Andrew Andersen
THE HOLY ROMAN
EMPIRE: THE GUELPHS AND HOHENSTAUFENS (1138-1254)
(Maps: Putzgers,
F.W., Historischer Schul-Atlas,
Bielefeld, 1929)
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(Click on the map to see the
full-screen image and details)
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The end of the Salian rule that
followed the death of King Henry V (1106-1025) was marked by the beginning of
the long strife between the Guelphs (Welfs) of Saxony and the
Hohenstaufens of Swabia both of which claimed the
right to the throne.
One of the most prominent Hohenstaufens was
Frederick I “Barbarossa” (1152-1190). Before being crowned Emperor (1152) he
took part in the 2nd Crusade
as the Duke of Swabia (1147). Upon returning to Europe, Frederick
tried to unite Germany
and diminish the power of the dukes. In 1154, his army marched into Italy that was also involved in German feud
with the Pope supporting the Guelphs and the cities
of Lombardy (the Lombard league)
sympathizing with the Hohenstaufens.
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Long wars for the domination over the Empire resulted in
the peace of Venice (1177) confirming the diarchy in the Empire as well as
the Pope’s right to establish an ecclesiastical state, and the Peace of
Konstanz (1183) confirming the rights of free-elected governments of North
Italian cities. In 1181 Frederick also
defeated Henry the Lion of Saxony (his last Guelph opponent). However, his goal of
building up a centralized German state seemed unlikely to be achieved. Long
absence of the Emperor from Germany
proper reduced the Royal power in the country and increased the power of the
dukes.
In 1189, Frederick Barbarossa took part on the 3d Crusade as one of his
major organizers (together with Philip Augustus of France
and Richard Lionheart of England). The grand
German-French-English army led by the three Kings, marched through Hungary and Bulgaria
to Constantinople and from there invaded the Middle East.
After winning a series of battles in Anatolia and Armenia,
Frederic died while crossing the river
of Saleph
in Cilicia.
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Frederick I Barbarossa
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Among the results of the rule of Frederick I was
economic growth accompanied by the increasing of the amount and importance of
the cities and towns, development of arts and culture and further expansion of German-speaking
population eastwards into Pomerania, Silesia, Bohemia and Moravia.
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After his death in Asia Minor, Frederick was succeeded by his son Henry VI
(1190-1197) and his grandson Frederick II (1197-1250). Because Fredrick II
was elected Emperor while being a three-years-old infant, the civil war
between the followers of the Hohenstaufens and Guelphs started again and lasted until 1212. By the
Imperial Statute of 1232, Frederick II gave more rights to the Dukes and
Princes of Germany
turning them into the rulers of semi-independent countries of various size.
The death of Frederick’s
son Konrad (1254) was the end of Hohenstaufen rule and
the beginning of the Great Interregnum (1256-1273) that pushed Germany into
anarchy and political chaos surprisingly accompanied by further growth of
both the population and the economy. It was the Interregnum Period when the Magdeburger Recht became the
most popular form of the civic law of Central Europe turning the cities of Germany and
some other countries into the enclaves of freedom, democracy and relatively
equal rights of the citizens of various social backgrounds.
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During that period of time, German colonization of Eastern Europe stretched
into the Baltics where
the Knights of the Teutonic
Order established a big German-speaking state including Eastern
Prussia and the territories of modern Estonia, Latvia and partially Lithuania.
THE HABSBURGS,
LUXEMBURGS & WITTELSBACHS (1273 - 1480)
(Maps: Putzgers,
F.W., Historischer Schul-Atlas,
Bielefeld, 1929)
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In 1273 Rudolf of Habsburg was elected as a King of Germany and Emperor of the Holy
Roman Empire thus ending the Great Interregnum. From that year
and until 1438, the Imperial throne was occupied either by the Habsburgs of
Austria, or by the representatives of one of the two other Royal Houses of
Germany: the Luxemburgs of Bohemia and the Wittelsbachs of Bavaria. In 1435 Albert II of the
Habsburgs was crowned Holy Roman Emperor, and since then the Habsburgs were
keeping the Imperial throne until the abolition of the Holy
Roman Empire in 1806 by Napoleon.
In 1356 Emperor Charles IV (1355-1378) issued the Golden
Bull establishing the rules of Imperial Elections and attempting to create a
big federal state by regulating and formalizing the rights of Dukes, Princes
and other noble rulers of Germany.
According to the Golden Bull, the Emperor was to be elected by seven
electors: the rules of Bohemia, Brandenburg, Palatinate and Saxony and the Archbishops
of Cologne, Trier
and Mainz.
That turned a Holy Roman Emperor as a nominal and rather symbolic figure
delegating real power to the local rulers. Significant concessions were made
to the Church including the right to create ecclesiastical states.
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(Click on the maps to see the
full-screen image)
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In addition to its evident drawbacks, German fragmentation
had certain advantages: it created political diversity in one country and
kept tyrannical tendencies under natural control (i.e. if one of the smaller
German states started sliding down into the tyranny, its subjects could
migrate en masse into the neighbor-states). In contrast to many states with
strong central power, fragmented Germany also encouraged the
creation of a large number of political, economic, cultural and later
educational centers. The development of Germany
in the 14th and 15th centuries was marked by further
economic, intellectual and demographic growth (the latter one partially
undermined by the Black Death), further growth of free cities (see Hanseatic League) and the
foundation of the universities. It was
Germany
where the first printing technology was invented in the 1450-s by Johannes
Gutenberg, the invention that led to the rapid spread of knowledge and free
thought. (Click on the below map for bigger image)
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