Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Medieval Monarchy in Action Boyd H. Hill Jr full chapter instant download
Medieval Monarchy in Action Boyd H. Hill Jr full chapter instant download
Medieval Monarchy in Action Boyd H. Hill Jr full chapter instant download
Hill Jr
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmass.com/product/medieval-monarchy-in-action-boyd-h-hill-jr/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...
https://ebookmass.com/product/fundamentals-of-logic-design-
enhanced-edition-jr-charles-h-roth/
https://ebookmass.com/product/heritage-conservation-in-the-
united-states-enhancing-the-presence-of-the-past-john-h-sprinkle-
jr/
https://ebookmass.com/product/nonlinear-optics-4th-ed-edition-
boyd/
https://ebookmass.com/product/breakheart-hill-thomas-h-cook/
Elective Monarchy in Transylvania and Poland-Lithuania,
1569-1587 Felicia Rosu
https://ebookmass.com/product/elective-monarchy-in-transylvania-
and-poland-lithuania-1569-1587-felicia-rosu/
https://ebookmass.com/product/lifespan-development-7th-global-
edition-denise-boyd/
https://ebookmass.com/product/through-the-looking-glass-john-
cage-and-avant-garde-film-richard-h-brown-jr/
https://ebookmass.com/product/een-heerlijke-vergissing-hannah-
hill/
https://ebookmass.com/product/survival-and-revival-in-swedens-
court-and-monarchy-1718-1930-fabian-persson/
ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS:
THE MEDIEVAL WORLD
Volume 21
MEDIEVAL MONARCHY
IN ACTION
MEDIEVAL MONARCHY
IN ACTION
The German Empire from
Henry I to Henry IV
BOYD H. HILL JR
First published in 1972 by George Allen & Unwin Ltd
This edition first published in 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
©1972 George Allen & Unwin Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Publisher’s Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this
reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies
may be apparent.
Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and
would welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to
trace.
MEDIEVAL
MONARCHY
IN ACTION
The German EmpirefromHenry I to Henry IV
Boyd H. Hill Jr
Professor in the Department of History
University of Colorado
This book might equally well have been subtitled 'The German
Emperors from Henry I to Henry I V , for it concentrates on what these
rulers did. My orientation is admittedly very old-fashioned and calls
for some explanation. M. I. Finley has rightly criticized those modern
histories of Rome which 'proceed through each reign in turn, from
Augustus on, centring the account on the emperors themselves, their
acts and their qualities, distinguishing and judging. Which of them, if
any, merits such concentrated attention is rarely asked. Given a king,
historians and their readers alike become mesmerized.'1
My main purpose in collecting these sources was to present certain
documents of the tenth and eleventh centuries which had not appeared
before in English - the royal and imperial diplomas of that period.2 To
be sure, the deeds of the Saxon and Salian dynasties yield information
about economics, social classes, and institutions, but most of all they
tell what the emperors were doing. I do not claim that these diplomas
tell everything they did, and still less that everything they did (even if
derivable from the documents) would constitute the 'history* of the
German empire, but I think that anything they did officially is significant
for the topic. I hasten to add that the diplomas are not all of equal
significance. Some are simple grants of land which could be multiplied
many times over in every reign. Others are unique, like the Ottonianum,
which has received special attention from historians because of what it
tells us about papal-imperial relations.
Even a small collection of diplomas, such as the one that follows,
reveals the diversity of the problems which the emperors faced, though
not necessarily what they actually accomplished. I have tried to include
diplomas which deal with every geographical part of the empire as well
as with every reign from Henry I to Henry IV. I have also included
1
'A Profitable Empire', The New York Review of Books, 29 January 1970, p. 52.
2
To my knowledge, not more thanfiveof those in my collection have appeared
before in English.
8 PREFACE
documents which are not, strictly speaking, diplomas, though they are
published in the Monumenta series called Diplomatum region et imper-
atorum Germamae> such as epistles and placita, the records of court
trials at which the emperor presided. My problem was not what to
include but what to leave out, for the inclusion of any diploma of a
German emperor could probably be rationalized in a collection of
this sort. In addition to the diplomas, I have included certain non-
diplomatic sources which have a direct bearing on the activities of the
emperors. I do not pretend that my choice is not an arbitrary one,
but I hope that it is none the less useful as an introduction to the
period.
