aim was to make the Imperial crown also hereditary. At the Diet of Würzburg held in April 1196 he managed to convince the majority of the princes to vote for his proposal, but in the following one at Erfurt (October 1196), he did not score the same favourable result. In 1197 the tyrannic power of the foreign King in Italy spurred a revolt, especially in southern Sicily where the Arab were the majority of the pupulation, but his German soldiers suppressed it mercilessly. In the same year Henry felt himself ready for a Crusade, but, on September 28, he died of malaria in Messina. Henry was fluent in Latin, and, according to Alberic of Troisfontaines, was "distinguished by gifts of knowledge, wreathed in flowers of eloquence, and learned in canon and Roman law." He was a patron of prophets and poetry, and probably composed the song "Kaiser Heinrich" that is now among the Weingarten Song Manuscripts.

Sources

- Alberic of Troisfontaines, Chronicon
- David Abulafia, Frederick II

Parentage and children

Frederick II of Swabia	Judith of Bavaria	Renald III of Burgundy	Agatha of Lorraine
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor		Beatrix of Burgundy
Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Spouse(s)		Children
Constance of Sicily		Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor Category:Holy Roman emperors Category:German Kings Category:Kings of Burgundy ja:ハインリヒ6世

1165

Events

- November 23 - Pope Alexander III enters Rome.
- Emperor Rokujō ascends to the throne of Japan. He is one year old.
- William I becomes King of Scotland.
- Andronicus I escapes from prison.
- Henry II of England begins affair with Rosamund Clifford.
- Henry II of England invades Wales but is forced to retreat.
- Moslems take Caesarea Philippi from Crusaders.
- Leipzig gains city and market privileges.

Births

- August 21 - King Philip II of France (died 1223)
- Ibn Arabi, Syrian Sufi philosopher (died 1240)
- Henry I, Duke of Brabant (d. 1235)
- Albert of Buxhoeveden, German soldier (died 1229)
- Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1197)
- Joan of England, daughter of Henry II of England (died 1199)
- Phillipe de Plessis, Grand Master of the Knights Templar (died 1209)

Deaths

- September 5 - Emperor Nijō of Japan (born 1143)
- December 9 - King Malcolm IV of Scotland
- Stephen of Armenia, Marshal of Armenia
- Hibat Allah Abu'l-Barakat al-Baghdaadi, Arab philosopher and physicist (born 1080) Category:1165 ko:1165년 simple:1165

Nijmegen

Image:Ltspkr.png Nijmegen (obsolete spellings: Nijmwegen, Nymegen, Nieumeghen — known in German as Nimwegen, French as Nimègue, and Spanish as Nimega) is a municipality and a city in the east of the Netherlands, near the German border.

Population centres

The municipality is formed by the city of Nijmegen, incorporating the former villages of Hatert, Hees and Neerbosch, as well as the Waalsprong, that lies to the north of the river Waal, including the village of Lent and the new suburbs of Nijmegen-Oosterhout and Nijmegen-Ressen.

The city of Nijmegen

Nijmegen

image:Flag_Nijmegen.gif

image:Arms_Nijmegen.gif

International Four Days Marches Nijmegen

Nijmegen is famous for the International Four Days Marches Nijmegen also known as the "Vierdaagse", an annual event starting on the third Tuesday in July, comprising four days of walking (distances ranging from 30 to 50 km a day), and the accompanying festivities, which have been drawing the largest crowds for any Dutch event in the past few years. [http://www.4daagse.nl/frameset.asp?lan=eng]

Education

Nijmegen is host to a university, the Radboud University Nijmegen, which was founded in 1923 as the first catholic university in the Netherlands. The education and social work departments of the Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen school for higher level vocational training are also located in Nijmegen, as are that school's medical departments. In addition to these institutions, there is also an intermediate level vocational school ( ROC Nijmegen ) and a number of high schools (Groenschool Nijmegen, Kandinsky College, Nijmeegse Scholengemeenschap Groenewoud (NSG), Stedelijke Scholengemeenschap Nijmegen (SSGN), Canisius College, Lindenholt College, the Stedelijk Gymnasium and Dominicus College). Of note is also Leefwerkschool Eigenwijs , which caters to students from all over the Netherlands who have been repeatedly expelled from "regular" high schools. Leefwerkschool Eigenwijs has its roots in the local activist movement of the early 1980's and is the only school of its kind recognized in the Netherlands.

History

The first mention of Nijmegen in history is in the 0s BC, when the Romans built a military camp on the place where Nijmegen was to appear; the location had great strategic value because of the surrounding hills, which gave (and give) a good view over the Waal and Rhine valley. By 69, when the Batavians, the original inhabitants of the Rhine and Maas valley, revolted, a village called Oppidum Batavorum had formed near the Roman camp. This village was destroyed in the revolt, but when the revolt had ended, the Romans built another, bigger camp, where the Legio X Gemina was stationed. Soon after, another village formed around this camp. In 103, the X Gemina was removed to Vienna, which may have been a major blow to the economy of the village around its camp. In 104, Emperor Trajan renamed the town, which now became known as Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum. (The old theory that Nijmegen received market rights is incorrect.) Few Roman remains are visible today; a fragment of the old city wall can be seen near the casino, and the foundations of the amphitheatre are traced in the paving of the present-day Rembrandtstraat. However, the Valkhof Museum has a large collection of Roman artifacts that have been dug up over the ages. In the 4th century, Roman power decreased and Nijmegen became part of the Frankish kingdom. In the 8th century, Emperor Charlemagne built a castle in Nijmegen, which marked the start of an era of prosperity for Nijmegen. Thanks to the Waal river, trade flourished and in 1230, Nijmegen was given city rights by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor. In 1247, the city was ceded to the count of Guelders as safety for a loan. The loan was never repaid, and Nijmegen has been a part of Gelderland ever since. This did not hamper trade; Nijmegen even became part of the Hanseatic League in 1364. The arts also flourished in this period. Famous medieval painters the Limbourg brothers were born and educated in Nijmegen. During the Dutch Revolt, trade came to a halt and even though Nijmegen became a part of the Republic of United Provinces in 1585, it remained a border town and had to endure multiple sieges. In 1678 Nijmegen was host to the negotiations between the European powers that aimed to put an end to the constant warfare that had ravaged the continent for years. The result was the Treaty of Nijmegen that, unfortunately, failed to provide for a lasting peace. In the second half of the 19th century, the fortifications around the city became a major problem; there were too many inhabitants inside the walls, but the fortifications could not be demolished because Nijmegen was deemed as being of vital importance to the defence of the Netherlands. When, however, events in the Franco-Prussian war proved that old-fashioned fortifications were no more of use, this policy was changed and the fortifications were dismantled in 1874. The old castle had already been demolished in 1797, so that its bricks could be sold. 1797 1797 Through the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, Nijmegen grew steadily. The Waal was bridged in 1878 by a rail bridge and in 1936 by a car bridge, in 1923 the current Radboud University Nijmegen was founded and in 1927 a channel was dug between the Waal and Maas rivers. In 1940, the Netherlands were invaded by Germany with Nijmegen being the first Dutch city to fall into German hands. On 22 February, 1944, Nijmegen was heavily bombed by American planes, causing great damage to the city centre. Allegedly the pilots thought they were bombing the German city of Kleve, although it has also been claimed to have been a deliberate act. The NIOD announced in January 2005 that its study of the incident confirmed that it was an accident caused by poor communications and chaos in the airspace. Over 750 people died in the incident. During 1944, the city saw heavy fighting during Operation Market Garden. In recent history, one of the darkest pages was written in the early 80's. On February 23, 1981, the Nijmegen Police Department and the Dutch Army stormed the Piersonstraat and Zeigelhof, a squatted housing block, in Downtown Nijmegen. Using 200 Riotvans, 3 Leopard MBT Armoured Vehicles, 3 Armoured Personel Carriers, a helicopter, 1200 policemen, and 750 members of the Armed Forces, they evicted the squatters and demolished the block, while clouding the entire area in Teargas and CX Gas. This had an enormous backlash into local politics. While the city government wanted the squatters out to build a parking garage, most of the population wanted affordable housing to be built in the area. As to this date Nijmegen is still known as Havana on the Waal among Right-wingers. The Socialist Party, the Green Party and Labour have a solid two-third majority in City Council, making Nijmegen the only major city in The Netherlands with a Left-wing government. The current mayor is Mrs Dr Guusje Ter Horst. Nijmegen is celebrating its 2000 year existence in 2005. With its history going back to the 0's it is considered the oldest city in the Netherlands. This in contrast to Dordrecht, which was the first place in the Netherlands to get official city rights in 1220. On November 15th, the Van Welderenstraat in downtown Nijmegen was the site of the brutal assasination of political activist Louis Sévèke

