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Philip of Swabia
Philip of Swabia depicted in a medieval manuscript (about 1200)
Spouse(s)	Irene Angelina
Noble family	House of Hohenstaufen
Father	Frederick I
Mother	Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy
Born	1177
Died	21 June 1208(1208-06-21) Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany

Philip of Swabia (German: Philipp von Schwaben; August 1177 – 21 June 1208) was of the House of Hohenstaufen. He was elector Bishop of Würzburg in 1190 and 1191 (also Duke of the Franks), Margrave of Tuszia (Tuscany) from 1195 to 1197, Duke of Swabia from 1196 to 1208 and King of the Germans from 1198 to 1208. He was the first King of the Germans to be assassinated.

Biography[link]

Philip was the fifth and youngest son of Emperor Frederick I and Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy, daughter of Renaud III, count of Burgundy, and brother of the emperor Henry VI. He entered the clergy, was made provost of Aix-la-Chapelle, and in 1190 or 1191 was chosen bishop of Würzburg. Having accompanied his brother Henry to Italy in 1191, Philip forsook his ecclesiastical calling, and, travelling again to Italy, was made duke of Tuscany in 1195 and received an extensive grant of lands. In his retinue in Italy was the Minnesinger Bernger von Horheim.

In 1196 Philip became duke of Swabia, on the death of his brother Conrad; and in May 1197 he married the Dowager Queen of Sicily, Irene Angelina, daughter of the Byzantine emperor Isaac II and widow of King Roger III of Sicily, a lady who is described by Walther von der Vogelweide as "the rose without a thorn, the dove without guile".

Philip enjoyed his brother's confidence to a very great extent, and appears to have been designated as guardian of the Henry's young son Frederick, afterwards the emperor Frederick II, in case of his father's early death. In 1197 he had set out to fetch Frederick from Sicily for his coronation as King of the Germans when he heard of the emperor's death and returned at once to Germany. He appears to have desired to protect the interests of his nephew and to quell the disorder which arose on Henry's death, but was overtaken by events. The hostility to the kingship of a child was growing, and after Philip had been chosen as defender of the empire during Frederick's minority he consented to his own election. He was elected German king at Mühlhausen on March 8, 1198, and was crowned at Mainz on the September 8 following.

Meanwhile, a number of princes hostile to Philip, under the leadership of Adolph, Archbishop of Cologne, had elected an anti-king in the person of Otto, second son of Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony. In the war that followed, Philip, who drew his principal support from south Germany, met with considerable success. In 1199 he received further accessions to his party and carried the war into his opponent's territory, although unable to obtain the support of Pope Innocent III, and only feebly assisted by his ally Philip Augustus, king of France. The following year was less favourable to his arms; and in March 1201 Innocent took the decisive step of placing Philip and his associates under the ban, and began to work energetically in favour of Otto.

Also in 1201, Philip was visited by his cousin Boniface of Montferrat, the leader of the Fourth Crusade. The Crusaders were by this time under Venetian control and were besieging Zara on the Adriatic Sea. Although Boniface's exact reasons for meeting with Philip are unknown, while at Philip's court he also met Alexius Angelus, Philip's brother-in-law. Alexius convinced Boniface, and later the Venetians, to divert the Crusade to Constantinople and restore Isaac II to the throne, as he had recently been deposed by Alexius III, Alexius and Irene's uncle.

The two succeeding years were still more unfavourable to Philip. Otto, aided by Ottokar I, king of Bohemia, and Hermann I, landgrave of Thuringia, drove him from north Germany, thus compelling him to seek by abject concessions, but without success, reconciliation with Innocent. The submission to Philip of Hermann of Thuringia in 1204 marks the turning-point of his fortunes, and he was soon joined by Adolph of Cologne and Henry I, Duke of Brabant.