For those who read German there is now an excellent collection of
sources, beginning with the Franks and going up to the fall of Con-
stantinople, in Geschichte in Quellen, II, Mittelaher, ed. Wolfgang
Lautemann, Munich, 1970. It contains more than 700 selections with
the greatest variety of literary genres, some of which are not represented
in my collection: for instance, monastic annals, saints' lives, and papal
registers. The scope of my book is much narrower, and I have leaned
towards complete documents rather than excerpts.
Unless otherwise indicated, the translations are my own. I have not
really translated the diplomas in this volume into English but rather
into a diplomatic language that can be readily understood by native
speakers of English but which does not actually exist as a spoken dialect.
Undoubtedly the style of the finished product could have been much
improved if I had taken the license to convert the Latin phraseology
into current popular idiom, but I felt that this would do too much
violence to the historical content. My aim is not to make tenth-century
texts palatable to twentieth-century readers: their own interest in the
subject matter must do that for them. I have sought rather to present
literal translations that will give students a close approximation to the
diplomas, but I have not spared them the effort of energetic study of
the material.
Eugene Nida, a proponent offreetranslation of ancient texts, suggests
that the very subject matter of past civilizations can be translated into
terms that will make immediate sense to modern readers. As an example
he cites J. B. Phillips's rendering of Romans 16:16, 'greet one another
with a holy kiss9, as 'give one another a hearty handshake all around9.3 This
translation is 'dynamic' and 'natural' and has now become the vogue.
'A translation of dynamic equivalence aims at complete naturalness of
expression, and tries to relate the receptor to modes of behavior
relevant within the context of his own culture; it does not insist that
PREFACE 7
I N T R O D U C T I O N : T H E AGE OF THE
SAXONS A N D SALIANS 15
1 Henry I (919-936) 17
2 Otto I (936-973) 25
3 Otto II (973-983) 43
4 Otto III (983-1002) 49
5 Henry II (1002-1024) 61
6 Conrad II (1024-1039) 70
7 Henry III (1039-1056) 85
8 Henry IV (1056-1106) 99
SELECTED D O C U M E N T S 107
DIPLOMATIC KEY 108
DEFINITION OF TERMS 110
1 Henry I grants immunity, customs, and election rights to
Fulda (Fulda, 920) 111
2 Henry I frees the priest Baldmunt (Rohr, 926) 113
3 Widukind, The royal coronation of Otto I at Aachen (936),
from Res gestae Saxonicae 113
4 Widukind, Count Gero against the Slavs (939-63), from
Res gestae Saxonicae 115
5 Otto I grants a village march in the district of Zeitz to Count
Gero (Allstedt, 945) 117
6 Hroswitha of Gandersheim, The achievements of Otto
(Gesta Ottonis) 118
12 CONTENTS
7 Liudprand of Cremona, A chronicle of Otto's reign {Liber
de rebus gestis Ottanis) 137
8 Otto I confirms territories to Pope John XII (the so-called
Ottonianum; Rome, 962) 149
9 Otto I and Pope John XIII try Rainerius for invading
Ravenna (Ravenna, 967) 153
10 Otto I confirms donations to Bishop Rather of Verona and
puts him under his protection (Balsemado, 967) 156
11 Otto I renews the treaty with the Venetians (Rome, 967) 158
12 Otto announces his intention of making Magdeburg an
archbishopric (968) 162
13 Otto II gives his wife Theophano great properties on both
sides of the Alps (972) 163
14 Otto II gives the monks at Regensburg a farm which they
had bought from the Jew Samuel (981) 166
