Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor

Biography

Raised in Palermo, Frederick ruled Sicily, Germany, and the empire from a cosmopolitan court that blended Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Jewish learning. He founded the University of Naples in 1224 and wrote a treatise on falconry. On the Sixth Crusade he regained Jerusalem by treaty in 1229 without a battle. Excommunicated several times, he fought the papacy for decades. His dynasty collapsed soon after his death.