Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
Encyclopedia
Henry III called the Black or the Pious, was a member of the Salian Dynasty
of Holy Roman Emperors
. He was the eldest son of Conrad II of Germany
and Gisela of Swabia
and his father made him duke of Bavaria (as Henry VI) in 1026, after the death of Duke Henry V
.
On Easter Day 1028, his father having been crowned Holy Roman Emperor, Henry was elected and crowned King of Germany in the cathedral
of Aachen
by Pilgrim, Archbishop of Cologne
.
After the death of Herman IV, Duke of Swabia
in 1038, his father gave him that duchy (as Henry I) as well as the kingdom of Burgundy
, which Conrad had inherited in 1033. Upon the death of his father on 4 June 1039, he became sole ruler of the kingdom and was crowned emperor by Pope Clement II
in Rome
(1046).
. On Bruno's death in 1029, Egilbert, Bishop of Freising, was appointed to take his place. In 1033, at the age of sixteen, Henry came of age and Egilbert was compensated for his services. In 1035, Adalbero
, Duke of Carinthia
, was deposed by Conrad, but Egilbert convinced Henry to refuse this injustice and the princes of Germany, having legally elected Henry, would not recognise the deposition unless their king did also. Henry, in accordance with his promise to Egilbert, did not consent to his father's act and Conrad, stupefied, fell unconscious after many attempts to turn Henry. Upon recovering, Conrad knelt before his son and exacted the desired consent. Egilbert was penalised dearly by the emperor.
In 1036, Henry was married to Gunhilda of Denmark
. She was a daughter of Canute the Great
, King of Denmark, England, and Norway, by his wife Emma of Normandy
. Early on, Henry's father had arranged with Canute to have him rule over some parts of northern Germany (Kiel
) and in turn to have their children married. The marriage took place in Nijmegen at the earliest legal age.
In 1038, Henry was called to aid his father in Italy
(1038) and Gunhilda died on the Adriatic Coast, during the return trip (during the same epidemic in which Herman IV of Swabia
died). In 1039, his father, too, died and Henry became sole ruler and imperator in spe.
to receive the homage of Gothelo I, Duke of Upper and Lower Lorraine. In Cologne
, he was joined by Herman II, Archbishop of Cologne, who accompanied him and his mother to Saxony
, where he was to build the town of Goslar
up from obscurity to stately imperial grandeur. He had an armed force when he entered Thuringia
to meet with Eckard II, Margrave of Meissen
, whose advice and counsel he desired on the recent successes of Duke Bretislaus I of Bohemia
in Poland
.
Only a Bohemian embassy bearing hostages appeased Henry and he disbanded his army and continued his tour. He passed through Bavaria
where, upon his departure, King Peter Urseolo of Hungary sent raiding parties into Swabia
. There, at Ulm
, he convened a Fürstentag
at which he received his first recognition from Italy
.
He returned to Ingelheim after that and there was recognised by a Burgundian embassy and Aribert, Archbishop of Milan
, whom he had supported against his father. This peace with Aribert healed the only open wound in the Empire. Meanwhile, in 1039, while he was touring his dominions, Conrad
, Adalbero's successor in Carinthia
and Henry's cousin, died childless. Henry being his nearest kin automatically inherited that duchy as well. He was now a triple-duke (Bavaria, Swabia, Carinthia) and triple-king (Germany, Burgundy, Italy).
Henry's first military campaign as sole ruler took place then (1040). He turned to Bohemia, where Bretislaus was still a threat, especially through his Hungarian ally's raiding. At Stablo, after attending to the reform of some monasteries, Henry summoned his army. In July, he met with Eckhard at Goslar and joined together his whole force at Regensburg
. On 13 August, he set out. He was ambushed and the expedition ended in disaster. Only by releasing many Bohemian hostages, including Bretislaus's son, did the Germans procure the release of many of their comrades and the establishment of a peace. Henry retreated hastily and with little fanfare, preferring to ignore his first great defeat. On his return to Germany, Henry appointed Suidger
bishop of Bamberg. He would later be Pope Clement II.
and fled to Germany, where Henry received him well despite the enmity formerly between them. Bretislaus was thus deprived of an ally and Henry renewed preparations for a campaign in Bohemia. On 15 August, he and Eckard set out once more, almost exactly a year after his last expedition. This time he was victorious and Bretislaus signed a peace treaty at Regensburg.
He spent Christmas 1041 at Strasbourg
, where he received emissaries from Burgundy. He travelled to that kingdom in the new year and dispensed justice as needed. On his return, he heard, at Basel
, of the raids into Bavaria being made by the king of Hungary. He thus granted his own duchy of Bavaria to one Henry
, a relative of the last independent duke. At Cologne, he called together all his great princes, including Eckard, and they unanimously declared war on Hungary. It wasn't until September 1042 that he set out, after having dispatched men to seek out Agnes de Poitou
to be his new bride. The expedition into Hungary successfully subdued the west of that nation, but Aba fled to eastern fortresses and Henry's installed candidate, an unknown cousin of his, was quickly removed when the emperor turned his back.
After Christmas at Goslar, his intended capital, he entertained several embassies: Bretislaus came in person, a Kiev
an embassy was rejected because Henry was not seeking a Rus bride, and the ambassadors of Casimir I of Poland
were likewise rejected because the duke came not in person. Gisela, Henry's mother, died at this juncture and Henry went to the French borders, probably near Ivois to meet King Henry I of France
, probably over the impending marriage to the princess of Aquitaine
. Henry next turned to Hungary again, where he forced Aba to recognise the Danubian
territory donated to Germany by Stephen I of Hungary pro causa amicitiae (for friendship's sake). These territories were ceded to Hungary after the defeat of Conrad II in 1030. This border remained the border between Hungary and Austria
until 1920.
After this victory, Henry, a pious man, who dreamed of a Peace and Truce of God
being respected over all his realms, declared from the pulpit in Konstanz
in October 1043 a general indulgence or pardon whereby he promised to forgive all injuries to himself and to forgo vengeance. He encouraged all his vassals to do likewise. This is known as the "Day of Indulgence" or "Day of Pardon".
, daughter of duke William V of Aquitaine
and Agnes of Burgundy. Agnes was then living at the court of her stepfather, Geoffrey Martel, count of Anjou. This connection to the obstreperous vassal of the French king as well as her consanguinity—she and Henry being both descended from Henry the Fowler—caused some churchmen to oppose their union, but the marriage went as planned. Agnes was crowned at Mainz
.
, where he proclaimed the same indulgence he had proclaimed the year prior in Burgundy. Then, in April 1044, Gothelo I, Duke of Lorraine
, that is of both Lower
and Upper Lorraine, died. Henry did not wish to solidify the ducal power in any duchy and so, instead of appointing Godfrey, Gothelo's eldest son and already acting duke in Upper Lorraine, duke in the Lower duchy, he appointed Gothelo II
, Godfrey's younger brother, duke there, thus raising the eldest son's ire. Henry claimed that Gothelo's dying wish was to see the duchy split between the brothers, but Godfrey, having faithfully served Henry thus far, rebelled. Henry called the two brothers together at Nijmegen, but failed to reconcile them. Nevertheless, he set out on the warpath against Hungary, then experiencing internal duress.
. Peter was reinstalled as king at Székesfehérvár
, a vassal of the Empire, and Henry could return home triumphant, the Hungarian people having readily submitted to his rule. Tribute was to be paid and Aba, while fleeing, was captured by Peter and beheaded. Hungary appeared to have entered the German fold fully and with ease.
where he was condemned and his duchy and county of Verdun
(a royal fief) seized. He immediately fled the scene and began arming for revolt. Henry wintered at Speyer
, with the civil war clearly in view on the horizon.
In early 1045, Henry entered Lorraine with a local army and besieged Godfrey's castle of Bockelheim (near Kreuznach) and took it. He took a few other castles, but famine drove him out. Leaving behind enough men to guard the countryside against Godfrey's raids, he turned to Burgundy. Godfrey had done his best to foment rebellion in that kingdom by playing of the imperialist, which supported union with the empire, and nationalist, which supported an independent Burgundy, factions against each other. However, Louis, Count of Montbéliard, defeated Reginald I, Count of Burgundy
(what was to become the Free County), and when Henry arrived, the latter was ready with Gerald, Count of Geneva, to do homage. Burgundy was thereafter happily united to Henry's crown.
and then went on to Goslar, where he gave the duchy of Swabia to Otto
, Count Palatine
of Lorraine. Henry also gave the march of Antwerp to Baldwin, the son of Baldwin V of Flanders. On his way to Hungary, to spend Pentecost with King Peter, a floor collapsed in one of his halls and Bruno, Bishop of Würzburg
, was killed. In Hungary, Peter gave over the golden lance, symbol of sovereignty in Hungary, to Henry and pledged an oath of fealty along with his nobles. Hungary was now pledged to Peter for life and peace was fully restored between the two kingdoms of Germany and Hungary. In July, even Godfrey submitted and was imprisoned in Gibichenstein, the German Tower.
