Stupor Mundi, The Life and Times of Frederick II Emperor of the Romans King of Sicily and Jerusalem 1194-1250

Frederick II, under whose reign the Holy Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent, was called by his contemporaries "Stupor Mundi," the "astonishment of the world." Frequently at war with the papacy, which was hemmed in between Frederick's northern and southern Italian lands, he was excommunicated four times. Frederick spoke six languages and was an avid patron of the arts. He negotiated a peace treaty ending the sixth crusade, reigned over a cosmopolitan court at Palermo, and entrusted the administration of his southern kingdom to an efficient Muslim and Jewish bureaucracy. Allshorn writes that "around his name there gathered a glamour of strangeness and splendour, of genius soaring to perilous questionings of eternal truths, of unbreakable resolution and of unconquerable pride."

By : Lionel Allshorn

01 - Ch. 1: A Heritage of Strife, Pt. 1 02 - Ch. 1: A Heritage of Strife, Pt. 2 03 - Ch. 2: The Child of Mother Church, Pt. 1 04 - Ch. 2: The Child of Mother Church, Pt. 2 05 - Ch. 3: The Adventure and the Goal, Pt. 1 06 - Ch. 3: The Adventure and the Goal, Pt. 2 07 - Ch. 4: King and Emperor, Pt. 1 08 - Ch. 4: King and Emperor, Pt. 2 09 - Ch. 5: The First Excommunication, Pt. 1 10 - Ch. 5: The First Excommunication, Pt. 2 11 - Ch. 6: The Excommunicate Crusader, Pt. 1 12 - Ch. 6: The Excommunicate Crusader, Pt. 2 13 - Ch. 7: The Years of Solace, Pt. 1 14 - Ch. 7: The Years of Solace, Pt. 2 15 - Ch. 7: The Years of Solace, Pt. 3 16 - Ch. 8: The Rebellious Son, Pt. 1 17 - Ch. 8: The Rebellious Son, Pt. 2 18 - Ch. 9: The Conqueror 19 - Ch. 10: The Second Excommunication, Pt. 1 20 - Ch. 10: The Second Excommunication, Pt. 2 21 - Ch. 11: Fire and Sword, Pt. 1 22 - Ch. 11: Fire and Sword, Pt. 2 23 - Ch. 12: The Captured Council, Pt. 1 24 - Ch. 12: The Captured Council, Pt. 2 25 - Ch. 13: The New Enemy, Pt. 1 26 - Ch. 13: The New Enemy, Pt. 2 27 - Ch. 14: The Council of Lyons, Pt. 1 28 - Ch. 14: The Council of Lyons, Pt. 2 29 - Ch. 15: The Deposed Emperor, Pt. 1 30 - Ch. 15: The Deposed Emperor, Pt. 2 31 - Ch. 16: The Gathering of the Clouds, Pt. 1 32 - Ch. 16: The Gathering of the Clouds, Pt. 2 33 - Ch. 17: The Fall of Night 34 - Ch. 18: Stupor Mundi, Pt. 1 35 - Ch. 18: Stupor Mundi, Pt. 2