Frederick+II

 __Frederick II of Hohenstaufen__ Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194 - 1250) has been regarded as one of the most significant figures of the Middle Ages. [1] As a Roman Emperor, his character, intellect and accomplishments amazed his contemporaries earning him the title, //Stupor mundi//, "The Wonder of the World." [2] To the historian, Frederick’s government, attitude and central role in one of the greatest European political struggles, have made him a figure of significance. __Video__ media type="youtube" key="DF1MIGuyn60" height="315" width="420" __http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF1MIGuyn60__  __Intellect and the Church__ Frederick’s upbringing in Palermo gave him understanding of both Eastern and Western traditions and perspectives. [3] After the death of his parents Frederick became the ward of one of the most powerful medieval popes, Innocent III. [4] From a young age Frederick had a deep desire for knowledge having particular interest in geography, science, mathematics and astronomy. [5] In addition, he had the ability to speak several languages. [6] Many historians have thought of Frederick as a modern man and a pioneer of the Renaissance. [7] However, he was still a man of his time, gifted and fortunate in his upbringing and education. Given his knowledge and intellect, he preferred his own experimentation to the authority of others. [8] He encouraged the discussion of problems in his courts and experimentation for the finding of possible solutions. [9] Frederick’s experiments were documented by the monk, Salimbene di Adam, in his Chronicles. [10] His dismissal of unproven fact often gave Frederick the appearance of being anti-religious, however, despite numerous charges by Gregory IX, Frederick maintained affirmation of faith and did not show himself as anything other than completely orthodox. [11] Furthermore, such charges revealed to be based on little more than ‘suspicions’ and were not supported by Gregory’s successor, Innocent IV. [12]

__State Affairs & Laws__ Frederick’s law codes and manifestos were distinct and many of them served as examples for later generations. [13] He surveyed laws from all over the kingdom including the Byzantine, Lombard, Moslem and Norman laws and decided that a new legal system would be made and implemented for the entire kingdom. [14] The result was The Constitutions of Melfi (1231). The constitution consisted of a collection of laws and set a precedent for written law, which remained the basis for Sicilian law until 1819. 13 The laws themselves were based around the Byzantine idea of the king being given the right to rule from god and the emperor alone had the right of absolute justice- as the “terrestrial incarnation of divine justice, the supreme representative of God’s will in the sphere of political order”. [15] Frederick developed legislation based on the decrees of the Fourth Lateran Council, against unorthodox beliefs, in particular heresy. [16] In 1220 Frederick inherited the Norman kingdom in Italy and set about restoring the government structure after a long period of political chaos. [17]  Today Frederick II is still considered a significant European monarch of the Middle Ages due to his persona, administration and public life. 

[1] Donald S. Detwiler, Germany: A Short History (Southern Illinois University Press, 1999) 43 [2] Detwiler, Germany: A Short History,43 <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">[3] Andrewes, Frederick II Hohenstaufen.22 <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">[4] Andrewes, Frederick II Hohenstaufen.4 <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">[5] Cronica, Giovanni, trans. Rose E. Selfe. Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani (1896). <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">[6] Cronica, Giovanni, trans. Rose E. Selfe. Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani (1896). <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">[7] Patience Andrewes, Frederick II Hohenstaufen (London:Oxford University Press, 1970)15 <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">[8] Andrewes, Frederick II Hohenstaufen.22 <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">[9] Andrewes, Frederick II Hohenstaufen.22 <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">[10] Charles H. Haskins, “Science at the Court of the Emperor Frederick II” The American Historical Review 27, no.4(Jul., 1922) 669 <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">[11] Powell, “Frederick II and the Church: A Revisionist View”,489 <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">[12]Innocent IV before the Council of Lyons, July 12 1245. MGH. EPis.II 88-94. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">[13] Andrewes, Frederick II Hohenstaufen.22 <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">[14] Ernst Kantorowicz, Frederick the Second (New York, 1957), p. 264 <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">[15]Norman F. Cantor, //The Civilization of the Middle Ages// (1993) p 458 <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">[16]Powell l“Frederick II and the Church: A Revisionist View”, 488. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">[17] Ernst Kantorowicz, Frederick the Second (New York, 1957), p. 264

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">__Bibliography__ <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">Charles H. Haskins, “Science at the Court of the Emperor Frederick II” //The American Historical Review 27, no.4//(Jul., 1922) 669-694. <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">Cronica, Giovanni, trans. Rose E. Selfe. Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani (1896). <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">Donald S. Detwiler, Germany: A Short History (Southern Illinois University Press, 1999) 43 <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">Ernst Kantorowicz, Frederick the Second (New York, 1957), 264 <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">G. G. Coulton, St. Francis to Dante, (London: David Nutt, 1906), 242-43 <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">H. J. Pybus, "The Emperor Frederick II and the Sicilian Church," Cambridge Historical Journal, III (1929), 163. <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">Innocent IV before the Council of Lyons, July 12 1245. MGH. EPis.II 88-94. <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">James M. Powell, “Frederick II and the Church: A Revisionist View”, //The Catholic Historical Review// 48, No. 4 (Jan., 1963) 487-497. <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">James M. Powell, “Frederick II and the Church in the Kingdom of Sicily, 1220-1224, Church History XXX, (march 1961) 28-34 <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">Norman F. Cantor, The Civilization of the Middle Ages (1993) p 458 <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: center;">Patience Andrewes, //Frederick II Hohenstaufen// (London: Oxford University Press, 1970).

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