Henry (VII) | |
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Depiction in the Chronica regia Coloniensis, 13th century
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King of Germany formally King of the Romans |
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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.