{"id":1291,"date":"2026-03-29T12:00:42","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T10:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/origin\/i-ruffo-presso-la-corte-di-federico-ii"},"modified":"2026-03-29T12:12:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T10:12:33","slug":"the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii","title":{"rendered":"The Ruffo at the Court of Frederick II"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By chance, he was born in Jesi<\/strong>. His mother Constance<\/strong>\u2014the last heir of the Norman dynasty<\/strong>\u2014was returning from Germany when she was overtaken by the pains of childbirth nearby: it was 26 December 1194<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From his mother he was given the name Constantine<\/strong>, but at baptism that name was changed to Frederick Roger<\/strong>: the names of his forebears, the German Barbarossa<\/strong> and the Norman Roger II<\/strong>. As emperor and king he was known as Frederick II<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His contemporaries called him \u201cstupor mundi\u201d<\/strong>, the wonder of the world, and \u201cimmutator mirabilis\u201d<\/strong>, the marvelous transformer. Yet \u201cstupor mundi\u201d<\/strong>, in the language of that age, could also mean \u201cthe overturning of the established order, generating fear and confusion.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giovanni Villani<\/strong>, the Florentine chronicler (1280\u20131348<\/strong>), in his Nuova cronica<\/em>, drew this portrait of Frederick II of Swabia<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis Frederick reigned thirty years as Emperor, and was a man of great consequence and great worth. Learned in letters and endowed with natural intelligence, universal in all things. He knew Latin, our vernacular tongue, German and French, Greek and Arabic, and was rich in every virtue. Generous and courteous in giving, valiant and wise in arms, and greatly feared. Yet he was given over to lust in many ways and kept many concubines and mamluks in the manner of the Saracens. In all bodily pleasures he wished to abound, living almost an Epicurean life, taking no account that there might ever be another life. And this was one of the chief reasons why he became an enemy of the clergy and of Holy Church.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a portrait only vaguely resembling the real man, and it clearly reflects various influences: the political climate of the years following the Sicilian Vespers<\/strong>, and the sources on which the former Florentine merchant, turned chronicler, relied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More truthful, and in greater agreement with what many authors wrote\u2014including some contemporaries of the Emperor\u2014is the description given by Fra Simone da Parma<\/strong> (1221\u20131287<\/strong>), who knew Frederick II<\/strong> in person:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was a cunning man, avaricious, lustful, hot-tempered, and wicked. Yet from time to time he also displayed good qualities, whenever he wished to show benevolence and generosity: then he knew how to be amiable, courteous, full of grace, and to display noble sentiments. He read, wrote, sang, and composed melodies. He was handsome and well-built, though not tall. I once knew him and for a certain time even honored him.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet the reading of this monk\u2019s chronicle\u2014perhaps surviving in autograph\u2014and the portrait he draws of the Emperor also make me think of the fact that in 1247<\/strong> he fled from Parma<\/strong>, then besieged by Frederick<\/strong>, and went into exile in France to seek assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even fuller and historically more truthful is the description given of Frederick II<\/strong> by Michele Amari<\/strong> in The War of the Sicilian Vespers<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[…] valiant in arms, shrewd and great in counsel, promoter of science and Italian letters, constant enemy of Rome. Frederick restrained the feudal lords, who had grown powerful during his childhood; he summoned the representatives of our cities to Parliament; yet he curbed republican impulses; vigorously reorganized the magistracies; prohibited, the first in Europe, those judgments impiously called judgments of God; issued a body of laws, restoring or correcting those of the Normans; and increased the revenues of the state, perhaps too much. His glory is stained by severity and avarice in government; though necessity partly excuses him, for he had to strengthen the sinews of princely power in order to sustain his wars abroad.