But the
proceedings
at Strasbourg were met by Otto-William with
CH.
CH.
Cambridge Medieval History - v3 - Germany and the Western Empire
When in Carinthia
Conrad (1004-11), Otto's son, died, Henry passed over his heir and
nominated Adalbero of Eppenstein, already Margrave there. The next
year, with the boy Herman III, Duke of Swabia, died out a branch of the
Conradins, and perhaps with Duke Otto of Lower Lorraine, a branch of
the Carolingians. To Swabia Henry appointed Ernest of Babenberg, an
old rebel (1004) but brother-in-law of Herman, and to Lower Lorraine
Count Godfrey of the Ardennes, sprung from a family marked by loyalty
and zeal in monastic reform. The duchy of Bavaria he kept in his own
hands, and thus all the duchies were safe under rulers either proved or
chosen by himself. Upon Godfrey of Lower Lorraine a special burden lay,
for Trèves was disaffected and the Archbishop of Cologne was hostile. In
the other arch-see of Mayence Willigis died (1011) after thirty-six years
of faithful rule. As his successor Henry chose Erkambald, Abbot of
Fulda, an old friend in affairs of state and a worthy ecclesiastic. Next
year Henry had twice to fill the see of Magdeburg, naming Waltherd
and then Gero. Early in 1013, too, died Lievizo (Libentius) of Hamburg,
where Henry put aside the elected candidate and forced on the chapter a
royal chaplain, Unwan. When (1013) all these appointments had been
made, Henry could feel he was master in his own house, and able to
turn towards Italy. For a year at least he had felt the call. The years
between 1004 and 1014 were in Lombardy a time of confusion. Ardoin
had broken out from his castle of Sparone (1005), only to find his authority
gone ; in the west he had vassals and adherents; some greater nobles,
bishops, and scattered citizens wished him well. But he was only the
king over the middle and lower classes, and even that only for a small
part of the realm.
Yet even so, Henry was only nominally Italian king. Real power
rested with the ecclesiastical and secular magnates; and though it might
CB. X.
## p. 240 (#286) ############################################
240
Civil wars in Lombardy
suit prelates and nobles alike to profess to Henry a formal allegiance,
few of either order desired his presence among them. To be independent
within their own territories was the chief aim of both. The bishops by
tradition inclined to the German side. Some few, like Leo of Vercelli,
remained steadfast for the German cause from political convictions ;
while the holders of the metropolitan sees of Milan and Ravenna stood
haughtily indifferent to the claims of either king. But if the bishops
generally might be counted as in some sort Henry's partisans, this was
not true of the great noble families with which they were perennially at
strife. Of these, the house of Canossa alone was firmly attached to the
German interest; its chief, the Marquess Tedald, and after him his son
Boniface, continuing faithful. The rest, the most powerful of whom were
those other marquesses who had sprung up in Lombardy half a century
before, by accumulating counties and lordships in their own hands, had
formed a new order in the State especially inimical to the bishops,
although equally ready with them to make outward acknowledgment of
Henry. But no class could be less desirous of the reappearance of a
sovereign who would be sure to curtail their independence, and, in
particular, to check their encroachment on ecclesiastical lands. On the
other hand, they had little mind to help Ardoin in regaining an authority
which would be exercised over themselves for the benefit of their humbler
fellow-subjects. So far as can be discerned, the Aleramids, the progenitors
of the house of Montferrat, whose power was concentrated about Savona
and Acqui, appear to have played a waiting game; while the Marquesses
of Turin, represented by Manfred II, inclined first to the German, and
then to the Italian side. Only in the Otbertines, the great Lombard
house which held the comital authority in Genoa and Milan, in Tortona,
Luni, and Bobbio, whose present head was the Marquess Otbert II, and
from which sprang the later dukes of Modena and of Brunswick, can be
found some signs of genuine patriotism. But in general, these powerful
dynasts, and the lay nobles as a class, had little sense of national duty,
and were selfishly content to pursue the old evil policy of having two
kings, so that the one might be restrained by fear of the other.
Year after year Ardoin sallied forth from his subalpine fastnesses to
attack his enemies and especially the bishops. Leo of Vercelli was forth-
with driven out of his city, to become for years an exile. The Bishops of
Bergamo and Modena also felt the weight of Ardoin's revenge, and even
the Archbishop of Milan, by whom Henry had been crowned, was forced
to a temporary recognition of his rival. The Marquess Tedald himself was
threatened, while Bishop Peter of Novara only escaped capture by fleeing
across the Alps. Yet Ardoin was no nearer being in truth a king. The
Apennines he never crossed; the Romagna remained in turmoil. Tuscany
obeyed its powerful Marquess.
Henry had never dropped his claim to Italian sovereignty. Royal missi
were sent at irregular intervals into Lombardy ; Italian bishops took
## p. 241 (#287) ############################################
Roman affairs
241
their place in German synods; from Italy came also abbots and canons
to seek redress at the German throne for injuries done by their bishops.
Thus Henry kept alive his pretension to rule in Italy. But he was bound
sooner or later again to attempt the recovery of the Lombard crown.
Yet after all it was Rome that now drew Henry once more into
Italy. Before the death of Otto III the Romans had repudiated German
domination; and soon after that event they had allowed John Crescentius,
son of the Patricius slaughtered in 998, to assume the chief authority over
the city and its territory, which he ruled thenceforth for ten years. But
his power was finally established by the death in May 1003 of Sylvester II,
which removed the last champion of the German cause in Rome, and laid
the Papacy as well as the city at the feet of the Patricius: he raised three
of his nominees in turn to the papal throne. Nevertheless, Crescentius lived
in dread of the German king, and spared no pains, therefore, to conciliate
him. John died about the beginning of 1012, and with the death a
few months later of Sergius IV, his last nominee, there began a struggle
between the Crescentian family and the house of the counts of Tusculum,
like themselves connected with the infamous Marozia. In the contention
that arose for the Papacy, Gregory, the Crescentian candidate, at first
prevailed, but had to yield in the end to Theophylact of Tusculum, who
became Pope as Benedict VIII. Driven out of Rome, Gregory fled to
Germany, and at Christmas 1012 presented himself in pontifical array
before Henry at Pöhlde. But the king was not likely to help a
Crescentian Pope, and he had already obtained from Benedict a bull of
confirmation for the privileges of Bamberg. He now met Gregory's
request for help by directing him to lay aside the pontifical dress until he
himself should come to Rome.
Honour and interest alike urged Henry to seize the occasion for
decisive intervention in Italy. If his promises to return were to remain
unfulfilled, the German cause in Lombardy would be lost. So, too, would
be his hope of winning the imperial crown, which was to him the symbol
of an enhanced authority both abroad and at home. As Emperor he
would have a further, though indefinite, claim upon the obedience of his
subjects on both sides of the Alps, and would regain for Germany her
former primacy in Western Europe. Moreover, through a good under-
standing with the Papacy, if not by entire mastery over it, he would
secure finally his hold upon the German Church and so be able to frus-
trate the intrigues of Duke Boleslav at the Papal court for recognition
as king. During the earlier half of 1013 Henry had therefore sought an
agreement with Pope Benedict. Through the agency of Bishop Walter
of Spires, a compact, the terms of which are unrecorded, was ratified by
mutual oath.
Later in 1013 Henry, accompanied by Queen Kunigunda and many
bishops, marched to Italy. Boleslav sent not aid but envoys who intrigued
against his lord.
a
C. MED. H. VOL. III. OH. X.
16
## p. 242 (#288) ############################################
242
Henry's second expedition to Italy
a
The king reached Pavia before Christmas, while Ardoin withdrew to
his fortresses, thus yielding up to Henry nearly the whole of Lombardy
without a blow. Then he sent to Pavia offering to resign the crown if
he were put in possession of some county, apparently his own march of
Ivrea. But Henry rejected the proposal and Ardoin was left in helpless
isolation. At Pavia, meanwhile, a throng of bishops and abbots, including
the two great champions of monastic reform, Odilo of Cluny and Hugh
of Farfa, surrounded Henry, while many lay nobles, even the Otber-
tines, and others friendly to Ardoin, also came to make submission.
In January 1014 Henry passed on to Ravenna. At Ravenna there
reappeared, after ten years of obscurity, Bishop Leo of Vercelli. But
beside him stood Abbot Hugh of Farfa, the man who had so firmly
upheld in Italy the ideals of monasticism, resolved as ever both to
combat vigorously the nobles, especially the Crescentian family who had
annexed the possessions of his house, and to make his community a
pattern of monastic discipline. Like many others, he had acquired his
abbacy by unworthy means : partly in expiation of this offence, partly
to get Henry's help against his enemies, he had resigned his office,
though still deeply concerned for the prosperity of Farfa. His strenuous
character, the moral dignity which placed him at the head of the abbots
of Italy, and the identity of his aims for monasticism with those of the
king, made Hugh an ally too important to be left aside. In Italy the
monasteries supported Henry, and there he shewed them favour,
especially Farfa with its command of the road to the south, without
any of the reserve he had shewn in Germany.
At Ravenna a synod was convoked, the first business of which was
to settle the disputed right to the archbishopric of Ravenna. Adalbert,
its actual holder for the last ten years, was generally recognised in the
Romagna ; but Henry in 1013 had treated the see as vacant, and had
nominated thereto his own natural half-brother, Arnold. The intruder,
however, failed to establish himself in possession, and now came back to
be declared, with the authority of the Pope and the advice of the synod,
the rightful archbishop. Thereupon followed the issue in Henry's name
of decrees for the suppression of certain ecclesiastical abuses then preva-
lent in Italy: the simoniacal conferment of Holy Orders, the ordination
of priests and deacons below the canonical age, the taking of money for
the consecration of churches, and the acceptance by way of gift or
pledge of any articles dedicated to sacred use. Of no less serious import
for the Church and for the nation at large was the further decree that
all bishops and abbots should make returns of the property alienated
from their churches and abbeys, of the time and manner of the aliena-
tion, and of the names of the present holders. Such a record was a
preliminary to any measure of restitution; but this could not fail to
arouse the anger of the territorial lords, against whom chiefly it would
be directed.
## p. 243 (#289) ############################################
Henry crowned as Emperor
243
After Ravenna came Rome. On Sunday, 14 February 1014, he
made his entry into the city amid applause. Twelve senators escorted
the king and queen to the door of St Peter's, where the Pope and
his clergy awaited them.
