“Esse redimendum sepulchrum dominicum per Fridricum imperatorem”

Abstract

Abstract In a passage from De abroganda missa private, Frederick the Wise was celebrated by Luther as the one who made possible the liberation of the “Holy Sepulchre” of the Scriptures, held captive by “papists”. In doing so, the German reformer drew from the ancient eschatological prophecy of the “Last World Emperor”, originated in the Syriac environments of the seventh century, rapidly spread in Latin Christianity during the Middle Ages. Since the death of Frederick II, numerous versions and adaptations of this prophecy scattered all over the Empire and announced the advent of a “Third Frederick”, who was supposed to emerge from darkness and complete the Church Reformation set up by the Swabian emperor but never accomplished because of his sudden and unexpected disappearance and the utter hostility of the Popes. The article sheds light on the developments of this prophecy from the Late Middle Ages up to the Reformation writings of sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.