Fredegund Vfre-do-g3nd\ (d. 597, Paris) Queen consort of the Frank¬ ish king Chilperic I. Originally a servant, she became Chilperic’s mistress after he killed his wife (c. 568). The murder set off a 40-year feud with the family of his half brother Sigebert I, whose assassination Fredegund ordered in 575. Known for her ruthlessness and appetite for intrigue, she also made attempts on the lives of his widow and son. After Chilperic was murdered (584), possibly at her order, she took his riches and fled to Paris, where she lived until her death. Her son, Chlotar II, triumphed over Fredegund’s rival and took control of the Frankish kingdom in 613.
Frederick I German Friedrich known as Frederick Barbarossa ("Redbeard") (b. c. 1123—d. June 10, 1190, Kingdom of Armenia) Duke of Swabia (1147-90), German king (1152-90), and Holy Roman Emperor (1155-90). He signed the Treaty of Constance (1153), which promised him the imperial crown in return for his allegiance to the papacy. In 1154 he launched the first of six military campaigns against northern Italy and suppressed a revolt in Rome that restored the pope who crowned Frederick emperor in 1155. His support for a series of antipopes against Alexander III led to his excommunication in 1160 and a prolonged struggle with Rome. Renewed expeditions against Italy met with opposition from the Lombard League, which inflicted a severe defeat on Frederick in 1176. In the Peace of Venice (1177) he acknowledged Alexander III as the true pope, and a treaty with the Lombards was confirmed in 1183. Frederick conquered Liibeck in 1180 and broke the power of his chief rival, Duke Henry the Lion. He strengthened the feudal system and curbed the power of the princes by creating a stronger imperial administration. He launched the Third Crusade in 1189 but drowned while crossing a river.
Frederick I German Friedrich Vfre-.drikN (b. July 11, 1657, Konigs- berg, Prussia—d. Feb. 25, 1713, Berlin, Ger.) King of Prussia (1701-13). In 1688 he succeeded his father, Frederick William, as elector of Branden¬ burg (as Frederick III). In European politics, Frederick allied himself with Austria, England, and Holland against France. Prussia’s contingents in the imperial army distinguished themselves in the wars of the Grand Alli¬ ance and in the War of the Spanish Succession. Austria and Prussia signed a secret treaty that permitted Frederick to crown himself king of Prussia, which was obliged to support Austria militarily and in imperial affairs. As a monarchy, Prussia’s diverse Hohenzollern lands were turned into prov¬ inces, and Frederick freed the new kingdom from imperial control and increased its revenues.
Frederick II German Friedrich (b. Dec. 26, 1194, Jesi, Ancona, Papal States—d. Dec. 13, 1250, Castel Fiorentino, Apulia, Kingdom of Sicily) King of Sicily (1197-1250), duke of Swabia (1228-35), German king (1212-50), and Holy Roman Emperor (1220-50). The grandson of Fre¬ derick I Barbarossa, he became king of Sicily at age three but did not gain control over the strife-ridden country until 1212. He defeated his rival Otto IV in 1214, and though the planned union of Sicily and Germany alarmed the pope (1220), he negotiated a compromise and was crowned emperor. A delay in departing for the Sixth Crusade brought excommu¬ nication (1227), later revoked. By 1229 Frederick was king of Jerusalem. On his return he quelled a rebellion in Germany led by his son Henry, who had allied with the Lombard League. Seeing Frederick as a growing threat to papal authority, Gregory IX excommunicated him again in 1239; the emperor responded by invading the Papal States. He tried and failed (1245) to negotiate peace with Innocent IV, and his struggle with the papacy continued. By the time of his death Frederick had lost much of central Italy, and his support in Germany was uncertain.
Frederick II German Friedrich known as Frederick the Great (b.
Jan. 24, 1712, Berlin—d. Aug. 17, 1786, Potsdam, near Berlin) King of Prussia (1740-86). The son of Frederick William I, he suffered an unhappy early life, subject to his father’s capricious bullying. After trying to escape in 1730, he submitted to his father but continued to pursue intellectual and artistic interests. On his father’s death (1740), Frederick became king and
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Frederick III ► free energy I 707
asserted his leadership. He seized parts of Silesia during the War of the Aus¬ trian Succession, strengthening Prussia considerably. He invaded Saxony in 1756 and marched on into Bohemia. Frederick was almost defeated in the Seven Years' War (1756-63), until his admirer Peter III signed a Russo- Prussian peace treaty that lasted until 1780. The First Partition of Poland in 1772 led to enormous territorial gains for Prussia. Austro-Prussian rivalry led to the War of the Bavarian Succession (1778-79), a diplomatic victory for Frederick, but continued fear of Habsburg ambitions led him to form a league of German states against Joseph II. Under Frederick’s leadership Prussia became one of the great states of Europe, with vastly expanded ter¬ ritories and impressive military strength. In addition to modernizing the army, Frederick also espoused the ideas of enlightened despotism and insti¬ tuted numerous economic, civil, and social reforms.
Frederick III German Friedrich (b. Sept. 21, 1415, Innsbruck, Austria—d. Aug. 19, 1493, Linz) Holy Roman emperor from 1452 and king of Germany (as Frederick IV) from 1440. By 1439 he was the senior member of the Habsburg dynasty, and he united the Austrian holdings of two rival branches of the dynasty (partitioned in 1379), helping to lay the foundations for the greatness of the house of Habsburg in European affairs. His greatest achievement was marrying his son Maximilian (later Maximilian I) to Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold, which gave the house of Habsburg a large part of Burgundy and made the Austrians a European power. Frederick was the last emperor to be crowned in Rome by a pope.
Frederick V German Friedrich known as Frederick the Winter King (b. Aug. 26, 1596, Amberg, Upper Palatinate—d. Nov. 29, 1632, Mainz) Elector palatine of the Rhine (1610-23) and king of Bohemia (as Frederick I) for one winter (1619-20). The Protestant Bohemian estates revolted against the Catholic emperor Ferdinand II and offered the crown to Frederick (1619), making him head of the Protestant union against Catholic Austria at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. He was soon abandoned by his allies and was routed in the Battle of White Mountain. In 1622 he went into exile in Holland. In 1623 he was deprived of his rights as an elector, and in 1628 the Upper Palatinate was annexed by Bavaria.
Frederick VII Danish Frederik Vfrith-rik\ (b. Oct. 6, 1808, Amalien- borg Castle, Den.—d. Nov. 15, 1863, Glucksburg Castle) King of Den¬ mark (1848-63). After the popular demonstrations of 1848, he appointed a liberal ministry, renounced absolute rule, and adopted a representative government. His policy in Schleswig resulted in the duchy’s incorpora¬ tion into Denmark and war with Austria and Prussia soon after his death (see Schleswig-Holstein Question). The childless Frederick was succeeded by Christian IX.
Frederick Barbarossa See Frederick I (Holy Roman Empire)
Frederick Henry Dutch Frederik Hendrik Vfra-do-rok-'hen-drokV (b. Jan. 29, 1584, Delft, Holland—d. March 14, 1647, The Hague) Third hereditary stadtholder (1625—47) of the Dutch Republic. He succeeded his half brother, Maurice of Nassau, as prince of Orange and count of Nas¬ sau. Like his father, William I, Frederick Henry continued the war of inde¬ pendence against Spain. By establishing hereditary succession to the stadtholdership for the house of Orange, he exercised semimonarchical powers. A successful strategist, he was responsible for the United Prov¬ inces’ foreign policy, beginning negotiations that led to a favourable treaty with Spain in 1648.