Henry IV
Holy Roman Emperor
The Emperor Henry IV (miniature of the eleventh century).
Reign
1056 - 1105
Coronation	31 March 1084
Rite	17 July 1054
Dynasty	Salian
Full track	King of the Romans
Predecessor	Henry III
Successor	Henry V
Other functions
King of the Romans
Period 1056 - 1105
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Predecessor
Successor	Henry V
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Biography
Birth name	Conrad
Birth	17 July 1054
	Goslar
Deaths	7 August 1106
	Liege
Father	Henry III
Mother	Agnes of Aquitaine
Spouse (s)	Bertha of Turin (1051-1087) , Adelaide, Kiev (1089)
Descent	Agnes (1072 1143), Conrad of Lower Lorraine (1074 1101), Henry V (1086 1125)

Henri IV (born 11 November 1050 probably at the Palace of Goslar , in Saxony, and died at Liege on 7 August 1106 ) was emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1056 to 1105.

On 17 July 1054 at Aix-la-Chapelle , his father Henry III is crowned king of Germany combined. At the latter's death in October 1056, he reigns as king of the Romans under the regency of his mother Agnes of Aquitaine until 1062 , then until his majority in March 1065 under the regency of Anno , archbishop Cologne. On 31 March 1084 in Rome he was crowned emperor by the antipope Clement III. In 1105 , his younger son Henry , enjoying the support of Pope Paschal II , rebelled and forced him to abdicate on December 31.

Henry IV was the third emperor of the Franconian dynasty following the Salian Franks. This is one of the most controversial rulers of the Middle Ages, but also one of the most fascinating figures of emperors in its breadth of fortune, who, with a reign of 50 years (the longest in the Middle age ) has not only intrigued him columnists who were contemporaries, but also generations of historians. His opposition to Pope Gregory VII and penance at Canossa are the highlights of the investiture controversy.

Relations between Church and Empire to the birth of Henri IV

Since its founding in 962, the " Holy Roman Empire (Reich deutscher Nation Heiliges Rmisches) is hindered first by the few institutions on which the emperor can assert its authority, then by weak revenue, Emperors with only their own areas to support their policy. Moreover, the choice of the Emperor only depends on the election of the princes of Germanic and coronation by the Pope in Rome.

Otto ^I becomes the Dukes of vassals who are at its disposal and is supported by the clergy to administer the Empire. It is used to appoint bishops to whom he gives the contestants temporal and spiritual . He asserts that any contestant is secular simony it is the result of an exchange shop or not . Many synods have hammered that clerics should under no circumstances accept a charge from a secular, with or without payment of money .

An heir expected

On 11 November 1050 , the imperial residence of Goslar , born "at last" (in the words of columnist Herman of Reichenau ) as desired by the heir to the Emperor Henry III and his second wife Agnes of Aquitaine. They give first the name of his grandfather, Conrad. But Abbot Hugh of Cluny insists they prnomment Henry. So that the abbot of the Cluniac reform may be the godfather of the heir, is rejected baptism, held in Cologne , until the Easter following.

From Christmas 1050 , Henry III was sworn to the princes that they would remain faithful subject to his heir. In November 1053, he convened a meeting of Empire Tribur in order to elect the young King Henry at the age of three years. Indeed, the princes are confined to swear fealty to him on condition that he proves to be a just ruler.

In November of that year, Henry was appointed Duke of Bavaria. He was crowned King of Germany at Aix-la-Chapelle on 17 July 1054 by Archbishop Hermann of Cologne , the duchy of Bavaria will return to his younger brother Conrad. At Christmas 1055 , in Zurich , he is engaged to Bertha of Turin : Henry III intends to create in the Alps as a counterweight to rival Godfrey the Bearded in alliance by marriage to the house of Canossa-Tuscany.

The Regency

Henry III and Agnes

Leo IX died in 1054, but a Roman delegation comprising Hildebrand (later Gregory VII ) convinces Henry III to choose Victor II , the reformist party remains in the entourage of the Holy See, provided the rest appointed by the Pope emperor.

Shortly before his death suddenly 5 October 1056 , in the presence of Pope Victor II who is staying at that time in the entourage of the Emperor Henry III requires the princes of the Empire they elect him and his son tribute. After presiding at the funeral imperial October 28, 1056, Victor II, on 5 November, the main architect of the election of the youngest son of Henry III, age 6, as King of Germany under the name of Henry IV. The pope also sets up the regency of Agnes of Aquitaine , widow of the emperor. Victor is completing the reconciliation with Godfrey the Bearded , Duke of Lower Lorraine and Tuscany came into conflict with Henry III.

