Henry the Lion

Henry inherited the Duchy of Saxony in 1142 and leveraged his kinship with Frederick Barbarossa, helping secure the throne for his cousin in 1152. Barbarossa rewarded him with Bavaria four years later, making Henry master of a realm spanning from the North Sea to the mountains. In Brunswick he raised a collegiate church and planted a stone lion at Dankwarderode Castle to mark his capital. But when Barbarossa marched on Italy in 1176, Henry withheld troops; the emperor's campaign collapsed at Legnano, and the betrayal cost Henry both duchies as rivals closed in. After Barbarossa's death he trie…