1.
Hofburg
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The Hofburg is the former imperial palace in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was the principal winter residence, as Schönbrunn Palace was the summer residence. Since 1279 the Hofburg area has been the seat of government. The Hofburg has been expanded over the centuries to various residences, the imperial chapel, the imperial library, the treasury, the Burgtheater, the Spanish Riding School. The palace faces the Heldenplatz ordered under the reign of Emperor Francis Joseph I, as part of what was planned to become the Kaiserforum, the name translates as Royal Castle, which denotes its origins when it was initially constructed during the Medieval Age. Initially constructed as the seat of the Dukes of Austria in the 13th century, from 1438 to 1583 and from 1612 to 1806, it was the seat of the Habsburg kings and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, thereafter the seat of the Emperor of Austria until 1918. It has continued its role as the seat of the head of state and is used by the Austrian Federal President. It is also the permanent conference seat of the Organization for Security, presently the Burghauptmannschaft is under the jurisdiction of the Federal Ministry of Economy. In September 1958 parts of the Hofburg were opened to the public as a convention centre, in the first ten years the Burghauptmannschaft operated the convention centre, since 1969 a private company has been managing the international congress and events center. Every year the centre hosts about 300 to 350 events with around 300,000 to 320,000 guests. Among the events are conventions and meetings as well as banquets, trade fairs, concerts, the oldest sections originate from the 13th century and were primarily constructed by the last of the Babenbergers or by Ottakar II of Bohemia. Previously the castle of the Austrian rulers had been located on the square called Am Hof, the castle had a square-shaped outline with four turrets, surrounded by a moat and a drawbridge that led to the inside. These oldest sections of the castle form the Swiss Court. There situated are a chapel, from the 15th century, and the treasury, which holds, among other objects, the imperial insignia of the Holy Roman Empire. The Court Music Chapel is located in the Court Chapel and this is where the Vienna Boys Choir traditionally sing for Sunday mass. The appearance of the Swiss Court was given during the reign of Emperor Ferdinand I during the Renaissance, the entry Swiss Gate displays the many titles of Emperor Ferdinand I and the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece painted on the ceiling. An adjoining section of the Swiss Wing houses the Radetzky Apartments, next to the Knights Hall is the Guard Room, where the duty officer of the Household Guards kept watch over the emperor. The lower section of this wing once accommodated the imperial kitchen, although not physically connected to the rest of the complex, the imperial mews of the Hofburg were originally built as a residence for the then crown prince Maximilian II
2.
Imperial Regalia
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The Imperial Regalia, also Imperial Insignia, are the regalia of the Emperors and Kings of the Holy Roman Empire. The most important parts are the Imperial Crown, the Holy Lance, today they are kept at the Imperial Treasury in the Hofburg palace in Vienna, Austria. The Imperial Regalia are the completely preserved regalia from the Middle Ages. During the late Middle Ages, the word Imperial Regalia had many variations in the Latin language, the regalia were named in Latin, insignia imperialia, regalia insignia, insignia imperalis capellae quae regalia dicuntur and other similar words. The regalia is composed of two different parts, the greater group are the so-called Nürnberger Kleinodien, named after the town of Nuremberg, where the regalia were kept from 1424 to 1796. St. Stephens Purse, the Imperial Bible, and the so-called Sabre of Charlemagne were kept in Aachen until 1794 and it is not known how long they have been considered among the Imperial Regalia, nor how long they had been in Aachen. The inventory of the regalia during the late Middle Ages normally consisted only of five to six items, goffredo da Viterbo counted following items, the Imperial Cross, the Holy Lance, the crown, the sceptre, the orb, and the sword. On other lists, however, the sword is not mentioned, whether the medieval chronicles really do refer to the same regalia which are kept in Vienna today depends on a variety of factors. Descriptions of the emperors only spoke of them being “clothed in imperial regalia” without exactly describing which items they were, the crown can only be dated back to the 13th century, when it is described in a medieval poem. The first definite pictorial image of the crown can only be later in a mural in the Karlstein Castle close to Prague. It is also difficult to define for how long the Imperial and Ceremonial Swords have belonged to the regalia, until the 15th century the Imperial Regalia had no firm depository and sometimes accompanied the ruler on his trips through the empire. Above all with conflicts around the legality of the rule it was important to own the insignia and they arrived there on 22 March in the next year from Plintenburg coming and were kept in the Heilig-Geist-Spital. They left this place regularly for the Heiltumsweisungen and for coronations, since of the Age of Enlightenment at least the imperial regalia had no constitutive or confirming character for the empire any more. They were an only adorned decoration for the coronation of the emperors who all are derived from the House of Habsburg, the whole rigmarole around the coronation and the imperial regalia was felt mostly only as travesty. In July 1796 French troops crossed the Rhine and shortly after reached Franconia, on 23 July a part of the Imperial Regalia were transported by Nuremberg colonel Johann Georg Haller von Hallerstein from Nuremberg to Regensburg, where they arrived on the next day. On 28 September the remaining parts of the jewels were also delivered to Regensburg, since this elopement parts of the treasure are missing. Until 1800 the Imperial Regalia remained in the St. Emmeram Castle in Regensburg, there the committal is verified for 29 October. The pieces from Aachen were brought in 1798 to Hildesheim and reached Vienna not before 1801, after the Anschluss of Austria to the Nazi Reich in 1938 the imperial regalia were returned on instruction by Adolf Hitler to Nuremberg, where they were exhibited in the Katharinenkirche
3.