Power is exercised by the regent Agnes of 1056 to 1061. This is near the Cluny movement: the monastery of Cluny is a foundation of his family and Hugh , the abbot, confidant of the imperial family, is also the sponsor of the heir to the throne, the future Henry IV. Full of good will and very pious, Agnes was not the political authority of her husband and must concede many possessions to the dukes to maintain their loyalty. It was during her regency, strongly influenced by churchmen such as Anno II of Cologne, Mainz Siegfried I. and Henry of Augsburg. It is advised by the nobles of lower rank and ministeriales, raising the disapproval of the high nobility of the Empire . Agnes shows but could not find a satisfactory outcome to the quarrels of succession to the throne of Hungary in 1060.

Enfeoffed in the duchy of Swabia (as well as the administration of Burgundy ) to Rudolf of Rheinfelden , the duchy of Bavaria to Otto of Northeim and that of Carinthia at Berthold Zhringer , it invests without knowing the main opponents of his future son. Agnes is accused of maintaining a relationship with his chief adviser, Henry Bishop of Augsburg. It has never been able to "remove the suspicion of a guilty love, because the rumor was so familiar that a relationship could result from an honest business," says the chronicler Lampert of Hersfeld .

During the regency, the relations between Church and Empire are changing to the disadvantage of the latter. Upon the death of Victor II, in 1057, reformers, taking advantage of the minority of Henry IV, elected as Pope Stephen IX Agnes without being made aware ^, . The new pontiff is the brother of Godfrey the Bearded : a refusal by the regent could trigger a new rebellion of vassals. The new Pope opposes the nomination of the pope by the emperor. In 1058, the cardinal-bishop of Silva Candida, Humbert Moyenmoutier , wrote a treatise condemning simony. He denies Henry the right to intervene in the appointment of bishops. It proclaims the primacy of spiritual over temporal power . Stephen IX was assassinated after only eight months of his pontificate.

His successor, Nicolas II was elected pope in Siena on 28 December 1058 by the care of the monk Hildebrand. He was taken to Rome by Godfrey the Bearded , who expelled the antipope Benedict X , raised by the faction of Tusculum. April 13, 1059, Nicolas II is decided by a council convened at the Lateran, the election of pontiffs will now be entrusted to the college of cardinals . Even if the imperial right of confirmation remains, the pope is no longer the man of the emperor. The reformers were able to play the stability of the empire against the independence of the Holy See.

On the death of Nicolas II , in 1061 , Anselm was elected pope by the College of Cardinals , in accordance with the decree of Pope fire. A notification is sent to the court of Henry IV, who ignored him. The Cardinals, whereas the imperial privilege confirmation is abandoned, Alexander II was crowned on September 30. Angered, the Romans, stripped of their former right of election, carry their grievances to the Empress Agnes. She seized the opportunity to counter the new independence of the Sacred College and convene a meeting at Basel who, in the absence of any cardinal elect another pope who took the name of Honorius II. This schism lasted only a short time and the antipope was abandoned by its protectors from 1064. Confirmed in his role, Alexander II increases its control over the Church in Italy .

The coup Kaiserswerth

The regency cause so much discontent that some princes of the empire are conspiring. anno II , Archbishop of Cologne , captured the young king in 1062 to Kaiserswerth (now Dsseldorf ). He places his luggage with the imperial insignia and fled on board a boat on the Rhine. The young Henry - he was then 12 years - trying to escape by jumping into the Rhine. There remains deeply wounded by the disgrace that has been done . The empire was then administered by Anno in perfect agreement with the dukes and great men of Germany. Agnes does nothing to regain his power. She even chooses, in 1062, retiring to a convent while her son is still a minor. From 1063 , Anno must share responsibility with Adalbert , archbishop of Hamburg - Bremen , which won the confidence of the young king and keep after attaining majority.

On 29 March 1065 , Henry was knighted and goes well with the majority. His mother must prevent it from raising the sword against Anno he just gird. Adalbert of Bremen, who wants to keep his influence over the young king, holds the north of the Alps and unable to settle the affairs of the Italian empire. At the Diet of Tribur January 1066 , Anno, helped Siegfried ^I of Mainz , encourages Germanic princes to hunt Adalbert of the court, but never managed to regain influence over the king. Henry does not want to be the puppet of his entourage. The big try in vain to recapture the spotlight from the sovereign. Tests have hardened and forged his will. He received a rich education, but has the temperament of a man of action. It intends to serve the best interests of the empire. Even as he fights the authority of the pope, he is nevertheless a devout man, enjoying the moral support of his loyal sponsor of Semur Hugues, Abbot of Cluny . Like his father, he thinks his position and his authority comes directly from God.

Henry wife Bertha of Turin on 13 July 1066. Three years later, he hired a divorce that caused a stir, ensuring that the marriage was not consummated, but the papal legate Peter Damian is accused of grave immorality and refuse divorce.