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a distance of seven centuries<\/strong>, one observation may frame all that has been written in that time about Frederick II<\/strong>\u2014and about the Hohenstaufen<\/strong> in general:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One Pope created Frederick<\/strong> Emperor and King<\/strong>: Innocent III<\/strong>, a great pontiff and shrewd statesman. Another Pope, shortly after the Emperor\u2019s death, quite literally destroyed the Hohenstaufen dynasty<\/strong>: Urban IV<\/strong>, born the Frenchman Jacques Pantal\u00e9on<\/strong>, a pale figure of no real importance in the history of the Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This, in essence, was Frederick II<\/strong>\u2014and so great a man could only have had around him a court equally great and marvelous. In some of its aspects even Brunetto Latini<\/strong>, who had occasion to frequent it, celebrated it. Many contemporaries described it as a court like that of an Oriental sovereign<\/strong>, struck by its most showy external aspect, which was in reality only a kind of setting designed chiefly to impress the common people. And the Popes\u2014who had far graver accusations to level against Frederick\u2014when they wished to stir popular hostility against him through their anathemas, often referred to that outward aspect of the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet what truly gave splendor to the imperial court and made it unique in the world was something else: it recognized in the Emperor<\/strong>, seated upon the throne of justice<\/strong>, the sole source of law<\/strong>. This splendor escaped the masses, but it was fully perceived by men of understanding: at court lived and worked the very flower of the cultured men of that age. Different in nationality, race, and religion; drawn from the most varied social backgrounds, largely young or even very young, they all shared a common thirst either to learn<\/strong> or to teach<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At court the guiding principle was that \u201cthrough knowledge one acquires fame; through fame one attains honor by distinguishing oneself from others; and through honor one comes to wealth.\u201d<\/em> It was no accident that Pier delle Vigne<\/strong> could write to a friend: \u201cAt court the breasts of rhetoric have given milk to many chosen minds.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the imperial chancery<\/strong>, a true school of ars dictandi<\/strong>, provided the center of courtly literary life, around and in direct contact with the Emperor there flourished above all the scientific disciplines<\/strong> and the art of war<\/strong>, alongside literary studies, which in that setting were regarded as preparatory in value. Certain young men, judged particularly gifted and already introduced by masters of the stature of Pier delle Vigne<\/strong> and Michael Scot<\/strong> to broad literary horizons, were there instructed in the sciences through methods partly empirical, so that they might be stimulated to direct observation. For, as the Emperor maintained, a learned man who wishes to succeed in the study of the sciences must \u201cbegin anew to see with his own eyes,\u201d<\/em> and acquire the capacity to give full expression to what he sees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this court\u2014where lay culture<\/strong>, for the first time clearly defined, triumphed\u2014a new type of citizen was being formed, equally capable of martial<\/strong> and intellectual<\/strong> enterprises. Officials no longer identified, as in earlier times, either with the feudal class or still less with the clergy; rather, they were chosen directly by the Emperor from among the most distinguished practitioners of the various disciplines. Consequently, holding office did not constitute a beneficium<\/strong>, but rather an officium<\/strong>. For that reason hereditary office was inconceivable, and careers advanced solely on merit<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among those who lived at court were several members of the Ruffo family<\/strong>, who, having distinguished themselves in letters, science, and the military art<\/strong>, were particularly close to and deeply esteemed by the Emperor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ancient and modern historians, rightly unwilling to dwell on details that had no decisive impact on the course of events, have written that the first historically attested Ruffo was a certain Pietro<\/strong>, of whom Professor Michele Amari<\/strong>\u2014still an ardent supporter of Sicilian regional autonomy when, in 1843<\/strong>, he published his The War of the Sicilian Vespers<\/em>\u2014drew this portrait:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor many years Pietro Rosso, or Ruffo, sat as viceroy in Sicily and governed also Calabria. Emperor Frederick had raised him from a lowly household retainer to the highest offices, as often happens at court to the most daring and ambitious […] We know that he returned to the kingdom after the victory of Charles of Anjou and that the latter saw to the restoration of his goods.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These notices are absolutely and grossly inaccurate<\/strong>. Amari<\/strong> derived them from the Chronicle<\/em> of the Anonymous<\/strong>, a contemporary chronicler of this Pietro Ruffo<\/strong>, without troubling himself to seek any confirmation. And yet Amari<\/strong>, a man of high culture, must certainly have known the recognized unreliability<\/strong> of the Anonymous, a historian only by force of circumstances and, it would seem, a notary by profession. The figure of Ruffo<\/strong> was far from marginal in the events Amari<\/strong> was setting out to narrate. This alone should at least have prompted him to determine who the man really was, raised so high by an Emperor who, as has always been known, assigned offices exclusively on merit<\/strong>. He would then have discovered that the house to which the viceroy of the Kingdom of Sicily<\/strong> belonged had for centuries already borne the name Ruffo<\/strong>, not Rosso<\/strong> (although a family named Rosso<\/strong> did in fact live in Messina<\/strong> at that time), and that for just as long this family had appended to the surname the designation \u201cof Calabria.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More importantly from a historical point of view, he would have discovered that the Pietro Ruffo of the Angevin period<\/strong> was not, as he believed, the same man as Pietro Ruffo, Viceroy in the days of Frederick II<\/strong>\u2014the latter Pietro<\/strong> having died at Terracina<\/strong> in January 1257<\/strong>, murdered by an assassin of Manfred<\/strong>\u2014but rather his grandson of the same name<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ruffo<\/strong> were already present at the Frederician court<\/strong> when Frederick<\/strong> returned from Germany. In a privilege dated October 1223<\/strong>, translated from Greek (Paolucci, Documenti inediti del tempo svevo, Atti acc. <\/em>Palermo, ser. III, vol. 4, p. 38, n. IX<\/em>), there appears the appointment of Ruggero de Gervasio<\/strong>, son of the knight Gervasio Ruffo of Sciacca<\/strong>, as \u201cVallectus camere.\u201d<\/strong> His provenance from Sciacca<\/strong>, a city in the province of Agrigento<\/strong>, led some to suppose that this family was of different origin from the Ruffo di Calabria<\/strong>. Nothing could be more mistaken. In the private archive of the Ruffo di Calabria, Princes of Scilla<\/strong>\u2014that portion entrusted to the State Archives of Naples<\/strong>\u2014there is in fact a privilege of King Roger II<\/strong> (1095\u20131154<\/strong>), dated April 1146<\/strong>, by which the king granted to the Calabrian knight (\u201cour faithful ally in war,\u201d<\/em> as the king added) the stratiot Gervasio Ruffo<\/strong>\u2014evidently the grandfather of the man living in 1223<\/strong>\u2014the lands of \u201cMinzillicar e Chabucas\u201d<\/strong> in the territory of Sciacca<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Ruffo<\/strong> who distinguished themselves most at court were Pietro I<\/strong>, his son Giordano<\/strong>, and his grandson Fulcone<\/strong> (also known as Folco<\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also living at court were two other sons of Pietro I<\/strong>: Ruggero<\/strong> and Serio<\/strong>; another grandson, Pietro II<\/strong>, brother of Fulcone<\/strong>; and a cousin, Guglielmo<\/strong>, with his son Riccardo<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pietro I Ruffo di Calabria<\/strong> was very likely born at Tropea<\/strong> around 1188<\/strong> to Giordano<\/strong> and Agnese<\/strong>, who belonged to the same family as her husband. The year in which Pietro I<\/strong> entered the Emperor\u2019s service is not documented, but it is reasonable to suppose that he was the first Ruffo to arrive at court<\/strong>, and therefore did so before 1223<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Known documents place him fighting in Lombardy<\/strong> before 1235<\/strong>, already in a position of considerable prestige. Other documents place him as viceroy in Sicily in 1235<\/strong>, and again in 1239<\/strong>, after his son-in-law Guglielmo di Borrello<\/strong>, husband of his daughter Adriana<\/strong>. He remained in that office until 1242<\/strong>. In 1243<\/strong> he was created Imperialis Marescallae Magister<\/strong>. In 1249<\/strong> Frederick II<\/strong> entrusted him with the guardianship of his very young son Henry<\/strong>, who from then on lived with Pietro I<\/strong> in the royal palace at Messina<\/strong>. At the Emperor\u2019s death, Pietro I Ruffo di Calabria<\/strong> was Marescallus totius regni Siciliae<\/strong>, guardian of Henry<\/strong> and thus vice-guardian of Sicily<\/strong> and Calabria<\/strong>, while Manfred<\/strong>, the natural son of the Emperor (whose mother was Bianca Lancia<\/strong>), was guardian by virtue of Frederick\u2019s<\/strong> testament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many authors have written that among the witnesses who signed the Emperor\u2019s testament were Pietro Ruffo<\/strong> and his grandson Fulcone<\/strong>. This statement is only partly correct. Fulcone<\/strong> was certainly present at Frederick\u2019s<\/strong> death, on 13 December 1250<\/strong>, and had in fact signed the testament two days earlier<\/strong>; but the other witness was not Pietro I<\/strong>, rather Sigerio<\/strong>, his son. At that time Sigerio<\/strong> held the office of Magister Marescallus<\/strong>, and indeed in Frederick\u2019s<\/strong> testament, published by P. Ottavio Gaetano<\/strong>, one reads: \u201cEgo\u2026..Ruffus de Calabria Maniscallae magister rogatus etc.