Friedrich II, Holy Roman Emperor
| Friedrich II | |
|---|---|
| Roman-German Emperor
| |
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| |
| Reign | 23 November 1220 – 13 December 1250 |
| Coronation | 23 November 1220 (Rome, Papal Coronation) |
| Predecessor | Otto IV in 1215[1] |
| Successor | Henry VII in 1312[2] |
| Reign | 1198–1250 |
| Coronation | 3 September 1198, Palermo |
| Predecessor | Constance I |
| Successor | Conrad I |
| Co-rulers |
|
King of Germany, Burgundy, and Italy | |
| Reign | 1196/5 December 1212 – 26 December 1250 |
| Coronation | 9 December 1212 (Mainz, German coronation) |
| Predecessor | Otto IV |
| Successor | Conrad IV |
| Reign | 1225–1243[3] (also regent for Conrad II from 1228) |
| Coronation | 18 March 1229, Jerusalem |
| Predecessor | John of Brienne and Isabella II |
| Successor | Conrad II |
| Co-rulers |
|
| Full name | |
| Friedrich Roger | |
| House | Hohenstaufen |
| Father | Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor |
| Mother | Constance I of Sicily |
Friedrich II (English: Frederick II; b. 26 December 1194 in Jesi, March of Ancona, Medieval Italy; d. 13 December 1250 in Castel Fiorentino, Kingdom of Sicily) from the noble Hohenstaufen family, he was King of Sicily from 1198, Holy Roman King from 1212, and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1220 until his death. As the husband of Isabella II, he bore the title "King of Jerusalem" from 1225 onward. Of his 39 years as Holy Roman Emperor, he spent 28 years in Italy.
Life
Born in Jesi to Emperor Henry VI and Constance of Sicily, Friedrich was orphaned early and raised under papal wardship in Palermo’s multicultural court, absorbing Arab, Greek, and Norman influences (Abulafia, Frederick II: A Medieval Emperor, 1988). Crowned King of Sicily (1198) and later King of the Romans (1212), he secured the imperial title in 1220 after defeating Otto IV.
His reign fused administrative innovation with intellectual patronage. In Sicily, he centralized governance through the Constitutions of Melfi (1231), establishing a proto-modern bureaucracy, state monopolies, and a professional judiciary (Kantorowicz, Frederick the Second, 1931). At his court in Palermo, he fostered the Sicilian School of poetry—the first to use vernacular Italian—and corresponded with Muslim scholars like Ibn Sabʿin, translating scientific treatises on falconry (De Arte Venandi cum Avibus) and optics (Van Cleve, The Emperor Frederick II, 1972).
Politically, Frederick clashed repeatedly with the papacy. Excommunicated four times (1227, 1239, etc.), he fulfilled a crusading vow in 1228–1229 via diplomacy, negotiating Jerusalem’s return with al-Kāmil of Egypt—a bloodless triumph that scandalized Christendom (Maalouf, The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, 1984). Gregory IX and Innocent IV branded him “Antichrist” for taxing clergy and challenging Guelph cities, culminating in his 1245 deposition at the Council of Lyon. Frederick countered with manifestos asserting imperial sovereignty over ecclesiastical power (Stürner, Friedrich II., 2000).
Militarily, he subdued the Lombard League at Cortenuova (1237) but faltered against renewed papal coalitions.
Death
Dying suddenly in Apulia (1250), possibly of dysentery, he left the empire fragmented; his son Conrad IV died in 1254, ending Hohenstaufen rule in Germany.
Legacy
Frederick’s legacy as stupor mundi lies in his secular rationalism, legal codification, and cultural synthesis—qualities that later humanists like Petrarch admired as proto-Renaissance (Abulafia, 1988). Yet his absolutism and religious skepticism alienated contemporaries, ensuring his vilification in Guelph chronicles.
Family
Spouses
- ∞ 1209 Constance of Aragon (died 1222)
- ∞ 1225 Isabella II of Jerusalem (died 1228)
- ∞ 1235 Isabella of England (died 1241)
- ∞ (possibly) 1248 Bianca Lancia (died 1248)}}
Children
Frederick left numerous children, legitimate and illegitimate, here an excerpt:
- Henry VII, King of Germany
- Conrad IV, King of Germany
- Margaret, Landgravine of Thuringia
Illegitimate
- Frederick of Pettorano (1212/13 – after 1240)
- Enzo (1215–1272), King of Sardinia
- Frederick (1221–1256), Imperial Vicar of Tuscany
- Constance (Anna) (1230 – April 1307), Empress of Nicaea[4][5]
- Manfred (1232 – killed in battle, Benevento, 26 February 1266), the last King of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen dynasty
- Violante (1233–1264)
Further reading
- Prof. Franz Kampers: Kaiser Friedrich II. – Der Wegbereiter der Renaissance, Bielefeld and Leipzig 1929
References
- ↑ Frederick II was crowned King in Germany in 1212. He deposed his rival Otto IV in 1215 and received the Imperial coronation in 1220.
- ↑ During the Great Interregnum after Frederick II's death, no claimant was able to secure the imperial crown until 1312.
- ↑ (1988) Medieval European Coinage: With a Catalogue of the Coins in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (in en). Cambridge University Press, 155. ISBN 978-0-521-58231-5.
- ↑ Frederick may have regarded Anna of Nicaea and Manfred of Sicily as his legitimate children.
- ↑ Huillard-Bréholles, JLA (1861). Historia diplomatica Friderica Secundi. Henricus, 670–672.
