Philip of Swabia (February 1177-21 June 1208) was King of the Romans from 8 March 1198 to 21 June 1208, succeeding Henry VI of Germany and preceding Otto IV of Germany. The youngest son of Frederick Barbarossa, he was elected to succeed his brother Henry VI on his death in 1198, but he was defeated and assassinated after a power struggle against Otto IV, a member of the House of Welf.
Biography[]
Philip's assassination
Philip was born in February 1177 in Pavia, Italy, the fifth and youngest son of Frederick Barbarossa and Beatrice I of Burgundy. Philip was named for his father's ally Archbishop Philip of Cologne, and he initially sought to enter an ecclesiastical career; in 1191, he became Prince-Bishop of Wurzburg without consecration. However, he forsook his ecclesiastical calling to become Margrave of Tuscany in 1195 under his brother Henry VI of Germany. Philip was crowned King of the Romans on 8 March 1198 in Aachen after his brother's death, as the rival House of Welf sought to seize power from the Hohenstaufen family, their sworn rivals. Philip forged an alliance with Philip II of France against Otto, the Welf claimant, and he was largely successful in crushing the Welf rebellion. However, he was assassinated on 21 June 1208 by Otto VIII, Count Palatine of Bavaria during the wedding of his niece Beatrice II of Burgundy to Otto of Merania, and Otto of Welf seized power for himself.