Henry the Lion - A Bavarian shapes the north

In the middle of the 12th century, the duke, who came from the south, expands his power in the north. In 1142 he took over Braunschweig. In 1195 he died in his residence city of Brunswick.

Not only in front of Dankwarderode Castle in Braunschweig, but also in front of the cathedral churches in Lübeck, Ratzeburg and Schwerin as well as in front of the Imperial Palace in Goslar, visitors come across him:the bronze lion. Heinrich the lion brought the heraldic animal of the Guelphs from the south to northern Germany - it is a sign of his power.

The Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, who was probably born around 1129 in Ravensburg, is the rival of the Staufer Friedrich Barbarossa, who becomes Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation in 1155. However, only imperial princes who have a strong household can set conditions for the emperor's allegiance during military campaigns and thus assert their influence. That is why Henry the Lion tries throughout his life to increase the Guelph lands and his power. His residence is Brunswick, which he owns as early as 1142. There he had a cathedral built and the town castle expanded.

Henry the Lion on Crusade

Northern Germany in particular is the target of Henry's expansion policy:In 1147, Henry the Lion took part in the Wendish Crusade, which Pope Eugene III. and Bernhard von Clairvaux to proclaim the Christianization of the Slavic tribes in the north and east of the Elbe. In doing so, he subdued parts of the Slavic Obotrite Empire in present-day Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The campaign has a double strategic importance for Heinrich:Because the campaign takes place at the same time as the 2nd Crusade, Heinrich and his knights do not have to follow the emperor to the Holy Land. He can expand his power in northern Germany undisturbed - also in relation to the other imperial princes.

But it was not until 1160 that Henry the Lion, together with the Danish king Waldemar I, succeeded in completely conquering the realm of the Obotrite prince Niklot. The Slavic prince is killed in battle. His son Pribislaw initially resisted, but was baptized and received the lost territories back as a fief from Henry the Lion in 1167 - the Dukes of Mecklenburg were born.

Refoundation of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck

Henry the Lion also had a decisive influence on the development of one of the greatest trading powers of the Middle Ages:in 1159 he refounded Lübeck, which had been destroyed by fire. Through clever contracts with Sweden, the island of Gotland and the Russian Novgorod, he secures the supremacy of the Hanseatic city in Baltic trade and thus great wealth. The duke profited from the economic success of the people of Lübeck. The rich merchants pay high taxes to the duke. For centuries, the city on the Trave has been one of the most important trading centers in all of Northern Europe.

Emperor Barbarossa allies with Heinrich's opponents

In 1176, at the zenith of his power, Henry the Lion tried to revolt against Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. In return for his support in a campaign against the Lombard League of cities in northern Italy, the Guelph demands the city of Goslar, which has become very wealthy through silver mining. The Emperor refuses. A momentous decision by the duke, as it turned out in 1179:after returning from his campaign, Emperor Barbarossa allied himself with Heinrich's opponents among the imperial princes.

At several Diets they tried to bring charges against the duke for violations of the law. Henry the Lion replies with counterclaims, but never appears at the negotiations himself. The quarrel culminated in Friedrich Barbarossa imposing an imperial ban on the Guelphs, and the emperor distributed the duchies of Bavaria and Saxony as fiefs to his princely rivals. In addition, the emperor takes the field with the imperial army against the outlaw.

Ban and exile in England

Henry the Lion was exiled in 1182:he went into exile in England and placed himself under the protection of King Henry II, his father-in-law. In 1189 the Guelph returned to Germany and, thanks to the mediation of the archbishops of Mainz and Cologne, received back small parts of his possessions. However, it was not until 1194 that Henry was rehabilitated:he made peace with Barbarossa's successor, Emperor Henry VI, and the lands around Brunswick were returned to him. In 1195 Henry the Lion died in his residential city.

Heinrich's son becomes Guelph Emperor

Henry's third son, who grew up in England under the care of his uncle - the legendary English king Richard the Lionheart - ascended the German imperial throne in 1209 as Otto IV. In the dispute over the kingdom of Sicily, the Welf sparked a power struggle with Pope Innocent III, which ended with Otto's excommunication and his military defeat in 1214. In 1215 he was replaced as emperor by the Hohenstaufen Friedrich II. Otto remains the only Welf to ever ascend the German imperial throne.