the
fierce and daring Suabian stem were grafted the pertinacity, the
cunning, the versatility of the Norman adventurers. Young Frederick,
while strong and subtle enough to stand for himself against the
world, was so finely tempered by the blended strains of his
parentage that he received the polish of an Oriental education
without effeminacy. Called upon to administer the affairs of
Germany, to govern Italy, to contend with the Papacy, and to settle
by arms and treaties the great Oriental question of his days,
Frederick, cosmopolitan from the cradle, was equal to the task. Had
Europe been but ready, the Renaissance would have dated from his
reign, and a universal empire, if not of political government, yet
of intellectual culture, might have been firmly instituted.

Of the personal appearance of the Norman chiefs--their fair hair,
clear eyes, and broad shoulders--we hear much from the chroniclers.
One minutely studied portrait will serve to bring the whole race
vividly before us. Bohemond, Prince of Tarentum, the son of Robert
Guiscard, and first cousin to Tancred of Montferrat, was thus
described by Anna Comnena, who saw him at her father's court during
the first Crusade: 'Neither amongst our own nation (the Greeks), nor
amongst foreigners, is there in our age a man equal to Bohemond. His
presence dazzled the eyes, as his reputation the fancy. He was one
cubit taller than the tallest man known. In his waist he was thin,
but broad in his shoulders and chest, without being either too thin
or too fat. His arms were strong, his hands full and large, his feet
firm and solid. He stooped a little, but through habit only, and not
on account of any deformity. He was fair, but on his cheeks there
was an agreeable mixture of vermilion. His hair was not loose over
his shoulders, according to the fashion of the barbarians, but was
cut above his ears. His eyes were blue, and full of wrath and
fierceness. His nostrils were large, inasmuch as having a wide chest
and a great heart, his lungs required an unusual quantity of air to
moderate the warmth of his blood. His handsome face had in itself
something gentle and softening, but the height of his person and the
fierceness of his looks had something wild and terrible. He was more
dreadful in his smiles than others in their rage.' When we read this
description, remembering the romance of Bohemond's ancestry and his
own life, we do not wonder at the tales of chivalry. Those 'knights
o