Museums in and around Nijmegen

- [http://www.afrikamuseum.nl/ Africa Museum] (African art and culture)
- [http://www.bijbelsopenluchtmuseum.nl/ biblical open air museum] (ancient middle eastern buildings)
- [http://www.museumhetvalkhof.nl/ Valkhof museum] (roman history and modern art)
- [http://www.velorama.nl/ Velorama] (bicycle museum)

Famous people from Nijmegen

- Petrus Canisius, saint
- Vincentius von Aernsberghen, saint
- Eddie van Halen, rock musician
- Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor
- Limbourg brothers, medieval painters
- Frank Boeijen, popular singer
- Saadia Himi, Miss Netherlands Earth 2004

Miscellaneous information

- Nijmegen is twin town (Sister City) to the cities of Pskov in Russia and Masaya in Nicaragua.

External links

- [http://www.nijmegen.nl/ Official site]
- [http://www.noviomagus.nl/ Noviomagus.nl]
- [http://www.sdu.nl/staatscourant/gem/gem344g.htm Basic data from State Almanac]
- [http://www.cbs.nl/nl/publicaties/publicaties/nederland-regionaal/gom/2002/pdf/n/nijmegen.pdf Statistics in Dutch (pdf)] - with (towards the end) a map showing the neighborhoods and (a few pages further) the population figures etc. as well as the grouping into quarters
- [http://www.happytown.nl/Nijmegenfoto/nijmegen.htm Pictures]
- [http://www.monlog.nl/ring/ Nijmoring] - indexpage of a webring of weblogs from Nijmegen and an insight to life in this city (mostly written in Dutch) Category:Gelderland Category:Cities in the Netherlands Category:Roman legions camps Category:Municipalities of the Netherlands

1197

Events

- Amalric II succeeds Henry II of Champagne as king of Jerusalem.
- Theobald III becomes Count of Champagne.
- The town of Arbroath, Angus, Scotland is consecrated, and dedicated to St Thomas Becket.
- Kaloyan becomes tsar of Bulgaria.
- Corfu is occupied by the Genoese.
- Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, negotiates a peace with Wales.
- North Crawley is split into Great Crawley and Little Crawley.
- Philip of Swabia marries Irene Angela, daughter of Byzantine emperor Isaac II.

Births

- October 22 - Emperor Juntoku of Japan (died 1242)
- Amadeus IV of Savoy (died 1253)
- Raymond VII of Toulouse (died 1249)

Deaths

- September 10 - Henry II of Champagne (born 1166)
- September 28 - Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1165)
- Marguerite of France, daughter of Louis VII of France (born 1158)
- William Longchamp, Lord Chancellor of England and bishop
- Rhys ap Gruffydd, Welsh ruler (born 1132) Category:1197 ko:1197년

Holy Roman Emperor

The Holy Roman Emperor was, with some variation, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, the predecessor of modern Germany and Austria, during its existence from the 10th century until its collapse in 1806. The terminology of the title is somewhat confusing, the Holy Roman Empire having been famously described by Voltaire as "neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire". The title of "emperor" was considered to have passed from the Romans to the Frankish kingdom when, in AD 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne, king of the Franks, emperor in exchange for the protection of the church. After the division of the Frankish realm into three parts by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, the title first remained in the middle Lotharingian realm, but eventually passed to the east when Otto I the Great, king of the East Franks, was crowned emperor in 962. The transfer of the Empire was, in medieval theory, referred to as translatio imperii. Initially, the emperor called himself Imperator Augustus, referring to Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus. The title of "Holy Roman Emperor", as the name of the Holy Roman Empire itself, was only used in later centuries. Until 1508, the King of the Romans, who was elected by a group of princes later known as electors, became emperor when he was crowned by the pope in Rome, after which he remained king (a title with functions in feudal law). By contrast, the title of emperor had a more religious connotation, suggesting the task of protecting the church. The emperor was also ordained as a subdeacon which excluded non-Catholics and women from the throne. The exact relationship between the two functions was never entirely clear and led to much conflict between the German dukes and the pope, for example in the Investiture Controversy in the 11th century. The selection of the king was influenced by a complicated mélange of factors. Formally elected, as opposed to France, the title was only to a degree hereditary, although it frequently remained in a dynasty until there were no more successors. Some scholars suggest that the task of the electors was really to solve succession conflicts, when the dynastic rule was unclear. Still, the process required the most probable candidate to make concessions to the voters, the so-called Wahlkapitulationen (election capitulations), which contributed to the decline of central power in favor of the territories in the Empire. The collegiate of electors was fixed to seven in the Golden Bull in 1356 until 1623, when, during the Thirty Years' War, more electors were added. After 1438, the kingdom remained in the house of Habsburg, with the brief exception of the Wittelsbach Charles VII. In 1508 and permanently after 1556 the king assumed the title of Emperor-elect without travelling to Rome to be crowned by the Pope. Nonetheless, the king was commonly referred to as Emperor. The office of Holy Roman Emperor was abolished with the empire in 1806. Its last occupant, Francis II, had assumed the style Franz I, Emperor of Austria in 1804.

Frederick Barbarossa

Frederick I (German: Friedrich I. von Hohenstaufen)(1122 – June 10 1190), also known as Friedrich Barbarossa ("Frederick Redbeard") was elected king of Germany on March 4, 1152 and crowned Holy Roman Emperor on June 18 1155. He was also Duke of Swabia (1147-1152, as Frederick III) and King of Italy (1154-1186). As son of Duke Frederick II of Swabia (German Schwaben) and Judith of Bavaria, from the rival House of Guelph (or Welf), Frederick descended from Germany's two leading principal families, making him an acceptable choice for the Empire's princely electors as heir to royal crown.

