European Royal History | Exploring the Monarchs of Europe

February 27, 1594: Henri of Navarre is crowned King Henri IV of France. Part I.

27 Tuesday Feb 2024

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Henri IV (December 13, 1553 – May 14, 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henri or Henri the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch of France from the House of Bourbon, a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty.

Prince Henri de Bourbon was born in Pau, the capital of the joint Kingdom of Navarre with the sovereign principality of Béarn. His parents were Queen Jeanne III of Navarre (Jeanne d’Albret) and her husband, Prince Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, King of Navarre.

Although baptised as a Catholic, Prince Henri was raised in the Calvinist faith by his mother, who had declared Calvinism the religion of Navarre. As a teenager, Prince Henri joined the Huguenot forces in the French Wars of Religion. On June 9, 1572, upon his mother’s death, the 19-year-old became King Henri III of Navarre.

King Henri became heir presumptive to the French throne in 1584 upon the death of Prince François, Duke of Anjou, brother and heir to the Catholic King Henri III of France who had succeeded King Charles IX in 1574. Given that King Henri III of Navarre was the next senior agnatic descendant of King Louis IX of France, King Henri III of France had no choice but to recognise him as the legitimate successor.

War of the Three Henri’s (1587–1589)

A conflict for the throne of France then ensued, contested by these three men and their respective supporters:

King Henri III of France, supported by the royalists and the politiques; King Henri III of Navarre, heir presumptive to the French throne and leader of the Huguenots, supported by Queen Elizabeth I of England and the Protestant princes of Germany; and Henri I of Lorraine, Duke of Guise, leader of the Catholic League, funded and supported by King Felipe II of Spain.

Salic law barred inheritance by the king’s sisters and all others who could claim descent through only the female line. However, since King Henri III of Navarre was a Huguenot (Protestant), many Catholics refused to acknowledge the succession, and France was plunged into a phase of the Wars of Religion known as the War of the Three Henrys (1587–1589).

When King Henri III of France died, King Henri III of Navarre nominally became King of France. The Catholic League, however, strengthened by foreign support—especially from Spain—was strong enough to prevent a universal recognition of his new title.

Pope Sixtus V excommunicated King Henri III and declared him ineligible to inherit the crown. Most of the Catholic nobles who had joined King Henri III for the siege of Paris also refused to recognize King Henri of Navarre, and abandoned him.

He set about winning his kingdom by force of arms, aided by English money and German troops. King Henri’s Catholic uncle Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon was proclaimed King Charles X of France by the League, but the Cardinal was Henri’s prisoner at the time. King Henri III was victorious at the Battle of Arques and the Battle of Ivry, but failed to take Paris after besieging it in 1590.

When Cardinal de Bourbon died in 1590, the League could not agree on a new candidate at the Estates General called to settle the question, also attended by the envoys of Spain. While some supported various Guise candidates, the strongest candidate was probably the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain, daughter of Felipe II of Spain, whose mother Princess Elisabeth had been the eldest daughter of King Henri II of France.

In the religious fervor of the time, the Infanta was considered a suitable Queen Regnant, provided she married a suitable husband. Her candidacy was in direct violation of the Salic Law.

The French overwhelmingly rejected King Felipe II’s first choice, Archduke Ernst of Austria, the Emperor Rudolph II’s brother, also a member of the House of Habsburg.

In case of such opposition, King Felipe II indicated that princes of the House of Lorraine would be acceptable to him: the Duke of Guise; a son of the Duke of Lorraine; and the son of the Duke of Mayenne.

The Spanish ambassadors selected Henri I of Lorraine, Duke of Guise, to the joy of the League. However, at that moment of seeming victory, the envy of the Duke of Mayenne was aroused, and he blocked the proposed election of a king.

February 1426: Birth of King Christian I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, Duke of Holstein

27 Tuesday Feb 2024

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Christian I (February 1426 – May 21, 1481) was a German noble and Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union. He was king of Denmark (1448–1481), Norway (1450–1481) and Sweden (1457–1464).

From 1460 to 1481, he was also Duke of Schleswig (within Denmark) and Count (after 1474, Duke) of Holstein (within the Holy Roman Empire). He was the first King from the House of Oldenburg.

King Christian I was born in February 1426 in Oldenburg in Northern Germany as the eldest son of Count Dietrich of Oldenburg by his second wife, Helvig of Holstein (died 1436). Christian had two younger brothers, Maurice (1428–1464) and Gerhard (1430–1500), and one sister Adelheid.

Christian’s mother, Helvig, was a daughter of Gerhard VI, Count of Holstein, and a sister of Adolphus, Duke of Schleswig.

