The Norman-Staufen War was the first in a series of many medieval Franco-German conflicts. The war began over the succession of the Kingdom of Sicily as William III of Hauteville, a branch of the Norman Dynasty, had been overthrown in a popular revolt by his aunt Constance, who was married to German King Henry VI. While France appeared to have the numerical and strategic advantage, this changed after the Battle of Basel, in which the Frankish Army led by Richard I was decimated. Following this, the pope switched sides and refused access for Frankish troops through Italy. Additional fighting in the Mediterranean continued as Robert struggled to maintain his expansive empire. The Almohads had allied with Germans and attacked the Kingdom of Asturias, a frontier land of the HRE. In addition, English barons revolted and were supported by the Scots. The Franks tried to gain some support within Germany by supporting the House of Welf as rival claimants to the German throne after the death of Henry. After a second defeat in the Netherlands Richard committed suicide and left his empire to his son John. John signed the Magna Carta, which stabilized but decentralized his empire. Meanwhile, German armies were advancing towards Alsace. Philip II of Paris, duke of a large stem duchy in the HRE, gathered his small army and, in an act of what some would call divine intervention, won against the numerically superior, better trained and better supplied Swabian army. This prevented the Germans from reaching into Frankish lands, but both sides were still at a stalemate. In 1200, John signed the Treaty of Venice. The terms of this treaty included an independent Papal States ruling over both the Papal States and the Kingdom of Italy, the exile of the House of Welf, the coronation of Frederick II as Kaiser of Germany, and that Sicily would be ruled by the Kaiser on behalf of Papal Italy.
