FREDERICK II

FREDERICK II. (1194-1250), called the Wonder of the World, grandson of the preceding; he was crowned emperor in 1215, at Aix-la-Chapelle, having driven Otto IV. from the throne; he gave much attention to the consolidating of his Italian possessions, encouraged learning and art, founded the university of Naples, and had the laws carefully codified; in these attempts at harmonising the various elements of his empire he was opposed by the Papal power and the Lombards; in 1228 he gained possession of Jerusalem, of which he crowned himself king; his later years were spent in struggles with the Papal and Lombard powers, and darkened by the treachery of his son Henry and of an intimate friend; he was a man of outstanding intellectual force and learning, but lacked the moral greatness of his grandfather.