This concise biography of Barbarossa provides a refreshing new look at the legendary Hohenstaufen emperor. Knut Görich liberates Frederick I Barbarossa from nineteenth-century nationalist interpretations and presents him in the light of his political decisions, his military conflicts, his tense relationship with the Pope, and, in particular, as the upholder of the empire’s honor – of the honor imperii. This volume, which is just as lucid as it is exciting, presents Barbarossa as one of the most important rulers of the Middle Ages, as a true virtuoso when it came to ruling, staging power, preserving rank, and demonstrating status.