Enzo was an illegitimate son of Frederick II by a certain Adelaide, possibly a member of the Swabian noble House of Urslingen and relative of Duke Conrad I of Spoleto.

[2][3] Upon the marriage, Enzo by jure uxoris would accede to the Sardinian Giudicati of Logudoro (Torres) and Gallura, covering the northern half of the island of Sardinia.

In May 1241 he was in command of the forces which defeated the Genoese fleet at Meloria, where he seized a large amount of booty and captured a number of ecclesiastics who were proceeding to a council summoned by Gregory to Rome.

Like his brother Manfred, he presumably grew fond of poetry at Frederick's court: during his long imprisonment Enzo wrote several poems, two of his canzoni and a sonnet (Tempo vene che sale chi discende) are preserved.

His fate and the fall of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was itself a source of inspiration for several poets, such as the Italian lyricist Giovanni Pascoli (Canzoni di re Enzio, 1909).