ANST - FW: Musing on July 30th -- Freddie goes to Antioch

[j'lynn yeates]

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- -----Original Message-----
From: Ellsworth Weaver [mailto:astroweaver at yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, July 31, 2000 12:42
To: 2thpix at surfari.net
Subject: Musing on July 30th -- Freddie goes to Antioch


Dear Folk,

On this day, July 30, 1178 a German, possibly the most kingly of men,
was crowned king of Burgundy. No human could successfully stand
against
the man the Italians nicknamed "Red Beard". Must have been a very
fiery
personality but I wonder, astrologically speaking, how much water did
he have in his chart.

Frederick was born in 1122 or 1123 to the Hohenstaufen family. He was
named after his dad, who was duke of Swabia.. When his dad passed on
in
1147, Freddie took his place as duke. A year earlier (1146) he had
already sort of made the cover of "People" magazine by whomping up on
Duke Conrad of Zahringen. So he had proved himself in battle. In
March
of 1152, Freddie was hands-down elected King of Germany. Hey, he was
kingly.

Freddie took Charles the Great (Charlemagne) as his ideal of what
Germany and the rest of Europe needed. Fact of the matter, Freddie
could have ruled the world, at least he believed, if the rest of the
world would have just known him.

Let’s set the stage a little. Lothar III was crowned emperor of the
Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent III in 1133. Conrad and Freddie’s
dad had said they recognized that (took them two years of tussling to
get to that point.) Lothar died in 1137. Conrad, Freddie’s uncle,
stepped into that gap. The Second Crusade (tell you why we are
talking
Crusades here in a bit) failed miserably in 1147 just as Freddie
became
duke.

Freddie married a gal named Beatrice who just happened to be the
heiress to Upper Burgundy. There was this constant push, you see, for
Frederick to become something more than just king. What marriage and
relations could not donate, Freddie felt that arms might. When he
invaded and then destroyed Milan (home of those yummy Milano cookies;
love the ones with double stuff), the Italians gave him a nickname
that
stayed with him throughout history, "Red Beard." In Italian it comes
out as "Barbarossa.".

The Pope  crowned Frederick I Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
Freddie
took that as a signal that it was okay to lay his plans down over
everybody. Many of the city states like those in Lombardy rebelled.
Fact is that Freddie had to fight with just about everyone, including
the Pope. The Vatican rarely lost any long-term wars. Finally,
Freddie
and Pope Alexander III made peace in Venice when the Pope decided
that
Freddie really and truly understood that an emperor’s business was
domestic affairs and that religious things belonged to the Pope.
Freddie could play nice when pressed.

That settled, Frederick had little to do but to do the right thing
and
liberate the Holy Land. That nasty Saladin had been whomping up on
the
Latin East for quite some time. In 1187, Saladin wiped out the flower
of the Latin East at the Battle for the Horns of Hattin (we talked
about that on July 4). Freddie wrote him first a stern letter saying:
give those lands back to the Christians or you’ll be sorry. Saladin
wrote him back saying that he would give back a church or two and
maybe
even release some Franks (not hotdogs, the crusaders were all called
Frank. It was sort of like "Joe" in WW II.) Well, that was down right
insulting, so Freddie packed up and moved a crusade out.

I think that reports exaggerate the size of Freddie’s army when they
say 100,000 troops. Still, he must have had a grunch of gunchers with
him as they set out from Regensburg in May 1189. Think of that:
Freddie
was leaving just as Richard the Lionheart became king of England.
Freddie was about 67 years old and here he is taking off to kill some
heathens. Got to admire that spirit.

The troops under Freddie were well-disciplined. Things were always
tough marching towards the Holy Land. It was hot, and dry, and a very
hungry land. Even so, everyone held together. No one wanted Freddie
to
spank them.

On the other side of the ditch, over in Constantinople, Byzantine
Emperor Isaac Angelus was getting a tad worried. Here was an army of
mostly German folk, marching toward his kingdom. Fact is, Isaac had
been fighting with some nice folks in the Balkans (remember the
Bulgars?), while the Turks were pushing into Anatolia (what is now
Turkey), and the Italians were fighting for hunks of Macedonia.
Freddie
had passed unmolested through Bulgaria which could only mean that
Freddie was in cahoots with the rebels. Yeah, it was tough for Isaac.

I know this sounds shameful but Isaac Angelus had cut a deal with
Saladin. Isaac promised Saladin that Freddie’s troops would be held
up
as long as possible. Neither wanted all those hearty German tourists
with broadswords staying in their lands. Isaac made sure that food
was
elsewhere. Frederick decided to turn his folks down to Thrace where
he
knew he could get some sauerkraut and knockwurst. This put the two
Emperors at a deadlock. Isaac imprisoned Freddie’s German envoys.
Freddie decided that Thrace really was part of the Holy Roman Empire
and go ahead kill those envoys, Isaac. Eventually, Isaac could not
stand against Freddie. In February 1190, he agreed to transport the
German troops across the Dardenelles.

Freddie and company took the inland road toward the Holy Land. Konya
fell to the crusaders in May 1190. Their route then took them through
some very dry and hot areas as they trekked the Taurus mountains.
Finally, they emerged at the Calycadnus river near the town of
Seleucia. They were hot, tired, dry, dusty. Freddie was so happy to
get
clear of that nasty desert mountain range, he decided that it was a
perfect time for skinny dipping. He plunged into the river and tried
to
swim across it. The Calycadnus was a lot colder than it looked, a lot
swifter than it looked, and had a nifty whirlpool. Freddie and the
whirlpool collided. The whirlpool won. Fred was dead.

The crusading army was shattered. Some returned home right away.
Others
carried Freddie, pickled in vinegar, to the Holy Land and buried most
of him in St. Peter’s church in Antioch (place where they found the
Spear of Destiny). A few of Freddie’s bones were taken all the way to
Jerusalem.

What, if anything, have we learned from Freddie? Fighting the church
seldom wins you a seat in heaven? Sometimes guys you deal with have
their own problems and agendas? Not everyone will go along with what
you know is right? A few ambassadors are not an even exchange for a
whole lot of land? Getting pickled sometimes makes travel more
bearable? How about always swim with a buddy? Man, that thing about
swimming in a creek seems to be true!

Happiest of birthdays and birth weeks to a friend, Martin the
Warrior.
May your struggles bring you victory.

As always, if you are forwarding these to the Holy Land, make sure my
name and sig. are attached.

Looking for a safe swimmin’ hole,
J.  Ellsworth Weaver

SCA – Sir Balthazar of Endor
AS – Polyphemus Theognis
TRV – Sebastian Yeats


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