Frederick II, Duke Of Austria
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Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 25 April 1211 – 15 June 1246), known as Frederick the Quarrelsome (''Friedrich der Streitbare''), was
Duke of Austria This is a list of people who have ruled either the Margraviate of Austria, the Duchy of Austria or the Archduchy of Austria. From 976 until 1246, the margraviate and its successor, the duchy, was ruled by the House of Babenberg. At that time, t ...
and Styria from 1230 until his death. He was the fifth and last
Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
duke from the
House of Babenberg The House of Babenberg was a noble dynasty of Austrian Dukes and Margraves. Originally from Bamberg in the Duchy of Franconia (present-day Bavaria), the Babenbergs ruled the imperial Margraviate of Austria from its creation in 976 AD until its ...
, since the former margraviate was elevated to a duchy by the 1156 ''
Privilegium Minus The is the denotation of a deed issued by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa on 17 September 1156. It included the elevation of the Bavarian frontier march of Austria () to a duchy, which was given as an inheritable fief to the House of B ...
''.Lingelbach 1913, pp. 93–94. He was killed in the
Battle of the Leitha River The Battle of the Leitha River was fought on 15 June 1246 near the banks of the Leitha river between the forces of the King Béla IV of Hungary and Duke Frederick II of Austria. The Hungarian army was routed, but Duke Frederick was killed, endin ...
, leaving no male heirs.


Family

Born in
Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; ; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neistod'') is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land Distr ...
, Frederick was the second surviving son of the Babenberg duke
Leopold VI of Austria Leopold VI (15 October 1176 – 28 July 1230), known as Leopold the Glorious, was Duke of Styria from 1194 and Duke of Austria from 1198 to his death in 1230. He was a member of the House of Babenberg. Biography Leopold VI was the younger son ...
and
Theodora Angelina Theodora Angelina ( gr, Θεοδώρα Αγγελίνα; 1190 – 22/23 June 1246) was the wife of Leopold VI of Austria, by whom she had several children. As a child, she was used by her grandfather, Emperor Alexios III Angelos, as a politic ...
, a
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
princess. The death of his elder brother Henry in 1228 made him the only heir to the Austrian and Styrian duchies. His first wife was Byzantine princess Eudokia Laskarina, (referred to as ''Sophia''), a daughter of emperor
Theodore I Laskaris Theodore I Laskaris or Lascaris ( gr, Θεόδωρος Κομνηνὸς Λάσκαρις, Theodōros Komnēnos Laskaris; 1175November 1221) was the first emperor of Nicaea—a successor state of the Byzantine Empire—from 1205 to his d ...
and his first wife
Anna Komnene Angelina Anna Komnene Angelina or Comnena Angelina (c. 1176 – 1212) was an Empress of Nicaea. She was the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos and of Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera. Life Her first marriage was to the '' sebastokratōr'' I ...
. They were divorced by 1222. Frederick secondly married
Agnes of Merania Agnes of Merania (1175 - July 1201) was Queen of France by marriage to King Philip II. She is called Marie by some of the French chroniclers. Biography Agnes Maria was the daughter of Berthold, Duke of Merania, who was Count of Andechs, a castle ...
in 1229, an heiress of the extinct noble
House of Andechs The House of Andechs was a feudal line of German princes in the 12th and 13th centuries. The counts of Dießen-Andechs (1100 to 1180) obtained territories in northern Dalmatia on the Adriatic seacoast, where they became Margraves of Istria and ult ...
whose
dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...
included large possessions in Carniola and the
Windic March The Windic March (german: Windische Mark; also known as Wendish March) was a medieval frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire, roughly corresponding to the Lower Carniola ( sl, Dolenjska) region in present-day Slovenia. In Slovenian historiogr ...
. From 1232 Frederick styled himself ''Dominus Carniolae'' ("Lord of Carniola"). However, the marriage was dissolved due to childlessness in 1243.


