The most unusual emperor of the Middle Ages arouses the “amazement of the world”
Constance of Sicily, a Norman princess and the wife of Emperor Henry VI, gave birth to a son on 26 December 1194. As this was her first pregnancy at the age of nearly 40, rumours began to circulate that she was only pretending to be with child, and would present the world with someone else’s baby. To counter these rumours, she gave birth in a tent in the market square of a small Italian town and presented the new-born to the waiting public. When he was two years old, Frederick was elected Roman-German King in absentia so that his father could go on crusade. Henry died en route to the Holy Land, and Constance arranged for the three-year-old boy to be crowned King of Sicily. Frederick was orphaned at the age of four following the sudden death of his mother. The Pope took over his guardianship, and the boy grew up in Palermo, on Sicily. He received a comprehensive education and encountered representatives from the many cultures, religions and worldviews that were present on the island.
The death of Henry IV resulted in a three-way struggle for power between Henry’s brother Philip of Swabia, Otto the Welf and the young Frederick. The death of Philip encouraged the by now 18-year-old Frederick to cross the Alps in 1212 and accept the election as a counter-emperor. Prevailing over Otto, Frederick returned to Italy and arranged for the election of his nine-year-old son as king. In return for the support of the German nobility, the Emperor granted and then codified a number of powers to them. Later these powers were expanded. This step cemented the strength of particularism in Germany and prevented the development of a centralized state. Frederick moved his residence to Italy, from where he ruled his empire. He fought countless battles with the Pope and other opponents and was excommunicated several times, even though he was able to regain Jerusalem in a bloodless crusade. These vast achievements, together with the breadth of his education and interests – he was said to have spoken nine languages, conducted research and even wrote a book on falconry – led to his soubriquet “The wonder of the world”. Despite – or probably because of – his personality, some churchmen reviled him as the “beast” or “Antichrist”. The death of Frederick II in 1250 opened the late Middle Ages.
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