Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry VI (1165–1197) of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was elected King of the Romans in 1169, the son of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Educated in Roman and canon law, he patronized poets.

Crowned emperor in 1191, he claimed Sicily through his wife Constance: his first invasion failed at Naples, but in 1194, funded by Richard I of England's ransom, he conquered the kingdom and was crowned in Palermo. His plan to make the Empire hereditary failed with the princes. In 1197, after crushing a Sicilian revolt, he died of malaria at Messina, leaving the infant Frederick II.