Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry III | |
---|---|
Burgundy | |
Reign | 4 June 1039 – 5 October 1056 |
Predecessor | Conrad II |
Successor | Henry IV |
Born | 28 October 1016 |
Died | 5 October 1056 Bodfeld | (aged 39)
Burial | (body) |
Spouses | |
Issue | |
Salian Dynasty | |
Father | Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor |
Mother | Gisela of Swabia |
Signum manus (1049) |
Henry III (Heinrich III, 28 October 1016 – 5 October 1056), called the Black or the Pious, was
Henry was raised by his father, who made him Duke of
Early life
Born on 28 October 1016,
The last Ottonian monarch, Henry II, died on 13 July 1024.[18] The German aristocrats who assembled at Kamba to elect his successor proclaimed Conrad of Worms king on 4 September.[19] Conrad's opponent formed a coalition that included his stepson, Ernest II, Duke of Swabia.[20] They took up arms against the King in the second half of 1025, but he forced most of them into submission before the end of the year.[21] Ernest asked his mother Gisela to mediate a reconciliation and she convinced the eight-year-old Henry also to intervene on Ernest's behalf in early 1026.[22] Ernest had to promise to provide military assistance to Conrad to achieve a pardon.[22]
Conrad designated Henry as his heir in
Dynastic consolidation and co-ruler
Emperor Conrad II was determined to strengthen royal authority in Germany.
At Conrad's initiative, the "clergy and the people" elected Henry his co-ruler and Pilgrim, Archbishop of Cologne, crowned Henry king in Aachen on Easter 1028.[24][29] Henry was thereafter named the "hope of the empire" on his father's seals in accordance with Byzantine customs.[30] Conrad sent another embassy to Constantinople.[31] Constantine VIII's successor, Emperor Romanos III Argyros, proposed the hand of one of his sisters to Henry, but Conrad's envoy, Count Manegold of Donauwörth, refused the offer since she was already married.[32]
Bishop Bruno of Augsburg died on 6 April 1029 and Conrad appointed
Egilbert's mentorship lasted until Henry's accolade in late June or early July in 1033.[38] Egilbert received generous grants for his services on 19 July.[38]
Upon Rudolph III of Burgundy's death Conrad II claimed the title to the Burgundian succession and marched his army to Burgundy during the winter of 1032/1033. In two large-scale military summer campaigns in 1033 and 1034, Conrad defeated his rival Odo II, Count of Blois. On 1 August 1034, Conrad II officially incorporated the Kingdom of Burgundy into the Holy Roman Empire at a ceremony held in the Cathedral of Geneva.[39]
Henry and
In Spring 1037, a revolt in Northern
In 1038, Henry was called to aid his father in Italy. On their return trip along the
Royal and imperial reign
Inaugural tour
Henry inaugurated his reign with a tour through his domains. In the
In Bohemia only a delegation that offered hostages appeased Henry and he disbanded his army and continued his tour. He visited
and received acknowledgement from the present Italian princes.Henry returned to
Conflict with Bohemia and Hungary
Henry led his first military campaign as sovereign in 1040 into Bohemia, where
In 1040, Peter of Hungary was overthrown by Samuel Aba and fled to Germany, where Henry welcomed him despite their former enmity. Bretislav was now deprived of his former ally, upon which Henry prepared another campaign into Bohemia. On 15 August, almost exactly one year after his last expedition he set out once more, was victorious and signed a peace treaty with Bretislav at Regensburg.[46]
Henry spent Christmas 1041 at Strasbourg, and received emissaries from the Duchy of Burgundy, where he travelled during the new year to settle administrative and judicial matters. On the road near Basel he learnt of Hungarian raids into Bavaria and bestowed the duchy to a certain Henry VII, a relative of the last independent duke. At Cologne, Henry summoned the royal princes, who unanimously declared war on Hungary. After he had sent a wedding delegation to Agnes of Poitou he set out in September 1042 and successfully subdued the western territories of Hungary. Aba fled to his eastern estates, as Henry installed a cousin as steward, who was, however, quickly removed after the emperor had left.
After Christmas at his chosen imperial residence, Goslar, he received foreign guests. Duke Bretislav appeared in person, a
Promotion of Speyer
Gisela, Henry's mother, died in March 1043. She was solemnly buried in Speyer. The king appeared barefoot, in tears, and penitent robe at the funeral, his arms crossed, threw himself on the ground in front of the crowd and moved everyone to tears. With Henry's emulation of Christian humble self-denial, he intended to prove his ability to hold pious kingship. Historians have referred since to the period of the "Christomimetic royalty". Henry promoted Speyer far more than his father Conrad. Shortly before leaving for Italy, he endowed the church with a magnificently illustrated gospel book, called the Codex Aureus Escorialensis, also known as the Speyer Gospel. The Dome of Speyer was gradually extended during the following years and a large burial sector was created for future rulers and royal continuity.[48][49]
In October 1043, Henry, displaying deep personal piety, announced from the pulpit of the Konstanz Minster that the Peace and Truce of God be respected all over his realms on that very day. This day was to be remembered as the "Day of Indulgence" or "Day of Pardon". He, Henry, granted universal indulgence and pardon while in turn promised himself to forgive all injuries suffered, pains endured and to refrain from all acts of vengeance[42] and he encouraged all his imperial subjects to do likewise.[47][50]
Marriage to Agnes of Poitou
In 1043 Henry married
Conflicts in Lorraine and pacification in Hungary
Henry spent the winter at
On 6 July 1044 Henry, accompanied by
Upon his return from the Hungarian expedition, Godfrey of Upper Lorraine established new alliances, including with Henry of France, who might support him in a likely future insurrection.[53] The emperor reacted promptly and summoned Godfrey to Aachen. He was convicted and lost the duchy of Upper Lorraine and his fief of the county of Verdun.[53] Godfrey fled and took up arms in revolt. Henry wintered at Speyer and prepared for the Lorraine campaign of 1045.
