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Medieval Germany -- The Salian Dynasty,
1024-1125
After the death of the last Saxon king in 1024, the crown passed to the
Salians, a Frankish tribe. The four Salian kings--Conrad II, Henry III,
Henry IV, and Henry V--who ruled Germany as kings from 1024 to 1125, established
their monarchy as a major European power. Their main accomplishment was
the development of a permanent administrative system based on a class
of public officials answerable to the crown.
Conrad II, (born c. 990—died June 4, 1039, Utrecht, Ger., Holy Roman Empire), German king (1024–39) and Holy Roman emperor (1027–39), founder of the Salian dynasty
A principal reason for the success of the early Salians was their alliance
with the church, a policy begun by Otto I, which gave them the material
support they needed to subdue rebellious dukes. In time, however, the
church came to regret this close relationship. The relationship broke
down in 1075 during what came to be known as the Investiture Contest,
a struggle in which the reformist pope, Gregory VII, demanded that Henry
IV (r. 1056-1106) renounce his rights over the German church. The pope
also attacked the concept of monarchy by divine right and gained the support
of significant elements of the German nobility interested in limiting
imperial absolutism. More important, the pope forbade church officials
under pain of excommunication to support Henry as they had so freely done
in the past. In the end, Henry journeyed to Canossa in northern Italy
in 1077 to do penance and to receive absolution from the pope. However,
he resumed the practice of lay investiture (appointment of religious officials
by civil authorities) and arranged the election of an antipope.
Henry IV begging Matilda of Canossa
The German monarch's struggle with the papacy resulted in a war that
ravaged German lands from 1077 until the Concordat of Worms in 1122. This
agreement stipulated that the pope was to appoint high church officials
but gave the German king the right to veto the papal choices. Imperial
control of Italy was lost for a time, and the imperial crown became dependent
on the political support of competing aristocratic factions. Feudalism
also became more widespread as freemen sought protection by swearing allegiance
to a lord. These powerful local rulers, having thereby acquired extensive
territories and large military retinues, took over administration within
their territories and organized it around an increasing number of castles.
The most powerful of these local rulers came to be called princes rather
than dukes.
According to the laws of the German feudal system, the king had no claims
on the vassals of the other princes, only on those living within his family's
territory. Lacking the support of the formerly independent vassals and
weakened by the increasing hostility of the church, the monarchy lost
its preeminence. Thus, the Investiture Contest strengthened local power
in Germany in contrast to what was happening in France and England, where
the growth of a centralized royal power was under way.
Salian Dynasty coins
The Investiture Contest had an additional effect. The long struggle between
emperor and pope hurt Germany's intellectual life--in this period largely
confined to monasteries--and Germany no longer led or even kept pace with
developments occurring in France and Italy. For instance, no universities
were founded in Germany until the fourteenth century.
- The Merovingian Dynasty,
ca. 500-751
- The Carolingian Dynasty,
752-911
- The Saxon Dynasty, 919-1024
- The Salian Dynasty, 1024-1125
- The Hohenstaufen Dynasty,
1138-1254
- The Empire under the Early
Habsburgs
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