Through his mother, Christian was also a cognatic descendant of King Eric V of Denmark through his second daughter Richeza (died 1308) and also a cognatic descendant of King Abel of Denmark through his daughter Sophie.

Through his father, Christian was a cognatic descendant of King Eric IV of Denmark through his daughter Sophia. Christian thus descended from the three surviving sons of Valdemar II and his second wife Infanta Berengaria of Portugal. He was also a cognatic descendant of King Magnus III of Sweden.

In January 1448, King Christopher III of Denmark, Sweden and Norway died suddenly and without natural heirs. His death resulted in the break-up of the union of the three kingdoms, as Denmark and Sweden went their separate ways and Norway’s affiliation was unclear.

The vacant Danish throne was first offered by the Council of the Realm to Duke Adolphus of Schleswig, being the most prominent feudal lord of Danish dominions. The duke declined and recommended his nephew, Count Christian of Oldenburg.

Before being elected, Christian had to promise to obey the Constitutio Valdemariana, a provision in the ascension promissory of King Valdemar III of Denmark, that promised that in the future, the same person could never be both ruler of the Duchy of Schleswig and Denmark simultaneously.

The council also demanded that Christian should marry dowager Queen Dorothea of Brandenburg (ca 1430–1495), widow of his predecessor King Christopher III.

On September 1, 1448, after signing his ascension promissory, Count Christian was elected to the Danish throne as King Christian I of Denmark at the assembly in Viborg.

His coronation was held on October 28, 1449, in the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, at which occasion his marriage with dowager Queen Dorothea was also celebrated.

Sweden elected Carl Karl Knutsson King of Sweden with the intent to reestablish the Kalmar Union under a Swedish king.

King Carl VIII of Sweden was born in October 1408 or 1409, at Ekholmen Castle, the son of Knut Tordsson (Bonde), knight and member of the privy council (riksråd), and Margareta Karlsdotter (Sparre av Tofta), the only daughter and heiress of Carl Ulvsson, Lord of Tofta. Carl was elected King of Norway in the following year.

Regnal name

Carl Knutsson was the second Swedish king by the name of Carl. Carl VIII is a posthumous invention, counting backwards from Carl IX (r. 1604–1611) who adopted his numeral according to a fictitious history of Sweden. King Carl VIII was the first Swedish monarch of the name to actually use a regnal number as Carl II (later retrospectively renumbered VIII), on his wife’s tombstone (1451) at Vadstena.

King Christian I of Denmark subsequent accessions to the thrones of Norway (in 1450) and Sweden (in 1457) restored the unity of the Kalmar Union for a short period. In 1463, Sweden broke away from the union and Christian’s attempt at a reconquest resulted in his defeat by the Swedish regent Sten Sture the Elder at the Battle of Brunkeberg in 1471.

In 1460, following the death of his uncle, Duke Adolphus of Schleswig, Count of Holstein, Christian also became Duke of Schleswig and Count of Holstein.

In 1474 Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III elevated Christian I from Count of Holstein to Duke of Holstein, thus becoming an immediate imperial vassal of the Emperor.

King Christian died at Copenhagen Castle on May 21, 1481 at the age of 55. He was interred at the Chapel of the Magi at Roskilde Cathedral, a richly decorated chapel he and Queen Dorothea had erected to serve as a family sepulchral chapel for the House of Oldenburg.

February 26, 1416: Birth of Christopher III, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, Prince of Bavaria

26 Monday Feb 2024

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Christopher III (February 26, 1416 – January 5/6, 1448), known as Christopher of Bavaria, was King of Denmark (1440–48, as Christopher III), Sweden (1441–48) and Norway (1442–48) during the era of the Kalmar Union.

He was the son of Count Palatine Johann of Neumarkt (1383–1443) and Catherine of Pomerania (c. 1390–1426). Catherine was the daughter of Wartislaw VII, Duke of Pomerania in Pomerania-Stolp, and sister of the Scandinavian king, Eric of Pomerania.

Eric of Pomerania was initially co-ruler of the Kalmar Union with his great-aunt Queen Margrethe I of Denmark until her death in 1412. Eric is known as Eric III as King of Norway (1389–1442), Eric VII as King of Denmark (1396–1439) and has been called Eric XIII as King of Sweden (1396–1434, 1436–39).

Eric of Pomerania was ultimately deposed from all three kingdoms of the Kalmar Union, but in 1449 he inherited one of the partitions of the Duchy of Pomerania and ruled it as duke until his death in 1459.

Count Palatine Johann of Neumarkt was a son of King Rupert of the Romans-Germany (1352–1410). Prince Christopher was probably born at Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz in Upper Palatinate, in Bavaria, Germany.

