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 ...
(February 1167 – 20 January 1191) was duke of Swabia from 1170 until his death at the
siege of Acre Siege of Acre may refer to:
* Siege of Acre (1104), following the First Crusade
*Siege of Acre (1189–1191), during the Third Crusade
* Siege of Acre (1263), Baibars laid siege to the Crusader city, but abandoned it to attack Nazareth.
*Siege of A ...
.
Life
Born in
Modigliana
Modigliana ( rgn, Mudgiâna) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Forlì-Cesena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southeast of Bologna and about southwest of Forlì.
From 1850 until 1986 Modigliana Cathedral was t ...
in the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
Frederick I Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt o ...
and
Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy
Beatrice I (1143 – 15 November 1184) was Countess of Burgundy from 1148 until her death, and was also Holy Roman Empress by marriage to Frederick Barbarossa. She was crowned empress by Antipope Paschal III in Rome on 1 August 1167, and ...
. Originally named Conrad, he took the name of Frederick after the death of his eldest brother
Frederick V, Duke of Swabia Frederick V of Hohenstaufen (Pavia, 16 July 1164 – around 1170) was duke of Swabia from 1167 to his death.Decker-Hauff 1977, p. 355. He was the eldest son of Frederick I Barbarossa and Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy.
Life
In April 1165 Frederi ...
in 1170; also, he succeeded him as Duke Frederick VI of Swabia, being the sixth in unbroken succession Duke of Swabia with the leading Staufen name of Frederick.
In the older literature, Conrad/Frederick VI's older brother and predecessor Duke Frederick V of Swabia was partly overlooked, because was thought to be identical to as Conrad/Frederick VI, and for this reason he was therefore not counted as Frederick VI, but referred to as Frederick V. The fact that a younger brother born in 1172, the later Conrad II, Duke of Swabia, was given the name Conrad, which had been able to use because Conrad/Frederick VI renaming and which also had a long tradition within the Staufen dynasty, creates additional confusion when identifying these three sons of Frederick I Barbarossa.
Frederick I Barbarossa appointed the noble Degenhard von Hellenstein as ''Prokurator'' (Governor) for the Duchy of Swabia while his son was underage. In 1179 the Emperor granted to Frederick VI in addition to the Duchy of Swabia, some areas acquired in Upper Swabia and Bavaria on the basis of contracts of inheritance with Duke Welf I of Bavaria and Count Rudolf of Pfullendorf. For the first a lion was found on a Hohenstaufen coat of arms in a seal of Frederick VI dated around 1181. This design was in also in a 1220 seal of Duke Henry of Swabia, later Staufen King
Henry (VII) of Germany
Henry (VII) (1211 – 12? February 1242), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Sicily from 1212 until 1217 and King of Germany (formally ''Rex Romanorum'') from 1220 until 1235, as son and co-ruler of Emperor Frederick II. He was t ...
. The extended version of this seal with a three-lion crest was currently part of the
Coat of arms of Baden-Württemberg
The coat of arms of the German state of Baden-Württemberg features a greater and a lesser version.
History
The coat of arms of Baden-Württemberg was determined after the merging of the former German states Baden, Württemberg-Baden and Wür ...
.
In 1181 Frederick VI was betrothed to a seven-years-old daughter of King
Valdemar I of Denmark
Valdemar I (14 January 1131 – 12 May 1182), also known as Valdemar the Great ( da, Valdemar den Store), was King of Denmark from 1154 until his death in 1182. The reign of King Valdemar I saw the rise of Denmark, which reached its medieval zen ...
, whose identity is uncertain. After the brother of the bride and new King Canute VI of Denmark refused to give half of her dowry, the Emperor decided to send the princess (who had been living in Germany for five years at the time in preparation for her marriage) back to Denmark in 1187 still a virgin (lat: ''intacta''). The Danish princess could be
Ingeborg
Ingeborg is a Germanic feminine given name, mostly used in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, derived from Old Norse ''Ingiborg, Ingibjǫrg'', combining the theonym ''Ing'' with the element ''borg'' "stronghold, protection". Ingebjørg is the No ...
—whose assumed birth year was around 1175 and would fit with the repudiated child bride—, who later had an unhappy marriage with King
Philip II of France
Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French m ...
.
At the
Diet of Pentecost
The ''Mainzer Hoffest'' (literally "Mainz court festival") or Diet of Pentecost was a ''Hoftag'' (imperial diet) of the Holy Roman Empire started in Mainz on 20 May 1184.accolade from their father. The Emperor's sons and many princes, who followed their example and did not want to be inferior to them in this respect, gave the knights and minstrels gifts in the form of horses, precious clothes, gold and silver. This was followed by a riding event called gyrum, at which the knights showed their skills in swinging shields, banners and lances. Among the alleged 20,000 participants were the emperor and his sons. The next day the riding events continued. In the following week fighting games were to take place in
Ingelheim
Ingelheim (), officially Ingelheim am Rhein ( en, Ingelheim upon Rhine), is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany. The town sprawls along the Rhine's west bank. It has been Mainz-Bingen's district seat ...
