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Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194-1250) - King of Sicily, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Jerusalem, expert ornithologist, Wonder of the World - has long been considered the first Renaissance ruler - a visionary autocrat who embraced the religious divisions within his empire to challenge the armies and oppressive limitations of the medieval church.
About the author
David Abulafia has written extensively on the political, economic and social history of the Mediterranean, especially Sicily, southern Italy and the Catalan world. His books, several of which have been translated into Italian, Spanish or German, include The Two Italies, A Mediterranean Emporium and The Western Mediterranean Kingdoms 1200-1500. His most recent book is The New Cambridge Medieval History, volume 5, c.1198-1300, which he edited. He has also written over a hundred historical articles. He had lectured in several European countries and in the United States, Israel and Japan, and he regularly visits Italy for his research. He has been awarded the King Roger II Prize in Sicily for his books on the history of the island. He strongly believes that historians should attempt to convey the results of their research to a wider public, in as accessible a form as possible, and this book on Frederick II was written with that principle in mind. He is Professor of Mediterranean History at Cambridge University and he has been a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, since 1974. His wife is also a historian, and they have two daughters, Bianca Susanna and Rosa Alexandra.
Summary
Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194-1250) - King of Sicily, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Jerusalem, expert ornithologist, Wonder of the World - has long been considered the first Renaissance ruler - a visionary autocrat who embraced the religious divisions within his empire to challenge the armies and oppressive limitations of the medieval church. He has aslo been denounced as the Antichrist, a heretic and a heathen, who died condemned by the papacy to eternal damnation. David Abulafia's masterly biography overturns the myths and reveals Frederick as neither the Beast of the Apocalypse nor the Universal Hero adopted by pre-Nazi Germany. Instead we are shown a man very much of his time, an emperor whose reign coincided with the great turning-points of the high Middle Ages.
Foreword
'David Abulafia has written a brilliant book.' Andrew Wheatcroft, Evening Standard