War against the Saxons

The main political event of the early years of the reign of Henry is the war against the Saxons. Still under the influence of Adalbert, Henry, shortly after his accession to power, began to reclaim his domain Harz gradually abandoned during the long period of Regency. He would like to build up a field to consolidate his own power. To ensure control over the region, he built new fortresses and placed under the authority of government most often Swabian. They did marry the daughters of nobles and notables of Saxony in order to settle the area.

But the local population blames the government their hardness and injustice. Indeed, Henry imposes chores to people for building castles. Thorough investigations are conducted so as not to let lose the rights and property that the Crown had in Saxony . The nobility therefore allied to the people to demand the king to dismantle its fortresses, he restores the property taken and he goes to stay in other provinces of the empire. The refusal of the sovereign set fire to the powder: led by Otto of Northeim and Bishop Burchard II of Halberstadt , the Saxons besieging Henri Harzburg during summer 1073. The rebels ransacked everything in their path. They are initially supported by the "big" of the empire.

Henry fled to Worms , a city which has remained faithful, and is forced to conclude peace on 2 February 1074 / A> Gerstungen, thus satisfying the requirements largely Saxon. The conflict was revived shortly after however, when the population starts to sack castle Harzburg. The decisive battle took place on 9 June 1075 at Homburg-on-Unstrut .

Henry IV and his son (Chronicle of Ekkehard von Aura early twelfth ^century).

The Investiture Controversy

The birth of the confrontation

The relationship between Henry IV and Pope deteriorate again in 1071, when Henry IV appointed to the archbishopric of Milan before a prelate excommunicated by Pope Alexander II. Milan at that time was the headquarters of the Pataria , a popular movement, religious and radical Erlembald led by Knight, who is moving quickly to an archbishop competitor. Two years later a new pope, a staunch supporter of reform, was elected under the name Gregory VII. The new Pope fails to obtain consent to Henri IV, a harbinger of future confrontation . Henry IV, who just defeated a rebellion in Saxony , wants to have the support of an imperial church dedicated, facing the turbulence of the nobles. It sees fit to picket the pope regret past mistakes and promised to make amends. Pope takes this statement in the first degree as the sovereign tries to negotiate while continuing to appoint bishops. It aims to strengthen in Italy a Church of Empire, Reichskirche, it would be totally faithful .

In 1075, following the murder of Erlembald Henry invests secularly (as opposed to commitments) the clerk Tedaldi archbishop of Milan and the bishops in the dioceses of Fermo and Spoleto . Gregory sends scathing letter in December to Henry, in which he strongly urges them to obedience. Thus the conflict broke out. Beyond the issue of nominations is the fate of dominium mundi is played, the power struggle between the priesthood and the imperial power. Historians call the twelfth ^century the quarrel Discidium sacerdotium and inter regnum .

In Dictatus dad Pope goes further. Gregory VII says he is, by Christ , the only one with a universal power, higher than the sovereign, he may file, and is the sole master of the Church. It must fulfill its directives. The pope considers himself the heir of the Roman Empire and thus, "the Emperor Supreme." All holders of the temporal power must obey him. The emperor is no longer the collaborator of Pope, but his subordinate.

The Diet of Worms

In January 1076 , Henry gathered around him a majority of bishops at the Diet of Worms. Few secular princes are present. Most of the bishops of Germany and Lombardy then come into disagreement with the pope until they recognize and declare Gregory deposed. The bishops and archbishops in fact consider themselves as princes of the empire, with important privileges whereas the allocation of ecclesiastical succession of the pope seemed to them a threat to the Church of the empire, the cornerstone of administration. They write so since Worms response to Gregory VII, the summation of a very steep way to leave his office:

"Henry, king not through usurpation but through the fair order of God, to Hildebrand

The Diet of Worms justifies revocation, claiming that Gregory was not elected regularly: it has indeed been raised to this dignity tumultuously by the people of Rome. Moreover, as Patricius of Rome, Henry has the right to appoint himself the pope, or at least to confirm his election (which he did right not used). The text claims that Gregory could have sworn never to be elected pope, and he frequents intimately women .

The bishops are not hostile to the Gregorian reform. In their dioceses, they struggle with many difficulties against concubinage of priests, also called nicolaism. But the intrusion of Germanic pope in the Church seems too harsh. The latter, indeed, admonished the dryly archbishops of Mainz , Magdeburg and Cologne , sanctioned the Bishop of Bamberg and brought before an ecclesiastical court Pibon of Toul .

The Council of Rome (1076)

Gregory's response is not expected, he preaches Lenten synod of 1076 :

"That was given to me from God the power to bind and loose on Earth and in Heaven. Confident in this power,

Gregory VII declared Henry IV deposed and excommunicated, having rebelled against the sovereignty of the Church, he can no longer be king. And one who refuses obedience to God's representative and other common excommunication is actually deprived of its sovereignty. Consequently, all his subjects are absolved of their allegiance to him have lent.