, Henry I
. Henry III, however, recovered, still heirless. At the beginning of the next year, now at the height of his power, but having divested himself of two of the great stem duchies, Henry's old advisor, Eckard of Meissen, died, leaving Meissen to Henry. Henry bestowed it on William, count of Orlamünde
.
He then moved to Lower Lorraine, where Gothelo II had just died and Dirk IV of Holland had seized Flushing
. Henry personally led a river campaign against Count Dirk. Both count and Flushing fell to him. He gave the latter to Bernold, Bishop of Utrecht
, and returned to Aachen to celebrate Pentecost and decide on the fate of Lorraine. Henry pitied and restored Godfrey, but gave the county of Verdun to the bishop of the city. This did not conciliate the duke. Henry gave the lower duchy to Frederick
. He then appointed Adalbert archbishop of Bremen and summoned Widger, Archbishop of Ravenna, to a trial.
The right of a German court to try an Italian bishop was very controversial and presaged the Investiture Controversy
that characterised the reigns of Henry's son and grandson. Henry continued from there on to Saxony and held imperial courts at Quedlinburg
, Merseburg
(June), and Meissen. At the first, he made his daughter Beatrice from his first marriage abbess and at the second, he ended the strife between the dux Bomeraniorum and Casimir of Poland. This is one of the earliest, or perhaps the earliest, recording of the name of Pomerania
, whose duke, Zemuzil, brought gifts.
into Italy, one of the most important of his many travels. His old ally, Aribert of Milan, had recently died and the Milanese had chosen as candidate for his successor one Guido, in opposition to the nobles' candidate. Meanwhile, in Rome, three popes—Benedict IX, Sylvester III, and Gregory VI
—contested the pontifical honours.
Benedict was a Tusculan
who had previously renounced the throne, Sylvester was a Crescentian
, and Gregory was a reformer, but a simoniac. Henry marched first to Verona
, thence to Pavia
in October. He held a court and dispensed justice as he had in Burgundy years earlier. He moved on to Sutri
and held a second court
on 20 December whereat he deposed all the candidates for the Saint Peter's throne and left it temporarily vacant. He headed towards Rome and held a synod wherein he declared no Roman priest fit. Adalbert of Bremen refused the honour and Henry appointed Suidger of Bamberg
, who was acclaimed duly by the people and clergy, we are told. He took the name Clement II.
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, capital of the counts of Tusculum
, and seize all the castles of the Crescentii. He and the pope then moved south, where his father had created the situation as it was then in his visit of 1038. Henry reversed many of Conrad's acts.
At Capua
, he was received by Prince Guaimar IV of Salerno
, also Prince of Capua since 1038. However, Henry gave Capua back to the twice-deprived Prince Pandulf IV
, a highly unpopular choice. Guaimar had been acclaimed as Duke of Apulia and Calabria by the Norman
mercenaries under William Iron Arm
and his brother Drogo of Hauteville
.
In return, Guaimar had recognised the conquests of the Normans and invested William as his vassal with the comital title. Henry made Drogo, William's successor in Apulia, a direct vassal of the imperial crown. He did likewise to Ranulf Drengot, the count of Aversa
, who had been a vassal of Guaimar as Prince of Capua. Thus, Guaimar was deprived of his greatest vassals, his principality split in two, and his greatest enemy reinstated. Henry lost popularity amongst the Lombards with these decisions and Benevento
, though a papal vassal, would not admit him. He authorised Drogo to conquer it and headed north to reunion with Agnes at Ravenna
. He arrived at Verona in May and the Italian circuit was completed.
duke of Carinthia. He made his Italian chancellor
, Humphrey, archbishop of Ravenna. He filled several other sees: he installed Guido in Piacenza
, his chaplain Theodoric in Verdun, the provost Herman of Speyer in Strasbourg
, and his German chancellor Theodoric in Constance. The important Lorrainer bishoprics of Metz
and Trier
received respectively Adalberon and Eberhard
, a chaplain.
The many vacancies of the Imperial episcopate now filled, Henry was at Metz (July 1047) when the rebellion then stewing broke out seriously. Godfrey was now allied with Baldwin of Flanders, his son (the margrave of Antwerp), Dirk of Holland, and Herman, Count of Mons. Henry gathered an army and went north, where he gave Adalbert of Bremen lands once Godfrey's and oversaw the trial by combat of Thietmar, the brother of Bernard II, Duke of Saxony
, accused of plotting to kill the king. Bernard, an enemy of Adalbert's, was now clearly on Henry's bad side. Henry made peace with the new king of Hungary, Andrew I and moved his campaign into the Netherlands
. At Flushing, he was defeated by Dirk. The Hollanders sacked Charlemagne
's palace at Nijmegen and burnt Verdun. Godfrey then made public penance and assisted in rebuilding Verdun.
The rebels besieged Liège, defended stoutly by Bishop Wazo
. Henry slowed his campaigning after the death of Henry of Bavaria and gave Upper Lorraine to one Adalbert
and left. The pope had died in the meantime and Henry chose Poppo of Brixen, who took the name Damasus II. Henry gave Bavaria to one Cuno and, at Ulm in January 1048, Swabia to Otto of Schweinfurt
, called the White. Henry met Henry of France, probably at Ivois again, in October and at Christmas, envoys from Rome came to seek a new pope, Damasus having died. Henry's most enduring papal selection was Bruno of Toul, who took office as Leo IX, and under whom the Church would be divided between East and West. Henry's final appointment of this long spate was a successor to Adalber in Lorraine. For this, he appointed Gerard of Chatenoy
, a relative of Adalbert and Henry himself.
. With the assistance of Sweyn and Edward the Confessor
of England, whose enemies Baldwin had harboured, Baldwin of Flanders was harassed by sea and unable to escape the onslaught of the imperial army. At Cologne, the pope excommunicated Godfrey, in revolt again, and Baldwin. The former abandoned his allies and was imprisoned by the emperor yet again. Baldwin too gave in under the pressure of Henry's ravages. Finally, war had ceased in the Low Countries and the Lorraines and peace seemed to have taken hold.
, and Richildis, widow Herman of Mons, and new bride of Baldwin of Antwerp, were causing strife. Godfrey was released and to him was it given to safeguard the unstable peace attained two years before.
In 1052, a fourth campaign was undertaken against Hungary and Pressburg (modern Bratislava
) was besieged, without success, as the Hungarians managed to sink his supply ships on the Danube river. Henry was unable immediately to continue his campaign, in fact, he never renewed it in all his life. Henry did send a Swabian army to assist Leo in Italy, but he recalled it quickly. In Christmas of that year, Cuno of Bavaria was summoned to Merseburg and deposed by a small council of princes for his conflicting with Gebhard III, Bishop of Regensburg
. Cuno revolted.
against the Normans he himself had confirmed in their conquests as his vassal. Leo, sans assistance from Guaimar (distanced from Henry since 1047), was defeated at the Battle of Civitate
on 18 June 1053 by Humphrey
, Count of Apulia; Robert Guiscard
, his younger brother; and Prince Richard I of Capua
. The Swabians were cut to pieces.
In 1054, Henry went north to deal with Casimir of Poland, now on the warpath. He transferred Silesia
from Bretislaus to Casimir. Bretislaus nevertheless remained loyal to the end. Henry turned westwards and crowned his young son at Aachen on July 17 and then marched into Flanders, for the two Baldwins were in arms again. John of Arras, who had seized Cambrai
before, had been forced out by Baldwin of Flanders and so turned to the Emperor. In return for inducing Liutpert, Bishop of Cambrai, to give John the castle, John would lead Henry through Flanders. The Flemish campaign was a success, but Liutpert could not be convinced.
