Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor

Born on 28 October 1016, or 1017, Henry was the son of Conrad of Worms and Gisela of Swabia. Conrad was a Franconian aristocrat who held domains along the river Rhine when his son was born. He was related to the imperial Ottonian dynasty through his great-grandmother, Liutgard—a daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I. Conrad may have fathered a son before his marriage to Gisela, because a royal charter referred to his sons in 1024, but its reliability is dubious. Henry was always mentioned as his father's sole son in charters issued after February 1028. Gisela, who was descended from Charlemagne, had a strong claim both to Swabia and to Burgundy. Conrad was Gisela's third husband and she had given birth to three sons and possibly a daughter during her previous two marriages. Conrad was illiterate, but Gisela was solicitous to their son's education and Henry learnt to read. The last Ottonian monarch, Henry II, died on 13 July 1024. The German aristocrats who assembled at Kamba to elect his successor proclaimed Conrad of Worms king on 4 September. Conrad's opponent formed a coalition that included his stepson, Ernest II, Duke of Swabia. 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. 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. Ernest had to promise to provide military assistance to Conrad to achieve a pardon. Conrad designated Henry as his heir in Augsburg in February 1027. A year later, before departing for his first Italian campaign, Conrad charged Bruno, Bishop of Augsburg, with Henry's guardianship. Historian Stefan Weinfurter states that Bruno, who was Emperor Henry II's brother, was "particularly well-suited to impart regal concepts and imperial traditions" to his ward. Bruno accompanied Henry to Rome where they attended Conrad's imperial coronation on Easter 1027. ==Dynastic consolidation and co-ruler==

Emperor Conrad II was determined to strengthen royal authority in Germany. Ignoring the claim of Emeric, the son of King Stephen I of Hungary, to Bavaria, Conrad persuaded the Bavarian aristocrats to acknowledge Henry as their duke in Regensburg on 24 July 1027. Henry's appointment to the duchy was unprecedented—Bavaria had never been ruled by a ten-year-old duke. In autumn 1027, the Emperor sent Bishop Werner of Strasbourg to Constantinople to win a bride from the Byzantine imperial family for Henry, but Werner's sudden death put an end to the negotiations with Emperor Constantine VIII. 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. Henry was thereafter named the "hope of the empire" on his father's seals in accordance with Byzantine customs. Conrad sent another embassy to Constantinople. 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. , Henry's first wife Bishop Bruno of Augsburg died on 6 April 1029 and Conrad appointed Egilbert, Bishop of Freising, as Henry's new tutor. Bavaria made raids into Hungary and provoked a Hungarian counter-attack. Conrad assembled Bavarian, Lorrainian and Bohemian troops and invaded Hungary in June 1030. Insufficient supplies forced him to return and the Hungarians attacked and beat his army at Vienna. Conrad left Bavaria, assigning the task to deal with the Hungarians to the twelve-year-old Henry. Egilbert of Freising started negotiations with Stephen I of Hungary on Henry's behalf. Egilbert agreed to cede lands along the frontier to the Hungarians in return for the release of their prisoners. Henry accepted the terms and signed the peace treaty during a meeting with Stephen I in Hungary in early 1031. Egilbert's mentorship lasted until Henry's accolade in late June or early July in 1033. Egilbert received generous grants for his services on 19 July. 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. Henry and Gunhilda of Denmark, the daughter of Emma of Normandy and Canute the Great, King of Denmark, England and Norway, were engaged on 18 May 1035. On the same occasion Conrad declared war on the Liutizi, a pagan Slavic tribe and deposed his brother-in-law, Adalbero, Duke of Carinthia. Conrad entrusted Canute with Southern Jutland upon their children's marriage, which took place in Nijmegen during the 1036 feast of Pentecost. In 1038, Henry was called to aid his father in Italy. On their return trip along the Adriatic coast Gunhilda died from an epidemic that apparently had also caused the death of Herman IV of Swabia near Naples. In 1039, Emperor Conrad II also died, and Henry succeeded him as king and imperator in spe. ==Royal and imperial reign==

