Recto Description

Folio CXCII Recto tells the story of the reign of King Henry IV. His father died at an early age and his mother Empress Agnes taught him how to rule the kingdom properly, however Henry was not as devout of a Christian as his mother and this led to many misguidences within the kingdom. Agness went to live out her life in Rome. Henry, who was more interested in sport than his kingdom, fell out of favor with the people of Saxony. He tried to reduce the amount of power the Pope held and at the same time waged war against Saxony, although he won it was at devestating costs to his army. Because of his victory, he continued to put pressure on the Pope by caling a conference of Bishops to replace him. The Pope therefore denounced him and the Bishops, and absolved all rights to the throne for Henry's family. Althouugh he promised to cause no more trouble, he again found a replacement Pope to disenfranchise the Church's authority. Henry and his new pope returned to Germany in 1099, later that year he crowned his son Henry V as king. After an argument and a battle between father and son, Henry IV died in Leige, and was buried there. His remains were later moved to Spire, where they stayed unburied for five years before he was laid to rest.

Illustration Descriptions

Upper Left

Portrayed here in his robes is King Henry IV of Germany

Lower Right

Portrayed here is Rudoulf, Duke of Swabia who was chosen as King in Henry's absense due to the Saxony Rebellion. He was well respected, however he died in October, 1808.

Sources:

Schedel, Harmann 1440-1514, Schmauch, Walter W., Hadavas, Kosata. First English Edition of the Nuremberg Chronicle: Being the Liber Chronicarum of Dr. Hartmann SchedelÖ, University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center, Madison, WI, 2010. Accessed 5/4/2020 http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/nur.001.0004