The Battle of Flochberg (8 February 1150) was a victory for the royal forces of Henry (VI) of Germany over the House of Welf, led by

Welf VI Welf VI (111515 December 1191) was the margrave of Tuscany (1152–1162) and duke of Spoleto (1152–1162), the third son of Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria, and a member of the illustrious family of the Welf. Biography Welf inherited the familial po ...

and his son,

Welf VII Welf VII (c. 1135 – 11 or 12 September 1167) was the only son of Welf VI, Duke of Spoleto and Margrave of Tuscany, and Uta, daughter of Godfrey of Calw, count palatine of the Rhine. He was a member of the House of Welf. His father inherited th ...

. Henry's father, Conrad III, and Welf VI had gone on the Second Crusade together. On his return journey in 1148 Welf had entered into an alliance with Roger II of Sicily, Conrad's enemy. Having agreed to foment discord in Germany, he revived the Welf claim to the

Duchy of Bavaria The Duchy of Bavaria ( German: ''Herzogtum Bayern'') was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarian tribes and ruled by dukes (''duces'') under ...

for his nephew,

Henry the Lion Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180. Henry was one of the most powerful German p ...

. In early 1150, the Welfs raided the possessions of the

Hohenstaufen dynasty The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynasty ...

in the Duchy of Swabia. Conrad sent Henry to intercept them with a few hundred men. Henry's forward reconnaissance troops surprised the Welfs at the royal castle (''castrum regis'') of Flochberg (Vlochperch), near

Nördlingen Nördlingen (; Swabian: ''Nearle'' or ''Nearleng'') is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, with a population of approximately 20,674. It is located approximately east of Stuttgart, and northwest of Munich. It was b ...

, as they were retreating from Swabia and pinned them down. When the rest of the royal army arrived, the Welfs' smaller force was routed. Only nightfall allowed some, including the Welfs, to escape. At the same time, Conrad was besieging Brunswick in the

Duchy of Saxony The Duchy of Saxony ( nds, Hartogdom Sassen, german: Herzogtum Sachsen) was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and incorporated into the C ...

, but he lifted the siege when confronted by Henry the Lion. The conflict was thus frozen at the time of Conrad's death in 1152. The military prowess of Henry (VI) was emphasised in letters to his uncle, the

Byzantine emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, to Fall of Constantinople, its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. On ...

Manuel I Manuel I may refer to: * Manuel I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (1143–1180) *Manuel I of Trebizond, Emperor of Trebizond (1228–1263) *Manuel I of Portugal Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate ( pt, O Venturoso), wa ...

, Conrad's ally and Roger II's enemy, but the young king died later that year.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flochberg 1150s in the Holy Roman Empire 1150 in Europe 1150s conflicts Battles involving the Holy Roman Empire Conflicts in 1150 Battles in Baden-Württemberg