Editing Frederick Barbarossa (section)

==Cultural depictions==
{{Main|Cultural depictions of Frederick Barbarossa}}

===Charismatic leader===
[[File:Barbarossa.jpg|thumb|Frederick Barbarossa as a crusader, miniature from a copy of the ''Historia Hierosolymitana'', 1188]]

[[Otto of Freising]], Frederick's uncle, wrote an account of his reign entitled ''Gesta Friderici I imperatoris'' (Deeds of the Emperor Frederick), which is considered to be an accurate history of the king. Otto's other major work, the ''Chronica sive Historia de duabus civitatibus'' (''Chronicle or History of the Two Cities'') had been an exposition of the ''Civitas Dei'' (''[[The City of God]]'') of [[Augustine of Hippo]], full of Augustinian negativity concerning the nature of the world and history. His work on Frederick is of opposite tone, being an optimistic portrayal of the glorious potentials of imperial authority.<ref>{{harvp|Cantor|1969|pp=359–360}}</ref> Otto died after finishing the first two books, leaving the last two to [[Rahewin]], his provost. Rahewin's text is in places heavily dependent on classical precedent,<ref>{{harvp|Cantor|1969|p=360}}</ref> although it "was 'typical of medieval writers' to embellish their texts with choice quotations from earlier authors".<ref>{{cite book |last=Berard |first=Christopher |editor-last1=Archibald |editor-first1=Elizabeth |editor-last2=Johnson |editor-first2=David F. |date=2020 |title=Arthurian Literature XXXV |location=Cambridge |publisher=D.S. Brewer |page=49 |isbn=978-1-84384-545-5}}</ref> For example, Rahewin's physical description of Frederick reproduces word-for-word (except for details of hair and beard) a description of another monarch, [[Theodoric II]] written nearly eight hundred years earlier by Sidonius Apollinaris:<ref>[[Sidonius Apollinaris]], ''Epistles'' 1.2, a description of [[Theodoric II]] of the [[Visigoths]] (453–466). See Mierow and Emery (1953) p. 331.</ref>

{{blockquote|text=His character is such that not even those envious of his power can belittle its praise. His person is well-proportioned. 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&nbsp;... His eyes are sharp and piercing, his beard reddish [''barba subrufa''], his lips delicate&nbsp;... His whole face is bright and cheerful. His teeth are even and snow-white in color&nbsp;... Modesty rather than anger causes him to blush frequently. His shoulders are rather broad, and he is strongly built}}

In the opinion of Norman Cantor, Frederick's charisma led to a fantastic juggling act that, over a quarter of a century, restored the imperial authority in the German states. His formidable enemies defeated him on almost every side, yet in the end he emerged triumphant. When Frederick came to the throne, the prospects for the revival of German imperial power were extremely thin. The great German princes had increased their power and land holdings. The king had been left with only the traditional family domains and a vestige of power over the bishops and abbeys. The backwash of the Investiture controversy had left the German states in continuous turmoil. Rival states were in perpetual war. These conditions allowed Frederick to be both warrior and occasional peace-maker, both to his advantage.<ref name="harvp|Cantor|1969|pp=428–429"/>

===Legend===
[[File:Barbarossa01.jpg|thumb|left|Frederick sends out the boy to see whether the ravens still fly.]]
Frederick is the subject of many legends, including that of a [[King asleep in mountain|Kyffhäuser legend]]. Legend says he is not dead, but asleep with his knights in a cave in the [[Kyffhäuser]] mountains in [[Thuringia]] or Mount [[Untersberg]] at the border between Bavaria, Germany, and [[Salzburg]], [[Austria]], and that when the ravens cease to fly around the mountain he will 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.<ref>{{harvp|Brown|1972|p=172}}</ref> A similar story, set in Sicily, was earlier attested about his grandson, [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]].<ref>[[Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz|Kantorowicz]], ''Frederick II''; last chapter</ref> To garner political support the [[German Empire]] built atop the Kyffhäuser the [[Kyffhäuser Monument]], which declared [[Kaiser Wilhelm I]] the reincarnation of Frederick; the 1896 dedication occurred on 18 June, the day of Frederick's coronation.<ref>{{harvp|Jarausch|1997|p=35}}</ref>

In medieval Europe, the ''[[Golden Legend]]'' became refined by [[Jacopo da Voragine]]. This was a popularized interpretation of the Biblical end of the world. It consisted of three things: (1) terrible natural disasters; (2) the arrival of the [[Antichrist]]; (3) the establishment of a good king to combat the anti-Christ. These millennial fables were common and freely traded by the populations on Continental Europe. [[Eschatology|End-time]] accounts had been around for thousands of years, but entered the Christian tradition with the writings of the Apostle Peter. German propaganda played into the exaggerated fables believed by the common people by characterizing Frederick Barbarossa and Frederick II as personification of the "good king".<ref>{{harvp|Le Goff|2000|p=190}}</ref>

