Frederick himself was a controversial figure. He spoke six different languages and studied the works of Jewish, Muslim and Christian philosophers. He was not very religious, and consequently was accused of indulging in magic and various other taboo activities. He surrounded himself with educated people such as mathematician al-Hanfi and Fibonacci. One of his closest friends was Pier della Vigna, who served as a minister for Frederick. He was accused of plotting against him, and was imprisoned by Frederick. This was one of Frederick’s downfalls, in that he dealt too harshly sometimes with his subjects.

Charles and Peter began a war to decide who would rule the island. Eventually Charles died, and Peter and the Spanish House of Aragon took over.

Conrad was allowed to take the throne, but until he came of age the kingdom was to be ruled by the Papacy. However, Manfred, an illegitimate son of Frederick was named governor of the island. He quickly purged the illusion that he was ruling for Conrad, and crowned himself King of Sicily at Palermo.

Silk production was an important part of the economy and Frederick encouraged this. He also tried to repopulate areas that had been abandoned during the civil war. For example, large populations of Arabs were ordered by Frederick to be settled on the mainland. This proved that

Some topics in this essay:
Innocent III, Muslim Christian, Conradin II, Christians Sicilians, Arabs Frederick, French Messina, Frederick Frederick’s, Shortly Frenchmen, Papacy Manfred, Italy Sicilians, king sicily, crowned king sicily, civil war, peter spanish, crowned king, henry’s death, son frederick, son conrad, ruled papacy, throne age,