The potential for widening global reach was not lost on international rulers either. In the twelfth century Emperor Frederick Barbarossa sought to expand the Holy Roman Empire to encompass all of Christendom and beyond. He introduced imagery of non-white individuals into the visual arts of his court, and representations of black saints, like Maurice, increased as a means of showing the international influence of Christianity with Barbarossa at its head. He drew people from across Europe, Asia and Africa to his court.27 He favoured Islamic scholars and made peace treaties with the Sultan of
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