By David Abulafia
ISBN-10: 0195080408
ISBN-13: 9780195080407
Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Sicily, King of Jerusalem, has, when you consider that his demise in 1250, loved a name as essentially the most extraordinary monarchs within the background of Europe. His broad cultural tastes, his obvious tolerance of Jews and Muslims, his defiance of the papacy, and his intended objective of constructing a brand new, secular global order make him a determine specifically beautiful to modern historians. yet as David Abulafia indicates during this powerfully written biography, Frederick used to be less tolerant and far-sighted in his cultural, non secular, and political goals than is mostly concept. right here, Frederick is published because the thorough traditionalist he fairly used to be: a guy who espoused an identical ideas of presidency as his twelfth-century predecessors, an ardent chief of the Crusades, and a king as keen to make a take care of Rome as the other ruler in medieval Europe. Frederick's realm used to be mammoth. in addition to ruling the area of Europe that encompasses smooth Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, jap France, and northerly Italy, he additionally inherited the dominion of Sicily and elements of the Mediterranean that come with what are actually Israel, Lebanon, Malta, and Cyprus. furthermore, his Teutonic knights conquered the present-day Baltic States, and he even gained impact alongside the coasts of Tunisia. Abulafia is the 1st to put Frederick within the wider ancient context his huge, immense empire calls for. Frederick's reign, Abulafia sincerely exhibits, marked the climax of the ability fight among the medieval popes and the Holy Roman Emperors, and the booklet stresses Frederick's steadfast commitment to the duty of protecting either dynasty and empire. in the course of the process this wealthy, groundbreaking narrative, Frederick emerges as much less of the innovator than he's frequently portrayed. instead of instituting a centralized autocracy, he used to be content material to assure the continuing life of the favourite variety of executive in every one quarter he governed: in Sicily he seemed a powerful despot, yet in Germany he put his belief in local princes, and not dreamed of usurping their energy. Abulafia exhibits that this pragmatism helped lead to the eventual transformation of medieval Europe into smooth realms. The booklet additionally sheds new gentle at the goals of Frederick in Italy and the close to East, and concentrates besides at the final fifteen years of the Emperor's lifestyles, a interval earlier little understood. furthermore, Abulfia has mined the papal registers within the mystery Archive of the Vatican to supply a brand new interpretation of Frederick's family members with the papacy. And his cognizance to Frederick's sign in of records from 1239-40--a assortment hitherto neglected--has yielded new insights into the cultural lifetime of the German court docket. finally, a clean and engaging photo develops of the main enigmatic of German rulers, a guy whose accomplishments were grossly distorted over the centuries.
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Extra resources for Frederick II: A Medieval Emperor
Sample text
Rebellion, fragmentation, in some areas collapse: southern Italy at the beginning of the twelfth century seemed as divided as it had been a century before, when the Normans first arrived and took advantage of its rivalries to hoist themselves into the saddle. Major towns such as Amalfi rose in rebellion. Had the Byzantines not been so distracted by the First Crusade and the antics of Bohemond in the Balkans and Antioch, the Greek emperor might have been able to invade again and re-establish his authority in Apulia.
It would be, at the very least, a deft way to put pressure on the pope when he was making difficulties over the apostolic legateship. At the heart of these activities, diplomatic, even cultural, was the principle of autonomy. Roger was aware of the Roman heritage of these ideas, and it was to the Rome of Constantine, or at least to the Roman empire of Justinian, that he turned for inspiration: to the best available model for Christian Roman monarchy. It is no coincidence, therefore, that he and his successors used tombs of porphyry, purple marble, just like the Roman emperors of the past, and like many of the popes.
They had no scruples about fighting one another, if they found themselves on opposing sides, nor against fighting their Scandinavian remote cousins, who, as 'Varangians', had taken service in the Byzantine army. Nor, indeed, were they all younger sons: some of the leaders of the Norman takeover in southern Italy were eldest sons; the lord of Cullei in the early twelfth century left home to found a shortlived Norman principality in Spain, at Tarragona. At the same time they were often devout. By the end of the tenth century Norman pilgrims were appearing in southern Italy, at the shrine of the Archangel Michael on Monte Gargano, the spur that sticks out of the Apulian coast.
Frederick II: A Medieval Emperor by David Abulafia
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