Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick II
A gold augustalis bearing Frederick's effigy. Legend: c(a)esar aug(ustus) imp(erator) rom(anorum)
Reign23 November 1220 – 13 December 1250
Coronation
PredecessorOtto IV in 1215[a]
SuccessorHenry VII in 1312[b]
King of Sicily
Reign1198–1250
Coronation3 September 1198, Palermo
PredecessorConstance I
SuccessorConrad I
Co-rulerConstance I (1198) and
Henry II (1212–1217)
King of Jerusalem
Reign1225–1228
Coronation18 March 1229, Jerusalem
PredecessorIsabella II and John
SuccessorConrad II
Co-sovereignIsabella II
Born26 December 1194
Jesi, March of Ancona, Italy
Died13 December 1250(1250-12-13) (aged 55)
Castel Fiorentino, Kingdom of Sicily
Burial
Spouses
(m. 1209; died 1222)
(m. 1225; died 1228)
(m. 1235; died 1241)
(m. 1246)
Issue
more...
HouseHohenstaufen
FatherHenry VI, Holy Roman Emperor
MotherConstance, Queen of Sicily

Frederick II (German: Friedrich; Italian: Federico; Latin: Fridericus; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jerusalem from 1225. He was the son of emperor Henry VI of the Hohenstaufen dynasty (the second son of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa) and Queen Constance of Sicily of the Hauteville dynasty.

He ruled a vast area, beginning with Sicily and stretching through Italy all the way north to Germany. As the Crusades progressed, he acquired control of Jerusalem and styled himself its king. However, the Papacy became his enemy, and it eventually prevailed. Viewing himself as a direct successor to the Roman emperors of antiquity,[1] he was Emperor of the Romans from his papal coronation in 1220 until his death; he was also a claimant to the title of King of the Romans from 1212 and unopposed holder of that monarchy from 1215. As such, he was King of Germany, of Italy, and of Burgundy. At the age of three, he was crowned King of Sicily as a co-ruler with his mother, Constance of Hauteville, the daughter of Roger II of Sicily. His other royal title was King of Jerusalem by virtue of marriage and his connection with the Sixth Crusade. Frequently at war with the papacy, which was hemmed in between Frederick's lands in northern Italy and his Kingdom of Sicily (the Regno) to the south, he was excommunicated three times and often vilified in pro-papal chronicles of the time and after. Pope Gregory IX went so far as to declare him preambulus Antichristi (predecessor of the Antichrist.)

Speaking six languages (Latin, Sicilian, Middle High German, Old French, Greek, and Arabic),[2][3] Frederick has a reputation as a Renaissance man avant la lettre, as scientist, scholar, architect, poet and composer.[4][5][6] As an avid patron of science and the arts, he played a major role in promoting literature through the Sicilian School of poetry. His Sicilian royal court in Palermo, beginning around 1220, saw the first use of a literary form of an Italo-Romance language, Sicilian. The poetry that emanated from the school had a significant influence on literature and on what was to become the modern Italian language.[7] He was also the first king to formally outlaw trial by ordeal, which had come to be viewed as superstitious.[8]

After his death, his line did not survive, and the House of Hohenstaufen came to an end. Furthermore, the Holy Roman Empire entered a long period of decline during the Great Interregnum.[9] His complex political and cultural legacy has attracted fierce debates until this day.


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  1. ^ "His dream of universal power made him regard himself as an emperor of classical times and a direct successor to Augustus", notes Roberto Weiss, The Renaissance Discovery of Classical Antiquity (Oxford: Blackwell) 1973:12.
  2. ^ Cronica, Giovanni Villani Book VI e. 1. (Rose E. Selfe's English translation)
  3. ^ Köhler, Walther [in German] (1903). "Emperor Frederick II., The Hohenstaufe". The American Journal of Theology. 7 (2): 225–248. doi:10.1086/478355. JSTOR 3153729.
  4. ^ Gerlini, Edoardo (2014). The Heian Court Poetry as World Literature: From the Point of View of Early Italian Poetry. Firenze University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-88-6655-600-8. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  5. ^ Lerner, Robert E. (11 September 2018). Ernst Kantorowicz: A Life. Princeton University Press. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-691-18302-2. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  6. ^ Hourihane, Colum (2012). The Grove Encyclopedia of Medieval Art and Architecture. Oxford University Press. p. 342. ISBN 978-0-19-539536-5. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  7. ^ Sammartino, Peter; Roberts, William (1 January 2001). Sicily: An Informal History. Associated University Presse. ISBN 9780845348772.
  8. ^ "Ma l'imperatore svevo fu conservatore o innovatore?". Archived from the original on 29 April 2015.
  9. ^ Abulafia 1988.