Bretislaus, who had regained Silesia in a short war, died that year. The margrave Adalbert of Austria, however, successfully resisted the depredations of Cuno and the raids of the king of Hungary. Henry could thus direct his attention elsewhere than rebellions for once. He returned to Goslar, the city where his son had been born and which he had raised to imperial and ecclesiastic grandeur with his palace and church reforms. He passed Christmas there and appointed Gebhard of Eichstedt
as the next holder of the Petrine see, with the name Victor II. He was the last of Henry's four German popes.
, ever an imperial ally, had died and his widow, Beatrice of Bar
had married Godfrey of Lorraine (1054). Firstly, however, he gave his old hostage, Spitignev
, the son of Bretislaus to the Bohemians as duke. Spitignev did homage and Bohemia remained securely, loyally, and happily within the Imperial fold. By Easter, Henry had arrived in Mantua
. He held several courts, one at Roncaglia
, where, a century later (1158), Frederick Barbarossa held a far more important diet
, sent out his missi dominici to establish order. Godfrey, ostensibly the reason for the visit, was not well received by the people and returned to Flanders. Henry met the pope at Florence
and arrested Beatrice, for marrying a traitor, and her daughter Matilda
, later to be such an enemy of Henry's son. The young Frederick of Tuscany
, Beatrice' son, refused to come to Florence and died within days. Henry returned via Zürich
and there betrothed his young son to Bertha, daughter of Count Otto of Savoy
.
Henry entered a Germany in turmoil. A staunch ally against Cuno in Bavaria, Gebhard of Regensburg, was implicated in a plot against the king along with Cuno and Welf of Carinthia. Sources diverge here: some claim only that these princes' retainers plotted the king's undoing. Whatever the case, it all came to naught and Cuno died of plague
, Welf soon following him to the grave. Baldwin of Flanders and Godfrey were at it again, besieging Antwerp. They were defeated, again. Henry's reign was clearly changing in character: old foes were dead or dying and old friends as well. Herman of Cologne died.
Henry appointed his confessor, Anno
, as Herman's successor. Henry of France, so long eyeing Lorraine greedily, met for a third time with the emperor at Ivois in May 1056. The French king, not renowned for his tactical or strategic prowess, but admirable for his personal valour on the field, had a heated debate with the German king and challenged him to single combat. Henry fled at night from this meeting. Once in Germany again, Godfrey made his final peace and Henry went to the northeast to deal with a Slav uprising after the death of William of Meissen. He fell ill on the way and took to bed. He freed Beatrice and Matilda and had those with him swear allegiance to the young Henry, whom he commended the pope, present.
On 5 October, not yet forty, Henry died at Bodfeld
, the imperial hunting lodge in the Harz Mountains. His heart went to Goslar, his body to Speyer
, to lie next to his father's in the family vault in the cathedral of Speyer
. He had been one of the most powerful of the Holy Roman Emperors: his authority as king in Burgundy, Germany, and Italy only rarely questioned, his power over the church was at the root of what the reformers he sponsored later fought against in his son, and his achievement in binding to the empire her tributaries was clear. Nevertheless, his reign is often pronounced a failure in that he apparently left problems far beyond the capacities of his successors to handle. The Investiture Controversy was largely the result of his church politics, though his popemaking gave the Roman diocese to the reform party. He united all the great duchies save Saxony to himself at one point or another, but gave them all away. His most enduring and concrete monument may be the impressive palace (kaiserpfalz) at Goslar.
, he had:
By his second wife, Agnes
, he had:
Salian dynasty
The Salian dynasty was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages of four German Kings , also known as the Frankish dynasty after the family's origin and role as dukes of Franconia...
of Holy Roman Emperors
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
. He was the eldest son of Conrad II of Germany
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
Conrad II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1027 until his death.The son of a mid-level nobleman in Franconia, Count Henry of Speyer and Adelaide of Alsace, he inherited the titles of count of Speyer and of Worms as an infant when Henry died at age twenty...
and Gisela of Swabia
Gisela of Swabia
Gisela of Swabia was the daughter of Herman II of Swabia and Gerberga of Burgundy. Both her parents were descendents of Charlemagne.-Life:...
and his father made him duke of Bavaria (as Henry VI) in 1026, after the death of Duke Henry V
Henry V, Duke of Bavaria
Henry , of the House of Luxembourg, was the count of Luxembourg from 998 and the duke of Bavaria from 1004...
.
On Easter Day 1028, his father having been crowned Holy Roman Emperor, Henry was elected and crowned King of Germany in the cathedral
Aachen Cathedral
Aachen Cathedral, frequently referred to as the "Imperial Cathedral" , is a Roman Catholic church in Aachen, Germany. The church is the oldest cathedral in northern Europe and was known as the "Royal Church of St. Mary at Aachen" during the Middle Ages...
of Aachen
Aachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
by Pilgrim, Archbishop of Cologne
Pilgrim, Archbishop of Cologne
Pilgrim was the archbishop of Cologne and archchancellor of Italy in the Holy Roman Empire, a dignity he obtained for all his successors....
.
After the death of Herman IV, Duke of Swabia
Herman IV, Duke of Swabia
Herman IV was the Duke of Swabia . He was the second son of Ernest I and Gisela of Swabia. He was one of the Babenberg dukes of Swabia.Herman became duke in 1030 following the death of his older brother Ernest II...
in 1038, his father gave him that duchy (as Henry I) as well as the kingdom of Burgundy
Kingdom of Burgundy
Burgundy is a historic region in Western Europe that has existed as a political entity in a number of forms with very different boundaries. Two of these entities - the first around the 6th century, the second around the 11th century - have been called the Kingdom of Burgundy; a third was very...
, which Conrad had inherited in 1033. Upon the death of his father on 4 June 1039, he became sole ruler of the kingdom and was crowned emperor by Pope Clement II
Pope Clement II
Pope Clement II , was Pope from December 25, 1046 to his death. He was the first in a series of reform-minded popes from Germany.Born in Hornburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, he was the son of Count Konrad of Morsleben and Hornburg and his wife Amulrad.In 1040, he became Bishop of Bamberg...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
(1046).
Early life and reign
Henry's first tutor was Bruno, Bishop of AugsburgBishop of Augsburg
The Bishop of Augsburg is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Augsburg in the Ecclesiastical province of München und Freising.The diocese covers an area of 13,250 km².The current bishop is Konrad Zdarsa who was appointed in 2010....
. On Bruno's death in 1029, Egilbert, Bishop of Freising, was appointed to take his place. In 1033, at the age of sixteen, Henry came of age and Egilbert was compensated for his services. In 1035, Adalbero
Adalbero, Duke of Carinthia
Adalbero of Eppenstein was Duke of Carinthia from 1011 or 1012 until 1035. He succeeded Duke Conrad I from the Salian dynasty....
, Duke of Carinthia
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
, was deposed by Conrad, but Egilbert convinced Henry to refuse this injustice and the princes of Germany, having legally elected Henry, would not recognise the deposition unless their king did also. Henry, in accordance with his promise to Egilbert, did not consent to his father's act and Conrad, stupefied, fell unconscious after many attempts to turn Henry. Upon recovering, Conrad knelt before his son and exacted the desired consent. Egilbert was penalised dearly by the emperor.
In 1036, Henry was married to Gunhilda of Denmark
Gunhilda of Denmark
Gunhilda of Denmark was the first spouse of Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor.-Biography:Gunhilda was a daughter of Canute the Great and Emma of Normandy. Her maternal grandparents were Richard I of Normandy and his second wife Gunnora, Duchess of Normandy.She was a sister of Harthacanute. She was a...
. She was a daughter of Canute the Great
Canute the Great
Cnut the Great , also known as Canute, was a king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden. Though after the death of his heirs within a decade of his own and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history, historian Norman F...
, King of Denmark, England, and Norway, by his wife Emma of Normandy
Emma of Normandy
Emma , was a daughter of Richard the Fearless, Duke of Normandy, by his second wife Gunnora. She was Queen consort of England twice, by successive marriages: first as second wife to Æthelred the Unready of England ; and then second wife to Cnut the Great of Denmark...
. Early on, Henry's father had arranged with Canute to have him rule over some parts of northern Germany (Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
) and in turn to have their children married. The marriage took place in Nijmegen at the earliest legal age.
