Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick II (December 26, 1194–December 13, 1250), Holy Roman Emperor of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was pretender to the title of King of the Romans from 1212, unopposed holder of that monarchy from 1215, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 until his death in 1250. He was also King of Sicily, from 1198 to 1250, where he was raised and lived most of his life (his mother, Constance of Sicily, was the daughter of Roger II of Sicily). He is also referred to as Frederick I of Sicily. His empire was frequently at war with the Papal States, so it is not surprising that he was excommunicated twice. Pope Gregory IX went so far as to call him the anti-Christ. After his death the idea of his second coming where he would rule a 1000-year reich took hold, possibly in part because of this.

Life

Born in Jesi, near Ancona, Frederick was the son of the emperor Henry VI who died in 1197, when Frederick was three years old. The previous year in Frankfurt am Main the child Frederick had already been elected to become King of the Germans, but the early death of his father prevented the accession of such a young child; that monarchy was, instead disputed by Philip of Swabia and Otto IV. His mother, Constance, had been in her own right queen of Sicily; she had Frederick crowned King of Sicily and established herself as regent. In Frederick's name she dissolved Sicily's ties to the Empire and also renounced his claims to the German kingship and empire. Upon her death in 1198, Pope Innocent III succeeded as Frederick's guardian until he was of age, and the young King of Sicily was educated at Rome.

Related Topics:
Jesi - Ancona - Henry VI - 1197 - Frankfurt am Main - King of the Germans - Philip of Swabia - Otto IV - Constance - Regent - 1198 - Pope Innocent III - Rome

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Otto of Brunswick had been crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Innocent III in 1209; In September 1211 at the Diet of Nuremberg Frederick was elected (in absentia) German King by a rebellious faction backed by Innocent, who had fallen out with Otto and excommunicated him; he was again elected in 1212 and crowned December 9, 1212 in Mainz; yet another coronation ceremony took place in 1215. Being King of the Germans had been the traditional precursor step for emperorship. However, until the debacle at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214 Frederick's authority was quite tenuous, and he was only recognized in southern Germany, as Otto IV had largely held on to the reins of royal and imperial power until then despite the excommunication, especially in northern Germany, the center of Guelph power. As a result of the decisive military loss at Bouvines Otto had lost the practical means to hold on to kingship and emperorship (and he withdrew to the Guelph hereditary lands to die, virtually supporterless, in 1218). (See also Guelphs and Ghibellines.) The German princes, supported by Innocent III, again elected Frederick king of Germany in 1215, and the pope crowned him king in Aachen on July 23, 1215. It was not until another five years had passed, and only after further negotiations between Frederick, Innocent III, and Honorius who succeeded to the papacy after Innocent's death in 1216, that Frederick was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Rome by Honorius III on November 22, 1220. At the same time his oldest son Henry took the title of King of the Romans.

Related Topics:
Otto of Brunswick - 1209 - 1211 - Diet of Nuremberg - 1212 - December 9 - Mainz - 1215 - Battle of Bouvines - 1214 - Guelph - 1218 - Guelphs and Ghibellines - Aachen - July 23 - Honorius - 1216 - November 22 - 1220 - Henry

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Unlike most Holy Roman emperors, Frederick spent little of his life in Germany. After his coronation in 1220, he remained either in the Kingdom of Sicily or on Crusade until 1236, when he made his last journey to Germany. (At this time, the Kingdom of Sicily, with its capital at Palermo, extended onto the Italian mainland to include most of southern Italy.) He returned to Italy in 1237 and stayed there for the remaining 13 years of his life, represented in Germany by his son Conrad.

Related Topics:
Crusade - Palermo - Conrad

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In the Kingdom of Sicily, he built on the reform of the laws begun at the Assizes of Ariano in 1146 by his grandfather Roger II. His initiative in this direction was visible as early as the Assizes of Capua (1220) but came to fruition in his promulgation of the Constitutions of Melfi (1231, also known as Liber Augustalis), a collection of laws for his realm that was remarkable for its time and was a source of inspiration for a long time after. It made the Kingdom of Sicily an absolutist monarchy, the first centralized state in Europe to emerge from feudalism; it also set a precedent for the primacy of written law. With relatively small modifications, the Liber Augustalis remained the basis of Sicilian law until 1819.

Related Topics:
1146 - Roger II - Constitutions of Melfi - 1231 - Liber Augustalis - State - Feudalism - 1819

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During this period, he also built the Castel del Monte and created the University of Naples (1224, now Università Federico II).

Related Topics:
Castel del Monte - University of Naples - Università Federico II

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In 1226, by means of the Golden Bull of Rimini he confirmed the legitimacy of rule by the Teutonic Knights under their headmaster Hermann von Salza over the Prussian lands east of the Vistula, the Chelmno Land.

Related Topics:
Golden Bull of Rimini - Teutonic Knights - Hermann von Salza - Prussia - Vistula - Chelmno Land

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At the time he was crowned Emperor, Frederick had promised to go on crusade. In preparation for his crusade, Frederick had, in 1225, married Yolande of Jerusalem, heiress to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and immediately taken steps to take control of the Kingdom from his new father-in-law, John of Brienne. However, he continued to take his time in setting off, and in 1227, Frederick was excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for failing to honor his crusading pledge - perhaps unfairly, at this point, as his plans had been delayed by an epidemic. He eventually embarked on the crusade the following year (1228), which was seen on by the pope as a rude provocation, since the church could not take any part in the honor for the crusade, resulting in a second excommunication. Frederick did not attempt to take Jerusalem by force of arms. Instead, he negotiated restitution of Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem to the Kingdom with sultan Al-Kamil, the Ayyubid ruler of the region, who was nervous about possible war with his relatives who ruled Syria and Mesopotamia and wished to avoid further trouble from the Christians. The crusade ended in a truce and in Frederick's coronation as King of Jerusalem on March 18, 1229 — although this was technically improper, as Frederick's wife Yolande, the heiress, had died in the meantime, leaving their infant son Conrad as rightful heir to the kingdom. Frederick's further attempts to rule over the Kingdom of Jerusalem were met by resistance on the part of the barons, led by John of Ibelin, Lord of Beirut. By the mid-1230s, Frederick's viceroy had been forced to leave Acre, the capital, and by 1244, Jerusalem itself had been lost again to a new Muslim offensive.