Another legend states that when Barbarossa was in the process of seizing Milan in 1158, his wife, the [[Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy|Empress Beatrice]], was taken captive by the enraged Milanese and forced to [[Parading on donkey|ride through the city on a donkey]] in a humiliating manner. Some sources of this legend indicate that Barbarossa implemented his revenge for this insult by forcing the magistrates of the city to remove a fig from the anus of a donkey using only their teeth.<ref>{{harvp|Walford|Cox|Apperson|1885|p=119}}</ref> Another source states that Barbarossa took his wrath upon every able-bodied man in the city, and that it was not a fig they were forced to hold in their mouth, but excrement from the donkey. To add to this debasement, they were made to announce, ''"Ecco la fica"'' (meaning "behold the fig"), with the feces still in their mouths. It used to be said that the insulting gesture (called fico), of holding one's fist with the thumb in between the middle and forefinger came by its origin from this event.<ref>{{harvp|Novobatzky|Shea|2001}}</ref>

Frederick's legend was further reinforced in the early twentieth century, when [[Adolf Hitler]] named [[Nazi Germany]]'s [[Operation Barbarossa|invasion]] of the [[Soviet Union]] after him.

===Historiography===
[[Cultural depictions of Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor#Historiography|Scholarly evaluations of Frederick]] began in the nineteenth century, but have been hampered by the unfortunate deaths of key researchers who did not have the chance to complete their works (such as Henry Simonsfeld who died in 1913, [[Wilhelm von Giesebrecht]] who died in 1889 and Johannes Laudage who died in an accident in 2008).{{sfn|Freed|2016|pp=xxxi–xxxiii}} Nevertheless, the two volumes about Frederick (that focus on his relationship with the Welfs and the Papacy) in [[Wilhelm von Giesebrecht]]'s ''Geschichte der Deutschen Kaiserzeit'' (1855–88), completed by his student Bernhard von Simson in 1895, later became the scholarly standard work on the emperor's life.{{sfn|Freed|2016|pp=xxxi–xxxiii}}{{sfn|Görich|Wihoda|2017|pp=191,192}}

In 1975, Frederick's charters were published. This and the postwar abandonment of the Kyffhäuser myth have led to the publications of several new biographies. The notable recent authorities among German-speaking historians include Ferdinand Opll,{{sfn|Freed|2016|pp=xxxi–xxxiii}} Johannes Laudage,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schütte |first1=Bernd |title=J. Laudage: Friedrich Barbarossa |year=2009 |publisher=F. Pustet |isbn=9783791721675 |url=https://www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/reb-13099 |access-date=19 February 2022}}</ref> and Knut Görich.<ref name=Loud>{{cite journal |last1=Loud |first1=Graham A. |title=Knut Görich, Friedrich Barbarossa. Eine Biographie, München (C. H. Beck) 2011 |journal=Francia-Recensio 2012/3 Mittelalter – Moyen Âge (500–1500) |url=https://perspectivia.net/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/ploneimport2_derivate_00005626/goerich_loud.doc.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://perspectivia.net/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/ploneimport2_derivate_00005626/goerich_loud.doc.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|author-link=Graham Loud}}</ref> Opll's ''Friedrich Barbarossa'' (1990) presents the emperor as a pragmatic leader with a capacity of adaptation and recovery after defeat.{{sfn|Opll|1990|pp=299–308}} Laudage investigates the important role of the concept of honour in Frederick's decisions while explaining the far-reaching visions of the emperor and his advisers,{{sfn|Laudage|2009|pp=20–46, 214–242}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schütte |first1=Bernd |title=J. Laudage: Friedrich Barbarossa|url=https://www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/reb-13099 |publisher=Pustet |access-date=22 February 2022 |date=2009|isbn=9783791721675 }}</ref> while Görich (who also emphasizes the honour, or ''honor imperii'' factor) questions whether traditional researchers have overemphasized the intentional side of Frederick's politics and instead highlights his flexibility and consensus-building capability as a leader.{{sfn|Görich|2001|pp=145–220, 349–362)}}

