Henry II Plantagenet ascends the throne of England
What has that got to do with German history? Matilda was the widow of Emperor Henry V who had died in 1125. If he had lived the next chapters of English and German history could have developed quite differently.
The End of the Battle of Verdun
After 10 months and as many as 300,000 dead the “Bloodmill” of Verdun stopped on December 18th, 1916. At this symbolic place one of the most evocative pictures of Franco-German reconciliation was created in September 22, 1984
Prussia occupies Silesia OTD in 1740
Frederick II’s raid for Silesia kicks off the first global conflict that brought Britain an empire and Prussia the hegemony in Germany
Arthur Berson (1859-1942) Meteorologist, Extreme Balloonist
On this day, December 3rd, 1942 the great German meteorologist and balloonist Arthur Berson (1859-1942) died of a stroke. Berson is credited with the discovery of the Stratosphere. His work on the structure of the Troposphere as well as his Climatology research were major advances in his field. But he was most famous for his feats as a balloonist. He participated in over 100 scientific high-altitude ascents.
The most untimely death of the bishop of Utrecht
When Bishop William of Utrecht hurls insults at the “false monk who claims to be pope Gregory VII” the wrath of the lord leads to a major turning point in medieval history
How King (future Emperor ) Henry IV (1056-1105) turned a disagreement over the archbishop of Milan into a major crisis
Henry had appointed a new archbishop of Milan in direct opposition to the Pope Gregory VII’s candidate (see previous post). As a consequence Gregory had sent a letter to Henry admonishing him and threatening excommunication. Henry then called a synod of 26 German bishops in Worms for the 24th of January. These mighty prelates were […]
How an uprising in Milan leads to the excommunication of the King Henry IV.
Milan is not only Europe’s largest city in the 11th century but also a powder keg. The Pataria, movement of the urban poor, demands better behaved clergymen, resulting in competing archbishops, one supported by the empire, the other by the pope
Pope Gregory VII (Hildebrand), 1020-1085
Gregory VII is one of the great papal figures of the Middle Ages. He establishes the concept of the universal primacy of the papacy that has never erred and will never err. His clash with Emperor Henry IV, erroneously called the Investiture Controversy is about much more than that, it may even be one of the great turning points in European history on par with the French and Russian Revolutions
Otto von Northeim (1020-1083)
Otto was born into a family of Saxon magnates with possessions in the Harz mountains. He was one of the most accomplished military and political leaders in Germany during the reign of Henry IV. The Empress Agnes made him duke of Bavaria in 1061 to lead a campaign into Hungary. A mere 12 months later […]
The Harzburg (1065-1075)
There are nearly 20,000 castles in Germany, some are famous for good reason like Trifels, Wartburg or the Hambacher Schloss. Some are historically irrelevant pastiches like Neuschwanstein or Schwerin. And very few are really important to the point of being almost protagonists by themselves. One of these few is the Harzburg.
The Harzburg symbolises the shift in imperial power under Henry IV from the previous model built around oaths of fealty and royal assemblies to the raw projection of territorial control. The Harzburg both provoked the uprising of the Saxons in 1073 and brings it to an end when the sacking by the Saxon peasant army goes to far.