Holy Roman Empire
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The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The title was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne, some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, the office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806, after the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon, before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire. In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, by the end of the 18th century, the term Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation had fallen out of official use. As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control, by the middle of the 8th century, however, the Merovingians had been reduced to figureheads, and the Carolingians, led by Charles Martel, had become the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel’s son Pepin became King of the Franks, the Carolingians would maintain a close alliance with the Papacy. In 768 Pepin’s son Charlemagne became King of the Franks and began an expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, on Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, restoring the title in the west for the first time in over three centuries. After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, however, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, according to Regino of Prüm, the parts of the realm spewed forth kinglets, and each part elected a kinglet from its own bowels. After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in Italy, the last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924. Around 900, autonomous stem duchies reemerged in East Francia, on his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony, who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919. Henry reached a truce with the raiding Magyars, and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade, Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing dynasty, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowlers death, Otto, his son and designated successor, was elected King in Aachen in 936 and he overcame a series of revolts from an elder brother and from several dukes. After that, the managed to control the appointment of dukes. In 951, Otto came to the aid of Adelaide, the queen of Italy, defeating her enemies, marrying her. In 955, Otto won a victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld
4.
Imperial Treasury, Vienna
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The Imperial Treasury at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria contains a valuable collection of secular and ecclesiastical treasures covering over a thousand years of European history. The entrance to the treasury is at the Schweizerhof, the oldest part of the palace, the Imperial Treasury is divided into two collections, the secular collection and the ecclesiastical collection. Like all secular treasuries, it was designed to attest to the political power, the ecclesiastical collection contains numerous religious treasures, including relics and objects ascribed to the private ownership of saints. The Imperial Treasury collections were set up from 1556 by the scholar Jacopo Strada, after the Austrian Anschluss of 1938, the Nazi authorities took them back to Nuremberg. At the end of World War II, they were returned to Vienna by the US forces, the display was completely renovated in 1983-1987. The Treasury is divided two sections - secular and ecclesiastical. The original insignia of the Kingdom of Bohemia, the scepter, the treasury of the Order of the Golden Fleece from the heritage of Marys father Duke Charles the Bold. On display are various valuable gems, including one of the worlds largest emeralds, the ecclesiastical collection contains numerous devotional images and altars, mostly from the Baroque era. Citations Bibliography Austria Info Imperial Treasury Museum Just Vienna Kunsthistorisches Museum Secular Treasury Kunsthistorisches Museum Ecclesiastical Treasury Visiting Vienna
5.
Vienna
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Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region, along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be The City of Dreams because it was home to the worlds first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The citys roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city and it is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first for the worlds most liveable cities, between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne, Australia. Monocles 2015 Quality of Life Survey ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world to make a base within, the UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the worlds number-one destination for international congresses and it attracts over 3.7 million tourists a year. The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian version of the name or the French Vienne. The etymology of the name is still subject to scholarly dispute. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning forest stream, which produced the Old High German Uuenia. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech and Slovak names of the city, the name of the city in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and Ottoman Turkish has a different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene-speakers call the city Dunaj, which in other Central European Slavic languages means the Danube River, evidence has been found of continuous habitation since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north
6.
