Heinrich der Löwe

Heinrich der Löwe (1129-95, Brunswick), Duke of Saxony 1142-80, son of Heinrich der Stolze, reconquered Bavaria, which his father had lost, and held it as duke from 1156 to 1180. He quarrelled with the Emperor Friedrich I and was outlawed in 1179, and deprived of his possessions in 1180. He was in exile from 1182 to 1185, living with Henry II of England in Normandy. In 1189 and 1190 he regained some of his possessions. He is buried in Brunswick Cathedral, which he built 1173-95 (see Braunschweig). His symbol, the bronze lion (1166), stands in the Burgplatz in front of the Burg Dankwarderode, which he erected c.1175. He was the patron of the Pfaffe Konrad who wrote the Rolandslied for him and his consort c.1170. Heinrich der Löwe is the subject of plays by E. Klingemann and M. Greif; he is an important figure in the play Kaiser Friedrich Barbarossa by C. D. Grabbe.