Part III: The Old Wolf
The family's dynastic troubles did not end with the death of Adelaide. In the beginning of 1094, Douce de Longwy, wife of Friedrich's son Hartmann, also died in childbirth, leaving him with only his son Heinrich. Hartmann also went into mourning, having little interest in other women. Friedrich, however, was convinced by his advisors to remarry, and on December 6th he married Cecile, daughter of Count Guy of Besancon. She was soon expecting a child, and hopes were raised for the Hohenstaufen.
Friedrich's second wife; he was not known to pick his wives for their beauty.
Friedrich's eldest, the bastard Albrecht, was for a long time staying in Mecklemburg, but finally the Duke decided to give him a county as well. Albrecht was invested with Wolgast in April 1095, taking his wife and childred there with him. Rulership may have proved too much for him however, as he soon became quite stressed and nervous.
The Hohenstaufen family soon saw new members. In December 1095, Cecile gave birth to a daughter, named Hildegard in honor of the Duke's deceased mother. In March 1096, Friedrich's son Rupprecht came of age, and became infamous for his naivete and deceitful nature. Nonetheless, he was given Rostock to rule. A few years later, in April 1098, Cecile gave birth to another daughter, Mahaut, who however died in September due to poor health, but another child was expected soon, and arrived in June 1099, a baby girl named Gerberga. Sadly, Cecile died in labor in April 1100, and Friedrich did not remarry anymore. Other family misfortunes plagued Friedrich as well. His younger daughter Amalberga, wife of Antoon of Gelre, died in childbirth after giving her husband only two daughters. Friedrich's fourth son, Friedrich the Younger, told his father that he was interested in other boys more than girls. Though this upset the Duke somewhat, he refused to disown his son, and even gave him the county of Werle to rule.
Friedrich the Younger, the Duke's gay son. Doesn't he look effeminate?
Friedrich's creation of his bastard and gay sons as vassal counts did not endear him to the Church, but his other actions positively infuriated the clergy. For several years he increased the power of the burghers in his towns and cities, hoping to promote trade and culture. He built roads and tile factories, prohibited clerical abuses of peasants, opened church squares to commerce, avoided donations to the church, and discouraged his children from getting too involved in religion. All this irritated the clergy to no end. Even the Bishop of Sticht, when someone mentioned Friedrich in his presence, let loose a stream of some very un-bishoplike words which greatly discomforted the women nearby. Fortunately, Rome was still in the throes of its latest corruption scandal, and the Pope had more important things to do than excommunicate the Duke.
Hartmann, Friedrich's oldest son.
On the political arena, Germany was descending into deeper and deeper quagmire. The Dukes of Bavaria and Brandenburg, having had enough, declared war on King Heinrich, and lesser counts just waited for their opportunity to do the same. Still Friedrich and his son Hartmann kept their duchies loyal, though Friedrich also did not stop any nobles from joining the war against the King, refusing to confiscate their fiefs when it was demanded of him. The year 1103 saw another increase of Hohenstaufen power, as Friedrich's grandson, Hartmann's son Heinrich inherited the duchy of Upper Lorraine upon the death of Duke Thierry de Longwy. The Hohenstaufen now ruled three duchies.
Heinrich, Hartmann's son. He inherited the Hohenstaufen chin and the Rheinfelden nose.
In December 1103, the first Hohenstaufen castle was completed in Mecklemburg. It was named Wolfenburg, and Duke Friedrich himself was already becoming known as Der Alte Wolf, "the Old Wolf", for the predatory ruthlessness with which he grabbed lands and claims for his family and eliminated his rivals. Indeed, he had already manufactured claims on Ansbach and Anhalt, both held by the King, and Heinrich was now too afraid to do anything to upset the Hohenstaufen.
Hohenstaufen family life continued with mixed fortunes. Hartmann still refused to marry again, and Friedrich, while he took a wife, was uninterested in sharing his bed with her. Back in January 1102, the bastard Albrecht had hanged himself from too much depression, leaving only a child, Jauguttis, to rule in Wolgast. In June 1103, Rupprecht had also died, and his county of Rostock reverted back to Friedrich along with Rupprecht's two bastard sons, of which the older, Leopold, died from illness two years later, while the younger, Lothar, was sent to a monastery to study.
In March 1107, Friedrich's grandson Heinrich of Upper Lorraine came of age, and made another strategic marriage for which the Hohenstaufen were famous. He married Alberade, daughter of Otto of Aargau; and Otto was the eldest son and presumed heir of King Heinrich. However, things were not quite so easy this time. Otto had two sons, Johann and Bruno, and an elder daughter, Ermengard, who was married to the count of Vas. But Friedrich set about this business with his usual ruthlessness. In June 1107, Ermengard was thrown from her window by an unknown assaillant, and in April 1108, Johann suffered a fatal accident on a mountainside in the Alps. Obvious traces led back to Friedrich, but by now Germany was too fragmented for anyone to retaliate.
Konrad, Friedrich's first great-grandson, was born in February 1108 and stood third to inherit Germany, after King Heinrich's son Otto of Aargau and Otto's son Bruno. In May 1110, Friedrich's second son Adolf, the count of St.Gallen, was revealed as a bastard. Though Friedrich knew this to be false, having witnessed Adolf's birth himself, the Church seized upon and confirmed it, in revenge for Friedrich's impiety. Friedrich's elder daughter Maria died in May also, though she gave her husband Eberhard of Lausitz several sons. Moreover, Alberade of Frankonia, wife of Heinrich of Lorraine, also died in childbirth in June of that year. It seemed that the Hohenstaufen men were cursed to see their wives die young. By this time, Duke Friedrich was the most feared and the second most hated man in Germany.
When it became known that Konrad was born with a hunched back, many said that it was a curse from God for the Old Wolf's evil actions...
Young Konrad the Hunchback, future King of Germany...
...of which there might not be much left by the time he inherits!
