Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor - Definition and Overview

Henry III (1017-1056) was a member of the Salian (sometimes Franconian) dynasty of Holy Roman Emperors. Born in 1017, he became king of Germany upon the death of his father, the emperor Conrad II on June 4, 1039. He was crowned emperor by the Pope in 1046.

Henry was married in 1036 to Canute the Great's daughter Gunhilda, born around 1020. Early on Henry's father emperor Conrad II had arranged fief with Canute to have him rule over some parts of northern Germany and in turn to have their children get married. After the marriage took place at the earliest legal age, Gunhilda died just two years later at the Adriatic Coast on an imperial journey.

Henry was re-married in 1043 to Agnes de Poitou, daughter of duke of William V of Aquitaine. They had a son Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor and a daughter, Judith of Swabia.

In 1046 Henry held royal/imperial courts at Merseburg and Meissen, where he ended the strife between the Dux Bomeraniorum, the duke Bratislaw of Bohemia and Casimir I of Poland. This is one of the earliest, or perhaps the earliest, recording of the name of Pomerania.

Henry's reign as emperor was marked by his attempts to reform the Church, but also by his use of lay investiture to further his religious and political goals. This policy was continued by his son and successor, Henry IV, and eventually lead to the imperial-papal conflict known as the Investiture Controversy.