Reign

Frederick succeeded his father in 1230. Proud of his Byzantine descent, the young duke soon was known as ''the Quarrelsome'' because of his harsh rule and frequent wars against his neighbors, primarily with
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
,
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
and Bohemia. Even the Austrian Kuenring ''
ministeriales The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a class of people raised up from serfdom and placed in positions of power and responsibility in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire. The word and its German translations, ''Minist ...
'', which had so far been faithful to the ruling house, started an insurgency as soon as his reign began. According to the ''Weltchronik'' of
Jans der Enikel Jans der Enikel (), or Jans der Jansen Enikel (), was a Viennese chronicler and narrative poet of the late 13th century. He wrote a ''Weltchronik'' () and a ''Fürstenbuch'' (, a history of Vienna), both in Middle High German verse. Name and ...
, Frederick had gone to the court of Emperor Frederick II by his summon, leading a procession of 200 knights wearing the triband colors of Austria. When he approached the Emperor, he was enthusiastically invited—by both command and request of Emperor Frederick—to eat bread with him. The Duke refused, stating he brought his own gold. But the Emperor insisted without prevailing. Thus instead he ordered that no one in the town sell the Duke firewood for his kitchen. Duke Frederick instead sought a house to buy and when the Emperor learned of this, forbade it. Duke Frederick then instructed his marshal to go out late at night and buy some nuts so that his food could be prepared. Duke Frederick had impressed the Emperor so much that he allowed him the sale of firewood and whatever he wishes. Afterwards, the Duke asked to be shown the Emperor's assassins, which he was allowed. They moved onto the town's tower, which stood 50 cubics tall, and brought out two of his assassins. The Emperor then told one to jump down and without a thought, the man leapt and fell to his death. Immediately, Duke Frederick was impressed by the sheer loyalty of these men and the Emperor stopped the other man from jumping. The experience convinced the Duke of the Emperor's power. Most dangerous were his disputes with the
Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...
Emperor Frederick II in the course of the rebellion of the emperor's son Henry (VII), husband of Frederick's sister Margaret. Not only had the duke refused to appear at the 1232 Reichstag diet in Aquileia, appealing to the Austrian ''Privilegium Minus'' privileges, and displeased the emperor by picking quarrels with King
Béla IV of Hungary Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1235 and 1270, and Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. As the oldest son of King Andrew II, he was crowned upon the initiative of a group of influential noblemen in his fath ...
, he furthermore seemed to be involved in his brother-in-law Henry's conspiracy. When he again refused to attend the 1235 diet in
Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
, Emperor Frederick II finally ostracized him and gave permission to King
Wenceslaus I of Bohemia Wenceslaus I ( cs, Václav I.; c. 1205 – 23 September 1253), called One-Eyed, was King of Bohemia from 1230 to 1253. Wenceslaus was a son of Ottokar I of Bohemia and his second wife Constance of Hungary. Marriage and children In 1224, Wencesl ...
to invade the Austrian lands.
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
opened its gates for the united Bohemian and Bavarian forces and during the years of Frederick's ban even became an
imperial free city In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...
, where the emperor had his son
Conrad IV Conrad (25 April 1228 – 21 May 1254), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was the only son of Emperor Frederick II from his second marriage with Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem. He inherited the title of King of Jerusalem (as Conrad II) up ...
