Letter on the Death of the Emperor Frederick facts for kids
The Letter on the Death of the Emperor Frederick is an old report written in Latin. It's about the unexpected death of Frederick Barbarossa, a powerful emperor, on June 10, 1190. This happened during the Third Crusade, a major journey by European armies to the Middle East.
The letter was written by someone who was there and saw what happened. It was finished before the crusader army reached Antioch on June 19. The report starts by describing how King Béla III of Hungary welcomed Frederick's army on June 4, 1189. It then briefly talks about their journey through Hungary, the Byzantine Empire, and Turkey. The letter ends with the army arriving in Tarsus on June 17, 1190.
Who Wrote the Letter?
The person who wrote this letter didn't sign their name, so we don't know exactly who it was. However, there are clues that suggest the author was a church official from the Rhineland area in Germany. For example, the writer compared the size of a Turkish city called Iconium to Cologne, a city in the Rhineland.
The letter is addressed to "your holiness," which could mean it was sent to a religious group, a bishop, or even the pope. Some experts think the author might have been a lower-ranking church member because the Latin writing isn't perfect. Others believe it could have been Bishop Godfrey of Würzburg, who used to work for Emperor Frederick. Bishop Godfrey died in Antioch just a month after the letter was written.
Where Can We Find This Letter?
The Letter on the Death of the Emperor Frederick has survived because it was copied by hand into two old manuscripts. One copy is kept in Wolfenbüttel, Germany, and the other in Turin, Italy.
The Wolfenbüttel copy was made in the early 1200s. It was found with another important book called Gesta Friderici imperatoris, which tells the story of Frederick's life. This manuscript came from a monastery of Sittich. The Turin copy was made around the same time or a bit later, in the 1300s. It also contains another story about the Third Crusade, called the Narratio de itinere navali peregrinorum.
It seems that the author of another major history book about Frederick's crusade, the Historia de expeditione Friderici imperatoris, didn't use this specific letter. However, similar news reports were very important sources for his work.
Modern Copies and Translations
Today, historians have studied and published copies of this old letter. They have also translated it from Latin into other languages, like English. This allows more people to read and learn about this important historical document.