The two chiefs of Western Christendom, whose fortunes were to be
closely linked together for the rest of their joint lives, now met for the
first time. Benedict VIII was a man of vigorous, though not exalted,
character; belonging to the turbulent Roman nobility, raised to the
papal throne while yet a layman and after a faction contest, he was not
likely to shew any real religious zeal. Though his life was free from
scandal, Benedict shone, not as a churchman but as a man of action,
whose principal aim was to recover for the Papacy its external dignity
and its material power. Already he had repelled the Crescentians from
Rome, and taken many of their castles in the Sabina. He had even
wrested the duchy of Spoleto out of the hands of John, the elder
nephew of the late Patricius. But these enemies, nevertheless, were still
formidable, and it was not a mere formality when the Pope demanded
of the king, before they entered the basilica, whether he would be a
faithful patron and defender of the Roman Church, and be true in all
points to himself and his successors. The pledge was heartily given, and
then, within the church, Henry offered at the high altar the crown he
had worn hitherto as king, and received unction and coronation as
Roman Emperor at the hands of Benedict. Queen Kunigunda at the
same time was crowned Empress. Soon afterwards the Pope confirmed
Henry's acts and canons passed at Ravenna, Adalbert was deposed, and
Arnold recognised as Archbishop of Ravenna.
Henry was on the point of starting for the south to force the
Crescentii to disgorge the remnant still held of Farfa's lands, most of
which Benedict had already regained for the monastery, when a sudden
tumult broke out in Rome. After two days' rio
the Germans were
victorious but, nevertheless, Henry did not venture to remain longer in
Rome. Only a week had passed since his coronation and already he had
to make sure of his retreat. After another fruitless effort, therefore,
to bring the case between the Crescentian brothers and the Abbot of
Farfa to legal decision, the Emperor, with the concurrence of the Pope
and the judges, as his last act invested Hugh with the possessions
claimed from the Crescentii. Having charged Benedict to give actual
effect to this decision, the Emperor left Rome.
Nearly two months Henry spent in securing his hold upon Tuscany,
the fidelity of which province, as commanding the route between Lom-
bardy and Rome, was of prime importance for him. Since the death in
1012 of the Marquess Boniface, an ineffective ruler and a dissolute man,
the March had remained vacant; and Henry now gave it to Rainier, a
Tuscan, who had lately, through the influence of the Pope, replaced the
Crescentian John as Duke of Spoleto. Since the Marquess of Tuscany
CH. X.
16-2
## p. 244 (#290) ############################################
244
Henry's rule in Italy
enjoyed an authority superior to that of any other lay subject of the
Italian crown, the union in a single hand of these two provinces, which
had not been held together since the time of the Duke-marquess Hugh
“the Great,” gave special significance to the choice of Rainier. In the
new marquess Henry must have expected to find a stout upholder of
the imperial cause. The fact that like Henry he was a generous and
enlightened patron of monasticism, probably recommended him to the
Emperor. The monastic question was acute in Tuscany as elsewhere and
families like the Otbertines, who there held wide territories, had incessant
quarrels over property with the ecclesiastical foundations. At Easter 1014
Henry was again in Pavia. In Lombardy, although his authority was not
openly disputed, and most of the prelates were on his side, and the secular
lords paid outward obedience, disaffection permeated all classes. The
Archbishop of Milan held aloof, some of the great families still refused
submission, and the hatred of the common people was shewn by their
reluctance to furnish supplies. Renouncing therefore any attempt to
crush Ardoin by force, Henry sought to strengthen himself by adminis-
trative measures. He renewed an institution of Otto the Great by
appointing two permanent missi for the counties of Pavia, Milan, and
Seprio. He thus secured for royal officials the exercise of supreme judicial
authority where disaffection was rife, and, significantly enough, Henry
now gave an Italian city its first measure of municipal freedom. The
Aleramids, who were lords of Savona, had not shewn themselves especially
hostile to Henry, and were even now taking some share in the public
administration. Yet just at this time the men of Savona obtained through
their bishop a royal charter which curtailed the feudal rights of the
marquesses over their city, and relieved its inhabitants of many burden-
some imposts. But Henry could not stay in Italy to secure the success
of his administrative acts; after a month's stay in Pavia he passed on to
Verona, and thence to Germany.
Henry's second expedition to Italy, though it fell far short of complete
success, ensured the continuance of the Western Empire. It renewed the
alliance between the Empire and the Papacy, and it vindicated afresh the
pre-eminence of the German monarchy in Western Europe.
But in Lombardy Henry had left his work half done. A hostile
population, an alienated nobility, and an uncrushed rival remained as
proofs of his failure. And hardly had he recrossed the Alps in June 1014
when a fresh outburst of nationalist fury threatened to overwhelm his
adherents. Ardoin at once issued from Ivrea, and attacked Vercelli with
such suddenness that the Bishop Leo scarcely avoided capture. The whole
of that diocese fell into Ardoin's hands. Thence he went on to besiege
Novara, to overrun the diocese of Como, and to bring ruin upon many
other hostile places. Though more of a punitive foray than regular
warfare, this campaign against the imperialists had yet some of the
dignity of a national uprising. For besides the vavassors and small
## p. 245 (#291) ############################################
Disaffection in Lombardy
245
proprietors of his own neighbourhood, not a few nobles in all parts of
Lombardy took up arms on Ardoin's behalf. The four sons of the aged
Marquess Otbert II, Count Hubert “the Red," a man powerful in the
West, with several other counts, and even the Bishop of distant Vicenza,
were of the number. These men, assuredly, were not inspired by pure
patriotism. But their association for a common purpose with other
classes of their fellow-countrymen, under their native king, affords some
proof that they had also in view the higher purpose of throwing off an
alien yoke.
The fury of the nationalists found vent in ruthless devastation of the
episcopal territories, and made them for a few weeks masters of Lombardy.
But sudden dismay fell upon them through the unexpected capture of all
four sons of the Marquess Otbert, the chief pillar of their cause. Though
two soon escaped, the others were sent as prisoners to Germany, whither
Leo of Vercelli also now went to arouse the Emperor's vengeance
against the insurgent Lombards. At his instigation, Henry struck, and
struck hard, at his opponents. At a judicial inquiry held in Westphalia
during the autumn, the Lombard law of treason was invoked against the
captive Otbertines and their associates still in arms. For having waged
war upon their sovereign, they were declared liable to forfeiture. There-
upon, a series of confiscatory charters, mostly drafted by Leo himself,
was issued. Though the full penalty was not exacted of the chief
offenders, the Otbertine family was mulcted of 500 jugera of land, and
Count Hubert the Red of 3000, for the benefit of the see of Pavia; the
Church of Como was compensated out of the private inheritance of Bishop
Jerome of Vicenza; and to that of Novara was awarded a possession of the
archbishopric of Milan. Far more heavily, however, fell the Emperor's
hand upon the lesser men. “They had above all grievously afflicted the
church of Vercelli,” and Bishop Leo was only satisfied with their total
forfeiture. To his see, accordingly, were transferred at a stroke the lands
of some six score proprietors in the neighbourhood of Ivrea, nearly all
men of middle rank.
The recovery of Vercelli itself about this time was an important
success, chiefly because it led to Ardoin's death. The spirit which had
borne him up through so many vicissitudes sank under this blow; and
he withdrew to the monastery of Fruttuaria, where he laid aside his
crown to assume the cowl of a monk. There, fifteen months later, on
14 December 1015, he died.
So passed away the last monarch to whom the title of King of the
Lombards could be fitly applied. Yet for many months after his abdi-
cation the insurgents kept the mastery in Western Lombardy. This
struggle is revealed in a series of letters addressed by Leo to the Em-
peror. They shew Leo, early in 1016, amid serious difficulties. He is
backed, indeed, by some of his fellow bishops, as well as by a few power-
ful nobles; and he can count now upon Archbishop Arnulf and the men
a
;
CH. X.
## p. 246 (#292) ############################################
246
Pacification of Lombardy
a
of Milan, who are kept true by the presbyter Aribert. But he can hardly
maintain himself in his own city; and he appeals to Henry for a German
army. He has against him the brother and the sons of Ardoin, the
astute Marquess Manfred of Turin with his brother, Alric, Bishop of Asti,
and, most dangerous of all, the mighty Count Hubert. These men are
intriguing for the support of King Rodolph of Burgundy, and are even
negotiating for reconciliation with the Emperor through their friends
Heribert of Cologne and Henry of Würzburg. Not only, however, did
Leo repel their attack on Vercelli, but, by a successful offensive, he re-
covered the whole territory of his diocese. Yet the siege of the castle of
Orba, which was undertaken at the Emperor's command by Leo with
other bishops and some lay magnates, including the young Marquess
Boniface of Canossa, ended in an accommodation. At the suggestion of
Manfred of Turin, who was anxious for peace, the rebel garrison was
allowed to withdraw and the castle itself was burnt.
This agreement was the starting point of serious negotiations. On
the one side, the Marquess Manfred and his brother sought the Emperor's
favour, while Count Hubert sent his son to Germany as a hostage ; on
the other, Pilgrim, a Bavarian cleric lately made chancellor for Italy,
was sent by Henry into Lombardy to bring about a complete pacifica-
tion. Pilgrim's success was soon seen in the arrival of Italian envoys at
Allstedt in January 1017 to offer greetings to the Emperor. On re-
turning to Germany in the autumn of 1017 Pilgrim left Upper Italy
at peace, and the release (January 1018) of the surviving captive
Otbertine marked the Emperor's reconciliation with the Lombards.
Leo of Vercelli, indeed, was dissatisfied because no penalty was laid
on Count Hubert, and although he secured a grant to his church of the
lands of thirty unfortunate vavassors, the vindictive prelate was not ap-
peased until, by a sentence of excommunication issued many months
later, he had brought the Count and his family to ruin. Leo's personal
victory indicated the political advantage that had been gained by his
order over the secular magnates. For the Emperor was bent on forcing
the lay nobles into the background by an alliance with the bishops.
Hence the great office of Count Palatine, the chief judicial authority of
the realm, hitherto always held by a layman, now practically ceased to
exist. The granting of palatine rights to bishops, already begun by the
Ottos, was continued ; similar rights were conferred upon missi; while
the presidency of the Palatine Court itself was annexed to the royal
chancery, and thus invariably fell to a cleric.
In Italy not only did Leo of Vercelli regain his lost influence, but
the bishops generally won a new predominance. Yet this predominance
was bound up with control from Germany, whence the Emperor directed
affairs in Church and State, thus working against Italian independence.
The imperial crown enhanced Henry's position in Europe but it added
little to his power in Germany; for seven years after his return from
## p. 247 (#293) ############################################
Peace with Poland; Burgundy
247
Italy he had to face foreign warfare and domestic strife. Polish affairs
claimed him first. Boleslav had not sent his promised help to Italy: he
had tried to win over Udalrich of Bohemia. Henry tried diplomacy and
on its failure set out on a Polish campaign (July 1015). An elaborate
plan of an invasion by three armies did not succeed, and Henry himself
had a troubled retreat.