. However, a storm caused several tents and the wooden church to collapse and also caused deaths among the celebrants. This was interpreted as a divine sign and the celebration was not continued.
On 27 March 1188, Frederick VI made a solemn oath to join his father on the
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...
. On 11 May 1189, he set out with the Crusader army from Regensburg. In his journey he arrived to the
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
, where he was betrothed to
Constance
Constance may refer to:
Places
*Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English
*Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada
* Constance, Kentucky
* Constance, Minnesota
* Constance (Portugal)
* Mount Constance, Washington State
People
* Consta ...
, a daughter of King Béla III, an ally of Barbarossa. Frederick VI's early death in the Crussade prevented the marriage from proceeding; some years later, in 1198, Constance became in the second wife of King
Ottokar I of Bohemia
Ottokar I ( cs, Přemysl Otakar I.; c. 1155 – 1230) was Duke of Bohemia periodically beginning in 1192, then acquired the title of King of Bohemia, first in 1198 from Philip of Swabia, later in 1203 from Otto IV of Brunswick and in 1212 ( ...
.
As part of his father's army, Frederick VI commanded the van while Barbarossa commanded the rearguard. Upon hearing his father's troops were under attack, he rushed back on horseback with his troops to reinforce them. However, he also had an important role at both the
Battle of Philomelion
The Battle of Philomelion ( Latinised as Philomelium - modern Akşehir) of 1116 consisted of a series of clashes over a number of days between a Byzantine expeditionary army under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and the forces of the Sultanate of Rûm ...
and Battle of Iconium in May 1190. Following his father's death on 10 June 1190 in the Saleph River in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, Frederick VI took command of the German forces and led them south towards Antioch. Although a large number of the Crusaders left the army and sailed from Antioch to their homeland, Frederick VI wanted to move to Jerusalem with his remaining army. In
Tripoli
Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to:
Cities and other geographic units Greece
*Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...
, a large part of his companions became ill on
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
, which is why only around 700 knights arrived with him in early October 1190 to besiege the city of Acre. While at Acre Frederick VI wrote his brother, Henry VI, asking for him to gain papal recognition for the hospital at Acre. Also sick with malaria, Frederick VI died on 20 January 1191 and was buried in Acre. Because the city is still from Saladin's Troops were occupied, the remaining crusaders were unable to enter the city and left the Holy Land after Frederick VI's death.
See also
*
Dukes of Swabia family tree
The Dukes of Swabia were the rulers of the Duchy of Swabia during the Middle Ages. Swabia was one of the five stem duchies of the medieval German kingdom, and its dukes were thus among the most powerful magnates of Germany. The most notable family ...
References
Sources
* John D. Hosler: ''Siege of Acre, 1189-1191: Saladin, Richard the Lionheart, and the Battle'', Yale University Press, 2018.
* Helen Nicholson: ''Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500'', Palgrave MacMillan Publishing, 2004
* Indrikis Sterns: ''The Teutonic Knights in the Crusader States'' in: Norman P. Zacour; Harry W. Hazard (eds.): ''A History of the Crusades: The Impact of the Crusades on the Near East. Vol. V'', The University of Wisconsin Press, 1985
*
*
* Gerhard Baaken ''Die Altersfolge der Söhne Friedrich Barbarossas und die Königserhebung Heinrichs VI.'' in: Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters / vol. 24 (1968), pp. 46–78.
* Hansmartin Decker-Hauff: ''Das Staufische Haus.'' in: Württembergisches Landesmuseum (Hrsg.): ''Die Zeit der Staufer. Geschichte - Kunst - Kultur.'' Stuttgart 1977, vol. III, pp. 339–374, p. 355.
* Helmut Maurer: ''Der Herzog von Schwaben. Grundlagen, Wirkungen und Wesen seiner Herrschaft in ottonischer, salischer und staufischer Zeit.'' Sigmaringen 1978, pp. 268–300.
*
* Odilo Engels: ''Die Staufer.'' 7. Auflage,
Kohlhammer Verlag
W. Kohlhammer Verlag GmbH, or Kohlhammer Verlag, is a German publishing house headquartered in Stuttgart.
History
Kohlhammer Verlag was founded in Stuttgart on 30 April 1866 by . Kohlhammer had taken over the businesses of his late father-in-l ...