On January 6, 1205 he was crowned again with great ceremony by Adolph at Aix-la-Chapelle, though it was not until 1207 that his entry into Cologne practically brought the war to a close. A month or two later Philip was loosed from the papal ban, and in March 1208 it seems probable that a treaty was concluded by which a nephew of the pope was to marry one of Philip's daughters and to receive the disputed dukedom of Tuscany. Philip was preparing to crush the last flicker of the rebellion in Brunswick-Lüneburg when he was murdered at Bamberg, on June 21, 1208, by Count Otto VIII of Wittelsbach, count palatine in Bavaria. Otto, already known for his unstable character, fell into a rage when he learned of the dissolution of his betrothal to Gertrude of Silesia by her father, Duke Henry I the Bearded of Lower Silesia. Henry was apparently informed of the Wittelsbach's cruel tendencies and in an act of concern for his young daughter decided to terminate the marriage agreement. Otto proceeded to blame Philip, without grounds, for another spurned marriage alliance (the first being to Philip's own daughter, Beatrice) and swore revenge on the German King, culminating in the murder at Bamberg.^[1] Otto was killed in March 1209.

Philip was a brave and handsome man, and contemporary writers, among whom was Walther von der Vogelweide, praise his mildness and generosity.

Family[link]

Philip of Swabia married Irene Angelina, daughter of Isaac II Angelus on May 25, 1197. Their four daughters were:

• Beatrice of Hohenstaufen (1198–1212), married Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor
• Cunigunde of Hohenstaufen (1200–1248), married King Wenceslaus I, King of Bohemia
• Marie of Hohenstaufen(1201–1235), married Henry II, Duke of Brabant
• Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen (1203–1235), married King Ferdinand III of Castile

Ancestry[link]

See also[link]

• Dukes of Swabia family tree
• Kings of Germany family tree. He was related to every other king of Germany.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Peter Csendes. Philipp von Schwaben. Ein Staufer im Kampf um die Macht, 2003.
• Zientara, Benedykt. Henryk Brodaty i jego czasy. Wydawnictwo TRIO, 1997.
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Philip". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Philip_Of_Germany. 

External links[link]

• Philip of Swabia; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
• Philip (of Swabia) -- Encyclopædia Britannica
• Christoph Waldecker (2005). Bautz, Traugott. ed (in German). Philipp von Schwaben, deutscher König. Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). 25. Nordhausen. cols. 1070–1095. ISBN 3-88309-332-7. http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/p/philipp_v_schw.shtml. 

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PHASE 2 (aka Lonny Wood)^[1] is one of the most influential and well known New York City aerosol artists. Mostly active in the 1970s, Phase 2 is generally credited with originating the "bubble letter" style of aerosol writing, also known as "softies".^[2] He was also influential in the early hip-hop scene.

Graffiti career[link]

Phase 2 is from The Bronx, and attended DeWitt Clinton High School along with a number of other early graffiti artists. Many famous graffiti writers of the early 1970s would meet at a doughnut shop across from the school called the Coffee Shop before heading down to the subway station at 149th Street and Grand Concourse to watch tagged trains on the IRT line pass by.^[3] Phase 2 was mentored in graffiti by his friend and neighbor Thomas Lee aka Lee 163d!, one of the pioneers of graf writing in The Bronx.^[2]

He began writing in late 1971 under the name Phase 2, a moniker which had a rather mundane provenance. As Phase 2 would later recall, "the previous year we'd given this party. We were getting ready to give another one and I said, 'We'll call this one Phase Two.' I don't know why, but I was stuck on the name. It had meaning for me. I started writing 'Phase 2.'"^[4]

Part of the appeal of graffiti writing for Phase 2 was that it allowed him to get his "name" known yet remain anonymous.^[5] He noted later that tagging provided disadvantaged urban teens "the only significant vehicle to represent their 'existence.'"^[6]

It was in late 1972 that Phase 2 first used an early version of the "bubble letter" or "softie", a style of graffiti writing which would become extremely influential and is considered a "giant leap" in the art form.^[2] The puffed-out, marshmallow-like letters drawn by Phase 2 were soon copied by other artists who added their own variations. Phase himself quickly embellished on his original form, creating and naming dozens of varieties of softies such as "phasemagorical phantastic" (bubble letters with stars), "bubble cloud", and "bubble drip."^[7] He is also credited with pioneering the use of arrows in graf writing around this same time.^[8] Hip-hop journalist Jeff Chang has noted that Phase 2's canvasses from 1973 have "been widely recognized as defining the early genre."^[9]

