on the other hand, Frederick and his associates built
on the strong royal traditions of the Norman kings
and fashioned a government that rivaled other strong
contemporary monarchies. Yet even there the time was
not ripe for a thoroughly bureaucratic centralized state
without autonomous communal, feudal, or ecclesiasti-
cal authorities. And whatever skepticism he may have
possessed regarding the Catholic faith or religion in
general, Frederick took great pains to stress his position
as an orthodox Christian monarch.
When assessing Frederick’s importance for the cul-
ture of his time, one must again note the mixed nature
of his Sicilian milieu. Himself conversant in several
languages, the emperor had a cosmopolitan outlook,
eclectic tastes, and diverse interests in mathemat-
ics, the natural sciences, and philosophy. Frederick
adopted startling Arab habits such as the harem and
the traveling menagerie. He surrounded himself with
intellectuals such as Petrus de Vinea, Michael Scot,
and Leonardo Fibonacci. His Sicilian court witnessed
the beginnings of literature in Italian volgare (popular
tongue as opposed to Latin) as Frederick himself and
his courtiers participated in a sudden fl owering of lyric
poetry. Architectural projects such as the stark Castel
del Monte and the (now lost) Triumphal Gate in Capua
expressed an originality that derived from both classi-
cal and nonclassical sources. His gold coinage—the
augustalis—represented both a pioneering achievement
of medieval European government as well as an endur-
ing numismatic event. Finally, Frederick himself was a
scientifi c author. His ornithological treatise on hunting
with birds—the emperor’s favorite sport—stressed the
value of observation to correct received authority.
See also Henry VI; Matthew Paris; Michael Scot;
Otto IV
Further Reading
Abulafi a, David. Frederick II: A Medieval Emperor. London:
Pimlico, 1988.
Fleckenstein, Josef, ed: Probleme um Friedrich II. Vorträge und
Forschungen 16. Sigmaringen: Thorbecke, 1974.
Kantorowicz, Ernst. Frederick the Second, 1194–1250, trans. E.
O. Lorimer. New York: Ungar, 1957.
Schaller, Hans Martin. Kaiser Friedrich II. Verwandler der Welt.
Persönlichkeit un Geschichte 35. Göttingen: Musterschmidr,
1964.
Van Cleve, Thomas Curtis. The Emperor Frederick II of Ho-
henstaufen. “Immutator Mundi.” Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1972.
Willemsen, C. A. Bibliographie zur Geschichte Kaiser Friedrichs
II. und der letzten Staufer. Munich: Monumenta Germaniae
Historica, 1986.
Wolf, Gunter G., ed. Stupor mundi. Zur Geschichte Friedrichs
II. von Hohenstaufen. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buch-
gesellschaft, 1966.
Robert C. Figueira
FREDERICK III (1415–1493)
Because of the early death of his parents, Duke Ernst
of Austria and Cimburgis of Masovia, Frederic III
Habsburg (1415–1493) became the ward of his uncle
Duke Frederick IV “with the Empty Pockets” of the
Tyrol. He was able to free himself from the guardian-
ship only in 1435 at the late age of twenty, becoming in
his own right duke of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola.
His fi rst independent act was a pilgrimage to Jerusa-
lem the next year, where he was knighted at the Holy
Sepulchre.
The unexpected deaths of his uncle Frederick and
cousin King Albrecht II in 1439 improved Frederick’s
situation, since he became the head of the House of
Habsburg. As leader of the dynasty, he assumed the
guardianship for younger relatives, reversing the situ-
ation of his own youth. First, he supervised the Tyrol
for his nephew Sigismund for several years. But the
Tyrolean and Alsatian possessions drew him into waste-
ful, inconclusive wars with the Swiss Confederation.
Second, he controlled King Albrecht’s son Ladislaus,
born after his father’s death, hence the sobriquet “Post-
humous.” Ladislaus was not only heir to lands in lower
Austria but also the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia.
Frederick’s preeminent position led the electoral
princes unanimously to elevate the young duke to king
of the Romans on February 2, 1440. Early in his reign, in
August 1441, he issued a reform proposal for the empire,
indicating the new king’s intention to be an active mon-
arch. A bad sign, however, was the long delay of more
than two and a half years until his coronation in Aachen.
Indeed, from 1444 to 1471 Frederick did not leave his
hereditary lands. Hence royal infl uence, especially
through the royal court of justice, wasted away while the
power of the cities and princes grew correspondingly.
Confi ned to Austria, Frederick’s court nonetheless at-
tracted some of the most important lawyers of the day,
like Gregory Heimburg and Martin Mair. Frederick
also tried to build a court promoting the newest arts and
humanistic ideas, for a time attracting the support of the
famous humanist Aeneus Silvius Piccolomini, the later
Pope Pius II. Frederick’s own interest in numerology,
alchemy, and astrology may have prompted his frequent
use of the mystical motto AEIOU, which centuries later
was interpreted as “All the world is subject to Austria”
(Alles Erdreich Ist Oesterrekh Untertan).
Meanwhile, as leader of the Holy Roman Empire,
Frederick did have some success with the church. At fi rst
neutral in the schism caused by the Council of Basel,
he soon leaned toward supporting Rome. He gained
lasting success by signing the Concordat of Vienna with
Rome in 1448. Although not quite as advantageous to
the monarchy as contemporary agreements in France
or Hungary, it allowed Frederick control of seventeen
episcopal sees. That agreement regulated papal-imperialFREDERICK II