Manfred received the principality of Taranto and the government of the Kingdom, Henry the Kingdom of Arles or that of Jerusalem, while the son of Henry VII was entrusted with the Duchy of Austria and the March of Styria. Manfred (1232 – killed in battle, Benevento, 26 February 1266), first Regent, later King of Sicily.Violante (1233–1264), married Riccardo Sanseverino, Conte di Caserta. According to some sources, she was related to the Hohenburg family under the name Alayta of Vohburg (it: Alayta di Marano); but the most accepted theory stated she was the daughter of Conrad of Urslingen, Count of Assisi and Duke of Spoleto. His initiative in this direction was visible as early as the Assizes of Capua (1220, issued soon after his coronation in Rome) 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.
In 1224 he founded the University of Naples, the world's oldest state university: now called Università Federico II, it remained the sole atheneum of Southern Italy for centuries. A further example of how much Frederick differed from his contemporaries was the conduct of his Crusade in the Holy Land. The emperor lost his right to establish new cities, castles and mints over their territories. This became a model for regulation of the practice of pharmacy throughout Europe. Since all the local authorities and most of the military orders denied him any help, and because the crusading army was a meagre force, Frederick negotiated along the lines of a previous agreement he had intended to broker with the Ayyubid sultan, Al-Kamil. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. This reputation was present even in Frederick's era. This demand of total surrender spurred further resistance from Milan, Brescia, Bologna, and Piacenza, and in October 1238 he was forced to raise the siege of Brescia, in the course of which his enemies had tried unsuccessfully to capture him. According to Andrea Dandolo, writing at some distance but probably recording contemporary gossip, Henry doubted reports of his wife's pregnancy and was only convinced by consulting Joachim of Fiore, who confirmed that Frederick was his son by interpretation of Merlin's prophecy and the Erythraean Sibyl. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous.
Frederick's tutor during this period was Cencio, who would become Pope Honorius III. Frederick lost another son, Richard of Chieti.
In November 1237 he won the decisive battle in Cortenuova over the Lombard League. He agreed with the pope on a future separation between the Sicilian and Imperial titles, and named his wife Constance as regent.
A papal army under the command of Ottaviano degli Ubaldini never reached Lombardy, and the Emperor, accompanied by a massive army, held the next diet in Turin. [8], The situation for Frederick was also problematic in Lombardy, after all the emperor's attempts to restore the imperial authority in Lombardy with the help of Gregory IX (at the time, ousted from Rome by a revolt) turned to nothing in 1233. He was not able to extend his legal reforms beyond Sicily to the Empire. It is also a rigidly practical book, written by a falconer for falconers and condensing a long experience into systematic form for the use of others.[57]. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. It made the Kingdom of Sicily an absolutist monarchy; it also set a precedent for the primacy of written law. Forgotten Books (15 June 2012). His real father was variously described as a butcher of Jesi, a physician, a miller or a falconer. [38] A letter written by Emperor Frederick II, found in the Regesta Imperii, dated to 20 June 1241, and intended for all his vassals in Swabia, Austria, and Bohemia, included a number of specific military instructions.
[8], At birth Frederick was named Constantine by his mother. Every new law established by the emperor had to be approved by the princes. [48] A bust of Frederick sits in the Walhalla temple built by Ludwig I of Bavaria. This back-and-forth situation was repeated again in 1242 and 1243. It is claimed he was seeking to discover what language would have been imparted unto Adam and Eve by God. His father, however, failed in his attempt to gain the princes’ support to make Frederick’s succession hereditary. He was crowned King of Italy on 24 April 1155 in Pavia and emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155 in Rome. As the Crusades progressed, he acquired control of Jerusalem and styled himself its king. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Had he been a slave, he would not have fetched 200 dirhams at market." 1200/10-1230/46), possibly starting around 1225. He was highly precocious. The name is the chapter heading for his early years in Kantorowicz. Innocent convinced the rebels to sign a peace but, after Frederick withdrew his garrison, Ranieri nonetheless had them slaughtered on 13 November. Frederick II (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. Updates? Despite initially appearing that the council could end with a compromise, the intervention of Ranieri, who had a series of insulting pamphlets published against Frederick (in which, among other things, he defined the emperor as a heretic and an Antichrist), led the prelates towards a less accommodating solution.
The Sultan summoned him into Jerusalem and entertained him in the most lavish fashion.
