Frederick II, Duke of Lorraine

Frederick II (died 10 October 1213) was the duke of Lorraine from 7 April 1206 to his death, son of Frederick I and Ludmilla, daughter of Mieszko III the Old, monarch of Poland from the Piast Dynasty.

In 1179, a three-year civil war ended in Lorraine and Duke Simon II was forced to agree to the Treaty of Ribemont, whereby Lorrain was divided: the northern, germanophone half going to Simon's brother Frederick and the southern, francophone half to Simon, who had tried to appease Frederick by giving him the county of Bitche. Simon designated Frederick's son, Frederick, as his heir and abdicated in 1205. Nonetheless, Frederick was acclaimed duke, but died the next year. His son succeeded him and the duchy was completely reunited.

By his 1188 marriage to Agnes of Bar (died 19 June 1226), he received the lands of Amance, Longwy, and Stenay. He entered into a war with his father-in-law, Theobald I of Bar, and was defeated in 1208, being captured and imprisoned for seven months. To obtain his freedom, he relinquished the cities.

In 1197, he had supported Duke Philip of Swabia's candidature for the kingship of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, but, after Philip's death in 1208, he moved over to the side of Duke Otto of Brunswick, upon whose excommunication in 1211, he finally transferred his support to the Hohenstaufen heir, Frederick I of Sicily.

By his marriage to Agnes, the daughter of Theobald I, Count of Bar and Laurette de Looz, he had:

• Theobald (d.1220), his successor in Lorraine
• Matthias (d.1251), his brother, successor in Lorraine
• Reginald (d.1274), count of Blieskastel
• Alice, countess of Ormes, married firstly Werner (d.1228), count of Kirbourg, and secondly, in 1229, Walter, lord of Vignory
• Lauretta, married Simon III, Count of Saarbrücken, in 1226
• Jacob (d.1260), bishop of Metz

His name in French is Ferry or Ferri, the diminutive of Frederick (French: Frédéric). The name Frederick was held by three dukes of a different house in the tenth and eleventh centuries. This, and the confusing succession to his uncle, has caused much confusion over his proper ordinal. If only the dukes of his house, those named Ferry, are counted, he is:

• Frederick I, as the first rightful ruler of his line, by his uncle's designation
• Frederick II, as the successor, in fact, to his father, Frederick I

If the previous dukes are counted, he could be:

• Frederick III, as the other Frederick II was only a co-ruler
• Frederick IV, if his father is counted
• Frederick V, if all dukes, reigning and acclaimed, are counted, including both Frederick II of the older house and his father

To most historians, he is Frederick II, because to French historians, he is Ferry II.