The ''Letter on the Death of the Emperor Frederick'' ( la, Epistola de morte Friderici imperatoris) is an anonymous Latin newsletter about the sudden death of the Emperor

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...

on 10 June 1190 during the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...

. The letter was written by an eyewitness before the crusader army arrived at

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

on 19 June., p. 483.Loud, pp. 8–9. It begins with the reception of Frederick's crusade by

Béla III of Hungary Béla III ( hu, III. Béla, hr, Bela III, sk, Belo III; 114823 April 1196) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1172 and 1196. He was the second son of King Géza II and Géza's wife, Euphrosyne of Kiev. Around 1161, Géza granted Béla a ...

on 4 June 1189, followed by a brief account its progress through

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

.North, p. 1. It ends with the army's arrival in Tarsus on 17 June 1190. While the ''Letter'' is anonymous, there are indications that its author was a clergyman from the

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

. He compares the size of the Turkish capital, Iconium, to that of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

. The letter is addressed to "your holiness" (''vestra sanctitas''), which may be a religious body, a bishop or perhaps the

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

.Loud, p. 169. The Latin text's most recent editor argued, on the basis of poor

Latinity Latinity (''Latinitas'') is proficiency in Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then kn ...

and unimpressive

Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

allusions, that the author was a low-ranking cleric. On the other hand, it has been argued that author may have been Bishop Godfrey of Würzburg, Frederick's former chancellor, who died at Antioch in July, only a month after the letter was written. The ''Letter'' is preserved in two

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

s: Wolfenbüttel 239 and Turin, Accademia di Scienze, M.M.V. 11. In the former, which dates to the early thirteenth century, it is appended to a copy of the ''Gesta Friderici imperatoris'', a biography of Frederick by Bishop Otto I of Freising and

Rahewin Rahewin was an important German chronicler at the abbey of Freising in Bavaria. He was secretary and chaplain to Otto von Freising Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''A ...

. This manuscript originated in the

monastery of Sittich A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

. The Turin manuscript dates to either the early thirteenth century or the fourteenth. It also contains the '' Narratio de itinere navali peregrinorum'', another account of the Third Crusade. The ''Letter'' does not seem to have been used by the author of the ''

Historia de expeditione Friderici imperatoris The ''History of the Expedition of the Emperor Frederick'' (Latin: ''Historia de expeditione Friderici imperatoris'') is an anonymous Latin account of the campaign waged by Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, as part of the Third Crusade. It covers t ...

'', although newsletters like it were one of his main sources of information.

Editions

* Anton Chroust (ed.), ''Quellen zur Geschichte des Kreuzzuges Kaiser Friedrichs I.'',

Monumenta Germaniae Historica The ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica'' (''MGH'') is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published primary sources, both chronicle and archival, for the study of Northwestern and Central European history from the end of the Roman Empire ...

, Scriptores rerum Germanicarum, n.s. V (Berlin, 1928), pp. 173–178. **Translated into English by Graham A. Loud, "A Letter Concerning the Death of the Emperor Frederick", in ''The Crusade of Frederick Barbarossa: The History of the Expedition of the Emperor Frederick and Related Texts'' (Ashgate, 2010), pp. 169–172 (introduction at pp. 8–9). * (ed. and trans.), ''Italienische Quellen über die Taten Kaiser Friedrichs I. in Italien und der Brief über den Kreuzzug Kaiser Friedrichs I'' (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1986), pp. 372–382. **Translated into English by William L. North
"Letter on the Sacred Expedition of the Emperor Frederick I"

The Haskins Society Charles Homer Haskins (December 21, 1870 – May 14, 1937) was a history professor at Harvard University. He was an American historian of the Middle Ages, and advisor to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. He is widely recognized as the first academic ...

References

{{reflist, 30em 1190 works 12th-century Latin literature Texts about the Crusades Third Crusade Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor