Frederick II. and the Pope

[De von Of]

Some time ago I stumbled upon an interesting little medieval POD:

In 1239 Frederick II (the emperor) appearently was negotiating with Frederick II (the Duke of Austria) over the creation of a kingdom of Austria (including Styria and Carniola).

For the duke this was obviously a great deal. The reason why the emperor wanted it, was because he was by that point dependant on Austrian troops and money to fight out his conflict with the Pope. Even more important, the cornerstone of the alliance was to be the marriage between the emperor and the childless duke's niece (and heir) Gertrude, opening up the possibility, that the Emperor or one of his descendants could inherent the newly created kingdom.

The entire thing crashed, when Gertrude refused to show up at the wedding (in 1245) because she didn't want to marry the excommunicated Emperor.

I am looking for a way to avoid the excommunication. A good POV would be to make the negotiations between the Emperor and the newly elected Pope Innocent IV succeed. I am, however, unsure how to do that.

Opinions?

 

[Janprimus]

You forgot to mention the age difference, emperor Frederick II was 51, whereas Gertrude was 19.

Another element would be the creation of a bishopric of Vienna.

Also duke Frederick IOTL died aged 35 in a border conflict with Hungary, after having divorced two wives due to childlessness. In an ATL where he becomes king, he may very well not die and marry a third time, perhaps with a Hungarian princess?

Avoiding excommunication might be a bit tough though, since the Hohenstaufen surrounded the Papal States, so the Papacy felt threatened by them. These excommunications were in part politically motivated. It wasn't only about religious matters, or that the Holy Roman Emperor seemed to have become more powerful than he had been since the Investiture Controversy (Walk to Canossa), but there also were disputes about towns and territories.

 

[Dathi THorfinnsson]

You forgot to mention the age difference, emperor Frederick II was 51, whereas Gertrude was 19.

Certainly not fun for the girl, but also certainly not very unusual for dynastic marriages. Of course, the excommunication was a valid reason her family had to listen to - 'he's too old and fat' (or whatever), would have probably gotten the answer 'shut up and soldier on. Its for the good of the family. He's the freaking Emperor'