Chapter 12 April 12, 2018
Frankfurt, Germany, in the State of Hesse, a gleaming modern city on the banks of the river Main. The fifth largest city in Germany, the airport, one of the busiest in the world, the world’s largest internet exchange point, a center of finance. A cosmopolitan city with one quarter of the population made up of foreign nationals. It is nicknamed Mainhattan for its many skyscrapers and Bankfort for its finance leadership.
Frankfurt’s origins though were much humbler. Its ancient name means the river ford of the Franks. In the Middle Ages its name was Frankenfort. It is in Hesse, formerly the Landgraviate of Hesse, best known by Americans for the Hessian soldiers who were rented by the Landgraf (like a count) to the British to fight in our Revolutionary War. At the time of Frederick Barbarossa, it was part of the Herzogtum Franken (Duchy of Franconia). In 1372 it became a Reichsstadt (Imperial Free City), directly subordinate to the Holy Roman Emperor. In the Middle ages, this modest free city had a major claim to fame. It supplanted Aachen as the site of imperial coronations by the Pope in 1356. In Frankfurt, 30-year-old Frederick III, Duke of Swabia was elected King of the Germans on 4 March, 1152.
As her Maserati limousine whisked her through the financial district at the speed she expected, Dr. Moore thought of her appointment at 1:00 PM with Dr. Hans Shaeffer, the Geschäftsführer (managing director) of the Historisches Museum Frankfurt. Barbara had known Dr. Shaeffer for four years, since co-chairing a panel debating the significance of the Battle of Tours at a Medieval History conference in Madrid. They had kept in close communication and Hans had willingly agreed to a meeting on short notice. Hans was about ten years older than Barbara and came from an old family descended from the Pfalzgrafen (Count of Palatine). His brothers ran an award-winning vineyard and winery in the Palatinate wine region.
When Moore was ushered into his office, Hans stood to attention and gave a slight bow, almost, Barb thought, clicking his heels. Dr. Shaeffer had been raised old-school and Barb enjoyed observing his impeccable manners.
After preliminary greeting and some mutual catching up, Moore told Hans of her quest. Hans was fascinated and congratulated Barb on her discovery. He asked how he could help. Barb explained that she would like to look through the museums collection to fill in some gaps in her knowledge of Barbarossa.
“But, Dr. Moore,” Hans said with a smile, “I cannot believe you have an ‘gaps in knowledge’ of anything!”
Barb laughed and replied she wanted as much detail as possible about Frederick I’s election in Frankfurt.
“You’ve come to the right place for that,” Hans said. “We have an excellent set of items on that. It appears that Barbarossa is the “flavor of the week,” as you Amerikaner say. We just received a request for all we have on him from a university in Bulgaria, of all places!”
“But I must tell you that no one is sure who all the Kurfürsten, Prince-Electors, were. Interestingly, my ancestor the Pfalzgrafen, may have been one. We know the Count Palatine was an Elector by the end of the 12th century, but are not sure for the election of 1152. In fact, the only Elector we are sure of was Frederick himself as Herzog Schwaben, Duke of Swabia!
[It may come as a surprise to the reader that the Holy Roman Emperor was elected. In fact, the Germanic tribes and particularly the Franks, commonly chose successor Kings from among the rival claimants. Originally the whole tribe voted. But by the Middle Ages, a few powerful nobles would have the vote. After 1200, the electors were the leaders of the four great “nations” of Germany – The Franks (Duchy of Franconia-Palatinate), The Swabians (Duchy of Swabia), The Saxons (Duchy of Saxony), and The Bavarians (Duchy of Bavaria), along with the great Prince-Bishops of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne.] But even this system was “flexible” until it was formalized by the Bulla Aurea, the Golden Bull, in 1356.]
“Of course,” continued Hans, “The big political reality was the rivalry between the Bavarian/Saxon Welfs and the Swabian Hohenstaufens, whom the Italians called the Guelfs and the Ghibellines. Since Frederick’s father was Hohenstaufen and his mother Welf, many supported him as Emperor to end the feud. As you know that didn’t happen.”
“Indeed,” Barb replied. “In fact that is something I want to explore. Henry the Lion, Herzog Sachsen (Duke of Saxony) was never reconciled to a Hohenstaufen on the throne and eventually Frederick seized much of his land and exiled him twice. But he out-lived Frederick and I’ve heard there were rumors of Henry having a role in Frederick’s death.”
“You’ll find anything on that here as well. However, Henry was in Saxony when Frederick died in Turkey - in Byzantine lands. It seems hard for him to be responsible, though he certainly hated Frederick enough.”
“I cannot thank you enough for your help, Hans.”
“Ich bin sehr froh to help my friend. And I have a present for you. I understand you enjoy the Riesling grape?”
“Yes, it’s my favorite.”
“When you leave, the porters have for you a case of my brothers’ best Riesling. It just won gold at the wine exposition in Cologne. Maybe the gold medal wine will help you find Frederick’s gold!”
Barb was blown away by the gift and thanked Hans over and over.
Barb spent the rest of the day and most of the next in the museum and at the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (German National Library).
After two days of hard research, Barb decided to reward herself with a dinner in the Villa Kennedy’s best restaurant, Gusto. (Actually, she admitted to herself that she dined there the previous night – but two rewards were in order she thought.) She then went back to her hotel room and had a pleasant call with Geoffrey. After she had brought him up on everything she had learned, he remarked, “You seem dissatisfied, Barb. You feel there’s something missing, don’t you?’
“I’m mostly getting concerned that you can read my mind so well,” she laughed. “Yes, I need to understand Frederick to help trace the manuscript to the monastery and to follow his route there and to Split. But I’m thinking that the key to interpreting the “Mystery room” at Split and finding the treasure is more related to Diocletian.”
“Then you should have much to research in Venice. A side trip to Ravenna might be very valuable.”
“Will you stop reading my mind!”
“Sorry.”
“Forgiven. Geoffrey, I have a confession to make.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve missed you.”
“I have too.”
The rest of the conversation was personal.
Let me laughing !!!
Careful what you ask for ...
Bulle means "seal" and thereby (in a classic example of synecdoche) the document sealed. English bulletin comes from this.
