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Conrad IV, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire

(Encyclopedia)Conrad IV, 1228–54, German king (1237–54), king of Sicily and of Jerusalem (1250–54), son of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. He was elected (1237) king of the Romans at his father's instigation...

Godfrey of Bouillon

(Encyclopedia)Godfrey of Bouillon bo͞oyôNˈ [key], c.1058–1100, Crusader, duke of Lower Lorraine. He fought for Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV against Pope Gregory VII and against Rudolf of Swabia and was rewarded...

Leo I, Saint, pope

(Encyclopedia)Leo I, Saint (Saint Leo the Great), c.400–461, pope (440–61), an Italian; successor of St. Sixtus III. A Doctor of the Church, he was one of the greatest pontiffs of the early years of the church....

Hohenstaufen

(Encyclopedia)Hohenstaufen hōˌənshtouˈfən [key], German princely family, whose name is derived from the castle of Staufen built in 1077 by a Swabian count, Frederick. In 1079, Frederick married Agnes, daughter...

Charles V, duke of Lorraine

(Encyclopedia)Charles V (Charles Leopold), 1643–90, duke of Lorraine; nephew of Duke Charles IV. Deprived of the rights of succession to the duchy, he was forced to leave France and entered the service of the Hol...

Henry the Lion

(Encyclopedia)Henry the Lion, 1129–95, duke of Saxony (1142–80) and of Bavaria (1156–80); son of Henry the Proud. His father died (1139) while engaged in a war to regain his duchies, and it was not until 1142...

Welser

(Encyclopedia)Welser vĕlˈzər [key], German family of wealthy merchants and bankers at Augsburg. It reached the height of its prosperity under Bartholomäus Welser, 1488–1561, who had advanced large sums to Hol...

Confederation of the Rhine

(Encyclopedia)Confederation of the Rhine, league of German states formed by Emperor Napoleon I in 1806 after his defeat of the Austrians at Austerlitz. Among its members were the newly created kingdoms of Bavaria a...

Lombard League

(Encyclopedia)Lombard League, an alliance formed in 1167 among the communes of Lombardy to resist Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I when he attempted to assert his imperial authority in Lombardy. Previously the commun...

Worms, Concordat of

(Encyclopedia)Worms, Concordat of, 1122, agreement reached by Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V to put an end to the struggle over investiture. By its terms the emperor guaranteed free election of bis...