From 1147 to 1149 Friedrich Barbarossa participated in the ill-fated Second Crusade serving under his uncle Conrad III (1093–1152). Forty years later, as Holy Roman Emperor, Friedrich called for a new Third Crusade to the Holy Lands, which he led in 1189. His soldiers came from across the empire’s vast European domain, which at that time spanned from Flanders to Moravia and from the Baltic Sea down into northern Italy. For his battlefield acumen, his political astuteness and his resolute determination, Friedrich was arguably the greatest of the Holy Roman Empire’s medieval emperors. Accordingly, recruitment for what he referred to as his ‘army of the Holy Cross’ was described by one contemporary as being led ‘by his own example, he inspired all the young men to fight for Christ’.