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The Emperor and the Saint: Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, Francis of Assisi, and Journeys to Medieval Places
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.
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.
472 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 5, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 15, 2014
What a perplexing book this was. The title is not wholly accurate. There is some degree of references regarding Francis of Assisi, but by and large, this is a book about Frederick. A more accurate title would have been 'The Emperor and the Popes' because of the inevitable conflict between the papal king and the temporal emperor.
Richard Cassady is an art historian, and it shows in these pages. He uses physical description of the archalogical remains of Frederick's day to illustrate the story. Because the time period is that of the late middle ages (1190-1250), not much remains of that era. The subtitle of the book also mentions '...journeys to medieval places'. Therefore, much of the book is devoted to present day reviews of locations that we important in Frederick's time. Having an art historian explain some of the remaining art in these old buildings is fascinating. There are a number of excellent photos of what Cassady is describing. However, there is a terrible and unacceptable flaw in this book and that is the complete lack of a map. Not just not enough maps, but none whatsoever. When you write a book about a historical figure who lived almost a 1000 years ago, it would be a good idea to include some reference about exactly where he lived, don't you think? Unless you already know where the Papal States were located, or the various German Principalities were found, you'll be lost without a guide.
Nevertheless, Cassady does a pretty good job explaining Frederick given what we know. I didn't know that he spoke 6 languages and wrote the single most important book on falconry that is still in use today. He led a successful Crusade wherein not a drop of blood was spilled. He had a harem and liked to be physically clean. (Neither of those items was normal back in the day.) The popes come across pretty poorly, and rightfully so. For example, Pope Innocent IV is mostly now known for authorizing the use of torture as part of the Inquisition. (Thanks a lot, douchebag.) Frederick thought of himself as a man of Apulia, (the bootheel part of Italy) as opposed to a Norman like his predecessors. He was undoubtedly ahead of his time.
Anyway, outside of academia, I don't believe there's a lot of information on Frederick II of Hohenstaufun. This book does a great deal to shed light on Frederick, but the perfect book on him is still yet to be written. This is actually in the 3.5-3.75 stars level as opposed to 4 stars.
Richard Cassady is an art historian, and it shows in these pages. He uses physical description of the archalogical remains of Frederick's day to illustrate the story. Because the time period is that of the late middle ages (1190-1250), not much remains of that era. The subtitle of the book also mentions '...journeys to medieval places'. Therefore, much of the book is devoted to present day reviews of locations that we important in Frederick's time. Having an art historian explain some of the remaining art in these old buildings is fascinating. There are a number of excellent photos of what Cassady is describing. However, there is a terrible and unacceptable flaw in this book and that is the complete lack of a map. Not just not enough maps, but none whatsoever. When you write a book about a historical figure who lived almost a 1000 years ago, it would be a good idea to include some reference about exactly where he lived, don't you think? Unless you already know where the Papal States were located, or the various German Principalities were found, you'll be lost without a guide.
Nevertheless, Cassady does a pretty good job explaining Frederick given what we know. I didn't know that he spoke 6 languages and wrote the single most important book on falconry that is still in use today. He led a successful Crusade wherein not a drop of blood was spilled. He had a harem and liked to be physically clean. (Neither of those items was normal back in the day.) The popes come across pretty poorly, and rightfully so. For example, Pope Innocent IV is mostly now known for authorizing the use of torture as part of the Inquisition. (Thanks a lot, douchebag.) Frederick thought of himself as a man of Apulia, (the bootheel part of Italy) as opposed to a Norman like his predecessors. He was undoubtedly ahead of his time.
Anyway, outside of academia, I don't believe there's a lot of information on Frederick II of Hohenstaufun. This book does a great deal to shed light on Frederick, but the perfect book on him is still yet to be written. This is actually in the 3.5-3.75 stars level as opposed to 4 stars.
July 13, 2023
This was a very interesting book about a very interesting emperor, Frederick II. Saint Francis of Assisi also shows up, in the equivalent of a short biography inside a biography, but most of the book is about the emperor. It never gets boring. Frederick II lived a very active and controversy-filled life, and the author is a skillful storyteller. The book has one major flaw. The author clearly adores architecture and architectural history, and this leads to him spending long paragraphs talking about notable buildings in every city that he mentions. These asides get repetitive and they don't help the narrative. I soon learned that I could safely skip these paragraphs and save myself several minutes at a time. But still a very good book.
July 2, 2013
It's like Game of Thrones without all the juicy details, with Friedrich, (which they spell Frederick), combining multiple parts, wars, pillage, murder, hostages, Crusades, everyone betrays everyone, Pope Innocent is Pope Evil, and the Mongols are not even in play yet, I'm only at page 50 when he comes of age in 1208.
As the author lavishes loving detail upon the Italian churches and plazas, I feel like a reader of another time, before we were inundated by television, where a book, a travelogue, was your window upon the world. If I were an "Innocent Abroad", I would take this book along to myself retrace the travels of Friedrich. However, one wonders if the biographies are not incidental to, an excuse for, the tour of the churches.
