Capitolium conscendimus, Kaiser Heinrich V. und Rom

by Jürgen Petersohn

Those preparing to discuss the issue of "The Roman Empire during the Middle Ages" are always tempted to start with Karl the Great. Those searching for an equally important German king or emperor to the development of Rome will only find him in Emperor Henry V (1106 - 1125). His three visits to Rome in 1111, 1117, and 1118 each took a very different course. They all, however, share the largely ignored commonality of the effort to come to an agreement with the papacy over claims of royal investiture. Proof of this is largely found in letters from Henry to Roman consuls, senate, and populous from 1111, and discussions held with notable figures at the Roman capitol in 1117. Henry V is thus the first medieval emperor to acknowledge without reserve the secular profile of the Urbs and the local importance of the Romans. The resulting foundation and solidification of imperialist rule by the last Salian resulted in the emergence of a tripartite constellation (Community, Emperor, and Pope) during the first quarter of the 12th century, whose antagonisms shaped politics of Empire and Italy through the Hohenstaufen period. Henry V's self-anointment as emperor of Rome corresponds on a different level to his consistent, and ultimately successful effort to prevent the attempts of the Gregorian papacy to limit the legitimacy of the German ruler's reign of the north alpine "regnum Teutonicum." Furthermore, he managed to permanently solidify the roman qualifications of his monarchical and noble duties as pertaining to realm and title ("Romanum imperium" and "rex Romanorum").

36 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009