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The star of the wind
Frederick ll (1194-1250) was perhaps the most famous and powerful Emperor in Europe between Charlemagne and Napoleon. As Holy Roman Emperor he was the last of the great Hohenstaufens who, far from accepting the doctrine of Hildebrand - Gregory VII - that the Church was supreme both spiritually and temporally, actively worked against it.
In politics, like a falcon, he would soar and watch, then strike. An Italian by birth and temperament, he left German affairs mainly to his sons, while in Sicily he promoted far-seeing legal and financial reforms and greatly expanded both commerce and industry.
His long-delayed crusade resulted in the peaceful cession of Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem to the Christians, and his own coronation as king of Jerusalem. But this treaty was denounced by Gregory IX and soon broken by the Moslems. Sporadic warfare between the Emperor and the Pope flared into a life-and-death struggle in 1239, culminating in Frederick's excommunication - his second - in 1245, and the flight of the Pope from Rome, leading to the exile of the Papacy at Avignon.
The Wonder of the World, Frederick displayed outstanding talents as a patron and student of medicine, mathematics, falconry, astronomy and poetry. He dazzled everybody by his knowledge, his originality, his wit, and his provocative way of
life.
His court at Palermo was of oriental splendour. The Pope called it a circus of sin. But Frederick could do nothing quietly or in a minor key. He was like a comet flashing through the night sky, which leaves a darker dark after it is gone.
Far in advance of his time this great and learned man died in his fifty-sixth year, worn out at last by a lifetime of struggles.
His story is told here by three people with vitally different knowledge of him: his falconer, one of his confidants, Isabella, sister of Henry III of England, his third wife; and Conradino, his grandson, who was ultimately to see the final downfall of the house of Hohenstaufen and the triumph of the papacy.
This novel by Somerset de Chair is as exotic, pungent and aromatic as the world through which Frederick II blazed. It is a fine study of an historic figure of lasting controversy.
In politics, like a falcon, he would soar and watch, then strike. An Italian by birth and temperament, he left German affairs mainly to his sons, while in Sicily he promoted far-seeing legal and financial reforms and greatly expanded both commerce and industry.
His long-delayed crusade resulted in the peaceful cession of Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem to the Christians, and his own coronation as king of Jerusalem. But this treaty was denounced by Gregory IX and soon broken by the Moslems. Sporadic warfare between the Emperor and the Pope flared into a life-and-death struggle in 1239, culminating in Frederick's excommunication - his second - in 1245, and the flight of the Pope from Rome, leading to the exile of the Papacy at Avignon.
The Wonder of the World, Frederick displayed outstanding talents as a patron and student of medicine, mathematics, falconry, astronomy and poetry. He dazzled everybody by his knowledge, his originality, his wit, and his provocative way of
life.
His court at Palermo was of oriental splendour. The Pope called it a circus of sin. But Frederick could do nothing quietly or in a minor key. He was like a comet flashing through the night sky, which leaves a darker dark after it is gone.
Far in advance of his time this great and learned man died in his fifty-sixth year, worn out at last by a lifetime of struggles.
His story is told here by three people with vitally different knowledge of him: his falconer, one of his confidants, Isabella, sister of Henry III of England, his third wife; and Conradino, his grandson, who was ultimately to see the final downfall of the house of Hohenstaufen and the triumph of the papacy.
This novel by Somerset de Chair is as exotic, pungent and aromatic as the world through which Frederick II blazed. It is a fine study of an historic figure of lasting controversy.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1974
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