Germany during the Crusades
Frederick II
Frederick I was one of the great medieval emperors and so was his grandson, but Frederick II has also been the subject of far more controversy, from his own time down to today. He has been portrayed as everything from a secret pagan determined to destroy the papacy, to the first "modern" monarch, to a sincere Christian, and more. In truth he was a complex and sophisticated personality who also had strong reasons to present himself in different ways to different audiences. Likewise, both his friends and enemies had their own reasons for putting their own interpretations on the man. The result is that we have quite a variety of evidence to reconcile, while yet still trying to assess his historical role and importance.
Frederick Grabs Power
As already mentioned, Frederick was only eighteen when he left Sicily to claim the imperial crown. Given that he had no army and not much of a treasury, and given that he had to pass through or near the lands of his enemies, this was no small gamble he was taking. To lose would almost certainly have meant to die.
Still, Frederick had reasons for hope. The German princes were heartily tired of Otto IV. Frederick was in fact the legitimate heir of his father, who still had many friends in Germany. And in 1210 even Pope Innocent III had withdrawn his support of Otto.
His journey north was the stuff of romance, with narrow escapes and timely rescues. Once in southern Germany he was in Hohenstaufen country and finally had something of an army, but the real key was his meeting with Louis, son of the king of France, on the German-French border in 1212. There the French agreed to support his claims and gave him much-needed money.
Frederick was crowned by his supporters at Mainz on 9 December 1212. This was a step, but the imperial regalia was in the hands of Otto, who was still in the field. Then Otto suffered a terrible defeat at Bouvines in 1214 at the hands of King Philip II of France. The regalia was left on the battlefield, and Philip returned it to Frederick. The combination of the military defeat and the symbolic importance of losing the regalia sealed Otto's fate. Frederick was crowned properly at Aachen on 25 July 1215.
Arranging Germany
As had been done by his forebears, Frederick first set about settling Germany, for this would provide the army he needed for dealing with the rest of his realm. He did the same as they had, granting rights to various princes in order to gain their financial and military support, and their political allegiance. It is often said of Frederick that he gave away too much and that he did so because he cared little for Germany and much for Italy. The latter statement is undeniably true; Frederick did not much like Germany. The former statement, though, is only somewhat true and is often misconstrued. Frederick treated Germany as emperors had always treated it: as a confederation of princes. As their overlord he was bound to hear their claims, settle disputes, and deal justice, and this he did. It was no part of being emperor, though, to "unite" them or to create a "nation" out of the morass of competing interests. Nor did he try, nor did anyone expect him to try.
The critical document in his dealings with the Kingdom of Germany was the Golden Bull of Eger, which he issued in 1217. I will discuss the details of this on the next page, but in brief it granted enough rights and protections to the German princes that they remained pretty loyal to Frederick despite the fact that he was absent from the kingdom for most of his reign and despite the fact that he made fairly heavy demands upon their resources. Of course, it didn't hurt that he led them to some profitable victories.
Arranging Italy
Frederick went to northern Italy, following the footsteps of his father, Henry VI. Like his father, he spent little time there but proceeded to Rome. In November 1220 Frederick was crowned at Rome, then went immediately after to Sicily, where he spent the next five years re-affirming his position there.
The difference between his actions in Sicily and his actions in Germany is striking. It's clear that he treated Germany in the traditional manner, as a confederation of powers. Sicily he treated as a single kingdom. This, too was traditional, though, for the Normans had so treated Sicily ever since they had conquered it in the 11th century.
Once matters were settled in each of his kingdoms, Frederick turned his attention to his crusade. He did this in typical style, surprising everyone with his actions. In 1225 he married Iolanda, heiress of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and so by marriage laid claim to yet another realm. Why he did this is not at all clear, but at least in part it can be understood as a sign that he really was serious about going East.
The West, however, would not let him go easily. In 1226 Lombard League re-formed, fearing that Frederick would reassert imperial power in the Kingdom of Italy. The emperor, though, had sworn an oath that he would leave this year, no matter what. When he didn't, Pope Gregory IX excommunicated him (1227).
Frederick finally sailed to the Holy Land in 1228, still excommunicated. He actually recovered Jerusalem, but because he did so only by means of a truce with Egypt, he received little credit and some criticism for it. He didn't care, for in his absence Gregory had attacked imperial holdings in southern Italy and Frederick had to return. There was a brief war, the emperor was victorious, and a peace was settled in 1230 (San Germano).
What else could go wrong? For a few years things were quiet, but in 1234 Frederick's son Henry rebelled in Germany, and he had to go north to settle that. Meanwhile poor Iolanda of Jerusalem had died, and in 1235 he married Isabella of England, sister to Henry III. This was a reconciliation with the Welfs. He also gave Brunswick, Lüneburg and other fiefs to Otto, nephew of Otto IV, and made him a duke.
In 1237 he ended his conflict with the Lombard League at the Battle of Cortenuova, though his field commander was Ezzelino III da Romano. With Germany and Italy both in line, Frederick was at the height of his powers.
He even had a break from his troubles with the papacy for a couple of years. Gregory IX died in 1241 and his successor, Celestine IV, served for only eighteen days. This was followed by two years of wrangling among factions and a new pope was not chosen until 1243. Unfortunately for the emperor, Pope Innocent IV proved to be an even fiercer foe than Gregory had been. He called the Council of Lyons in 1245, which deposed and excommunicated Frederick. Then he preached a crusade against him.
Frederick had been excommunicated before, but he was older now and had perhaps more enemies. In any case, a faction of German princes at once elected an anti-king, Henry Raspe, in 1246. The pope at once recognized the Welf anti-king as the only legitimate ruler of Germany.
Henry died within a year, but in 1247 William of Holland was elected. He was never a serious threat and did not bestir himself from the Netherlands, but he continued to serve as a focal point of opposition until his death in 1256.
By then, Frederick himself was dead. The aging emperor spent his final years locked in a military and political struggle with Innocent IV. Papal opposition ran so deep that Frederick was unable even to get his son recognized as a legitimate successor. It was this pope who famously called the Hohenstaufen a "brood of vipers" and vowed to destroy them utterly.
Frederick died in 1250. His son Conrad laid claim to his father's titles, but nothing went right. Before going into that narrative, however, this is a good point at which to review the legacy of Frederick II.