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13 December being the 759th anniversary of Frederick's II death, the authors felt strongly obliged to prepare this brief tribute on behalf of one of the most illustrious and flamboyant dynasties of German as well as European history.
The historical exploits of Emperor Barbarossa were great and his death by drowning in the Goeksu River, modern-day Turkey, during the Third Crusade, was exceedingly tragic.
St. Gereon (called the "Golden Saint") was selected to be the Patron Saint for the Military Order of Swabia. Sainthood was bestowed upon this Centurion of the Theban Legion for refusing to obey the order of Emperor Maximian to pray and sacrifice to pagan gods. Fifty comrades of St. Gereon were massacred with him. They were punished by beheading. In general, St. Gereon emerged a popular military saint in Germany.
St. Gereon is frequently represented in the arts as a medieval knight and not as a Roman soldier. The persons featured with him in the above painting are his Theban companions, who were beheaded along with him, among them the Saints Cassius, Gregorius. Maurus, Florentinus, Innocentius, Constantinus and Victor.
In front of the above basilica one encounters a large sculpture of St. Gereon's fallen head, which is visible a long way off as one travels upon the street leading to the church bearing his name.
Commodore Dr. Paul W. Margrave Gulgowski-Doliwa, GCMS,
The Kyffhaeuser monument, dedicated to Barbarossa, is situated on the border of the German land state of Thuringia with Saxony-Anhalt, on the southern edge of the Harz mountain range. It holds a special significance in traditional German mythology as the final spiritual resting place of the great emperor.
According to commonly held belief, Barbarossa is not really dead, but he only rests in a light sleep in a hidden chamber deep below the Kyffhaeuser Mountain, supporting his head in his hands while his arms are propped up on a marble table.
Reportedly, Barbarossa anxiously awaits his homeland's most desperate hour, when he will reemerge from his sub-surface hideout to respond to his nation's dire emergency.
The ever Kyffhaeuser-circling ravens are considered a trusted signal for Barbarossa's eternal presence in the mountain.
Frederick's I Weltschmerz agony is mirrored by similar patriotic pains experienced by Germany's foremost romantic poet, Heinrich Heine, who lived from 1797 to 1856.
The date 13 December holds also special significance for him, except, it does not denote his day of death but his date of birth.
While in exile in Paris, France, he wrote the following poem
Emperor Frederick II was known the world over as Stupor Mundi (the Wonder of the World). In his capacity as Emperor of the Sacred Roman Empire of the German Nation, King of Italy, King of the Two Sicilies, King of Jerusalem and Duke of Swabia, he demonstrated not just phenomenal wisdom but also benevolent tolerance vis-a-vis other religions. His primary belief in this regard was influenced by his appreciation for global monotheism. At his court in Sicily, he frequently entertained Islamic, Hebrew and Christian scholars and took seriously the philosophies and theologies they espoused.
Frederick II was the ideal warrior as he conquered with wisdom and little or no bloodshed. He was given governance of the Holy City of Jerusalem by negotiations, allowing the faithful of all religions to worship at their religions' shrines without imposing any type of hardship on them whatsoever. His coronation day as King of Jerusalem was 16 March 1229.
The final resting place of the great monarch known as the Wonder of the World is Palermo, Sicily. During his lifetime, Frederick II was in all likelihood the greatest intellectual ruler that western civilization had brought forth up to that time.
Emperor Conrad V, having been cowardly betrayed by false friends, became prisoner of Charles of Anjou, who had him and his friend executed in Naples on 29 October 1268. This may have been the end of the von Hohenstaufen Imperial government, but not necessarily the extinction of the entire von Hohenstaufen Dynasty.
All rights reserved • Copyright © 2006-2010 by Commodore Dr. Paul Margrave Gulgowski-Doliwa, GCMS • |
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