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| 1244 |
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| Frederick's invasion of the Campagna and vain efforts at reconciliation with the pope; Innocent's flight to Lyons and call for a synod. | 1 |
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| 1245 |
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| The Synod of Lyons. Appeal to the Germans to revolt and elect a new king; deposition of Frederick; Louis IX's efforts at conciliation and Frederick's offers rebuffed by the pope: Innocent unleashed the Franciscans and Dominicans in a war of propaganda and proclaimed a crusade against Frederick. Henry Raspe, duke of Thuringia (d. 1247), was set up (1246) as an antiking in Germany. | 2 |
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| 1247–56 |
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| Henry Raspe was followed by William of Holland, who was supported by a newly formed league of Rhenish towns. Innocent's ruthless but vain campaign against Frederick's episcopal allies in Germany; bitter warfare in northern Italy with extreme cruelty on both sides; Italian conspiracy to assassinate Frederick (probably with Innocent's knowledge) put down in cold blood. | 3 |
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| 1248 |
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| The defeat of Frederick after a long siege of Parma did not destroy his hold on northern Italy. | 4 |
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| 1250 |
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| Sudden death of Frederick; burial in the cathedral at Palmero, where his sarcophagus remains. | 5 |
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| 1250–68 |
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| Relentless persecution of the Hohenstaufens by the popes. | 6 |
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| 1250–54 |
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| Conrad IV, king of Germany, and king of Sicily by the will of his father, Frederick; Manfred, his illegitimate half-brother, regent of Sicily; Pope Innocent IV's offer (1253) of the Sicilian crown under papal suzerainty to Edmund (son of Henry III of England); renewal of Conrad's excommunication and proclamation of a crusade against him; papal invasion of the kingdom (i.e., southern Italy and Sicily). | 7 |
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| 1254–73 |
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| The great interregnum, an epilogue to the medieval struggle of the popes and the emperors, marks the end of the medieval Holy Roman Empire and the failure of imperial efforts to establish German unity; it preceded the complete triumph of particularism, which dominated German life into the 19th century. | 8 |
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| 1255–61 |
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| Manfred regained southern Italy (1255) and Sicily (1256), was crowned king of Sicily (1258), and, after the Sienese (Ghibelline) victory over Florence at Montaperto (1260), almost dominated Italy; Alexander IV's peace offers were rejected by Manfred (1261). | 9 |
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| 1257 |
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| Double election in Germany of two foreigners: Richard of Cornwall (brother of Henry III of England, brother-in-law of Frederick II), and Alfonso X of Castile. | 10 |
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| 1266 |
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| Charles of Anjou (brother of Louis IX of France), accepting Urban IV's offer (1262) of the Sicilian crown under papal suzerainty, invaded southern Italy in accordance with papal plans and with his own ambitions to create a Mediterranean empire. He defeated Manfred, who fell in the battle (Benevento, 1266), ending any hope of a native ruler for Italy. | 11 |
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| 1268 |
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| Conradin (Conrad IV's son, age 15), called from Germany by the Italian Ghibellines, was defeated at Tagliacozzo, betrayed to Charles of Anjou, and beheaded at Naples with at least the tacit approval of Pope Clement IV. The European public was shocked and Henry III of England and Louis IX of France were aroused. The heir of the house of Hohenstaufen was Constance, daughter of Manfred, whose husband, Pedro III of Aragon, was destined to become the first Aragonese king of Sicily (1282–85) (See 1276–85). | 12 |
| The imperial title remained (1268–1806) an appendage of the German monarchy, but as the Germans were little interested in the title, the way to the imperial throne was opened to ambitious foreigners. | 13 |
| The princes of Germany, busy consolidating their own power, were not eager to elect a king. | 14 |
| SIGNIFICANT ELEMENTS IN 13TH-CENTURY GERMANY | 15 |
| Great tenants-in-chief: Four ancient princely houses: the Ascanians (Brandenburg and eastern Saxony with the ducal title), the Welfs (Brunswick), the Wittelsbachs (Upper Bavaria, the County Palatine of the Rhine, Lower Bavaria), and the Wettins (Saxony after the 15th century. Ottokar, king of the Slavic kingdom of Bohemia (1253–78), with claims to Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola. | 16 |
| Great ecclesiastical tenants-in-chief, especially in the Rhineland (notably the archbishops of Mainz, Trier, and Köln). | 17 |
| Three minor houses about to emerge into importance: Luxemburgs, Habsburgs, and Hohenzollerns. | 18 |
| Lesser tenants-in-chief (the so-called Ritterschaft), who regarded the central power as their defense against the great princes. | 19 |
| Imperial cities (Reichsstädte), growing richer and more powerful and disposed to support the crown against the princes. Tendency of the cities to organize as leagues. | 20 |
| The informal (until the 14th century) constitution of the German monarchy: Election of the king (originally by tribal chieftains) devolved on the tenants-in-chief, then on a group of them; election to be followed by ratification by the others. In the 13th century, the group election became the final election and was confined to a body of seven electors (of varying personnel). | 21 |
| The ancient feudal Reichstag (curia regis) became (in the 13th century) the German Diet (comparable to Parliament or the Estates General) divided into two houses: princes and electors. Its functions remained vague and amorphous. Towns were admitted in 1489. | 22 |
| The great ecclesiastical states of the Rhineland and their feudal satellites reached the zenith of their power in the 13th century, and strove to maintain their position in the face of the rising lay states to the east (Saxony, Brandenburg, Austria, and Bohemia) by electing to the monarchy feeble princes who could pay well for election and would remain amenable. The lay states became dynastic principalities primarily concerned with their own fortunes and anticlerical in policy. | 23 |
| Theophilus the Presbyter (fl. second half of 11th century) described the techniques of building a cathedral, including the making of stained glass. | 24 |
| Epic poetry flourished in the Middle High German period, in national epics such as the Nibelungenlied (c. 1160) and Gudrun (c. 1210–20); court epics, the romance of chivalry, as sung by Hartmann von Aue, Wolfram von Eschenbach (c. 1200), Gottfried von Strassburg (Tristan), and Conrad von Würzburg (1220–87). The art of the Minnesang reached its peak with Walther von der Vogelweide (c. 1165–1230) and Neidhart von Reuenthal (c. 1215–40). (See The Holy Roman Empire) | 25 |
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