Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry VII | |
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Duomo di Pisa, Pisa | |
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Beatrice d'Avesnes |
Henry VII (German: Heinrich;
Life
Election as King of the Romans
Born around 1273
Given his background, although he was a vassal of Philip the Fair,
In July 1309, Pope Clement V confirmed Henry's election.
On 15 August 1309, Henry VII announced his intention to travel to Rome, having sent his ambassadors to Italy to prepare for his arrival, and so consequently expected his troops to be ready to travel by 1 October 1310. Prior to leaving Germany, he sought to smooth relations with the Habsburgs, who had been forced against their will to accept the accession of Henry's son in Bohemia, cowed by the threats of making the Duchy of Austria dependent on the Bohemian crown. He therefore confirmed them in their imperial fiefs by October 1309; in exchange, Leopold of Habsburg agreed to accompany Henry in his Italian expedition, and to provide a body of troops as well.[12]
Henry felt he needed to obtain a papal imperial coronation, partly because of the lowly origins of his house, and partly because of the concessions he had been forced to make to obtain the German crown in the first place.
Descent into Italy
While these negotiations were taking place, Henry began his descent into northern Italy in October 1310, with his eldest son John remaining in
After a brief stay at
At the same time any resistance of the north
Despite plague and desertions, he managed to extract Brescia's surrender in September 1311.
After spending two months in Genoa, Henry continued on to Pisa by ship, where he was eagerly received by the inhabitants, who were the traditional enemies of Florence and were Ghibelline.[22] Here he again began negotiating with Robert of Naples, before deciding to enter into an alliance with Frederick III of Sicily, strengthening his position and hopefully putting pressure on Robert of Naples.[20] He left Pisa in 1312 to go to Rome to be crowned as emperor, but on his way he discovered that Clement V was not going to crown him there.[23]
Wars against Florence and Robert of Naples
Rome was in a state of confusion as Henry approached the city walls. The Orsini family had adopted the cause of Robert of Naples, while the Colonna family threw their weight behind Henry.[20] With their partisans fighting in the streets, Henry was also confronted with the news that the Castel Sant'Angelo and the Vatican quarter were securely in the hands of Robert, the Angevin king of Naples,[24] who had decided, with help from the Florentines[23] that his own dynastic interests were not in favour of renewed Imperial presence in Italy.[citation needed]
At Arezzo, in September 1312, Henry proceeded to pass a sentence against Robert of Naples,[27] as a rebel vassal.[28] Meanwhile, at Carpentras near Avignon, Clement was unwilling to fully support Henry, since Robert, of a cadet line of the French, was the representative of French power in Italy, and Clement was far from independent of French policies, as well as considerations about encirclement by Henry should he successfully defeat Robert.[27] But before Henry could move against Robert of Naples, he had to deal with the troublesome Florentines,[27] who had been sending money to the Lombard cities that held out against Henry, and who had been strengthening the city's fortifications in anticipation of a siege.[25]
In mid September, Henry approached the city and very quickly, it was obvious that the city militia and the Guelph cavalry could not match the emperor in an open battle against his battle-hardened soldiers from the north. The Florentine army was outmanoeuvred and lacking in provisions, so it retreated back into Florence during the night. Siena, Bologna, Lucca, and smaller cities, sent men to help man the walls.
His first target was the Guelph city of Siena, which he began to besiege, but within a week, Henry succumbed to malaria, which fast saw him become seriously ill. Fading rapidly, he left Siena on 22 August, and was sheltering in the little town of Buonconvento near Siena when he died on 24 August 1313.[27] His body was taken to Pisa. Henry was only 40 years old when he died, and the high hopes for an effective Imperial power in Italy died with him.[31]
Legacy
At Henry's death, and for the following decades, the central figure in Italian policy remained his nemesis, Robert of Naples.
Tomb
Pisa was a
The tomb, constructed in 1315 by Sienese sculptor Tino di Camaino,[34] was built above the grave itself, with the statue of Henry VII lying above it and many other statues and angels. The tomb did not have a long life: for political reasons it was dismantled and the parts were reused in other places in the square. By 1985, the grave of the Emperor had been shifted to the right transept of the cathedral, near the tomb of Saint Ranieri; a couple of statues were put on the top of the façade and a number of statues portraying Henry VII himself and his counsellors were in the Cemetery. Nowadays the statues, the textiles and goldwork gathered around the funeral shroud have been moved to and are featured in the Museum of the Opera del Duomo in Pisa,[35] while the tomb remains in the cathedral.[citation needed]
There is a plaster cast (1890) of the tomb in the Cast Courts of the Victoria and Albert Museum.[34]
Henry VII is the famous alto Arrigo in Dante's Paradiso, in which the poet is shown the seat of honor that awaits Henry in Heaven. Henry in Paradiso xxx.137f is "He who came to reform Italy before she was ready for it". Dante also alludes to him numerous times in Purgatorio as the savior who will bring imperial rule back to Italy, and end the inappropriate temporal control of the Church.[citation needed] In 1921, on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of Dante's death, Henry VII's tomb was opened and examined.[36]
Henry VII's tomb was opened and studied again in 2013, 700 years after his death. The remains had been wrapped in a large rectangular colorful silk shroud, described in the 1921 study as "a fine shroud woven in bands", which was retrieved from the coffin for analysis and subsequently moved to be displayed at the Museum of the Opera del Duomo.[36][37] The skeleton was recomposed and its analysis led to the estimation that Henry VII's height was 1.78 metres.[36] The bones were also examined by X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy to study medieval post-mortem practices.[38]
Family and children
Henry was married in Tervuren 9 July 1292 to Margaret of Brabant, daughter of John I, Duke of Brabant,[39] and had the following children:
- John I, King of Bohemia (10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346)[39]
- Marie (1304 – 26 March 1324, Issoudun), married in Paris 21 September 1322 to King Charles IV of France.[39]
- Beatrix (1305 – 11 November 1319), married 1318 to King Charles I of Hungary. Beatrix died in child birth.[39]
See also
References
- ^ Detailed record for Royal 20 C VII, Catalogue of illuminated manuscripts.