Ok, further on, and I am bogging down with the travelogue. It seems a third of the book is architecture. It would be a faster, focused read if the author would have decided whether the topic was people or places, action or architecture. One must bow to the dominance of the other.
Next to annoy me is the continued evil, worldly machinations of Pope after Pope, while the life of St. Francis as a redemptive influence for the church is too brief. The papacies absolute power to excommunicate, is absolutely corrupting where nations are filled with believers. The rule of church over state is understandably a Dark Age. Gregory, "The Pope of the Inquisition", in other words, a mass serial killer, with a sanctioned cadre of murderers. Remind me how disgusting the Church is, not what I was hoping for here.
All in all, while it may make an excellent mini-series, the book leaves me angry that it was so torturing to read, and angry at how great Friedrichs empire might have been if not for the evil that was the Church and it's Popes. No single Saint nor any number of good christians can make up for that cancer that is Church. The politics and violence that was the history of Rome, soaked the soil in blood and was again raised in the Church. Rome may be the absolutely most unfit city to be a holy seat. To have a Pope plan the murder of an Emperor, is just to be expected. Both the Emporer and the saint were ruined by the Church.
As the author lavishes loving detail upon the Italian churches and plazas, I feel like a reader of another time, before we were inundated by television, where a book, a travelogue, was your window upon the world. If I were an "Innocent Abroad", I would take this book along to myself retrace the travels of Friedrich. However, one wonders if the biographies are not incidental to, an excuse for, the tour of the churches.
Ok, further on, and I am bogging down with the travelogue. It seems a third of the book is architecture. It would be a faster, focused read if the author would have decided whether the topic was people or places, action or architecture. One must bow to the dominance of the other.
Next to annoy me is the continued evil, worldly machinations of Pope after Pope, while the life of St. Francis as a redemptive influence for the church is too brief. The papacies absolute power to excommunicate, is absolutely corrupting where nations are filled with believers. The rule of church over state is understandably a Dark Age. Gregory, "The Pope of the Inquisition", in other words, a mass serial killer, with a sanctioned cadre of murderers. Remind me how disgusting the Church is, not what I was hoping for here.
All in all, while it may make an excellent mini-series, the book leaves me angry that it was so torturing to read, and angry at how great Friedrichs empire might have been if not for the evil that was the Church and it's Popes. No single Saint nor any number of good christians can make up for that cancer that is Church. The politics and violence that was the history of Rome, soaked the soil in blood and was again raised in the Church. Rome may be the absolutely most unfit city to be a holy seat. To have a Pope plan the murder of an Emperor, is just to be expected. Both the Emporer and the saint were ruined by the Church.
February 8, 2016
This wasn't a bad book; but it was a tough read and had some aspects that took away from my enjoyment of it. This book purports to be a history of Frederick II and Francis of Assisi, mashed up with descriptions and pictures of buildings, paintings, and churches that existed in the 13th century. First of all, the book is really a book about Frederick. There is some discussion of Francis and his life, but it makes up a small part of the entire book. Which is fine; I was really looking for a book about Frederick anyway. However, it is obvious that the author was partial to Frederick. Beyond Francis, he has hardly any good words for anyone in the church. That may or may not be deserved, but it doesn't seem like Frederick gets the same treatment. One example I found amusing was how shortly after Frederick set forth a new code of laws for his empire, which is described as being very forward thinking, Sicily is in revolt due to the loss of their freedoms. The author does, on occasion, admit that Frederick certainly had despotic tendencies, but seemed much more forgiving of Frederick than any of his political opponents. However, the seeming thesis of the book that Frederick and Francis were two sides of some coin seems far-fetched. I can't imagine Francis approving of Frederick rather hedonistic lifestyle or lightly-veiled claims to be the Second Coming. The pictures and modern day descriptions of Italian and German sites is nice, but constantly shifting gears from history to architecture or art can be jarring and probably contributed to how long it took to get through. A couple random thoughts: although it's mentioned a few times, the Mongol invasion of Europe doesn't get nearly as much attention as I thought it would. Frederick went out of his way to avoid messing with all that. Also, it was fun to read about the actual events portrayed in the Mongoliad.
Anyway, this book is not without merit, and there aren't a lot of books of Frederick II available on Kindle, so you have to take what you can get.
Anyway, this book is not without merit, and there aren't a lot of books of Frederick II available on Kindle, so you have to take what you can get.
December 21, 2014
Given the subject matter, I was disappointed.
This is primarily about the Emperor Frederick II. Francis of Assisi definitely takes second place. A proper biography of St Francis would explore the role of saints in the medieval church and also the role of religious orders. Both of these are missing.
As for Frederick, the story gets bogged down in a mass of details that add weight without colour. We lose the overview that is necessary to discern his greatness. Every life is made up of day-to-day battles, yet these are not the stuff of history, or even of narrative.
This is primarily about the Emperor Frederick II. Francis of Assisi definitely takes second place. A proper biography of St Francis would explore the role of saints in the medieval church and also the role of religious orders. Both of these are missing.
As for Frederick, the story gets bogged down in a mass of details that add weight without colour. We lose the overview that is necessary to discern his greatness. Every life is made up of day-to-day battles, yet these are not the stuff of history, or even of narrative.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews