👑🦅 FEDERICO II di SVEVIA - Stupor Mundi 🏰📖 (Storia Medievale)

In 1186, Constance of Hauteville, daughter of the Norman king of Sicily Roger II, married Henry VI of Swabia, son of the emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who was now thirty years old. He used this marriage to form a political alliance with the Sicilian monarchy. Unfortunately, it was not a happy union, both because the husband was 10 years younger than his wife and because he did not have a good character and it seems that he continually reproached Constance for her advanced age, fearing that this was the cause of sterility. Upon the death of Frederick Barbarossa in 1190, Henry VI inherited the title of Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from his father, but was incapable of exercising good governance over the Norman subjects who lived in the kingdom of Sicily, brought to him as a dowry by his wife Constance. So, in 1194, Henry set out on an expedition to Sicily, without his wife in tow, and arranged to be crowned King of Sicily on Christmas Day, in the cathedral of Palermo.   On the same day, Costanza, who was in an advanced state of pregnancy and was traveling towards Palermo to join her husband, realized that she was close to giving birth. If today no one is surprised by the pregnancy of a forty-year-old, in the Middle Ages a pregnancy at that age seemed practically impossible. Therefore, malicious rumors had been fueled about Costanza's true condition and not even her husband seemed truly convinced of his wife's pregnancy. So Costanza decided to stop in the town of Jesi and to dispel any doubts about her pregnancy, she had a tent set up in the central square of the town in the Marche region, so as to give birth in the presence of all the married women in the town. The child was baptized with the name of Federico Ruggero: "Federico" to indicate the Swabian descent as grandson of Federico Barbarossa and "Ruggero" to emphasize the Norman descent from the King of Sicily Roger of Hauteville. At only 3 years old, little Federico was orphaned and was placed under the guardianship of Pope Innocent III, from whom he freed himself at 14, when he became first King of Sicily and then King of Germany, acquiring the name of Federico II together with the title of emperor in 1220. But Federico was more interested in Italy than in Germany, so he established his court in Sicily, in Palermo, entrusting the crown of Germany to his only son. Federico II organized a strong and centralized kingdom, building various castles throughout southern Italy, where he placed his troops who had to control the territory and quell any revolts. Worthy of special mention is the castle of Melfi, in Basilicata, where the famous Melfi Constitutions were promulgated, a collection of written laws addressed to all the inhabitants of the kingdom, which limited the powers of the local barons and prohibited the use of personal revenge, instead relying on the justice established by the laws. Then there was the very famous Castel del Monte, characterized by an original octagonal plan surrounded by towers that were also octagonal. A cultured man, a lover of art and literature, Frederick II hosted scholars and artists from all over Europe at his court, spoke with Arab intellectuals and founded the University of Naples which still bears his name today. With the Edict of Salerno he regulated the profession of pharmacist for the first time and also wrote a manual on falconry, called De arte venandi cum avibus (or "The art of hunting with birds"). In a note upon his death, the monk Matthew Paris called him Stupor Mundi (i.e. Wonder of the World), a title that captures the essence of his inextinguishable intellectual curiosity. His relations with the papacy, however, were not idyllic: both Pope Honorius III and Gregory IX, also known as the Warrior Pope, forced him to undertake a new crusade in the Holy Land, threatening to excommunicate him if he did not. However, once he reached the East, he did not wage war on the Muslims, but preferred to make agreements with the Sultan of Egypt, obtaining control of the city of Jerusalem and a 10-year truce. These were important conquests from a diplomatic point of view, but upon his return, Frederick II was harshly accused of having made a pact with the infidels. In his government program, Frederick II intended to reaffirm his authority over the municipalities of northern Italy: a fact that worried the Pope, who feared the strengthening of imperial power also north of the Papal State, already bordering the Kingdom of Sicily to the south. Thus Pope Gregory IX supported some municipalities that joined together in the Lombard League and were called Guelphs. These were opposed by the Ghibelline municipalities who decided to side with the emperor. Thus began a very long dispute that would tear the Italian cities apart. 🎂🍰 Follow us on Facebook too!   / pasticciotti.it   and on Instagram: i_pasticciotti_it