Eric of Pomerania was deposed as king of Denmark and Sweden in 1439. Eric’s nephew, Christopher, who was rather unfamiliar with Scandinavian conditions, was elected by the Danish State Council as the successor to his uncle, first as regent from 1439, and then proclaimed King Christopher III of Denmark at the Viborg Assembly (Danish landsting) on 9 April 1440.

He was meant to be a puppet, as evidenced by the saying: “Had the Council demanded the stars of heaven from him, he would have ordered it.” However he succeeded in maintaining some personal control.

As a whole his rule, according to the politics of the nobility and his succession, might be called the start of the long period of balance between royal power and nobility which lasted until 1660. He was later elected King of Sweden in 1441, and King of Norway in June 1442.

In 1445, Christopher married Princess Dorothea of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (1430 – November 25, 1495) in Copenhagen. Princess Dorothea of Brandenburg-Kulmbach was born in 1430 or 1431 to Margrave Johann of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, and Princess Barbara of Saxe-Wittenberg (1405–1465), the daughter of Rudolf III, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg.

From about the age of eight, Princess Dorothea of Brandenburg-Kulmbach lived in Bayreuth, where her father was ruler.

In 1443, Prince Christopher of Bavaria, the newly elected King of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, inherited Oberpfalz close to Bayreuth, and a marriage was suggested between Christopher and Dorothea to secure her father’s support for Christopher’s power over his German domain. The engagement was proclaimed prior to the application of Papal dispensation for affinity in February 1445, which was approved March 10 by Pope Julius II.

On September 12, 1445, the wedding ceremony was conducted between Christopher and Dorothea in Copenhagen, followed by the coronation of Dorothea as Queen. The King had financed it with a special tax in all three Kingdoms, and the occasion is described as one of the most elaborate in Nordic Medieval history.

For himself, King Christopher III used an otherwise unknown title, Arch-King, because in his opinion he ruled an Empire, not simply three different and distinct Kingdoms, and thus he believed he ranked immediately after the European Holy Roman Emperor.

The Kalmar Union Treaty was changed so that the aristocracy had most of the policy-making powers, and the king lost many of the powers monarchs had acquired since Viking times. The results of this policy of balance were still not reached when he suddenly died.

Death

In 1448, King Christopher III died suddenly at Helsingborg at age 31. He was the last descendant of King Valdemar IV of Denmark.

King Christopher III was buried in Roskilde Cathedral. His widow, Queen Dorothea, married the newly elected King of Denmark, Count Christian I of Oldenburg.

February 26, 1584: Birth of Duke Albrecht VI of Bavaria, Landgrave of Leuchtenberg

26 Monday Feb 2024

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Albrecht VI (February 26, 1584 – July 5, 1666) son of Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria and Princess Renata of Lorraine, the second child and eldest daughter of Duke François I of Lorraine and his wife Princess Christina of Denmark, daughter of King Christian II of Denmark and Norway and Archduchess Isabella of Austria.

Prince Albrecht was Regent of Bavaria from 1651–1654 for his young nephew Prince-Elector Ferdinand Maria of Bavaria.

Prince-Elector Ferdinand Maria (October 31, 1636 – May 1679) was a Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and a Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 1651 to 1679.

Prince-Elector Ferdinand Maria was born in Munich. He was the eldest son of Prince-Elector Maximilian I of Bavaria, Duke Albrecht VI ‘s older brother (whom he succeeded), and his second wife, Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria.

Born during the reign of his father, Ferdinand Maria was known as the Electoral Prince from birth. Through his mother, he was a first cousin of Queen Mariana of Spain (born an Archduchess of Austria, she married her uncle King Felipe IV of Spain) as well as Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I.

In 1612 Duke Albrecht VI married Princess Mechthilde of Leuchtenberg (October 24, 1588 – June 1, 1634).

Through his wife Princess Mechthilde, Duke Albrecht VI came into possession of the Landgraviate of Leuchtenberg, which he exchanged in 1650 for the Reichsgrafschaft (county) Haag. After the death of his 3rd son Prince-Elector Maximilian Heinrich of Cologne, Haag reverted to Bavaria.

Duke Albert VI’s successor in Leuchtenberg was his nephew Prince Maximilian Philipp Hieronymus of Bavaria, the second son of Prince-Elector Elector Maximilian I and his second wife, Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria. After Prince Maximilian Philipp Hieronymus’s death, Leuchtenberg was also united with Bavaria.