During 1016 Henry was busied in Burgundy, and Boleslav was en-
tangled with Russia, where Vladímir the Great was consolidating a
principality. In January 1017 Boleslav attempted negotiations, but as
he would make no great effort for peace a new expedition was made in
August 1017, this time by one strong army and with the hope of Russian
help. Sieges and battles did little to decide the issue and Henry again
retreated in September 1017. But now Boleslav was inclined for peace,
since Russia although it had done but little was a threatening neighbour.
The German princes who had suffered heavily were anxious for peace and
at Bautzen (30 January 1018) terms were made: a German writer tells
us they were the best possible although not seemly; he speaks of no court
service or feudal obligations on Boleslav's part. Moreover he kept the
marks he had so long desired. Henry had not gained much military
glory but he had the peace which was needed. He kept Bohemia as a
vassal ; he held firmly the German lands west of the Elbe. For the rest
of the reign he had peace with Poland.
On the western frontier Burgundy had steadily grown more dis-
ordered since 1006. It was the stepping-stone to Italy and Otto the
Great had therefore played the part of a protector and feudal superior
to the young King Conrad. This connexion had continued and it, as
well as disorder, called Henry to Burgundy. The Welf dynasty had lost
its former vigour. Conrad “the Pacific” (937-993) was content to
appear almost as a vassal of the Emperors. His son, Rodolph III, far
from throwing off this yoke became by his weakness more dependent
still. Henry for his part had to support Rodolph unless he meant to
break with the Saxon tradition of control in Burgundy and to surrender
his inherited claim to succession. But in Count Otto-William, ruler of
the counties later named Franche-Comté, he found a resolute opponent.
It is probable that Otto-William, himself the son of the exiled Lombard
King, Adalbert of Ivrea, aimed at the throne, but in any case, like most
of the nobles, he feared the accession of a foreign monarch whose first
task would be to curb his independence.
By 1016 the ceaseless struggle between Rodolph and his unruly sub-
jects had reached a climax. Rodolph sought for aid from Henry: he
came in the early summer to Strasbourg, again acknowledged Henry's
right of succession, and promised to do nothing of importance without
his advice. Henry acted at once on his newly won right by nominating
to a vacant bishopric.
But the proceedings at Strasbourg were met by Otto-William with
CH. X.
## p. 248 (#294) ############################################
248
Turmoil in Lorraine
defiance, and even the bishop whom Henry had appointed was forced to
forsake his diocese. Henry undertook an expedition to reduce Burgundy:
it was unsuccessful and was followed by the renunciation of his treaty with
Rodolph. The moment, however, that the peace of Bautzen left him safe
on his eastern frontier Henry turned to Burgundy again. In February
1018 Rodolph met him at Mayence and again resigned to him the
sovereignty which he himself found so heavy. But once again the
Burgundian lords refused to acknowledge either Henry's authority in
the present or his right to succeed in the future. A fresh expedition
failed to enforce his claims, and he never again attempted intervention in
person. Possession of Burgundy with its alpine passes would have made
the control of Italy easier, but the attempt to secure this advantage had
failed.
Thus in four successive years, alternately in Poland and Burgundy,
Henry had waged campaigns, all really unsuccessful. His own kingdom
meanwhile was torn by domestic strife. Throughout the two Lorraines
and Saxony, above all, disorder ruled. In Upper Lorraine the Luxemburg
brothers still nursed their feud with the Emperor. But on the death
(December 1013) of Megingaud of Trèves, Henry appointed to the
archbishopric a resolute great noble, Poppo of Babenberg. Before long
Adalbero and Henry of Luxemburg both came to terms. At the Easter
Diet of 1017 a final reconciliation was made between the Emperor and
his brothers-in-law, which was sealed in November of the same year by the
reinstatement of Henry of Luxemburg in the duchy of Bavaria. This
submission brought tardy peace to Upper Lorraine, but Lower Lorraine
proved as difficult a task.
Since his elevation in 1012, Duke Godfrey had been beset by enemies.
The worst of these was Count Lambert of Louvain, whose wife was a
sister of the late Carolingian Duke Otto, and whose elder brother
Count Reginar of Hainault represented the original dukes of un-
divided Lorraine. Thus Lambert, whose life had been one of sacrilege
and violence, had claims on the dukedom. He was defeated and killed
by Godfrey at Florennes in September 1015, but another obstinate rebel,
Count Gerard of Alsace, a brother-in-law of those stormy petrels of dis-
content and strife, the Luxemburgers, remained, only to be overthrown in
August, 1017. With all these greater rebellions were associated minor
but widespread disturbances of the peace, and not until March 1018 was
the province entirely pacified, when, in an assembly at Nimeguen, the
Emperor received the submission of the Count of Hainault and established
concord between Count Gerard and Duke Godfrey.
But the duke was soon to experience a temporary reverse of fortune.
In the far north of his province Count Dietrich of Holland, by his
mother (the Empress Kunigunda's sister) half a Luxemburger, had seized
the thinly peopled district at the mouth of the Meuse, made the
Frisians in it tributary, and, violating the rights of the Bishop of Utrecht,
a
## p. 249 (#295) ############################################
Wendish and Saxon troubles
249
built a castle by the river whence he levied tolls on sea-bound craft. On
the bishop's complaint Henry ordered the count to desist and make
amends; when he disobeyed, Duke Godfrey and the Bishop (Adalbold)
were commissioned to enforce order. But their expedition miscarried ;
Godfrey was wounded and taken prisoner. Yet the prisoner interceded
at court for his captor and peace with friendship was restored.
Saxony was disturbed like Lorraine, but chiefly by private quarrels,
especially between lay magnates and bishops. In a diet at Allstedt
(January 1017) Henry attempted a pacification. But a rising of the half-
heathen Wends brought slaughter on the Christian priests and their
congregations, with destruction of the churches. Bernard, Bishop of
Oldenburg (on the Baltic), sought but did not get Henry's help, and
then Thietmar, brother of the Billung Duke Bernard, revolted. After
he had been subdued, his brother the duke himself rebelled, but a siege
of his fortress Schalksburg on the Weser ended in a peace. Emperor and
duke joined in an expedition against the Wends, reduced the March to
order and restored the Christian prince Mistislav over the pagan Obotrites
(Obodritzi, or Abotrites). But though civil order was enforced to the
north, the Wends remained heathen.
Happily the rest of Germany was more peaceful. In Swabia alone
arose difficulty. Ernest, husband of Gisela, elder sister of the young Duke
Herman III, had been made duke, but after three years' rule he died in
the hunting field (31 May 1015). The Emperor gave the duchy to his
eldest son Ernest, and as he was under age his mother Gisela was to be
his guardian. But when she soon married Conrad of Franconia the
Emperor gave the duchy to Poppo of Trèves, the young duke's uncle.
Gisela's new husband, Conrad, afterwards Emperor, head of the house
which sprang from Conrad the Red and Liutgard, daughter of Otto the
Great, had already one grievance against the Emperor. He had seen in
1011 the duchy of Carinthia transferred from his own family to Adalbero
of Eppenstein. Now a second gr
Now a second grievance made him Henry's enemy.
He
had fought alongside Gerard of Alsace against Duke Godfrey: two years
later he waged war against Duke Adalbero. For this the Emperor
banished him, but the sentence was remitted and Conrad henceforth kept
the peace.
Henry's general policy was one of conciliation; as a commander in the
field he had never been fortunate, and therefore he preferred moral
to physical means. He had learnt this preference from his religion and
he well understood how greatly ecclesiastical order could help his realm.
In church reform, greatly needed at the time, he took ever more interest
as his life went on. One question indeed which came up at the synod of
Goslar in 1019 was a foreboding of trouble to come. Many secular priests,
serfs by birth, had married free women: it was asked whether their
children were free or unfree: the synod at Henry's suggestion declared
both mother and children unfree. This decision tended to throw discredit
CH, X.
## p. 250 (#296) ############################################
250
Benedict VIII in Germany
upon marriages which furthered the secularization of the Church. For
married clergy often sought to benefit their own families at the expense
of their churches. But on the side of reform Henry was greatly helped
by the monastic revival which, largely beginning from Cluny, had spread
widely in Lorraine. William, Abbot of St Benignus at Dijon, and
Richard, Abbot of St Vanne's near Verdun, were here his helpers.
William had been called in by the Bishop of Metz: Richard worked in
more than one Lorraine diocese. Outside their own order such monks
influenced the secular clergy and even the bishops. Simony and world-
liness were more widely reproved; Henry would gladly have seen such
a reformation spreading and with some such hope he asked the Pope
to visit Germany.
Benedict VIII was, it is true, more a man of action than a reformer.
He had faced worse foes than the Crescentii at Farfa, for the Saracens
under Mujāhid of Denia (in Spain) had (1015) conquered Sardinia and
were harrying the Tuscan coasts. He urged on the Pisans and Genoese
before their three days' victory at sea (June 1016): a battle which
brought the victorious allies into Sardinia. And he had (1016) made
use of Lombard rebels and Norman help to try and shake the Byzantine
hold upon Southern Italy. But rebels and Normans had suffered defeat
and the Byzantines held their own. Benedict might hopefully turn to
the Emperor for further help: when on Maundy Thursday (14 April
1020) he reached Henry's favourite Bamberg, he was the first Pope to
visit Germany for a century and a half. With him there came Melo,
leader of the Apulian rebels, and Rodolph, the Norman leader, who had
helped them. Melo was invested with the new title, Duke of Apulia,
and held the empty office for the remaining week of his life. Thus
Henry entered into the Italian schemes of Benedict. The Pope on his
side confirmed at Fulda the foundation of Bamberg, taking it under
special papal protection: Henry gave the Pope a privilege nearly
identical with that given by Otto the Great to John XII.
The second half of the year 1020 was spent in small campaigns,
including one against Baldwin in Flanders, where in August the Emperor
captured Ghent. The other was against Otto of Hammerstein, whom
we shall mention later. When Henry kept Easter in 1021 at Merseburg
he could look on a realm comparatively peaceful. His old opponent
Heribert of Cologne had died (16 March 1021) and was replaced by
Henry's friend and diplomatist, Pilgrim. Later (17 August) died Erkam-
bald of Mayence, and was succeeded by Aribo, a royal chaplain and a
relative of Pilgrim's. The three great sees were now all held by Bavarians.
