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reign of Henry III is the summit of the older German imperialism. The path uphill had been made by the persevering energy of the Saxon kings and Emperors; under Henry's successors the Empire rushed, though with glory, into ruin. Henry himself, sane, just, and religious, has the approval of reason, but could never have raised the white-hot zeal, and the fiercer hatred, which burned round the Hohenstaufen.

His father and mother were among those rare men and women who wrest from circumstances their utmost profit. Conrad, trained by adversity, attempting nothing vaguely or rashly, almost invariably attained his object, and left the "East-Frankish" Empire stronger within and without than ever before. His education of his son in state-craft was thorough and strenuous: very early he made him a sharer in his power, and then shewed neither mistrust nor jealousy, even when faced by markedly independent action. Henry, for his part, though he judged adversely some of his father's conduct, honoured him and kept his memory in affection.

Henry's mother Gisela (of the blood of Charlemagne, of the royal house of Burgundy, and heiress of Swabia) used fortune as Conrad used adversity. To power and wealth she added great beauty, force of character, and mind. Her influence is seen in the furtherance of learning and of the writing of chronicles. It was to her that Henry owed his love of books, and she made of her son "the most learned of kings." Gisela's share in public affairs during her husband's reign was considerable, even taking into account the important part habitually assigned to the Emperor's consort. Under Henry III the part of the Empress, Mother or Consort, in the Empire begins to dwindle, and there are indications of misunderstandings later between her and Henry. The chronicler Herman of Reichenau speaks of Gisela dying "disappointed by the sayings of soothsayers, who had foretold that she should survive her son."

Conspicuous in Henry's early circle was his Burgundian tutor, Wipo, the biographer of Conrad and the staunch admirer of Gisela. According to Wipo, a king's first business is to keep the law. Among the influences which were brought to bear upon Henry in his youth, that of Wipo cannot be overlooked.