Editing Frederick Barbarossa (section)

===Election===
{{further|1152 Imperial election}}
When Conrad died in February 1152, only Frederick and the [[Bishop of Bamberg|prince-bishop of Bamberg]] were at his deathbed. Both asserted afterwards that Conrad had, in full possession of his mental faculties, handed the royal insignia to Frederick and indicated that he, rather than Conrad's own six-year-old son, the future [[Frederick IV, Duke of Swabia]], succeed him as king.<ref name="Comyn, pg. 200"/> Frederick energetically pursued the crown and at [[Frankfurt]] on 4 March 1152 the kingdom's [[Prince-elector|princely electors]] designated him as the next German king.<ref name="Comyn, pg. 200">{{harvp|Comyn|1851|p=200 |url=https://archive.org/details/historywesterne00comygoog/page/n236/mode/2up}}</ref> He was crowned [[King of the Romans]] at [[Aachen]] several days later, on 9 March 1152.<ref>{{harvp|Le Goff|2000|p=266}}</ref>

[[File:StrasbourgCath BasCoteN 08.JPG|thumb|13th-century stained glass image of Frederick I, [[Strasbourg Cathedral]]]]
The reigns of [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry IV]] and [[Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry V]] left the status of the German empire in disarray, its power waning under the weight of the [[investiture controversy]]. For a quarter of a century following the death of Henry V in 1125, the German monarchy was largely a nominal title with no real power behind it.<ref>{{harvp|Bryce|1913|p=166}}</ref> The king, chosen by the prince-electors, was given no resources outside those of his own duchy, and he was at the same time prevented from exercising any real authority or leadership. The royal title was furthermore passed from one family to another to preclude the development of any dynastic interest in the German crown. When Frederick was chosen as king in 1152, royal power had been in effective abeyance for over twenty-five years, and to a considerable degree for more than eighty years. The only real claim to wealth lay in the rich cities of northern Italy, which were still within the nominal control of the German king.<ref>{{harvp|Cantor|1969|pp=302–303}}</ref> The Salian line had died out with the death of Henry V in 1125, and the German princes refused to give the crown to his nephew, the duke of Swabia, for fear he would try to regain the imperial power held by Henry V. Instead, they chose [[Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor|Lothair III]] (1125–1137), who found himself embroiled in a long-running dispute with the Hohenstaufens, and who married into the Welfs. One of the Hohenstaufens gained the throne as [[Conrad III of Germany]] (1137–1152). When Frederick Barbarossa succeeded his uncle in 1152, there seemed to be excellent prospects for ending the feud, since he was a Welf on his mother's side.<ref name="Comyn, pg. 200"/> The Welf duke of Saxony, [[Henry the Lion]], would not be appeased, however, remaining an implacable enemy of the Hohenstaufen monarchy. Barbarossa had the duchies of Swabia and Franconia, the force of his own personality, and very little else to construct an empire.<ref name="harvp|Cantor|1969|pp=428–429">{{harvp|Cantor|1969|pp=428–429}}</ref>

The Germany that Frederick tried to unite was a patchwork of more than 1,600 individual states, each with its own prince. A few of these, such as Bavaria and Saxony, were large. Many were too small to pinpoint on a map.<ref>{{harvp|Dahmus|1969|p=359}}</ref> The titles afforded to the German king were "Caesar", "Augustus", and "Emperor of the Romans". By the time Frederick would assume these, they were little more than propaganda slogans with little other meaning.<ref>{{harvp|Brown|1972}}</ref> Frederick was a pragmatist who dealt with the princes by finding a mutual self-interest. Unlike [[Henry II of England]], Frederick did not attempt to end medieval feudalism, but rather tried to restore it, though this was beyond his ability. The great players in the German civil war had been the Pope, Emperor, Ghibellines and the Guelfs, but none of these had emerged as the winner.<ref>{{harvp|Davis|1957|pp=318–319}}</ref>