   the house of hohenstaufen, also known as the swabian dynasty or the staufer, was a dynasty of german monarchs in the high middle ages, reigning from 1138 to 1254. three members of the dynasty were crowned holy roman emperors. in 1194, the hohenstaufens were granted the kingdom of sicily. the name hohenstaufen (high-staufen) for the staufer was used in subsequent periods parallel with the name of the chiefly prussian hohenzollern dynasty. the terms hohenstaufen also identified the family's hohenstaufen castle in swabia, located on an eponymous mountain near gÃ¶ppingen which gave the name. this second castle was built by the first known member of the dynasty, duke frederick i. ==origins as dukes of swabia== in 1079, the salian king henry iv of germany appointed count frederick i at hohenstaufen castle as duke of swabia. at the same time, frederick was engaged to the king's approximately seventeen-year-old daughter, agnes. nothing is known about frederick's life before this event, but he proved to be an imperial ally throughout henry's struggles against other swabian lords, namely rudolf of rheinfelden, frederick's predecessor, and the zÃ¤hringen and welf lords. frederick's brother otto was elevated to the strasbourg bishopric in 1082.  upon frederick's death, he was succeeded by his son, duke frederick ii, in 1105. frederick ii remained a close ally of the salians, he and his younger brother conrad were named the king's representatives in germany when the king was in italy. around 1120, frederick ii married judith of bavaria from the rival house of welf. {{infobox coat of arms |name = coat of arms of the hohenstaufen emperors |image = hohenstaufen emporer arms.svg |image_width = 150 |lesser = |lesser_width = |lesser_caption = |armiger = |year_adopted = 1196 |crest = |torse = |shield = the 
European_royal_families German_kings German_noble_families Hohenstaufen_Dynasty Holy_Roman_Emperors Italian_noble_families Noble_families_of_the_Holy_Roman_Empire Salian_dynasty