here - Nobility Associations

"provided with a harem guarded by eunuchs" like the schismatic emperor of
Byzantium and, in sum, a "heretic".
At the time of his death in 1250 Frederick was still in a strong position, but within
25 years, his heirs had fallen victim to the same struggle with the Papacy that had
taken up his own life. The last Hohenstaufen pretender, Conradin, was executed in
Naples by the Angevin rulers who had replaced Frederick.
For the Papacy in all its long history had never met an adversary as formidable as
Frederick Hohenstaufen. The Papacy had fought against this family; its conception
of Imperial power could never be reconciled with the Papal conception of a world
theocracy dominated by the heir of Saint Peter. With Barbarossa a truce had been
reached. Henry VI, with his wife´s kingdom of Sicily to add to his strength, seemed
near to victory when death prematurely removed him. His son Frederick II was a
little child, fat too young to sit on the Imperial throne, over which rival claimants
fought, reducing the Empire to chaos. Henry´s widow, Constance of Sicily, died
soon after her husband; and when to ensure her son´s safety, she left him under
the guardianship of the Pope, Innocent III made a grave mistake. Trusting on the
boy´s gratitude, he put forward his claims to the Imperial inheritance. Frederick II
was crowned King of Germany in 1215, when he was twenty one, and Emperor
three years later.
Pope Innocent died in 1216. He never knew of the trouble that his ward was to
cause to the Church.
The wives and legitimate children of Frederick II
Many significant events have their origin in everyday life that the texts have not
used in the private affairs where the personalities of the characters express
themselves better and more freely than during acts of war, or the buildings where
power is exercised.
Frederick II had four wives: the first three were imposed by reasons of state well
represented by the popes, while sincerely loved the last with whom he lived a
relationship shrouded in mystery, subtended between history and legend. In fact,
the wives of Frederick were useful only to provide some legitimate heir to the
House of Swabia, in addition to the more numerous illegitimate, but none of them
were able to play a political role appreciable, crushed by her husband's personality
always closed in the golden palace of the Court.
Constance of Aragon.
Frederick married Constance of Aragon widow of IMRE King of
Hungary, daughter of don ALFONSO II “el Casto” King of Aragon &
his wife Infanta doña Sancha de Castilla (1179-Catania 23 Jun 1222,
bur Palermo Cathedral).
The Hohenstaufen Dynasty - Page 57 of 200