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This guy was based as fuck. Frederick I HRE, Barbarossa.
His grandson was Frederick II HRE.
Both were of the House of Hohenstaufen and were embroiled in power struggles with the House of Welf.
(Ghibellines vs Guelphs)
These conflicts were essentially fought over which body wielded supreme authority. The Hohenstaufens and more generally, Ghibellines, fought for the authority of the Emperor. The Welf pussies and their lackeys fought for the authority of the Papacy.
Frederick II's untimely death ended the Ghibelline power struggle, and the Papacy bedded itself in until Martin Luther and the Reformation took hold.
Whilst the Reformation did address doctrine, the extent to which it was motivated and carried more generally by an opposition to Rome, I believe, is still up for debate. Who knows what the world would be like if the Ghibellines had thwarted the Papacy earlier?
