Gesta Friderici Imperatoris: Otto of Freising and Rahewin’s History of Frederick Barbarossa (Latin Edition)

Gesta Friderici Imperatoris is the great twelfth-century Latin history of Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, begun by Otto of Freising and continued by his secretary Rahewin.

This edition brings together the complete four-book Gesta Friderici, Frederick Barbarossa’s prefatory letter to Otto, and the contemporary Annales Frisingenses. Otto’s Books I and II trace the political and imperial background of Frederick’s reign, from the Investiture Contest and the reign of Conrad III through Barbarossa’s election, first Italian expedition, imperial coronation at Rome, and the settlement of the Bavarian succession dispute. Rahewin’s continuation carries the narrative through the second Italian campaign, the siege of Milan, the Diet of Roncaglia, and the growing conflict between the Empire, the Lombard communes, and the papacy.

The Latin text has been carefully verified against the 1912 Monumenta Germaniae Historica edition of Georg Waitz and Bernhard von Simson. Mechanical defects from the digital transcription have been corrected and recorded in a permanent textual verification register, while the medieval orthography, syntax, and chapter structure have been preserved.

Designed as a serious but readable Latin edition, the volume also includes an intermediate Latin glossary of medieval political, ecclesiastical, feudal, military, and theological vocabulary, together with indexes of persons, peoples, and places.

A valuable source for readers interested in medieval Latin, the Holy Roman Empire, Frederick Barbarossa, the Investiture Contest, the Italian communes, papal-imperial relations, the Crusades, and twelfth-century political thought.