Frederick the Wise: Seen and Unseen Lives of Martin Luther's Protector

Learn the seen and unseen lives of Frederick the Wise. Frederick was seen. For decades pre-eminent prince in the Holy Roman Empire. Emperors, kings, popes, artists and scholars coveted his favor. He built from the dirt up a grand university/castle/church complex. Altars showcased renowned holy relics and art by masters like Albrecht Dürer and Lucas Cranach. Frederick was just. He was everyone’s favorite mediator. He defended the unorthodox as well, long before Luther.Frederick was unseen. He was famously secretive. He hid towering ambition. He had three children with a covert ‘wife’. He ran a network of spies. He could be vile. He drove all Jews from his realm. He indulged the bizarre. His foul-mouthed jester Claus Narr is legendary. Frederick practiced Christianity but also believed signs and astrology. He collected ‘holy relics’ he had to know were fakes. He loved one brother and loathed the other.And then came unorthodoxy writ large in Martin Luther who turned the world and Frederick upside down.Learn why this enigmatic prince sacrificed his Catholic showcase and risked his realm to protect Luther.In the past only German scholars grasped Frederick the Wise. Now Dr. Wellman, from frequent trips to Germany and exhaustive use of German sources, reveals the seen and unseen lives of Frederick the Wise to readers of English.