description: It is April 1204, and Constantinople, the splendid capital of the Byzantine Empire, is being sacked and burned by the knights of the Fourth Crusade. Amid the carnage and confusion, one Baudolino saves a Byzantine historian and high court official from certain death at the hands of the crusading warriors, and proceeds to tell his own fantastical story. Born a simple peasant in northern Italy, Baudolino has two major gifts; a talent for learning foreign languages and a skill in telling lies. One day, when still a boy, he met a foreign commander in the woods, charming him with his quick wit and lively mind. The commander - who proves to be the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa - adopts Baudolino and sends him to the university in Paris, where he makes a number of fearless, adventurous friends. Spurred on by myths and their own reveries, this merry band sets out in search of Prester John, a legendary priest-king who was said to rule over a vast kingdom in the East - a phantasmagorical land of s
language: English
title: Baudolino
titlecomplete: Baudolino
characters: Abdullah, Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, The Poet, Baudolino Aulario, Niketas Choniates
genres: Fiction, Historical, Italy, Literature, Classics, Medieval, Novels, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Italian Literature
ratings_count: 22947
places: Constantinople
awards: awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: Prix Méditerranée Étranger
publisher: Recorded Books