Who was Frederick II?
Q: Who was Frederick II?
A: Frederick II was a powerful Holy Roman Emperor of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. He had ambitious political and cultural ambitions, stretching from Sicily to Germany, and even to Jerusalem.
Q: What did Professor Donald Detwiler say about him?
A: Professor Donald Detwiler described Frederick II as a man of extraordinary culture, energy, and ability who established something very much like a modern, centrally governed kingdom with an efficient bureaucracy in Sicily and southern Italy.
Q: How many languages did Frederick speak?
A: Frederick spoke six languages - Latin, Sicilian, German, French, Greek and Arabic.
Q: What influence did his court have on literature?
A: The poetry that emanated from his court in Palermo had a significant influence on literature and on what would become the modern Italian language. It predates by at least a century the use of Tuscan idiom as the elite literary language of Italy.
Q: What title did he hold in relation to Jerusalem?
A: Frederick held the title King of Jerusalem by virtue of marriage and his connection with the Sixth Crusade.
Q: How often was he excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX?
A: He was excommunicated four times by Pope Gregory IX.
