The Emperor And The Saint Frederick Ii Of Hohenstaufen Francis Of Assisi And Journeys To Medieval Places 1st Richard Cassady by Richard Cassady 9780875804392, 087580439X instant download after payment.

The Emperor and the Saint is a vivid place-by-place telling of
the life and times of the most enlightened, creative, and dynamic ruler
of Medieval Europe, Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. St. Francis, who
shared with Frederick a love of the natural world and was baptized in
the same cathedral in Assisi, is a parallel and contrasting presence.
Cassady enthusiastically guides the reader through the history and
legends, pausing to describe the architecture of a cathedral, to marvel
at the atmosphere of a town, to recommend the best place for a quiet
picnic of local fare. Frederick's mother, Constance, was the daughter of
the Norman Sicilian king, Roger II; Frederick's father, Henry VI, was
the scion of the German imperial family, son of the Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa. When three-year-old Frederick was orphaned in 1198
he came under the guardianship of Pope Innocent III, marking the
beginning of a conflict with the Papacy that was to last for the rest of
his life―he was excommunicated twice. As a young boy he wandered freely
through the streets of Palermo, a crossroad of Eastern and Western
cultures. A man of insatiable curiosity, Frederick spent hours
developing his knowledge of science and religion, art and philosophy. He
traveled the length and breadth of Europe, even going to the Holy Land
where, as commander of a Crusade, he negotiated a treaty with Sultan
al-Kamil of Egypt, nephew of the great Saladin. Both respected and
reviled, Frederick achieved great heights and faced grave
disappointments. One failure was his dream to bring Italy and Sicily
together in a united empire with a capital at Rome. When Frederick died
in December 1250, he was robed in the white habit of a Cistercian monk
to demonstrate his connection to both personal/political and religious
worlds. This engaging book is richly illustrated with photographs.
Armchair historians, general readers of popular biography, and fans of
travel literature will delight in Cassady's lively presentation.