Henry IV
(1050?1106) was
King of Germany
from 1056 and
Holy Roman Emperor
from 1084, till he was forced to
step down
in 1105. He was the third emperor of the
Salian
dynasty and one of the most interesting and important figures of the eleventh century. His reign was marked by the
Investiture Controversy
with the
Papacy
and several civil wars with pretenders to his throne in Italy and Germany.
Henry was the eldest son of the Emperor
Henry III
, by his second wife
Agnes de Poitou
, and was probably born at the royal palace at
Goslar
. When Henry III unexpectedly died in 1056, the six-year-old Henry IV became king without problems. The Empress Agnes acted as
regent
, and the German pope
Victor II
was named as her counsellor.
Unlike Henry III, Agnes could not influence the election of the new popes,
Stephen IX
and
Nicholas II
. These popes worked together with the
Normans
of southern Italy.
But the first great problem started when Nicholas claimed influence in the election of Germany.
Gregory VII
, a reformist monk, was elected as pope in 1073. This is when the controversy between emperor and pope began.
In the higher ranks of the German clergy, Gregory had many enemies. Therefore, King Henry declared Gregory was no longer pope, and the Romans should choose a new pope.
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When Gregory heard of this he
excommunicated
Henry IV, declared he was no longer emperor and canceled the oaths the people had sworn to King Henry.
The
excommunication
of the king made a deep impression both in Germany and Italy. Thirty years before, Henry III had
deposed
three popes, but when Henry IV tried to copy this procedure, he did not have the support of the people. The Saxons began a second rebellion, and the anti-royalist party grew in strength.
The situation now became extremely critical for Henry. It became clear that at any price he had to get his absolution from Gregory. At first he tried this by an embassy, but when Gregory rejected this, he went to Italy in person.
The pope had already left Rome. Henry tried to force the pope to grant him absolution by doing penance before him at
Canossa
, where Gregory stayed. For a Christian it seemed impossible to deny a penitent re-entrance into the church, and therefore Gregory removed the ban. But a new conflict followed because Henry IV thought the end of excommunication meant he was king again. But Gregory did not decide that.
Second excommunication of Henry
[
change
|
change source
]
The rebellious German nobles used the excommunication of Henry to set up a rival king,
Duke Rudolph of Swabia
(
Forchheim
, March 1077). At first Gregory seemed to be neutral because the two parties (emperor and rebels) were of fairly equal strength. But finally he decided to support Rudolph of Swabia after his victory at
Flarchheim
(January 27, 1080) and declared the excommunication and deposition of King Henry again (March 7, 1080).
This was widely felt to be an injustice. When Rudolph of Swabia died on October 16 of the same year, Henry began to fight to be king. In 1081 he opened the conflict against Gregory in Italy. Gregory had now become less powerful, and thirteen
Cardinals
stopped supporting him. Rome surrendered to the German king, and
Guibert of Ravenna
was enthroned as
Clement III
(March 24, 1084). Henry was crowned emperor by his rival, while Gregory himself had to flee from Rome in the company of his Norman "vassal,"
Robert Guiscard
.
Henry's wife
Bertha
died on December 27, 1087. She was also buried at the
Speyer Cathedral
. Their children were:
- Agnes of Germany
(born 1072), married
Frederick I von Staufen
,
Duke of Swabia
.
- Conrad
(February 12, 1074 ? July 27, 1101)
- Adelaide, died in infancy
- Henry, died in infancy
- Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor
Relatives of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor
|
| | | | | | | | | 16.
Otto I, Duke of Carinthia
| | | | | | | 8.
Henry of Speyer
| | | | | | | | | | 17. Judith of Bavaria
| | | | | | | 4.
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
| | | | | | | | | | | | 18.
Richard, Count of Metz
or
Gerhard of Metz
| | | | | | | 9.
Adelaide of Metz
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2.
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | 20.
Conrad I, Duke of Swabia
| | | | | | | 10.
Herman II, Duke of Swabia
| | | | | | | | | | 21.
Richlind of Saxony
| | | | | | | 5.
Gisela of Swabia
| | | | | | | | | | | | 22.
Conrad of Burgundy
| | | | | | | 11.
Gerberga of Burgundy
| | | | | | | | | | 23.
Matilda of France
| | | | | | | 1.
Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 24.
William III, Duke of Aquitaine
| | | | | | | 12.
William IV, Duke of Aquitaine
| | | | | | | | | | 25.
Adele of Normandy
| | | | | | | 6.
William V, Duke of Aquitaine
| | | | | | | | | | | | 26.
Theobald I of Blois
| | | | | | | 13. Emma of Blois
| | | | | | | | | | 27.
Luitgarde of Vermandois
| | | | | | | 3.
Agnes of Poitou
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | 28.
Adalbert of Italy
| | | | | | | 14.
Otto-William, Count of Burgundy
| | | | | | | | | | 29.
Gerberga of Macon
| | | | | | | 7.
Agnes of Burgundy
| | | | | | | | | | | | 30.
Renaud of Rheims and Roucy
| | | | | | | 15. Ermentrude of Roucy
| | | | | | | | | | 31.
Alberade of Hennegau
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
- Brooke, Z.N. (1968). "Germany under Henry IV and Henry V". In Tanner, J.R.; Previte-Orton, C.W.; Brooke, Z.N. (eds.).
The Cambridge Medieval History
. Vol. V. Cambridge University Press.
- Brooke, Z.N. (1968). "Gregory VII and the first Contest between Empire and Papacy". In Tanner, J.R.; Previte-Orton, C.W.; Brooke, Z.N. (eds.).
The Cambridge Medieval History
. Vol. V. Cambridge University Press.
- T. J. H. McCarthy:
Chronicles of the Investiture Contest: Frutolf of Michelsberg and his continuators
(Manchester, 2014).
- Gerd Althoff (Ed.):
Heinrich IV.
(Ostfildern, 2009) (Vortrage und Forschungen; 69).
- Gerd Althoff:
Heinrich IV.
(Darmstadt, 2006)
- Charter given by Henry to the bishopric of Bamberg, 17.8.1057
. Photography taken from the collections of the
Lichtbildarchiv alterer Originalurkunden
at
Marburg University
showing the emperor's seal.
- Whitney, J.P. (1968). "The Reform of the Church". In Tanner, J.R.; Previte-Orton, C.W.; Brooke, Z.N. (eds.).
The Cambridge Medieval History
. Vol. V. Cambridge University Press.
- Robinson, I.S. (2000).
Henry IV of Germany 1056-1106
.
Wikisource
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