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Frederick ruled Germany through a regent and he ruled all his many lands from Palermo, Sicily<ref> Abulafia, p. 113</ref>. He created a modern state in his kingdom and transported rebellious Muslim inhabitants to the mainland. It was expected that as the most powerful monarchs in Christendom that he would go on a crusade and attempt to reclaim the Holy Land for the Christians. When he was unable to go on Crusade he was excommunicated by the Pope. At this time he began a conflict with the Northern Italian City States, that was to last until his death. Still excommunicated the Emperor went on crusade and entered into negotiations with the Fatimid Sultan and he secured a diplomatic coup. He was able to gain Jerusalem and Bethlehem through diplomacy and he later crowned himself King of Jerusalem.<ref> Smith, Thomas W. "Between two kings: Pope Honorius III and the seizure of the Kingdom of Jerusalem by Frederick II in 1225." <i>Journal of Medieval History 41 #1</i> (2015): 41-59</ref>
Soon he was involved in a brutal war with the League of Italian States (The Lombard League). Some cities sided with the Emperor and a vicious war raged through Italy until Frederick’s death. Frederick sought to make himself the undisputed master of Italy and also to subjugate the Pope to his will. At the same time, he fought a civil war in his German lands.<ref> Abulafia, p. 117</ref> The wars drained Fredericks resources and he was forced to compromise. He agreed to make concessions to the German nobles which greatly reduced the power of the Emperor in Germany. Frederick’s son rose in revolt against this settlement by he was soon defeated. In 1236 Frederick, waged war against the Lombard cities, with some success and he was on the verge of victory the Pope intervened. Pope Gregory IX did not want an Italy dominated by Frederick. The Emperor responded by seizing most of the Papal States. Gregory IX died and Frederick tried to negotiate with his successor, after he had suffered a series of defeat such as at the Siege of Parma. However, the war once more turned in Frederick’s favor and he was on the verge of total victory, when he died of dysentery in his beloved Sicily. Soon after his death his Empire fell apart. In Germany, the ‘Great Interregnum’ began when for several decades there was no Emperor and no Hohenstaufen was to sit on the Throne of the Holy Roman Emperor, again. Later a French noble supported by the Pope conquered the Kingdom of Sicily and executed Frederick’s son, Manfred. The Hohenstaufen Dynasty was at an end.<ref> Abulafia, p. 117</ref>. Frederick II was such a remarkable character that many people expected him to return from the dead and saw him in messianic terms.<ref>Cohn, Norman, <i>Millenarianism in the Middle Ages </i> (Penguin, London, 1980), p 167</ref>
==Frederick II’ Court at Palermo==
