Coins of Bavaria.pdf - numismatas.com

In 1040, Peter of Hungary was overthrown by Samuel Aba and fled to
Germany, where Henry received him well despite the enmity formerly
between them. Bretislaus was thus deprived of an ally and Henry renewed
preparations for a campaign in Bohemia. On 15 August, he and Eckard set
out once more, almost exactly a year after his last expedition. This time he
was victorious and Bretislaus signed a peace treaty at Regensburg.
He spent Christmas 1041 at Strasbourg, where he received emissaries from
Burgundy. He travelled to that kingdom in the new year and dispensed justice
as needed. On his return, he heard, at Basel, of the raids into Bavaria
being made by the king of Hungary. He thus granted his own duchy of
Bavaria to one Henry, a relative of the last independent duke. At Cologne, he
called together all his great princes, including Eckard, and they unanimously
declared war on Hungary. It wasn't until September 1042 that he set out,
after having dispatched men to seek out Agnes de Poitou to be his new
bride. The expedition into Hungary successfully subdued the west of that
nation, but Aba fled to eastern fortresses and Henry's installed candidate, an
unknown cousin of his, was quickly removed when the emperor turned his
back.
After Christmas at Goslar, his intended capital, he entertained several embassies: Bretislaus came in person, a
Kievan embassy was rejected because Henry was not seeking a Russian bride, and the ambassadors of Casimir I
of Poland were likewise rejected because the duke came not in person. Gisela, Henry's mother, died at this juncture
and Henry went to the French borders, probably near Ivois to meet King Henry I of France, probably over the
impending marriage to the princess of Aquitaine. Henry next turned to Hungary again, where he forced Aba to
recognise the Danubian territory donated to Germany by Stephen I of Hungary pro causa amiticiae (for friendship's
sake). These territories were ceded to Hungary after the defeat of Conrad II in 1030. This border remained the border
between Hungary and Austria until 1920.
After this victory, Henry, a pious man, who dreamed of a Peace and Truce of God being respected over all his
realms, declared from the pulpit in Konstanz in October 1043 a general indulgence or pardon whereby he promised
to forgive all injuries to himself and to forgo vengeance. He encouraged all his vassals to do likewise. This is known
as the "Day of Indulgence" or "Day of Pardon".
Henry was finally remarried at Ingelheim in 1043 to Agnes, daughter of duke William V of Aquitaine and Agnes of
Burgundy. Agnes was then living at the court of her stepfather, Geoffrey Martel, count of Anjou. This connection to
the obstreperous vassal of the French king as well as her consanguinity—she and Henry being both descended
from Henry the Fowler—caused some churchmen to oppose their union, but the marriage went as planned. Agnes
was crowned at Mainz.
After the coronation and the wedding, Henry wintered at Utrecht, where he proclaimed the same indulgence he had
proclaimed the year prior in Burgundy. Then, in April 1044, Gothelo I, Duke of Lorraine, that is of both Lower and
Upper Lorraine, died. Henry did not wish to solidify the ducal power in any duchy and so, instead of appointing
Godfrey, Gothelo's eldest son and already acting duke in Upper Lorraine, duke in the Lower duchy, he appointed
Gothelo II, Godfrey's younger brother, duke there, thus raising the eldest son's ire. Henry claimed that Gothelo's
dying wish was to see the duchy split between the brothers, but Godfrey, having faithfully served Henry thus far,
rebelled. Henry called the two brothers together at Nijmegen, but failed to reconcile them. Nevertheless, he set out
on the warpath against Hungary, then experiencing internal duress.
Henry entered Hungary on July 6 and met a large army with his small host. Disaffection rent the Magyar forces,
however, and they crumbled at the German onslaught in the Battle of Ménfo. Peter was reinstalled as king at
Székesfehérvár, a vassal of the Empire, and Henry could return home triumphant, the Hungarian people having
readily submitted to his rule.[1] Tribute was to be paid and Aba, while fleeing, was captured by Peter and beheaded.
Hungary appeared to have entered the German fold fully and with ease.