Frederick II, Duke of Swabia

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Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1090 – April 6, 1147) was duke of Swabia. He was the eldest son of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia and Agnes of Germany.

He succeeded his father in 1105. In 1121 he married Judith of Bavaria, a member of the powerful House of Guelph.

On the death of Emperor Henry V, his uncle, Frederick stood for election as King of the Romans with the support of his younger brother Conrad, duke of Franconia and several houses. However, he lost this election of 1125 to Lothar II, crowned Emperor later in 1133.

A conflict erupted between Frederick and his supporters, and Lothar. Encouraged by Albert, Archbishop of Mainz, who loathed the supporters of the late Emperor Henry V, Lothar besieged Nuremberg in 1127. Frederick relieved the siege of Nuremberg in 1127 and occupied Speyer in 1128. The attempt of Henry the Proud, duke of Bavaria, to capture Frederick during negotiations failed (1129). However, afterwards supporters of Lothar won a number of victories both in Germany and in Italy. Speyer (1129), Nuremberg (1130) and Ulm (1134) were captured and in October 1134 Frederick submitted to the emperor. In 1135 both Frederick and Conrad were finally reconciled with Lothar. After Lothar's death (1137) and election of Conrad as King of the Romans (1138) Frederick supported his brother in the struggle with Guelphs.

Frederick's second wife, Agnes, was the niece of his old enemy Albert of Mainz.

According to Otto of Freising, Frederick was "so faithful a knight to his sovereign and so helpful a friend to his uncle that by valor he supported the tottering honor of the realm, fighting manfully against its foes..."

[edit] Family

Frederick's descendants were:

from Judith of Bavaria (d. 1130 or 1131), daughter of Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria
- Frederick III Barbarossa (1122-1190), duke of Swabia and Holy Roman Emperor as Frederick I
- Berthe of Hohenstaufen (1123-1195), married Matthias I, Duke of Lorraine
from Agnes of Saarbrücken (d.~1147)
- Conrad of Hohenstaufen (1134/1136-1195), Count Palatine of the Rhine
- Judith of Hohenstaufen (1135-1191), married Louis II, Landgrave of Thuringia