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ENZIO (c. 1220-1272)

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 661 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ENZIO (c. 1220-1272) , See also:king of See also:Sardinia, was a natural son of the See also:emperor See also:Frederick II. His See also:mother was probably a See also:German, and his name, Enzio, is a diminutive See also:form of the German Hein-See also:rich. His See also:father had a See also:great See also:affection for him, and he was probably See also:present at the See also:battle of Cortenuova in 1237. In 1238 he was married, in See also:defiance of the wishes of See also:Pope See also:Gregory IX., to Adelasia, widow of Ubaldo See also:Visconti and heiress of Torres and Gallura in Sardinia. Enzio took at once the See also:title of king of Torres and Gallura, and in 1243 that of king of Sardinia, but he only spent a few months in the See also:island, and his See also:sovereignty existed in name alone. In See also:July 1239 he was appointed, imperialvicegerent in See also:Italy, and sharing in his father's See also:excommunication in the same See also:year, took a prominent See also:part in the See also:war which See also:broke out between the emperor and the pope. He commenced his See also:campaign by subduing the See also:march of See also:Ancona, and in May 1241 was in command of the forces which defeated the Genoese See also:fleet at See also:Meloria, where he seized a large amount of See also:booty and captured a number of ecclesiastics who were proceeding to a See also:council summoned by Gregory to See also:Rome. Later he fought in See also:Lombardy. In 1248 he assisted Frederick in his vain See also:attempt to take See also:Parma, but was wounded and taken prisoner by the Bolognese at Fossalta on the 26th of May 1249. His captivity was a severe See also:blow to the See also:Hohenstaufen cause in Italy, and was soon followed by the See also:death of the emperor. He seems to have been well treated by the See also:people of See also:Bologna, where he remained a See also:captive until his death on the 14th of March 1272.

He was apparently granted a magnificent funeral, and was buried in the See also:

church of St See also:Dominic at Bologna. During his imprisonment Enzio is said to have been loved by See also:Lucia da Viadagola, a well-See also:born See also:lady of Bologna, who shared his captivity and attempted to procure his See also:release. Some doubt has, however, been See also:cast upon this See also:story, and the same remark applies to another which tells how two See also:friends had almost succeeded in freeing him from See also:prison concealed in a See also:wine-cask, when he was recognized by a See also:lock of his See also:golden See also:hair. His See also:marriage with Adelasia had been declared void by the pope in 1243, and he See also:left one legitimate, and probably two illegitimate daughters. Enzio forms the subject of a See also:drama by E. B. S. See also:Raupach and of an See also:opera by A. F. B. Dulk. See F.

W. Grossman, See also:

Konig Enzio (See also:Gottingen, 1883); and H. See also:Blasius, Konig Enzio (See also:Breslau, 1884).

End of Article: ENZIO (c. 1220-1272)

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