Episode 83 – The Court of Frederick II
At Foggia a circle of poets were the first to write in Italian and invented the Sonnet, plus tales taller than the giraffe in his garden
Episode 82 – The Constitution of the Realm
In 1235 the imperial princes came to Mainz to celebrate the new modus operandi of the Holy Roman Empire: Everybody gets Everything they want
Episode 81 – The King in Brackets
The sad story of Henry (VII) eldest son and heir of emperor Frederick II who dies of his inability to understand the father he had barely ever met
Episode 80 – A different kind of Emperor
The constitutions of Melfi of 1231 were the most advanced, most modern law in the Middle Ages foreshadowing Machiavelli and Hobbes
Episode 79 – Return to Sicily
In 1220-28 Frederick II breaks the power of the barons, expels the Pisans and Genoese and creates the Muslim colony in Lucera
Episode 78 – A Crusade without Crusaders
Frederick II sets off on crusade as an excommunicate. he has a year to regain Jerusalem, otherwise all will be lost
Episode 77 – A Nail in the Coffin
The reign of Frederick II in Germany from 1212 to1220 drives both a real and a metaphorical nail in the coffin of Charlemagne
Episode 76 – Urchin to Emperor
Aged 5 he had lost both parents, gained and lost a crown. Did he really roam the streets of Palermo alone and hungry before becoming emperor?
Episode 75 – Wet Pants and Other Miracles
Frederick II rose from the confines of his besieged royal palace in Palermo to sole ruler of the empire through a series of miracles
Episode 74 – The War that broke the Empire
For 10 years Otto IV. and Philipp of Swabia struggle for leadership in Germany, a war fought as much with money and verse as with steel