HENRY V, Emperor. - Son of the preceding and of Bertha of Savoy, b. 18 Jan. 1081, d. at Utrecht on 23 May 1123. Designated for the succession in 1098 after the revolt of his brother Conrad, he was crowned king on 6 Jan. 1099. An ambitious and unscrupulous prince, in 1104 he betrayed his father, forcing him to abdicate, and succeeded him in Aug. 1106. Despite protests of fidelity to the Pope, with bold nonchalance and contempt for the canon laws he began to appoint and to grant investiture to bishops. The Church, which had already struggled so much against his father to vindicate precisely that freedom of investitures, could not remain passive, and the rupture became fatal.
Henry, however, longed to wear the imperial crown, even by coming to an agreement with the Pope, but the events in Germany and the difficulties that arose between 1108-1109 prevented him from carrying out his plan. Only in Aug. 1110 was he able to descend into Italy; he easily subdued Lombardy and Tuscany and celebrated Christmas in Florence. In Feb. 1111 the negotiations begun with the Pope led to the Concordat of Sutri: Henry promised to renounce every investiture, and the Pope, in the name of the bishops, [promised to renounce] all regalia and imperial fiefs. During the coronation ceremony, however, the bishops refused to sign the requested renunciation; Henry then declared himself released from his oath and claimed the right to investitures; the Pope refused to crown him, but when a tumult broke out he was taken prisoner. For two months he resisted all threats, but in the end he yielded, and Henry obtained as a special privilege the right to confer investitures (11 Apr. 1111). On the 13th he was crowned emperor and at once returned to Germany, satisfied with the success obtained. The act, however, aroused indignation throughout the Church, and by writings and petitions the Pope was implored to retract what was designated as a pravilegium because it had been extorted by violence. Paschal II, now free from imperial violence and supported by all the bishops, on 23 March 1112 annulled the privilege; yet when urged to excommunicate Henry he refused to do so, hoping for his repentance, knowing him to be engaged in grave political difficulties in Germany. In 1116 Henry came to Italy to take possession of the goods of the deceased Countess Matilda, although they had been left to the Church; having easily succeeded in the enterprise, he hoped to reach a settlement with the Pope while not renouncing investitures. But Paschal II confirmed the revocation of the privilege and renewed the Gregorian decree against lay investitures.
Henry then besieged Rome and took possession of it at the beginning of 1117, while the Pope took refuge at Benevento, and on Easter day he had himself crowned again by an archbishop. The following summer he returned to Germany, but having learned of the election of the new pontiff Gelasius II (23 Jan. 1118) he returned clandestinely to Rome to take him prisoner. Gelasius managed to escape, and then Henry, disappointed and furious, elected the antipope Gregory VIII, whom Gelasius, from Capua, excommunicated together with Henry. The latter, in order to hinder the promulgation of the excommunication, returned to Germany, and then Gelasius was able to return to Rome; but he was again forced to leave it and take refuge in France, where he died on 29 Jan. 1119. To succeed him was elected Callixtus II, who, although a faithful follower of the ideas of Gregory VII, nevertheless desired to reach an agreement with Henry in order to restore peace. The German episcopate itself, which by now was beginning to understand the necessity of reform for the Church, encouraged him to pursue that path. Henry for his part too, at the Diet of Mainz (24 June 1119), promised to be reconciled with the Pope. Legates of Callixtus then met with Henry, and a preliminary agreement of mutual promises was reached, deferring the decisions to a direct colloquy between the Pope and the Emperor. The meeting took place at Mouzon, but because of Henry's tergi-
(from K. Langt, Munkunst des Mittelalters, Leipzig 1918, inv. 13) HENRY VI, EMPEROR - The emperor on his throne with the insignia of his authority. Silver coin (1100-07) - Berlin, Geldmuseum der Deutschen Reichsbank.
versations nothing was concluded, and at the Council of Reims (Oct. 1119) the Pope renewed the excommunication. During 1120 Henry was engaged in Germany in civil wars, at the end of which (Sept. 1122) a diet was held at Würzburg in which peace was prescribed for the whole kingdom and it was decided, with the assent of Henry himself, to send legates to treat with the Pope. The negotiations were concluded at Worms with a concordat on 23 Sept. 1122.
Henry renounced every investiture by means of the ring and the pastoral staff, promised not to interfere in the elections of bishops, to restore to the Church all the goods that had been taken from it, and to help it in the work of reform. For his part the Pope conceded that the elections of bishops be held in the presence of the Emperor or of his delegate, and that the regalia be granted with investiture by means of the scepter. The peace was sealed with the celebration of a solemn Mass, during which Henry was admitted to Communion and received the kiss of peace from Card. Lambert of Ostia in the name of the Pope, who dispensed him from any other canonical penance. The struggle over investitures, which had troubled Church and Empire for about 50 years, thus came to an end.