Life and reign

In 1147 Frederick became duke of Swabia and shortly afterwards made his first trip to the East, accompanying his uncle, the German king Conrad III, on the Second Crusade. The expedition proved to be a disaster, but Frederick distinguished himself and won the complete confidence of the king. When Conrad died in February 1152, only Frederick and the prince-bishop of Bamberg were at his deathbed. Both asserted afterwards that Conrad had, in full possession of his mental powers, handed the royal insignia to Frederick and indicated that he, rather than his own six-year-old son, the future Frederick IV, Duke of Swabia, should succeed him as king. The kingdom's princely electors were persuaded by this account and by Barbarossa's energetic pursuit of the crown and he was chosen as the next German king at Frankfurt on the 4th of March and crowned at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) several days later. The new king was anxious to restore the Empire to the position it had occupied under Charlemagne and Otto I the Great, and saw clearly that the restoration of order in Germany was a necessary preliminary to the enforcement of the imperial rights in Italy. Issuing a general order for peace, he was prodigal in his concessions to the nobles. Abroad, Frederick intervened in the Danish civil war between Svend III and Valdemar I of Denmark, and negotiations were begun with the East Roman emperor, Manuel I Comnenus. It was probably about this time that the king obtained a papal assent for the annulment of his childless marriage with Adela (Adelheid) of Vohburg (through whom he had gained ownership of much of Alsace), on the somewhat far-fetched grounds of consanguinity (his great-great-grandfather was a brother of Adela's great-great-great-grandmother), and made a vain effort to obtain a bride from the court of Constantinople. On his accession Frederick had communicated the news of his election to Pope Eugenius III, but had neglected to ask for the papal confirmation. Eager to make amends with the Papacy, Frederick concluded a treaty with Rome in March 1153, by which he promised in return for his coronation to defend the papacy and make no peace with king Roger II of Sicily, or other enemies of the Church, without the consent of Eugenius. He undertook six expeditions into Italy, in the first of which he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Rome by Pope Adrian IV, following the suppression by Imperial forces of the republican city commune led by Arnold of Brescia. He left Italy in the autumn of 1155 to prepare for a new and more formidable campaign. Disorder was again rampant in Germany, especially in Bavaria, but general peace was restored by Frederick's vigorous measures. The duchy of Bavaria was transferred from Henry II Jasomirgott, margrave of Austria, who became duke of Austria in compensation, to Frederick's formidable younger cousin Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, of the House of Guelph, whose father had already held both duchies. On June 9 1156 at Würzburg, Frederick married Beatrice of Burgundy, daughter and heiress of Renaud III, becoming King of Burgundy and adding the sizeable realm of the County of Burgundy, then stretching from Besançon (Bisanz) to the Mediterranean, to his possessions. His uncle, Otto of Freising, wrote an account of Frederick's reign entitled Gesta Friderici I imperatoris (Deeds of the Emperor Frederick). Otto died after finishing the first two books leaving the last two to Rahewin, his provost. Rahewin's description "[Frederick's] character is such that not even those envious of his power can belittle its praise. His person is well-porportioned. He is shorter than very tall men, but taller and more noble than men of medium height. His hair is golden, curling a little above his forehead... His eyes are sharp and piercing, his beard reddish, his lips delicate ... His whole face is bright and cheerful. His teeth are even and snow-white in color... Modesty rather than anger causes him to blush frequently. His shoulders are rather broad, and he is strongly built." is a description of Theodoric II of the Visigoths (453-66) and is from the text Epistles by Apollinaris Sidonius In June 1158, Frederick set out upon his second Italian expedition, accompanied by Henry the Lion and his fearsome Saxons, which resulted in the establishment of imperial officers in the cities of northern Italy, the revolt and capture of Milan, and the beginning of the long struggle with Pope Alexander III, which resulted in the excommunication of the emperor in 1160. In response, Frederick declared his support for Antipope Victor IV. Returning to Germany towards the close of 1162, Frederick prevented the escalation of conflicts between Henry the Lion of Saxony and a number of his neighbouring princes who were growing weary of Henry's power, influence and territorial gains. He also severely punished the citizens of Mainz for their rebellion against Archbishop Arnold. The next visit to Italy in 1163 saw his plans for the conquest of Sicily ruined by the formation of a powerful league against him, brought together mainly by the taxes collected by the imperial officers. Frederick then organized the magnificent celebration of the canonization of Charlemagne at Aachen, while restoring the peace in the Rhineland. In October 1166, he went once more on journey to Italy to secure the claim of his Antipope Pascal, and the coronation of his wife Beatrice as Holy Roman Empress. This time, Henry the Lion refused to join Frederick on his Italian trip, tending instead to his own disputes with neighbors and his continuing expansion into Slavic territories in northeastern Germany. Frederick's campaign was stopped by the sudden outbreak of the plague which threatened to destroy the Imperial army and drove the emperor as a fugitive to Germany, where he remained for the ensuing six years. Conflicting claims to various bishoprics were decided and imperial authority was asserted over Bohemia, Poland, and Hungary. Friendly relations were entered into with the East Roman emperor Manuel, and attempts were made to come to a better understanding with Henry II of England and Louis VII of France. In 1174, Frederick made his fifth expedition to Italy and, in response, the pro-papal Lombard League was formed to stand against him. With the refusal of Henry the Lion to bring help to Italy, the campaign was a complete failure. Frederick suffered a heavy defeat at the battle of Legnano near Milan, on May 29 1176, where he was wounded and for some time believed to be dead. He had no choice other than begin negotiations for peace with Alexander III and the Lombard League. In the Peace of Venice, 1177, Frederick and Alexander III reconciled. The Emperor acknowledged the Pope's sovereignty over the Papal States, and in return Alexander acknowledged the Emperor's overlordship of the Imperial Church. The Lombard cities, however, continued to fight until 1183, when, in the Peace of Constance, Frederick conceded their right to freely elect town magistrates. Frederick did not forgive Henry the Lion for his refusal to come to his aid in 1174. Taking advantage of the hostility of other German princes to Henry, who had successfully established a powerful and contiguous state comprising Saxony, Bavaria and substantial territories in the north and east of Germany, Frederick had Henry tried in absentia by a court of bishops and princes in 1180, declared that Imperial law overruled traditional German law, and had Henry stripped of his lands and declared an outlaw. He then invaded Saxony with an Imperial army to bring his cousin to his knees. Henry's allies deserted him, and he finally had to submit in November 1181. He spent three years in exile at the court of his father-in-law Henry II of England in Normandy, before being allowed back into Germany, where he finished his days as much-diminished Duke of Brunswick, peacefully sponsoring arts and architecture, and died on 6 August 1195. After making his peace with the Pope, Frederick embarked on the Third Crusade (1189), a grand expedition in conjunction with the French army, led by king Philip Augustus together with the English, under Richard Lionheart. He organized a grand army and set out on the overland route to the Holy Land, through Hungary and Romania, and arrived at Constantinople in the autumn of 1189. From there they pushed on through Anatolia (where they were victorious in two battles) into Armenia, and approached Syria. The approach of the immense German army greatly concerned Saladin and the other Muslim leaders, who began to rally troops of their own and prepare to confront Barbarossa's forces. However, on June 10, 1190, while crossing the Saleph River in Cilicia, south-eastern Anatolia, Frederick was thrown from his horse and the shock of the cold water caused him to have a heart attack. Weighed down by his armour, he drowned in water that was barely hip-deep, according to the chronicler Ibn al-Athir. A more mythological view of Frederick's death is based on the claim that he was an owner of the legendary Spear of Destiny. According to myth, whoever possesses the spear is unstoppable, but if the owner loses the spear, he will soon lose his life also. Frederick died while crossing a stream, and at that moment, some accounts say that the spear had fallen from his hands. Frederick's death plunged his army into chaos. Leaderless, panicked, and attacked on all sides by Turks, many Germans were killed or deserted. Only 5,000 soldiers, a tiny fraction of the original forces, actually arrived in Acre. Barbarossa's son, Frederick VI of Swabia carried on with the remnants of the army, with the aim of burying the Emperor in Jerusalem, but efforts to conserve his body in vinegar failed. Hence, his flesh was interred in the Church of St. Peter in Antiochia, his bones in the cathedral of Tyre, and his heart and inner organs in Tarsus. Frederick's untimely death left the Crusader army under the command of the rivals Philip of France and Richard of England, who had traveled to Palestine separately by sea, and ultimately led to its dissolution. Richard Lionheart continued to the East where he fought Saladin with mixed results, but ended without accomplishing his main goal, the capture of Jerusalem. Saladin Frederick is the subject of many legends, including that of a sleeping hero, derived from the much older British Celtic legend of Bran the Blessed. He is said not to be dead, but asleep with his knights in a cave in Kyffhäuser mountain in Thuringia, Germany, and that when ravens should cease to fly around the mountain he would awake and restore Germany to its ancient greatness. According to the story his red beard has grown through the table at which he sits. His eyes are half closed in sleep, but now and then he raises his hand and sends a boy out to see if the ravens have stopped flying. The German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 was codenamed Operation Barbarossa.