Related Topics:
Crusade - 1225 - Yolande of Jerusalem - Kingdom of Jerusalem - John of Brienne - 1227 - Pope Gregory IX - 1228 - Jerusalem - Restitution - Nazareth - Bethlehem - Al-Kamil - Ayyubid - Syria - Mesopotamia - Truce - Coronation - King of Jerusalem - March 18 - 1229 - Conrad - John of Ibelin, Lord of Beirut - Acre - Capital - 1244

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However, Frederick's seeming bloodless victory in recovering Jerusalem for the cross brought him great prestige in Europe, and in 1231 the pope rescinded Frederick's excommunication; this event is known as the Peace of San Germano.

Related Topics:
1231 - Peace of San Germano

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While he may have temporarily made his peace with the pope, the lesser German princes were another matter. In 1231, Frederick's son Henry claimed the crown for himself and allied with the Lombard League. The rebellion failed, though not utterly; Henry was imprisoned in 1235, and replaced in his royal title by his brother Conrad, already the King of Jerusalem; Frederick won the decisive Battle of Cortenuova over the Lombard League in 1237, but rejected a suit for peace, demanding total surrender; Milan and five continued to resist, and in October 1238 he was forced to raise the siege of Brescia.

Related Topics:
Henry - Lombard League - Battle of Cortenuova - Brescia

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His war with the Lombard League resulted in an invasion of the Papal States. This renewed the bitter fight between Frederick and Gregory IX (and the latter's successor, Pope Innocent IV). Frederick was again excommunicated in 1239 and in 1245 by the Council of Lyon under Innocent IV declared him to be deposed as emperor, backing pretenders Heinrich Raspe (who, after some military successes died in battle) and then William II, Count of Holland. (Again the terminology of Guelphs and Ghibellines is often applied to this conflict; in this case the pope is on the Guelph side, so that the usual meaning of the two terms came to be that Guelphs were supporters of the Pope, and Ghibellines of the Emperor.). The independent Italian city-states, the communes, took part in the conflict between Emperor and Pope. For instance, in 1241, during Frederick II's struggles with Pope Gregory IX, the people of Forlì (that city was a Ghibelline stronghold even after the collapse of Hohenstaufen power) offered their loyal support to Frederick II during the capture of the rival city, Faenza, and, as a sign of gratitude, they were granted an augmentation of the communal coat-of-arms with the Hohenstaufen eagle, together with other privileges.

Related Topics:
Papal States - Pope Innocent IV - Heinrich Raspe - William II, Count of Holland - Guelphs and Ghibellines - Communes - 1241 - Frederick II - Pope Gregory IX - Forlì - Faenza - Hohenstaufen

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After his return to Sicily, he wrote his book on falconry (1246), and introduced the concept of zero to European arithmetic. His 1241 Edict of Salerno (sometimes called "Constitution of Salerno") made the first legally fixed separation of the occupations of physician and apothecary. Physicians were forbidden to double as pharmacists and the prices of various medicinal remedies were fixed. This became a model for regulation of the practice of pharmacy throughout Europe.

Related Topics:
Zero - Arithmetic - Edict of Salerno - Physician - Apothecary - Pharmacist

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He was not able to extend his legal reforms beyond Sicily to the Empire. In 1232, he was forced by the German princes to promulgate the Statutum in favorem principum ("statute in favor of princes"). It was a charter of aristocratic liberties for German princes at the expense of the lesser nobility and commoners. The princes gained whole power of jurisdiction, and the power to strike their own coins. The emperor lost his right to establish new cities, castles and mints over their territories. The Statutum extremely weakened central authority in Germany for ages. From 1232 the vassals of the emperor had a veto over imperial legislative decisions. Every new law established by the emperor had to be approved by the princes.

Related Topics:
Prince - Statutum in favorem principum - Aristocratic - Nobility - Commoner

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Despite the various betrayals he had faced, Frederick died peacefully on December 13, 1250 in Fiorentino near Lucera, wearing the habit of a Cistercian monk. At the time of his death, his preeminent position in Europe was challenged but not lost, and was passed on to his son Conrad IV. However, upon Conrad's death a mere four years later, the Hohenstaufen dynasty fell from power and an Interregnum began, lasting until 1273. During this time, a legend developed that he is not truly dead, but merely sleeps in the Kyffhaeuser Mountains and will one day awake to reestablish his empire. Over time, this legend largely transferred itself to his grandfather, Frederick I, also known as Barbarossa ("Redbeard").

Related Topics:
December 13 - Fiorentino - Lucera - Cistercian - Conrad IV - Interregnum - Kyffhaeuser - Frederick I

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His sarcophagus (made of red porphyry) lies in the cathedral of Palermo, beside those of his parents (Henry VI and Constance) as well as his grandfather, the Norman king Roger II of Sicily. A bust of Frederick sits in the Walhalla temple built by Ludwig I of Bavaria.

Related Topics:
Sarcophagus - Porphyry - Norman - Roger II of Sicily - Bust - Walhalla temple - Ludwig I of Bavaria

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