| Henry (VII) | |
|---|---|
 Depiction in theChronica regia Coloniensis, 13th century | |
| King of Germany (formallyKing of the Romans) | |
| Reign | 1222–1235 |
| Coronation | 8 May 1222 (Aachen) |
| Predecessor | Frederick II |
| Successor | Conrad IV |
| King of Sicily | |
| Reign | 1212–1217 |
| Predecessor | Frederick II |
| Successor | Frederick II |
| Co-ruler | Frederick II |
| King of Italy | |
| Reign | 1217–1217 |
| Predecessor | Frederick II |
| Successor | Conrad IV |
| Born | 1211 Kingdom of Sicily(Present-dayItaly) |
| Died | 12 February 1242 (aged 30–31) Martirano,Calabria, Kingdom of Sicily |
| Burial | Cosenza, Calabria, Kingdom of Sicily |
| Spouse | |
| House | House of Hohenstaufen |
| Father | Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor |
| Mother | Constance of Aragon |
Henry (VII) (1211 – 12 February 1242), a member of theHohenstaufendynasty, wasKing of Sicily from 1212 until 1217 andKing of Germany (formallyRex Romanorum) from 1222 until 1235, as son and king, co-ruler of EmperorFrederick II. He was the seventh Henry to rule Germany, but in order to avoid confusion with theLuxembourg emperorHenry VII, he is usually numbered Henry (VII).[1]
Henry was born inSicily, the only son of King Frederick II and his first wife,Constance of Aragon.[2] He was the elder brother ofConrad IV, who eventually succeeded him as king.
While Frederick sought to beelected German king against hisWelf rivalOtto IV, he had his new-born son crowned King of Sicily (as Henry II) byPope Innocent III in March 1212,[3] since an agreement between Frederick and the Pope stated that the kingdoms of Germany and Sicily should not be united under one ruler. For this, the regency of the Sicilian kingdom went to his mother Constance and not to his father.
However, after the death of the Pope in 1216, Frederick called his son toGermany, entrusted him with theDuchy of Swabia,[4] and again assumed the title of King of Sicily in 1217. Henry's mother remained as regent in Sicily, now on behalf of her husband, until 1220. After the extinction of the SwabianZähringen line in 1219 Henry also received their title of aRector ofBurgundy,[4] though that title disappeared when Henry was elected king.
On 20/26 April 1220, the German princes assembled atFrankfurt elected Henry King of the Romans, for which the Emperor issuedConfoederatio cum principibus ecclesiasticis, favoring theprince-bishops.[4] "The chief Princes present at Frankfort were the Archbishops of Mayence, Cologne, Treves, and Magdeburg, several Bishops, the Dukes of Bavaria and Brabant, the Landgrave of Thuringia, the Margraves of Namur and Baden, the Counts of Holland and Cleves, and the officials of Frederick's court."[5] The election had been a condition to Frederick II redeeming hisCrusade promises of 1215, because the succession question, in case of the emperor's death on the crusade, was clarified by them. However,Pope Honorius III did not recognize the election and also deprived Henry of his rights over the Sicilian kingdom, because he (just as his predecessor) wanted to prevent the union of both countries. Also, numerous German princes had rejected the election in the first moment.
After Frederick II returned toItaly in 1220, Henry was placed under the tutelage of ArchbishopEngelbert I of Cologne,[4] who crowned him German king on 8 May 1222, inAachen. Despite the fact that Henry was formally betrothed to thePřemyslid princessAgnes of Bohemia,[6] daughter of KingOttokar I of Bohemia, Engelbert planned his marriage withIsabella of England, one of the daughters of KingJohn Lackland; however, this union never took place. After Engelbert's death in 1225, DukeLouis I of Bavaria took over the guardianship. The young King was mostly in the care of imperialministeriales, likeConrad of Winterstetten. They also acted as administrators over his Swabian duchy. In the meanwhile, the betrothal between Henry and the Bohemian princess was cancelled.
InNürnberg on 29 November 1225, by order of his father, Henry marriedMargaret of Babenberg, daughter of DukeLeopold VI of Austria, a woman seven years older than he was.[2] Sixteen months later, on 23 March 1227, she was crownedGerman queen in Aachen. The marriage produced two sons, Henry and Frederick, who both died at a young age.
Henry seems to have been a lively, cultured ruler and kept manyMinnesänger at his court. It is possible he wrote someMinnelieder (courtly love poetry) himself. He was physically robust, although lame, and about 1.66 m (5' 4½") tall.
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In 1228, he had a falling-out with Duke Louis of Bavaria, who was suspected of plotting withPope Gregory IX against Emperor Frederick II. Around Christmas of that year, Henry took over the rule for himself, forced Louis to submit, and then turned against theBishop of Straßburg. The German princes, angered by hiscity-friendly policies, forced him however to issue inWorms on 1 May 1231 theStatutum in favorem principum, directed against the cities, and by their complaints turned Frederick II against his son. The emperor was dependent on the support of the princes for his Italian policies against the Pope. Among other things which augmented the discord between father and son, Frederick lifted several regulations Henry had stipulated during his minority years to reduce his authority, and on the other side, the elevation of the Swabian count Egeno V ofUrach, a staunch enemy of the Emperor, who became the most important of Henry's advisers.