Frederick's descendents by his wife Beatrice

# Frederick V, Duke of Swabia (1164 - 1170) # Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (November 1165-1197) # Frederick VI, Duke of Swabia (1167-1191) # Otto II, Count of Burgundy (1170-killed 1200) # Conrad II, Duke of Swabia and Rothenburg (1173-killed 1196) # Philip of Swabia (1177-killed, 1208) King of Germany in 1198 # Beatrice of Hohenstaufen (1162-1174). She was betrothed to William II of Sicily but died before they could be married. # Agnes of Hohenstaufen (died October 1184). She was betrothed to Emeric of Hungary but died before they could be married.

Sources

- Otto of Freising. The Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa, English translation pub. 2004
- Ibn al-Athir
- Romuald of Salerno. Rerum Italicarum scriptores.
- Otto of St Blasien.
- Haverkamp, Alfred. Friedrich Barbarossa, 1992
- Opll, Ferdinand. Friedrich Barbarossa, 1998
- Reston, James. Warriors of God, 2001 See also: Dukes of Swabia family tree

Fiction about Frederick I

- Umberto Eco (trans William Weaver), "Baudolino", Harcourt 2002, ISBN 0151006903 (hardcover) - a novel set in the time and partly at the court of Frederick I.
- The computer game Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings has a campaign where you play as Fredrick Barbarossa from the time period of his struggles in Germany till his death on the way to the Third Crusade.

External links

- [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06252b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Frederick I]
- [http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761561996/Frederick_I_(Holy_Roman_Empire).html MSN Encarta - Frederick I (Holy Roman Empire)]
- [http://www.authorama.com/famous-men-of-the-middle-ages-22.html Famous Men of the Middle Ages - Frederick Barbarossa]
- [http://www.ordotempli.org/the_death_of_frederick_barbarossa_1190.htm The Death of Frederick Barbarossa 1190]
- [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/catalog/data/023113/0231134185.HTM The Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa - Otto of Freising]
- [http://www.ordotempli.org/crusade_of_frederick_barbarossa.htm Crusade of Frederick Barbarossa] Category:1122 births Category:1190 deaths Category:Holy Roman emperors Category:German Kings Category:Kings of Burgundy Category:Dukes of Swabia Category:Hohenstaufen Dynasty Category:Crusades [http://www.imperialcollegeofprincesandcounts.com] Imperial College of Princes and Counts ja:フリードリヒ1世 (神聖ローマ皇帝)

King of the Romans

The title King of the Romans (Latin: Rex Romanorum) — not to be confused with the early, partially mythical Kings of Rome — was carried by Holy Roman Emperors after they had been confirmed as Emperor, but before they had undergone the ceremony of coronation by the Pope. The title harks back to the Germanic kings of Italy between 476 and 799 when there was no Western Emperor. King of the Romans was also the name the Franks gave to Syagrius, a Roman general who ruled Northern Gaul in the late 5th century. The title had this function beginning late in the Salian period, but had already been used as early as Ottonian times onwards, especially by Emperor Henry II, when it began to supersede King of the Germans (Lat.: rex Teutonicorum), implying an imperial role that was, at that time, rejected by the papacy. It was also the title of an heir-designate who was elected within the lifetime of the Emperor. After coronation as Holy Roman Emperor (and sometimes even before that), the title was augmented with the imperial semper Augustus (ever augustus; "ever majestic" or "ever greater", Augustus deriving from the Latin verb augere, "to grow"). This connotation of "growth" implied an obligation to oppose the loss of royal prerogatives (as in Italy) or the loss of territory (as on the western border with France).

Trivia

"Hablando del rey de Roma" (literally "speaking of the king of Rome") is a colloquial expression in Spanish equivalent to the English-language saying "Speak of the devil", referring to someone who has entered a room or conversation in which said person was already the topic.

References

This article uses material translated from the corresponding article in the German-language wikipedia, which, in turn, cites a source that contains further references:
- H. Beumann: Rex Romanorum, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters (Dictionary of the Middle Ages, 9 vols., Munich-Zurich 1980-98), vol. 7, col. 777 f.
-

Bamberg

Bamberg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main.

Geography

Bamberg lies on an open plain on the Regnitz, 3 km above its junction with the Main River, and 63 km north of Nuremberg by railway. Like Rome, Bamberg was built on seven hills, each crowned by a church.

Population

Bamberg is home to nearly 7,000 foreign nationals, including over 4,100 members of the United States Army and their dependents.

History

United States Army During the post-Roman centuries of Germanic migration and settlement, the region afterwards included in the Diocese of Bamberg was inhabited for the most part by Slavs. The town, first mentioned in 902, grew up by the castle (Babenberch) which gave its name to the Babenberg family. On their extinction it passed to the Saxon house. The area was Christianized chiefly by the monks of the Benedictine Abbey of Fulda, and the land was under the spiritual authority of the Diocese of Würzburg. In 1007, Holy Roman Emperor Henry II made Bamberg, a family inheritance, the seat of a separate diocese. The emperor's purpose in this was to make the Diocese of Würzburg less unwieldy in size and to give Christianity a firmer footing in the districts of Franconia, east of Bamberg. In 1008, after long negotiations with the Bishops of Würzburg and Eichstätt, who were to cede portions of their dioceses, the boundaries of the new diocese were defined, and Pope John XVIII granted the papal confirmation in the same year. The new cathedral was consecrated May 6, 1012, and in 1017 Henry II founded on Mount St. Michael, near Bamberg, a Benedictine abbey for the training of the clergy. The emperor and his wife Cunigunde gave large temporal possessions to the new diocese, and it received many privileges out of which grew the secular power of the bishop (cf. Weber in Historisches Jahrbuch der Gorresgesellschaft for 1899, 326-345 and 617-639). Pope Benedict VIII during his visit to Bamberg (1020) placed the diocese in direct dependence on the Holy See. For a short time Bamberg was the centre of the Holy Roman Empire. Henry and his wife Cunigunde were both buried in the cathedral. From the middle of the 13th century onward the bishops were princes of the Empire and ruled Bamberg, forcing the construction of monumental buildings. In 1248 and 1260 the see obtained large portions of the estates of the Counts of Meran, partly through purchase and partly through the appropriation of extinguished fiefs. The old Bishopric of Bamberg was composed of an unbroken territory extending from Schlusselfeld in a northeasterly direction to the Franconian Forest, and possessed in addition estates in the Duchies of Carinthia and Salzburg, in the Nordgau (the present Upper Palatinate), in Thuringia, and on the Danube. By the changes resulting from the Reformation the territory of this see was reduced nearly one half in extent. The witch trials of the 17th century claimed hundreds of victims in Bamberg and reached a climax between 1626 and 1631 under the rule of Prince-Bishop Johann Georg II. Fuchs von Dornheim. The famous Drudenhaus (witch prison), built in 1627, is no longer standing today, however, detailed accounts of some cases, like that of Johannes Junius, remain. In 1647, the University of Bamberg was founded as "Academia Bambergensis". In 1759 the possessions and jurisdictions of the diocese situated in Austria were sold to that State. When the secularization of church lands took place (1802) the diocese covered 1276 square miles (3 305 km²) and had a population of 207,000. Bamberg thus lost its independence in 1802, and in 1803, it became a part of Bavaria. Bamberg was first connected to the rail system in 1844, which has been an important part of its infrastructure ever since. After World War I, when a communist uprising took control over Bavaria, the government fled to Bamberg and had to stay for almost two years, before the Bavarian capital Munich was recaptured by Freikorps (see Weimar Republic). In 1973, the town celebrated the 1000th anniversary of its founding.

