Henry IV (emperor)
King of the Germans and son of an emperor of the same name. Excommunicated by Gregory VII in 1076, he did penance at Canossa in January 1077, was excommunicated again in 1080, and was crowned emperor in Rome in 1084 by a pope of his own party.
The papal sentence against him names him “Henry the king, son of Henry the emperor” (Gregory VII, Register 3.10a). In his letter of 1076 to Gregory VII he set out the royal position: he held his kingdom from God and not from the pope, and an anointed king could be judged by God alone unless he strayed from the faith (Henry IV, Letters, to Hildebrand (1076)).
Gregory declared him deposed and excommunicate in 1076 (Gregory VII, Register 3.10a), absolved him at Canossa in January 1077 (Gregory VII, Register 4.12) and excommunicated him again in 1080 (Gregory VII, Register 7.14a). Bernold of Constance, who writes as his enemy, records that in 1084 Henry entered the Lateran palace in Rome and was crowned at Easter by Guibert of Ravenna, whom excommunicated bishops had ordained pope (Bernold of Constance, Chronicle 1084 (p. 440)). Ekkehard of Aura records his death under the year 1106 and says that his own party called him the fourth emperor of his name, while those loyal to the popes called him a heresiarch (Ekkehard of Aura, Chronicle 1106 (p. 239)).
In the timeline
- 1075 to 1077, firm dateThe Investiture Controversy and Canossa
Pope Gregory VII and King Henry IV of Germany break over the appointment of bishops. Deposed and excommunicated in 1076, Henry comes as a barefoot penitent to the castle of Canossa in January 1077 and is absolved. The conflict goes on.
Primary sources
Register of Gregory VII
- Gregory VII, Register 3.10aavalon.law.yale.edu
- Gregory VII, Register 4.12avalon.law.yale.edu
- Gregory VII, Register 7.14aavalon.law.yale.edu
Letters of Henry IV
- Henry IV, Letters, to Hildebrand (1076)avalon.law.yale.edu