February 23, 1270: Death of Princess Isabelle of France, Catholic Saint

23 Friday Feb 2024

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Isabelle of France (March 1225 – February 23, 1270) was a French princess and daughter of King Louis VIII of France and Infanta Blanche of Castile, the third daughter of King Alfonso VIII of Castile and Princess Eleanor of England, the daughter of King Henry II of England and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine. Princess Eleanor of England was also the sister of King Richard I of England and King John of England.

She was a younger sister of King Louis IX of France (Saint Louis) and of Alfonso, Count of Poitiers, and an older sister of King Charles I of Sicily.

Her father died when she was two years old, and it was her mother, Infanta Blanche, who oversaw her education. Princess Isabelle could read both Latin and the vernacular, and enjoyed tales of chivalry as well as devotional texts.

While pursuing the traditional feminine interests such as embroidery, she took special pleasure in working on priestly vestments. As a child, she requested spiritual direction and became even more devoted to the Lord under the guidance of the Franciscans.

By virtue of the Treaty of Vendôme in March 1227, Princess Isabelle was betrothed to Hugh, eldest son and heir of Hugh X of Lusignan, with the marriage contract being signed on June 1230; however, she refused to celebrate the formal wedding due to her fixed determination to remain a virgin, although she never became a nun.

Later, she refused the hand of King Conrad IV of Germany, son of Friedrich II, Holy Roman Emperor, although pressed to accept by everyone, even by Pope Innocent IV.

Princess Isabella sent from her table the nicest dishes to the poor, and reserved for them almost whatever was at her disposal. By the papal bull of May 26, 1254, Pope Innocent IV allowed her to retain some Franciscan friars as her special confessors. She was even more devoted to the Franciscan Order than was her royal brother.

On June 10, 1256, the first stone of the monastic church was laid. Pope Alexander IV gave his sanction on February 2, 1259 to the new Rule, which was composed especially for this monastery by Princess Isabelle along with a team of Franciscan university masters including Bonaventure.

The community was allowed to hold property. The monastery was named the Convent of the Humility of the Blessed Virgin. In the Rule the nuns were called the Sisters of the Humble Order of Servants of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.

The nuns were subject to the Friars Minor. Some of the first nuns came from the Poor Clare monastery in Reims. A revised version of the Rule was approved by Pope Urban IV on 27 July 1263, which granted preferred the name of Sorores minores inclusae, or Enclosed Sisters minor, for the nuns of Longchamp.

After the death of her mother, Princess Isabelle retired to Longchamps, although she never actually joined the religious community there. She suffered from illnesses during her life, which prevented her from following the rule of life for the nuns.

As patroness, she lived there in a room separate from the nuns’ cells. she refused to become abbess, which allowed her to retain her wealth and resources, so she could support her abbey and continue to give to the poor. She kept a discipline of silence for most of her day. Her brother, the King, visited often.

Death

Isabelle died at Longchamp on February 23, 1270, and was buried in the abbey church. After nine days her body was exhumed; according to the religious legend, it showed no signs of decay, and many miracles were said to have been wrought at her grave.

In 1521 Pope Leo X allowed the abbey to celebrate her feast day with a special Office. On June 4, 1637, a second exhumation took place. On January 1688, the nuns obtained permission to celebrate her feast with an octave, and in 1696 the celebration of the feast on August 31 was permitted to the whole Franciscan Order by Pope Innocent XII.

Princess Isabelle had consecrated her virginity and her entire life to God alone. She is honored as a saint by the Franciscan Order. Her feast day is February 22nd.

February 23, 1417: Birth of Duke Ludwig IX of Bavaria-Landshut

23 Friday Feb 2024

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Ludwig IX (February 23, 1417 – January 18, 1479) was Duke of Bavaria-Landshut from 1450. He was a son of Duke Heinrich XVI the Rich of Bavaria-Landshut and Princess Margaret of Austria, daughter of Duke Albrecht IV of Austria and Princess Joanna Sophia of Bavaria.

Duke Ludwig IX was the founder of the University of Ingolstadt (now the University of Munich).

Prince Ludwig succeeded his father in 1450 as Duke Ludwig IX of Bavaria-Landshut. He was the second of the three famous rich dukes, who reigned in Bavaria-Landshut in the 15th century. Their residence was Trausnitz Castle in Landshut, a fortification which attained enormous dimensions.

Since Duke Ludwig IX invaded the imperial free cities of Dinkelsbühl and Donauwörth in 1458 he disputed with Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor, until peace was made in Prague in 1463.

In 1462 Duke Ludwig IX defeated his enemy Margrave Albrecht III of Brandenburg, who tried to extend his influence in Franconia in the battle of Giengen. Duke Ludwig IX expelled all Jews who rejected baptism from his duchy.