Inaugural tour of Henry III Henry inaugurated his reign with a tour through his domains. In the Low Countries he received homage of Gothelo I, Duke of Upper and Lower Lorraine, and in Cologne, he was joined by Herman II, Archbishop of Cologne, who accompanied him and his mother to Saxony, where he established the town of Goslar as a future imperial residence. Heading an army he entered Thuringia where he met Eckard II, Margrave of Meissen, whose advice and counsel he sought with regard to the recent successes of Duke Bretislav I of Bohemia in Poland. In Bohemia only a delegation that offered hostages appeased Henry and he disbanded his army and continued his tour. He visited Bavaria, when, upon his departure, King Peter Orseolo of Hungary sent raiding parties into Swabia. At Ulm, Henry convened a diet and received acknowledgement from the present Italian princes. Henry returned to Ingelheim where he was recognized by a Burgundian embassy and by Aribert, Archbishop of Milan, whom he had supported against his father. Henry's consensus with Aribert was an attempt to solve the old interior imperial conflict with Conrad. When Adalbero I of Eppenstein was deposed by Conrad, Henry also inherited the Duchy of Carinthia, by which he became triple-duke (Bavaria, Swabia and Carinthia) on top of being triple-king of Germany, Burgundy and Italy. Conflict with Bohemia and Hungary ) and spiritual centre at Goslar, which includes the emperor's palace, the collegiate church of St. Simon and St. Jude, the palace chapel of St. Ulrich and the Church of Our Lady Henry led his first military campaign as sovereign in 1040 into Bohemia, where Bretislav I intended to establish a separate archbishopric. After having attended the reform sessions of a number of monasteries, Henry summoned his army at Stablo. In July he joined with contingents at Goslar and deployed his entire army at Regensburg. He set out on 13 August and was soon ambushed in the passes of the Bohemian Forest and forced to retreat with heavy losses at the Battle at Brůdek. Only after the release of a large number of Bohemian hostages, including Bretislav's son, did Henry procure the release of his prisoners. Upon conclusion of the peace, Henry retreated hastily. On his return to Germany, he appointed Suidger—the future Pope Clement II—as bishop of Bamberg. 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 Marriage to Agnes of Poitou , 1046 divided, around 1000 In 1043 Henry married Agnes of Poitou, the daughter of Duke William V of Aquitaine and Agnes of Burgundy. She resided at the court of her stepfather, Geoffrey Martel, Count of Anjou. The association with this boisterous vassal of the king of France and her consanguinity with Henry (both were descendants of Henry the Fowler) stirred up some consternation among many clerics, who opposed their union. The marriage, however, took place anyway and Agnes was crowned queen at Mainz. Conflicts in Lorraine and pacification in Hungary Henry spent the winter at Utrecht, where he again announced an indulgence. In April 1044, Gothelo, Duke of Lower and Upper Lorraine died. Henry opposed the political particularism of the dukes. In order to diminish their power he appointed the younger son Gothelo II as duke of the Lower duchy instead of Godfrey, Gothelo I's eldest son who had already been installed as duke of Upper Lorraine. Henry claimed that Gothelo I's deathbed wish was to bequeath both sons with a share of the estate. Godfrey, who had been a faithful servant of Henry, eventually rose in rebellion. Henry attempted to reconcile the brothers at Nijmegen but failed. However, Henry considered the ducal fief to be a royal office and insisted on his prerogative when he appointed dignitaries at his discretion. ==Height of power==

Henry settled political issues with the Lombard magnates at Augsburg. In Goslar he invested Otto with the duchy of Swabia, the count palatine, Henry I with the Duchy of Lorraine and Baldwin with the Margraviate of Antwerp. During the preparations of the jaunt to Hungary where Henry had intended to spend Pentecost with King Peter, a wooden floor collapsed in a residence where Bruno, Bishop of Würzburg was killed. In Hungary, Peter presented Henry with the Golden Lance and pledged an oath of fealty among his nobles. The crown of Hungary was bestowed on Peter in perpetuity and the kingdoms of Germany and Hungary were at peace. In July, Godfrey surrendered and was imprisoned at Giebichenstein. War in Lorraine Henry fell ill at Tribur in October, so Henry of Bavaria and Otto of Swabia chose Otto's nephew and successor as count palatine, Henry I of Lorraine as Henry III's successor. However, Henry III recovered, but remained without an heir. In early 1046, Henry's old advisor, Eckard of Meissen, died, leaving Meissen to Henry. He bestowed it on William, count of Orlamünde. 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. At Capua, Henry was received by Prince Guaimar IV of Salerno and Capua. However, Henry returned Capua to the twice-deprived Prince Pandulf IV, a highly unpopular choice. Guaimar had been acclaimed as Duke of Apulia and Calabria by the Norman mercenaries under William Iron Arm and his brother Drogo of Hauteville. In return, Guaimar had recognized the conquests of the Normans and invested William as his vassal with the comital title. Henry made Drogo, William's successor in Apulia, a direct vassal of the imperial crown. He did likewise to Ranulf Drengot, the count of Aversa, who had been a vassal of Guaimar as Prince of Capua. Thus, Guaimar was deprived of his greatest vassals, his principality split in two, and his greatest enemy reinstated. These decisions made Henry unpopular among the Lombards, and Benevento, although a papal vassal, would not approve of him. The Italian circuit was completed when he arrived at Verona in May 1047. 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. ==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 Pressburg without success, as the Hungarians sank his supply ships on the Danube river. Henry was unable to continue his campaign and in fact never tried again. Henry did send a Swabian army to assist Leo in Italy, but he recalled it quickly. At Christmas 1052, Cuno of Bavaria was summoned to Merseburg and deposed by a small council of princes for his conflict with Gebhard III, Bishop of Regensburg. Cuno revolted. 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. 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. ==Family and children==

Henry III was married twice and had at least eight children: • With his first wife, Gunhilda of Denmark: • Beatrice (1037 – 13 July 1061), abbess of Quedlinburg and Gandersheim • With his second wife, Agnes: • Adelaide II (1045, Goslar – 11 January 1096), abbess of Gandersheim from 1061 and Quedlinburg from 1063 • Gisela (1047, Ravenna – 6 May 1053) • Matilda (October 1048 – 12 May 1060, Pöhlde), married 1059 Rudolf of Rheinfelden, duke of Swabia and anti-king (1077) • Henry, his successor • Conrad (1052, Regensburg – 10 April 1055), duke of Bavaria (from 1054) • Judith (1054, Goslar – 14 March 1092 or 1096), married, firstly, in 1063, Solomon of Hungary, and, secondly, in 1089, Ladislaus I Herman, Duke of Poland • With an anonymous concubine: • Azela, mother of bishop Johannes of Speyer ==See also==