Henry II of Germany ^{1 2 3}

   Another name for Henry was Saint Henry II.

  General Notes:

Like his predecessor, Otto III, he had the literary education of his time. In his youth he had been destined for the priesthood. Therefore he became acquainted with ecclesiastical interests at an early age.

Willingly he performed pious practices, gladly also he strengthened the Church of Germany, without, however, ceasing to regard ecclesiastical institutions as pivots of his power, according to the views of Otto the Great. With all his learning and piety, Henry was an eminently sober man, endowed with sound, practical common sense. He went his way circumspectly, never attempting anything but the possible and, wherever it was practicable, applying the methods of amiable and reasonable good sense. This prudence, however, was combined with energy and conscientiousness. Sick and suffering from fever, he traversed the empire in order to maintain peace. At all times he used his power to adjust troubles. The masses especially he wished to help.

The Church, as the constitutional Church of Germany, and therefore as the advocate of German unity and of the claims of inherited succession, raised Henry to the throne. The new king straightway resumed the policy of Otto I both in domestic and in foreign affairs.

This policy first appeared in his treatment of the Eastern Marches. The encroachments of Duke Boleslaw, who had founded a great kingdom, impelled him to intervene. But his success was not marked.

In Italy the local and national opposition to the universalism of the German king had found a champion in Arduin of Ivrea. The latter assumed the Lombard crown in 1002. In 1004 Henry crossed the Alps. Arduin yielded to his superior power. The Archbishop of Milan now crowned him King of Italy. This rapid success was largely due to the fact that a large part of the Italian episcopate upheld the idea of the Roman Empire and that of the unity of Church and State.

On his second expedition to Rome, occasioned by the dispute between the Counts of Tuscany and the Crescentians over the nomination to the papal throne, he was crowned emperor on 14 February, 1014. But it was not until later, on his third expedition to Rome, that he was able to restore the prestige of the empire completely.

Before this happened, however, he was obliged to intervene in the west. Disturbances were especially prevalent throughout the entire north-west. Lorraine caused great trouble. The Counts of Lutzelburg (Luxemburg), brothers-in-law of the king, were the heart and soul of the disaffection in that country. Of these men, Adalbero had made himself Bishop of Trier by uncanonical methods (1003); but he was not recognized any more than his brother Theodoric, who had had himself elected Bishop of Metz.

True to his duty, the king could not be induced to abet any selfish family policy at the expense of the empire. Even though Henry, on the whole, was able to hold his own against these Counts of Lutzelburg, still the royal authority suffered greatly by loss of prestige in the north-west.

Burgundy afforded compensation for this. The lord of that country was Rudolph, who, to protect himself against his vassals, joined the party of Henry II, the son of his sister, Gisela, and to Henry the childless duke bequeathed his duchy, despite the opposition of the nobles (1006). Henry had to undertake several campaigns before he was able to enforce his claims. He did not achieve any tangible result, he only bequeathed the theoretical claims on Burgundy to his successors.

Better fortune awaited the king in the central and eastern parts of the empire. It is true that he had a quarrel with the Conradinians over Carinthia and Swabia: but Henry proved victorious because his kingdom rested on the solid foundation of intimate alliance with the Church.

That his attitude towards the Church was dictated in part by practical reasons, primarily he promoted the institutions of the Church chiefly in order to make them more useful supports his royal power, is clearly shown by his policy. How boldly Henry posed as the real ruler of the Church appears particularly in the establishment of the See of Bamberg, which was entirely his own scheme.

He carried out this measure, in 1007, in spite of the energetic opposition of the Bishop of Wurzburg against this change in the organization of the Church. The primary purpose of the new bishopric was the germanization of the regions on the Upper Main and the Regnitz, where the Wends had fixed their homes. As a large part of the environs of Bamberg belonged to the king, he was able to furnish rich endowments for the new bishopric. The importance of Bamberg lay principally in the field of culture, which it promoted chiefly by its prosperous schools. Henry, therefore, relied on the aid of the Church against the lay powers, which had become quite formidable. But he made no concessions to the Church.