In 1472 Duke Ludwig IX founded the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Ingolstadt, which was moved to Landshut in 1800 and finally to Munich.

In 1475 he organized the Landshut Wedding of his son Prince Georg with the Princess Hedwig Jagiellon, a daughter of King Casimir IV of Poland and Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria.

Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria was the daughter of King Albrecht II of the Romans-Germany, Archduke of Austria, and his wife Princess Elizabeth of Luxembourg, the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund. The wedding was one of the most splendid festivals of the Middle Age.

Family and children

On March 21, 1452 Duke Ludwig IX was married to Princess Amalia of Saxony (April 4, 1436 – October 19, 1501), daughter of Prince-Elector Friedrich II of Saxony and Princess Margaret of Austria the eldest daughter of Duke Ernst the Iron of Inner Austria (1377–1424) and his second wife, the Piast princess Cymburgis of Masovia (1394/97–1429).

They had four children:

1. Elisabeth (c. 1453 – 1457)
2. Georg, Duke of Bavaria (1455 –1503)
3. Margaret (1456 – 1501), married to Prince-Elector Philipp Palatine of the Rhine.
4. Anna (c. 1462–1462)

February 22, 1371: Accession of King Robert II to the Scottish Throne

22 Thursday Feb 2024

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Robert Stewart, born in 1316, was the only child of King Robert I of Scotland’s daughter Marjorie de Bruce, who died either in childbirth or shortly afterwards, and her husband Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland.

Robert had the upbringing of a Gaelic noble on the Stewart lands in Bute, Clydeside, and in Renfrew. In 1315, the Scottish Parliament revoked Marjorie de Bruce’s right as heir to her father in favour of her uncle, Edward Bruce.

Edward was killed at the Battle of Faughart, near Dundalk on October 14, 1318, resulting in a hastily arranged Parliament in December to enact a new tailzie naming Marjorie’s son, Robert Stewart, as heir should the king die without a successor.

The birth of a son, afterwards King David II, to King Robert on March 5, 1324 cancelled Robert Stewart’s position as heir presumptive, but a Parliament at Cambuskenneth in July 1326 restored him in the line of succession should David die without an heir.

This reinstatement of his status was accompanied by the gift of lands in Argyll, Roxburghshire, and the Lothians.

Prince David married Princess Joan of England, the youngest daughter of King Edward II of England and Princess Isabella of France, Joan was born in the Tower of London on 5 July 1321.

In accordance with the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton, Joan was married on July 17, 1328 to Prince David de Bruce. She was seven years old and he was four at the time of their marriage. Their marriage lasted 34 years, but it was childless and apparently loveless.

Upon the death of his father, King Robert the Bruce, David succeeded to the throne at the age of five, and was crowned at Scone in November 1331 becoming King David II of Scotland.

King David II, became the first Scottish monarch to be anointed at their coronation. During his childhood David was governed by a series of guardians, and Edward III of England sought to take advantage of David’s minority by supporting an invasion of Scotland by Edward Balliol, beginning the Second War of Scottish Independence.

Following the English victory at the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333, King David II, Queen Joan and the rump of his government were evacuated to France, where he remained in exile until it was safe for him to return to Scotland in 1341.

In 1346, David invaded England in support of France during the Hundred Years’ War. His army was defeated at the Battle of Neville’s Cross and he was captured and held as a prisoner in England for eleven years, while his nephew Robert Stewart governed Scotland.

In 1357 the Treaty of Berwick brought the Second War of Independence to an end, the Scots agreed to pay a ransom of 100,000 merks, and King David II was allowed to return home.

Heavy taxation was needed to pay for the ransom, which was to be paid in instalments, and King David II alienated his subjects by using the money for his own purposes.

By 1363 it was found impossible to raise the remaining ransom, and King David II sought its cancellation by offering to bequeath the succession to the Scottish throne to King Edward III or one of his sons.

In 1364, the Parliament of Scotland rejected David’s proposal to make Prince Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the next king. He was a son of King Edward III of England.

Despising his nephew, Robert Stewart, King David II sought to prevent him succeeding to his throne by marrying his mistress Margaret Drummond and producing an alternative heir.

King David II’s second wife was to Margaret Drummond (c. 1340 – 1375), known also by her first married name as Margaret Logie, and a daughter of Sir Malcolm de Drummond, 10th Thane of Lennox by his wife Margaret Graham, Countess of Menteith.

By 1361/62 Margaret was a mistress to King David who was widowed from his first wife, Joan of The Tower, on August 14, 1362.

David’s favour to the Drummonds must have fuelled the tension between them and the Stewarts and Campbells: this erupted into a full-blown murderous feud by the 1350s.

