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Italy, August 1300. A mysterious ship is discovered at the mouth of the Arno River. The crew has been poisoned and the only clues are a mysterious mechanical device and a page containing the words ‘The Kingdom of Light’. Dante suspects that the damaged instrument is an astrolabe and is the work of al-Jazari, the legendary Persian inventor. But others are also after the astrolabe and will stop at nothing to lay their hands on it…

When Dante returns to Florence to work on his magnum opus,
The Divine Comedy
, he discovers that the renegade monk, Brinando, is stirring up trouble and recruiting Florentines for a new crusade to liberate the Holy Land. Is this disturbing new development somehow linked to the deaths of the galley crew?

About the Author

Giulio Leoni is a professor of Italian literature and history. He lives in Rome with his family.

Kingdom of shadow and light pdf free download free

Kingdom Of Shadow And Light PDF Free Download

Shaun Whiteside’s most recent translations from Italian include
Venice is a Fish
by Tiziano Scarpa and
The Solitude of Prime Numbers
by Paolo Giordano.

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ALSO BY GIULIO LEONI

The Third Heaven Conspiracy

C
AST OF
C
HARACTERS

D
ANTE
A
LIGHIERI
(c.1265–1321) – prior of Florence, poet and author of
The Divine Comedy
; often referred to in the book as Messer Durante, because his full name was Durante degli Alighieri

Some real persons are described in greater detail in the Glossary at the back of the book (
see here
)
.

Kingdom Of Shadow And Light PDF Free Download

C
ARDINAL D
’A
CQUASPARTA
– the Pope’s representative in the city of Florence

M
AESTRO
A
LBERTO
– a Lombard
mechanicus
who keeps an inn at Santa Maria

A
RRIGO DA
J
ESI
– formerly held the chair of natural philosophy at the Faculty of Arts and Theology in Paris, where he taught Dante; known in the novel as ‘the philosopher’

THE
B
ARGELLO
– chief of the guards for the Commune

B
ONIFACE
VIII – Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1294 until 1303; sometimes referred to in the novel as Caetani, because he was born Benedetto Caetani

B
RANDANO
– a monk and preacher of miracles; the leader of a group of pilgrims seeking to free the Holy Land from the pagans

C
ECCHERINO
– the owner of a disreputable tavern

C
ECCO
A
NGIOLIERI
– a poet and acquaintance of Dante

N
OFFO
D
EI
– the head of the inquisitors in Florence

M
ESSER
Duccio – town clerk and secretary of the Council

F
REDERICK
II – Holy Roman Emperor 1220–50 and monarch of Italy from 1215

H
AMID
– a young Saracen slave captured off the coast of Egypt and now working for Maestro Alberto

M
ONNA
L
AGIA
– a local brothel-keeper

P
IETRA
– one of Monna Lagia’s whores and Dante’s lover

A
T THE
A
NGEL
I
NN

B
RUNETTO DA
P
ALERMO
– a painter

F
RANCESCHINO
C
OLONNA
– a student from Rome

F
ABIO DAL
P
OZZO
– a cloth merchant from the North

M
ANETTO DEL
M
OLINO
– keeper of the Angel Inn, on behalf of the Cavalcanti

M
ESSER
M
ARCELLO
– a scholar and doctor from the North; known in the novel as ‘the doctor’

J
ACQUES
M
ONERRE
– a scholar and astronomer from Toulouse

R
IGO DI
C
OLA
– a wool merchant

B
ERNARDO
R
INUCCIO
– a writer and scholar; known in the novel as ‘the
historian’

For Riccarda

Si probitas, sensus, virtutum gratia, census, nobilitas orti possint resistere morti, non foret extinctus Federicus, qui iacet intus
.

If probity, reason, abundance of virtue, nobility of birth, could prevent death, Frederick, who lies here, would not have died.

Inscription on Frederick’s tomb.

Palermo, summer 1240

T
HE GLARE OF
sunset pierced the foliage, inflaming the gilded surface of the fruits on the lemon tree
.

In the garden, closed off by a marble colonnade, an intense scent of flowers floated through the air, carried on the sea breeze
.

Reclining on purple cushions, the Emperor was distractedly tracing geometrical drawings on the ground. He stretched his hand towards a citrus fruit lying on the ground and showed it to the younger man who stood beside him
.

‘So what shape is the earth?’ he asked after a moment’s reflection
.

‘A solid sphere, curved at every point,’ confirmed Guido Bonatti, the court astrologer
.

Frederick meditated upon these words. Then he suddenly opened his fingers, dropping the fruit. ‘So what holds it up, then?’ he went on, turning towards his other companion in thought, who sat slightly apart from the others. A pale man, freckled face and red hair
.

‘The hand of God,’ replied the foremost scientist of Christendom, the pride of his court. Michael Scotus. Slender as one of the reeds that held up the pergola of the vines
.

‘And how high are the skies where God dwells? Can you tell me that, Guido?’

‘As far as their light reaches, Majesty,’ replied the astrologer, picking up the fruit with his left hand. ‘Which is the light of God.’

‘And what lies beyond that light?’

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‘Beyond it lies only darkness. As the Scriptures tell us, what remained after light was called into being,’ replied Michael Scotus, pointing a finger up into the air
.

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An enigmatic smile lit up Frederick’s face. A little way off, a man dressed in the rough habit of the Minorites had witnessed the scene in silence
.

The Emperor turned towards him. ‘Tell me your measurement, Brother Elias. The measurement of the height of God.’

1

Morning of 5th August, 1300, in the marshes west of Florence

T
HEY HAD
turned away from the houses beside a cottage on the road to Pisa, when the sun was already high in the sky. From there they had headed towards the river, which flowed a few leagues away, invisible among the cane