This excommunication and the rex sacerdos, whose predecessors, as Patricius Romanorum and design of sacred and theocratic king, officiated the election of a pope, was unimaginable at the time and emotions are running high in Christendom West. It draws much of pamphlets for and against the supremacy of the emperor or the pope, referring often to the theory of two powers of Gelasius ^I. (pope from 492 to 496 ), Christianity in Germany is deeply divided.

The disorder increases as the evening of Easter 1076, after the anathema was issued against the pope in a ceremony in the cathedral of Utrecht in the presence of the king, lightning struck the cathedral and the residence of the Prince which are burnt . This incident appears to some as the papal condemnation of the award. Very quickly, are increasing defections among the bishops. The Saxons began to fidget.

Penance of Canossa

Penance at Canossa

After the excommunication , many princes who supported siblings before Henry broke away from him at the meeting of Tribur in October 1076 , they forced him to send advisers and condemned by the pope to do penance before the term of one year and one day (or before February 2 below). Henry must also submit to the ruling of the Pope at the Diet of Augsburg to waive the princes to elect a new king . Is emerging as an alliance between the nobles and the Pope. Henry sensing the danger, decides to do everything so that both potential allies do not meet.

To catch the Pope before his scheduled meeting with the princes, Henry decides in December 1076 crossing the snowy Alps to visit Italy. As his opponents blocked access to Germanic passes, it must pass by the Col du Mont Cenis to meet with the pope before the Diet of Augsburg, and thus to lift his excommunication (thereby forcing the princes of Opposition to submit to him). Henry has no other means of recovering his freedom of political king.

Gregory fears the approach of an imperial army and wants to avoid a meeting with Henry, he retired to Canossa , the well-fortified castle Margravine Matilda of Tuscany in the Apennines. Henry gets his help and that of his godfather Hugues de Cluny , a meeting with Gregory. On 25 January 1077 , Henry appears dressed as a penitent before the castle of Canossa. After three days, January 28, the pope lifted the excommunication , five days before the deadline set by the princes of the OPPOSITION. In exchange for his pardon, he obtained the right to come to Germany and the assurance that the dispute between the princes and the king would be subject to arbitration .

The image of Henry Epinal going to Canossa in humble penitence based mainly on our primary source, Lambert of Hersfeld , who was also a supporter of the pope and a member of the nobility of opposition. Current research considers biased and propagandistic image. Penance was a formal act done by Henry and the pope could not refuse and it now seems like a clever diplomatic maneuver, which made it to Henry's freedom of action while limiting the pope. Yet it is assumed that the long term, this event has dealt a serious blow to the position of the Germanic empire.

The era of anti-kings

Although the excommunication was lifted, the princes of the opposition overthrew the 15 March 1077 in Forchheim, in the presence of two papal legates. Archbishop Siegfried of Mainz I shall arrange for the election of an anti-king Rudolf of Rheinfelden , Duke of Swabia , who was crowned at Mainz on March 26, the princes who nurture the throne make him promise not never resorting to practices simony in the award of bishoprics. Germanic nobility thus seeks again the alliance with the papacy. Gregory VII, however, slow to grasp the outstretched hand. The new ruler must also give the princes a vote to elect the king and can not pass title to any son. By renouncing the inheritance of the crown and authorizing appointments of bishops canonical Rudolph considerably weakens the rights of royalty.

As in the war against the Saxons, Henry IV, focusing primarily on the rising social classes (gentry and government ) and the free cities of the Empire to the growing power as Speyer and Worms , who owe their privileges, and the nearby cities of castles Harz , as Goslar , Halberstadt and Quedlinburg. Rising government, once deprived of powers, like the emancipation of cities, faces strong resistance from the princes. Most of them are placed on the side of Rudolph of Rheinfelden, against Henry IV. The pope is first neutral in accordance with agreements reached at Canossa.

In June, Henry puts Rudolph of Rheinfelden in the ban of the empire. The both took refuge in Saxony. Henry suffers first two losses: the 7 August 1078 to Mellrichstadt and 27 January 1080 at Flarchheim near Mhlhausen (Thuringia). Henry turned to Pope Gregory VII and summed to excommunicate Rudolph, even threatening the sovereign pontiff of evidence if it does not run. Immediately, it is said that if the man was discharged to Canossa, the king is deposed. The Pope believes that in addressing him as Henry IV reiterated his sinful attitude and excommunicated again. This overly sharp alienated the support of much of the clergy Germanic. Met in synod at Brixen in June 1080, the bishops and cardinals and Germanic Lombards deposited Gregory VII. Exercising its prerogative of patrician, Henri Guibert elected as new pope, the archbishop of Ravenna . The company is therefore at this time split into two: Henry is king and Rodolphe anti-king, and Pope Gregory Guibert, the antipope. In the duchies as power is contested: in Swabia, for example, Berthold Rheinfelden, son of Rudolph, opposes Frederick Hohenstaufen , fiance of Agnes, daughter of Henry, who was named Duke.

