1002 German royal election
The German royal election of 1002 was the decision on the succession which was held after the death of Emperor Otto III without heirs. It was won by Duke Henry IV of Bavaria among accusations of uncustomary practices (bribery and electoral manipulation).
Background
On 23/24 January 1002, the 21-year-old Emperor Otto III unexpectedly died of
The election of a new king now no longer was a formality controlled by the incumbent king, but became a central political question.
Candidates
The chief candidates to succeed Otto were the Dukes of the
Initially, the Conradine Herman II of Swabia appeared the strongest candidate and shortly after the majority of the princes spoke in his favour at Otto III's funeral in Aachen at Easter 1002.
But there was a further candidate among the Dukes: Henry IV of Bavaria, the son of
The candidature of the
but this is not reported in any other source.Robbery of the Imperial regalia
When the caravan with Otto III's body had been led over the
Candidature of Eckard I of Meissen
Probably because of personal esteem which Emperor Otto III had maintained towards Eckard I margrave of Meissen, he entered the competition for the succession after Otto's death. An initial conclave of sixteen Saxon princes and bishops at
At Werla, Henry of Schweinfurt kept on working to secure the meeting's support for the absent Henry by promising that Henry would give great rewards in the event of his nomination but also by referring to his connections with the Liudolfing dynasty and his legitimate right to the inheritance. In the latter argument he had the support of Otto's sisters Sophia and Adelaide.
Despite the set-back, Eckard was clearly unfazed. He came to Werla along with his allies, Bishop
The election of Henry
Immediately after the meeting at Werla, Henry moved towards
While Willigis was responsible for the coronation as archbishop of Mainz, everything else in this election was counter to tradition: the location of the conclave, the fact that Henry did not sit upon the Throne of Charlemagne and of course the fact that not all electors were present at the conclave.
Acknowledgment of the election
The fact that not all electors were present obliged Henry to spend months obtaining submission by means of a royal process. Such a process had been common under the
Unsurprisingly, Hermann of Swabia refused to recognise the election or the coronation in Mainz, so at the end of June, almost immediately after his coronation, Henry began a campaign against the Conradines march to Strasbourg and then to Reichenau Island by the end of the month.
He travelled on through
- Henry recognised the rights of the Saxons in the German kingdom.
- The Saxons recognised Henry as King.
- Because of their absence the election in Mainz was not binding on the Saxons
- Henry submitted to a separate election as king by the Saxons.
- Duke Bernhard surrendered the Holy Lance to Henry, and paid hommage to him at another coronation.
Henry travelled on past
Aftermath
Hermann of Swabia, who had not initially recognised Henry's election but had subsequently submitted to him at Bruchsal, died a few months later on 4 May 1003. Henry took over the regency of Hermann's duchy on behalf of his young son Hermann III (a situation which was maintained de jure by his successors until the middle of the century) and he used this position to permanently remove the family of his rival from power.
Henry of Schweinfurt had supported the election of Henry II in return for the promise that he could succeed to Bavaria. However, the new king reneged on this promise, since he could not allow Schweinfurt to have such a powerful position in the southeast of the Empire. Therefore, Henry of Schweinfurt and his close relatives made an alliance with Bolesław I of Poland (who had also submitted to Henry II at Merseburg after an unexplained attack) and Brun, the brother of King Henry. This alliance was defeated in the summer of 1003. Henry of Schweinfurt lost his county and his imperial fiefs and only his personal property was returned to him when he was pardoned in 1004.
References
Sources
- Thietmar of Merseburg: Chronik. Translated by Werner Trillmich. Darmstadt 1957 (Freiherr vom Stein-Gedächtnisausgabe 9). Latin Text in Robert Holtzmann (Ed.) Scriptores rerum Germanicarum, Nova series 9: Die Chronik des Bischofs Thietmar von Merseburg und ihre Korveier Überarbeitung (Thietmari Merseburgensis episcopi Chronicon) Berlin 1935.
Bibliography
- Eduard Hlawitschka. "Die Thronkandidaturen von 1002 und 1024. Gründeten sie im Verwandtenanspruch oder in Vorstellungen von freier Wahl?" in Karl Schmid (Ed.) Reich und Kirche vor dem Investiturstreit, Sigmaringen 1985.
- Eduard Hlawitschka. ""Merkst Du nicht, daß Dir das vierte Rad am Wagen fehlt?" Zur Thronkandidatur Ekkehards von Meißen (1002) nach Thietmar, Chronicon IV c. 52," in Karl Hauck und Hubert Mordeck (Edd.) Geschichtsschreibung und geistiges Leben im Mittelalter. Festschrift für Heinz Löwe zum 65. Geburtstag, Köln/Wien 1978.
- Eduard Hlawitschka. Untersuchungen zu den Thronwechseln der ersten Hälfte des 11. Jahrhunderts und zur Adelsgeschichte Süddeutschlands. Zugleich klärende Forschungen um "Kuno von Öhningen", Sigmaringen 1987.
- ISBN 3-17-013190-7.