Over time Phase's work become more and more complex, moving far away from the simple tags of the early 70s to "hieroglyphical calligraphic abstraction."^[5] Chang points out that much of Phase's work involved "deconstructing the letter", transforming characters in the alphabet "into hard lines, third eyes, horns, drills, spikes, Egyptian pharaohs and dogs, pure geometrics."^[9] Another New York graffiti artist, Vulcan, remarked that "one of the things about Phase is that he was the only person at the time whose name could roll by ten times and each piece was different. That's what you noticed about his [work]."^[5]

In 1974 Phase 2 joined the newly created United Graffiti Artists, a professional graffiti collective which began to attract media attention. He was featured in an important essay on graffiti art by Richard Goldstein which appeared in New York magazine and inspired a new generation of graffiti artists.^[2]

In the 1980s, Phase 2 began publishing International Graffiti Times, the first zine about graffiti writing.^[10]

Influence in hip-hop[link]

Unlike some other pioneers of New York City graffiti, Phase 2 had a prominent role in The South Bronx hip-hop scene in the early 1980s. He also continues to be referenced in hip-hop songs.

Phase participated in the legendary hip-hop shows organized by Kool Lady Blue during the summer of 1982 at the Roxy nightclub in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. These shows brought together the top DJ's, MC's, breakers, and aerosol artist from The South Bronx and introduced hip-hop music and culture to the downtown punk and new wave scenes. Phase 2 designed the flyers for these events and often did aerosol pieces live on stage.^[11] He was also part of the first "international" hip-hop tour when stars from the Roxy performances toured in England and France in November of that year.^[12]

Phase 2 was one of the few aerosol artists to be involved in the musical side of hip-hop culture as well. He had a background as a DJ in the very early days of hip-hop, though he never made a name for himself in that role.^[13] In 1982, as part of his involvement with the Roxy scene, Phase released two rap singles. "Beach Boy" was a collaboration with Barry Michael Cooper, who would later co-write the script for New Jack City. "The Roxy" featured the Bill Laswell-led group Material and Grandmixer D.ST, though Phase 2 would later remark that he was disappointed in the song and felt that it "wasn't done properly."^[13][14]

Phase was also an early b-boy and claims that his dance crew pioneered the uprock (or "battle rock") style of dance despite claims that it originated in Brooklyn.^[13] He was thus actively involved in all of the traditional "four elements" of hip-hop culture.

Though he did not have a role in the production, Phase 2 did apparently influence the classic early hip-hop movie Wild Style. In the DVD commentary for the film, director Charlie Ahearn explained that, when thinking about the key character named "Phade", he had Phase 2 in mind (either to actually play the part or simply as a model) because Phase was a legendary graffiti writer from the past who was also involved in the hip-hop scene, as was the character of Phade. The role would ultimately be played by Fab 5 Freddy, himself a graffiti artist who along with Ahearn was the major creative force behind Wild Style. Phase 2 did take on an official role in another early hip-hop film when he worked as a graffiti consultant on the 1984 movie Beat Street.^[15]

In his 1995 song "Out for Fame" - an homage to graffiti artists and culture - KRS-One implores his audience "in the name of Phase 2" and fellow Bronx graffiti legend Stay High to "grab your cans and hit the streets." Several years later Mos Def mentioned Phase 2 on his widely respected debut album Black on Both Sides, specifically on the track "Hip Hop", in which he noted that hip-hop itself was "all city like Phase 2" - presumably a reference to the ubiquity of Phase 2's graffiti pieces on trains throughout the city during the early 1970s. In 1996, he appeared in the song I Messaggeri Pt.I contained in italian artist Neffa's album I Messaggeri della Dopa.

References[link]

Works cited[link]

• George, Nelson Buppies, B-boys, Baps & Bohos: Notes on Post-Soul Black Culture. Da Capo Press. 2001. ISBN 0-306-81027-1. 
• Chang, Jeff (2005). Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. Picador. ISBN 0-312-42579-1.
• Castleman, Craig (1982). Getting Up: Subway Graffiti in New York. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-53051-1. 

External links[link]

• Adam Mansbach interview with PHASE 2
• "Writer of the Storm", Raw Vision interview with PHASE 2

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