Margaret then married David II of Scotland at Inchmurdach in Fife, on February 20, 1364. Her niece Annabella was subsequently married to John Stewart, later king of Scotland as Robert III and Margaret’s grand-nephew by marriage.

King David II and Margaret had no children and the King divorced her on March 20 1369 on grounds of infertility.

Although David spent long periods in exile or captivity, he managed to ensure the survival of his kingdom, reformed the machinery of government, and left the Scottish monarchy in a strong position.

The last male of the House of Bruce, he died childless on February 22, 1371 after a reign of 41 years, and was succeeded by his nephew as King Robert II of Scotland and the first of the House of Stewart to sit upon the Scottish throne.

February 22, 1076: Pope Gregory VII Excommunicates Heinrich IV, Holy Roman Emperor.

22 Thursday Feb 2024

Posted by in Bishop of Rome and the Catholic Church, Elected Monarch, Famous Battles, Featured Monarch, From the Emperor's Desk, Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession, Royal Titles, This Day in Royal History, Uncategorized

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From The Emperor’s Desk: Generally in history texts Heinrich IV is referred to as Holy Roman Emperor, however, during the time covered in the blog entry Heinrich had not been crowned Emperor and held the title of King and that is how I will address him.

Heinrich IV (November 11, 1050 – August 7, 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of the Romans-Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054.

He was the son of Heinrich III, Holy Roman Emperor—the second monarch of the Salian Dynasty—and Agnes of Poitou, the daughter of Duke Guillaume V of Aquitaine (d. 1030) and Agnes of Burgundy and as such a member of the Ramnulfid family.

After his father’s death on October 5, 1056, Heinrich was placed under his mother’s guardianship. She made grants to German aristocrats to secure their support. Unlike her late husband, she could not control the election of the Popes, thus the idea of the “liberty of the Church” strengthened during her rule.

Taking advantage of her weakness, Archbishop Anno II of Cologne kidnapped Heinrich in April 1062 and administered the Empire until Heinrich came of age in 1065.

The Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor had disputed over the precedence of ecclesiastical or secular power since the spread of the Gregorian Reforms in the 11th century.

When Gregory VII, acclaimed Pope by the people of Rome in 1073, attempted to enact reforms to the investiture process by his Dictatus papae decree, he was met by resistance from Henry IV. The king insisted that he reserve the traditionally established right of previous emperors to “invest” bishops, abbots and other clergymen, despite the papal decree.

The conflict became increasingly severe, after King Heinrich IV had been able to suppress the Saxon Rebellion in the Battle of Langensalza in June 1075. In September he installed a new Bishop of Milan, which annoyed Gregory, who openly required obedience.

Shortly afterwards the Pope was attacked while leading the 1075 Christmas celebrations and taken to jail by a mob. The next day his followers mobbed the prison and brought him back to the church, where he picked up Mass where he had left off.

King Heinrich IV adopted an active policy in Italy, alarming Pope Alexander II’s successor, Pope Gregory VII, who threatened him with excommunication for simony.

On January 24, 1076, King Heinrich IV assembled several German bishops in a synod at Worms, where the ecclesiastical dignitaries abandoned all commitments to the Pope.

King Heinrich IV persuaded most of the German bishops to declare the Pope’s election invalid and he demanded Gregory’s abdication, referring to the rules of papal election according to the In nomine Domini Bull of 1059.

Heinrich IV’s most important ally, Godfrey the Hunchback, was murdered on February 22. Godfrey had named his nephew, Godfrey of Bouillon, as his heir, but King Heinrich IV granted Lower Lorraine to his own son, Prince Conrad.

Pope Gregory VII was informed of the decisions of the two assemblies during the synod of Lent in Rome. He excommunicated King Heinrich IV and released his subjects from fealty in a public prayer addressed to Saint Peter.

The deposition of a monarch by Pope Gregory VII was unprecedented, but Pope Gregory VII was convinced King Heinrich IV’s extraordinary arrogance could not be punished otherwise.

On learning of the Pope’s decision King Heinrich IV convoked a synod in Utrecht, but the local bishop, Wilhelm I, was the only prelate willing to excommunicate the Pope. King Heinrich IV wanted to demonstrate that the Pope’s denial of the monarchs’ role in the administration of the Christian community was responsible for their conflict.

German aristocrats who were hostile to King Heinrich IV called for the Pope to hold an assembly in Germany to hear the King’s case. To prevent the Pope from sitting in judgement on him, King Heinrich IV went to Italy as far as Canossa to meet with the Pope.

