Stupor Mundi: The Life and Times of Frederick II Emperor of the Romans King of Sicily and Jerusalem 1194-1250
Author: first_name: Lionel
last_name: Allshorn
Language: English
Year: 1912

Frederick II (1194-1250), 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