FREDERICK I

born c. 1123 died June 10, 1190, Kingdom of Armenia byname Frederick Barbarossa (Italian: Redbeard) duke of Swabia (as Frederick III, 114790) and German king and Holy Roman emperor (115290), who challenged papal authority and sought to establish German predominance in western Europe. He engaged in a long struggle with the cities of northern Italy (115483), sending six major expeditions southward. He died while on the Third Crusade to the Holy Land. born April 11, 1370 died Jan. 4, 1428, Altenburg, Thuringia byname Frederick The Warlike, German Friedrich Der Streitbare elector of Saxony who secured the electorship for the House of Wettin, thus ensuring that dynasty's future importance in German politics. An implacable enemy of the Bohemian followers of Jan Hus, church reformer and accused heretic, Frederick aided the Holy Roman emperor Sigismund against them from 1420 on. When the last Saxon elector of the Ascanian dynasty, Albert III, died in 1422, the emperor Sigismund, ignoring the claims of the elector Frederick I of Brandenburg, in whose hands he did not wish to see another electorate, awarded that dignity to Frederick the Warlike. Recurrent territorial conflicts between Frederick and his relatives were resolved by the Naumburg treaty, which made Wettin lands inalienable. born Oct. 7, 1471, Denmark died April 10, 1533, Gottorp, Schleswig king of Denmark (152333) and Norway (152433) who encouraged Lutheranism in Denmark but maintained a balance between opposing Lutheran and Roman Catholic factions. This equilibrium crumbled after his death. The younger son of Christian I, king of Denmark and Norway, Frederick divided the duchies of Schleswig (now in Germany and Denmark) and Holstein (now in Germany) in 1490 with his older brother John, who succeeded to the Danish throne in 1481. After failing to win sovereignty over half of Norway and parts of Denmark, Frederick settled in Gottorp, where he reformed the territory's administration. He remained hostile to King John and to the king's son Christian II, who succeeded to the Danish throne in 1513. Frederick accepted an offer of the crown from the Jutland nobles who led a revolt against Christian II in 1522. He was crowned the following year and carefully attempted to appease both the higher nobles and the peasants. He was also accepted as king of Norway in 1524 but continued to live in Gottorp, claiming his Danish revenues were inadequate. Although Frederick at first agreed with the Catholic nobles to fight the Lutheran heresy, he gave increasing support to Lutheran preachers in Denmark, particularly to Hans Tavsen, who became the king's chaplain. His pro-Lutheran policy, which increased his popularity among the peasants, was probably designed to increase royal power at the expense of the Danish church. Frederick nevertheless retained the support of the Rigsrd (state council) against the exiled Christian II, who invaded Norway in 1531 and threatened to reclaim the Danish realm with the aid of the Holy Roman emperor Charles V. Frederick imprisoned Christian, reached a diplomatic settlement with Charles V, and maintained peace until his death. The Roman Catholic cause was clearly on the wane, however, and was thoroughly defeated in 1536. born , between August and November 1371, Nrnberg died Sept. 20, 1440, Cadolzburg, near Nrnberg elector of Brandenburg from 1417, founder of the Brandenburg line of Hohenzollern. He was the second son of Frederick V, burgrave of Nrnberg. After his father's death, in 1398, he obtained Ansbach and, in 1420, on the death of his elder brother John, the principality of Bayreuth. In 1410 Sigismund, younger son of the Holy Roman emperor Charles IV, had appointed Frederick his representative in the election for the German throne, authorizing him to cast the Brandenburg vote. Frederick succeeded in having Sigismund elected German king and as a reward was appointed a governor of Brandenburg (July 8, 1411). He was formally given the electorate and margravate by Sigismund in 1417. In 1425 Frederick handed over the control of Brandenburg to his eldest son, John the Alchemist, returned to Franconia, and devoted the rest of his life to imperial affairs. Active in the negotiations with the Hussites as a champion of religious moderation, he helped bring about the pacts of Prague (1433) and Iglau (1436). He took part in the election of Frederick III as German king in 1440.