In 1038, Henry was called to aid his father in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(1038) and Gunhilda died on the Adriatic Coast, during the return trip (during the same epidemic in which Herman IV of Swabia
Herman IV, Duke of Swabia
Herman IV was the Duke of Swabia . He was the second son of Ernest I and Gisela of Swabia. He was one of the Babenberg dukes of Swabia.Herman became duke in 1030 following the death of his older brother Ernest II...
died). In 1039, his father, too, died and Henry became sole ruler and imperator in spe.
First tour
Henry spent his first year on a tour of his domains. He visited the Low CountriesLow Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
to receive the homage of Gothelo I, Duke of Upper and Lower Lorraine. In Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, he was joined by Herman II, Archbishop of Cologne, who accompanied him and his mother to Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
, where he was to build the town of Goslar
Goslar
Goslar is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mines of Rammelsberg are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.-Geography:Goslar is situated at the...
up from obscurity to stately imperial grandeur. He had an armed force when he entered Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
to meet with Eckard II, Margrave of Meissen
Eckard II, Margrave of Meissen
Eckard II was the margrave of Meissen from 1038 until his death, succeeding his brother, Herman I. His line was descended from Eckard I...
, whose advice and counsel he desired on the recent successes of Duke Bretislaus I of Bohemia
Bretislaus I of Bohemia
Bretislaus I , known as Bohemian Achilles, of the house of the Přemyslids, was the duke of Bohemia from 1035 till death.-Youth:...
in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
Only a Bohemian embassy bearing hostages appeased Henry and he disbanded his army and continued his tour. He passed through Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
where, upon his departure, King Peter Urseolo of Hungary sent raiding parties into Swabia
Swabia
Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.-Geography:Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabia's borders are not clearly defined...
. There, at Ulm
Ulm
Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
, he convened a Fürstentag
Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)
The Imperial Diet was the Diet, or general assembly, of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire.During the period of the Empire, which lasted formally until 1806, the Diet was not a parliament in today's sense; instead, it was an assembly of the various estates of the realm...
at which he received his first recognition from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
He returned to Ingelheim after that and there was recognised by a Burgundian embassy and Aribert, Archbishop of Milan
Aribert, Archbishop of Milan
Aribert was the archbishop of Milan from 1018, a quarrelsome warrior-bishop in an age in which such figures were not uncommon....
, whom he had supported against his father. This peace with Aribert healed the only open wound in the Empire. Meanwhile, in 1039, while he was touring his dominions, Conrad
Conrad II, Duke of Carinthia
Conrad II , called the Younger, was the Salian duke of Carinthia from 1035. His father, Conrad I died in 1011 when he was a minor. Adalbero of Eppenstein was given the duchy of Carinthia...
, Adalbero's successor in Carinthia
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
and Henry's cousin, died childless. Henry being his nearest kin automatically inherited that duchy as well. He was now a triple-duke (Bavaria, Swabia, Carinthia) and triple-king (Germany, Burgundy, Italy).
Subjecting Bohemia
Regensburg
Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
. On 13 August, he set out. He was ambushed and the expedition ended in disaster. Only by releasing many Bohemian hostages, including Bretislaus's son, did the Germans procure the release of many of their comrades and the establishment of a peace. Henry retreated hastily and with little fanfare, preferring to ignore his first great defeat. On his return to Germany, Henry appointed Suidger
Pope Clement II
Pope Clement II , was Pope from December 25, 1046 to his death. He was the first in a series of reform-minded popes from Germany.Born in Hornburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, he was the son of Count Konrad of Morsleben and Hornburg and his wife Amulrad.In 1040, he became Bishop of Bamberg...
bishop of Bamberg. He would later be Pope Clement II.
First Hungarian campaign
In 1040, Peter of Hungary was overthrown by Samuel AbaSamuel Aba of Hungary
Samuel Aba , King of Hungary , Palatine of Hungary .-King of Hungary:Samuel was from Northern Hungary, Castle Gonce / Castle Abaújvár, County of Aba...
and fled to Germany, where Henry received him well despite the enmity formerly between them. Bretislaus was thus deprived of an ally and Henry renewed preparations for a campaign in Bohemia. On 15 August, he and Eckard set out once more, almost exactly a year after his last expedition. This time he was victorious and Bretislaus signed a peace treaty at Regensburg.
He spent Christmas 1041 at Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, where he received emissaries from Burgundy. He travelled to that kingdom in the new year and dispensed justice as needed. On his return, he heard, at Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, of the raids into Bavaria being made by the king of Hungary. He thus granted his own duchy of Bavaria to one Henry
Henry VII, Duke of Bavaria
Henry VII was the count of Luxembourg from 1026 and duke of Bavaria from 1042 until his death. He was the son of Frederick, count of Moselgau, and possibly Ermentrude of Gleiberg....
, a relative of the last independent duke. At Cologne, he called together all his great princes, including Eckard, and they unanimously declared war on Hungary. It wasn't until September 1042 that he set out, after having dispatched men to seek out Agnes de Poitou
Agnes de Poitou
Agnes of Poitou, Agnes of Aquitaine or Empress Agnes was Holy Roman Empress and regent of the Holy Roman Empire from 1056 to 1062.-Family:...
to be his new bride. The expedition into Hungary successfully subdued the west of that nation, but Aba fled to eastern fortresses and Henry's installed candidate, an unknown cousin of his, was quickly removed when the emperor turned his back.
After Christmas at Goslar, his intended capital, he entertained several embassies: Bretislaus came in person, a Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
an embassy was rejected because Henry was not seeking a Rus bride, and the ambassadors of Casimir I of Poland
Casimir I of Poland
Casimir I the Restorer , was a Duke of Poland of the Piast dynasty and the de facto monarch of the entire country from 1034 until his death....
were likewise rejected because the duke came not in person. Gisela, Henry's mother, died at this juncture and Henry went to the French borders, probably near Ivois to meet King Henry I of France
Henry I of France
Henry I was King of France from 1031 to his death. The royal demesne of France reached its smallest size during his reign, and for this reason he is often seen as emblematic of the weakness of the early Capetians...
, probably over the impending marriage to the princess of Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
. Henry next turned to Hungary again, where he forced Aba to recognise the Danubian
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
territory donated to Germany by Stephen I of Hungary pro causa amicitiae (for friendship's sake). These territories were ceded to Hungary after the defeat of Conrad II in 1030. This border remained the border between Hungary and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
until 1920.
After this victory, Henry, a pious man, who dreamed of a Peace and Truce of God
Peace and Truce of God
The Peace and Truce of God was a medieval European movement of the Catholic Church that applied spiritual sanctions in order to limit the violence of private war in feudal society. The movement constituted the first organized attempt to control civil society in medieval Europe through non-violent...
being respected over all his realms, declared from the pulpit in Konstanz
Konstanz
Konstanz is a university city with approximately 80,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south-west corner of Germany, bordering Switzerland. The city houses the University of Konstanz.-Location:...
in October 1043 a general indulgence or pardon whereby he promised to forgive all injuries to himself and to forgo vengeance. He encouraged all his vassals to do likewise. This is known as the "Day of Indulgence" or "Day of Pardon".
After marriage
Henry was finally remarried at Ingelheim in 1043 to AgnesAgnes de Poitou
Agnes of Poitou, Agnes of Aquitaine or Empress Agnes was Holy Roman Empress and regent of the Holy Roman Empire from 1056 to 1062.-Family:...
, daughter of duke William V of Aquitaine
William V of Aquitaine
William V , called the Great , was Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitou from 990 until his death. He was the son and successor of William IV by his wife Emma of Blois, daughter of Theobald I of Blois. He seems to have taken after his formidable mother, who ruled Aquitaine as regent until 1004...
and Agnes of Burgundy. Agnes was then living at the court of her stepfather, Geoffrey Martel, count of Anjou. This connection to the obstreperous vassal of the French king as well as her consanguinity—she and Henry being both descended from Henry the Fowler—caused some churchmen to oppose their union, but the marriage went as planned. Agnes was crowned at Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
.
Division of Lorraine
After the coronation and the wedding, Henry wintered at UtrechtUtrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
, where he proclaimed the same indulgence he had proclaimed the year prior in Burgundy. Then, in April 1044, Gothelo I, Duke of Lorraine
Gothelo I, Duke of Lorraine
Gothelo , called the Great, was the duke of Lower Lorraine from 1023 and of Upper Lorraine from 1033. He was also the margrave of Antwerp from 1005 and count of Verdun. Gothelo was the youngest son of Godfrey I, Count of Verdun, and Matilda Billung, daughter of Herman, Duke of Saxony...
