Back Friedrich II. (HRR) ALS Frederico II d'o Sacro Imperio Romano Chermanico AN فريدريك الثاني Arabic فريدريك التانى ARZ Federicu II Hohenstaufen AST II Fridrix Hohenştaufen Azerbaijani ایکینجی فریدریش (ایمپیراتور) AZB Фрыдрых II (імператар Свяшчэннай Рымскай імперыі) Byelorussian Фридрих II (Свещена Римска империя) Bulgarian Friedrich II an Impalaeriezh Santel Breton
| Frederick II | |
|---|---|
| Emperor of the Romans | |
 Contemporary portrait of Frederick II from the "Manfred manuscript" (Biblioteca Vaticana, Pal. lat 1071) of De arte venandi cum avibus | |
| Reign | 23 November 1220 – 13 December 1250 |
| Coronation |
|
| Predecessor | Otto IV in 1215[a] |
| Successor | Henry (VII) king in 1220[b] |
| King of Sicily | |
| Reign | 1198–1250 |
| Coronation | 3 September 1198, Palermo |
| Predecessor | Constance I |
| Successor | Conrad I |
| Co-rulers |
|
| King of Jerusalem | |
| Reign | 1225–1228 |
| Coronation | 18 March 1229, Jerusalem |
| Predecessor | Isabella II and John |
| Successor | Conrad II |
| Co-ruler | Isabella II |
| Born | 26 December 1194 Jesi, March of Ancona, Italy |
| Died | 13 December 1250 (aged 55) Castel Fiorentino, Kingdom of Sicily |
| Burial | |
| Spouses | |
| Issue more... | |
| House | Hohenstaufen |
| Father | Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor |
| Mother | Constance I of Sicily |
Frederick II (Italian: Federico; German: Friedrich; 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 I of Sicily of the Hauteville dynasty.
He was one of the most powerful figures of the Middle Ages and 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. 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, Queen of Sicily, 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 four times between 1227 and his own death in 1250",[2] and was 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).
For his many-sided activities and dynamic personality Frederick II has been called the greatest of all the medieval German emperors.[3] In the Kingdom of Sicily and much of Italy, Frederick built upon the work of his Norman predecessors and forged an early absolutist state bound together by an efficient secular bureaucracy. He was known by the appellation stupor mundi or the “wonder of the world” and enjoys a reputation as a brilliant Renaissance man avant la lettre and polymath: a visionary statesman, scientist, scholar, mathematician, architect, poet and composer.[4][5][6][7] Frederick also reportedly spoke six languages: Latin, Sicilian, Middle High German, Old French, Greek, and Arabic.[8][9] As an avid patron of science and the arts, he played a major role in promoting literature through the Sicilian School of poetry. His magnificent Sicilian imperial-royal court in Palermo and, more particularly, Foggia, 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.[10] He was also the first monarch to formally outlaw trial by ordeal, which had come to be viewed as superstitious.[11]
Though still in a strong position at his death, his line did not long 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.[12] His complex political and cultural legacy has attracted fierce debates and fascination until this day.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "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.
- ^ Jones, Dan (2019). Crusaders. UK: Head of Zeus. p. 405. ISBN 978-1-781-85889-9.
- ^ Arnold, Benjamin (9 June 1997). Medieval Germany, 500–1300: A Political Interpretation. Macmillan International Higher Education. p. 113. ISBN 978-1-349-25677-8. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ Kamp 1995.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Cronica, Giovanni Villani Book VI e. 1. (Rose E. Selfe's English translation)
- ^ 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.
- ^ Sammartino, Peter; Roberts, William (1 January 2001). Sicily: An Informal History. Associated University Presse. ISBN 9780845348772.
- ^ "Ma l'imperatore svevo fu conservatore o innovatore?". Archived from the original on 29 April 2015.
- ^ Abulafia 1988.