History Focus
September 29

Frederick II was the Holy Roman emperor from 1215 to 1250. He was excommunicated for the first time on September 29, 1227.

Frederick II was born in Lesi, Italy, on December 26, 1194. Frederick was the son of Henry VI and grandson of Frederick I, Holy Roman emperor. He was made German king in 1196 at the age of two. His father died two years later and Frederick II became king of Sicily. His mother died several months later and the four-year-old monarch was placed under the guardianship of Pope Innocent III.
He made many promises to the papacy. Because of this, the pope supported his contest for the crown and he was crowned king of Germany at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1215 and Holy Roman emperor at Rome in 1220.

On his coronation Frederick made numerous elaborate promises to the church. Among these promises was a vow that he would go on a Crusade. He postponed the Crusade due to a number of problems. He was then threatened several times with excommunication if he did not fulfill his coronation pledge of the Crusade.

Frederick determined to sail for Jerusalem in 1227. An epidemic forced him to return three days after his departure, whereupon Pope Gregory IX declared him excommunicated. In 1228 Frederick led the Fifth Crusade to the Holy Land, where he took Jerusalem and concluded a 10-year truce with the sultan of Egypt. Frederick was crowned king of Jerusalem in that city in 1229. During intermittent struggles with the papacy he was excommunicated twice again, by Pope Gregory IX in 1239 and in 1245 by Pope Innocent IV.

His rule brought peace, prosperity and the Arts to Italy. Frederick made worthy contributions to learning in Italy. Because he was a man of culture, he gathered scholars and men of letters at his Sicilian court, which Dante called the birthplace of Italian poetry. The University of Naples was founded by Frederick in 1224. He was loved by the people of Italy, but his extensive time with the problems in Italy left little time to rule Germany.

Sources: Microsoft(R) Encarta(R)