Henry (VII) of Germany

Henry (VII)
Depiction in the Chronica regia Coloniensis, 13th century
King of Germany formally King of the Romans
Reign	1220–1235
Coronation	8 May 1222 (Aachen)
Predecessor	Frederick II
Successor	Conrad IV
King of Sicily
Reign	1212–1217
Predecessor	Frederick I
Successor	Frederick I
King of Italy
Reign	1220–1235
Predecessor	Frederick II
Successor	Conrad IV
Born	1211
Died	12 February 1242 Martirano, Calabria, Kingdom of Sicily
Burial	Cosenza, Calabria, Kingdom of Sicily
Spouse	Margaret of Austria
House	House of Hohenstaufen
Father	Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother	Constance of Aragon

Henry (VII) (1211 – 12 February ? 1242), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Sicily from 1212 until 1217 and King of Germany (formally Rex Romanorum) from 1220 until 1235, as son and co-ruler of Emperor Frederick II. He was the seventh Henry to rule Germany, but in order to avoid confusion with the Luxembourg emperor Henry VII, he is usually numbered Henry (VII).

Henry was born in Sicily, the only son of King Frederick II and his first wife, Constance of Aragon. His maternal grandparents were Alfonso II of Aragon and Sancha of Castile. He was the elder brother of Conrad IV, who eventually succeeded him as king.

While Frederick sought to be elected German king against his Welf rival Otto IV, he had his new-born son crowned King of Sicily (as Henry II) by Pope Innocent III in March 1212, since an agreement between Frederick and the Pope stated that the kingdoms of Germany and Sicily should not be united under one ruler. For this, the regency of the Sicilian kingdom went to his mother Constance and not to his father.

However, after the death of the Pope in 1216, Frederick called his son to Germany, entrusted him with the Duchy of Swabia, and again assumed the title of King of Sicily in 1217. Henry's mother remained as regent in Sicily, now on behalf of her husband, until 1220. After the extinction of the Swabian Zähringen line in 1219 Henry also received their title of a Rector of Burgundy, though that title disappeared when Henry was elected king.