15 Under Otto IPs chairmanship the quarrel between the abbot
of Volturno and Count Landulf about cloister property
is decided (981) 166
16 Thietmar of Merseburg, Otto IPs fight for south Italy
(981-3), from Chronici libri VIII 169
17 Gerbert of Aurillac, Letter to Archbishop Willigis of
Mainz asking him to support Theophano (984) 172
18 Otto III writes to his grandmother about his elevation to
imperial office (996) 173
19 Otto III confirms immunity to the cloister of Hornbach and
gives them indemnity and compensation for slain
churchmen (993) 174
20 Otto III grants his ministerialis Sigibert the locality of
Emmikenrot in the Mark of Pohlde including serfs
(Gandersheim, 997) 175
21 Otto III informs Gerbert about the journey of his opponent
Arnulf to the pope (997) 176
22 Otto III writes to Pope Gregory V about his arrangements
for eight counties in Italy (996) 176
23 Otto III grants eight counties to the Church of St Peter
(1001) 177
24 Pope Sylvester II exempts the abbot of Fulda from all
control except that of the Holy See (999) 179
CONTENTS 13
25 In the presence of Otto III the law of the emperor and the
empire is recognized with respect to the cloister of the
Holy Saviour and of St Felix of Pavia against Countess
Rotlind and her son (Pavia, 1001) 180
26 Henry II confirms immunity to the abbey of St Gall but
demands participation in the election of abbots (Zurich,
1004) 183
27 The Synod of Frankfurt confirms the founding of the
bishopric of Bamberg by Henry II (Frankfurt, 1007) 185
28 Henry II settles the dispute over Gandersheim between
Archbishop Willigis of Mainz and Bishop Bernward of
Hildesheim (Werla, 1013) 187
29 Henry II bestows the abbey of Helmarshausen on the
episcopal church at Paderborn (Leitzkau, 1017) 189
30 Henry II regulates the punishment of disputes between the
people of the cloisters at Fulda and Hersfeld (Bamberg,
1024) 190
31 Wipo, The election and consecration of Conrad II (1024),
from Gesta Chuonradi imperatoris 192
32 Conrad II confirms two estates and a hide of land to the
cloister at Peterlingen (1024) 201
33 With Conrad II and his son Henry presiding, the claims of
Duke Adalbero of Carinthia to fodrum and other
services are denied (S. Zeno near Verona, 1027) 202
34 Bishop Kadeloh of Naumburg secures in an imperial
document certain concessions for merchants from
Grossjena (Memleben, 1033) 205
35 Conrad II regulates legal relations of feudal tenants in Italy
(the so-called Constitutio defeudis; at the siege of Milan,
1037) 205
36 Conrad II gives to the episcopal church at Cremona the
property of Adam of Cremona, who had murdered the
Cardinal-deacon Henry of Cremona (1037) 207
37 Conrad II orders Roman judges to decide cases involving a
Lombard according to Roman law if carried out in
Roman territory (1038) 208
38 Henry III restores afiefto the monastery of Hersfeld, which
had been taken away by Conrad II (Goslar, 1043) 209
14 CONTENTS
39 With Henry III presiding in royal court, a dispute between
Bishop Bernard II of Ascoli and Albasia, wife of
Pandulf, is decided in favour of the bishop (S. Marotto, 209
1047)
40 Henry III orders that no secular or regular clergy and no
nun shall be forced to take an oath in criminal or civil
cases, but that all religious should take an oath via their
211
advocate (Rimini, 1047)
41 Henry III permits the inhabitants of Val Scalve trade in
iron and frees them from customs, fodrum, and other
public duties in exchange for a yearly payment of
1,000 pounds of iron to the royal court at Darfo
2I2
(Mantua, 1047)
42 Henry III issues a law for Italy against the crimes of
poisoning and assassination (Zurich, 1052) 213
