Surviving as Emperor
Henry IV lost much of the power over the church and over Italy that his father had wielded. The Investiture Conflict meant that he could no longer control the church hierarchy in Germany and northern Italy, nor could he depend on bishops to work as government officials. The German princes rebelled against him, and the cities of northern Italy found ways to declare their independence of him.
The Concordat of Worms (1122) conceded considerable power within the church to the king, but said nothing about the ruler’s relations with the German princes or the Italian cities. When Henry V (r. 1105–1125) died childless, the position of the emperor was extremely uncertain.
REVIEW QUESTION Which ruler—Alexius Comnenus, William the Conqueror, or Louis VI—was the strongest, which the feeblest, and why?
When a German king died childless, the great bishops and princes would meet together to elect the next emperor. In 1125, numerous candidates were put forward; the winner, Lothar III (r. 1125–1137), was chosen largely because he was not the person designated by Henry V. Lothar had little time to reestablish royal control before he, too, died childless, leaving the princes to elect Conrad III. It was Conrad’s nephew, Frederick Barbarossa, who would have a chance to find new sources of imperial power in a post-Gregorian age.