At the Battle of Hohenmlsen near Merseburg , who nevertheless turned to his advantage, Rudolph lost his right hand and is mortally wounded in the abdomen and he died the next day, 15 October 1080. The loss of the right hand, the hand of allegiance given to Henry at the beginning of his reign, is used politically by supporters of Henry (this is a Judgement of God) to weaken a bit more nobility of opposition.

After the death of Rudolph, the opposition is struggling to find a new anti-king, it takes a year to unite around the low Hermann of Salm, who is elected by the Swabians and Saxons together in Ochsenfurt then crowned on December 26 at Goslar by Archbishop Siegfried of Mainz ist, while Henry IV already residing in Italy. When the latter, finally crowned emperor, and stormed back to Saxony with his army in 1085 , Hermann fled first from the Danes. He returned, however, joined the Duke Welf IV and beats the Emperor at Pleichfeld-on-Main in 1086 , thus taking Wrzburg. Tired of not playing a miserable role pawn in the hands of more powerful than himself, Hermann of Salm retired to his estate. He lost his life on 28 September 1088 in a private brawl.

Henri Italy

Henry and the antipope Clement III. Death of Gregory VII

After his victory over Rudolph, Henry turned in 1081 to Rome, to find again a solution to the conflict. Henry must be present in Italy, first to secure the support of the territories who were loyal to him, partly to cope with Matilda of Tuscany , loyal to the pope and his most bitter enemy in Italy north. He defeated the armies of Matilda and between the first time in Rome in 1083. After the capture of Rome, Guibert was enthroned under the name Clement III on 24 March 1084. A new schism begins: it lasts until 1111 , when the last anti-pope Guibert, Sylvester IV , formally renounced papal. A week after the inauguration, on Easter Sunday, 31 March 1084 , Clement crowned Henry and Bertha emperor and empress .

At the same time, Gregory VII took refuge in the Castel Sant'Angelo and is awaiting a response from Norman , who marched on Rome, led by Robert Guiscard and supported by the Saracens. The army of Henry is very weak and does not confront the attackers. The Normans release Gregory, looted and burned Rome. Following the disorder perpetrated by its allies, Gregory quietly leaves the city and retired to Salerno , where he died on 25 May 1085 .

Henry has left Rome to Augsburg. He managed to gradually strengthen its position in the empire, including enlisting the support of the Church by judicious investiture of bishops. He combines his eldest son Conrad to the crown by making crowned in 1087. At the same time, the war of ideas is raging. Between 1080 and 1085, twenty-four libels polemics are written on both sides. In 1085, Gregory VII died in exile. A new pope is elected two years later. Henry IV may think that victory is finally on his side.

On 14 August 1089 , he married his second wife Praxedes, daughter of Grand Prince Vsevolod I of Kiev and widow of Margrave Udo Stadium, he probably intends to strengthen the peace concluded with the Saxon princes and bishops. Praxde takes the name of Adelaide (Adelheid in German), and not playing any political role first. The same year, the marriage between Guelph V, son of the Duke of Bavaria, Guelph IV, and Matilda of Tuscany create a dangerous concentration of power in South Germany and Northern Italy. Henry must go to Italy and stayed there until the end of the conflict between "its" Pope Clement III and Urban II, the successor of Gregory VII to Easter 1091 , he took Mantua and turns in 1092 to Canossa stronghold Margravine of Matilda. It is here that the wheel turns: the fortunes of war forsake the Emperor Henry.

His eldest son Conrad , he had crowned Viceroy 30 May 1087 at Aix-la-Chapelle, stands him in 1093 and rallied the party of Pope Urban II was elected in 1088. Conrad was crowned king of Italy in Milan and the archbishop meets Pope in 1095 in Cremona , is the marshal, he ensures his protection, and recognizes him as the legitimate pontiff. In return, the Pope pledged his support and promised him the imperial crown. Guelph IV d'Este is cross the Alpine passes, and forced the emperor to hold and garrison from 1093 to 1096 in the area of Verona without being able to return to the Holy Roman Empire.

His second wife, Adelaide of Kiev, that Henry was imprisoned for adultery in Verona, managed to escape in 1094 with Matilda of Tuscany. The confidences of Adelaide Kiev however exploited by the party of the pope to smear the emperor. She puts him in charge at the synods of Constance and Piacenza in 1094-95 and complains of having suffered the worst insult to encourage her to divorce herself. It peddles and Prince Conrad was forced by his father to sleep with his own stepmother. Following these trials, Pope Urban II excommunicated Henry again.