Though naturally pious, and though well acquainted with ecclesiastical culture, he was at bottom a stranger to her spirit. He disposed of bishoprics autocratically. Under his rule the bishops, from whom he demanded unqualified obedience, seemed to be nothing but officials of the empire. He demanded the same obedience from the abbots. However, this political dependency did not injure the internal life of the German Church under Henry. By means of its economic and educational resources the Church had a blessed influence in this epoch.

But it was precisely this civilizing power of the German Church that aroused the suspicions of the reform party. This was significant, because Henry was more and more won over to the ideas of this party. At a synod at Goslar he confirmed decrees that tended to realize the demands made by the reform party. Ultimately this tendency could not fail to subvert the Othonian system, moreover could not fail to awaken the opposition of the Church of Germany as it was constituted.

This hostility on the part of the German Church came to a head in the emperor's dispute with Archbishop Aribo of Mainz. Aribo was an opponent of the reform movement of the monks of Cluny. The Hammerstein marriage imbroglio afforded the opportunity he desired to offer a bold front against Rome. Otto von Hammerstein had been excommunicated by Aribo on account of his marriage with Irmengard, and the latter had successfully appealed to Rome.

This called forth the opposition of the Synod of Seligenstadt, in 1023, which forbade an appeal to Rome without the consent of the bishop. This step meant open rebellion against the idea of church unity, and its ultimate result would have been the founding of a German national Church. In this dispute the emperor was entirely on the side of the reform party. He even wanted to institute international proceedings against the unruly archbishop by means of treaties with the French king. But his death prevented this.

Before this Henry had made his third journey to Rome in 1021. He came at the request of the loyal Italian bishops, who had warned him at Strasburg of the dangerous aspect of the Italian situation, and also of the pope, who sought him out at Bamberg in 1020. Thus the imperial power, which had already begun to withdraw from Italy, was summoned back thither. This time the object was to put an end to the supremacy of the Greeks in Italy. His success was not complete; he succeeded, however, in restoring the prestige of the empire in northern and central Italy.

Henry was far too reasonable a man to think seriously of readopting the imperialist plans of his predecessors. He was satisfied to have ensured the dominant position of the empire in Italy within reasonable bounds. Henry's power was in fact controlling, and this was in no small degree due to the fact that he was primarily engaged in solidifying the national foundations of his authority.

The later ecclesiastical legends have ascribed ascetic traits to this ruler, some of which certainly cannot withstand serious criticism. For instance, the highly varied theme of his virgin marriage to Cunegond has certainly no basis in fact.

The Church canonized this emperor in 1146, and his wife Cunegond in 1200.


Saint Henry, German SANKT HEINRICH duke of Bavaria (as Henry IV, 995-1005), German king (from 1002), and Holy Roman emperor (1014-24), last of the Saxon dynasty of emperors. He was canonized by Pope Eugenius III, more than 100 years after his death, in response to church-inspired legends. He was, in fact, far from saintly, but there is some truth in the legends concerning his religious character. Together with Henry III, he was the great architect of cooperation between church and state, following a policy inaugurated by Charlemagne and promoted by Otto I the Great (Holy Roman emperor, 962-973). His canonization is sometimes justified on the grounds that he was a great representative of the medieval German priestly kings.

Henry II became king of Germany in 1002 and Holy Roman emperor in 1014. His father, Henry II the Quarrelsome, duke of Bavaria, having been in rebellion against two preceding German kings, was forced to spend long years in exile from Bavaria. The younger Henry found refuge with Bishop Abraham of Freising and was later educated at the Cathedral School of Hildesheim. As he was exposed thus to strong church influence in his youth, religion influenced him strongly. Contemporaries observed an ironic trait in his character and were also impressed by his ability to intersperse his speeches with biblical quotations. Though devoted to church ritual and personal prayer, he was a tenacious and realistic politician, not adverse to alliances with heathen powers. Usually in poor health, he yet performed for 22 years the office of the itinerant king, riding on horseback through his dominions to judge and compose feuds, pursue rebels, and extend the power of the crown.