, that is of both Lower
Lower Lorraine
The Duchy of Lower Lorraine or Lower Lotharingia , established in 959 was a stem duchy of the medieval German kingdom, which encompassed part of modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands, the northern part of the German Rhineland and a part of northern France east of the Schelde river.It was created out...
and Upper Lorraine, died. Henry did not wish to solidify the ducal power in any duchy and so, instead of appointing Godfrey, Gothelo's eldest son and already acting duke in Upper Lorraine, duke in the Lower duchy, he appointed Gothelo II
Gothelo II, Duke of Lower Lorraine
Gothelo II , variously called the Coward, the Sluggard, the Indolent, or the Lazy , has been often said to be Duke of Lower Lorraine after the death of his father Gothelo I, Duke of both Lower and Upper Lorraine until his own death in 1046.When Gothelo I died in 1044, Godfrey III, his eldest son,...
, Godfrey's younger brother, duke there, thus raising the eldest son's ire. Henry claimed that Gothelo's dying wish was to see the duchy split between the brothers, but Godfrey, having faithfully served Henry thus far, rebelled. Henry called the two brothers together at Nijmegen, but failed to reconcile them. Nevertheless, he set out on the warpath against Hungary, then experiencing internal duress.
Second Hungarian campaign
Henry entered Hungary on 6 July and met a large army with his small host. Disaffection rent the Magyar forces, however, and they crumbled at the German onslaught in the Battle of MénfőBattle of Ménfo
The Battle of Ménfő was an important battle in the early history of the Kingdom of Hungary. Fought in 1044 at Ménfő, near Győr, between an army of mostly Germans and Hungarians , it was a victory for the Germans and thus for Westernising influences in Hungary.The Emperor Henry III invaded Hungary...
. Peter was reinstalled as king at Székesfehérvár
Székesfehérvár
Székesfehérvár is a city in central Hungary and is the 9th largest in the country. Located around southwest of Budapest. It is inhabited by 101,973 people , with 136,995 in the Székesfehérvár Subregion. The city is the centre of Fejér county and the regional centre of Central Transdanubia...
, a vassal of the Empire, and Henry could return home triumphant, the Hungarian people having readily submitted to his rule. Tribute was to be paid and Aba, while fleeing, was captured by Peter and beheaded. Hungary appeared to have entered the German fold fully and with ease.
Unrest in Lorraine
Upon his return from the Hungarian expedition, Godfrey of Lorraine began seeking out allies, among them Henry of France, to support him in any possible act of overt insurrection. Seeing this, the emperor summoned Henry to a trial by his peers of Lower Lorraine at AachenAachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
where he was condemned and his duchy and county of Verdun
Verdun
Verdun is a city in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is the slightly smaller city of Bar-le-Duc.- History :...
(a royal fief) seized. He immediately fled the scene and began arming for revolt. Henry wintered at Speyer
Speyer
Speyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities...
, with the civil war clearly in view on the horizon.
Reginald I, Count of Burgundy
Reginald I, Count Palatine of Burgundy was the second Count of the Free County of Burgundy. Born in 986, he was the son of Otto-William, Count of Burgundy and Ermentrude of Reims and Roucy.In 1016, Reginald married Alice of Normandy....
(what was to become the Free County), and when Henry arrived, the latter was ready with Gerald, Count of Geneva, to do homage. Burgundy was thereafter happily united to Henry's crown.
Height of his power
Then, Henry discussed the Italian political scene with some Lombard magnates at AugsburgAugsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
and then went on to Goslar, where he gave the duchy of Swabia to Otto
Otto II, Duke of Swabia
Otto II was Count Palatine of Lotharingia , then Duke of Swabia , and all the while Count in Deutz and Auelgau . He was the son of Ezzo and Matilda , and a member of the Ezzonian dynasty...
, Count Palatine
Count palatine
Count palatine is a high noble title, used to render several comital styles, in some cases also shortened to Palatine, which can have other meanings as well.-Comes palatinus:...
of Lorraine. Henry also gave the march of Antwerp to Baldwin, the son of Baldwin V of Flanders. On his way to Hungary, to spend Pentecost with King Peter, a floor collapsed in one of his halls and Bruno, Bishop of Würzburg
Bruno, Bishop of Würzburg
Bruno of Würzburg , also known as Bruno of Carinthia, was imperial chancellor of Italy from 1027 to 1034 for Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor, to whom he was related, and from 1034 until his death prince-bishop of Würzburg....
, was killed. In Hungary, Peter gave over the golden lance, symbol of sovereignty in Hungary, to Henry and pledged an oath of fealty along with his nobles. Hungary was now pledged to Peter for life and peace was fully restored between the two kingdoms of Germany and Hungary. In July, even Godfrey submitted and was imprisoned in Gibichenstein, the German Tower.
War in Lorraine
Henry fell ill at Tribur in October and Henry of Bavaria and Otto of Swabia chose as his successor Otto's nephew and successor in the palatinateCount palatine
Count palatine is a high noble title, used to render several comital styles, in some cases also shortened to Palatine, which can have other meanings as well.-Comes palatinus:...
, Henry I
Henry I, Count Palatine
Heinrich I, Count Palatine of Lotharingia from 1045 until 1060, son of Hezzelin I.Historians have given several nicknames to Heinrich: Furiosus , because he murdered his wife; Monachus , because he was confined into an abbey for treating his insanity.He married about 1048 Mathilde of Verdun ...
. Henry III, however, recovered, still heirless. At the beginning of the next year, now at the height of his power, but having divested himself of two of the great stem duchies, Henry's old advisor, Eckard of Meissen, died, leaving Meissen to Henry. Henry bestowed it on William, count of Orlamünde
Orlamünde
Orlamünde is a town in the Saale-Holzland district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Saale and Orla, 17 km south of Jena. It was the centre of a county, often united to Weimar, in the Early Middle Ages....
.
He then moved to Lower Lorraine, where Gothelo II had just died and Dirk IV of Holland had seized Flushing
Flushing, Netherlands
Vlissingen is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an important harbour for centuries. It was granted city rights in 1315. In the 17th century...
. Henry personally led a river campaign against Count Dirk. Both count and Flushing fell to him. He gave the latter to Bernold, Bishop of Utrecht
Bernold, Bishop of Utrecht
Saint Bernulf or Bernold of Utrecht was Bishop of Utrecht .Bernold succeeded Saint Adalbold as Bishop of Utrecht on 24 September 1027, when he was appointed by emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Conrad II...
, and returned to Aachen to celebrate Pentecost and decide on the fate of Lorraine. Henry pitied and restored Godfrey, but gave the county of Verdun to the bishop of the city. This did not conciliate the duke. Henry gave the lower duchy to Frederick
Frederick, Duke of Lower Lorraine
Frederick of Luxembourg was the count of Malmedy from 1035 and duke of Lower Lorraine from 1046. He was a younger son of Frederick, lord of Gleiberg, and Ermentrude, and grandson of Siegfried, Count of Luxembourg, hence his name....
. He then appointed Adalbert archbishop of Bremen and summoned Widger, Archbishop of Ravenna, to a trial.
The right of a German court to try an Italian bishop was very controversial and presaged the Investiture Controversy
Investiture Controversy
The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was the most significant conflict between Church and state in medieval Europe. In the 11th and 12th centuries, a series of Popes challenged the authority of European monarchies over control of appointments, or investitures, of church officials such...
that characterised the reigns of Henry's son and grandson. Henry continued from there on to Saxony and held imperial courts at Quedlinburg
Quedlinburg
Quedlinburg is a town located north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. In 1994 the medieval court and the old town was set on the UNESCO world heritage list....
, Merseburg
Merseburg
Merseburg is a town in the south of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt on the river Saale, approx. 14 km south of Halle . It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese founded by Archbishop Adalbert of Magdeburg....
(June), and Meissen. At the first, he made his daughter Beatrice from his first marriage abbess and at the second, he ended the strife between the dux Bomeraniorum and Casimir of Poland. This is one of the earliest, or perhaps the earliest, recording of the name of Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
, whose duke, Zemuzil, brought gifts.
