HENRY VI, Emperor. - Son of Frederick Barbarossa and Beatrice of Burgundy, b. in 1165, d. at Messina on 28 Sept. 1197. Named king by the Romans at the age of 3, he was associated with the Empire with the title of Caesar in 1184. On 27 Jan. 1186, for political aims, he married at Milan Constance of Hauteville, heiress to the Kingdom of Sicily. Pope Urban III, who saw in that marriage a danger for the Church, refused to crown him, and so E., by order of his father, invaded and plundered the papal territory; only when Urban's successor, Gregory VIII, promised him that he would not oppose his claims to Sicily did he suspend hostilities. On the death of his father, which occurred on 10 June 1190 in Syria during the Crusade, E. was proclaimed emperor.
Ambitious and obstinate, greedy for dominion and greatness, after having settled the affairs of Germany, where tumults fomented by Henry of Bavaria had broken out, in the spring of 1191 he descended into Italy. To obtain the imperial crown he did not hesitate to betray the Ghibelline Tusculum, which was handed over to the Romans and then destroyed by them. Having undergone after the coronation, despite the warnings of the Pontiff, E. went to southern Italy to subjugate his wife's kingdom, but he found a strong obstacle in Tancred of Hauteville and subsequently had to desist from the enterprise because of an epidemic that broke out in the army. He therefore returned to Germany in Sept., and against the pacts sanctioned at Worms in 1122 he appointed and invested bishops. On the death of Tancred (1194) he returned to Italy for the conquest of the Sicilian Kingdom; many cities surrendered to him, others were taken by arms. Having secured power (1196), he committed the most atrocious cruelties against ecclesiastics and laymen, accusing them of conspiracy and putting them to death amid frightful tortures, while his soldiers abandoned themselves to the most unheard-of violence. He had the young son of Tancred blinded and led his wife and daughter as prisoners to Alsace. When the Sicilians rose up, E. ferociously suppressed the rebellion. Meanwhile, with bland promises he flattered the Pope into preparing a Crusade. The death of Saladin (1193) and the consequent partition of his Kingdom among his sons really offered a favorable occasion for such an enterprise. Urged also by the Eastern princes, E. decided on the expedition, but with the aim of extending his domains. In May 1195 he held a diet at Bari and received the Cross from the bishop of Trani, while in Germany he promoted assemblies for the purpose of recruiting soldiers. The beginning of the expedition took place in Sept. 1197, but E. remained in Italy, and the death that came upon him shortly afterwards made everything fail.