(11 February 2016) Frederick II of Swabia lived most of his life in Italy. Born in Jesi in the Marche region in 1194, he spent his childhood in Palermo. At the age of 17, he went to Germany where he remained until 1220. Between 1220 and 1250, Frederick traveled much in the territories of the Empire, especially in the continental regions of the Kingdom of Sicily. Frequent were his stays in Puglia where he preferred, in particular, the Capitanata (cultural-historical region of Puglia, which has been an administrative unit of the Kingdom of Sicily, of the Kingdom of Naples and finally of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies). The course organized by the Italian Cultural Institute and Forum Italia e.V. is scheduled for March 3, 10, and 17, from 6pm to 7.30pm, at the headquarters of the Institute. The three sessions will reveal the lesser-known aspects of Frederick II’s life, highlighting those elements still relevant today in the history and story of the Emperor’s life, in view of the meeting of different cultures that his figure represented. The course is taught by Pasquale Episcopo. Puglia-native with a degree in engineering, in 1988 he completed his doctorate at the University of Rome with a degree in operational research. For the past 22 years, Episcopo has lived in Munich as project management consultant, and since 2000 he works as an Italian language teacher for Mvhs. In 2007 and 2008 he held Italian courses at LMU (Fach- und Fremdsprachen Programm). Since 1993, Episcopo also became a freelance journalist who writes regularly on newspapers in Germany and Italy. The course will be based on materials collected in Foggia, at the provincial library and the museum, during meetings with one of the greatest scholars of the history of Frederick II and Foggia, Giuseppe de Troia. (Red)
