Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor

thumb| Henry IV (German: Heinrich; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor (1084–1105), King of Germany (1054–1105), and King of Italy and Burgundy (1056–1105). Quotes So soon as I saw him, touched to the very bottom of my heart, as well with grief as paternal affection, I threw myself at his feet, beseeching and conjuring him in the name of his God, and for his faith's sake, and the safety of his soul, though my sins might have deserved punishment at the hand of God, to refrain from sullying, through me, his soul, his honor, and his name, for that no decree or divine law had ever appointed sons to be the punishers of their father's faults. Letter to Philip I of France (1106). See: Sigebert of Gembloux (ed. B. G. Struve, vol. 1, p. 856) · J. C. L. de Sismondi, Histoire des Républiques Italiennes du Moyen Âge, vol. 1, p. 198. Reported in Jules Michelet, History of France, tr. G. H. Smith, vol. 1 (New York, 1882), p. 196: "When the poor old emperor was seized at the interview which took place at Mentz, and the bishops who had remained free from simony, tore off his crown and the royal robes, he besought with tears in his eyes this son, whom he still loved, to abstain from his parricidal violence for the safety of his eternal soul. Stripped, abandoned, and a prey to cold and hunger, he sought Spires, and that very church of the Virgin which he had himself built, and implored to be admitted as a priest, alleging that he could read, and could also sing in the choir. Even this favor was refused him; nay, a resting place was refused to his mortal remains, which lay for five years unburied in a cellar at Liege." External links Category:1050 births Category:1100s deaths Category:Holy Roman Emperors