The Road to Canossa or Humiliation of Canossa or, sometimes, the Walk to Canossa was the journey of King Heinrich IV (later Holy Roman Emperor) to Canossa Castle in 1077, and his subsequent ritual submission there to Pope Gregory VII. It involved the Emperor seeking absolution and the revocation of his excommunication by the Pope who had been staying at the castle as the guest of Margravine Matilda of Tuscany.

When King Heinrich IV reached Matilda’s castle, the Pope ordered that he be refused entry. Waiting at the gates, King Heinrich IV took on the behavior of penance. He wore a hair-shirt, the traditional clothing of monks at the time, and allegedly walked barefoot. Many of his entourage, including his wife, Queen Bertha (of Savoy) and their son, Prince Conrad, also supposedly removed their shoes.

The King waited by the gate of the castle for three full days. Throughout this time, he allegedly wore only his penitent hair-shirt and fasted.

Finally, on January 28, the castle gates were opened for King Heinrich IV and he was allowed to enter. Contemporary accounts report that he knelt before Pope Gregory VII and begged his forgiveness.

Pope Gregory VII absolved King Heinrich IV and invited him back into the Church. That evening, Pope Gregory VII, King Heinrich IV and Matilda of Tuscany shared communion in the chapel of Sant’Apollonio inside the castle, signaling the official end of the King’s excommunication.

Whether King Heinrich IV actually did formal repentance has not been conclusively established. In any case, he regained his freedom to act and quickly returned to Germany, while Gregory remained with Matilda at the castle and in other locations in Tuscany for several months.

King Heinrich IV’s German opponents ignored his absolution and elected an anti-King, Rudolf of Rheinfelden, as King of the Romans-Germans on March 14, 1077.

The Pope was initially neutral in the two kings’ conflict, enabling King Heinrich IV to consolidate his position. King Heinrich IV continued to appoint high-ranking clerics, for which the Pope again excommunicated him on March 7, 1080.

Most German and northern Italian bishops remained loyal to King Heinrich IV and they elected the antipope Clement III. Rudolf of Rheinfelden was killed in battle and his successor, Hermann of Salm, could only exert royal authority in Saxony. From 1081, King Heinrich IV launched a series of military campaigns to Italy, and Clement III crowned him Emperor in Rome on April 1, 1084.

February 21, 1613: Election of Michael Romanov as Tsar of Russia

21 Wednesday Feb 2024

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Michael I (July 22, 1596 – July 3, 1645) was Tsar of all Russia from 1613 until his death in 1645. He was elected by the Zemsky Sobor and was the first tsar of the House of Romanov, which succeeded the House of Rurik.

Michael was the son of Feodor Nikitich Romanov (later known as Patriarch Filaret) and of Xenia Shestova. He was also a first cousin once removed of Tsar Feodor I, the last tsar of the Rurik dynasty, through his great-aunt Anastasia Romanovna, who was the mother of Feodor I and first wife of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible.

Life and reign

Michael’s grandfather, Nikita, was brother to the first Russian Tsaritsa Anastasia and a central advisor to Ivan the Terrible. As a young boy, Michael and his mother had been exiled to Beloozero in 1600. This was a result of the recently elected Tsar Boris Godunov, in 1598, falsely accusing his father, Feodor, of treason. This may have been partly because Feodor had married Ksenia Shestova against Boris’s wishes.

Election

Michael was eventually chosen for the throne of Muscovy due to his father’s martyr-like captivity in Polish detention, as the patriotic mood swept the Russian elite after the expulsion of the Poles during the Time of Troubles.

Michael’s youth also contributed to his election as he was seen easy to be manipulated. On February 21, 1613, 700 delegates reached a consensus for Michael to be chosen as a compromise candidate as Tsar of Russia by the Zemsky Sobor of 1613.

The delegates of the council did not discover the young Tsar and his mother at the Ipatiev Monastery near Kostroma until March 24. He had been chosen after several other options had been removed, including Polish prince Vladislav, Archduke Maximilian III of Austria and the Swedish Prince Carl Philip. Initially, Martha protested, believing and stating that her son was too young and tender for so difficult an office, and in such a troublesome time.

According to Dunning, “The sixteen-year-old boy did not impress the boyars at all; he was poorly educated and not particularly intelligent. Nonetheless, those great lords consoled themselves with the knowledge that Trubetskoi would not become tsar and that Mikhail’s ambitious and highly intelligent father, Filaret, was still in Polish captivity. One of the boyars allegedly said at the time, ‘Let us have Misha Romanov for he is young and not yet wise; he will suit our purposes.’

In fact, under the strong influence of reactionary boyars, even in preparation for his coronation, the deeply conservative new tsar revealed his true feelings about his subjects by snubbing many patriots simply because they were commoners.”