In July a diet at Nimeguen decided on an expedition to Italy. There
the Byzantine forces had occupied part of the principality of Benevento,
drawing the Lombard princes to their side, and (June 1021) the Catapan
Basil seized the fortress on the Garigliano which the Pope had given to
Datto, an Apulian rebel. Thus Rome itself was threatened nearly. In
## p. 251 (#297) ############################################
Henry's third expedition to Italy
251
November 1021 Henry left Augsburg for Italy: early in December he
reached Verona, where Italian princes joined his Lorrainers, Swabians
and Bavarians: among them were the Bavarian Poppo, Patriarch of
Aquileia, and the distinguished Aribert, since 1018 Archbishop of Milan.
Leo of Vercelli of course was there, and if some lay magnates kept away
others made a welcome appearance. Christmas Henry spent at Ravenna
and in January moved southwards. Before he reached Benevento
Benedict joined him. The army marched in three divisions and the one
which Pilgrim of Cologne commanded met with brilliant successes, taking
Capua. Henry himself was delayed for three months by the fortress
of Troia, built with almost communal privileges by the Catapan in
1018 to guard the Byzantine province and strong enough to sur-
render on merely nominal terms. But sickness had assailed the Germans
and after visiting Home Henry came in July to Pavia. So far he had
made Rome safer and had subjugated the Lombard states. Then in a
synod at Pavia (1 August 1022) with Benedict's help he turned to
church reform. Clerical marriage, as common in Lombardy as in
Germany, was denounced. And the ever growing poverty of the Church
was also noted: lands had been alienated and married clerics were
trying to endow their families. As at Goslar it was decided that the
wives and children of unfree priests were also serfs, and could thus not
hold land. These ecclesiastical decrees, meant to be of general force
although passed in a scanty synod, the Emperor embodied in an im-
perial decree. Leo of Vercelli probably drafted alike the papal speech
and the imperial decree and he was the first bishop to enforce the
canons.
Then in the autumn of 1022 Henry returned to his kingdom. The
following Easter he sent Gerard of Cambray and Richard of St Vannes
to beg Robert of France to become his partner in church reform. The
two kings met (11 August) at Ivois just within Germany. It was agreed
to call an assembly at Pavia of both German and Italian bishops: the
assembly would thus represent the old Carolingian realm.
But now Germany was not ecclesiastically at peace either within itself
or with the Pope. Aribo of Mayence, on the death of his suffragan
Bernward of Hildesheim, had revived the old claim to authority over
Gandersheim. But Henry had taken sides with the new Bishop, Godehard
of Altaich, although his settlement left irritation behind. Aribo had
also a more important quarrel with Pope Benedict arising out of a marriage.
Count Otto of Hammerstein, a great noble of Franconia, had married
Irmingard, although they were related within the prohibited degrees.
Episcopal censure was disregarded: excommunication by a synod at
Nimeguen (March 1018), enforced by the Emperor and the Archbishop
of Mayence, only brought Otto to temporary submission. Two years later,
after rejoining Irmingard, he attacked in revenge the territory of Mayence.
At length his disregard of synod and of Emperor alike forced Henry to
CH, X
## p. 252 (#298) ############################################
252
Death of Henry
uphold the Church's law by the sword. But Otto's irregular marriage
a few years later raised even greater difficulties. For the present Henry
had shewn his ecclesiastical sympathies and his readiness to enforce the
Church's decisions even in a field where many rulers disregarded or dis-
liked them. A synod at Mayence in June 1023 separated the pair,
whereupon Irmingard appealed to Rome. This appeal was looked upon
by Aribo as an invasion of his metropolitan rights, and he persuaded a
provincial synod at Seligenstadt to take his view. Here were forbidden
all appeals to Rome made without episcopal leave, and also any papal
remission of guilt, unless the ordinary penance imposed locally had been
first performed. Henry sent the diplomatic Pilgrim of Cologne to explain
matters to Benedict, who nevertheless directed a fresh hearing of Irmin-
gard's case, and also significantly sent no pallium to Aribo. In reply the
Archbishop called his suffragans to meet at Höchst 13 May 1024; and
it was hoped through the Empress Kunigunda to draw thither bishops of
other provinces also: meanwhile all the suffragans of Mayence except
two signed a remonstrance to the Pope against the insult to their metro-
politan. But Benedict died (11 June 1024) before the matter was settled,
being succeeded by his brother Romanus, hitherto called Senator of all
the Romans by Benedict's appointment, who passed from layman to Pope
as John XIX within a day. The new Pope had no religious and few
ecclesiastical interests, and the matter of the marriage went no further.
Soon after Benedict Henry himself passed away. During 1024 he had
suffered from both illness and the weakness of advancing years ; on 13
July the end came. His body was fittingly laid to rest in his beloved
Bamberg, itself an expression of the religious zeal which was shewn so
strongly and so pathetically in his closing years. Religion and devotion
to the Church had always been a leading interest in his active life; as
death drew nearer it became an all-absorbing care. The title of Saint
which his people gave him fittingly expressed the feeling of his age. .
## p. 253 (#299) ############################################
253
CHAPTER XI.
THE EMPEROR CONRAD II.
With the death of Henry II the Saxon dynasty in the male line
became extinct; nevertheless under the Ottos the hereditary principle
had become so firmly rooted, the Teutonic theory of election so nearly
forgotten, that the descendants of Otto the Great in the female branch
were alone regarded as suitable successors to the Emperor Henry II. The
choice of the princes was practically limited to the two Conrads, the great-
grandsons of the first Otto's daughter Liutgard and Conrad of Lorraine.
Both were grandsons of Otto, Duke of Carinthia; the future emperor
through the eldest son Henry who died young, the other, known as Conrad
the Younger, through the third son, also named Conrad, who had suc-
ceeded his father in the duchy of Carinthia. This younger Conrad did
not inherit the dukedom, which was granted on his father's death in 1011
to Adalbero of Eppenstein, but he acquired nevertheless the greater part
of the family estates in Franconia. In wealth and territorial position he
was stronger than his elder cousin ; moreover, since he had adopted the
attitude of Henry II in matters of ecclesiastical politics, he could safely
rely on the support of the reforming party in the Church, which, par-
ticularly in Lorraine, carried considerable weight under the guidance of
Archbishop Pilgrim of Cologne. An orphan' with a meagre inheritance,
brought up by the famous canonist, Burchard of Worms, Conrad the
Elder had little to recommend him beyond seniority and personal cha-
racter. On late and unreliable authority it is asserted that the late
Emperor designated him as his successor? , and though it is reasonable to
suppose that Henry II should make some recommendation with regard to
the succession, it is at least remarkable that he should select a man whose
I His father died while he was still a child, and his mother married again and
took no further interest in the child of her first husband.
? Sigebert, Chron. MGHSS. vi. 356. Hugh of Flavigny, Chron. 11. 16, MGHSS. viii.
392. It is accepted as historical by Arndt, Die Wahl Konrads II, Diss. Göttingen,
1861, Maurenbrecher, Königswahlen, and others; Bresslau, from the silence of
contemporaries, and the unreliability of the evidence is led to the conclusion that
no such designation was made. (Jahrbücher, Konrad II, 1. p. 9 f. , also in Hirsch,
Jahrbücher, Heinrich II, 111. p. 356 f. ) Harttung, Studien zur Geschichte Konrads 11,
attempts to prove that the younger Conrad was designated by Henry II; but see
Bresslau, Jahrbücher, Excurs. 11. p. 342 f.
CH. .
## p. 254 (#300) ############################################
254
Election and coronation
a
views both in ecclesiastical and secular politics were diametrically opposed
to his own. Yet this very fact of his antagonism to the reforming move-
ment induced Aribo, Archbishop of Mayence, and the bulk of the episco-
pate, jealous and suspicious of the progress of Cluniac ideas in Germany,
to throw the whole weight of their influence in support of his candidature.
The election took place on the Rhine between Mayence and Worms' on
4 September 1024. Before it took place the elder Conrad had a meeting
with his cousin and apparently induced him to withdraw from the contest.
Conrad the Elder, left in undisputed possession of the field (for the
party of his late rival, the Lorrainers, rather than give him their votes,
had retired from the assembly), was elected unanimously, and received
from the hands of the widowed Empress Kunigunda, the royal insignia,
committed by her husband to her care. The election was a popular one.
Princes and people, spiritual and secular, thronged to Mayence to attend
the coronation festival. “If Charles the Great himself had been alive and
present,” writes Conrad's enthusiastic biographer”, “the rejoicing could
not have been exceeded. " The ceremony of coronation was performed
on 8 September by Aribo in the cathedral of Mayence and was followed
by the customary state banquet and by the taking of the oath of fealty
by the bishops, nobles, and even, we are told, by other freemen of dis-
tinction. One incident marred the general serenity of the proceedings;
Conrad's marriage in 1017 with Gisela, the widow successively of Bruno
of Brunswick and of Ernest II of Swabia, being within the prohibited
degrees, was not sanctioned by the Church. Aribo denied her the crown;
and it was only after an interval of some days that Archbishop Pilgrim
of Cologne, desirous of making his peace with the king he had opposed,
offered to perform the ceremony in his cathedral at Colognes.
The princes of Lorraine, among them Gozelo and Dietrich, the Dukes
of the lower and upper provinces, Reginar V, the powerful Count of
Hainault, and the greater number of the bishops, had, as we have seen,
resisted Conrad's election, and after the event had denied him recognition.
The bishops adopted this attitude on account of Conrad's lack of sym-
pathy with the movement of reform in the Church; when, however, their
1 The exact spot is generally said to be Kamba on the right bank of the river
near Oppenheim. Schädel (Die Königsstühle bei Mainz und die Wahl Konrads II,
Progr. Mayence, 1896) believes the place of election to have been on the left bank
near Lörzweiler. With Wipo (cap. 2) we can leave it “de vocabulo et situ loci
plenius dicere topographis. ” Anyhow "cis et citra Rhenum castra locabant. "
.
Wipo, loc. cit.
% Wipo, Script. Rer. Germ. ed. Bresslau, 1915. See also the editor's preface to
this edition. Wipo is the main authority for the reign; probably a Burgundian by
birth, he held the office of chaplain to the king, and was an eye-witness of many of
the events he records.
3 So Bresslau, 1. pp. 35-37, and Excurs. 11. p. 351, following the account of
Herman of Reichenau (1024, in Bresslau's ed. of Wipo, p. 94). Other authorities
accept the account of the Quedlinburg annals, that Gisela was subsequently crowned
by Aribo at the intercession of the princes (Aun. Qued. 1024, MGHSS, 111. 90).
>
9
## p. 255 (#301) ############################################
The royal progress
255
leader, the Archbishop of Cologne, made his peace with the king, and
when Odilo of Cluny, who had, it seems, been present at the election,
and had been the recipient of Conrad's first charter (a confirmation of
certain lands in Alsace to the Cluniac monastery of Payerne), exerted his
influence in Conrad's interest, the bishops were prevailed upon to make
their submission. Conrad was therefore able to make his royal progress
through Lorraine unhindered.