\u201d<\/em>, the name itself being illegible. The name Pietro<\/strong> was added by Gaetano<\/strong> on his own initiative, without considering that the title \u201cMagister Marescallus\u201d<\/strong> points to Sigerio<\/strong> and excludes Pietro I<\/strong>, who, had he signed the testament, would not have failed to designate himself \u201cMarescallus totius regni Siciliae,\u201d<\/strong> if not indeed \u201cComes Catansarii.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Emperor\u2019s death, Conrad IV<\/strong>, heir of both the Empire<\/strong> and the Kingdom of Sicily<\/strong>, confirmed Pietro I<\/strong> as viceroy of Calabria and Sicily<\/strong>, and also confirmed him in the title of the County of Catanzaro<\/strong>. In this role, after the sudden death of Conrad IV<\/strong> in May 1254<\/strong>, Pietro I<\/strong> defended the testamentary will of Frederick II<\/strong> against both Manfred<\/strong> and the Pope<\/strong>, upholding the legitimate succession of Conradin<\/strong>, son of Conrad IV<\/strong>. He was assassinated by an agent of Manfred<\/strong> in January 1257<\/strong>. Over the centuries the most diverse things were written about this man\u2014sometimes the fruit of imagination, at other times of ill will or the inability to discover new documents. Only around the middle of our own century did the studies of Professor Ernesto Pontieri<\/strong> make it possible to clarify the figure of Pietro I<\/strong> and of his grandson Pietro II Ruffo di Calabria<\/strong>, who for so many centuries had been confused into a single figure of uncertain and contradictory outlines. Pontieri<\/strong> was not the only one to seek the truth, but he was certainly the most authoritative historian<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before Pontieri<\/strong>, Duke Vincenzo Ruffo della Floresta<\/strong> had reached more or less the same conclusions and published them in 1914<\/strong>. But Vincenzo<\/strong> was only a scholar of history, not a professional historian, and he bore a surname that could make him appear partial. Unfortunately, Pontieri<\/strong> did not conduct personal genealogical research into the Ruffo of the thirteenth century<\/strong>. This was a mistake, because the information supplied to him by others was confused and so contradictory that it did not allow for the reconstruction of a clear genealogical sequence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fulcone Ruffo di Calabria<\/strong> was born at Tropea<\/strong> around 1232<\/strong>, the second son of Ruggero<\/strong> and Belladama<\/strong>, whose family name is unknown. Ruggero<\/strong> was in turn the eldest son of Pietro I<\/strong> and Guida<\/strong>, and he predeceased his father, leaving as heir his son Pietro II<\/strong> (who would give rise to the senior line of the Ruffo, Counts of Catanzaro<\/strong>). This was the source of so many errors: because titles, fiefs, and honors passed directly from grandfather to grandson of the same name, historians found a Pietro Ruffo, Count of Catanzaro<\/strong>, continuously active from 1235 to 1310<\/strong>, and thought it was always the same person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As was customary at that court, Fulcone<\/strong> began his career as an imperial page<\/strong> at the age of fourteen<\/strong>, around 1243<\/strong>. He must have been endowed with particular intelligence and unusual powers of learning, for while still very young he appears among the poets of that school, and by no means among the least distinguished. It was surely these qualities that drew upon him the attention and affection of Frederick II<\/strong>, who kept him close until his final day of life. Indeed, only a few weeks before the Emperor\u2019s death, Frederick<\/strong> granted him in fief certain possessions that had belonged to the court philosopher Master Theodore<\/strong>. By the time the Emperor died, Fulcone Ruffo<\/strong> cannot yet have been twenty years old<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Francesco Torraca<\/strong>, in his Studies on the Italian Lyric Poetry of the Duecento<\/em> (Bologna, Zanichelli, 1902<\/em>), wrote at page 127<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnly one lyric of Messer Folco di Calabria has come down to us, yet he occupies no small place in history. In this, as in other matters, he resembles Arrigo Testa. Nephew of Pietro Ruffo, Count of Catanzaro, cousin or brother of the knight Giordano Ruffo, author of the Liber Mascalciae, he witnessed the last moments of the great Emperor, whose testament he signed.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is perhaps worth pausing to describe the environment of the court in which the imperial pages<\/strong> lived and matured in both life and learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the choice of pages or officials Frederick II<\/strong> gave little importance to birth, social origin, or even skin color; what mattered were personal gifts and qualities<\/strong>. One example will suffice: Giovanni Moro<\/strong>, the son of a Saracen slave woman, held a position of importance at court, belonged to the familia<\/strong>, and received a barony<\/strong>. As for the pages, many of them were indeed the sons of knightly nobility, but even in their case family wealth or power had no bearing on their careers<\/strong>. The pages\u2014including among them Frederick II\u2019s<\/strong> own