Frederick II, Duke of Lorraine

Who was Frederick II, Duke of Lorraine?

Frederick II was the duke of Lorraine from 1206 to his death, son of Frederick I and Ludmilla, daughter of Mieszko III the Old, of the Piast Dynasty.

In 1179, a three-year civil war ended in Lorraine and Duke Simon II was forced to agree to the Treaty of Ribemont, whereby Lorrain was divided: the northern, germanophone half going to Simon's brother Frederick and the southern, francophone half to Simon, who had tried to appease Frederick by giving him the county of Bitche. Simon designated Frederick's son, Frederick, as his heir and abdicated in 1205. Nonetheless, Frederick was acclaimed duke, but died the next year. His son succeeded him and the duchy was completely reunited.

By his 1188 marriage to Agnes of Bar, he received the lands of Amance, Longwy, and Stenay. He entered into a war with his father-in-law, Theobald I of Bar, and was defeated in 1208, being captured and imprisoned for seven months. To obtain his freedom, he relinquished the cities.

In 1197, he had supported Duke Philip of Swabia's candidature for the kingship of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, but, after Philip's death in 1208, he moved over to the side of Duke Otto of Brunswick, upon whose excommunication in 1211, he finally transferred his support to the Hohenstaufen heir, Frederick I of Sicily.