Conrad (1004-11), Otto's son, died, Henry passed over his heir and
nominated Adalbero of Eppenstein, already Margrave there. The next
year, with the boy Herman III, Duke of Swabia, died out a branch of the
Conradins, and perhaps with Duke Otto of Lower Lorraine, a branch of
the Carolingians. To Swabia Henry appointed Ernest of Babenberg, an
old rebel (1004) but brother-in-law of Herman, and to Lower Lorraine
Count Godfrey of the Ardennes, sprung from a family marked by loyalty
and zeal in monastic reform. The duchy of Bavaria he kept in his own
hands, and thus all the duchies were safe under rulers either proved or
chosen by himself. Upon Godfrey of Lower Lorraine a special burden lay,
for Trèves was disaffected and the Archbishop of Cologne was hostile. In
the other arch-see of Mayence Willigis died (1011) after thirty-six years
of faithful rule. As his successor Henry chose Erkambald, Abbot of
Fulda, an old friend in affairs of state and a worthy ecclesiastic. Next
year Henry had twice to fill the see of Magdeburg, naming Waltherd
and then Gero. Early in 1013, too, died Lievizo (Libentius) of Hamburg,
where Henry put aside the elected candidate and forced on the chapter a
royal chaplain, Unwan. When (1013) all these appointments had been
made, Henry could feel he was master in his own house, and able to
turn towards Italy. For a year at least he had felt the call. The years
between 1004 and 1014 were in Lombardy a time of confusion. Ardoin
had broken out from his castle of Sparone (1005), only to find his authority
gone ; in the west he had vassals and adherents; some greater nobles,
bishops, and scattered citizens wished him well. But he was only the
king over the middle and lower classes, and even that only for a small
part of the realm.
Yet even so, Henry was only nominally Italian king. Real power
rested with the ecclesiastical and secular magnates; and though it might
CB. X.
## p. 240 (#286) ############################################
240
Civil wars in Lombardy
suit prelates and nobles alike to profess to Henry a formal allegiance,
few of either order desired his presence among them. To be independent
within their own territories was the chief aim of both. The bishops by
tradition inclined to the German side. Some few, like Leo of Vercelli,
remained steadfast for the German cause from political convictions ;
while the holders of the metropolitan sees of Milan and Ravenna stood
haughtily indifferent to the claims of either king. But if the bishops
generally might be counted as in some sort Henry's partisans, this was
not true of the great noble families with which they were perennially at
strife. Of these, the house of Canossa alone was firmly attached to the
German interest; its chief, the Marquess Tedald, and after him his son
Boniface, continuing faithful. The rest, the most powerful of whom were
those other marquesses who had sprung up in Lombardy half a century
before, by accumulating counties and lordships in their own hands, had
formed a new order in the State especially inimical to the bishops,
although equally ready with them to make outward acknowledgment of
Henry. But no class could be less desirous of the reappearance of a
sovereign who would be sure to curtail their independence, and, in
particular, to check their encroachment on ecclesiastical lands. On the
other hand, they had little mind to help Ardoin in regaining an authority
which would be exercised over themselves for the benefit of their humbler
fellow-subjects. So far as can be discerned, the Aleramids, the progenitors
of the house of Montferrat, whose power was concentrated about Savona
and Acqui, appear to have played a waiting game; while the Marquesses
of Turin, represented by Manfred II, inclined first to the German, and
then to the Italian side. Only in the Otbertines, the great Lombard
house which held the comital authority in Genoa and Milan, in Tortona,
Luni, and Bobbio, whose present head was the Marquess Otbert II, and
from which sprang the later dukes of Modena and of Brunswick, can be
found some signs of genuine patriotism. But in general, these powerful
dynasts, and the lay nobles as a class, had little sense of national duty,
and were selfishly content to pursue the old evil policy of having two
kings, so that the one might be restrained by fear of the other.
Year after year Ardoin sallied forth from his subalpine fastnesses to
attack his enemies and especially the bishops. Leo of Vercelli was forth-
with driven out of his city, to become for years an exile. The Bishops of
Bergamo and Modena also felt the weight of Ardoin's revenge, and even
the Archbishop of Milan, by whom Henry had been crowned, was forced
to a temporary recognition of his rival. The Marquess Tedald himself was
threatened, while Bishop Peter of Novara only escaped capture by fleeing
across the Alps. Yet Ardoin was no nearer being in truth a king. The
Apennines he never crossed; the Romagna remained in turmoil. Tuscany
obeyed its powerful Marquess.
Henry had never dropped his claim to Italian sovereignty. Royal missi
were sent at irregular intervals into Lombardy ; Italian bishops took
## p. 241 (#287) ############################################
Roman affairs
241
their place in German synods; from Italy came also abbots and canons
to seek redress at the German throne for injuries done by their bishops.
Thus Henry kept alive his pretension to rule in Italy. But he was bound
sooner or later again to attempt the recovery of the Lombard crown.
Yet after all it was Rome that now drew Henry once more into
Italy. Before the death of Otto III the Romans had repudiated German
domination; and soon after that event they had allowed John Crescentius,
son of the Patricius slaughtered in 998, to assume the chief authority over
the city and its territory, which he ruled thenceforth for ten years. But
his power was finally established by the death in May 1003 of Sylvester II,
which removed the last champion of the German cause in Rome, and laid
the Papacy as well as the city at the feet of the Patricius: he raised three
of his nominees in turn to the papal throne. Nevertheless, Crescentius lived
in dread of the German king, and spared no pains, therefore, to conciliate
him. John died about the beginning of 1012, and with the death a
few months later of Sergius IV, his last nominee, there began a struggle
between the Crescentian family and the house of the counts of Tusculum,
like themselves connected with the infamous Marozia. In the contention
that arose for the Papacy, Gregory, the Crescentian candidate, at first
prevailed, but had to yield in the end to Theophylact of Tusculum, who
became Pope as Benedict VIII. Driven out of Rome, Gregory fled to
Germany, and at Christmas 1012 presented himself in pontifical array
before Henry at Pöhlde. But the king was not likely to help a
Crescentian Pope, and he had already obtained from Benedict a bull of
confirmation for the privileges of Bamberg. He now met Gregory's
request for help by directing him to lay aside the pontifical dress until he
himself should come to Rome.
Honour and interest alike urged Henry to seize the occasion for
decisive intervention in Italy. If his promises to return were to remain
unfulfilled, the German cause in Lombardy would be lost. So, too, would
be his hope of winning the imperial crown, which was to him the symbol
of an enhanced authority both abroad and at home. As Emperor he
would have a further, though indefinite, claim upon the obedience of his
subjects on both sides of the Alps, and would regain for Germany her
former primacy in Western Europe. Moreover, through a good under-
standing with the Papacy, if not by entire mastery over it, he would
secure finally his hold upon the German Church and so be able to frus-
trate the intrigues of Duke Boleslav at the Papal court for recognition
as king. During the earlier half of 1013 Henry had therefore sought an
agreement with Pope Benedict. Through the agency of Bishop Walter
of Spires, a compact, the terms of which are unrecorded, was ratified by
mutual oath.
Later in 1013 Henry, accompanied by Queen Kunigunda and many
bishops, marched to Italy. Boleslav sent not aid but envoys who intrigued
against his lord.
a
C. MED. H. VOL. III. OH. X.
16
## p. 242 (#288) ############################################
242
Henry's second expedition to Italy
a
The king reached Pavia before Christmas, while Ardoin withdrew to
his fortresses, thus yielding up to Henry nearly the whole of Lombardy
without a blow. Then he sent to Pavia offering to resign the crown if
he were put in possession of some county, apparently his own march of
Ivrea. But Henry rejected the proposal and Ardoin was left in helpless
isolation. At Pavia, meanwhile, a throng of bishops and abbots, including
the two great champions of monastic reform, Odilo of Cluny and Hugh
of Farfa, surrounded Henry, while many lay nobles, even the Otber-
tines, and others friendly to Ardoin, also came to make submission.
In January 1014 Henry passed on to Ravenna. At Ravenna there
reappeared, after ten years of obscurity, Bishop Leo of Vercelli. But
beside him stood Abbot Hugh of Farfa, the man who had so firmly
upheld in Italy the ideals of monasticism, resolved as ever both to
combat vigorously the nobles, especially the Crescentian family who had
annexed the possessions of his house, and to make his community a
pattern of monastic discipline. Like many others, he had acquired his
abbacy by unworthy means : partly in expiation of this offence, partly
to get Henry's help against his enemies, he had resigned his office,
though still deeply concerned for the prosperity of Farfa. His strenuous
character, the moral dignity which placed him at the head of the abbots
of Italy, and the identity of his aims for monasticism with those of the
king, made Hugh an ally too important to be left aside. In Italy the
monasteries supported Henry, and there he shewed them favour,
especially Farfa with its command of the road to the south, without
any of the reserve he had shewn in Germany.
At Ravenna a synod was convoked, the first business of which was
to settle the disputed right to the archbishopric of Ravenna. Adalbert,
its actual holder for the last ten years, was generally recognised in the
Romagna ; but Henry in 1013 had treated the see as vacant, and had
nominated thereto his own natural half-brother, Arnold. The intruder,
however, failed to establish himself in possession, and now came back to
be declared, with the authority of the Pope and the advice of the synod,
the rightful archbishop. Thereupon followed the issue in Henry's name
of decrees for the suppression of certain ecclesiastical abuses then preva-
lent in Italy: the simoniacal conferment of Holy Orders, the ordination
of priests and deacons below the canonical age, the taking of money for
the consecration of churches, and the acceptance by way of gift or
pledge of any articles dedicated to sacred use. Of no less serious import
for the Church and for the nation at large was the further decree that
all bishops and abbots should make returns of the property alienated
from their churches and abbeys, of the time and manner of the aliena-
tion, and of the names of the present holders. Such a record was a
preliminary to any measure of restitution; but this could not fail to
arouse the anger of the territorial lords, against whom chiefly it would
be directed.
## p. 243 (#289) ############################################
Henry crowned as Emperor
243
After Ravenna came Rome. On Sunday, 14 February 1014, he
made his entry into the city amid applause. Twelve senators escorted
the king and queen to the door of St Peter's, where the Pope and
his clergy awaited them.
