Individual Details
Heinrich IV Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire
(11 Nov 1050 - 7 Aug 1106)
Heinrich IV was born at Goslar on 11 November 1050, the son of Emperor Heinrich III and Agnès de Poitou. He was elected king of the Germans (emperor-elect) in 1054, having succeeded his father in 1056, his mother acting as regent. On 13 July 1066 he married Berta de Savoie, daughter of Otto, comte de Savoie, and Adelaide de Susa, Markgräfin von Susa, Herrin von Torrino. Heinrich and Berta had five children, of whom Heinrich and Agnes would have progeny.
About 1070 Heinrich IV began to act for himself. His first task was to break the power of the nobles. However his measures provoked a rising of the Saxons who in 1074 forced humiliating terms upon him. In 1075 he defeated them at Hohenburg and then proceeded to take vengeance upon the princes, secular and ecclesiastical, who had opposed him.
Their case gave Pope Gregory VII a pretext to interfere in the affairs of Germany. This was the beginning of the great duel between pope and emperor. In 1076 Heinrich declared the pontiff deposed. Gregory VII retaliated by excommunicating the emperor. Heinrich IV, seeing his vassals and princes falling away from him, hastened to Italy to make submission at Canossa as a humble penitent, and, in January 1077 the ban of excommunication was removed.
Having found adherents among the Lombards, Heinrich IV renewed the conflict, but was again excommunicated. He thereupon appointed a new pope, Clement III, then hastened over the Alps to besiege Rome. There in 1084 he caused himself to be crowned emperor by the antipope. In Germany during his absence, three rival kings of the Germans successively found support, but Heinrich IV managed to triumph over them all.
Heinrich's first wife Berta died in 1087, and in 1089 he married Eupraxia of Kiev, but this marriage did not result in progeny, and he divorced her in 1093.
He had crossed the Alps for the third time in 1090 to support Clement III, when he learned that his son Konrad had joined his enemies and been crowned king at Monza. Disheartened, he retired to Lombardy, but at length returned in 1097 to Germany. His elder son Heinrich was elected king of the Germans and heir to the empire. This prince, however, was induced to rebel by Pope Pascal II; he took his father prisoner and compelled him to abdicate. The emperor escaped, however, to find safety at Liège where he died on 7 August 1106.
Source: Leo van de Pas
About 1070 Heinrich IV began to act for himself. His first task was to break the power of the nobles. However his measures provoked a rising of the Saxons who in 1074 forced humiliating terms upon him. In 1075 he defeated them at Hohenburg and then proceeded to take vengeance upon the princes, secular and ecclesiastical, who had opposed him.
Their case gave Pope Gregory VII a pretext to interfere in the affairs of Germany. This was the beginning of the great duel between pope and emperor. In 1076 Heinrich declared the pontiff deposed. Gregory VII retaliated by excommunicating the emperor. Heinrich IV, seeing his vassals and princes falling away from him, hastened to Italy to make submission at Canossa as a humble penitent, and, in January 1077 the ban of excommunication was removed.
Having found adherents among the Lombards, Heinrich IV renewed the conflict, but was again excommunicated. He thereupon appointed a new pope, Clement III, then hastened over the Alps to besiege Rome. There in 1084 he caused himself to be crowned emperor by the antipope. In Germany during his absence, three rival kings of the Germans successively found support, but Heinrich IV managed to triumph over them all.
Heinrich's first wife Berta died in 1087, and in 1089 he married Eupraxia of Kiev, but this marriage did not result in progeny, and he divorced her in 1093.
He had crossed the Alps for the third time in 1090 to support Clement III, when he learned that his son Konrad had joined his enemies and been crowned king at Monza. Disheartened, he retired to Lombardy, but at length returned in 1097 to Germany. His elder son Heinrich was elected king of the Germans and heir to the empire. This prince, however, was induced to rebel by Pope Pascal II; he took his father prisoner and compelled him to abdicate. The emperor escaped, however, to find safety at Liège where he died on 7 August 1106.
Source: Leo van de Pas
Events
| Birth | 11 Nov 1050 | Goslar | |||
| Marriage | 13 Jul 1066 | Trebur - Berta de Savoia | |||
| Death | 7 Aug 1106 | Liege | |||
| Burial | Dom, Speyer |
Families
| Spouse | Berta de Savoia (1051 - 1087) |
| Child | Agnes von Franken (1072 - 1143) |
| Father | Heinrich III Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (1017 - 1056) |
| Mother | Agnes de Poitou (1025 - 1077) |