Heinrich II Av TYSKLAND

Abt 0960 - 1024  (~ 64 years)

• Name	Heinrich II Av TYSKLAND
  Birth	Abt 0960	Bayern, Tyskland   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Occupation	Konge og senere keiser
  Death	1024	Tyskland
  Notes	Han ble konge i 1002 etter sin tremenning Otto III av Tyskland og i 1014 ble han kronet til keiser over Det hellige romerriket. Henry II, also called SAINT HENRY, German SANKT HEINRICH (b. May 6, 973, Albach?, Bavaria--d. July 13, 1024, Pfalz Grona, near Göttingen, Saxony [Germany]; canonized 1146; feast day July 13), duke of Bavaria (as Henry IV, 995-1005), German king (f rom 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 ther e 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 Ro man 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. Th e 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 observe d 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 allian ces 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 again st 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 interfe rence 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 trib e 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. (see also Index: Liutici) 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 bac k 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 Ge rmany 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; bu t 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 base d 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 wel l 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 th e 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. (see also Index: church and state) 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 wishe s 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 quick ly 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, bef ore this could be done. (P.Mu.) BIBLIOGRAPHY. G. Barraclough, The Origins of Modern Germany, 2nd rev. ed. (1947), ch. 3; and R. Holtzmann, Geschichte der sächsischen Kaiserzeit, 900-1024, 3rd ed. (1955), pp. 383-487, present Henry II according to accepted modern scholarly opinion. W.v.d. Stei nen, Kaiser Heinrich der Zweite der Heilige (1924), is romantic but unusually sensitive to later medieval opinion. T. Shieffer, "Heinrich II und Konrad II," Deutsches Archiv, 8:384-437 (1951), supplies the necessary critical revision of modern res earch. Copyright 1994-1999 Encyclopædia Britannica
  Person ID	I43656	Valdres Slekt
  Last Modified	20 Nov 2007

  
  

  Father	Heinrich Der ZANKER,   b. Bayern, Tyskland d. 995, Bayern, Tyskland
  Family ID	F16061	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Kunigunde Av LUXEMBURG,   b. Luxemburg d. Tyskland
  Family ID	F16062	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	20 Nov 2007

  
  

• Sources

  [S150] Stammtafel der Kaiser Deutsches Reich 1871.