He played a major role in promoting literature through the Sicilian School of poetry. Roger of Wendover, a chronicler of the time, wrote: ... he went to the Mediterranean sea, and embarked with a small retinue; but after pretending to make for the holy land for three days, he said that he was seized with a sudden illness... this conduct of the emperor redounded much to his disgrace, and to the injury of the whole business of the crusade. Mongol probing attacks materialised on the Holy Roman Empire's border states: a Mongol attack on Olomouc failed (the leader being captured in a sortie), a force was repulsed in a skirmish near Kłodzko, 300–700 Mongol troops were killed in a battle near Vienna to 100 Austrian losses (according to the Duke of Austria), and a Mongol raiding party was destroyed by Austrian knights in the district of Theben after being backed to the border of the River March. Over time, this legend largely transferred itself to his grandfather, Frederick I, also known as Barbarossa ("Redbeard").
The fact that this was regarded in the Arab as in the Christian world as high treason did not matter to him. Just before embarking on a Crusade to the Holy Land, Emperor Henry died in September 1197 after a brief illness, only 32 years old. The school and its poetry were saluted by Dante and his peers and predate by at least a century the use of the Tuscan idiom as the elite literary language of Italy. [19], In 1225, after agreeing with Pope Honorius to launch a Crusade before 1228, Frederick summoned an imperial Diet at Cremona, the main pro-imperial city in Lombardy: the main arguments for holding the Diet would be to continue the struggle against heresy, to organize the crusade and, above all, to restore the imperial power in northern Italy, which had long been usurped by the numerous communes located there. He rejected any suit for peace, even from Milan, which had sent a great sum of money. He sent forces to Egypt under the command of Louis I, Duke of Bavaria, but constant expectation of his arrival caused papal legate Pelagius to reject Ayyubid sultan Al-Kamil's offer to restore the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem to the crusaders in exchange for their withdrawal from Egypt and caused the Crusade to continually stall in anticipation of his ever-delayed arrival. Furthermore, the Holy Roman Empire entered a long period of decline during the Great Interregnum from which it did not completely recover until the reign of Charles V, 250 years later.
20th century treatments of Frederick vary from the sober (Wolfgang Stürner) to the dramatic (Ernst Kantorowicz). During this time, a legend developed that Frederick was not truly dead but merely sleeping in the Kyffhäuser Mountains and would one day awaken to reestablish his empire. An attempt to invade the Kingdom of Sicily, under the command of Ranieri, was halted at Spello by Marino of Eboli, Imperial vicar of Spoleto. At his coronation, he may have worn the red silk mantle that had been crafted during the reign of Roger II. Against the interdict pronounced on his lands, the preachers condemned the Pope and continued to minister the sacraments and grant absolutions. Frederick's will stipulated that all the lands he had taken from the Church were to be returned to it, all the prisoners freed, and the taxes reduced, provided this did not damage the Empire's prestige. However, his enemies, especially the popes, prevailed, and his dynasty collapsed soon after his death. Even the master of the Teutonic Knights, Hermann of Salza, recommended that he return to the mainland to recuperate. Our latest podcast episode features popular TED speaker Mara Mintzer. In the mid-1230s, Frederick's viceroy was forced to leave Acre, and in 1244, following a siege, Jerusalem itself was lost again to a new Muslim offensive.
"[23], During Frederick's stay in the Holy Land, his regent, Rainald of Spoleto, had attacked the Marche and the Duchy of Spoleto. Frederick celebrated it with a triumph in Cremona in the manner of an ancient Roman emperor, with the captured carroccio (later sent to the commune of Rome) and an elephant. Jordan (born during the Spring of 1236, failed to survive the year); Henry (18 February 1238 – May 1253), named after. The German princes, supported by Innocent III, again elected Frederick king of Germany in 1215, and he was crowned king in Aachen on 23 July 1215 by one of the three German archbishops. [9][10][d] This name, a masculine form of his mother's name, served to identify him closely with both his Norman heritage and his imperial heritage (through Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor). The struggle continued: the Empire lost Como and Modena, but regained Ravenna. Frederick summoned Henry to a meeting, which was held at Aquileia in 1232. His aim was to reach Lyon, where a new council was being held since 24 June 1245. [8] He also issued the Constitutions of Melfi (August 1231), as an attempt to solve the political and administrative problems of the country, which had dramatically been shown by the recent war.
[8] Whatever his personal feelings toward religion, certainly submission to the pope did not enter into the matter in the slightest.