sons\u2014lived in direct contact with the Emperor and received a courtly and chivalric education<\/strong>, made known to us through the poetry of that age, together with the instruction that would later make these adolescents into perfect state functionaries. The presence of so many noble youths among the pages is explained by one particular circumstance: a noble could not become a knight without first serving as a page. Thus the sons of the kingdom\u2019s nobility spent their youth at court and, as members of the familia<\/strong>, received a monthly stipend of six ounces of gold<\/strong> and the right to maintain three squires with their horses<\/strong>. The pages occupied the lowest rung of the chivalric hierarchy and were under the authority of a seneschal<\/strong>. They had no fixed duties, but were assigned particularly to services of a \u201cchivalric\u201d<\/strong> character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pages left court once they had earned the belt of knighthood<\/strong>. Then, still young, they went on to hold important administrative offices, to serve in the army, or to return to their fiefs. Others were directed toward university studies. In every case, having shared in court life gave them great prestige<\/strong> and opened many careers. The Emperor once wrote to the father of one page: \u201cWe have heaped upon him the rudiments of virtue, so that he may feel himself worthy of himself, useful to others, and profitable to us.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In such an environment Fulcone Ruffo<\/strong> was educated. It is therefore not surprising that, perhaps not yet eighteen<\/strong>, he was counted among the most esteemed poets, and while still very young received directly from the Emperor both the investiture of knighthood<\/strong> and the title to fiefs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This also explains the extremely important tasks entrusted to Fulcone<\/strong> in 1251\u201352<\/strong>, when in Istria<\/strong> he signed imperial concessions as a witness and saw to the reception of the new Emperor Conrad IV<\/strong>. In 1254<\/strong>, his grandfather Pietro I<\/strong> placed him at the head of the ambassadors sent to the Pope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a soldier he was praised even by the Anonymous chronicler<\/strong>, otherwise hostile to the Ruffo family<\/strong>, when under the walls of Aidone<\/strong> he checked the force of an army that was about to overwhelm the troops under his grandfather\u2019s command. And the same chronicler found only expressions of respect when recounting Fulcone\u2019s<\/strong> resistance, entrenched in his castles of Bovalino<\/strong> and Santa Cristina<\/strong>, where he held out for nearly two years<\/strong> against Manfred\u2019s army<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1253<\/strong> Fulcone<\/strong> married Margherita di Pavia<\/strong>, daughter of Messer Carnelevario<\/strong>, by whom he had two sons, Enrico<\/strong> and Fulco II<\/strong>. The date and cause of his death are unknown, but by 1266<\/strong> he was certainly no longer alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At court there lived also a third Ruffo<\/strong>: Giordano<\/strong>, younger son of Pietro I<\/strong> and Guida<\/strong>. He too was born at Tropea<\/strong>, around 1213<\/strong>. Great must have been the esteem in which the Emperor held this knight if he destined him and encouraged him precisely in the scientific disciplines<\/strong>, and especially in the natural sciences<\/strong>, a field in which Frederick<\/strong> himself excelled. Giordano<\/strong> did not disappoint his lord, for while the Emperor was engaged in composing his treatise on falconry, the Ars venandi cum avibus<\/strong>, he himself was writing a treatise on veterinary medicine<\/strong>, De medicina equorum<\/strong>, which at that time caused considerable sensation in scientific circles and in every place where horses were bred. Interest in this work was not short-lived, for over the centuries it was translated into many languages, and fully six centuries after its publication<\/strong> it was even adopted by the University of Padua<\/strong>. The Paduan edition of 1818<\/strong> was prepared by Hieronymus Molin<\/strong>, professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Padua<\/strong>. He published Giordano\u2019s<\/strong> text under the title Hippiatria<\/strong>, in the Latin<\/strong> in which it was presumably first written. The translation into the vernacular was produced soon after the dissemination of the Latin text because, as I have pointed out in a recent study of my own, Giordano\u2019s<\/strong> book was intended not only for scholars of veterinary medicine, but especially for those who lived in daily contact with the horse: the stablemen<\/strong>. The vernacular version was thus aimed at less learned circles<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With relatively little difficulty\u2014thanks above all to the decisive and generous assistance of Professor Italo Calma<\/strong> of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Liverpool<\/strong>\u2014I was able to obtain microfilms of five copies<\/strong> of this codex preserved in the British