FRIEDRICH von Staufen, son of FRIEDRICH II "der Einäugige" Duke of Swabia [Staufen] & his first wife Judith of Bavaria (1122-drowned Göks or Saleph River, Asia Minor 10 Jun 1190, bur Tarsus [entrails], Antioch St Peter [flesh], Tyre Cathedral [legs]). The Tabula consanguinitatis Friderici I regis et Adelæ reginæ (which provided the basis for their divorce) names "regem Fridericum" as son of "ducem Fridericum"[506]. He succeeded in 1147 as FRIEDRICH III Duke of Swabia, resigning in 1152 in favour of his cousin Duke Friedrich IV. He left Germany in May 1147 with his uncle Konrad III King of Germany on the Second Crusade[507]. William of Tyre records him as "Fredericus Suevorum dux…ex fratre primogenitor nepos" in relation to King Konrad[508]. He was designated as successor by his uncle King Konrad III shortly before the latter died, and was elected FRIEDRICH I "Barbarossa" King of Germany at Frankfurt-am-Main 4 Mar 1152, crowned at Aachen 9 Mar 1152. He negotiated the Treaty of Constanz 23 Mar 1153 with Pope Eugenius III, who agreed to an imperial coronation[509]. King of Italy 1154. After refusing the Romans' offer of a secular imperial coronation, he was crowned Emperor FRIEDRICH I at Rome 18 Jun 1155 by Pope Hadrian IV[510]. He succeeded as Comte de Bourgogne on his second marriage in 1156, de iure uxoris, and received the homage of the Burgundian magnates at Besançon in 1157. In 1157, he invaded Poland and compelled Duke Boleslaw IV to recognise German suzerainty[511]. Tensions in Italy, and particularly with the papacy, came to a head in 1166 when Emperor Friedrich's army marched to Rome where they defeated the Romans at Tusculum, captured the city, and enthroned his own papal candidate Pascal III, although the emperor was obliged to return to Germany as the army was decimated by malaria[512]. He invaded Italy again in 1174, and in May 1176 his troops were defeated at Legnano near Milan. A peace treaty was signed at Venice 24 Jul 1177[513]. On his return from Italy, he was crowned King of Burgundy ("regnum Arelatense") at Arles 30 Jul 1178, thereby symbolically laying claim to the whole of Burgundy. He took the cross at Mainz 27 Mar 1188, in answer to the appeal of Pope Gregory VIII in Oct 1187 to relieve Jerusalem after its capture by Saladin, although he did not finally leave Germany until May 1189[514]. He received a warm welcome in Hungary and Serbia, but tensions developed with Emperor Isaakios II after he entered Byzantine territory 23 Jun 1189 at Branicevo[515]. Anxious to protect his interests, Emperor Isaakios signed a treaty of alliance with Saladin, which worsened the situation. After taking Philippopolos (Plovdiv) and Adrianople, as well as threatening Constantinople, Emperor Friedrich forced Emperor Isaakios to give him provisions and ships to cross into Asia Minor, which he did in Mar 1190[516]. Friedrich was drowned while preparing to cross the river Calycadnus to enter Seleucia, apparently after falling into the river in heavy armour[517]. His body, ineffectively preserved in vinegar and taken with the army to Palestine, had disintegrated by the time it arrived at Antioch[518].
m firstly (Eger before 2 Mar 1147, divorced Konstanz Mar 1153) as her first husband, ADELA von Vohburg heiress of Egerland, daughter of DIEPOLD III Markgraf von Vohburg und Cham & his [second wife Kunigunde von Beichlingen] (-19 Feb ----). The Tabula consanguinitatis Friderici I regis et Adelæ reginæ (which provided the basis for their divorce) names "Adelam" as daughter of "marchionem Theobaldum"[519]. The Annales Herbipolenses name "Etenim filiam Theobaldi marchionis de Voheburc" as first wife of Emperor Friedrich "Barbarossa"[520]. The Urspergensium Chronicon names "Adilam filiam marchionis Diepoldi de Vohburc" as first wife of Emperor Friedrich I, and records her second marriage to "Dietho de Ravensburc ministerialis"[521]. The Annales Magdeburgenses record the separation of "Friedericus" and his first wife by "coram legatis apostolici" in 1153[522], the Annales Sancti Diibodi specifying Konstanz as the place of the separation[523]. She married secondly Dieto von Ravensburg, Welf minister 1152/80. The necrology of Isny records the death "XI Kal Mar" of "Adelhaidis regina benefactrix"[524].
Betrothed (1153) to MARIA Komnene, daughter of ISAAKIOS Komnenos, sébastokrator & his first wife Theodora [Kamaterina] ([1144]-1190). Ioannes Kinnamos records the betrothal of "Fredericus Conradi Alemannorum principis ex fratre nepos" and "Mariam Isaacii sebastocratoris filiam"[525]. She later married István of Hungary, who in 1163 succeeded as István IV King of Hungary. Niketas Choniates names "Stephanum et Bladisthlabum" as the two brothers of "Hunnorum princeps Iazas", stating that István married "Mariam…imperatoris neptem, Isaacio sebastocratore natam"[526].
m secondly (Würzburg 17 Jun 1156) BEATRIX de Bourgogne, daughter and heiress of RENAUD III Comte Palatin de Bourgogne & his wife Agathe de Lorraine ([1145]-Jouhe, near Dôle 15 Nov 1184, bur Speyer Cathedral). The Continuatio Admuntensis records the marriage of Emperor Friedrich in 1156 to "Beatricem filiam Reginoldi comitis" after repudiating "filia Diepoldi marchionis"[527]. She was crowned empress at St Peter's in Rome 1 Aug 1167 by Pope Pascal III[528]. She was crowned Queen of Burgundy at Vienne Aug 1178.