In early 1045, Henry entered Lorraine at the head of an army, and besieged and conquered Godfrey's castle of
Height of power
Henry settled political issues with the Lombard magnates at
War in Lorraine
Henry fell ill at
Henry then moved to Lower Lorraine, where Gothelo II had just died and
The right of a German court to try an Italian bishop was considered very controversial. The problem culminated in the Investiture Controversy that overshadowed the reigns of Henry's son and grandson. Henry moved on to Saxony and held imperial courts at Quedlinburg, Merseburg (in June) and Meissen, where he appointed his daughter Beatrice abbess and ended the strife between Siemomysł, Duke of Pomerania and Casimir of Poland.[47]
Imperial coronation
Henry summoned the senior princes of the empire and departed to Italy. His ally, Aribert of Milan, had recently died and the Milanese citizens had chosen
Benedict was a
On Christmas Day 1046, Clement was consecrated, and Henry and Agnes crowned emperor and empress. The Roman citizenry awarded Henry the Golden Chain of the Patriciate and elevated him to patricius. Henry visited Frascati, the capital of the counts of Tusculum and seized all castles of the Crescentii family. Joined by the pope, he ventured to southern Italy and reverted most of his father's policies.[55]
At
In return, Guaimar had recognized the conquests of the Normans and invested William as his vassal with the
Henry's appointments
Upon his return to Germany, Henry assigned the offices that had been left vacant. He transferred his last personal duchy, Carinthia, to
Henry was at Metz in July 1047 when Godfrey once again rose in rebellion. Godfrey was now allied with
The rebels besieged
Peace in Lorraine
1049 proved to be a successful year. 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 Denmark. 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 and Baldwin. The former abandoned his allies and was imprisoned by the emperor again. Baldwin also gave in under Henry's pressure. Finally, the war had ended in the Low Countries and Lorraine.[60]
Final years
In 1051, Henry undertook a third Hungarian campaign but suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Vértes. His troops fled the battlefield over a range of hills still called "Vértes" ("Armoured") because discarded armour has been found there for centuries. In Lower Lorraine, Lambert, Count of Louvain; and Richildis, widow of Herman of Mons and new bride of Baldwin of Antwerp, caused trouble. Godfrey was released and given Lower Lorraine, to safeguard the unstable peace attained two years before.
In 1052, Henry undertook a fourth campaign against Hungary, and besieged
Final wars in Germany
On 26 June 1053, at Tribur, the young
In 1054, Henry traveled north to deal with the bellicose Casimir of Poland. He transferred
Bretislav, who had regained Silesia in a short war, died in 1054. The margrave of Austria, Adalbert, 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.[55]
Preparing Italy and Germany for his death
In 1055, Henry turned south, to Italy again, for
Henry returned and at Christmas 1055 he arranged the subsequent marriage of his successor. In Zürich, the heir to the throne, Henry IV, was engaged to Bertha of Turin of the House of Savoy.[61]
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 the retainers of the princes plotted the undoing of the king. Whatever the case, it all came to naught, and Cuno died of plague, with Welf soon following him to the grave. Baldwin of Flanders and Godfrey were at it again, besieging Antwerp, and they were defeated again. Henry's reign was clearly changing in character: old foes were dead or dying and old friends as well.[55]
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.[62] His heart was transferred to Goslar and his body to Speyer, to rest next to his father's in the family vault of the cathedral of Speyer. Henry had been one of the most powerful of the Holy Roman Emperors. His authority as king in Burgundy, Germany and Italy was 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.[63] 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.[49]
Family and children
Henry III was married twice and had at least eight children:
- With his first wife, Gunhilda of Denmark:[64]
- Beatrice (1037 – 13 July 1061), abbess of Quedlinburg and Gandersheim[65]
- Adelaide II (1045, Goslar – 11 January 1096), abbess of Gandersheim from 1061 and Quedlinburg from 1063[66]
- Gisela (1047, Ravenna – 6 May 1053)[66]
- Matilda (October 1048 – 12 May 1060, Pöhlde), married 1059 Rudolf of Rheinfelden, duke of Swabia and anti-king (1077)[66]
- Henry, his successor[62]
- Conrad (1052, Regensburg – 10 April 1055), duke of Bavaria (from 1054)[66]
- Duke of Poland[66]
- With an anonymous concubine:
- Azela, mother of bishop Johannes of Speyer[67]
See also
References
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- ^ Thomas Zotz. "Spes imperii – Heinrichs III. Herrschaftspraxis und Reichsintegration" (PDF). Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
- ^ Gerhard Lubich; Dirk Jäckel (2016). "Das Geburtsjahr Heinrichs III.: 1016". Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters: 581–592.
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