The two chiefs of Western Christendom, whose fortunes were to be
closely linked together for the rest of their joint lives, now met for the
first time. Benedict VIII was a man of vigorous, though not exalted,
character; belonging to the turbulent Roman nobility, raised to the
papal throne while yet a layman and after a faction contest, he was not
likely to shew any real religious zeal. Though his life was free from
scandal, Benedict shone, not as a churchman but as a man of action,
whose principal aim was to recover for the Papacy its external dignity
and its material power. Already he had repelled the Crescentians from
Rome, and taken many of their castles in the Sabina. He had even
wrested the duchy of Spoleto out of the hands of John, the elder
nephew of the late Patricius. But these enemies, nevertheless, were still
formidable, and it was not a mere formality when the Pope demanded
of the king, before they entered the basilica, whether he would be a
faithful patron and defender of the Roman Church, and be true in all
points to himself and his successors. The pledge was heartily given, and
then, within the church, Henry offered at the high altar the crown he
had worn hitherto as king, and received unction and coronation as
Roman Emperor at the hands of Benedict. Queen Kunigunda at the
same time was crowned Empress. Soon afterwards the Pope confirmed
Henry's acts and canons passed at Ravenna, Adalbert was deposed, and
Arnold recognised as Archbishop of Ravenna.
Henry was on the point of starting for the south to force the
Crescentii to disgorge the remnant still held of Farfa's lands, most of
which Benedict had already regained for the monastery, when a sudden
tumult broke out in Rome. After two days' rio
the Germans were
victorious but, nevertheless, Henry did not venture to remain longer in
Rome. Only a week had passed since his coronation and already he had
to make sure of his retreat. After another fruitless effort, therefore,
to bring the case between the Crescentian brothers and the Abbot of
Farfa to legal decision, the Emperor, with the concurrence of the Pope
and the judges, as his last act invested Hugh with the possessions
claimed from the Crescentii. Having charged Benedict to give actual
effect to this decision, the Emperor left Rome.
Nearly two months Henry spent in securing his hold upon Tuscany,
the fidelity of which province, as commanding the route between Lom-
bardy and Rome, was of prime importance for him. Since the death in
1012 of the Marquess Boniface, an ineffective ruler and a dissolute man,
the March had remained vacant; and Henry now gave it to Rainier, a
Tuscan, who had lately, through the influence of the Pope, replaced the
Crescentian John as Duke of Spoleto. Since the Marquess of Tuscany
CH. X.
16-2
## p. 244 (#290) ############################################
244
Henry's rule in Italy
enjoyed an authority superior to that of any other lay subject of the
Italian crown, the union in a single hand of these two provinces, which
had not been held together since the time of the Duke-marquess Hugh
“the Great,” gave special significance to the choice of Rainier. In the
new marquess Henry must have expected to find a stout upholder of
the imperial cause. The fact that like Henry he was a generous and
enlightened patron of monasticism, probably recommended him to the
Emperor. The monastic question was acute in Tuscany as elsewhere and
families like the Otbertines, who there held wide territories, had incessant
quarrels over property with the ecclesiastical foundations. At Easter 1014
Henry was again in Pavia. In Lombardy, although his authority was not
openly disputed, and most of the prelates were on his side, and the secular
lords paid outward obedience, disaffection permeated all classes. The
Archbishop of Milan held aloof, some of the great families still refused
submission, and the hatred of the common people was shewn by their
reluctance to furnish supplies. Renouncing therefore any attempt to
crush Ardoin by force, Henry sought to strengthen himself by adminis-
trative measures. He renewed an institution of Otto the Great by
appointing two permanent missi for the counties of Pavia, Milan, and
Seprio. He thus secured for royal officials the exercise of supreme judicial
authority where disaffection was rife, and, significantly enough, Henry
now gave an Italian city its first measure of municipal freedom. The
Aleramids, who were lords of Savona, had not shewn themselves especially
hostile to Henry, and were even now taking some share in the public
administration. Yet just at this time the men of Savona obtained through
their bishop a royal charter which curtailed the feudal rights of the
marquesses over their city, and relieved its inhabitants of many burden-
some imposts. But Henry could not stay in Italy to secure the success
of his administrative acts; after a month's stay in Pavia he passed on to
Verona, and thence to Germany.
Henry's second expedition to Italy, though it fell far short of complete
success, ensured the continuance of the Western Empire. It renewed the
alliance between the Empire and the Papacy, and it vindicated afresh the
pre-eminence of the German monarchy in Western Europe.
But in Lombardy Henry had left his work half done. A hostile
population, an alienated nobility, and an uncrushed rival remained as
proofs of his failure. And hardly had he recrossed the Alps in June 1014
when a fresh outburst of nationalist fury threatened to overwhelm his
adherents. Ardoin at once issued from Ivrea, and attacked Vercelli with
such suddenness that the Bishop Leo scarcely avoided capture. The whole
of that diocese fell into Ardoin's hands. Thence he went on to besiege
Novara, to overrun the diocese of Como, and to bring ruin upon many
other hostile places. Though more of a punitive foray than regular
warfare, this campaign against the imperialists had yet some of the
dignity of a national uprising. For besides the vavassors and small
## p. 245 (#291) ############################################
Disaffection in Lombardy
245
proprietors of his own neighbourhood, not a few nobles in all parts of
Lombardy took up arms on Ardoin's behalf. The four sons of the aged
Marquess Otbert II, Count Hubert “the Red," a man powerful in the
West, with several other counts, and even the Bishop of distant Vicenza,
were of the number. These men, assuredly, were not inspired by pure
patriotism. But their association for a common purpose with other
classes of their fellow-countrymen, under their native king, affords some
proof that they had also in view the higher purpose of throwing off an
alien yoke.
The fury of the nationalists found vent in ruthless devastation of the
episcopal territories, and made them for a few weeks masters of Lombardy.
But sudden dismay fell upon them through the unexpected capture of all
four sons of the Marquess Otbert, the chief pillar of their cause. Though
two soon escaped, the others were sent as prisoners to Germany, whither
Leo of Vercelli also now went to arouse the Emperor's vengeance
against the insurgent Lombards. At his instigation, Henry struck, and
struck hard, at his opponents. At a judicial inquiry held in Westphalia
during the autumn, the Lombard law of treason was invoked against the
captive Otbertines and their associates still in arms. For having waged
war upon their sovereign, they were declared liable to forfeiture. There-
upon, a series of confiscatory charters, mostly drafted by Leo himself,
was issued. Though the full penalty was not exacted of the chief
offenders, the Otbertine family was mulcted of 500 jugera of land, and
Count Hubert the Red of 3000, for the benefit of the see of Pavia; the
Church of Como was compensated out of the private inheritance of Bishop
Jerome of Vicenza; and to that of Novara was awarded a possession of the
archbishopric of Milan. Far more heavily, however, fell the Emperor's
hand upon the lesser men. “They had above all grievously afflicted the
church of Vercelli,” and Bishop Leo was only satisfied with their total
forfeiture. To his see, accordingly, were transferred at a stroke the lands
of some six score proprietors in the neighbourhood of Ivrea, nearly all
men of middle rank.
The recovery of Vercelli itself about this time was an important
success, chiefly because it led to Ardoin's death. The spirit which had
borne him up through so many vicissitudes sank under this blow; and
he withdrew to the monastery of Fruttuaria, where he laid aside his
crown to assume the cowl of a monk. There, fifteen months later, on
14 December 1015, he died.
So passed away the last monarch to whom the title of King of the
Lombards could be fitly applied. Yet for many months after his abdi-
cation the insurgents kept the mastery in Western Lombardy. This
struggle is revealed in a series of letters addressed by Leo to the Em-
peror. They shew Leo, early in 1016, amid serious difficulties. He is
backed, indeed, by some of his fellow bishops, as well as by a few power-
ful nobles; and he can count now upon Archbishop Arnulf and the men
a
;
CH. X.
## p. 246 (#292) ############################################
246
Pacification of Lombardy
a
of Milan, who are kept true by the presbyter Aribert. But he can hardly
maintain himself in his own city; and he appeals to Henry for a German
army. He has against him the brother and the sons of Ardoin, the
astute Marquess Manfred of Turin with his brother, Alric, Bishop of Asti,
and, most dangerous of all, the mighty Count Hubert. These men are
intriguing for the support of King Rodolph of Burgundy, and are even
negotiating for reconciliation with the Emperor through their friends
Heribert of Cologne and Henry of Würzburg. Not only, however, did
Leo repel their attack on Vercelli, but, by a successful offensive, he re-
covered the whole territory of his diocese. Yet the siege of the castle of
Orba, which was undertaken at the Emperor's command by Leo with
other bishops and some lay magnates, including the young Marquess
Boniface of Canossa, ended in an accommodation. At the suggestion of
Manfred of Turin, who was anxious for peace, the rebel garrison was
allowed to withdraw and the castle itself was burnt.
This agreement was the starting point of serious negotiations. On
the one side, the Marquess Manfred and his brother sought the Emperor's
favour, while Count Hubert sent his son to Germany as a hostage ; on
the other, Pilgrim, a Bavarian cleric lately made chancellor for Italy,
was sent by Henry into Lombardy to bring about a complete pacifica-
tion. Pilgrim's success was soon seen in the arrival of Italian envoys at
Allstedt in January 1017 to offer greetings to the Emperor. On re-
turning to Germany in the autumn of 1017 Pilgrim left Upper Italy
at peace, and the release (January 1018) of the surviving captive
Otbertine marked the Emperor's reconciliation with the Lombards.
Leo of Vercelli, indeed, was dissatisfied because no penalty was laid
on Count Hubert, and although he secured a grant to his church of the
lands of thirty unfortunate vavassors, the vindictive prelate was not ap-
peased until, by a sentence of excommunication issued many months
later, he had brought the Count and his family to ruin. Leo's personal
victory indicated the political advantage that had been gained by his
order over the secular magnates. For the Emperor was bent on forcing
the lay nobles into the background by an alliance with the bishops.
Hence the great office of Count Palatine, the chief judicial authority of
the realm, hitherto always held by a layman, now practically ceased to
exist. The granting of palatine rights to bishops, already begun by the
Ottos, was continued ; similar rights were conferred upon missi; while
the presidency of the Palatine Court itself was annexed to the royal
chancery, and thus invariably fell to a cleric.
In Italy not only did Leo of Vercelli regain his lost influence, but
the bishops generally won a new predominance. Yet this predominance
was bound up with control from Germany, whence the Emperor directed
affairs in Church and State, thus working against Italian independence.
The imperial crown enhanced Henry's position in Europe but it added
little to his power in Germany; for seven years after his return from
## p. 247 (#293) ############################################
Peace with Poland; Burgundy
247
Italy he had to face foreign warfare and domestic strife. Polish affairs
claimed him first. Boleslav had not sent his promised help to Italy: he
had tried to win over Udalrich of Bohemia. Henry tried diplomacy and
on its failure set out on a Polish campaign (July 1015). An elaborate
plan of an invasion by three armies did not succeed, and Henry himself
had a troubled retreat.