elected King of the Romans in 1237. However, the expelled duke managed to maintain his position as the ruler of an Austrian rump state at his Wiener Neustadt residence. In the same year, Frederick enacted the ''Landrecht'' Law, which required all subjects to defend the country in the case of invasion. In 1239, in a spectacular change in imperial politics, Duke Frederick became one of the emperor's most important allies. In 1241, Duke Frederick was one of the very few Western European commanders who faced the
Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
when they invaded Austria. After the Mongols started pillaging Hungary and Croatia, King
Bela IV Bela may refer to: Places Asia *Bela Pratapgarh, a town in Pratapgarh District, Uttar Pradesh, India *Bela, a small village near Bhandara, Maharashtra, India *Bela, another name for the biblical city Zoara * Bela, Dang, in Nepal * Bela, Janakpur ...
asked the papacy and the Western European rulers for help. Duke Frederick sent a very small expeditionary force of knights to assist the Hungarians. He and his knights managed to defeat a small Mongolian raiding party during the initial stages of the
Battle of Mohi The Battle of Mohi (11 April 1241), also known as Battle of the Sajó River''A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East'', Vol. I, ed. Spencer C. Tucker, (ABC-CLIO, 2010), 279; "Although Mongol losses in t ...
, but they soon left after inter-conflicts with King Bela IV and the
Cumans The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many so ...
in the region. He would meet the Mongols again, this time in his own country. After the defeat of Hungary, the Mongols now set their sights on Vienna. A minor raiding squadron started pillaging
Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; ; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neistod'') is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land Distr ...
in Southern Vienna, but Duke Frederick together with his knights and foreign allies, defeated them and drove them out. The Austrians would again defeat the Mongols in the
River March A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wa ...
in Theben.Howorth, Henry Hoyle. ''History of the Mongols from the 9th to the 19th Century: Part 1 the Mongols Proper and the Kalmyks''. Cosimo Classics (January 1, 2013). p. 152. Afterwards, the Mongols never again tried to invade Austria. The conflict with Bohemia was settled by the engagement of his niece Gertrude of Babenberg with King Wenceslaus' eldest son Margrave Vladislaus of Moravia. Negotiations with the emperor about the elevation of Vienna to a bishopric and of Austria (including Styria) to a
kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
were initiated, however, on condition that the duke's niece Gertrude now would have to marry the fifty-year-old emperor, who moreover had recently been banned by
Pope Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...
and needed allies. In 1245 the terms were arranged, but the willful young girl, then in her late teens, refused to appear in the consummation ceremony at the diet of
Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...
. In the year before his death, Duke Frederick finally succeeded in gaining the rule over the March of Carniola from the
Patriarchate of Aquileia The Patriarchate of Aquileia was an episcopal see in northeastern Italy, centred on the ancient city of Aquileia situated at the head of the Adriatic, on what is now the Italian seacoast. For many centuries it played an important part in histor ...
, but upon his death it fell to the
Carinthian Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carint ...
duke
Bernhard von Spanheim Bernhard von Spanheim (or Sponheim; 1176 or 1181 – 4 January 1256), a member of the noble House of Sponheim, was Duke of Carinthia for 54 years from 1202 until his death. A patron of chivalry and minnesang, Bernhard's reign marked the emerg ...
. Duke Frederick's ambitious plans were dashed when he died at the
Battle of the Leitha River The Battle of the Leitha River was fought on 15 June 1246 near the banks of the Leitha river between the forces of the King Béla IV of Hungary and Duke Frederick II of Austria. The Hungarian army was routed, but Duke Frederick was killed, endin ...
, in another border conflict he had picked with the Hungarian king Béla IV. He is buried at Heiligenkreuz Abbey.