Historical population

- 1818: ca. 17,000
- 1885: 31,521
- 1905: 45,308

Settlers from Bamberg

Bambrzy (ger. Posen Bambergers) – Poles of German origin, descendants of settlers from area near Bamberg, that were settled in villages around Poznań in the years 1719 –1753.

Sights

1753 The Old Town of Bamberg is included in the UNESCO World Heritage, since it has retained its medieval look and was one of the few German cities that sustained virtually no damage during WWII. Some of the main sights are:
- Cathedral (1237), with the tombs of emperor Henry II and Pope Clement II
- Alte Hofhaltung, residence of the bishops in the 16th and centuries
- Neue Residenz, residence of the bishops after the 17th century
- Old Town Hall (1386), built in the middle of the Regnitz River, accessible by two bridges
- Klein-Venedig ("Little Venice"), a colony of picturesque fishermen's houses from the 19th century along one side of the river Regnitz.

Cathedral

The cathedral is a late Romanesque building with four imposing towers. It was founded in 1004 by the emperor Henry II, finished in 1012 and consecrated on May 6, 1012. It was later partially destroyed by fire in 1081. The new cathedral, built by St. Otto of Bamberg, was consecrated in 1111, and in the 13th century received its present late-Romanesque form. The cathedral is about 94 m long, 28 m broad, 26 m high, and the four towers are each about 81 m high. Of its many works of art may be mentioned the magnificent marble tomb of the founder and his wife, the empress Cunigunde, considered the masterpiece of the sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider, and carved between 1499 and 1513. Another treasure of the cathedral is an equestrian statue known as the Bamberger Reiter (Bamberger Rider). This statue, possibly belonging to the emperor Conrad III, most likely dates to approximately 1200.

Neue Residenz

The Neue Residenz (New Palace) (1698-1704) was initially occupied by the prince-bishops, and from 1864 to 1867 by the deposed King Otto of Greece.

Other sights

Other noteworthy churches are the Jakobskirche, an 11th-century Romanesque basilica; the St Martinskirche; the Marienkirche or Obere Pfarrkirche (1320-1387), which has now been restored to its original pure Gothic style. The Michaelskirche, 12th-century Romanesque (restored), on the Michaelsberg, was formerly the church of a Benedictine monastery secularized in 1803, which now contains the Burgerspital, or almshouse, and the museum and municipal art collections. Of the bridges connecting the sections of the lower town the most interesting is the Obere Brücke, completed in 1455. Halfway across this, on an artificial island, is the Rathaus or City Hall (rebuilt 1744-1756). The royal lyceum, formerly a Jesuit college, contains notable collections and the royal library of over 300,000 volumes. The picturesque Old Palace (Alte Residenz) was built in 1591 on the site of an old residence of the counts of Babenberg. Noteworthy among the monuments of the town is the Maximilian fountain (1880), with statues of Maximilian I of Bavaria, the emperor Henry II and his wife, Conrad III and St Otto, bishop of Bamberg. At a short distance from the town is the Altenburg (386 m), a castle occupied from 1251 onwards by the bishops of Bamberg. It was destroyed in 1553 by Albert, margrave of Brandenburg, but has been partly restored.

Beer

Albert, margrave of Brandenburg Bamberg is also known for smoked beer (or Rauchbier in German). The most famous being Schlenkerla "Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier" from the Heller brewery and which can be enjoyed fresh at the Schlenkerla tavern on the Dominikaner Strasse in the old town. Bamberg is currently (2005) home to 9 breweries (Brauerei Fässla, Brauerei Greifenklau, Brauerei Heller-Trum ("Schlenkerla"), Brauerei Kaiserdom, Keesmann Bräu, Klosterbräu, Mahrs Bräu, Maisel Bräu and Brauerei Spezial) and one microbrewery (Ambräusianum) which is unprecedented in a city of only 70,000 people.

Education

The University of Bamberg, named Otto-Friedrich University, offers higher education in the areas of social science, business studies and the humanities, and is attended by more than 8,000 students. Bamberg is also home to eight secondary schools called Gymnasien and numerous other institutes for primary, secondary, technical, vocational and adult education.

Born in Bamberg

- Conrad III of Germany (
- 1093), king of Germany
- Hans Pleydenwurff (
- 1420), German painter
- Johann Lukas Schönlein (
- 1793), German physician
- Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger (
- 1799), German theologian
- Theodor Boveri (
- 1862), German biologist
- August von Wassermann (
- 1866), German bacteriologist
- Hans Ehard (
- 1887), German politician
- Karlheinz Deschner (
- 1924), German author
- Günter Faltin (
- 1940), German economist
- Thomas Gottschalk (
- 1950), German TV host
- Bernd Feustel (
- 1954), German professional chess player
- Amber Michaels (
- 1968), German porn actress

Famous Denizens

- Pope Clement II (
- 1005), bishop of Bamberg from 1040 to 1046
- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (
- 1770), German philosopher
- E.T.A. Hoffmann (
- 1776), German author and composer
- Willy Messerschmitt (
- 1898), German aircraft designer
- Paul Maar (
- 1937), German writer and illustrator

External links

- [http://www.bamberg.de Official Website] (German, English)
- [http://www.bamberg.info Bamberg info for visitors] (English, German, French, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish)
- [http://www.schlenkerla.de Schlenkerla brewery Website] (German, English)
- [http://www.BambergBeerGuide.com Bamberg Beer Guide] (English)
- [http://www.bamberg.army.mil/sites/local US Army Garrison Bamberg] (English)
- [http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=624&l=en Description on the UNESCO World Heritage Website] Bamberg and Bamberger is also an Ashkenazi Jewish surname, including: ::Ludwig Bamberger ::Ármin Vámbéry ::Israel of Bamberg, Tosafist ::Felix Bamberg, publicist ::Samuel Bamberg

References

-
- - See article at [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02242c.htm Bamberg]
- [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=188&letter=B JewishEncyclopedia] Category:Cities in Germany Category:Towns in Bavaria Category:World Heritage Sites in Germany ja:バンベルク

1169

Events

- Nur ad-Din invades Egypt, and his nephew Saladin becomes the sultan over the territory conquered by Nur ad-Din.
- Prince Andrey Bogolyubskiy sacks the Kievan Rus' capital Kiev.
- Start of the conquest of Ireland. Richard fitzGilbert de Clare ('Strongbow') makes an alliance with the exiled Irish chief, Dermot MacMurrough, to help him recover his kingdom of Leinster.
- Eleanor of Aquitaine leaves the English court of Henry II to establish her great court in Poitiers where the Courts of Love flourished.

