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Germany: Henry (VII) (1211-1242), King of Germany, from the book Romanorvm imperatorvm effigies: elogijs ex diuersis scriptoribus per Thomam Treteru S. Mariae Transtyberim canonicum collectis, 1583

Germany: Henry (VII) (1211-1242), King of Germany, from the book <i>Romanorvm imperatorvm effigies: elogijs ex diuersis scriptoribus per Thomam Treteru S. Mariae Transtyberim canonicum collectis</i>, 1583

Henry of Germany (1211-1242) was the only son of Emperor Frederick II with his first wife Constance of Aragon, and elder brother to future king Conrad IV. Henry was crowned King of Sicily in 1212, so that Frederick could pursue his claim to the crown of Germany, as an agreement between Frederick and Pope Innocent III had specified that Germany and Sicily should not be united under one ruler.

When the Pope died in 1216, Frederick reassumed the title of King of Sicily a year later and made Henry the Duke of Swabia instead. Henry was crowned as King of Germany in 1222, co-ruling with his father. He began to fall out with his father, his brash treatment against the imperial princes angering his father, who feared their discontent and was reliant on their support. Henry was outlawed by his father in 1234, resulting in him revolting, but he was brought to heel and forced to submit to his father in 1235. A trial saw him dethroned and stripped of his titles and holdings, with the crown and titles going to his younger brother Conrad.

Henry was imprisoned in various places for the last years of his life, finally dying in 1242 after falling from his horse while being moved to another location. Henry is numbered only in parentheses as he did not exercise sole kingship, and so as to not confuse him with the later Emperor Henry VII.

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