Frederick I Barbarossa (1122-1190), King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor. Born in Swabia in southern Germany, Frederick succeeded his father as Duke in 1147. Soon after this he went on the Second Crusade and despite its failure Frederick proved himself and won the confidence of the King of Gemany, Conrad III. When Conrad died, Frederick was himself elected King. Frederick undertook expeditions into Italy and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV. Frederick spent much of his reign brokering compromises between the German monarchy and the Italian states over the power and position of the Papacy which had previously tended to end in battle. To appease the Pope, Frederick went on the Third Crusade, but he drowned whilst bathing in the Saleph River. This woodcut comes from Giovio's Elogia vivorum bellica virtute illustrium, publised at Basle in 1596.