Herman of Luxembourg (died 28 September 1088), Count of Salm, was a German anti-king of the Holy Roman Empire who ruled from 1081 until his death. From the 10th century the rulers for the Holy Roman Empire were elected German kings, who expected to be crowned by the Pope as Holy Roman Emperor.[1]
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Election
He was a son of Count Giselbert and was elected King of Germany on 6 August 1081 by the noblity of Saxony and Swabia in Ochsenfurt while the Emperor Henry IV was campaigning in Italy. Siegfried I, Archbishop of Mainz, crowned him in Goslar on 26 December. Hermann's predecessor, Rudolph of Swabia, had died. During this time, Henry IV was the Holy Roman Emperor, but because he believed the papacy should submit to the crown, Pope Gregory VII had excommunicated him and declared that he was unworthy of being the Holy Roman Emperor.[2]
Conflict with the Pope
The big issue between the Pope and Henry was the appointment of bishops. It was a custom that if a bishop was to die, the emperor would appoint a new bishop based on his ecclesiastical qualifications. Henry, on the other hand was appointing bishops for political reasons which made Pope Gregory VII furious and thus prohibited the appointments of investiture by any lay person, including the Emperor. This was known as the Investiture Controversy.[3][4] Because of this, the church broke off from Henry and appointed Rudolph of Swabia and later Hermann of Luxemburg. Unfortunately for Gregory, Hermann was nowhere near as strong a leader as Rudolph and this caused Henry’s power to grow.[5] Little is known of what happened to Hermann after this other than he served as an anti-king under Gregory’s rule until 1093, which is assumed to be his year of death. Conrad of Franconia began his rule after Hermann’s death.[6]
Military campaigning
His plan to gather an army on the banks of the Danube and march into Italy was dashed by the death of his main retainer, Otto of Nordheim. When Henry came into Saxony with an army in 1085, Herman fled to the Danes. He returned, however, in alliance with Welf I, Duke of Bavaria, and defeated the emperor at the Battle of Bleichfeld on the River Main, taking Würzburg. Fast on his victory, however, he tired of being a pawn in the hands of the grandees and retired to his familial estates. He lost died near Cochem later that same year. His wife, Sophia of Formbach, left him a son, Otto, who succeeded him in Salm.
References
- ^ http://sizes.com/time/CHRNHolyrome.htm.
- ^ http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08084c.htm.
- ^ http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09550a.htm.
- ^ http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08084c.htm.
- ^ http://www.nndb.com/people/953/000091680/.
- ^ http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?vendorId=FWNE.fw..ho082000.a#FWNE.fw..ho082000.a.
