CHAPTEE VII 



SCOT AGAIN AT COURT 



THE return of Michael Scot from Spain to the Im- 

 perial Court was doubtless a striking moment, not 

 only in the life of the philosopher himself, but in 

 the history of letters. He then appeared fresh from a 

 great enterprise, and bringing with him the proofs of 

 its success in the form of the Latin Averroes. We 

 cannot doubt that his reception was worthy of the 

 occasion and of one who had served his master so 

 faithfully. 



Frederick was now returned to his dominions in 

 the south. He had established his imperial rights 

 in Germany at the cost of a campaign in which the 

 pretensions of Otho were successfully overcome, 

 and, on his return homeward in 1220, he had 

 received the crown once more in Rome at the hands 

 of the supreme ecclesiastical authority. His pro- 

 gress was indeed a continual scene of triumph. 

 Arrived at Palermo, the court gave itself up to 

 feasting and gaiety of every kind. 



Two ancient romantic authorities 1 choose with 

 dramatic instinct this moment, and these gay and 

 voluptuous surroundings, as the mise en scene amid 

 which they show us Scot again appearing to resume 



1 Namely the novel called II Paradiso degli Alberti (Bologna, 

 Wesseloffsky, 1867, vol. ii. pp. 180-217), and No. xx. of the Cento 

 Novelle Antiche (Testo Borghiniano). 