Second trip to Italy
It was after the these events in northern Germany and a brief visit to Augsburg, where he summoned the greatest magnates, clerical and lay, of the realm to meet him and accompany him, that he crossed the Brenner PassBrenner Pass
- Roadways :The motorway E45 leading from Innsbruck via Bolzano to Verona and Modena uses this pass, and is one of the most important north-south connections in Europe...
into Italy, one of the most important of his many travels. His old ally, Aribert of Milan, had recently died and the Milanese had chosen as candidate for his successor one Guido, in opposition to the nobles' candidate. Meanwhile, in Rome, three popes—Benedict IX, Sylvester III, and Gregory VI
Pope Gregory VI
Pope Gregory VI , born John Gratian , was Pope from 1 May 1045 until his abdication at the Council of Sutri on 20 December 1046....
—contested the pontifical honours.
Benedict was a Tusculan
Tusculum
Tusculum is a ruined Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy.-Location:Tusculum is one of the largest Roman cities in Alban Hills. The ruins of Tusculum are located on Tuscolo hill—more specifically on the northern edge of the outer crater ring of the Alban volcano...
who had previously renounced the throne, Sylvester was a Crescentian
Crescentii
The Crescentii clan — if they were an extended family — essentially ruled Rome and controlled the Papacy from the middle of the 10th century until the nearly simultaneous deaths of their puppet pope Sergius IV and the patricius of the clan in 1012.-History:Several individuals named Crescentius who...
, and Gregory was a reformer, but a simoniac. Henry marched first to Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
, thence to Pavia
Pavia
Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
in October. He held a court and dispensed justice as he had in Burgundy years earlier. He moved on to Sutri
Sutri
Sutri is a town and comune in the province of Viterbo, about 50 km from Rome, and about 30 km south of Viterbo. It is picturesquely situated on a narrow tuff hill, surrounded by ravines, a narrow neck on the west alone connecting it with the surrounding country.thumb|220px|Entrance to the...
and held a second court
Council of Sutri
The Council of Sutri was called by Henry III, King of the Germans and opened on December 20, 1046, in the hilltown of Sutri, at the edge of the Duchy of Rome. The Catholic Church does not list this as an ecumenical council....
on 20 December whereat he deposed all the candidates for the Saint Peter's throne and left it temporarily vacant. He headed towards Rome and held a synod wherein he declared no Roman priest fit. Adalbert of Bremen refused the honour and Henry appointed Suidger of Bamberg
Pope Clement II
Pope Clement II , was Pope from December 25, 1046 to his death. He was the first in a series of reform-minded popes from Germany.Born in Hornburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, he was the son of Count Konrad of Morsleben and Hornburg and his wife Amulrad.In 1040, he became Bishop of Bamberg...
, who was acclaimed duly by the people and clergy, we are told. He took the name Clement II.
Imperial coronation
On 25 December, Christmas Day, Clement was consecrated and Henry and Agnes were crowned Holy Roman Emperor and Empress. The populace gave him the golden chain of the patriciate and made him patricius, giving the powers, seemingly, of the Crescentii family during the tenth century: the power to nominate popes. Henry's first acts were to visit FrascatiFrascati
Frascati is a town and comune in the province of Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated with science, being the location of several international scientific...
, capital of the counts of Tusculum
Counts of Tusculum
The counts of Tusculum were the most powerful secular noblemen in Latium, near Rome, in the present-day Italy between the 10th and 12th centuries. Several popes and an antipope during the 11th century came from their ranks. They created and perfected the political formula of noble-papacy, wherein...
, and seize all the castles of the Crescentii. He and the pope then moved south, where his father had created the situation as it was then in his visit of 1038. Henry reversed many of Conrad's acts.
At Capua
Capua
Capua is a city and comune in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, situated 25 km north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. Ancient Capua was situated where Santa Maria Capua Vetere is now...
, he was received by Prince Guaimar IV of Salerno
Guaimar IV of Salerno
Guaimar IV was Prince of Salerno , Duke of Amalfi , Duke of Gaeta , and Prince of Capua in Southern Italy over the period from 1027 to 1052. He was an important figure in the final phase of Byzantine authority in the Mezzogiorno and the commencement of Norman power...
, also Prince of Capua since 1038. However, Henry gave Capua back to the twice-deprived Prince Pandulf IV
Pandulf IV of Capua
Pandulf IV was the Prince of Capua on three separate occasions.From February 1016 to 1022 he ruled in association with his cousin Pandulf II. In 1018, the Byzantine catapan Boiannes destroyed the Lombard army of Melus of Bari and his Norman allies at Cannae...
, a highly unpopular choice. Guaimar had been acclaimed as Duke of Apulia and Calabria by the Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
mercenaries under William Iron Arm
William Iron Arm
William Iron Arm was a Norman adventurer, founder of the fortunes of the Hauteville family. One of twelve sons of Tancred of Hauteville, he journeyed to the Mezzogiorno with his younger brother Drogo in the first half of the eleventh century , in response to requests for help made by fellow...
and his brother Drogo of Hauteville
Drogo of Hauteville
Drogo of Hauteville succeeded his brother, William Iron Arm, with whom he arrived in southern Italy c. 1035, as the leader of the Normans of Apulia....
.
In return, Guaimar had recognised the conquests of the Normans and invested William as his vassal with the comital title. Henry made Drogo, William's successor in Apulia, a direct vassal of the imperial crown. He did likewise to Ranulf Drengot, the count of Aversa
Aversa
Aversa is a town and comune in the Province of Caserta in Campania southern Italy, about 15 kilometres north of Naples. It is the centre of an agricultural district, the agro aversano, producing wine and cheese...
, who had been a vassal of Guaimar as Prince of Capua. Thus, Guaimar was deprived of his greatest vassals, his principality split in two, and his greatest enemy reinstated. Henry lost popularity amongst the Lombards with these decisions and Benevento
Benevento
Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill 130 m above sea-level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino and Sabato...
, though a papal vassal, would not admit him. He authorised Drogo to conquer it and headed north to reunion with Agnes at Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
. He arrived at Verona in May and the Italian circuit was completed.
Henry's appointments
On Henry's return to Germany, many offices which had fallen vacant were filled. First, Henry gave away his last personal duchy: he made WelfWelf, Duke of Carinthia
Welf III , as he is numbered in the genealogy of the Swabian line of the Elder House of Welf, was the duke of Carinthia and margrave of Verona from 1047. He was the only son of Welf II, Count of Altdorf, and Imiza....
duke of Carinthia. He made his Italian chancellor
Chancellor
Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
, Humphrey, archbishop of Ravenna. He filled several other sees: he installed Guido in Piacenza
Piacenza
Piacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
, his chaplain Theodoric in Verdun, the provost Herman of Speyer in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, and his German chancellor Theodoric in Constance. The important Lorrainer bishoprics of Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
and Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
received respectively Adalberon and Eberhard
Eberhard, Archbishop of Trier
Eberhard was the Archbishop of Trier from 1047 until his death.Eberhard was a son of Ezelin. He was educated at the Cathedral of Worms...
, a chaplain.
The many vacancies of the Imperial episcopate now filled, Henry was at Metz (July 1047) when the rebellion then stewing broke out seriously. Godfrey was now allied with Baldwin of Flanders, his son (the margrave of Antwerp), Dirk of Holland, and Herman, Count of Mons. Henry gathered an army and went north, where he gave Adalbert of Bremen lands once Godfrey's and oversaw the trial by combat of Thietmar, the brother of Bernard II, Duke of Saxony
Bernard II, Duke of Saxony
Bernard II was the Duke of Saxony , the third of the Billung dynasty, a son of Bernard I and Hildegard. He had the rights of a count in Frisia....
, accused of plotting to kill the king. Bernard, an enemy of Adalbert's, was now clearly on Henry's bad side. Henry made peace with the new king of Hungary, Andrew I and moved his campaign into the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. At Flushing, he was defeated by Dirk. The Hollanders sacked Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
's palace at Nijmegen and burnt Verdun. Godfrey then made public penance and assisted in rebuilding Verdun.
The rebels besieged Liège, defended stoutly by Bishop Wazo
WAZO
WAZO is a radio station broadcasting a contemporary hit radio format. Licensed to Southport, North Carolina, USA, the station serves the Wilmington area. WAZO is currently owned by Capitol Broadcasting Company...