Births

- September 10 - Alexius II Comnenus, Byzantine Emperor (d. 1183)

Deaths

- January 2 - Bertrand de Blanchefort, sixth Grand Master of the Knights Templar
- Guido of Ravenna, Italian cartographer, entomologist and historian Category:1169 ko:1169년

1190

Events

- March 16 - Massacre and mass-suicide of the Jews of York, England prompted by Crusaders and Richard Malebys kill 150-500 Jews in Clifford's Tower
- June 10 - Third Crusade: Frederick I Barbarossa drowned in the Saleph River while leading an army to Jerusalem.
- October 4 - Richard I of England threatens war against Tancred of Sicily, and captures Messina
- "On the Harmony of Religions and Philosophy" (ar. Kitab fasl al-maqal) first published.
- Coronation of Richard I of England (the Lion-Hearted)
- Anti-Jewish riots in England.
- In Myanmar, Anawrahta's lineage regains control with the assistance of Sri Lanka. Pagan has been in anarchy. The new regime reforms Burmese Buddhism on Sri Lankan Theravada models.
- Henry I becomes Duke of Brabant.
- Richard I of England and Philip II of France meet at Vézelay, beginning the Third Crusade.
- Stevan Nemanja founds the Studenica monastery in Serbia.
- The feudal era of Japan begins.
- Cartmel Priory founded

Births

- Vincent of Beauvais, Dominican friar and encyclopedist (died 1264)
- Peter I, Duke of Brittany (died 1251)
- William III of Sicily (died 1198)
- William of Sherwood, English logician (died 1249)

Deaths

- June 10 - Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, (drowned) (born 1122)
- William Fitzstephen, servant of Thomas a Becket
- Ranulf de Glanvill, chief justiciar of England
- Isabelle of Hainaut, queen of Philip II of France (born 1170)
- Sibylla of Jerusalem, Queen of Jerusalem (born c. 1160)
- Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester Category:1190 ko:1190년 simple:1190

Henry the Lion

Henry the Lion (1129 – August 6 1195; in German, Heinrich der Löwe) was a member of the Welf dynasty and Duke of Saxony as Henry III since 1142, and Duke of Bavaria as Henry XII since 1156. He held both duchies until 1180 and was the most powerful of the German princes of his time, until the rival Hohenstaufen dynasty succeeded in isolating him and eventually deprived him of his duchies of Bavaria and Saxony during the reign of his cousin Frederick I and of Frederick's son and successor Henry VI. At the height of his reign, Henry ruled over a vast territory stretching from the coasts of the North and Baltic Seas to the Alps, and from Westphalia to Pomerania. Henry achieved this great power in part by his political and military acumen, in part through the legacies of his four grandparents. He was the son of Henry the Proud, duke of Bavaria and Saxony, who was the son of Duke Welf IV and an heiress of the Billungs, former dukes of Saxony. Henry's mother was Gertrud, only daughter of Emperor Lothair II and his wife Richenza of Nordheim, heiress to the Saxon territories of Nordheim and the properties of the Brunones, counts of Brunswick. Henry's father died in 1139, aged 32, when Henry was still a child. King Conrad III had dispossessed Henry the Proud, who had been his rival for the crown in 1138, of his duchies in 1138 and 1139, handing Saxony to Albert the Bear and Bavaria to Leopold of Austria. Henry, however, did not relinquish his claims to his inheritance, and Conrad returned Saxony to him in 1142. In 1156 Henry also reacquired Bavaria by a decision of the new Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Henry is the founder of Munich (1157/58; München) and Lübeck (1159); he also founded and developed the cities of Stade, Lüneburg and Brunswick. In Brunswick, his capital, he had a bronze lion, his heraldic animal, erected in the yard of his castle Dankwarderode in 1166 — the first bronze statue north of the Alps. Later, he had Brunswick Cathedral built close to the statue. In 1147 Henry married Clementia of Zähringen, thereby gaining her hereditary territories in Swabia. He divorced her in 1162, apparently under pressure from Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who did not cherish Welfish possessions in his home area and offered Henry several fortresses in Saxony in exchange. In 1168 Henry married Matilda (1156 -1189), the daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and sister of Richard Lionheart. Henry long and faithfully supported his older cousin, Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) in the latter's attempts to solidify his hold on the Imperial Crown and his repeated wars with the cities of Lombardy and the Popes, several times turning the tide of battle in Frederick's favor with his fierce Saxon knights. But in 1174, Henry refused to aid Frederick in a renewed invasion of Lombardy, because he was preoccupied with securing his own borders in the East and did not consider these Italian adventures worth the effort, even when Frederick offered him the rich Imperial City of Goslar in southern Saxony as a reward, a prize Henry had long coveted. Barbarossa's expedition into Lombardy ended in utter failure, and he bitterly resented Henry for failing to support him. Taking advantage of the hostility of other German princes to Henry, who had successfully established a powerful and contiguous state comprising Saxony, Bavaria and substantial territories in the north and east of Germany, Frederick had Henry tried in absentia for insubordination by a court of bishops and princes in 1180. Declaring that Imperial law overruled traditional German law, the court had Henry stripped of his lands and declared an outlaw. Frederick then invaded Saxony with an Imperial army to bring his cousin to his knees. Henry's allies deserted him, and he finally had to submit in November 1181 at a Reichstag in Erfurt. He was exiled from Germany in 1182 for three years, stayed with his father-in-law, Henry II of England, in Normandy before being allowed back into Germany in 1185. He was exiled again in 1188, and his wife Matilda died in 1189. When Frederick Barbarossa went on the Crusade of 1189, Henry returned to Saxony where he mobilized an army of his faithful and conquered and ravaged the rich city of Bardowick as punishment for her disloyalty. Only the churches were left standing. Barbarossa's son, Emperor Henry VI, again defeated the Duke, but in 1194, with his end approaching, he made his peace with the Emperor, and returned to his much diminished lands around Brunswick, where he finished his days as duke of Brunswick, peacefully sponsoring arts and architecture, and died on 6 August 1195. The picture at the top right, taken from his tomb in Brunswick Cathedral constructed between 1230 and 1240, shows an idealized image. When the Nazis exhumed his corpse, they were disappointed to find a comparatively small man with black hair. This, presumably, was an inheritance from the northern Italian ancestors of the Welfs, the counts of Este. Henry had, among others, the following children:
- by his first wife, Clementia
- Gertrude of Bavaria (1155-1197), married first Frederick IV, Duke of Swabia and then King Canute VI of Denmark
- by his second wife, Matilda
- Henry I, Count Palatine of the Rhine (1173-1227)
- Lothar of Bavaria (1174-1190)
- Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor and Duke of Swabia (1175-1218)
- William of Winchester (1184-1213)

References

- Benjamin Arnold, "Henry the Lion and His Time", Journal of Medieval History, vol. 22, pp. 379-393 (1996)
- Karl Jordan, Henry the Lion. A Biography, ISBN 0198219695

External links

- [http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/H/HenryL1io.asp Henry the Lion on Encyclopedia.com]
- [http://www.bartleby.com/65/he/HenryLio.html Henry the Lion. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition]
- [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-58109 The fall of Henry the Lion (from Germany) -- Encyclopædia Britannica]
- [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-2455 Deposition of Henry the Lion. (from Frederick I) -- Encyclopædia Britannica]
- [http://encarta.msn.com/media_461561791_761578474_1_1/Henry_the_Lion.html MSN Encarta - Multimedia - Henry the Lion] Category:1129 births Category:1195 deaths Henry 12 Henry III Category:House of Welf Category:House of Anjou