43 Henry III issues a law about forbidden marriages (Zurich,
1052) 214
44 Henry IV gives several farms to the monastery of Sts. Simon
2I
and Jude at Goslar (Kessel, 1057) 4
45 Henry IV confirms for Count Ernest of Austria the
privileges of emperors Julius Caesar and Nero
(spurious; Diirrenbuch, 1058) 215
46 Henry IV confirms to the archiepiscopal church of
Hamburg-Bremen certain forests and allows the
dependants of the church to sell their property among
themselves (Regensburg, 1063) 218
47 Adam of Bremen, The downfall of Archbishop Adalbert
(1063-72), from Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae
ponttficum 219
48 Henry IV gives toll privileges to the citizens of Worms and
thanks them for their support (1074) 235
49 Anon., The early years of Henry IV, from Vita Heinrici IV
imperatoris 236
50 Helmold of Bosau, The public penance of King Henry, from
Chronica Slavorum 240
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ENVOI 242
INDEX 245
INTRODUCTION
THE AGE OF THE SAXONS
AND SALIANS
The Reign of Henry I (919-936)
Niinpä päätin itse kohdastani kokea, mitä »etäinen» oli. Äitini oli
molempien vanhimpien sisarteni kanssa matkustanut
kylpylaitokseen. Eräänä kauniina kesä-aamuna otin hiukan
liinavaatteita kaapistani, solmin kaiken ympärille nenäliinan ja
laskeuduin portaita aikoen rientää suoraa päätä postitalolle ja
asettua suuriin postivaunuihin, jotka niin usein olin nähnyt sen
edustalla, lähteäkseni päätä pahkaa äitini luo. En epäillyt, ettei
minulle suotaisi paikkaa vaunuissa, kun sanoin tahtovani tietää, mitä
»etäinen» on.
Perheeni näki surulla raskaat pilvet, joita yhä enemmän kertyi isäni
pään ympärille. Minä vapisin hänen puolestaan voimatta kuitenkaan
käsittää tapausten koko kantavuutta, ja muistan selvästi
silmänräpäyksen, jolloin äkillisen mielijohteen valtaamana käännyin
Jumalan, korkeimman auttajan puoleen. Yksinäni, katse kohotettuna
taivaaseen, kuin olisi se avaruuksien läpi tahtonut tunkeutua
kaikkivaltiaan istuimelle saakka, lähetin hänelle hehkuvan
rukouksen. Lupasin voittaa ainoan huonon taipumukseni, josta olin
tietoinen, jos hän säästäisi ruhtinaan elämän; kuvittelin, että siitä
riippui isäni onnellinen kotiinpaluu ja turvallisuus.
Muutos tuli, mutta toisella tavalla. Ruhtinas, jonka oli ollut pakko
myöntyä kansan vaatimuksiin, huomasi pian olevansa kykenemätön
hallitsemaan perustuslaillisena ruhtinaana ja kerrottiin, että hän aikoi
poikansa hyväksi luopua valtaistuimesta. Tähän päätökseen vaikutti
kai osaltaan myöskin se seikka, että hän uudelleen halusi yhtyä
lemmittyynsä, joka hänen oli täytynyt jättää kansan tahdosta. Silti
täytyy ihailla, miten suoraan ja peittelemättä hän arvosteli itseään, ja
monet unohtivatkin senvuoksi hänen vikansa. Muuan hänen
itsevaltiaista hallitsijatovereistaan, Venäjän keisari Nikolai, oli eräänä
päivänä sanonut: »On vain kaksi hallitusmuotoa: täydellinen
yksinvalta tai tasavalta.» Ruhtinaamme näytti olevan samaa mieltä,
ja kun hän ei enää saanut olla itsevaltias, piti hän parempana
vapaan ihmisen ja yksinkertaisen porvarin elämää.
Isäni päätti ruhtinaan hartaista pyynnöistä seurata entistä
leikkitoveriaan tämän vapaaehtoiseen maanpakoon ja luopua valtion
palveluksesta, joka oli tuottanut hänelle niin monta katkeraa
pettymystä. Ruhtinaan päätös herätti suurta tyytymättömyyttä ja sen
toteuttamista koetettiin ehkäistä. Silloin päätti ruhtinas lähteä
salaisesti, ennenkuin häntä ehdittiin estää. Hän jätti jälkeensä
määräyksen, jossa nimitti poikansa hallitsijaksi siksi aikaa, kun itse
oli poissa, ja puhui mahdollisesta paluustaan. Isäni seurasi häntä.