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Nov 5, 2018 · Frederick II: How the War-Hungry Prussian Monarch Came to be Revered. Though crazy, war-hungry, vindictive and nasty, history still views the monarch Frederick II of Prussia as a great leader. by Dennis Showalter 11/5/2018. Share This Article. Frederick II’s first act on assuming the throne of Prussia in 1740 was to take his state to war—a ...
- Dennis Showalter
- Early Life
- Rise to Power
- Consolidation of Power
- Friction with The Catholic Church
- Frederick & Al-Kamil: The Sixth Crusade
- The Emperor's Return
- War with The Papacy Resumed
- Death & Legacy
Frederick II was the only son of Henry VI (King of Germany r. 1169-1197 CE; Holy Roman Emperor r. 1191-1197 CE) and Constance (l. 1154-1198 CE), the daughter of Roger II (r. 1130-1154 CE), the Norman king of Sicily. His other grandfather was the legendary German Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa (r. 1152-1190 CE). He was born in Jesi, Italyin 1194 CE ...
Frederick dismissed his guardian in 1208 CE and now sought to restore control over Sicily. In 1209 CE, Innocent III arranged for Frederick, who was 14 at that time, to be married to a 30-year-old Spanish princess, Constance of Aragon (l. 1179-1222 CE). This marriage was a political move and allowed Frederick to acquire a sizeable army that he used ...
Pope Innocent III died in 1216 CE and was succeeded by Honorius III (l. 1150-1227 CE). The new pope demanded that the emperor repay the papacy for its kindness and Frederick agreed to separate Sicily from the lands of the Holy Roman Empire and to lead a crusade to the Holy Land. The Papal States could not allow the lands in the north and south to b...
To further pique Frederick's interest in the Holy Land, the Pope arranged a marriage for him with the teenage daughter of King John of Jerusalem (r. 1210-1215 CE, also known as John of Brienne): Yolande of Brienne (l. 1212-1228 CE, also known as Isabella II of Jerusalem). Jerusalem was not under crusader control but the king's seat persisted as did...
Frederick had opened up a channel of communication with the Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt al-Kamil (r. 1218-1238 CE) since 1226 CE. This man was the nephew of the great Saladin (l. 1137-1193 CE) who had secured Jerusalem for Islam in 1187 CE; he, however, was willing to give away what his ancestors had fought and died for. Al-Kamil needed to extend his a...
Frederick raced back to his realm to chastise the intruders. In his absence, the Pope had sent armies to encroach on his lands. Upon his return in 1229 CE, Frederick defeated the papal army but did not attempt to attack papal holdings in Italy. The first phase of the war ended in 1230 CE with the treaty of Ceprano signed between Gregory and Frederi...
The fighting with the Pope restarted owing to a minor dispute over lands in Lombardy. The Lombards, backed up by the Pope, resisted Frederick's authority but their forces were defeated decisively in the battleof Cortenuova (1237 CE). The emperor then received the news in 1239 CE, that he had yet again been excommunicated. Although vehement in its o...
It was not the Pope's crusade that triumphed over Fredrick, but his ailment. Before he had a chance of winning back lost ground, he died of dysentery in 1250 CE in Castel Fiorentino, in Apulia, Southern Italy. He was buried in the Cathedral of Palermo. The throne passed to his only living legitimate son Conrad IV, but the new king died just four ye...
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Frederick the Great. Also known as Frederick II, Frederick the Great (1712–1786) had an impressive reign as king of Prussia. Under his rule, Prussia doubled in size, and the nation became both a military power and a center of learning.
HISTORY MAGAZINE. What’s So Great About Frederick? The Warrior King of Prussia. Son of an abusive father, Frederick II blossomed when he took the throne. He attracted the great thinkers...
Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great (1712–1786), king of Prussia from 1740 to 1786. Frederick II combined the qualities of a warrior king with those of an enlightened despot. The eldest son of Frederick William I of Prussia and of Princess Sophie Dorothea of Hanover, Frederick II was born in Berlin on Jan. 24, 1712.
Frederick II - Prussian Reforms, Enlightenment, Military: Both by his accomplishments and by his example Frederick deeply influenced the course of German history. In the struggles of the 1740s and ’50s he weakened still further the tottering structure of the Holy Roman Empire.
Frederick II of Prussia, also known as Frederick the Great (January 24, 1712 – August 17, 1786) was a king of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty, reigning from 1740 to 1786. He was one of the "enlightened monarchs" (also referred to as "enlightened despots").
