Hohenstaufen

Hohenstaufen, a German princely house, members of which held the imperial throne from 1138 to 1254. The founder of the family was FREDERICK VON BÜREN, who lived about the middle of the 11th century. His son Frederick assumed the name of Hohenstaufen from a castle which he built on the hill of Staufen (2240 feet), 25 miles E. of Stuttgart. He was invested with the duchy of Swabia by the Emperor Henry IV., and during the absence of the latter in Italy acted as viceroy of the empire. Frederick, at his death in 1105, left two sons—Frederick II. the One-eyed, and Conrad. The former was confirmed in the duchy of Swabia; and in 1112 the latter received the duchy of Franconia. After the death of Henry V. this emperor's family estates fell to the House of Hohenstaufen; and Lothaire of Saxony was elected his successor in the empire. Lothaire revoked the grants made to the Hohenstaufens, and thus gave rise to a furious war, in which Frederick (his brother Conrad being absent in the Holy Land) had to encounter, single-handed, the whole power of the emperor, the House of Zähringen, and Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony. After Conrad's return fortune at first seemed to favour the brothers, but in 1135 they were compelled to submit and plead for the emperor's forgiveness. They were then put in possession of all their estates. Conrad, in 1138, was elected emperor of Germany as Conrad III. The succeeding emperors of this family were Frederick I. (1152-90), Henry VI. (1190-97), Philip I. (1198-1208), Frederick II. (1212-50), and Conrad IV. (1250-54). Manfred, half-brother of the last named, lost his life in the battle of Benevento (1266), whilst asserting his rights to the throne of the Two Sicilies; and Conradin, son of Conrad IV., was put to death (1268) by Charles of Anjou for carrying on the struggle. See Raumer, Geschichte der Hohenstaufen (5th ed. 1878); GERMANY; and the articles on the several emperors.