Henry VII, Emperor

HENRY VII, Emperor. - Son of Count Henry III of Luxembourg, b. between 1270 and 1280, d. at Buonconvento on 24 Aug. 1313. On the death of Albert of Habsburg (1 May 1308), through the intervention of his brother Baldwin, Bishop of Trier, and despite the machinations of Philip the Fair, who wanted his own brother Charles of Valois elected, he was raised unanimously to Emperor of Germany (27 Nov. 1308). He was crowned at Aachen on 6 Jan. 1309 and confirmed by Clement V in the following July.

A noble character, but more knight than sovereign, in order to give greater splendor and greatness to the Empire, which he regarded as the only universal monarchy, he sought the papal coronation in Rome. Having therefore settled affairs in Germany, with the approval of the Pope, to whom he had dangled the idea of a Crusade, in the autumn of 1310 he set about coming to Italy to achieve his aim. The very political factions that were afflicting the peninsula with continuous revolutions and fratricidal struggles urged the Emperor's coming, hoping through his intervention to attain peace and tranquility. In Oct. 1310 E. received at Turin the homage of many lords and bishops; he then passed into Lombardy, welcomed with great enthusiasm, and on 6 Jan. 1311 received at Milan the Iron Crown. But a few days later, because of his exorbitant demands for money and hostages, a revolt broke out; other cities rebelled, and then E., abandoning the mission of peacemaker above the factions, openly placed himself at the head of the Ghibelline party. During his stay in Lombardy several cities guilty of being Guelph were destroyed. In Feb. 1312, passing through Genoa, he went to Tuscany, where he outlawed certain cities, and in May he reached Rome. The city was garrisoned by the soldiers of Robert of Naples, head of the Guelph party; E. was able to occupy only the Lateran, where on 29 June he was crowned. Now at odds with the Guelph party, he allied himself with Frederick, King of Sicily, and in Aug. returned to Tuscany, determined to punish and subdue Florence, which was at the head of the opposition, but he had to withdraw. Once the year of truce imposed on him by Clement V in favor of Robert of Naples had ended, and scorning the threats of excommunication, with the help of Frederick and of the Ghibelline cities of Italy he planned to invade Apulia, but death overtook him at Buonconvento, swept away by events greater than himself. With E. the idea of a German universal empire, so much dreamed of at that time, especially by Dante, set forever.

Agostino Amore