During 1016 Henry was busied in Burgundy, and Boleslav was en-
tangled with Russia, where Vladímir the Great was consolidating a
principality. In January 1017 Boleslav attempted negotiations, but as
he would make no great effort for peace a new expedition was made in
August 1017, this time by one strong army and with the hope of Russian
help. Sieges and battles did little to decide the issue and Henry again
retreated in September 1017. But now Boleslav was inclined for peace,
since Russia although it had done but little was a threatening neighbour.
The German princes who had suffered heavily were anxious for peace and
at Bautzen (30 January 1018) terms were made: a German writer tells
us they were the best possible although not seemly; he speaks of no court
service or feudal obligations on Boleslav's part. Moreover he kept the
marks he had so long desired. Henry had not gained much military
glory but he had the peace which was needed. He kept Bohemia as a
vassal ; he held firmly the German lands west of the Elbe. For the rest
of the reign he had peace with Poland.
On the western frontier Burgundy had steadily grown more dis-
ordered since 1006. It was the stepping-stone to Italy and Otto the
Great had therefore played the part of a protector and feudal superior
to the young King Conrad. This connexion had continued and it, as
well as disorder, called Henry to Burgundy. The Welf dynasty had lost
its former vigour. Conrad “the Pacific” (937-993) was content to
appear almost as a vassal of the Emperors. His son, Rodolph III, far
from throwing off this yoke became by his weakness more dependent
still. Henry for his part had to support Rodolph unless he meant to
break with the Saxon tradition of control in Burgundy and to surrender
his inherited claim to succession. But in Count Otto-William, ruler of
the counties later named Franche-Comté, he found a resolute opponent.
It is probable that Otto-William, himself the son of the exiled Lombard
King, Adalbert of Ivrea, aimed at the throne, but in any case, like most
of the nobles, he feared the accession of a foreign monarch whose first
task would be to curb his independence.
By 1016 the ceaseless struggle between Rodolph and his unruly sub-
jects had reached a climax. Rodolph sought for aid from Henry: he
came in the early summer to Strasbourg, again acknowledged Henry's
right of succession, and promised to do nothing of importance without
his advice. Henry acted at once on his newly won right by nominating
to a vacant bishopric.
But the proceedings at Strasbourg were met by Otto-William with
CH. X.
## p. 248 (#294) ############################################
248
Turmoil in Lorraine
defiance, and even the bishop whom Henry had appointed was forced to
forsake his diocese. Henry undertook an expedition to reduce Burgundy:
it was unsuccessful and was followed by the renunciation of his treaty with
Rodolph. The moment, however, that the peace of Bautzen left him safe
on his eastern frontier Henry turned to Burgundy again. In February
1018 Rodolph met him at Mayence and again resigned to him the
sovereignty which he himself found so heavy. But once again the
Burgundian lords refused to acknowledge either Henry's authority in
the present or his right to succeed in the future. A fresh expedition
failed to enforce his claims, and he never again attempted intervention in
person. Possession of Burgundy with its alpine passes would have made
the control of Italy easier, but the attempt to secure this advantage had
failed.
Thus in four successive years, alternately in Poland and Burgundy,
Henry had waged campaigns, all really unsuccessful. His own kingdom
meanwhile was torn by domestic strife. Throughout the two Lorraines
and Saxony, above all, disorder ruled. In Upper Lorraine the Luxemburg
brothers still nursed their feud with the Emperor. But on the death
(December 1013) of Megingaud of Trèves, Henry appointed to the
archbishopric a resolute great noble, Poppo of Babenberg. Before long
Adalbero and Henry of Luxemburg both came to terms. At the Easter
Diet of 1017 a final reconciliation was made between the Emperor and
his brothers-in-law, which was sealed in November of the same year by the
reinstatement of Henry of Luxemburg in the duchy of Bavaria. This
submission brought tardy peace to Upper Lorraine, but Lower Lorraine
proved as difficult a task.
Since his elevation in 1012, Duke Godfrey had been beset by enemies.
The worst of these was Count Lambert of Louvain, whose wife was a
sister of the late Carolingian Duke Otto, and whose elder brother
Count Reginar of Hainault represented the original dukes of un-
divided Lorraine. Thus Lambert, whose life had been one of sacrilege
and violence, had claims on the dukedom. He was defeated and killed
by Godfrey at Florennes in September 1015, but another obstinate rebel,
Count Gerard of Alsace, a brother-in-law of those stormy petrels of dis-
content and strife, the Luxemburgers, remained, only to be overthrown in
August, 1017. With all these greater rebellions were associated minor
but widespread disturbances of the peace, and not until March 1018 was
the province entirely pacified, when, in an assembly at Nimeguen, the
Emperor received the submission of the Count of Hainault and established
concord between Count Gerard and Duke Godfrey.
But the duke was soon to experience a temporary reverse of fortune.
In the far north of his province Count Dietrich of Holland, by his
mother (the Empress Kunigunda's sister) half a Luxemburger, had seized
the thinly peopled district at the mouth of the Meuse, made the
Frisians in it tributary, and, violating the rights of the Bishop of Utrecht,
a
## p. 249 (#295) ############################################
Wendish and Saxon troubles
249
built a castle by the river whence he levied tolls on sea-bound craft. On
the bishop's complaint Henry ordered the count to desist and make
amends; when he disobeyed, Duke Godfrey and the Bishop (Adalbold)
were commissioned to enforce order. But their expedition miscarried ;
Godfrey was wounded and taken prisoner. Yet the prisoner interceded
at court for his captor and peace with friendship was restored.
Saxony was disturbed like Lorraine, but chiefly by private quarrels,
especially between lay magnates and bishops. In a diet at Allstedt
(January 1017) Henry attempted a pacification. But a rising of the half-
heathen Wends brought slaughter on the Christian priests and their
congregations, with destruction of the churches. Bernard, Bishop of
Oldenburg (on the Baltic), sought but did not get Henry's help, and
then Thietmar, brother of the Billung Duke Bernard, revolted. After
he had been subdued, his brother the duke himself rebelled, but a siege
of his fortress Schalksburg on the Weser ended in a peace. Emperor and
duke joined in an expedition against the Wends, reduced the March to
order and restored the Christian prince Mistislav over the pagan Obotrites
(Obodritzi, or Abotrites). But though civil order was enforced to the
north, the Wends remained heathen.
Happily the rest of Germany was more peaceful. In Swabia alone
arose difficulty. Ernest, husband of Gisela, elder sister of the young Duke
Herman III, had been made duke, but after three years' rule he died in
the hunting field (31 May 1015). The Emperor gave the duchy to his
eldest son Ernest, and as he was under age his mother Gisela was to be
his guardian. But when she soon married Conrad of Franconia the
Emperor gave the duchy to Poppo of Trèves, the young duke's uncle.
Gisela's new husband, Conrad, afterwards Emperor, head of the house
which sprang from Conrad the Red and Liutgard, daughter of Otto the
Great, had already one grievance against the Emperor. He had seen in
1011 the duchy of Carinthia transferred from his own family to Adalbero
of Eppenstein. Now a second gr
Now a second grievance made him Henry's enemy.
He
had fought alongside Gerard of Alsace against Duke Godfrey: two years
later he waged war against Duke Adalbero. For this the Emperor
banished him, but the sentence was remitted and Conrad henceforth kept
the peace.
Henry's general policy was one of conciliation; as a commander in the
field he had never been fortunate, and therefore he preferred moral
to physical means. He had learnt this preference from his religion and
he well understood how greatly ecclesiastical order could help his realm.
In church reform, greatly needed at the time, he took ever more interest
as his life went on. One question indeed which came up at the synod of
Goslar in 1019 was a foreboding of trouble to come. Many secular priests,
serfs by birth, had married free women: it was asked whether their
children were free or unfree: the synod at Henry's suggestion declared
both mother and children unfree. This decision tended to throw discredit
CH, X.
## p. 250 (#296) ############################################
250
Benedict VIII in Germany
upon marriages which furthered the secularization of the Church. For
married clergy often sought to benefit their own families at the expense
of their churches. But on the side of reform Henry was greatly helped
by the monastic revival which, largely beginning from Cluny, had spread
widely in Lorraine. William, Abbot of St Benignus at Dijon, and
Richard, Abbot of St Vanne's near Verdun, were here his helpers.
William had been called in by the Bishop of Metz: Richard worked in
more than one Lorraine diocese. Outside their own order such monks
influenced the secular clergy and even the bishops. Simony and world-
liness were more widely reproved; Henry would gladly have seen such
a reformation spreading and with some such hope he asked the Pope
to visit Germany.
Benedict VIII was, it is true, more a man of action than a reformer.
He had faced worse foes than the Crescentii at Farfa, for the Saracens
under Mujāhid of Denia (in Spain) had (1015) conquered Sardinia and
were harrying the Tuscan coasts. He urged on the Pisans and Genoese
before their three days' victory at sea (June 1016): a battle which
brought the victorious allies into Sardinia. And he had (1016) made
use of Lombard rebels and Norman help to try and shake the Byzantine
hold upon Southern Italy. But rebels and Normans had suffered defeat
and the Byzantines held their own. Benedict might hopefully turn to
the Emperor for further help: when on Maundy Thursday (14 April
1020) he reached Henry's favourite Bamberg, he was the first Pope to
visit Germany for a century and a half. With him there came Melo,
leader of the Apulian rebels, and Rodolph, the Norman leader, who had
helped them. Melo was invested with the new title, Duke of Apulia,
and held the empty office for the remaining week of his life. Thus
Henry entered into the Italian schemes of Benedict. The Pope on his
side confirmed at Fulda the foundation of Bamberg, taking it under
special papal protection: Henry gave the Pope a privilege nearly
identical with that given by Otto the Great to John XII.
The second half of the year 1020 was spent in small campaigns,
including one against Baldwin in Flanders, where in August the Emperor
captured Ghent. The other was against Otto of Hammerstein, whom
we shall mention later. When Henry kept Easter in 1021 at Merseburg
he could look on a realm comparatively peaceful. His old opponent
Heribert of Cologne had died (16 March 1021) and was replaced by
Henry's friend and diplomatist, Pilgrim. Later (17 August) died Erkam-
bald of Mayence, and was succeeded by Aribo, a royal chaplain and a
relative of Pilgrim's. The three great sees were now all held by Bavarians.
In July a diet at Nimeguen decided on an expedition to Italy. There
the Byzantine forces had occupied part of the principality of Benevento,
drawing the Lombard princes to their side, and (June 1021) the Catapan
Basil seized the fortress on the Garigliano which the Pope had given to
Datto, an Apulian rebel. Thus Rome itself was threatened nearly. In
## p. 251 (#297) ############################################
Henry's third expedition to Italy
251
November 1021 Henry left Augsburg for Italy: early in December he
reached Verona, where Italian princes joined his Lorrainers, Swabians
and Bavarians: among them were the Bavarian Poppo, Patriarch of
Aquileia, and the distinguished Aribert, since 1018 Archbishop of Milan.
