-
L. Henry II, “Saint Henry”
- West Virginia University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
359 crime against him according to the laws of God while he was lying in his bed. It was the worst of crimes for King Otto—they martyred him to death. In the choir of martyrs he occupies a place in the Kingdom of Heaven. God then avenged his stalwart. King Otto led an expedition into Wendish territory and laid waste the land with fire and sword. It is a fact that he held the Empire for exactly eighteen years and four months. Then he [died and] was buried at Aachen. L Henry II, “Saint Henry” Otto III died childless, and upon his death Frankish and Bavarian princes elected Henry II as German king (r. 1002–1024; r. as Roman emperor 1014–1024). He bought the allegiance of the Saxons and Thuringians, and soon Lorrainian and Swabian princes did homage to him. Boleslaus I, “the Great,” king of Poland, invaded and occupied Bohemia and held Meissen in Saxony with the connivance of some discontented German nobles, including Bruno, bishop of Augsburg and brother of King Henry. Henry began to mobilize against Boleslaus but, instead of moving against him, led an expedition into Italy to put down a revolt by Arduin, margrave of Ivrea, who was claiming to be king of Italy. Arduin submitted to Henry’s forces without much of a fight. Henry then drove the Poles from Bohemia, and Boleslav in 1005 asked for peace. Peace was finally concluded between Henry and Boleslav in 1013. In the same year Henry went to Rome, where Pope Benedict VIII, whom Henry had supported against a rival claimant to the papacy, crowned him Roman emperor in 1014. In 1020, Pope Benedict visited Henry in Babenberg and asked Henry for assistance against rebellious Greeks in southern Italy. 360 Chapter Fifty Henry agreed to help and led another expedition to Italy, where with some Norman aid he defeated the Greeks, but had to take his troops back to Germany to escape the pestilence that broke out in southeastern Italy. Henry was a strong patron of the church and supporter of church reform. He founded the see of Babenberg after providing for building a great cathedral there. Although not until the mid-thirteenth century, the bishops of Babenberg functioned as princes of the Empire. Henry backed Pope Benedict in his efforts to prohibit clerical marriage and the sale of spiritual offices, although he did appoint bishops on his own. In 1146, Pope Eugene III canonized him. without delay the princes praised one Henry, saying that he was faithful and reliable enough to fittingly head the Empire. He was duke of the Bavarians and renowned throughout for his compassion, his goodness and his great humility. The princes refused to go home until they had succeeded in making him their ruler. At Regensburg a council was held, to which many bishops, dukes and counts came. Hai! How willingly they supported him! They conducted him to the throne at Aachen. Wherever the king went, when a poor man would reach out his hand, the king would slip off his shirt and give it to him. He reconciled the princes and resolved hostilities, giving the nobles fiefs and land of their own. What he bestowed on the poor he could never replace. Love for God grew within him. He was a true vassal of God, which won him abundant grace afterwards. If we are correct in our understanding of this, he forced the Bohemians and the Poles to accept Christianity after a great struggle, along with all those who spoke Wendish. Then he turned his forces on the Hungarians . They were forced to flee before him and were not allowed to come to any terms with him until they had themselves baptized and believed in the one true God. Since King Henry had victories over the foreign nations he went to Regensburg. The Bavarians were much in need of peace, which Henry es- [3.239.59.193] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 10:56 GMT) Henry II 361 tablished for them fairly and firmly. He was ever mindful of the best way he might serve God while on earth and in a way that would provide those who came after him with a good model when he was no longer there. That ruler thought often and long about how he could do something good and useful so that afterwards people would remember that it was his work. Finally he decided to undertake a magnificent work in founding a diocese...