The following is a chronological statement of the most important events in the life of Barbarossa:
| 1123 | Birth. |
| 1147 | Married Adelaide; succeeded his father as Duke of Swabia; accompanied the second Crusade. |
| 1152 | Received the Crown of Germany. |
| 1153 | Divorced Adelaide. |
| 1154 | First Italian Campaign. |
| 1155 | Crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. |
| 1156 | Restored the Duchy of Bavaria to Henry the Lion; married Beatrice, daughter of the Count of Burgundy. |
| 1157 | Secured allegiance of Poland and Hungary. |
| 1158 | Second Italian Campaign. |
| 1160 | Excommunicated by Pope Alexander III. |
| 1164-1174 | Italian Campaigns. |
| 1176 | Defeated at Legnano. |
| 1177 | Made truce for six years with the Italian cities. |
| 1183 | Treaty of Constance. |
| 1183 | Led the third Crusade with Richard the Lion-Hearted of England and Philip Augustus of France. |
| 1190 | Death in Asia Minor by drowning. |
Footnotes
[1]The first Crusade for the recovery of the Holy Land from the infidels, as they were called, was led by Godfrey of Bouillon (1096-1099), and resulted in the capture of Jerusalem. The second (1147-1149), advocated by Saint Bernard, was unsuccessful. The third (1189-1192), in which Frederick Barbarossa of Germany, Richard the Lion-hearted of England, and Phillip Augustus of France were associated, failed in the reconquest of Jerusalem, which the Musssulmans had retaken in 1187. The fourth (1202-1204) resulted in the establishment of a Latin Empire at Constantinople, under Count Baldwin of Flanders. The fifth, under Frederick II (1228-1229), the sixth (1248-1250) and the seventh (1270-1271), under St. Louis of France, were unsuccessful.
[2]Godfrey of Bouillon was born in Brabant in 1061, and died in Jerusalem in 1100. He was made Duke of Lower Lotharingia, Germany, in 1088, and joined the Crusade in 1096. He was the leader in the capture of Jerusalem and was made its King, but preferred to be known as Protector of the Holy Sepulchre. He completed the conquest of the Holy Land by defeating the Sultan at Ascalon, 1099.
[3]Saint Bernard, a French ecclesiastic, was born in Burgundy in 1091, and died at Clairvaux in 1153. He became abbot of Clairvaux in 1115, and held that position until his death. He had great influence in ecclesiastical politics, and preached the second Crusade in 1146.
[4]The succession about this period was as follows: The Saxon dynasty (Henry I, Otto I, Otto II, and Otto III) reigned from 919 to 1002. At the death of Otto III, no representative of that dynasty was left. He was succeeded by Henry II, who reigned from 1002 to 1024. After his death the Franconian dynasty (Conrad II, Henry III, Henry IV, and Henry V) occupied the throne from 1024 to 1125, the dynasty ending with the death of Henry V. The latter was succeeded by Lothair, Duke of Saxony, who reigned from 1125 to 1137. At his death, Conrad III of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was elected. He reigned from 1137 to 1152, and was succeeded by Frederick Barbarossa, his nephew, and son of Frederick, Duke of Swabia, who reigned from 1152 to 1190.
[5]Henry the Lion was the son of Henry the Proud. He was of such haughty disposition and so ambitious that he was generally disliked, but Frederick succeeded in making him Duke of Bavaria and Saxony. He did much for these duchies by building new towns and colonizing them, and by founding bishoprics.
[6]The Guelphs, or Welfs, as they were called in Germany, were the papal party in Italy in the Middle Ages. They were the founders of the house of Brunswick and Hanover to which the present English royal family belongs. The Ghibellines were the imperial and aristocratic party in Italy who derived their name from Waiblingen, an estate in Franconia. The conflict between the two parties was begun in Germany and transferred to Italy, where it raged until the end of the fifteenth century.
[7]Conrad’s election had been called hasty and irregular.