- ^ Regesta Imperii 6.4.1, Regest a (online).
- ^ Cf. Kurt-Ulrich Jäschke, Peter Thorau: Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter Rudolf, Adolf, Albrecht, Heinrich VII. 1273–1313. 4. Abteilung: Heinrich VII. 1288/1308–1313, 1. Lieferung: 1288/1308 – August 1309. Vienna 2006, Request a (online).
- ^ a b c d e f g h Kleinhenz, pg. 494
- ^ Cf. the new Regesta Imperii Kurt-Ulrich Jäschke, Peter Thorau: Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter Rudolf, Adolf, Albrecht, Heinrich VII. 1273–1313. 4. Abteilung: Heinrich VII. 1288/1308–1313, 1. Lieferung: 1288/1308 – August 1309. Böhlau, Vienna 2006, Regest a (online).
- ^ Georgina R. Cole-Baker, The Date of the Emperor Henry VII's Birth, in: The English Historical Review, Vol. 35, No. 138 (Apr. 1920), pp. 224–231, here pg. 227.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Jones, pg. 530
- ^ Jones, pg. 517
- ^ Jones, pg. 529
- ^ Comyn, pg. 408
- ^ Comym, pg. 410
- ^ a b c d e Jones, pg. 531
- ^ a b c d e f Jones, pg. 532
- ^ a b Jones, pg. 533
- ^ a b Sismondi, pg. 253
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Kleinhenz, pg. 495
- ^ a b c d e f g Jones, pg. 534
- ^ a b Jones, pg. 443
- ^ a b Sismondi, pg. 232
- ^ a b c d e f Comyn, pg. 447
- ^ Comyn, pg. 444
- ^ a b c d e f g Jones, pg. 535
- ^ a b Jones, pg. 472
- ^ Bryce, pg. 279
- ^ a b c Comyn, pg. 448
- ^ Wilson, Peter H. The Holy Roman Empire - A Thousand Years of Europe's History. p. 68.
- ^ a b c d e f g Jones, pg. 536
- Count of Provence, Robert was technically Henry's vassal, though Provence had been removed from Imperial circles for centuries.
- ^ a b Sismondi, pg. 294
- ^ Sismondi, pg. 271
- ^ Jones, pg. 537
- ^ H. Header and D.P. Waley, eds, A Short History of Italy (Cambridge) 1963:60.
- ^ History 1963:72.
- ^ a b "Tomb of Emperor Henry VII of Luxembourg | Camaino, Tino di". V&A Explore The Collections. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
- ^ "Opera del Duomo Museum". Opera della Primaziale Pisana: sito ufficiale. Museum of the Opera del Duomo. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
- ^ a b c "A medieval treasure in the tomb of Enrico VII". www.unipi.it. University of Pisa. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
- ^ "Magnificent Silk". Medieval Histories. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
- S2CID 163989438.
- ^ a b c d Gades, pg. 119
Bibliography
Fundamental for the study of Henry VII and his time are the new Regesta Imperii:
- Kurt-Ulrich Jäschke, Peter Thorau (Bearbeiter): Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter Rudolf, Adolf, Albrecht, Heinrich VII. 1273–1313. 4. Abteilung: Heinrich VII. 1288/1308–1313, 1. Lieferung: 1288/1308 – August 1309. Böhlau, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-412-01906-2 (online).
- Kurt-Ulrich Jäschke, Peter Thorau (Bearbeiter): Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter Rudolf, Adolf, Albrecht, Heinrich VII. 1273–1313. 4. Abteilung: Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter Heinrich VII. 1288/1308–1313, 2. Lieferung: 1. September 1309–23. Oktober 1310. Böhlau, Cologne u. a. 2014, ISBN 978-3-412-22181-2 (online).
Secondary literature:
- Michel Pauly (Ed.): Gouvernance européenne au bas moyen âge. Henri VII de Luxembourg et l’Europe des grandes dynasties. = Europäische Governance im Spätmittelalter Heinrich VII. von Luxemburg und die großen Dynastien Europas. Actes des 15es Journées Lotharingiennes, 14 – 17 octobre 2008, Université du Luxembourg. Linden, Luxemburg 2010, ISBN 978-2-919979-22-6
- Jones, Michael, The New Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. VI: c. 1300-c. 1415, Cambridge University Press, 2000
- Kleinhenz, Christopher, Medieval Italy: an encyclopedia, Volume 1, Routledge, 2004
- Bryce, James, The Holy Roman Empire, 1913
- Sismondi, J. C. L., Boulting, William, History of the Italian Republics in the Middle Ages, 1906
- Comyn, Robert. History of the Western Empire, from its Restoration by Charlemagne to the Accession of Charles V, Vol. I. 1851
- William M. Bowsky, Henry VII in Italy, Lincoln, 1960.
- Maria Elisabeth Franke, Kaiser Heinrich VII. im Spiegel der Historiographie, Köln/Weimar/Wien, 1992.
- John A. Gades, Luxemburg in the Middle Ages, Brill, 1951.