The Empire Consolidated

According to the chronicler Bernold, Henry would have been so depressed that he would have considered suicide. Only the sudden rupture between him and Matilda V Guelph opens up new prospects in negotiations in Padua, he managed to conclude an alliance with the Guelphs , assuring them the duchy of Bavaria in exchange for his return to earth after seven years of empire absent: the year 1097, Henry can celebrate Pentecost in Regensburg. From his side, his son Conrad fails to gain recognition of Germanic princes, in Italy itself, all companies fall short, and his authority had become meaningless, he loses the support of the pope. Disappointed by the conduct of his eldest son Conrad, Henry IV is removed by the Diet of Mainz in May 1098, and recognizes his younger son Henry. This is sacred Viceroy (but not co-regent) the following year under the name of Henry V, as successor to the throne. Through the experience with his eldest son, Henry is promised by his younger son and new viceroy not to attempt on his person and stay away from affairs of state. Conrad died in Florence, forgotten by everybody, July 27, 1101.

In Germany, 25 years of conflict have exhausted the energy of the combatants. After his return to earth of the Empire, having deposited the prince renegade Conrad and cons his promise not to avenge himself crowned his younger son who is twelve years as viceroy, having also reconciled with the Guelphs The situation of Henry IV begins to recover. In Swabia, he managed to conclude an alliance between the Hohenstaufen and Zhringer , and obtained the appointment of several bishops of his party. This is due primarily to its conversion to a "consensus policy" is long overdue: after several banns frequent, the barons of empire are finally involved in decisions. He gives up even a new name to the death of Antipope Clement III in 1100 (that persist in the Italian opposition to Gregory). Gregorian Pope Paschal II is not moved so far: he banished again (and for the fourth time) Henry IV in 1102, raising fears for his son Henry to succeed him.

In 1103 Henri IV proclaimed the new peace of God , his father Henry III had firmly supported, and decreed by any peace to the Holy Roman Empire (Landfrieden). This text provides that all violations will be punished in the same sentence regardless of social status. This decision promotes the bourgeois and common people who had so much need for security. But she met the hostility of chivalry and nobility to which the private war (FEHD) was a rewarding distraction . It simultaneously prepares a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to evade the ban. But the takeover by his son Henry V defeats the project.

Henry V takes over

Henry IV (left), imprisoned, presents the regalia to his son Henry V (miniature of the Chronicle of Ekkehard Daura after 1106).

Henry V is visiting her father in dungeon Bckelheim (miniature 1450).

By the end of 1104, the future Henry V, fearing for his inheritance, takes sides against his father to strengthen its legitimacy to regain the throne of a father excommunicated, he joined the partisans of the Pope after he promised the imperial crown.

Henry V league first with the high nobility of Germany against his father, who has the support of the bourgeoisie and the government. Pope Paschal II sided with the son after the latter confirmed his solemn renunciation, in accordance with the wishes of the pope, the pursuit of absolute power in the empire and beyond, he abandoned the positions taken on nominations. Pascal lift the excommunication of the son and loosens the oath of his father. At the end of 1105, Henry V comes to a betrayal by his father in jail dungeon Bckelheim-of-an-der Nahe (near Bad Kreuznach ). On 31 December, the imperial palace of Ingelheim, he is forced to abdicate, is back January 6, 1106 the regalia imperial Mainz and received the homage of Electors. He succeeds his father under the name of Henry V.

The death of Henry IV

After his forced abdication, Henry manages to escape Ingelheim, pushing back the Holy Roman Empire on the brink of civil war. In 1106 he went to Cork under the protection of his vassal, Prince-Bishop Otbert , where he celebrated Passover. But in July he fell ill and died, aged 55, August 7, 1106, still within the scope of excommunication, which deprives him of the right to Christian burial. As a sign of forgiveness, he give his son his sword and his ring, the last symbols of royal power he has left. He awarded her father's blessing for his kingdom to come, ask for the grace of his supporters and asking to be buried alongside his ancestors in the cathedral of Speyer.

Yet it is primarily in the cathedral of Lige that the buried, after having taken the heart and bowels, the bishop of Liege Otbert devotes a solemn funeral. But the bishops protested strongly Germanic and call for dsanctification the temple housing the tomb. We therefore declare that the cathedral was desecrated as the remains of an excommunicated will be based. From August 15, 1106, we unearthed the sarcophagus for Henry V himself wishes to transfer the body of his father in Spires : It is filed Sept. 3, 1106 in the crypt of the cathedral of Speyer. But even the imperial cathedral is now threatened with forfeiture. We dug up the coffin and then again for almost five years it will be kept in the Chapel of St. Afra of the cathedral, because it has not yet been blessed.

The crown of Henry IV mortuary preserved the treasures of the cathedral of Speyer.

