Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 11.djvu/700

666 a question is to be found in the modern history of England. That history in its progressive spirit, in its gradual approxi mation to a sounder and better state of society, and in its liberal openness to the influence of truth, is only the con tinuation and development of the work of Henry. In his rupture with the pope, in his abolition of an idle and anti quated monasticism, and in his endeavour to establish a purified and simplified Catholicism as the- permanent creed of England, he was fighting on the side of truth and light and progress. The English Reformation was too much alloyed with baser elements to serve as an ideal example of a great historic change ; yet it succeeded better than any other in appropriating the good both of the old and the new, in avoiding a violent rupture with the past, in keeping the nation unanimous, and in escaping those fatal religious wars which desolated Europe for nearly a century and in Germany delayed the progress of civilization for a century more. This desirable consummation was due first of all to Henry, whose sagacity and unfaltering resolution baffled the enemies of reform both at home and abroad, who repressed the hasty movements of either fanatical extreme in England, and who, with his real reverence for the teaching of the past, had a hearty contempt for its abuses. He was no hero, no ideal man or king ; he shared fully in the coarseness and indelicacy of the age ; he was fickle in his personal attachments, and did not shrink from destroying those who crossed his plans ; but he had a real and lofty sense of his duty as a king ; he had a true insight into the men and things he had to deal with, and helped to lead the country into a new era.

1em  HENRY I. (–), German king, was born in in Saxony, of which his father, Otto, was duke. He distinguished himself in early youth by the courage and energy with which he warred against the Slavonic tribes to the east of his native duchy. Otto, who died in, appointed Henry his successor, not only as duke of Saxony but as lord of Thuringia and part of Franconia. Conrad I., stimulated by certain ecclesiastical advisers whom Henry s independent bearing towards the church had deeply offended, resisted the claims of the young duke; but he was ulti mately left in possession of all the lands his father had ruled. After Conrad s death Henry was chosen king by the Franconian and Saxon nobles, and he had not much difficulty in securing the acquiescence of the rest of Germany. For some years Lotharingia or Lorraine had held an uncertain position between the kingdoms of the East and the West Franks, as Germany and France were than called ; but at this time Duke Giselbert, who was an old friend of Henry, quarrelled with Charles the Simple, and transferred his allegiance to the German king. For eight centuries afterwards Lorraine remained a part of Germany. From the time of Louis the Child, Germany had been tormented by the Hungarians, who were still a savage race, and who had the advantage of fighting on horseback while the Germans resisted them on foot. In an Hungarian chief was captured, and his people were compelled to purchase his release by agreeing to a nine ’ truce, on condition that Henry should during this time pay an annual tribute. In the northern districts the Germans had hitherto lived for the most part in small villages or on separate settlements, after the fashion described in the Germania of Tacitus. Henry, perceiving that so long as they continued thus exposed to attack they could never be safe, began the building of cities throughout Saxony and Thuringia, and in the other duchies his example was extensively followed. He also trained his vassals to meet the enemy on horseback, thus giving a strong impetus to the movement which resulted in the institutions of chivalry. When his arrangements were complete he tried his new force in a contest with the Danes and with some Slavonic tribes, whom he utterly defeated. In the Hungarians demanded as usual the tribute which had till then been punctually paid, and when it was refused invaded Thuringia with a great army. Henry twice defeated them, and they were so overwhelmed by this misfortune that they did not enter Germany for some years, and were never again seen in the northern duchies. Having thus broken the power of all the chief enemies of his country, Henry took precautions for the future by establishing the marches of Schleswig, of Meissen, and perhaps of Brandenburg. In his home government he acted with great caution and judgment. The dukes had become so powerful that there was some danger of their altogether overshadowing the throne. Instead of directly meeting this peril by forcing them into submission, as was afterwards done by his son Otto, lie attached them to his interests by confirming them in many of their rights and by acting as a mediator in their disputes. Towards the close of his life his position was so secure that he resolved to go to Rome and claim the imperial crown. In the midst of his preparations he died in at Memleben, and was buried in St Peter s church at Quedlinburg. He was one of the wisest and most energetic of the German kings, and through his encourage ment of municipal life, and his powerful defence of Germany against her foreign enemies, his reign marks an epoch of the highest importance in early mediseval history. By his first wife, Hatburg, he had a son Thankmar, who gave Otto I., his successor, much trouble. After she was put away he married Matilda, the daughter of a Saxon count ; and the gentle and noble character of this lady, who was uni versally beloved, was of essential service to him in his rule.

1em  HENRY II. (–), Holy Roman emperor, was born in. He was the son of Henry the Wrangler, duke of Bavaria, a grandson of King Henry I. In he succeeded to the duchy of Bavaria, and  went to Rome with the young emperor Otto III., to whom he rendered important services. When Otto III. died, Henry, as the chief surviving representa tive of the house of Saxony, took possession of the insignia of the empire, and was crowned German king at Mainz on the 7th of June. Encouraged by disturbances in Germany, a rebellious party of nobles in northern Italy raised Margrave Harduin of Ivrea to the throne of Lombardy ; but Henry advanced against them, and, like his immediate predecessors, made himself master of the iron crown. His most determined enemy during the greater part of his reign was Boleslaus II. of Poland. This ambitious and strong-willed prince annexed Bohemia, and during the king s absence in Italy broke into Lusatia and Meissen. Henry hurried back, defeated Boleslaus in, and granted Bohemia in fief to Jaromir, son of the previous duke. Boleslaus, however, continued the war, which was not ended till, when Henry was obliged to conclude peace on terms that were much more favourable to the Poles than he would have voluntarily granted. In the midst of this struggle he had to make war on Adalbero, his wife s brother, who seized the archbishopric of Treves, and was protected in his claim by another brother of the 