King of the Romans
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King of the Romans was the title used by the German king following his election by the princes from the time of Emperor Henry II onward. The title was predominantly a claim to become Holy Roman Emperor and was dependent upon coronation by the Pope, the title originally referred to any elected king who had not yet been granted the Imperial Regalia and title of Emperor at the hands of the Pope. Later it came to be used solely for the apparent to the Imperial throne between his election and his succession upon the death of the Emperor. The territory of East Francia was not referred to as the Kingdom of Germany or Regnum Teutonicum by contemporary sources until the 11th century, during this time, the kings claim to coronation was increasingly contested by the papacy culminating in the fierce Investiture Controversy. Pope Gregory VII insisted on using the derogatory term Teutonicorum Rex in order to imply that Henrys authority was merely local, Henry continued to regularly use the title Romanorum Rex until he finally was crowned Emperor by Antipope Clement III in 1084. Henrys successors imitated this practice, and were also called Romanorum Rex before, candidates for the kingship were at first the heads of the Germanic stem duchies. As these units broke up, rulers of principalities and even non-Germanic rulers were considered for the position. The only requirements generally observed were that the candidate be a male, a Catholic Christian. The kings were elected by several Imperial Estates, often in the city of Frankfurt after 1147. They were the Prince-Archbishops of Mainz, Trier and Cologne as well as the King of Bohemia, the Count Palatine of the Rhine, the Saxon duke, after the Investiture Controversy, Charles intended to strengthen the legal status of the Rex Romanorum beyond Papal approbation. Consequently, among his successors only Sigismund and Frederick III were still crowned Emperors in Rome, the Golden Bull remained effective as constitutional law until the Empires dissolution in 1806. After his election, the new king would be crowned as King of the Romans, though the ceremony was no more than a symbolic validation of the election result, it was solemnly celebrated. The details of Ottos coronation in 936 are described by the medieval chronicler Widukind of Corvey in his Res gestae saxonicae, the kings received the Imperial Crown from at least 1024, at the coronation of Conrad II. In 1198 the Hohenstaufen candidate Philip of Swabia was crowned Rex Romanorum at Mainz Cathedral, at some time after the ceremony, the king would, if possible, cross the Alps, to receive coronation in Pavia or Milan with the Iron Crown of Lombardy as King of Italy. Finally, he would travel to Rome and be crowned Emperor by the Pope, in such cases, the king might retain the title King of the Romans for his entire reign. At this time Maximilian also took the new title King of the Germans or King in Germany, the following were ruling Kings of the Romans, i. e. men who ruled the Kingdom without subordination to another King but who had not yet been crowned Emperor. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy, no person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Emperor. However, the Emperor could, and often did, have an elected to succeed him after his death
7.
Essen Abbey
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Essen Abbey was a monastery of secular canonesses for women of high nobility in Essen, Germany. It was founded about 845 by the Saxon Altfrid, later Bishop of Hildesheim and saint, near an estate called Astnidhi. The first abbess was Altfrids kinswoman, Gerswit, a chapter of male priests were also attached to the abbey, under a dean. Because of its advancement by the Liudolfings the abbey became reichsunmittelbar sometime between 874 and 947 and its best years began in 973 under the Abbess Mathilde, granddaughter of Otto I and thus herself a Liudolfing, who governed the abbey until 1011. In her time the most important of the art treasures of what is now the Essen Cathedral treasury came to Essen, the next two abbesses to succeed her were also from the Liudolfing family and were thus able further to increase the wealth and power of the foundation. In 1228 the abbesses were designated Princesses for the first time, from 1300 they took up residence in Schloss Borbeck, where they spent increasing amounts of time. In the north of the territory was located the monastery of Stoppenberg, founded in 1073. Also among the possessions of the abbey was the area round Huckarde, on the borders of the County of Dortmund, approximately 3,000 farms in the area owed dues to the abbey, in Vest Recklinghausen, on the Hellweg and round Breisig and Godesberg. From 1512 to its dissolution the Imperial abbey belonged to the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle, from 1802 the territory was occupied by Prussian troops. The abbey was dissolved in 1803, the spiritual territory of three square miles passed to Prussia, then between 1806/1807 to 1813 to the Duchy of Berg and afterwards to Prussia again. The last abbess, Maria Kunigunde von Sachsen, died on 8 April 1826 in Dresden. When in 1958 the Roman Catholic Diocese of Essen was created, the dates of the rule of the abbesses are incompletely preserved. The sequence of the abbesses between Gerswid II and Ida is uncertain, particularly in regard to the Abbess Agana, saint Altfrid Ute Küppers-Braun, Macht in Frauenhand –1000 Jahre Herrschaft adeliger Frauen in Essen. Torsten Fremer, Äbtissin Theophanu und das Stift Essen, familienforschung in den Kirchenbüchern des Stifts Essen
8.
