Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1894 edition. Excerpt: ... were Henry IV.'s faults, want of energy was not one of them. Not yet discouraged by the uphill tight he had been waging for so many years, he left Saxony even before Ecbert had been captured, and turned to more sights of blood and more bitter struggling in Italy. The Countess-Matilda had, in the meantime, shown her devotion to the papal cause by marrying, at Urban II.'s instigation, the son of Henry's enemy, Welf_of Bavaria. The bride was forty, the bridegroom but seventeen years of age. The ill-assorted pair had but one interest in common, to drive Henry from the German throne, and thereby to secure the future of Italy. and of the papacy. The Welfs had already been active in rousing Suabia to rebellion, so that Henry's power was threatened simultaneously on both sides of the Alps, and he was obliged to divide his forces accordingly. The war in Italy was one of those slow, harassing ones that Henry had grown to know so well. Every element was there to try his soul. The Pataria had again raised its head in Lombardy. The citizens of Milan, Cremona, Lodi, and other municipalities had formed a confederation for twenty years for the purpose of defending themselves against the emperor. It was the first of these coalitions that were eventually to prove so fatal to Germany's rule in Italy. All of these unhappy combinations, however, were as nothing to the misfortune that fell upon Henry in 1093. It was then that the empress, the Russian princess Adelaide--Berta had died in 1087--turned against him. His son Conrad at the same time threw off his allegiance, declared himself king, and became a rallying-point for the emperor's enemies. It was said at the time that Henry sought death on receiving this news, but was persuaded by faithful friends to...