In 1232, Frederick came to terms with Pope Gregory, confirmed theStatutum, and had Henry swear obedience inCividale. In the same year, Henry renewed the league between the Hohenstaufen and the French royalCapetian dynasty. In the following year he entered into a conflict with theHouse of Wittelsbach and subduedOtto II of the Palatinate, the son of Duke Louis of Bavaria. Frederick, fearing the discontent of the German princes, demanded the release of all hostages. In 1233/34, however, Henry made his father angry again, when he intervened against someinquisition measures, especially the Archbishop of Bremen'scrusade against rebellious peasants ofStedingen. Pope Gregory IX, who had authorised the crusade, excommunicated Henry. Emperor Frederick outlawed his son on 5 July 1234[2] and announced his return to Germany.
Henry revolted and in September formed an alliance with several German bishops and Swabian nobles. However, further negotiations with KingLouis IX of France and theLombard League failed. The princes adopted a wait-and-see stance, while Henry's forces were stuck in fights with the Lords ofHohenlohe, MargraveHerman V of Baden, and the City of Worms. Emperor Frederick, once he had entered Germany, soon gained a large following. When both sides met in Swabia, Henry was forced to submit to his father on 2 July 1235 atWimpfen Castle, forsaken by most of his followers. Frederick II and the princes tried Henry on 4 July 1235 in Worms and dethroned him. His sons were deprived of the succession jointly with him. Henry's younger brother Conrad was appointed Duke of Swabia instead and also elected King of the Romans.
Henry's allies were mostly pardoned. Frederick II reacted to the weakening of the royal power originated by his dispute with his son, among other things, with the diet inMainz on 25 August 1235, which for first time passed a law on the public peace (German:Landfriedensgesetz) and fundamentally reformed theRegalia.
'TheBritish Library's manuscript Royal MS 14 C VII is the only complete copy of theHistoria Anglorum, a history of England covering the years 1070–1253, probably composed and written byMatthew Paris in the period between 1250–1255, and also includes Part III of theChronica Maiora by Matthew Paris, covering the years 1254–1259. The manuscript includes numerous shields with coats of arms upright or inverted, indicating births, coronations, or deaths of kings, nobles, clerics, and knights.'
In this manuscript, Conrad's shield with the coat of arms, at death, is a double headed eagle and in chief a red point within a part of, what it looks like, the moon.
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Henry VII's halfbrother Conrad was crowned in his place and therefore the eagle with cross, is assumed to be the shield, with coat of arms, of or for Henry VII who is supporting Conrad IV; the shield hanging above Henry's head while riding a horse following Conrad IV.
On the originalCodex Manesse the picture shows: the eagle faded out and 'overwritten' with a cross may resamble the time of an enforced abdication of Henry VII by his fatherFrederick II. There is a book that survived to this day about the art of hunting with birds "De arte venandi cum avibus", appreciated by connaisseurs for its scientific content, and therefore very close to the original user of the coat of arms.[7]
TheKingdom of Aragón has a similar cross, pointed at the bottom. Henry VII's mother was the daughter of the King of Aragón. At Lescun with Pic d’Ansabère (Pyrenees Aragón/France) in the background you may discover a similar cross.
Henry was kept prisoner in various places, first inHeidelberg andAlerheim Castle, later inApulia and atRocca San Felice inCampania. His seclusion may have been dictated as much by his health as by his rebelliousness: analysis of his skeleton in 1998–1999 has shown that he was suffering from advancedleprosy in his last years.[8] This was perhaps the real cause which prevented the emperor from forgiving him.
Possibly on 12 February (according to other sources 10 February) 1242 Henry died nearMartirano inCalabria after a fall from his horse when he was moved there fromNicastro.[2] Some chroniclers report that it had been an attempted suicide. His father had him buried with royal honours in the cathedral ofCosenza, in an antique Romansarcophagus.
Frederick, the only surviving son of Henry (VII), was named in the testament of his grandfather Frederick II, where the Emperor entrusted him with theDuchy of Austria, theMarquisate of Styria and 10,000 uncias. His death in 1251 was recorded byMatthew Paris, who claimed that both he and his older brother were poisoned (veneno interfecit).[9]
Among the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, Henry is numbered only in parentheses, as he did not exercise the sole kingship. He is not to be confused with the later emperor Henry VII who actually ruled the Empire from 1308 onwards. Long time in his father's shadow and disparaged as "Parentheses Henry", several historians in recent years have adopted a more positive view of his Hohenstaufen policies.
Henry (VII) of Germany Born: 1211 Died: 1242 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | King of Sicily 1212–1217 withFrederick II | Succeeded by |
| Duke of Swabia 1216–1235 | Succeeded by | |
| King of Germany King of Italy 1220–1235 | ||