The tsar’s family relationship with False Dmitry I, False Dmitry II, and Prince Wladyslaw was covered up, even the two years Mikhail spent in the Polish-occupied Kremlin with his collaborator uncle Ivan Romanov.

Michael’s election and accession to the throne marked the end of the Time of Troubles. The Ingrian and Polish–Muscovite Wars were brought to an end in 1617 and 1618 respectively, with continued Russian independence confirmed at the expense of territorial losses in the west.

King Władysław IV Vasa of Poland finally agreed to formally give up his claim to the Russian throne with the Treaty of Polyanovka in 1634.

To the east, Cossacks made unprecedented advances in the conquest of Siberia, and Russian explorers had reached the Pacific Ocean (Sea of Okhotsk) by the end of Michael’s reign.

February 20, 1547: Coronation of King Edward VI of England and Ireland

20 Tuesday Feb 2024

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Edward VI (October 12, 1537 – July 6, 1553) was King of England and Ireland from January 28, 1547 until his death in 1553. The only surviving son of King Henry VIII by his third wife, Jane Seymour, Edward was the first English monarch to be raised as a Protestant.

Lord Chancellor Thomas Wriothesley announced King Henry VIII’s death to Parliament on January 31, 1547 and general proclamations of Edward’s succession were ordered. The new king was taken to the Tower of London, where he was welcomed with “great shot of ordnance in all places there about, as well out of the Tower as out of the ships”.

The following day, the nobles of the realm made their obeisance to King Edward VI at the Tower, and his uncle Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset from was announced as Lord Protector of England . King Henry VIII was buried at Windsor on February 16, 1547 in the same tomb as Jane Seymour, as he had wished.

Four days later King Edward VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey on Sunday February 20, 1547. The ceremonies were shortened, because of the “tedious length of the same which should weary and be hurtsome peradventure to the King’s majesty, being yet of tender age”, and also because the Reformation had rendered some of them inappropriate.

On the eve of the coronation, Edward progressed on horseback from the Tower to the Palace of Westminster through thronging crowds and pageants, many based on the pageants for a previous boy king, Henry VI. He laughed at a Spanish tightrope walker who “tumbled and played many pretty toys” outside St Paul’s Cathedral.

At the coronation service, Cranmer affirmed the royal supremacy and called Edward a second Josiah, urging him to continue the reformation of the Church of England, “the tyranny of the Bishops of Rome banished from your subjects, and images removed”. After the service, King Edward VI presided at a banquet in Westminster Hall, where, he recalled in his Chronicle, he dined with his crown on his head.

During his reign, the realm was governed by a regency council because Edward never reached maturity. The council was first led by his uncle Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (1547–1549), and then by John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1550–1553).

The transformation of the Church of England into a recognisably Protestant body also occurred under King Edward VI, who took great interest in religious matters. His father, King Henry VIII, had severed the link between the English Church and Rome, but continued to uphold most Catholic doctrine and ceremony.

It was during Edward’s reign that Protestantism was established for the first time in England with reforms that included the abolition of clerical celibacy and the Mass, and the imposition of compulsory English in church services.

In 1553, at age 15, Edward fell ill. When his sickness was discovered to be terminal, he and his council drew up a “Devise for the Succession” to prevent the country’s return to Catholicism. .

In June 1553, King Edward VI wrote his will, nominating his cousin, Lady Jane Grey, and her male heirs as successors to the Crown, in part because his half-sister Princess Mary was Catholic, while Lady Jane was a committed Protestant and would support the reformed Church of England, whose foundation King Edward VI laid.

King Edward VI personally supervised the copying of his will which was finally issued as letters patent on June 21 and signed by 102 notables, among them the whole Privy Council, peers, bishops, judges, and London aldermen. The will removed his half-sisters, Princess Mary and Princess Elizabeth, from the line of succession on account of their illegitimacy, subverting their claims under the Third Succession Act of 1544

The Third Succession Act of 1544 restored Henry VIII’s daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, to the line of succession, although they were still regarded as illegitimate.

King Edward VI also announced to have his “declaration” passed in Parliament in September, and the necessary writs were prepared. King Edward VI died on July 6, 1553, but his death was not announced until four days later.

This decision to alter the succession was disputed following King Edward VI’s death, and because the necessary writs were not passed by Parliament the Third Succession Act of 1544 remained Law making Lady Jane, rather her supporters, attempt to take the throne illegal.

After nine days Jane’s supporters abandoned her and Queen Mary took her rightful place on the throne. Queen Mary I, a Catholic, reversed King Edward VI’s Protestant reforms during her reign, but Queen Elizabeth I restored them in 1559.