In Italy, the scholarly attention towards Frederick's person and his reign is also considerable,<ref name =Schumann>{{cite news |last1=Schumann |first1=Reinhold |title=Review of Federico Barbarossa nel dibatti storiografico in Italia e in Germania |date=1984 |pages=114–115 |jstor=1855953 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/1855953 |access-date=20 February 2022}}</ref> with notable contributions including Franco Cardini's sympathetic 1985 biography<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Petke |first1=Wolfgang |title=Review of Friedrich I. Barbarossa, Kaiser des Abendlandes |journal=Mediaevistik |date=1994 |volume=7 |pages=351–354 |jstor=42584249 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42584249 |access-date=20 February 2022 |issn=0934-7453}}</ref> or the 1982 work ''Federico Barbarossa nel dibattito storiografico in Italia e in Germania'', edited by Manselli and Riedmann, considered by Schumann to be a definite synthesis of non-nationally oriented historiography approaches (combining German and Italian research results) of the last forty years.<ref name =Schumann/>

===Artistic depictions===
[[File:Friedrich I. Barbarossa (Christian Siedentopf, 1847).jpg|thumb|right|Painting of Friedrich I. Barbarossa (Christian Siedentopf, 1847)]]
* In [[Victor Hugo]]'s romantic play ''[[Les Burgraves]]'' (1843), Frederick (as character Frédéric de Hohenstaufen) returns many years after he was presumed dead, as expected by some medieval legends.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The New Oxford Companion to Literature in French|last=France|first=Peter|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1995|isbn=9780198661252|url=https://archive.org/details/newoxfordcompani00fran}}</ref>
* [[Cyrus Townsend Brady]]'s ''Hohenzollern; a Story of the Time of Frederick Barbarossa'' (1901) begins with a dedication to "the descendants of the great Germanic race who in Europe, in America, and in the Far East rule the world".<ref name="hohenzollern_big_a04">{{harvp|Brady|1901}}</ref>
* ''[[Land of Unreason]]'' (1941), by [[L. Sprague de Camp]] and [[Fletcher Pratt]], mentions the castle of the Kyffhäuser.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=de Camp|first1=Sprague|title=Land of Unreason|last2=Pratt|first2=Fletcher|publisher=Dell Publishing Co.|year=1979|isbn=0-440-14736-0|location=New York|page=177}}</ref>
* [[Umberto Eco]]'s novel ''[[Baudolino]]'' (2000) is set partly at Frederick's court, and also deals with the mystery of Frederick's death. The imaginary hero, Baudolino, is the Emperor's adopted son and confidant.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/oct/19/fiction.asbyatt|title=Here be monsters: AS Byatt is entertained yet baffled by Umberto Eco's latest novel, Baudolino, an uneasy mixture of history and fantasy|last=Byatt|first=AS|date=18 October 2002|work=The Guardian|access-date=18 January 2019}}</ref>
* In the 2009 movie ''[[Barbarossa (film)|Barbarossa]]'' (also titled ''Sword of War'' and ''Barbarossa: Siege Lord''), Barbarossa is one of the main characters, played by [[Rutger Hauer]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sword of War |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1242516/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240706064657/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1242516/ |archive-date=July 6, 2024 |access-date=March 11, 2025 |website=IMDb}}</ref>
* The German broadcaster [[Deutsche Welle]] (DW) 2018 documentary (The Germans), featured Frederick I in its 3rd of 6 episodes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dw.com/en/the-germans/a-43362238 |title=The Germans |publisher=Deutsche Wells}}</ref>
* Recently, to commemorate the emperor, the Supply Battalion 131 (called "Battalion Barbarossa") of the Kyffhäuser barracks ({{lang|de|Kyffhäuser-Kaserne, [[Bundeswehr]]}}) built a huge [[Geoglyph|ground artwork]]<!--https://images.bild.de/62ed01bb60a3e73b21ea4020/4452626f023ca5e4751e5bd85eaa4132,99af8680?w=992 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805144801/https://images.bild.de/62ed01bb60a3e73b21ea4020/4452626f023ca5e4751e5bd85eaa4132,99af8680?w=992 |date=5 August 2022 }}--> in [[Bad Frankenhausen]], which uses among other things 300 roles of fabric (each 100 meters long). The mission was named {{lang|de|Rotbart}} ("Redbeard").<ref>{{cite news |title=Mission "Rotbart" am Kyffhäuser: Bundeswehr baut Barbarossa-Bodenbild |url=https://www.bild.de/regional/thueringen/thueringen-aktuell/mission-rotbart-am-kyffhaeuser-bundeswehr-baut-barbarossa-bodenbild-80917130.bild.html |access-date=15 August 2022 |work=bild.de |language=de}}</ref>
* In the video game series, ''[[Civilization (series)|Sid Meier's Civilization]]'', Barbarossa makes an appearance as a playable leader in ''[[Civilization VI]]''.