This is a complicated story, but I think you'll agree I have been dealt quite a bit of injustice by my dear cousin and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.

Frederick and I were allies for a long time, going back at least to his election as king of the Germans. My support was no doubt instrumental to him being chosen over Conrad III’s son and heir. And in return he helped me restore my rightful claim to the Duchy of Bavaria. Of course there were other reasons we formed such a strong relationship. I had no siblings, as my father died very young. Frederick’s half-brother was over a decade younger, not even 20 when Conrad died and Frederick was elected king. So we two cousins were natural allies, and worked together for decades.

We went to Italy together many times. On our first trip, Frederick was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the pope, and we fought together in the streets of Rome. But it was our second trip, in 1158, that was really something. We besieged and conquered Milan, and were making our way through the other northern cities, when the Pope died. Somehow, we got into the middle of choosing the rightful new Pope, as two Cardinals were struggling over the Papacy. Frederick chose Victor after Alexander III refused to come to an audience with Frederick; that would have worked out, except Victor went and died on us. We went back down to Italy twice more together to fight the Italians after that.

But as time went by, it just turned into Italy, Italy, Italy with Frederick. Muster at Augsburg this spring and let’s try to get to Sicily *again*. When he went down for his fifth attempt, I just couldn’t go with him.

Look, I had a lot of issues at home. Although I am, obviously, the rightful ruler of Saxony, that didn’t stop other, lesser lords vying for power against each other and against me. Constant squabbling. It took a lot to solidify my power there. If I want to do anything in Saxony, I have to convince half a dozen pig headed Lords to come along with me, and I’m constantly stamping out fires that start when my back is turned. Not to mention my righteous wars against the Slavs to the east. And then Bavaria is another story all together. I honestly never had enough time to actually go down there and stay long enough to really consolidate my power. I’ve followed Frederick down into Italy to crush Milan enough times. I needed to deal with my own issues in my own backyard and not pick any more fights with the damn Pope or the Italians.

And to be honest, Frederick was sometimes not all that supportive of me. I know that he is the Emperor, and has to balance the needs of everyone in Germany against his own needs. But I was his most important ally. I was the one negotiating between the emperor and the pope. The emperor and the bishops. The emperor and the other, lesser nobles. Yet somehow I couldn’t always trust Frederick to have my back against the other lords. To be honest, part of this might have been that his own children were getting older. He didn’t need his cousin so much anymore, but he did need to start handing out titles and lands to his own sons, and start consolidating their power. I understand that, really I do. But I would think he would then understand that I had my own things I need to take care of.

Imagine my shock – imagine Europe’s shock – when Frederick started losing battles to the Italians. He asked for my help, but at that point I had no interest in wasteful Italian campaigns, and I couldn’t even convince him to sweeten the deal for me by offering me, say, Goslar, a nice Saxon city. I thought he would finally have enough and come home. But no, he besieged Legnano and lost badly. It turns out the might of the German empire may have been my Saxon knights.

At that point, I really got to see who my friends were. Suddenly my squabbling lords were squabbling against me in earnest. I was even accused of treason. Ultimately, Frederick exiled me. I wasn’t going to go without a fight, but I was outnumbered. Luckily, my dear wife Matilda was the daughter of Henry II of England (another Lion!) and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Lucky for us, Henry and Eleanor were glad to see Maud again, and we found shelter with the English court. But I longed to go back to my rightful lands in Saxony. Ultimately I knew that I needed to humble myself, and ask for forgiveness from Frederick. And it worked! We went back to Saxony, and I got to return to my beloved Braunschweig. But it wasn’t to last. Frederick and his foreign wars struck again! He dangled all of my old lands and titles in front of me, if only I would agree to go on crusade with him. Look, I was too old for that. Frederick was too old for that. I declined. And it was back to England for me.

And now here we are. Frederick is planning to go on Crusade. My beloved Mathilda is dead, along with her father. It’s me and her brother Richard the Lionheart here in England. But Richard is now talking about going along on this Crusade, but England is feeling a little claustrophobic between me, Richard, and John (who is a loser, don’t get me started). And I happen to know that I would have a lot of support in Saxony. This feels like my chance to go back in there, take what’s rightfully mine, maybe get a little revenge on the people who betrayed me. What do you guys think? WIBTA if I invaded Saxony?