Bavaria

Culture

Bavaria has a culture very distinct from the rest of Germany. Noteworthy differences (especially in rural areas, less significant in the major cities) can be found with respect to: Religion: Bavarians are typically very conservative Catholics, contrasting markedly with the more casual attitude to religion in much of the rest of Germany. The current pope, Benedict XVI, is from Bavaria Appearance: Bavarians give great attention to their personal appearance, while much of the rest of Germany dresses very casually. Also in business context, wearing traditional-style clothing is not unusual at least in the south of the Free State. Bavarian cities and towns, whether rich or poor, are among the best looked after locations in Germany. Food and Drink: As in the case of dress, Bavarians resemble the latin countries more closely than the rest of Germany with respect to the high priority they give to good food and drink. Bavarians also consume many items of food and drink which are unusual elsewhere in Germany. Politics: The Christian Social Union, which has ruled in Bavaria uninteruptedly since 1957, doesn't seek election in any other state of Germany. The CSU, arguably the most inward looking of the major German political parties, combines socially conservative positions with advocacy for extensive involvement of the state in the economy.

Geography

Bavaria shares international borders with Austria and the Czech Republic. Neighbouring states within Germany are Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Thuringia and Saxony. Two major rivers flow through the state, the Danube (Donau) and the Main. The major cities in Bavaria are Munich (München), Nuremberg (Nürnberg), Augsburg, Regensburg, Würzburg, Ingolstadt, Fürth and Erlangen. See also: List of places in Bavaria.

Politics

Bavaria has a unicameral Landtag, or state parliament, elected by universal suffrage. Until December 1999, there was also a Senat, or Senate, whose members were chosen by social and economic groups in Bavaria, but following a referendum in 1998, this institution was abolished. The head of government is the Minister-president. Bavaria has long been a bastion of conservative politics in Germany, with the Christian Social Union having almost a stranglehold on power since its inception in 1946. Every Minister-president since 1957 has been a member of this party. In the 2003 elections the CSU won more than two thirds of the seats in Landtag. No party in post-war German history had achieved this before (not counting the rigged wins of the SED in East Germany).

Administrative Divisions

Regierungsbezirke (administrative regions)

Bavaria is divided into 7 administrative regions called Regierungsbezirke (singular Regierungsbezirk). Image:Bavarian_Admin_Districts.jpg # Oberfranken (Upper Franconia) # Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia) # Unterfranken (Lower Franconia) # Schwaben (Swabia) # Oberpfalz (Upper Palatinate) # Oberbayern (Upper Bavaria) # Niederbayern (Lower Bavaria) These administrative regions consist of 71 administrative districts (called Landkreise, singular Landkreis) and 25 independent cities (kreisfreie Städte, singular kreisfreie Stadt).

Landkreise/kreisfreie Städte (administrative districs/independent cities)

Map of Bavaria Administrative districts: Independent cities:

Gemeinden (municipalities)

The 71 administrative districts are on the lowest level divided into 2031 municipalities (called Gemeinden, singular Gemeinde). Together with the 25 independent cities (which are in effect municipalities independent of Landkreis administrations), there are a total of 2056 municipalities in Bavaria. In 44 of the 71 administrative districts, there are a total of 215 unincorporated areas (as of January 1, 2005, called gemeindefreie Gebiete, singular gemeindefreies Gebiet), not belonging to any municipality, all uninhabited, mostly forested areas, but also four lakes (Chiemsee -without islands, Starnberger See -without island Roseninsel, Ammersee, which are the three largest lakes of Bavaria, and Waginger See).

Dialects

Waginger See]] Several German dialects are spoken in Bavaria. In the administrative regions to the north the Franconian dialect is prevalent, in Swabia the local dialect is Swabian, a thread of the Alemannic dialect family. In the Upper Palatinate people speak the Northern Bavarian dialect that can vary regionally. In Upper and Lower Bavaria (Middle) Austro-Bavarian is the predominant dialect.

History

Main article: History of Bavaria The first known mention of the Bavarian name was made by the Franks ca. 520. Saint Boniface completed the people's conversion to Christianity in the early 8th century. Bavaria resisted the Protestant Reformation, and remains strongly Roman Catholic. From about 550 to 788, the house of Agilolfing ruled the duchy of Bavaria, ending with Tassilo III who was deposed by Charlemagne. For the next 400 years numerous families held the duchy, rarely for more than three generations. The last, and one of the most important, of these dukes was Henry the Lion of the house of Welf, founder of Munich. When Henry the Lion was deposed as duke of Saxony and Bavaria by his cousin, Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1180, Bavaria was awarded as fief to the Wittelsbach family, which ruled from 1180 to 1918. The first of several divisions of the duchy occurred in 1255 but in 1506 Bavaria was reunited and Munich became the sole capital. In 1623 the dukes acquired the electoral dignity. Bavaria became a kingdom in 1806, and in 1815 the Rhenish Palatinate was annexed to it. It managed to preserve its independence by playing off the rivalries of Prussia and Austria, but defeat in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War led to its incorporation into the German Empire. In the early 20th century Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Henrik Ibsen, and other notable artists were drawn to Bavaria, notably to the Schwabing district of Munich, but the region was devastated by World War I. World War I] Socialist premier Kurt Eisner, who deposed King Ludwig III, was assassinated in 1919 leading to a violently suppressed communist revolt. Extremist activity on the right also increased, notably the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, and Munich and Nuremberg became Nazi strongholds under the Third Reich. As a manufacturing center, Munich was heavily bombed during World War II and occupied by U.S. troops. Since World War II, Bavaria has been rehabilitated into a prosperous industrial hub. A massive reconstruction effort restored much of Munich's historic core, and the city played host to the 1972 Summer Olympics. More recently, state minister-president Edmund Stoiber was the CDU/CSU candidate for chancellor in the 2002 federal election, and native son Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.

Miscellaneous

The many famous Bavarians include:
- Pope Benedict XVI -- as of April 2005 he is the current Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. His baptismal name is Joseph Ratzinger.
- Painters such as Hans Holbein the Elder, Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach and Franz Marc
- Musicians such as Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss and Theobald Boehm, the inventor of the modern flute.
- Modern musicians like Klaus Doldinger and Barbara Dennerlein
- Widely-read Bavarian writers like Bertolt Brecht, Lion Feuchtwanger
- Well-known scientists such as the Nobel prize winner Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen and Werner Heisenberg,also Rudolf Moessbauer and Robert Huber
- Well-known inventors such as Levi Strauss and Rudolf Diesel.
- Neurologist Alois Alzheimer, who first described Alzheimer's Disease The motorcycle and automobile makers BMW (Bayerische Motoren-Werke, or Bavarian Motor Works) and Audi, Grundig (consumer electronics) and Siemens (electricity, telephones, informatics, medical instruments) have (or had) a Bavarian industrial base. A famous annual festival is called Oktoberfest or October Festival. It was first celebrated in 1810 as a public feast when the Bavarian crown prince Ludwig married Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The celebration originally was designed as a feast for all members of the Bavarian Nation, who should celebrate the country and the crown. It only turned to a pure matter of boozing in the 20th century and is nowadays attended rather by tourists than by Bavarians. Munich locals often despise it. It is celebrated during the two weeks leading up to the first Sunday in October. Bavaria has also given its name to a major Dutch brewery, Bavaria Brewery.