Finally in 1111 Henry V left for Italy, obtained from Pope Paschal II relaxes the posthumous of excommunication hanging over his father's permission to give him Christian burial. On August 7, 1111, five years to the day after his death, the coffin of Henry IV is solemnly taken from the chapel Saint Afra and filed with his father Henry III in the family vault of Salian of the cathedral of Speyer.

An anonymous writer composed this epitaph : "You left the realm of problems for the kingdom of peace and the ephemeral realm to the eternal kingdom and the earthly realm to the heavenly kingdom. Now is that really you reign, bearing a crown that your heirs do not hide you and no opponent does not envy " .

Marriages and descendants

Henri IV had five children from his first marriage to Bertha of Turin (1051-1087) :

• Adelaide (b. 1070, a June 4 before 1079), buried in the cathedral of Speyer
• Henry (b. 1 or 2 August 1071, August 2, 1071, buried at Castle Harzburg)
• Agnes was born in 1072 or early 1073; September 24, 1143, buried in the Abbey of Klosterneuburg
  • first marriage (March 24, 1079 in Regensburg ) 1086/1087 Frederick I ( 1105) Duke of Swabia ( Hohenstaufen )
  • second wife (1106), Margrave of Austria Leopold III ( November 15, 1136)
• Duke Conrad of Lower Lorraine (1074 1101), co-regent of the Holy Roman Empire from 1087 to 1098,
  • 1095 Constance of Sicily, daughter of Count Roger I of Sicily and Apulia.
• Henry V (1086 1125), King of the Romans in 1098, emperor from 1111 to 1125
  • in 1114 Matilda of England (born in 1102, 1167), daughter of King Henry I of England

On the death of Bertha December 27, 1087, Henri IV married August 14, 1089 Adelaide Kiev (Praxedis, Eupraxia) (born in 1071, July 10 or November 11, 1109), daughter of Grand Duke of Kiev Vsevolod I. and widow of Count Henry III (I) from stadium , which in 1082 was appointed Margrave of the Northern March , the union was sterile, and the divorce in 1095, whereupon Adelaide retired to a monastery in Kiev.

Historian Gerd Althoff (see below "Secondary sources") suspects that the marriage of Adelaide and Henry IV was perhaps intended to strengthen the peace agreements between the emperor and the Saxons. Its function is to be interpreted as a wife like a hostage, holding hostages is the normal way at the time of contracting and to ensure an alliance. According to sources, Henry allegedly ordered the rape of the queen. Althoff suggests that rape as a mark of dishonor, similar to the punishment or the death of a hostage to be interpreted as a symbol of an oath betrayed.

Review of the reign

Henry IV, for his contemporaries, is now a debauched cruel, brutal and rude who do not shrink from the use of violence to achieve his ends, sometimes a king, moderate, poor and protector of the Jews. Even politicians post (and generations of historians) wonder: Is penance at Canossa was it a betrayal to his country or a subtle maneuver to retain power?

Without a doubt, Henry is a pragmatic leader. From his youth, he consciously assumes his royal pretensions and this (according to the paradigm of his time) as a gift from God. So it must almost inevitably be confronted with Gregory VII, who in turn places the pope (which "should receive orders from anybody" under Dictatus dad) at the top of the world order, and for this reason could require obedience to the emperor. These conflicting positions held by two men of power are not conducive to the unity of the regnum and sacerdotium. The climax of the conflict is certainly the first excommunication of Henry felt by his contemporaries as an incredible shock. The consequences of this confrontation leads (without the protagonists have real consciousness) to a lasting separation of civilian authority and ecclesiastical power.

The reign of Henry IV is continually marked by ambition to retain power over the nobles. The latent opposition not only with the Saxons, but also with the southern duchies and finally the election of an anti-king result of Henry's refusal to engage in "political consensus" called for by the princes, c ' is to say power-sharing with the Department. He did not let out by the barons and puts his trust in the hands of a small circle of advisers from the Chancery. Their upward mobility in a world where political and economic autonomy does not exist, is perpetuated by Henry. The latter consideration may count on their unconditional loyalty. Henry encourages the development of cities such as Speyer , Worms , Goslar , Halberstadt and Quedlinburg , are of growing importance to the detriment of the great feudal lords. The demands of government , originally mere servants, and prosperous cities, thus arouse fierce resistance from the barons and are one of the reasons for their opposition. From this point of view, Henry, who knows how to take advantage of the prosperity and social changes induced by sustained population growth of his era, is a modern leader, provided a significant tactical sense. His distrust of the barons Germanic is based on his experience of the Government of Staatsstreich Kaiserswerth under which Anno of Cologne, Adalbert of Bremen and other barons ruled according to their personal interest rather than for the good of the kingdom, and hesitate not to put the king in peril, as during the armed confrontation of Goslar.

