King of the Romans

Richard of Cornwall was only two years younger than his brother Henry, who became King of England. He rebelled against Henry a few times, using his wealth from Cornwall and Poitou to try to become king. When he was married to Isabel Marshal, a wealthy widow, he had even more money and power.

After Isabel's death, Richard married Sanchia of Provence, sister of Henry's wife, Eleanor. Eleanor was married to a king. Her sister Margaret was married to a king, Louis IX of race. Their sister Beatrice was married to a king, Charles of Sicily.

The Kingdom of Sicily had been offered to Richard by Pope Innocent IV, but Richard knew that taking it from Manfred would be difficult and too expensive, so he declined. Then, in 1257, Richard's golden opportunity to become king came along, and it was thanks to his new wife, Sanchia.

Germany was lacking a king. William of Holland (whose election was contested, prompting him to be called an "anti-king") died after a battle when he got stuck in the ice trying to cross a frozen river. That was in 1247.

Technically, the position that was open was "King of the Romans." That title was used by the King of East Francia from the time of Holy Roman Emperor Henry II (reigned 1002 - 1024). In the 11th century, East Francia started being called the Kingdom of Germany (Regnum Teutonicum). The title Romanorum Rex, "King of the Romans," was used to indicate the entitlement given by being named Holy Roman Emperor by a pope.

There were seven German electoral princes in the time we're discussing, and they got to choose their next king. Pope Alexander IV and Louis IX of France were supported Alfonso X of Castile (his mother was descended from the Hohenstaufens, giving him a German claim). The family of Richard's wife Sanchia and Henry's wife Eleanor pushed for Richard. Since Louis' wife was also a family member, this could have made family gatherings awkward, but perhaps they just wanted Sanchia to be a queen, like all her sisters.

Richard gave gifts of money to the electors to win them over. One of the electors, King Ottokar II of Bohemia, was also a candidate, but as a strong ruler already, the other electors were not interested in giving him power in Germany. The ideal situation was to have a king who would not interfere with whatever the nobles wanted to do in their jurisdictions.

Four of the seven electors (including Ottokar, although he had not been offered a bribe) voted for Richard, and on 13 January 1257 Richard was crowned King of the Romans. Several weeks later, on 1 April, Alfonso X was declared King of the Romans by four electors when Ottokar changed his vote. Alfonso never went to Germany. Ottokar chose to support Richard, after all. Alfonso in 1275 officially renounced any claim to the title.

Richard visited Aachen to be crowned, but afterward made only three additional short visits to Germany. The important thing was that he could call himself king, and Sanchia was a queen, like her sisters.

It appeared that Richard was content now to be supportive of Henry and not usurp his title of king. Let's see what happened next for the two brothers.