Western Civilization

into his empire. The cities of northern Italy, which had

become used to their freedom, were also not willing to

be Frederick’s subjects. An alliance of these northern

Italian cities called the Lombard League, with the sup-

port of the papacy, defeated the forces of Emperor

Frederick at Legnano in 1176.

FREDERICK II Frederick II was the most brilliant of the

Hohenstaufen rulers. King of Sicily in 1198, king of

Germany in 1212, and crowned emperor in 1220, Fred-

erick II was a truly remarkable man who awed his con-

temporaries. He had been raised in Sicily, with its

diverse peoples, languages, and religions, and his court

brought together a brilliant array of lawyers, poets,

artists, and scientists. His main goal was to establish a

strong centralized state in Italy dominated by his king-

dom in Sicily, and his major task was to gain control of

northern Italy. In reaching to thus extend his power,

he became involved in a deadly struggle with the popes,

who realized that a single ruler of northern and

southern Italy meant the end of papal secular power in

central Italy. The northern Italian cities were also

unwilling to give up their freedom. Frederick waged a

bitter struggle in northern Italy, winning many battles

but ultimately losing the war.

Frederick’s preoccupation with the creation of an

empire in Italy left Germany in confusion and chaos

until 1273, when the major German princes, serving as

electors, chose an insignificant German noble, Rudolf

of Habsburg (HAPS-burg), as the new German king. In

choosing a weak king, the princes were ensuring that

the German monarchy would remain impotent and

incapable of reestablishing a centralized monarchical

state. The failure of the Hohenstaufens had led to a sit-

uation in which his exalted majesty, the German king

and Holy Roman emperor, had no real power over ei-

ther Germany or Italy. Unlike France, England, and

even Spain, neither Germany nor Italy created a unified

national monarchy in the Middle Ages. Both became

geographic designations for loose confederations of

hundreds of petty states under the vague direction of

king or emperor. In fact, neither Germany nor Italy

would become united until the nineteenth century.

Following the death of Frederick II, Italy fell into po-

litical confusion. While the papacy remained in control

of much of central Italy, the defeat of imperial power

left the cities and towns of northern Italy independent

of any other authority. Gradually, the larger ones began

to emerge as strong city-states. Florence assumed the

leadership of Tuscany, and Milan, under the guidance of

the Visconti family, took control of the Lombard region.

With its great commercial wealth, the republic of Venice

dominated the northeastern part of the peninsula.

New Kingdoms in Northern and

Eastern Europe

The Scandinavian countries of northern Europe had

little political organization before 1000, and it was

not until around that time that the three Scandina-

vian kingdoms—Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (see

Map 10.4)—emerged with a noticeable political struc-

ture. The three kingdoms were converted to Christian-

ity by kings who believed that an organized church

was a necessary accompaniment to an organized state.

The adoption of Christianity, however, did not elimi-

nate the warlike tendencies of the Scandinavians. Not

only did the three kingdoms fight each other in the

eleventh and twelfth centuries, but rival families were

in regular conflict over the throne in each state. This

period also witnessed the growth of a powerful noble

The Coronation of Frederick II.Shown here is the

coronation of Frederick II of Germany as Holy Roman emperor

by Pope Honorius II in Rome on November 22, 1220. The

pope agreed to the coronation after Frederick promised to

lead a Crusade to the Holy Land, a promise that he took years

to fulfill. This scene is taken from a fifteenth-century French

manuscript on the monarchs of Europe.

Mus

ee Cond

e Chantilly//Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library

The Emergence and Growth of European Kingdoms, 1000–1300 229

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

`ˆÌi`Ê܈̅Ê̅iÊ`i“œÊÛiÀȜ˜ÊœvÊ

˜vˆÝÊ*ÀœÊ*Ê

`ˆÌœÀÊ

/œÊÀi“œÛiÊ̅ˆÃʘœÌˆVi]ÊۈÈÌ\Ê