Library<\/strong> in London<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These volumes derive from two different textual traditions<\/strong>. The first comes from a translation from Latin made by Fra Gabriele Bruno<\/strong> and had three editions<\/strong>: Venice 1492<\/strong>, Venice 1554<\/strong>, Brescia 1611<\/strong>. The second had only two editions<\/strong>: Venice 1561<\/strong>, printed by Rutilio Borgominiero<\/strong>, and Bologna 1561<\/strong>, printed by Giovanni de\u2019 Rossi<\/strong>. In the same library there is a sixth copy<\/strong> of Giordano\u2019s<\/strong> work: the one prepared by Molin<\/strong>. I shall speak briefly of this edition, because it represents the most complete reconstruction<\/strong> and the one most scientifically correct<\/strong> of the work of Giordano Ruffo di Calabria<\/strong>, which over the centuries had suffered numerous alterations, at times even of no scientific value. Molin<\/strong> had the great merit of restoring to Giordano\u2019s<\/strong> book its scientific dignity<\/strong>, purging it of interpolations and errors, when these could be shown to belong to others. He studied everything he was able to find about Giordano\u2019s<\/strong> work and, with impeccable method and great scientific rigor, corrected only those chapters in which he established certain corruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molin<\/strong> must have been fortunate enough to find many documents on Giordano Ruffo<\/strong>, for in the preface to his edition he was able to describe him in these words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBorn in Calabria of a knightly family, he showed from childhood a pleasing and most beautiful disposition. Nature seemed to have fashioned him above all for equestrian activity, in which, with the passage of time, he made such progress that in taming and managing horses, and in wonderfully curing their diseases, he had no equal.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giordano\u2019s<\/strong> treatise on horse-medicine remains today a valid and practical confirmation of what, as I wrote above, Frederick<\/strong> maintained: \u201cit is necessary to give the student a sound theoretical instruction and at the same time accustom him to observe natural phenomena, so that, becoming aware of them, he may interpret them in the light of the theoretical knowledge acquired.\u201d<\/em> One of the most fascinating chapters of the treatise\u2014precisely because at that time it constituted something absolutely new\u2014is the fifth<\/strong>, in which the faults of posture and gait of the horse are discussed, faults that result in greater work and therefore greater strain in one limb as compared with the others. It is also noted that this must be taken into account in various circumstances, for example in the shoeing of hooves<\/strong> and in the use of the animal. Clearly, such conclusions could only be reached through a sound knowledge of anatomy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other chapters there is described for the first time the preparation of the foal\u2019s hoof<\/strong> for the shoeing that will take place in adult life, and for the first time one hears speak of the etiology<\/strong> and pathogenesis<\/strong> of disease. Yet these were still times in which, to explain the origin and course of many illnesses, people referred to the phases of the moon<\/strong>, to necromancy<\/strong>, and the like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a parchment codex<\/strong>, perfectly preserved and dating from the thirteenth century<\/strong>\u2014today part of a private collection\u2014I read:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis was composed with immense study by a noble Calabrian, who knew well the medicines of all horses: let each one learn by reading.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By chance, he was born in Jesi. His mother Constance\u2014the last heir of the Norman dynasty\u2014was returning from Germany when she was overtaken by the pains of childbirth nearby: it was 26 December 1194. From his mother he was given the name Constantine, but at baptism that name was changed to Frederick Roger: the names […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-origin"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Ruffo at the Court of Frederick II - Ruffo di Calabria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Ruffo at the Court of Frederick II - Ruffo di Calabria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By chance, he was born in Jesi. His mother Constance\u2014the last heir of the Norman dynasty\u2014was returning from Germany when she was overtaken by the pains of childbirth nearby: it was 26 December 1194. From his mother he was given the name Constantine, but at baptism that name was changed to Frederick Roger: the names […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ruffo di Calabria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-29T10:00:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-29T10:12:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/rdc-fb.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"neoimage\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"neoimage\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"22 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"neoimage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en#\/schema\/person\/4f636174c84a7ccb24708b825b9a5aca\"},\"headline\":\"The Ruffo at the Court of Frederick II\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-29T10:00:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-29T10:12:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii\"},\"wordCount\":4026,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Origin\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii\",\"name\":\"The Ruffo at the Court of Frederick II - Ruffo di Calabria\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-29T10:00:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-29T10:12:33+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/ruffo-di-calabria\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Ruffo at the Court of Frederick II\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\",\"name\":\"Ruffo di Calabria\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en#organization\",\"name\":\"Ruffo di Calabria\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Logo-Ruffo-di-Calabria.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Logo-Ruffo-di-Calabria.png\",\"width\":212,\"height\":103,\"caption\":\"Ruffo di Calabria\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en#\/schema\/person\/4f636174c84a7ccb24708b825b9a5aca\",\"name\":\"neoimage\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d1f2f7d9fe1322ccee21e6332fb1e28ed0870917cd7e081408720932f7936b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d1f2f7d9fe1322ccee21e6332fb1e28ed0870917cd7e081408720932f7936b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d1f2f7d9fe1322ccee21e6332fb1e28ed0870917cd7e081408720932f7936b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"neoimage\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Ruffo at the Court of Frederick II - Ruffo di Calabria","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Ruffo at the Court of Frederick II - Ruffo di Calabria","og_description":"By chance, he was born in Jesi. His mother Constance\u2014the last heir of the Norman dynasty\u2014was returning from Germany when she was overtaken by the pains of childbirth nearby: it was 26 December 1194. From his mother he was given the name Constantine, but at baptism that name was changed to Frederick Roger: the names […]","og_url":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii","og_site_name":"Ruffo di Calabria","article_published_time":"2026-03-29T10:00:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-29T10:12:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/rdc-fb.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"neoimage","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"neoimage","Est. reading time":"22 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii"},"author":{"name":"neoimage","@id":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en#\/schema\/person\/4f636174c84a7ccb24708b825b9a5aca"},"headline":"The Ruffo at the Court of Frederick II","datePublished":"2026-03-29T10:00:42+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-29T10:12:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii"},"wordCount":4026,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en#organization"},"articleSection":["Origin"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii","url":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii","name":"The Ruffo at the Court of Frederick II - Ruffo di Calabria","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en#website"},"datePublished":"2026-03-29T10:00:42+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-29T10:12:33+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/origin\/the-ruffo-at-the-court-of-frederick-ii#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/ruffo-di-calabria"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Ruffo at the Court of Frederick II"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en#website","url":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en","name":"Ruffo di Calabria","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en#organization","name":"Ruffo di Calabria","url":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Logo-Ruffo-di-Calabria.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Logo-Ruffo-di-Calabria.png","width":212,"height":103,"caption":"Ruffo di Calabria"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en#\/schema\/person\/4f636174c84a7ccb24708b825b9a5aca","name":"neoimage","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d1f2f7d9fe1322ccee21e6332fb1e28ed0870917cd7e081408720932f7936b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d1f2f7d9fe1322ccee21e6332fb1e28ed0870917cd7e081408720932f7936b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d1f2f7d9fe1322ccee21e6332fb1e28ed0870917cd7e081408720932f7936b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"neoimage"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1291"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1293,"href":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291\/revisions\/1293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ruffodicalabria.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}