Falconland: The Story of Frederick II by Reggie Connell

Falconland chronicles the events of King Frederick’s life by transporting readers to medieval Europe in the 12th century. It is a time when church, king and emperor struggle for power, highborn families fight for control of lands, and a dark force is rising in the Vatican.

It is a character-rich story that takes you into the minds of these fascinating medieval characters – both historical and fictional.

It begins in the quiet town of Jesi; tucked away in the foothills of northeastern Italy near the Adriatic Sea. It is December 26th, 1194AD.

In the distance, a weather-beaten carriage and a legion of knights are nearing the town’s gate. The carriage is carrying Queen Constance of Sicily. The queen is pregnant, and will be unable to make it to her palace before the birth of her baby. Because of her advanced age, she has decided to have the delivery in public view…so that no one can challenge his royal claims.

It concludes with a teenage boy overcoming enormous tragedy, and taking on a pope and an emperor to claim the crowns they took from him when he was a child. Falconland will have you cheering for Frederick II from page one until its conclusion.

Frederick Barbarossa: the Prince and the Myth by John Freed

From Reviews in History:

Frederick Barbarossa is arguably one of the most important German rulers of the Middle Ages, and certainly one of the best known. Still, English-speaking readers have had to wait a long time for a biography of this Holy Roman Emperor. Yale University Press has now published John B. Freed’s monumental and learned biography of the emperor.

For specialists of Barbarossa’s reign, particularly in Germany, the book does not offer many new interpretations, but to wish for more detail in a book of 700 pages may seem improper. Moreover, it is not a book aimed at these specialists. It is, rather, the first English-language biography of Frederick Barbarossa in several decades. It offers an excellent introduction to all relevant sources, which Freed commands in the fashion of a true master, and into most of the relevant scholarly debates, at least in German. Freed has written an erudite and immensely readable biography of Frederick that is very rich in historical detail and that – despite some problems – offers a reliable introduction into German history of the 12th century and into the debates among German scholars about this time. It will remain, for generations to come, and rightfully so, the standard work in English on Frederick Barbarossa and Germany in the 12th century.

read more here @ Reviews in History