Medieval Latin
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Despite the clerical origin of many of its authors, medieval Latin should not be confused with Ecclesiastical Latin. There is no consensus on the exact boundary where Late Latin ends. Medieval Latin had a vocabulary, which freely borrowed from other sources. Greek provided much of the vocabulary of Christianity. The various Germanic languages spoken by the Germanic tribes, who invaded southern Europe, were major sources of new words. Germanic leaders became the rulers of parts of the Roman Empire that they conquered, other more ordinary words were replaced by coinages from Vulgar Latin or Germanic sources because the classical words had fallen into disuse. Latin was also spread to such as Ireland and Germany. Works written in the lands, where Latin was a language with no relation to the local vernacular, also influenced the vocabulary. English words like abstract, subject, communicate, matter, probable, the high point of the development of medieval Latin as a literary language came with the Carolingian renaissance, a rebirth of learning kindled under the patronage of Charlemagne, king of the Franks. On the other hand, strictly speaking there was no form of medieval Latin. Every Latin author in the period spoke Latin as a second language, with varying degrees of fluency, and syntax, grammar. For instance, rather than following the classical Latin practice of placing the verb at the end. Unlike classical Latin, where esse was the auxiliary verb, medieval Latin writers might use habere as an auxiliary, similar to constructions in Germanic. The accusative and infinitive construction in classical Latin was often replaced by a clause introduced by quod or quia. This is almost identical, for example, to the use of que in similar constructions in French. In every age from the late 8th century onwards, there were learned writers who were familiar enough with classical syntax to be aware that these forms and usages were wrong, however the use of quod to introduce subordinate clauses was especially pervasive and is found at all levels. That resulted in two features of Medieval Latin compared with Classical Latin. First, many attempted to show off their knowledge of Classical Latin by using rare or archaic constructions
9.
Hilt
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The hilt of a sword is its handle, consisting of a guard, grip and pommel. The guard may contain a crossguard or quillons, a ricasso may also be present, but this is rarely the case. A tassel or sword knot may be attached to the guard or pommel, the pommel is an enlarged fitting at the top of the handle. They were originally developed to prevent the sword slipping from the hand, from around the 11th century in Europe they became heavy enough to be a counterweight to the blade. This gave the sword a point of not too far from the hilt allowing a more fluid fighting style. Depending on sword design and swordsmanship style, the pommel may also be used to strike the opponent, pommels have appeared in a wide variety of shapes, including oblate spheroids, crescents, disks, wheels, and animal or bird heads. They are often engraved or inlayed with various designs and occasionally gilt, ewart Oakeshott introduced a system of classification of medieval pommel forms in his The Sword in the Age of Chivalry to stand alongside his blade typology. Oakeshott pommel types are enumerated with capital letters A–Z, with subtypes indicated by numerals, one of the most common forms, found throughout the 10th to 15th centuries. I, a disk with wide chamfered edges, the disk being much smaller than in H. I1 is a hexagonal variant J, as I. T1 to T5 are variants of this basic type U, key-shaped type of the half of the 15th century V. W, a wheel shape Z, square shape, with its sub-types used to closely define the area and age, Z1 and Z2b, Z3. The grip is the handle of the sword and it was usually of wood or metal, and often covered with shagreen. Shark skin proved to be the most durable in temperate climates but deteriorated in hot climates, alternatively, many sword types opt for ray skin instead, referred to in katana construction as the same. Whatever material covered the grip, it was usually glued on and held on with wire wrapped around it in a helix. It is a misconception that the cross-guard protects the users entire hand from the opponents sword. Only with the abandonment of the shield and then the armoured gauntlet did a full hand guard become necessary, the crossguard still protected the user from a blade that was deliberately slid down the length of the blade to cut off or injure the hand. Early swords do not have true guards but simply a form of stop to prevent the hand slipping up the blade when thrusting as they were used in conjunction with a shield. From the 11th century, European sword guards took the form of a straight crossbar perpendicular to the blade, beginning in the 16th century in Europe, guards became more and more elaborate, with additional loops and curved bars or branches to protect the hand
10.