After the death of King Otto III in January 1002, Henry, aware of strong opposition to his succession, captured the royal insignia that were in the keeping of the dead king's companions. At Otto's funeral the majority of the princes declared against Henry, and only in June, with the assistance of Archbishop Willigis of Mainz, did Henry secure both election and coronation. It took another year before his recognition was final.

Henry first turned his attention to the east and made war against the Polish king Boleslaw I the Brave. After a successful campaign, he marched into northern Italy to subdue Arduin of Ivrea, who had styled himself king of Italy. His sudden interference led to bitter fighting and atrocities, and although Henry was crowned king in Pavia on May 15, 1004, he returned home, without defeating Arduin, to pursue his campaigns against Boleslaw. In 1003 Henry had made a pact with the Liutitian tribe against the Christian Boleslaw, and he allowed the Liutitians to resist German missionaries east of the Elbe River. Henry was more interested in consolidating his own political power than in spreading Christianity. Supported by his tribal allies, he waged several campaigns against Poland, until in 1018, at Bautzen, he made a lasting compromise peace with the Poles.

Sensitive to tradition and anxious to be crowned emperor, Henry decided in late 1013 on another expedition to Italy. He marched straight to Rome, where he was crowned Holy Roman emperor by Pope Benedict VIII, on Feb. 14, 1014. By May he was back in Germany, seeking to fulfill his duties to Italy by charging German officials with the administration of the country. Henry even convened an Italian imperial court at Strassburg (now Strasbourg) in 1019. In 1020 Pope Benedict visited him in Germany and begged him to put in another appearance in Italy to fight the Greeks in the south and protect the papacy against the Lombard princes. Henry reluctantly responded the following year, fighting both Greeks and Lombards successfully; but he withdrew at the first opportunity.

Henry's main interest and success were concentrated on the consolidation of a peaceful royal regime in Germany. He spent much time and energy in elaborating the so-called Ottonian system of government. Inaugurated by Otto I, this system was based upon the principle that the lands and the authority of the bishops ought to be at the disposal of the king. Henry made generous grants to the bishops and, by adding to their territorial holdings, helped to establish them as secular rulers as well as ecclesiastical princes. He freely availed himself of the royal right to appoint faithful followers to these bishoprics. He insisted on episcopal celibacy--to make sure that on the death of a bishop the see would not fall into the hands of the bishop's children. In this way, he managed to create a stable body of supporters who made him more and more independent of rebellious nobles and ambitious members of his own family.

His greatest achievement was the foundation of the new bishopric of Bamberg. The upper region of the Main River was poorly populated, and Henry set aside large tracts of personal property to establish the new bishopric, much against the wishes of the bishop of Würzburg in the middle Main region. He obtained the consent of other bishops at a synod in Frankfurt in late 1007. The new bishop was consecrated on Henry's birthday in 1012. In 1020 Bamberg was visited by the pope, and it quickly developed into a splendid cathedral town where contemporary scholastic culture and art, as well as piety, found the support of Henry and his queen, Cunegunda.

During the last years of his reign Henry planned, in concert with Pope Benedict VIII, an ecclesiastical reform council at Pavia to seal the system of ecclesiastico-political order he had perfected in Germany. But he died suddenly in July 1024, before this could be done.

Feast day is 13th July.

  Noted events in his life were:

• He was a Duke of Bavaria from 00 0995 to 1005. - as Henry IV.

• Acceded: German King, 1002.

• Acceded: Holy Roman Emperor, 1014.

Henry married.

Henry next married Cunigunda of Luxemburg, daughter of Siegfried I of Luxemburg and Hedvig of Nordgau, in 1003. (Cunigunda of Luxemburg was born circa 975, died on 3 Mar 1033 and was buried in Bamberg Cathedral, Bamberg, Bavaria.)

  Marriage Notes:

Henry and his wife, Cunigunde of Luxemburg, had no children, reportedly because they had taken a mutual vow of chastity. ⁴