See Hirsoh, Jahrbiichcr des Dcutschen Iteicks untcr Heinrich II. (Berlin, 1862-75).
HENRY III. (1017–1056), Holy Roman emperor, was the son of Conrad II., the founder of the Franconian dynasty. He was born in 1017, and his father, anxious to make the succession secure and to strengthen the authority of the crown, caused him to be elected German king in 1026, creating him in 1027 duke of Bavaria, and in 1038 duke of Swabia and king of Burgundy. He became the reigning sovereign of Germany in 1039, at the age of twenty-two. Of an upright and resolute temper, he soon made his power felt both in church and state. The policy he pursued was that which had been followed by Otto I. during the early part of his reign : that is, he granted as many of the duchies as possible either to members of his own family or to vassals on whose loyalty he could rely. Duke Gottfried of Lower Lorraine, who laid claim to Upper Lorraine also, was the only prince who gave him serious trouble, and even this impetuous opponent could not effectually resist the great emperor. Henry was as distinguished in his wars as in his home government. Duke Bretislaus of Bohemia, who gave signs of aspiring to an indepandent position, invaded Poland, plundered its chief cities, and as a mark of his triumph carried away the body of St Adalbert from Gnesen to Prague. Henry proceeded against him in 1041, and forced him to appear in the following year at Ratisbon in penitent s garb, and to accept Bohemia in fief of the German crown. Having settled this difficulty, he began in 1042 a series of campaigns in Hungary, where for the first time he asserted the supremacy of Germany. In Italy he was equally successful, not only maintaining his right to the Lombard crown, but establishing supremacy over the Normans in Apulia and Calabria. At this time the moral condition of the church was regarded with regret and concern by every serious nature, and Henry, who was of a deeply religious tendency, associated himself heartily with the movement for reform which proceeded from Cluny. At a council of prelates in Sutri in 1046, he caused the rival popes, Benedict IX., Sylvester II., and Gregory VI., to be deposed, and raised to the papal see, as Clement II., Suitger, bishop of Bamberg. Three other German bishops, one after the other, were appointed to the same position ; and as all of them were devout men and energetic administrators, they did much to purify the ecclesiastical system of Europe. During their rule the papacy was held in strict subjection to the empire ; but the very earnestness with which Henry applied himself to the task of making the church worthy of its mission created grave dangers for the state, since it was improbable that a pope of proud and independent spirit would be content with a subordinate position. The mag nitude of the peril soon revealed itself when Hildebrand became pope during the reign of Henry IV., Henry III. s son and successor. Henry died in the prime of life in 1056 at Botfeld.
See Steinclorff, Jahrbiiclicr dcs Dcutschen JRcichs unter Heinrich III. (Leipsic, 1874).
HENRY IV. (1050–1106), Holy Roman emperor, son of Henry III., was born in 1050, and crowned German king at the age of four during his father s lifetime. After the death of Henry III. in 1056, the government was undertaken by the empress Agnes, the young king s mother. Henry III. s vigorous rule, while it had secured the prosperity of the nation as a whole, had excited bitter discontent among the great nobles, and immediately after his death they began to make attempts to recover some portion of the independence he had taken from them. Agnes, who was of too refined a temperament to contend with them, sought to win their support by important concessions ; and the evil effects of a feeble central authority were soon felt in every part of Germany. At last, in 1062, Anno, archbishop of Cologne, succeeded in gaining possession of the king by enticing him on board a boat on the Rhine. Agnes then resigned her position, and Anno ruled in her stead. He was a harsh, bigoted, and despotic prelate, and excited Henry s bitter hatred by the sternness of his discipline. In Adalbert, archbishop of Bremen, who was of an exactly opposite disposition, gay, worldly, and good-humoured, Anno had an influential rival. This prelate was at first entrusted with some share in the training of Henry, but ultimately completely gained his affections and became his sole guardian. In his fifteenth year Henry was declared, in accordance with the Ripuarian Code, to have reached his majority, but the royal authority was really exercised by Adalbert, who aroused the jealousy of the princes both by his splendid style of living and by his opposition to their usurped powers. At a diet held in Tribur he was compelled to yield the first place once more to Anno. Trained under these diverse influences Henry became passionate and wilful ; but he was endowed with considerable intellectual gifts, and when thoroughly aroused could pursue an object with unquenchable ardour. In order, if possible, to check the excesses of his private life Anno caused him to marry Bertha, the daughter of the margrave of Susa, to whom he had for some time been betrothed. At first he regarded her with strong dislike; but after she had borne him a son in 1071 she succeeded in gaining his affections, and was afterwards his most trusted friend and companion.