Charlemagne
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Charlemagne or Charles the Great, numbered Charles I, was the King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774 and Emperor of the Romans from 800. He united much of Europe during the early Middle Ages and he was the first recognised emperor in western Europe since the fall of the Western Roman Empire three centuries earlier. The expanded Frankish state which Charlemagne founded was called the Carolingian Empire, Charlemagne was the oldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon. He became king in 768 following his fathers death, initially as co-ruler with his brother Carloman I, carlomans sudden death in 771 in unexplained circumstances left Charlemagne as the undisputed ruler of the Frankish Kingdom. He continued his fathers policy towards the papacy and became its protector, removing the Lombards from power in northern Italy and he campaigned against the Saxons to his east, Christianising them upon penalty of death and leading to events such as the Massacre of Verden. Charlemagne reached the height of his power in 800 when he was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day at Old St. Peters Basilica. Charlemagne has been called the Father of Europe, as he united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire and his rule spurred the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of energetic cultural and intellectual activity within the Western Church. All Holy Roman Emperors considered their kingdoms to be descendants of Charlemagnes empire, up to the last Emperor Francis II and these and other machinations led to the eventual split of Rome and Constantinople in the Great Schism of 1054. Charlemagne died in 814, having ruled as emperor for thirteen years and he was laid to rest in his imperial capital of Aachen in what is today Germany. He married at least four times and had three sons, but only his son Louis the Pious survived to succeed him. By the 6th century, the western Germanic Franks had been Christianised, Francia, ruled by the Merovingians, was the most powerful of the kingdoms that succeeded the Western Roman Empire. Following the Battle of Tertry the Merovingians declined into powerlessness, for which they have dubbed the rois fainéants. Almost all government powers were exercised by their chief officer, the mayor of the palace, in 687, Pepin of Herstal, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, ended the strife between various kings and their mayors with his victory at Tertry. He became the governor of the entire Frankish kingdom. Pepin was the grandson of two important figures of the Austrasian Kingdom, Saint Arnulf of Metz and Pepin of Landen, Pepin of Herstal was eventually succeeded by his illegitimate son Charles, later known as Charles Martel. After 737, Charles governed the Franks in lieu of a king, Charles was succeeded in 741 by his sons Carloman and Pepin the Short, the father of Charlemagne. In 743, the brothers placed Childeric III on the throne to curb separatism in the periphery and he was the last Merovingian king. Carloman resigned office in 746, preferring to enter the church as a monk, Pepin brought the question of the kingship before Pope Zachary, asking whether it was logical for a king to have no royal power
11.
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
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Henry III, called the Black or the Pious, was a member of the Salian Dynasty of Holy Roman Emperors. He was the eldest son of Conrad II of Germany and Gisela of Swabia and his father made him Duke of Bavaria in 1026, after the death of Duke Henry V. On Easter Day 1028, after his father was crowned Holy Roman Emperor, Henry was elected and crowned King of Germany in the cathedral of Aachen by Pilgrim, Archbishop of Cologne. After the death of Herman IV, Duke of Swabia in 1038, his father gave him that duchy, as well as the kingdom of Burgundy, which Conrad had inherited in 1033. Upon the death of his father on 4 June 1039, he became ruler of the kingdom and was crowned emperor by Pope Clement II in Rome. Henrys first tutor was Bruno, Bishop of Augsburg, on Brunos death in 1029, Egilbert, Bishop of Freising, was appointed to take his place. In 1033, at the age of sixteen, Henry came of age, Henry, in accordance with his promise to Egilbert, did not consent to his fathers act and Conrad, stupefied, fell unconscious after many attempts to turn Henry. Upon recovering, Conrad knelt before his son and exacted the desired consent, Egilbert was penalised dearly by the emperor. In 1036, Henry was married to Gunhilda of Denmark, a daughter of Canute the Great, King of Denmark, England, early on, Henrys father had arranged with Canute to have him rule over some parts of northern Germany and in turn to have their children married. The marriage took place in Nijmegen at the earliest legal age, in 1038, Henry was called to aid his father in Italy, and Gunhilda died on the Adriatic Coast during the return trip. In 1039, his father died, and Henry became sole ruler. Henry spent his first year in power on a tour of his domains and he visited the Low Countries to receive the homage of Gothelo I, Duke of Upper and Lower Lorraine. In Cologne, he was joined by Herman II, Archbishop of Cologne, who accompanied him and his mother to Saxony, where he was to build the town of Goslar up from obscurity to stately imperial grandeur. He had a force when he entered Thuringia to meet with Eckard II, Margrave of Meissen, whose advice. Only a Bohemian embassy bearing hostages appeased Henry and he disbanded his army and he passed through Bavaria, where, upon his departure, King Peter Urseolo of Hungary sent raiding parties into Swabia. There, at Ulm, he convened a Council of Princes at which he received his first recognition from Italy and he returned to Ingelheim and was recognised by a Burgundian embassy and Aribert, Archbishop of Milan, whom he had supported against his father. This peace with Aribert healed the only open wound in the Empire, meanwhile, in 1039, while he was touring his dominions, Conrad, Adalberos successor in Carinthia and Henrys cousin, died childless. Henry being his nearest kin automatically inherited that duchy as well and he was now a triple-duke and triple-king
12.
Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor
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Otto IV was one of two rival kings of Germany from 1198 on, sole king from 1208 on, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until he was forced to abdicate in 1215. The only German king of the Welf dynasty, he incurred the wrath of Pope Innocent III and was excommunicated in 1210, Otto was the third son of Henry the Lion, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, and Matilda of England. His exact birthplace is not given by any original source and he grew up in England in the care of his grandfather King Henry II. Otto was fluent in French as well as German and he became the foster son of his maternal uncle, Richard I of England. In 1190, after he left England to join the Third Crusade, the authenticity of this grant was doubted by the vassals of Yorkshire, who prevented Otto taking possession of his earldom. Still, he probably visited Yorkshire in 1191, and he continued to claim the revenues of the earldom after becoming king of Germany, neither did he succeed in getting the 25,000 silver marks willed to him by his uncle in 1199. In 1195, Richard began negotiations to marry Otto to Margaret, daughter, lothian, as Margarets dowry, would be handed over to Richard for safekeeping and the counties of Northumberland and Cumberland would be granted to Otto and turned over to the king of Scotland. The negotiations dragged on until August 1198, when the birth of a son to William rendered them unnecessary. Having failed in his efforts to secure Otto an English earldom or else a Scottish kingdom, in September 1196 Richard, as duke of Aquitaine, there is some disagreement over whether Otto received Poitou in exchange for or in addition to the earldom of York. Otto was in Poitou from September 1196 until mid-1197, when he joined Richard in Normandy to confer over the appointment of bishops to the vacant sees of Poitiers, Limoges and he then participated in the war against Philip II of France on the side of Richard. In October he returned to Poitou, the German historian Jens Ahlers, taking into account Ottos life prior to 1198, considers that he might have been the first foreign king of Germany. Those princes opposed to the Staufen dynasty also decided, on the initiative of Richard of England, Ottos elder brother, Henry, was on a crusade at the time, and so the choice fell to Otto. Otto, soon recognized throughout the northwest and the lower Rhine region, was elected king by his partisans in Cologne on June 9,1198. Otto took control of Aachen, the place of coronation, and was crowned by Adolf, Archbishop of Cologne and this was of great symbolic importance, since the Archbishop of Cologne alone could crown the King of the Romans. Nevertheless, the coronation was done with fake regalia, because the materials were in the hands of the Staufen. Ottos election pulled the empire into the conflict between England and France, Philip had allied himself with the French king, Philip II, while Otto was supported at first by Richard I, and after his death in 1199 by his brother John. The papacy meanwhile, under Innocent III, determined to prevent the unification of Sicily. Therefore, Innocent III favoured Otto, whose family had always opposed to the house of Hohenstaufen
