Who was Frederick II of Hohenstaufen?
Frederick II of Hohenstaufen was the King of Sicily between 1208 and 1250. He was the second king of the Swabian dynasty to sit on the throne of Sicily. Frederick II was crowned in 1198, but, in consideration of his young age, he only ruled independently from 1208 to 1250 (the year of his death). He not only held the title of King of Sicily but was also the King of Germany (or of the Romans), the King of Jerusalem, and, above all, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He joined in the Sixth Crusade from 1228 to 1229 and conquered several areas of the Holy Land. Frederick II conquered several areas of the Holy Land and crowned himself King of Jerusalem between 1229 and 1243.
Birth and the Weight of Expectations
He was born on 26 December 1194 at Jesi in March Ancona. He was named Roger and Frederick after his grandfathers. The names were to represent the hopes that they had from the new born prince. Frederick II was supposed to unite the brilliancy and idealistic energy of Frederick Barbossa with the leadership and administrative ingenuities of Roger of Sicily. It was estimated that he may excel the power of his father Henry VI.
The birth of Frederick II was celebrated in strains suitable only to the coming of the Messiah. It has been reiterated by his biographers that he was to be a sun without a cloud, which was never to suffer an eclipse. There are several stories in his childhood which were later considered to be prognostication of his future career of opposition to the Papacy. In fact, like his grandfather Frederick I Barbarossa, Frederick II pursued his dynasty’s imperial policies against papacy, and the Italian city states.
Strained Relations with the Papacy
His father Henry VI, however, did not attack Pope Innocent III but did have conflicts with the papacy, particularly with Pope Alexander III. He made peace with Pope Celestine III and later with Pope Innocent III.
Frederick II, on the other hand, engaged in conflict with the papacy, including a period of open warfare and mutual accusations of wrongdoing. While he did not physically attack the Pope in the sense of physical assault, Frederick II’s actions often brought him into direct confrontation with the papacy, leading to excommunications, sieges, and political manoeuvring.
A Minority Rule and Political Fragmentation
As a child of three and a half years he received the Roman crown as a warrant of his claim to the crown of Germany. After the death of his father Henry VI, young Frederick II was brought to Sicily, where in 1198 he was crowned king of Sicily.
Before her death later that year, Frederick II’s mother Empress Constance loosened the bonds that joined Sicily to the empire and to Germany by appointing Pope Innocent III her son’s guardian as well as regent of the Kingdom of Sicily, which was already under papal suzerainty. In Germany two rival kings we elected, Frederick II’s uncle Philip of Swabia and Otto of Brunswick, as Otto IV.
The Struggle for Control in Sicily
Even the Pope, however, did not succeed in protecting Sicily from many years of anarchy. German and papal captains, local barons, and Sicilian Saracens, as well as the cities of Genoa and Pisa, fought for mastery of the country.
Intellectual Superiority and Absolute Power
Frederick II was certainly a man of rare and marked individuality. Undoubtedly, he was the ablest and maturest mind along with Hohenstaufen. He towered far above the average of his contemporaries. He was not aware that knowledge was power, and because he had knowledge, he exercised despotic power.
