Heinrich II. (Bavaria)

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Heinrich in a Franconian robe, miniature from the rule book of the Niedermünster State Library Bamberg, Msc.Lit.142, fol. 4v

Henry II. , Called the Wrangler (* 951 , † 28 August 995 in pin Gandersheim ) from the noble family of Liudolfinger was 955-976 and then 985-995 Duke of Bavaria and 989-995 Duke of Carinthia .

Life

Heinrich was the son of Duke Heinrich I of Bavaria and his wife Judith and nephew of the Roman-German Emperor Otto I.

Under the tutelage of his mother Judith, Heinrich followed his father as Duke of Bavaria at the age of four. His older sister Hadwig was born in 954 with Burchard III. , Duke of Swabia , married. In 972 Heinrich married Gisela of Burgundy , a niece of Empress Adelheid . Heinrich therefore had excellent connections with the entire ruling families in the south of the empire. Bavaria , Swabia and the Kingdom of Burgundy formed a serious centralization of political power, which Emperor Otto II had to fight back .

The year 973 stands out as the central year of his career: Not only Emperor Otto I died, but also Heinrich's brother-in-law, Duke Burchard III. His sister Hadwig's marriage to him remained childless and there was therefore no legitimate successor for the Duchy of Swabia. As a brother of the dowager, Heinrich was therefore able to lay claim to the Duchy of Swabia, especially since his eldest son Heinrich was born in the same year . Also in 973 Heinrich passed the emperor's right of investiture and placed his Luitpolding cousin Heinrich on the bishopric of Augsburg. Emperor Otto II. Will have foreseen the far-reaching ambitions of his cousin and now overlooked Heinrich's claims. That is why he occupied the Swabian ducat in November 973 with his nephew Otto , Liudolf's son .

This began a double reign that was probably unique in early medieval history. Duchess Hadwig was not ready to resign, but de facto continued to rule the south of the empire from the Hohentwiel fortress until her death in 994 . The imperial court chancellery even awarded her the official Dux title. Hadwig, for her part, supported her brother Heinrich as much as possible, which in turn led to the designated Duke Otto becoming one of his worst rivals.

Heinrich rebelled openly and found not only Bavarian but also Saxon supporters. Duke Boleslaw II of Bohemia and Mieszko of Poland also stood on his side, not to forget his Swabian ducal sister. What he actually intended and whether he really wanted to reach for the imperial crown at this early stage is unclear. In 974 Otto II succeeded in arresting the brawler in Ingelheim and believed to have averted the Bavarian danger. In the course of the dispute, Otto II also had to fight rebels in Hainaut and Cambrai , repel the incursion of the Danish king Harald Blauzahn and put Bohemian Duke Boleslaw II in his place because of the plot with Heinrich.

Mention of Heinrich the Quarrel's candidacy for the throne in Gerbert von Reims' collection of letters

However, Heinrich managed to escape in 976. Immediately there were riots in Bavaria again. In the same year, the royal seat of Regensburg had to be conquered by the imperial family. Otto II took the opportunity to rearrange the entire southeast area. He separated Carinthia from Bavaria and raised it to its own duchy. The Bavarian Ostmark - the nucleus of Austria - was given as a fief to the Babenberg Luitpold , a declared opponent of Heinrich. The Ostmark remained formally in the association of the Duchy of Bavaria, but received extensive independence. In addition, the emperor deposed his cousin Heinrich as duke. To make matters worse, the smaller Duchy of Bavaria was subordinated to its rival, Duke Otto von Schwaben. He was also banned from church by the bishops . Heinrich did not want to give up yet. In 978 he continued the fight, which was now joined by the new Duke Heinrich of Carinthia and Bishop Heinrich I of Augsburg. After being defeated again, he was finally handed over to Bishop Folkmar of Utrecht for guarding.

After Otto II died in Italy in 983, Heinrich was released from prison by Bishop Folkmar. Immediately in 984 Heinrich tried to replace the still underage Otto III. to sit and thereby seize the imperial throne. He even had his followers proclaim him king. There is a discussion in research about Heinrich's intentions ( Erkens , Laudage ), if you follow Thietmar von Merseburg and the fact that mediaeval communication mainly took place through symbols and gestures, Heinrich's intention is probably tangible from the fact that he was on Palm Sunday in Magdeburg and on Easter Sunday in Quedlinburg he was proclaimed king and paid homage. These two places were central to the Ottonian dynasty: they were the burial places of Heinrich I (Quedlinburg) and Otto I (Magdeburg). But the greats of the empire increasingly distanced themselves from Heinrich the quarrel. At the same time he fought the successor of his former rival, who had died in 982, Duke Heinrich III. from Bavaria.

Willigis , the Archbishop of Mainz , now called the Emperor's widow Theophanu and Empress Adelheid , Otto II's mother, from Italy to Germany. Heinrich's following grew smaller. On the court day in Rara ( Rohr near Meiningen ) he finally submitted and handed over to the three-year-old Otto III, who had already been crowned king. to Theophanu. For this he got Bavaria back as a duchy. He refrained from any further rebellion, acquired Carinthia in 989 and finally even got the Italian mark back. In his later years, Heinrich II concentrated on the internal expansion of his territories (Ranshofen Laws, 995) and promoted the beginnings of church reform .

Heinrich II died on August 28, 995 in Gandersheim . He was buried in the collegiate church in Gandersheim , where his second sister Gerberga II was abbess. An important high grave is located in the monastery of Sankt Emmeram in Regensburg. What was always withheld from him was given to his eldest son Heinrich . After he succeeded his father on the ducal throne of Bavaria, he became King of the Holy Roman Empire in 1002 and Emperor of the East Frankish-German Empire in 1014 .

progeny

Henry II married Gisela of Burgundy .

swell

literature

Lexicon article
Representations
  • Franz-Reiner Erkens : On the legitimation of Heinrich the quarrel in the throne dispute of 984 . In: Frühmedalterliche Studien 27, (1993), pp. 273-289.
  • Winfrid Glocker: The relatives of the Ottonians and their significance in politics: Studies on family policy and on the genealogy of the Saxon imperial family , Cologne 1989, ISBN 3-412-12788-4 .
  • Hubertus Seibert: Bavvarica regna gubernans. Heinrich the quarrel and the Duchy of Bavaria (955–995) In: Hubertus Seibert (Hrsg.), From Saxony to Jerusalem. People and institutions through the ages. Festschrift for Wolfgang Giese on his 65th birthday. Munich 2004, pp. 123-142, ISBN 3-8316-0312-X

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Thietmar von Merseburg: Chronicle . IV, 1: "To the celebration of the Palm Sunday festival planned in Magdeburg, he [Heinrich the Quarrel] had invited all the princes of the area and invited them to negotiate, to submit to his authority and to raise him to the height of the royal dignity."
  2. ^ Thietmar von Merseburg: Chronicle . IV, 2: “From there Heinrich went to Quedlinburg to celebrate the upcoming Easter festival. Here many great people of the empire came together; but some, who preferred not to appear, sent observers who should carefully watch everything. "
predecessor Office successor
Heinrich I. Duke of Bavaria
955–976 		Otto I.
Henry III. Duke of Bavaria
985–995 		Henry IV.
Henry III. Duke of Carinthia,
Margrave of Verona
989–995 		Otto I.
personal data
SURNAME Henry II
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heinrich the brawler
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duke of Bavaria
DATE OF BIRTH 951
DATE OF DEATH August 28, 995
Place of death Gandersheim Monastery , Bad Gandersheim