(1129-August 6, 1195)
Duke of Saxony (1142-1180)
Duke of Bavaria (1156-1180)

His power was handed to him on a silver-plater through inheritance from his grandparents.
He was a pain in the ass to his cousin Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.
He refused to aid his cousin in invading Lombardy, despite being promised the city of Goslar (1175).
For his insubordination, he was slapped with a lawsuit and was condemned by the other princes who resented his power and holdings.
He lost most of his principality and was later exiled from the Empire by his cousin.
In his last years, he tried to regain his lands and power, but mostly failed in the end.
When the Nazis exhumed his corpse, they were disappointed that they found that he was a small man with black hair and not the tall, blonde-haired knight in shining armor depicted in Church art (see picture).

He was the most powerful Prince in the Holy Roman Empire.
He founded the cities of Munich, Stade, Lüneburg, Braunschweig (Brunswick), and Lübeck.
He erected a bronze statue of a lion in his courtyard at Brunswick (It is placed next to the Brunswick Cathedral).
He was brave (and perhaps arrogantly stupid) in challenging the authority of the Holy Roman Emperor.

Credit: Jeff

http://www.amiannoying.com/view.aspx?ID=13536

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