Frederick II, Duke of Swabia

Frederick II, the one-eyed (* 1090, † April 4 (maybe 6 April), 1147 in Alzey ) from the House of Hohenstaufen was from 1105 until his death in 1147 the Duke of Swabia.

His younger brother Conrad was in 1138 as the first Hohenstaufen Holy Roman German king Conrad III. selected.

Frederick's sons were Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa (1122-1190) and Konrad (1136-1195), Count Palatine of the Rhine.

Life

Frederick was the son of Duke Frederick I of Swabia († 1105) and Agnes of Waiblingen, the daughter of Emperor Henry IV

After the death of his father in 1105 Friedrich followed him as Duke of Swabia. Together with Konrad Frederick II built the territory of the Staufer further. So they continued their father's politics. While Konrad mainly acquired territories in the former duchy of Franconia, Frederick focused on the Middle Rhine and Alsace, where he built many castles.

1108 Friedrich took part in the campaign against Koloman of Hungary. 1110/1111 he accompanied the Emperor Henry V. to Rome for an audience with Pope Paschal II As Frederick had held the Emperor while the opposition movement in Germany, the loyalty, explained that him and Konrad in 1116 for the duration of his trip to Italy his deputies ( Reichsverwesern ). This position of power took the brothers to expand the Hohenstaufen possession especially in the Rhine Franks.

1120 Friedrich married Judith, daughter of Welf Henry the Black. 1122 her son Friedrich was born.

After the death of Henry V and the associated extinction of the male line of succession of the Salian gathered on August 24, 1125 Great the empire in Mainz for the election of a successor, in which Frederick II was one of the candidates. The earlier assumption that Henry Frederick had determined before his death to the heirs of the king's crown is, in today's research often disputed. Rather, it is believed that Frederick should maintain order in the kingdom only until a successor has been found. On the other hand, were Friedrich and his brother Konrad about her mother Agnes, the heirs of the Salian territories. The course of the election of a king in Mainz today can not be reconstructed exactly. It was in any case a riot, during which Duke Lothar of Saxony as Lothar III. was elected as the new king. Frederick II accepted this choice initially and paid homage Lothar, but refused the oath of allegiance. Soon, there were disputes about the distinction between royal estate and the Salian family possessions. Friedrich and Konrad had inherited the family possessions of Henry V and divided along the Rhine: the left bank of Frederick, right bank of Konrad. The boundary with the royal estate, which they would have to return to Lothar, however, was controversial.

On a court day in Regensburg Lothar demanded in November 1125 the Hohenstaufen to separate the royal estate of the Salian family possessions and handed over to him. When Friedrich and Konrad did not respond, Lothar imposed in December, the imperial ban on them. In January 1126 several princes decided in Goslar, the eight enforce militarily against the Hohenstaufen. The king and his allies occupied largely without fighting Areas of Upper Lorraine, Alsace and the Rhine Franks; an attack on Schwaben, where the Staufer had retired, but he did not dare. An attack of Guelph to the Hohenstaufen heartland failed. 1127 Lothar had to break the siege of the Hohenstaufen Nuremberg. This defeats Lothar and his allies led to several rulers Lower Lorraine and Franconia deprived him of their support. During a battle in the context of these campaigns Friedrich lost an eye and therefore did not come as a king candidate in question, but now he lacked the physical integrity as a prerequisite. However, it is unclear exactly when this happened.

1127 came his brother Konrad returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and became the driving force to the Staufen page. In December, he had proclaimed himself King Friedrich and thus took the lead from. Frederick, however, was active continue as a military leader and Speyer in 1128 took a while Konrad largely tried unsuccessfully to gain influence in Italy. 1130 the situation changed fortunes of war: Lothar conquered Speyer back shortly afterwards died of Frederick 's wife Judith. In the same year also fell Nuremberg with its surroundings to Lothar. 1131 lost the Staufer the entire Alsace and were pushed back to Swabia and East Francia. Lothar refrained from further attack the Hohenstaufen, and focused on the expansion of the inner kingdom of structure and to the Italian policy.

1132 Frederick II married his second wife Agnes of Saarbrücken and then established a connection to another in opposition to Lothar standing house here. After his return from Italy in 1134 Lothar took the offensive against the Hohenstaufen, however, again. Against the simultaneous attack from north and Lothar Henry the Proud of the south, Frederick could not keep. In the spring of 1135 he submitted to Lothar in Bamberg in a hair shirt, Konrad repeated this gesture in the fall. Against a loyalty pledge and the commitment of the support of a Italy trip, the Hohenstaufen were reinstated in the royal favor. Konrad married Gertrude, a sister of Henry the Black.

1147 Duke Frederick II died in Alzey. His final resting place he found in Santa Walburga Monastery in Northern Alsace. His son Frederick succeeded him as Duke of Swabia and ascended in 1152 as King Frederick I Barbarossa the German throne.

Progeny

Frederick II married 1120 Judith († February 22, probably 1130/31 ), daughter of Henry the Black, who was also buried in Walburg monastery, and with whom he had two children:

  • Frederick I Barbarossa (1122-1190)
  • Bertha ( Judith ) ( † between October 18 1194 and 25 March 1195), ∞ before March 25, 1139 Matthew I. Duke of Lorraine from the house Châtenois († May 13, 1176 ); both were buried in the monastery Clairlieu

Around 1132/33 he entered into a new marriage; his second wife was Agnes of Saarbrücken, a daughter of Count Friedrich in Saargau; with her he had three children:

  • Jutta (1133-1191) ∞ Louis II, Landgrave of Thuringia
  • Konrad ( † 1195), Count Palatine of the Rhine
  • Luitgard († probably after 1155 )
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