Legacy

As the Austrian ''Privilegium Minus'' of 1156 also allowed women to inherit, Frederick's sister Margaret and his niece Gertrude would have been entitled to the throne. Shortly after the death of her uncle, Gertrude first married her fiancé Vladislaus of Moravia, who nevertheless died in the next year, then Margrave Herman VI of Baden, who did not manage to maintain his position in Austria, and finally in 1252 Prince
Roman Danylovich Roman Danylovych (c. 1230 – c. 1261), Prince of Black Ruthenia (Navahradak) 1254–1258, Prince of Slonim?. He was born as a younger son of Danylo of Halych, a powerful prince of lands east from Poland and later king of those regions, wh ...
, a younger brother of Knyaz Lev I Rurik, son-in-law of the Hungarian king, who also ended in divorce in 1253. In the same year the Bohemian Přemyslids made a second attempt to confirm their claims to the Austrian and Styrian duchies by arranging the marriage between Gertrude's aunt Margaret of Babenberg and King Wenceslaus' son Ottokar II, more than twenty years her junior. Subsequently, Austria became a field of conflict between the Přemyslids and the Hungarian
Árpád dynasty The Árpád dynasty, consisted of the members of the royal House of Árpád (), also known as Árpáds ( hu, Árpádok, hr, Arpadovići). They were the ruling dynasty of the Principality of Hungary in the 9th and 10th centuries and of the King ...
, in which Ottokar at first would prevail defeating King Béla at the 1260
Battle of Kressenbrunn The Battle of Kressenbrunn was fought in July 1260 near Groissenbrunn in Lower Austria between the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Kingdom of Hungary for the possession of the duchies of Austria and Styria.''A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the ...
, until finally being overthrown by the Habsburg king
Rudolf I of Germany Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death. Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum whic ...
at the
Battle on the Marchfeld The Battle on the Marchfeld (''i.e. Morava Field''; german: Schlacht auf dem Marchfeld; cs, Bitva na Moravském poli; hu, Morvamezei csata) at Dürnkrut and Jedenspeigen took place on 26 August 1278 and was a decisive event for the history o ...
in 1278. As the last Babenberg duke, Frederick the Quarrelsome signifies the end of an era in the
history of Austria The history of Austria covers the history of Austria and its predecessor states. In the late Iron Age Austria was occupied by people of the Hallstatt Celtic culture (c. 800 BC), they first organized as a Celtic kingdom referred to by the Romans ...
, beginning with the enfeoffment of Margrave Leopold I in 976. With his overambitious plans, which were frequently foiled by his erratic character, he somewhat resembled his later Habsburg successor Duke
Rudolf IV Rudolf IV (1 November 1339 – 27 July 1365), also called Rudolf the Founder (german: der Stifter), was a scion of the House of Habsburg who ruled as duke of Austria (self-proclaimed archduke), Styria and Carinthia from 1358, as well as cou ...
. According to the 18th century historian
Chrysostomus Hanthaler Chrysostomus Hanthaler (b. Ried, Upper Austria, 14 February 1690; d. in the Cistercian monastery of Lilienfeld in Lower Austria, 2 September 1754) was a Cistercian historian and numismatist. Having finished his theological studies in Salzburg, he ...
, Frederick was the first Austrian duke utilizing the red-white-red coat of arms after his accession—an attempt to prevail against the reluctant local nobles and to stress his autonomy towards Emperor Frederick II. The triband is first documented in a seal on a deed issued on 30 November 1230, confirming the privileges of
Lilienfeld Abbey Lilienfeld Abbey (german: Stift Lilienfeld) is a Cistercian monastery in Lilienfeld in Lower Austria, south of Sankt Pölten. History It was founded in 1202 by Leopold VI of Austria, Leopold VI, Duke of Austria and Styria, as a daughter house of ...
. The medieval chronicler
Jans der Enikel Jans der Enikel (), or Jans der Jansen Enikel (), was a Viennese chronicler and narrative poet of the late 13th century. He wrote a ''Weltchronik'' () and a ''Fürstenbuch'' (, a history of Vienna), both in Middle High German verse. Name and ...
reports that the duke appeared in a red-white-red ceremonial dress at his 1232 accolade in the Vienna
Schottenstift The Schottenstift ( en, Scottish Abbey), formally called Benediktinerabtei unserer Lieben Frau zu den Schotten ( en, Benedictine Abbey of Our Dear Lady of the Scots), is a Catholic monastery founded in Vienna in 1155 when Henry II of Austria brou ...
.


References


Sources

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External links


Friedrich II. der Streitbare
a
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick Ii, Duke Of Austria Frederick 2 of Austria Frederick 2 of Austria 13th-century dukes of Austria Frederick 2 Frederick 2 Military personnel killed in action Burials at Heiligenkreuz Abbey