The meaning of the coat of arms

Modern coat of arms was designed by Eduard Ege, following heraldic traditions in 1946.
- The Golden Lion: The rampant lion Palatinate in its golden-and-red amour stands for the administrative region of Upper Palatinate.
- The "Franconian Rake": It represents the administrative regions of the Upper, Middle and Lower Franconia.
- The Blue Panther: At the bottom left of the third field there is a blue panther rampant, with gold talons, on a white (silver) ground. It rep-resents the regions of the Lower and Upper Bavaria.
- The Three Lions: In the fourth field three black lions with red talons stand on a golden ground one above the other, with heads askance. On the Bavarian coat of arms they symbolize Swabia.
- The White-And-Blue Heart-Shaped Shield: The heart-shaped shield of white and blue fusils askance was originally the coat of arms of the Counts of Bogen to be adopted in 1247 by the Wittelsbachs House. The white-and-blue fusils are indisputably the emblem of Bavaria and the heart-shaped shield today symbolizes Bavaria as a whole. Along with the People's Crown, it is officially used as the Minor Coat of Arms.
- The People's Crown: The four coat fields with the heart-shaped shield in the centre are crowned with a golden band with precious stones decorated with five ornamental leaves. This crown appeared for the first time in the coat of arms in 1923 to symbolize sovereignty of the people after the dropping out of the royal crown.

Bavarian "citizenship"

The fact that, different to the constitutions of all other German Länder, the Bavarian constitution provides for a Bavarian citizenship, is often mentioned as an indicator for Bavarian distinctiveness. Some Bavarians are keen to emphasize that - in accordance with the generous indication of the constitution - they regard everyone
- born in Bavaria,
- born to a Bavarian parent,
- adopted by a Bavarian as a child,
- married to a Bavarian, or
- naturalized in Bavaria, as a fellow-Bavarian; some of those falling under this untechnical definition express pride to being "Bavarian". However, state legislation regulating citizenship procedures has never been enacted, the consitution itself provides that all Germans enjoy the same rights as Bavarian citizens, and no office issues certificates concerning a "Bavarian" citizenship. Thus, the notion of citizenship rather bears a folkloristic, not really a political meaning.

Population and area

Admin. Region population(2003) area (km²) municipalities Lower Bavaria .... 1,162,972 9.6% 10,330 14.6% 258 12.5% Lower Franconia .. 1,329,399 11.0% 8,531 12.1% 308 15.0% Upper Franconia .. 1,113,790 9.2% 7,231 10.2% 214 10.4% Middle Franconia . 1,678,535 13.9% 7,246 10.3% 210 10.2% Upper Palatinate . 1,069,121 8.8% 9,690 13.7% 226 11.0% Swabia ........... 1,773,688 14.4% 9,992 14.2% 340 16.5% Upper Bavaria .... 3,996,043 33.1% 17,530 24.8% 500 24.3% ------------------ ---------- ------ ------ ------ ---- ------ BAVARIA .......... 12,086,548 100.0% 70,549 100.0% 2056 100.0%

External links

- [http://www.bayern.de/ Offical site] of the state of Bavaria
- [http://www.munich-to-vienna-via-salzburg.com/munich/bavaria.html Bavaria], Overview on Bavaria, its history and culture.
- [http://www.bayernviewer.de/ Bayern Viewer] aerial views and maps of Bavaria
- [http://www.bis.bayern.de/ Detailed map]
- [http://www.haus-bayern.com/ The Royal House of Bavaria]
- [http://www.vdiest.nl/Europa/Germany/bavaria.htm Bavaria information] Category:States of Germany Category:Bavaria als:Bayern ko:바이에른 주 ja:バイエルン州 simple:Bavaria

Constance of Sicily

Constance of Sicily (1154 – November 27, 1198) was in her own right Queen of Sicily, became German Empress as the wife of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, and was the mother of the Emperor and King of Sicily Frederick II. She was the posthumous daughter of Roger II of Sicily by his third wife Beatrice of Rethel. Constance was not betrothed until she was 30, which is unusual for a princess whose marriage was an important bargaining chip. This later gave rise to stories that she had become a nun and required papal dispensation to forsake her vows and marry, or that she was impossibly ugly. Neither of these is consistent with the evidence. The death of her nephew Henry of Capua in 1172 made Constance heiress presumptive to the Sicilian crown. Her elder nephew King William II was himself unmarried. He did not marry until 1177, and that marriage remained childless. But it is unclear why he delayed so in finding a husband for his aunt. Nor it is clear precisely why in the end he chose Henry, the son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I. The Sicilian kings and the German Emperors had long been enemies, and the papacy, also an enemy of the emperors, would not want to see the great kingdom to the south of Rome in German hands. Nor would the kingdom's nobles welcome such a possibility. Nevertheless, in 1184 Constance was betrothed to Henry (the future Emperor Henry VI), and they were married two years later, on January 27, 1186. William made his nobles and the important men of his court promise to recognize Constance's succession if he died without direct heirs. But after his unexpected death in 1189, his cousin (and Constance's grand-nephew) Tancred seized the throne. Tancred was illegitimate, but he had the support of most of the great men of the kingdom. Constance's father-in-law died in 1190, and the following year Henry and Constance were crowned Emperor and Empress. Henry was already preparing to invade Sicily when Tancred died in 1194. Later that year he moved south, deposed Tancred's young son William III, and had himself crowned instead. While Henry moved quickly south with his army, Constance followed at a slower pace, for she was pregnant. On December 26, the day after Henry's crowning at Palermo, she gave birth to a son, Frederick (the future Emperor and king of Sicily Frederick II) in the small town of Jesi, near Ancona. Constance was 40, and she knew that many would question whether the child was really hers. Thus she had the baby in a pavilion tent in the market square of the town, and invited the town matrons to witness the birth. A few days later she returned to the town square and publicly breast-fed the infant. Henry died in 1197, and Constance returned to Sicily. She had the 3-year-old Frederick crowned King of Sicily, and in his name dissolved the ties her late husband had created between the government of Sicily and of the Empire. She also renounced his claims to the German kingship and empire, and placed him under the protection of pope Innocent III. She expected him to be raised as a Sicilian, and to be nothing more than King of Sicily. That he became much more than that could not be predicted when she died a year later, in 1198. ----- Dante places Constance in Paradise (though he subscribed to the story that Constance had been a nun): ::"This other radiance that shows itself ::to you at my right hand, a brightness kindled ::by all the light that fills our heaven-- she
::has understood what I have said: she was ::a sister, and from her head, too, by force, ::the shadow of the sacred veil was taken.
::But though she had been turned back to the world ::against her will, against all honest practice, ::the veil upon her heart was never loosed.
::This is the splendor of the great Costanza, ::who from the Swabians' second gust engendered ::the one who was their third and final power." ::::—Paradiso, Canto III, lines 109-120, Mandelbaum translation

References

- Walter Frölich, "The Marriage of Henry VI and Constance of Sicily: Prelude and Consequences", Anglo-Norman Studies XV, 1992
- Donald Matthew, The Norman Kingdom of Sicily, ISBN 0-521-26911-3
- John Julius Norwich, The Kingdom in the Sun, reprinted as part of his The Normans in Sicily, ISBN 0-14-015212-1 Constance of Sicily Constance of Sicily Category:Hohenstaufen Dynasty Category:Kings of Sicily Category:Characters in the Divine Comedy ja:コスタンツァ

January 27

January 27 is the 27th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 338 days remaining (339 in leap years).

Events

- 98 Trajan becomes Roman Emperor after the death of Nerva.
- 1186 - Henry VI, the son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor