Henry IV

Reign: 1084 – 1106
Life: 1050–1106

After his father's death in 1056, his mother acted as regent, granting lands to secure aristocratic support. Unable to control papal elections, she witnessed the growing assertion of the "liberty of the Church", a principle central to the emerging Gregorian Reform. In 1062, Archbishop Anno II of Cologne kidnapped Henry and governed until he came of age in 1065. Seeking to recover royal estates lost during his minority, Henry relied on lower-ranking officials, provoking unrest in Saxony and Thuringia. After crushing a renewed rebellion in Saxony in 1075, Henry adopted an active policy in Italy, alarming Alexander successor, Gregory VII, who threatened him with excommunication for simony. In 1076, German bishops, encouraged by Henry, declared Gregory's election invalid.

During Henry IV's reign, Alfonso VI of León and Castile ruled Spain, Blot-Sweyn ruled Sweden, and Alexios I Komnenos ruled Rome.

Want to learn more? Further reading

Henry IV of Germany, 1056–1106 by I. S. Robinson

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Henry IV of Germany, 1056–1106

I. S. Robinson

The standard English life of the emperor at the heart of the Investiture Controversy.

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