Enzio of Sardinia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Enzio (or Enzo, Italianization of Heinz, diminutive of Heinrich) of Sardinia (c. 1224–1272, Bologna) was an Italian nobleman, general and King of Sardinia. He was an illegitimate son of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor by Adelheid.
[edit] Biography
Enzio was the elder of the illegitimate sons of Frederick. He had a pleasant personality and a strong physical resemblance to his father. In 1238, Enzio was created knight in Cremona; he then married Adelasia, Sardinian heiress of Gallura and Torres (he was her third husband), receiving the title of King of Sardinia from his father.
He fought in the wars between his father, the pope, and the Northern Italian communes, and in July 1239 he was assigned as vicar general of the Imperial authority in Lombardy. In 1241 he took part in the capture of a Papal fleet at the Giglio Island, in the Tyrrhenian Sea. His first successful move as military leader was the reconquest of Jesi, in the Marche, which was Frederick's birth city. In 1247 he took part at the unsuccessful siege of Parma.
During a campaign to support the Italian Ghibelline cities of Modena and Cremona against Guelph Bologna, he was defeated and captured on May 26, 1249 at the Battle of Fossalta. Enzio was thenceforth kept prisoner in Bologna, in the palace that came to bear his name. Every attempt to escape or to rescue him failed, and he died in prison in 1272: after the murder of Conradin in 1268, he was the last of the Hohenstaufen.
Enzio shared the father's passion for falconry, and was dedicated a French translation of the hunting treaty by Yatrib. Like his brother Manfred, he presumambly grew fond of poetry at Frederick's court: during his long imprisonment Enzio wrote several poems, and his pitiful fate was itself a source of inspiration for several poets.
The powerful Bentivoglio family of Bologna and Ferrara claimed descent from him.
[edit] Gallery
 Palace in Bologna |
 Tombstone in the Basilica of Saint Dominic, Bologna |
[edit] Sources
In addition, this article uses material from the corresponding article in the German-language Wikipedia, which, in turn, gives the following references:
- C. Sperle: König Enzo von Sardinien und Friedrich von Antiochia. Zwei illegitime Söhne Kaiser Friedrichs II. und ihre Rolle in der Verwaltung des Regnum Italiae, Peter Lang, 2001, ISBN 3-631-37457-7.