. Henry slowed his campaigning after the death of Henry of Bavaria and gave Upper Lorraine to one Adalbert
Adalbert, Duke of Lorraine
Adalbert was the Duke of Upper Lorraine from 1047 until his death. He was the first son of Gerard de Bouzonville , Count of Metz, and Gisela ....
and left. The pope had died in the meantime and Henry chose Poppo of Brixen, who took the name Damasus II. Henry gave Bavaria to one Cuno and, at Ulm in January 1048, Swabia to Otto of Schweinfurt
Otto III, Duke of Swabia
Otto III , called the White and known as Otto of Schweinfurt, was the margrave of the Nordgau and duke of Swabia . He was the son of Henry of Schweinfurt, margrave of the Nordgau, and Gerberga of Henneberg...
, called the White. Henry met Henry of France, probably at Ivois again, in October and at Christmas, envoys from Rome came to seek a new pope, Damasus having died. Henry's most enduring papal selection was Bruno of Toul, who took office as Leo IX, and under whom the Church would be divided between East and West. Henry's final appointment of this long spate was a successor to Adalber in Lorraine. For this, he appointed Gerard of Chatenoy
Gerard, Duke of Lorraine
Gerard IV, Duke of Alsace was the count of Metz and Chatenois from 1047/1048, when his brother Duke Adalbert resigned them to him on becoming the Duke of Upper Lorraine. On Adalbert's death the next year, Gerard became duke and was so until his death...
, a relative of Adalbert and Henry himself.
Peace in Lorraine
The year of 1049 was a series of successes. Dirk of Holland was defeated and killed. Adalbert of Bremen managed a peace with Bernard of Saxony and negotiated a treaty with the missionary monarch Sweyn II of DenmarkSweyn II of Denmark
Sweyn II Estridsson Ulfsson was the King of Denmark from 1047 to 1074. He was the son of Ulf Jarl and Estrid Svendsdatter. He was married three times, and fathered 20 children or more, including the five future kings Harald III Hen, Canute IV the Saint, Oluf I Hunger, Eric I Evergood and Niels...
. With the assistance of Sweyn and Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
of England, whose enemies Baldwin had harboured, Baldwin of Flanders was harassed by sea and unable to escape the onslaught of the imperial army. At Cologne, the pope excommunicated Godfrey, in revolt again, and Baldwin. The former abandoned his allies and was imprisoned by the emperor yet again. Baldwin too gave in under the pressure of Henry's ravages. Finally, war had ceased in the Low Countries and the Lorraines and peace seemed to have taken hold.
Final Hungarian campaigns
In 1051, Henry undertook a third Hungarian campaign, but failed to achieve anything lasting. Lower Lorraine gave trouble again, Lambert, Count of LouvainLambert II, Count of Leuven
Lambert II was count of Leuven between 1033 and 1054. Lambert was the son of Lambert I of Leuven .According the he followed his brother Henry I of Leuven....
, and Richildis, widow Herman of Mons, and new bride of Baldwin of Antwerp, were causing strife. Godfrey was released and to him was it given to safeguard the unstable peace attained two years before.
In 1052, a fourth campaign was undertaken against Hungary and Pressburg (modern Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
) was besieged, without success, as the Hungarians managed to sink his supply ships on the Danube river. Henry was unable immediately to continue his campaign, in fact, he never renewed it in all his life. Henry did send a Swabian army to assist Leo in Italy, but he recalled it quickly. In Christmas of that year, Cuno of Bavaria was summoned to Merseburg and deposed by a small council of princes for his conflicting with Gebhard III, Bishop of Regensburg
Gebhard III, Bishop of Regensburg
Gebhard III, called Gebhard of Franconia or von Hohenlohe, was the bishop of Regensburg from 1036 to 2 December 1060. He succeeded Gebhard II...
. Cuno revolted.
Final wars in Germany
In 1053, at Tribur, the young Henry, born 11 November 1050, was elected king of Germany. Andrew of Hungary almost made peace, but Cuno convinced him otherwise. Henry appointed his young son duke of Bavaria and went thence to deal with the ongoing insurrection. Henry sent another army to assist Leo in the MezzogiornoMezzogiorno
The Midday is a wide definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the southern half of the Italian state, encompassing the southern section of the continental Italian Peninsula and the two major islands of Sicily and Sardinia, in addition to a large number of minor islands...
against the Normans he himself had confirmed in their conquests as his vassal. Leo, sans assistance from Guaimar (distanced from Henry since 1047), was defeated at the Battle of Civitate
Battle of Civitate
The Battle of Civitate was fought on 18 June 1053 in Southern Italy, between the Normans, led by the Count of Apulia Humphrey of Hauteville, and a Swabian-Italian-Lombard army, organised by Pope Leo IX and led on the battlefield by Gerard, Duke of Lorraine, and Rudolf, Prince of Benevento...
on 18 June 1053 by Humphrey
Humphrey of Hauteville
Humphrey of Hauteville , surnamed Abagelard, was the Count of Apulia and Calabria from 1051 to his death.Humphrey was probably the youngest son of Tancred of Hauteville by his first wife Muriel. Some sources make Geoffrey and Serlo his younger brothers...
, Count of Apulia; Robert Guiscard
Robert Guiscard
Robert d'Hauteville, known as Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, from Latin Viscardus and Old French Viscart, often rendered the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily, the Fox, or the Weasel was a Norman adventurer conspicuous in the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily...
, his younger brother; and Prince Richard I of Capua
Richard I of Capua
Richard I Drengot was a count of Aversa and prince of Capua .He was the son of Asclettin, count of Acerenza, younger brother of Asclettin, count of Aversa, and nephew of Rainulf Drengot, the Norman adventurer who had first travelled to southern Italy in 1017 and progressed to set up the first...
. The Swabians were cut to pieces.
In 1054, Henry went north to deal with Casimir of Poland, now on the warpath. He transferred Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
from Bretislaus to Casimir. Bretislaus nevertheless remained loyal to the end. Henry turned westwards and crowned his young son at Aachen on July 17 and then marched into Flanders, for the two Baldwins were in arms again. John of Arras, who had seized Cambrai
Cambrai
Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
before, had been forced out by Baldwin of Flanders and so turned to the Emperor. In return for inducing Liutpert, Bishop of Cambrai, to give John the castle, John would lead Henry through Flanders. The Flemish campaign was a success, but Liutpert could not be convinced.
Bretislaus, who had regained Silesia in a short war, died that year. The margrave Adalbert of Austria, however, successfully resisted the depredations of Cuno and the raids of the king of Hungary. Henry could thus direct his attention elsewhere than rebellions for once. He returned to Goslar, the city where his son had been born and which he had raised to imperial and ecclesiastic grandeur with his palace and church reforms. He passed Christmas there and appointed Gebhard of Eichstedt
Pope Victor II
Pope Victor II , born Gebhard, Count of Calw, Tollenstein, and Hirschberg, was Pope from 1055 to 1057. He was one of a series of German reform Popes.-Life:...
as the next holder of the Petrine see, with the name Victor II. He was the last of Henry's four German popes.
Preparing Italy and Germany for his death
In 1055, Henry soon turned south, to Italy again, for Boniface III of TuscanyBoniface III of Tuscany
Boniface III , son of Tedald of Canossa and the father of Matilda of Canossa, was the most powerful north Italian prince of his age...
, ever an imperial ally, had died and his widow, Beatrice of Bar
Beatrice of Bar
Beatrice of Bar was the marchioness of Tuscany from 1053 to her death as the wife of Boniface III of Tuscany...
had married Godfrey of Lorraine (1054). Firstly, however, he gave his old hostage, Spitignev
Spytihnev II of Bohemia
Spytihnev II was the duke of Bohemia from March 1055 until his death in 1061. He was the eldest son of Bretislaus I. His coronation was celebrated with the first known rendition of Lord, Have Mercy on Us. After succeeding to the throne, he went at once to Regensburg to receive imperial confirmation...
, the son of Bretislaus to the Bohemians as duke. Spitignev did homage and Bohemia remained securely, loyally, and happily within the Imperial fold. By Easter, Henry had arrived in Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
. He held several courts, one at Roncaglia
Roncaglia
-Places:*Roncaglia , within the present municipal boundaries of Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna, and known for two Imperial Diets convened by Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor*Roncaglia, a frazione of Casale Monferrato, Piedmont-People:...
, where, a century later (1158), Frederick Barbarossa held a far more important diet
Diet of Roncaglia
The Diet of Roncaglia was held in 1158 near Piacenza as a general assembly of the nobles and ecclesiasts of the Holy Roman Empire and representatives of each of the fourteen Lombard League cities....
