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.
- ISBN10 0712668365
- ISBN13 9780712668361
- Publish Date 7 February 2002
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 28 May 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Vintage Publishing
- Imprint Pimlico
- Format Paperback (UK Trade)
- Pages 496
- Language English