Frederick IV, Duke of Swabia
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Frederick IV of Hohenstaufen (1145 – 1167) was duke of Swabia, succeeding his cousin, Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1152. He was the son of Conrad III, king of Germany (not crowned emperor) and Gertrude of Sulzbach and thus the direct heir of the crown, had there been true heredity. However, on his death bed, Conrad III allegedly advised the only two persons present, his nephew Frederick Barbarossa and the bishop of Bamberg, to nominate Frederick Barbarossa and handed the Imperial insigna to him. Barbarossa wasted no time to get the Bavarian clerics to endorse him and to have the archbishop of Cologne convene a hurried Reichstag where the electors of the Empire (minus their "primus inter pares", the archbishop of Mainz, an ally of the Pope) elected Frederick Barbarossa to be King instead of his six-year-old cousin Frederick who became of Duke of Swabia instead. Frederick participated in Barbarossa's campaigns in Italy, becoming one of the many casualties of the Imperial army that succumbed to disease after occupying Rome in 1167. Barbarossa then gave Swabia to his three-year-old son, Frederick V.
See also: Dukes of Swabia family tree
| Preceded by: Frederick III Barbarossa | Duke of Swabia 1152–1167 | Succeeded by: Frederick V |