At the same time, the emperor stayed in Capua, where he had Count Richard of Acerra, held in custody by his ministerialis Dipold von Schweinspeunt, cruelly executed.
He entered Sicily in March 1197 and applied himself to prepare his crusade in Messina.

Soon after, the tyrannical power of the foreign King in Italy spurred a revolt, especially around Catania and southern Sicily, which his German soldiers led by Markward of Annweiler and Henry of Kalden suppressed mercilessly.
The rebels even sought to make Count Jordan of Bovino king in Henry's place.
Even Queen Constance, provoked by the neglect of Henry and pitying her countrymen, joined the revolts against him and besieged him in a castle, forcing him into a treaty.
In the midst of preparations Henry fell ill with chills while hunting near Fiumedinisi and on 28 September died, possibly of malaria, in Messina, although it is also widely believed that he was poisoned.
His wife Constance had him buried at Messina, his mortal remains were transferred to Palermo Cathedral in 1198.
Various items were removed from Henry VI's grave in the mid nineteenth century, some of which are now in the British Museum in London.
They include the remains of a shoe, a head band and an ornate silk textile that originally wrapped the body.

Henry's minor son Frederick II was to inherit both the Kingdom of Sicily and the Imperial crown.
However, a number of princes around Archbishop Adolf of Cologne elected the Welf Otto of Brunswick, son of Henry the Lion, anti-king.
To defend the claims of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, Frederick's uncle Philip of Swabia had himself elected King of the Romans in March 1198.
The German throne quarrel lasted nearly twenty years, until Frederick was again elected king in 1212 and Otto, defeated by the French in the 1214 Battle of Bouvines and abandoned by his former allies, finally died in 1218.
At the same time, the emperor stayed in Capua, where he had Count Richard of Acerra, held in custody by his ministerialis Dipold von Schweinspeunt, cruelly executed. He entered Sicily in March 1197 and applied himself to prepare his crusade in Messina.
Soon after, the tyrannical power of the foreign King in Italy spurred a revolt, especially around Catania and southern Sicily, which his German soldiers led by Markward of Annweiler and Henry of Kalden suppressed mercilessly. The rebels even sought to make Count Jordan of Bovino king in Henry's place. Even Queen Constance, provoked by the neglect of Henry and pitying her countrymen, joined the revolts against him and besieged him in a castle, forcing him into a treaty. In the midst of preparations Henry fell ill with chills while hunting near Fiumedinisi and on 28 September died, possibly of malaria, in Messina, although it is also widely believed that he was poisoned. His wife Constance had him buried at Messina, his mortal remains were transferred to Palermo Cathedral in 1198. Various items were removed from Henry VI's grave in the mid nineteenth century, some of which are now in the British Museum in London. They include the remains of a shoe, a head band and an ornate silk textile that originally wrapped the body.
Henry's minor son Frederick II was to inherit both the Kingdom of Sicily and the Imperial crown. However, a number of princes around Archbishop Adolf of Cologne elected the Welf Otto of Brunswick, son of Henry the Lion, anti-king. To defend the claims of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, Frederick's uncle Philip of Swabia had himself elected King of the Romans in March 1198. The German throne quarrel lasted nearly twenty years, until Frederick was again elected king in 1212 and Otto, defeated by the French in the 1214 Battle of Bouvines and abandoned by his former allies, finally died in 1218.
Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor