Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive Transcriber's notes: 1. Page scan source: http://www.archive.org/details/barbarossaanhis00bolagoog 2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe] BARBAROSSA; AN HISTORICAL NOVEL OF THE XII Century. BY Conrad Von Bolanden _PHILADELPHIA_: Eugene Cummisky PUBLISHER, 1037 Chestnut Street. 1867. * * * * * Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by EUGENE CUMMISKEY, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. * * * * * J. FAGAN & SON, STEREOTYPERS, PHILAD'A. PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. The pleasant historical novel which is now offered to the American public, refers to a period of history very much misrepresented, though very frequently written about, or at least referred to by popular writers. In the contest between Pope Alexander III. and the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa, we see a very important phase of the long struggle between the spiritual and civil power; a struggle, in which was fought the battle of real liberty, and real Christian civilization, against brute force and Pagan tyranny. Perhaps nothing has been so badly understood as the real _casus belli_ in this struggle of centuries. Most non-Catholics firmly believe that the conflict arose from an effort of the Church to obtain universal dominion; to make princes and people bow to her behests on all matters; to reduce the civil ruler to the condition of a mere lieutenant of the Pontiff, to be removed at will by that spiritual autocrat, and, of course, to improve the condition of her own officials; securing for them the choicest and fairest portions of all the good things of the earth. The Emperors and Kings who were hostile to the Church are painted, on the other hand, as the assertors of civil liberty, the William Tells that refused to salute the tyrant's cap, even though it were called a tiara; the heroes, that in a superstitious age braved the terrors of excommunication, rather than sink into a degraded servitude, to the heartless ambition of churchmen.