Frederick I (c. 1050 – 1105) before 21 July was
Duke of Swabia from 1079 to his death, the first ruler from the
House of Hohenstaufen (''Staufer'').
Life
Frederick was the son of
Frederick of Büren
Frederick of Büren ( 1053) was a count in northern Swabia and an ancestor of the imperial Staufer dynasty., nn. 8 & 9.
The name Frederick of Büren is known only from the ''Tabula Consanguinitatis'', a Staufer genealogy drawn up by the monk Wib ...
(c. 1020–1053), Count in the
Riesgau and Swabian
Count Palatine
A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an ord ...
, with Hildegard of
Egisheim-
Dagsburg, a niece of
Pope Leo IX
Pope Leo IX (21 June 1002 – 19 April 1054), born Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054. Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historically ...
and founder of the
Abbey of Saint Faith in
Schlettstadt,
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
. When Frederick succeeded his father, he had
Hohenstaufen Castle erected on the eponymous mountain in the
Swabian Jura range, which became the ancestral seat of the dynasty. He also founded a
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
abbey at the site of former
Lorch Castle about 1100. By his mother he ruled over large Alsatian estates around Schlettstadt and
Hagenau.
When during the
Investiture Controversy
The Investiture Controversy, also called Investiture Contest (German: ''Investiturstreit''; ), was a conflict between the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops ( investiture) and abbots of mona ...
the Swabian duke
Rudolf of Rheinfelden was elected
anti-king to King
Henry IV of Germany, Frederick remained a loyal supporter of the ruling
Salian dynasty
The Salian dynasty or Salic dynasty (german: Salier) was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages. The dynasty provided four kings of Germany (1024–1125), all of whom went on to be crowned Holy Roman emperors (1027–1125).
After the death of the la ...
. In turn Henry vested him with the Swabian ducal dignity in 1079 and also gave him the hand of his seven-year-old daughter
Agnes of Waiblingen. Contested by Rudolf's son
Berthold of Rheinfelden and
Berthold of Zähringen, Frederick only ruled over the northern parts of the Swabian duchy down to
Ulm and the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
River. Finally in 1098, he and Berthold of Zähringen reached a compromise, whereby his rival confined himself to the title of a "
Duke of Zähringen
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...
".
In the last years of his reign, Frederick was able to expand the Hohenstaufen territories northwards, when he assumed the office of a ''
Vogt
During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...
'' (reeve) of
Weissenburg Abbey and the
Bishopric of Speyer in
Rhenish Franconia
Rhenish Franconia (german: Rheinfranken) or Western Franconia () denotes the western half of the central German stem duchy of Franconia in the 10th and 11th century, with its residence at the city of Worms. The territory located on the banks of ...
.
Marriage and issue
About 1086/87, Frederick married Agnes, daughter of Emperor Henry IV. They had several sons and daughters, amongst whom were:
*
Frederick II (1090–1147), succeeded as
Duke of Swabia in 1105, father of Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa
*
Conrad III, King of Germany (1093–1152), elected
King of the Romans in 1138
* Berta of
Boll (d. before 1142), married Adalbert of Ravenstein, Count of
Elchingen, their daughter Liutgard married
Conrad, Margrave of Meissen
* Heilika, who married Frederick III of
Pettendorf-Lengenfeld-Hopfenche, their daughter
Heilika of Pettendorf-Lengenfeld
Heilika of Pettendorf-Lengenfeld (also known as ''Eilika''; – 14 September 1170; buried in Ensdorf Abbey) was by marriage Countess Palatine of Bavaria.
She was one of the two daughters of the edelfrei Lord Frederick III of Pettendorf-Len ...
married
Otto IV, Count of Wittelsbach
Otto V, Count of Wittelsbach ( – 4 August 1156), also called Otto IV, Count of Scheyern, was the second son of Eckhard I, Count of Scheyern and Richardis of Carniola and Istria. Otto named himself ''Otto of Wittelsbach'', after Wittelsbach Ca ...
* Gertrud, married Hermann III of Stahleck,
Count Palatine of the Rhine
* Richildis, married Hugh I,
Count of Roucy
After Frederick's death, Agnes secondly married the
Babenberg margrave
Leopold III of Austria in 1106. Both are buried in
Klosterneuburg Monastery.
See also
*
Dukes of Swabia family tree
References
Sources
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick 01, Duke of Swabia
Hohenstaufen
Dukes of Swabia
1050s births
1105 deaths
Year of birth uncertain