2-378-050 - Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images

The Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II crowns himself King of Jerusalem, 1229 (1913). He reached the altar where the crown lay: lifting it he placed it upon his head, 1913. Frederick II (1194-1250) was King of Germany, Italy, Burgundy and Sicily, as well as Holy Roman Emperor from 1220. Pope Gregory IX (c1145-1241) excommunicated Frederick, so when Frederick took Jerusalem during the Sixth Crusade and demanded to be crowned King, no bishop would perform the coronation. Frederick therefore crowned himself. From A History of Germany by HE Marshall.