Henri IV combat ainsi une tendance au fdralisme en renforant le pouvoir central contre des forces centrifuges (selon le mot de Norbert Elias ) qui cherchent asseoir leur pouvoir de fodaux (domaine d'influence) tout en affaiblissant leur suzerain. S'il est vrai que Henri, par sa dignit impriale, son sens du pouvoir et ses calculs politiques adroits (la pnitence de Canossa ) parvient surtout prvenir l'clatement de l'empire en principauts provinciales et conserver au pouvoir central le soutien des glises de Germanie, il ne peut inflchir le mouvement de dcentralisation plus long terme.

Le btisseur

Henri IV se consacre particulirement la construction, et cela autant pour l'dification d'glises que de chteaux. Ds sa prise de fonctions, il lance dans les annes 1060 un programme de construction de chteaux, faisant riger autour du massif du Hartz, en Saxe et en Thuringe, plusieurs chteaux forts dont le plus grand et aussi le plus significatif est celui de Harzburg. Le chroniqueur f = "Lambert_de_Hersfeld" alt = "Lambert of Hersfeld"> Lambert of Hersfeld appoints six other fortresses of those Wigantestein (whose location is unknown), and of Moseburg Sachsenstein ( both near Bad Sachsa ) of Spatenburg (near Sondershausen ) Heimburg (near Blankenburg ) and Hasenburg (near Grossbodungen ).

Cathedral Spires

The cathedral of Speyer was of extreme importance to the princes of the dynasty Salic. The grandfather of Henry, Conrad II had begun in 1030: it was consecrated in 1061.

On October 14, 1080, the day of the decisive battle of the White Elster cons Rudolf of Rheinfelden , Henry made a donation to the rich chapter. The deed of gift declares: "it is under His protection <that of the Blessed Virgin > we just take refuge in the church of Speyer. (...) 'We have done this donation> to this church for the repose of the soul of our father and our grandfather, the Emperor Conrad and Henry, and the Empress Gisela, who are based here (...) and also for the repose of the soul " ^{The letters of privilege of Worms and Speyer (1090)}

In 1090, Henri IV simultaneously send letters of protection to two Jewish communities. For the Privilege of Worms, he gives various rights to Jews of this city, including the right backup and property, freedom to exercise an economic activity and to practice their religion, the right to employ staff Christian, sovereignty of the community to resolve conflicts between Jews and introducing a corresponding procedure for disputes between Jews and Christians. The Jewish community of Speyer is granted privileges virtually identical. Henry took under his personal protection and the Jews of Worms, Speyer and put them under that of the local bishop. It ushers in a unique legal status, which was, for better or for worse, to impregnate the coming centuries behavior between Jews and Christians, although shortly after the inconvenience of a temporary absence of the prince appeared to the general Updated: persecution of Jews erupt in these two cities during the First Crusade in 1096. As Henry was forcibly detained in Italy, he could not rescue the Jews of Worms, and there were hundreds of victims . The Bishop of Speyer, in contrast, did his duty as protector, and there is "only" twelve dead (see among other external links).

The face of King Henry

As is the case for most of the rulers of the Middle Ages, there is no portrait or bust of contemporary figurative representation of Henry IV. However, both approaches allow modern scientists to get an idea of the appearance of the sovereign.

The exhumation of 1900

In 1900 they opened the tomb of Henry IV for the first time we studied the skeleton. The investigation report prepared for the occasion described Henry as a thin man, muscular, almost athletic. With a height of 1.80 m, it exceeded 10 cm the average size of his contemporaries. He must have developed a bust, broad shoulders and a narrow pelvis.

Her face, as the investigation report, "combined a virile force in almost feminine grace , "opposition reflected a large part of the skull, the forehead narrow and sloping nose long and strong, and a beard, part of which remained, and the other big open eyes, thin mouth and chin slightly marked.

The skeleton showed no signs of injury and revealed no detectable disease, all showed an unfailing good health since birth.

Facial Reconstruction

On the occasion of the exhibition "The Emperor, the warrior, the banished" climb to the ^900th anniversary of the death of Henri IV in the Historical Museum of Speyer in May 2006, Professor of Forensic Medicine Richard Helmer has attempted facial reconstruction of the sovereign.

Based on measurements of the skull and photos taken during the exhumation of 1900 was virtually reconstructed the skull by computed tomography , a plastic molding has been prepared, on which Prof. Helmer has reconstructed the soft parts with of wax and clay. According to Helmer, criminology modeling approach this technique with 90% certainty of reality. The size of the nose was a problem: if we had relied not only the size of the nasal bone, this would have a nose "to Pinocchio" Helmer as he adopted the hypothesis a small bump at the base of the nose. The hair was cut in the fashion of the time.

References

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