, sent out his missi dominici to establish order. Godfrey, ostensibly the reason for the visit, was not well received by the people and returned to Flanders. Henry met the pope at Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
and arrested Beatrice, for marrying a traitor, and her daughter Matilda
Matilda of Tuscany
Matilda of Tuscany was an Italian noblewoman, the principal Italian supporter of Pope Gregory VII during the Investiture Controversy. She is one of the few medieval women to be remembered for her military accomplishments...
, later to be such an enemy of Henry's son. The young Frederick of Tuscany
Frederick of Tuscany
Boniface IV Frederick was the only son of Boniface III of Tuscany and Beatrice of Bar. He was young when his father died on 6 May 1052 and he inherited the great north Italian margraviate....
, Beatrice' son, refused to come to Florence and died within days. Henry returned via Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
and there betrothed his young son to Bertha, daughter of Count Otto of Savoy
Otto of Savoy
Otto was Count of Savoy from 1051 until his death. He was son of Humbert I, the first Count of Savoy, and his wife Ancilla, and ascended the throne after the death of his elder brother, Amadeus I of Savoy.Otto substantially enlarged his lands through his marriage with Adelaide of Susa,...
.
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
, Welf soon following him to the grave. Baldwin of Flanders and Godfrey were at it again, besieging Antwerp. They were defeated, again. Henry's reign was clearly changing in character: old foes were dead or dying and old friends as well. Herman of Cologne died.
Henry appointed his confessor, Anno
Anno II, Archbishop of Cologne
Saint Anno II was Archbishop of Cologne from 1056 to 1075.He was born around 1010, belonging to the Swabian family of the von Steusslingen, and was educated at Bamberg. He became confessor to the Emperor Henry III, who appointed him archbishop of Cologne in 1056...
, as Herman's successor. Henry of France, so long eyeing Lorraine greedily, met for a third time with the emperor at Ivois in May 1056. The French king, not renowned for his tactical or strategic prowess, but admirable for his personal valour on the field, had a heated debate with the German king and challenged him to single combat. Henry fled at night from this meeting. Once in Germany again, Godfrey made his final peace and Henry went to the northeast to deal with a Slav uprising after the death of William of Meissen. He fell ill on the way and took to bed. He freed Beatrice and Matilda and had those with him swear allegiance to the young Henry, whom he commended the pope, present.
On 5 October, not yet forty, Henry died at Bodfeld
Bodfeld
Bodfeld was a small royal palace or lodge that was primarily established for hunting purposes and, when the town of Elbingerode was emerged, for the administration of ore mining in the central Harz that underpinned the power of the Ottonian and Salian kings and emperors in medieval Europe...
, the imperial hunting lodge in the Harz Mountains. His heart went to Goslar, his body to Speyer
Speyer
Speyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities...
, to lie next to his father's in the family vault in the cathedral of Speyer
Speyer Cathedral
The Speyer Cathedral, officially the Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St Stephen, in Latin: Domus sanctae Mariae Spirae in Speyer, Germany, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Speyer and is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Bamberg. The cathedral, which is dedicated to St...
. He had been one of the most powerful of the Holy Roman Emperors: his authority as king in Burgundy, Germany, and Italy only rarely questioned, his power over the church was at the root of what the reformers he sponsored later fought against in his son, and his achievement in binding to the empire her tributaries was clear. Nevertheless, his reign is often pronounced a failure in that he apparently left problems far beyond the capacities of his successors to handle. The Investiture Controversy was largely the result of his church politics, though his popemaking gave the Roman diocese to the reform party. He united all the great duchies save Saxony to himself at one point or another, but gave them all away. His most enduring and concrete monument may be the impressive palace (kaiserpfalz) at Goslar.
Children
By his first wife, Gunhilda of DenmarkGunhilda of Denmark
Gunhilda of Denmark was the first spouse of Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor.-Biography:Gunhilda was a daughter of Canute the Great and Emma of Normandy. Her maternal grandparents were Richard I of Normandy and his second wife Gunnora, Duchess of Normandy.She was a sister of Harthacanute. She was a...
, he had:
- BeatriceBeatrice of QuedlinburgBeatrice I, also known as Beatrice of Franconia , was Abbess of Gandersheim Abbey from 1043 and Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg Abbey from 1044 until her death....
(1037 – 13 July 1061), abbess of QuedlinburgQuedlinburg AbbeyQuedlinburg Abbey was a house of secular canonesses in Quedlinburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was founded in 936 on the initiative of Saint Mathilda, the widow of Henry the Fowler, as his memorial...
and GandersheimGandersheim AbbeyGandersheim Abbey is a former house of secular canonesses in the present town of Bad Gandersheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. It was founded in 852 by Duke Liudolf of Saxony, progenitor of the Liudolfing or Ottonian dynasty, whose rich endowments ensured its stability and prosperity.The "Imperial...
By his second wife, Agnes
Agnes de Poitou
Agnes of Poitou, Agnes of Aquitaine or Empress Agnes was Holy Roman Empress and regent of the Holy Roman Empire from 1056 to 1062.-Family:...
, he had:
- Adelaide IIAdelheid II, Abbess of QuedlinburgAdelaide II was Abbess of Gandersheim and Quedlinburg.Adelaide was born in the autumn of 1045 as the first child of Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor, and Agnes of Poitou, his second wife. In 1061, she was elected successor to her older half-sister, Beatrice, as Imperial Abbess of Gandersheim...
(1045, GoslarGoslarGoslar is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mines of Rammelsberg are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.-Geography:Goslar is situated at the...
– 11 January 1096), abbess of GandersheimGandersheim AbbeyGandersheim Abbey is a former house of secular canonesses in the present town of Bad Gandersheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. It was founded in 852 by Duke Liudolf of Saxony, progenitor of the Liudolfing or Ottonian dynasty, whose rich endowments ensured its stability and prosperity.The "Imperial...
from 1061 and QuedlinburgQuedlinburg AbbeyQuedlinburg Abbey was a house of secular canonesses in Quedlinburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was founded in 936 on the initiative of Saint Mathilda, the widow of Henry the Fowler, as his memorial...
from 1063 - Gisela (1047, RavennaRavennaRavenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
– 6 May 1053) - Matilda (October 1048 – 12 May 1060, PöhldePöhldePöhlde is a village in southern Lower Saxony in Germany. It is part of the town Herzberg am Harz. It has a population of 2207 . Archaeological excavation has revealed traces of settlement dating to the 2nd through 4th centuries AD. The town is noted for its Benedictine abbey...
), married 1059 Rudolf of Rheinfelden, duke of Swabia and antikingAntikingAn Antiking is a would-be king who, due to succession disputes or simple political opposition, declares himself king in opposition to a reigning monarch. Antikings are more often found in elected monarchies than in hereditary monarchies like those of England and France; such figures in hereditary...
(1077) - HenryHenry IV, Holy Roman EmperorHenry IV was King of the Romans from 1056 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until his forced abdication in 1105. He was the third emperor of the Salian dynasty and one of the most powerful and important figures of the 11th century...
, his successor - ConradConrad II, Duke of BavariaConrad II , called the Child, was the duke of Bavaria from 1054 to 1055. He was the second son of the Emperor Henry III and his second wife, Agnes of Poitou. He was briefly appointed duke of Bavaria, which had been held by his elder brother Henry...
(1052, RegensburgRegensburgRegensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
– 10 April 1055), duke of Bavaria (from 1054) - JudithJudith of SwabiaJudith-Maria of Swabia was a German princess, a member of the Ottonian dynasty and by her two marriages Queen of Hungary and Duchess of Poland renamed Sophia in 1089....
(1054, GoslarGoslarGoslar is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mines of Rammelsberg are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.-Geography:Goslar is situated at the...
– 14 March 1092 or 1096), married firstly 1063 Solomon of HungarySolomon of HungarySolomon , King of Hungary . He was crowned as a child during his father's lifetime in order to ensure his succession, but his uncle Béla managed to dethrone his father and ascend to the throne...
and secondly 1089 Ladislaus I Herman, duke of Poland
Sources
- Gwatkin, H. M., Whitney, J. P. (ed) et al. The Cambridge Medieval History: Volume III. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1926.
- Norwich, John JuliusJohn Julius NorwichJohn Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO — known as John Julius Norwich — is an English historian, travel writer and television personality.-Early life:...
. The Normans in the South 1016-1130. Longmans: London, 1967.