Coins of Bavaria.pdf - numismatas.com

Henry's intent, however, was apparently to perform the penance required
to lift his excommunication and ensure his continued rule. The choice of
an Italian location for the act of repentance, instead of Augsburg, was not
accidental: it aimed to consolidate the Imperial power in an area partly
hostile to the Pope; to lead in person the prosecution of events; and to
oppose the pact signed by German feudataries and the Pope in Tribur
with the strong German party that had deposed Gregory at Worms,
through the concrete presence of his army.
He stood in the snow outside the gates of the castle of Canossa for three
days, from January 25 to January 27, 1077, begging the pope to rescind
the sentence (popularly portrayed as without shoes, taking no food or
shelter, and wearing a hairshirt - see Walk of Canossa). The Pope lifted
the excommunication, imposing a vow to comply with certain conditions,
which Henry soon violated.
Rudolf of Rheinfeld, a two-time brother-in-law of Henry, took advantage of
the momentary weakness of the Emperor by having himself declared
antiking by a council of Saxon, Bavarian, and Carinthian princes in March
of 1077 in Forchheim. Rudolf promised to respect the electoral concept of
the monarchy and declared his willingness to be subservient to the pope.
Despite these difficulties, Henry's situation in Germany improved in the
following years. When Rudolf was crowned at Mainz in May 1077, the
population revolted and forced him to flee to Saxony, where he was
deprived of his territories (later he was also stripped of Swabia). After the Henry IV begging Matilda of Canossa.
inconclusive battle of Mellrichstadt (August 7, 1077) and the defeat of
Flarchheim (27 January 1080) Gregory instead launched a second anathema against Henry in March 1080. However, the evidence
that Gregory's hate had such a personal connotation led much of Germany to re-embrace Henry's cause.
On October 14, 1080 the armies of the two rival kings met at the Elster River, in the plain of Leipzig. Rudolf was mortally wounded
and died soon afterwards, and the rebellion against Henry lost momentum. Another antiking, Henry of Luxembourg, was fought
successfully by Frederick of Swabia, Rudolf's successor in Swabia who had married Henry's daughter Agnes. Henry convoked a
synod of the highest German clergy in Bamberg and Brixen (June, 1080). Here Henry had Gregory (dubbed "The False Monk")
again deposed and replaced by the primate of Ravenna, Guibert (the antipope Clement III).
Henry entered in Pavia and was crowned here as King of Italy, receiving the Iron Crown. He also assigned a series of privileges to
the Italian cities who had supported him, and marched against the hated Matilda, declaring her deposed for lese majesty and confiscating
her possessions. Then he moved to Rome, which he besieged first in 1081: he was however compelled to retire to
Tuscany, where he granted privileges to various cities, and obtained monetary assistance (360,000 gold pieces)[2] from a new ally,
the eastern emperor, Alexios I Komnenos, who aimed to thwart the Norman's aims against his empire. A second and equally
unsuccessful attack on Rome was followed by a war of devastation in northern Italy with the adherents of Matilda; and towards the
end of 1082 the king made a third attack on Rome. After a siege of seven months the Leonine city fell into his hands. A treaty was
concluded with the Romans, who agreed that the quarrel between king and pope should be decided by a synod, and secretly
bound themselves to induce Gregory to crown Henry as emperor, or to choose another pope. Gregory, however, shut up in Castel
Sant'Angelo, would hear of no compromise; the synod was a failure, as Henry prevented the attendance of many of the pope's
supporters; and the king, in pursuance of his treaty with Alexios, marched against the Normans. The Romans soon fell away from
their allegiance to the pope; and, recalled to the city, Henry entered Rome in March 1084, after which Gregory was declared
deposed and Clement was recognized by the Romans. On 31 March 1084 Henry was crowned emperor by Clement, and received
the patrician authority. His next step was to attack the fortresses still in the hands of Gregory. The pope was saved by the advance
of Robert Guiscard, duke of Apulia, who left the siege of Durazzo and marched towards Rome: Henry left the city and Gregory
could be freed. The latter however died soon later at Salerno (1085), not before a last letter in which he exhorted the whole
Christianity to a crusade against the emperor.
Feeling secure of his success in Italy, Henry returned to Germany.
The Emperor spent 1084 in a show of power in Germany, where the reforming instances had still ground due to the predication of
Otto of Ostia, advancing up to Magdeburg in Saxony. He also declared the Peace of God in all the Imperial territories to quench
any sedition. On March 8, 1088 Otto of Ostia was elected pope as Victor III: with the Norman support, he excommunicated Henry
and Clement III, who was defined "a beast sprung out from the earth to wage war against the Saints of God". He also formed a
large coalition against the Holy Roman Empire, including, aside from the Normans, the Rus of Kiev, the Lombard communes of
Milan, Cremona, Lodi and Piacenza and Matilda of Canossa, who had she remarried to Welf II of Bavaria, therefore creating a
concentration of power too formidable to be neglected by the emperor.