Leo of Vercelli of course was there, and if some lay magnates kept away
others made a welcome appearance. Christmas Henry spent at Ravenna
and in January moved southwards. Before he reached Benevento
Benedict joined him. The army marched in three divisions and the one
which Pilgrim of Cologne commanded met with brilliant successes, taking
Capua. Henry himself was delayed for three months by the fortress
of Troia, built with almost communal privileges by the Catapan in
1018 to guard the Byzantine province and strong enough to sur-
render on merely nominal terms. But sickness had assailed the Germans
and after visiting Home Henry came in July to Pavia. So far he had
made Rome safer and had subjugated the Lombard states. Then in a
synod at Pavia (1 August 1022) with Benedict's help he turned to
church reform. Clerical marriage, as common in Lombardy as in
Germany, was denounced. And the ever growing poverty of the Church
was also noted: lands had been alienated and married clerics were
trying to endow their families. As at Goslar it was decided that the
wives and children of unfree priests were also serfs, and could thus not
hold land. These ecclesiastical decrees, meant to be of general force
although passed in a scanty synod, the Emperor embodied in an im-
perial decree. Leo of Vercelli probably drafted alike the papal speech
and the imperial decree and he was the first bishop to enforce the
canons.
Then in the autumn of 1022 Henry returned to his kingdom. The
following Easter he sent Gerard of Cambray and Richard of St Vannes
to beg Robert of France to become his partner in church reform. The
two kings met (11 August) at Ivois just within Germany. It was agreed
to call an assembly at Pavia of both German and Italian bishops: the
assembly would thus represent the old Carolingian realm.
But now Germany was not ecclesiastically at peace either within itself
or with the Pope. Aribo of Mayence, on the death of his suffragan
Bernward of Hildesheim, had revived the old claim to authority over
Gandersheim. But Henry had taken sides with the new Bishop, Godehard
of Altaich, although his settlement left irritation behind. Aribo had
also a more important quarrel with Pope Benedict arising out of a marriage.
Count Otto of Hammerstein, a great noble of Franconia, had married
Irmingard, although they were related within the prohibited degrees.
Episcopal censure was disregarded: excommunication by a synod at
Nimeguen (March 1018), enforced by the Emperor and the Archbishop
of Mayence, only brought Otto to temporary submission. Two years later,
after rejoining Irmingard, he attacked in revenge the territory of Mayence.
At length his disregard of synod and of Emperor alike forced Henry to
CH, X
## p. 252 (#298) ############################################
252
Death of Henry
uphold the Church's law by the sword. But Otto's irregular marriage
a few years later raised even greater difficulties. For the present Henry
had shewn his ecclesiastical sympathies and his readiness to enforce the
Church's decisions even in a field where many rulers disregarded or dis-
liked them. A synod at Mayence in June 1023 separated the pair,
whereupon Irmingard appealed to Rome. This appeal was looked upon
by Aribo as an invasion of his metropolitan rights, and he persuaded a
provincial synod at Seligenstadt to take his view. Here were forbidden
all appeals to Rome made without episcopal leave, and also any papal
remission of guilt, unless the ordinary penance imposed locally had been
first performed. Henry sent the diplomatic Pilgrim of Cologne to explain
matters to Benedict, who nevertheless directed a fresh hearing of Irmin-
gard's case, and also significantly sent no pallium to Aribo. In reply the
Archbishop called his suffragans to meet at Höchst 13 May 1024; and
it was hoped through the Empress Kunigunda to draw thither bishops of
other provinces also: meanwhile all the suffragans of Mayence except
two signed a remonstrance to the Pope against the insult to their metro-
politan. But Benedict died (11 June 1024) before the matter was settled,
being succeeded by his brother Romanus, hitherto called Senator of all
the Romans by Benedict's appointment, who passed from layman to Pope
as John XIX within a day. The new Pope had no religious and few
ecclesiastical interests, and the matter of the marriage went no further.
Soon after Benedict Henry himself passed away. During 1024 he had
suffered from both illness and the weakness of advancing years ; on 13
July the end came. His body was fittingly laid to rest in his beloved
Bamberg, itself an expression of the religious zeal which was shewn so
strongly and so pathetically in his closing years. Religion and devotion
to the Church had always been a leading interest in his active life; as
death drew nearer it became an all-absorbing care. The title of Saint
which his people gave him fittingly expressed the feeling of his age. .
## p. 253 (#299) ############################################
253
CHAPTER XI.
THE EMPEROR CONRAD II.
With the death of Henry II the Saxon dynasty in the male line
became extinct; nevertheless under the Ottos the hereditary principle
had become so firmly rooted, the Teutonic theory of election so nearly
forgotten, that the descendants of Otto the Great in the female branch
were alone regarded as suitable successors to the Emperor Henry II. The
choice of the princes was practically limited to the two Conrads, the great-
grandsons of the first Otto's daughter Liutgard and Conrad of Lorraine.
Both were grandsons of Otto, Duke of Carinthia; the future emperor
through the eldest son Henry who died young, the other, known as Conrad
the Younger, through the third son, also named Conrad, who had suc-
ceeded his father in the duchy of Carinthia. This younger Conrad did
not inherit the dukedom, which was granted on his father's death in 1011
to Adalbero of Eppenstein, but he acquired nevertheless the greater part
of the family estates in Franconia. In wealth and territorial position he
was stronger than his elder cousin ; moreover, since he had adopted the
attitude of Henry II in matters of ecclesiastical politics, he could safely
rely on the support of the reforming party in the Church, which, par-
ticularly in Lorraine, carried considerable weight under the guidance of
Archbishop Pilgrim of Cologne. An orphan' with a meagre inheritance,
brought up by the famous canonist, Burchard of Worms, Conrad the
Elder had little to recommend him beyond seniority and personal cha-
racter. On late and unreliable authority it is asserted that the late
Emperor designated him as his successor? , and though it is reasonable to
suppose that Henry II should make some recommendation with regard to
the succession, it is at least remarkable that he should select a man whose
I His father died while he was still a child, and his mother married again and
took no further interest in the child of her first husband.
? Sigebert, Chron. MGHSS. vi. 356. Hugh of Flavigny, Chron. 11. 16, MGHSS. viii.
392. It is accepted as historical by Arndt, Die Wahl Konrads II, Diss. Göttingen,
1861, Maurenbrecher, Königswahlen, and others; Bresslau, from the silence of
contemporaries, and the unreliability of the evidence is led to the conclusion that
no such designation was made. (Jahrbücher, Konrad II, 1. p. 9 f. , also in Hirsch,
Jahrbücher, Heinrich II, 111. p. 356 f. ) Harttung, Studien zur Geschichte Konrads 11,
attempts to prove that the younger Conrad was designated by Henry II; but see
Bresslau, Jahrbücher, Excurs. 11. p. 342 f.
CH. .
## p. 254 (#300) ############################################
254
Election and coronation
a
views both in ecclesiastical and secular politics were diametrically opposed
to his own. Yet this very fact of his antagonism to the reforming move-
ment induced Aribo, Archbishop of Mayence, and the bulk of the episco-
pate, jealous and suspicious of the progress of Cluniac ideas in Germany,
to throw the whole weight of their influence in support of his candidature.
The election took place on the Rhine between Mayence and Worms' on
4 September 1024. Before it took place the elder Conrad had a meeting
with his cousin and apparently induced him to withdraw from the contest.
Conrad the Elder, left in undisputed possession of the field (for the
party of his late rival, the Lorrainers, rather than give him their votes,
had retired from the assembly), was elected unanimously, and received
from the hands of the widowed Empress Kunigunda, the royal insignia,
committed by her husband to her care. The election was a popular one.
Princes and people, spiritual and secular, thronged to Mayence to attend
the coronation festival. “If Charles the Great himself had been alive and
present,” writes Conrad's enthusiastic biographer”, “the rejoicing could
not have been exceeded. " The ceremony of coronation was performed
on 8 September by Aribo in the cathedral of Mayence and was followed
by the customary state banquet and by the taking of the oath of fealty
by the bishops, nobles, and even, we are told, by other freemen of dis-
tinction. One incident marred the general serenity of the proceedings;
Conrad's marriage in 1017 with Gisela, the widow successively of Bruno
of Brunswick and of Ernest II of Swabia, being within the prohibited
degrees, was not sanctioned by the Church. Aribo denied her the crown;
and it was only after an interval of some days that Archbishop Pilgrim
of Cologne, desirous of making his peace with the king he had opposed,
offered to perform the ceremony in his cathedral at Colognes.
The princes of Lorraine, among them Gozelo and Dietrich, the Dukes
of the lower and upper provinces, Reginar V, the powerful Count of
Hainault, and the greater number of the bishops, had, as we have seen,
resisted Conrad's election, and after the event had denied him recognition.
The bishops adopted this attitude on account of Conrad's lack of sym-
pathy with the movement of reform in the Church; when, however, their
1 The exact spot is generally said to be Kamba on the right bank of the river
near Oppenheim. Schädel (Die Königsstühle bei Mainz und die Wahl Konrads II,
Progr. Mayence, 1896) believes the place of election to have been on the left bank
near Lörzweiler. With Wipo (cap. 2) we can leave it “de vocabulo et situ loci
plenius dicere topographis. ” Anyhow "cis et citra Rhenum castra locabant. "
.
Wipo, loc. cit.
% Wipo, Script. Rer. Germ. ed. Bresslau, 1915. See also the editor's preface to
this edition. Wipo is the main authority for the reign; probably a Burgundian by
birth, he held the office of chaplain to the king, and was an eye-witness of many of
the events he records.
3 So Bresslau, 1. pp. 35-37, and Excurs. 11. p. 351, following the account of
Herman of Reichenau (1024, in Bresslau's ed. of Wipo, p. 94). Other authorities
accept the account of the Quedlinburg annals, that Gisela was subsequently crowned
by Aribo at the intercession of the princes (Aun. Qued. 1024, MGHSS, 111. 90).
>
9
## p. 255 (#301) ############################################
The royal progress
255
leader, the Archbishop of Cologne, made his peace with the king, and
when Odilo of Cluny, who had, it seems, been present at the election,
and had been the recipient of Conrad's first charter (a confirmation of
certain lands in Alsace to the Cluniac monastery of Payerne), exerted his
influence in Conrad's interest, the bishops were prevailed upon to make
their submission. Conrad was therefore able to make his royal progress
through Lorraine unhindered.
