St. Henry, surnamed the Pious and the Lame, was son of Henry, duke
of Bavaria, and of Gisella, daughter of Conrad, king of Burgundy,
and was born in 972. He was descended from Henry, Duke of Bavaria,
son of the emperor Henry the Fowler, and brother of Otho the Great,
consequently our saint was near akin to the three first Emperors
who bore the name of Otho. St. Wolfgang, the Bishop of Ratisbon,
being a prelate the most eminent in all Germany for learning,
piety, and zeal, our young prince was put under his tuition, and
by his excellent instructions and example he made from his infancy
wonderful progress in learning and in the most perfect practice of
Christian virtue. The death of his dear master and spiritual guide,
which happened in 994, was to him a most sensible affliction. In
the following year he succeeded his father in the duchy of Bavaria,
and in 1002, upon the death of his cousin Otho III. he was chosen
emperor.[160] He was the same year crowned king of Germany at Mentz,
by the archbishop of that city. He had always before his eyes the
extreme dangers to which they are exposed who move on the precipice
of power, and that all human things are like edifices of sand, which
every breath of time threatens to overturn or deface; he studied
the extent and importance of the obligations which attended his
dignity; and by the assiduous practice of humiliations, prayer, and
pious meditation, he maintained in his heart the necessary spirit
of humility and holy fear, and was enabled to bear the tide of
prosperity and honor with a constant evenness of temper. Sensible of
the end for which alone he was exalted by God to the highest temporal
dignity, he exerted his most strenuous endeavors to promote in all
things the divine honor, the exaltation of the Church, and the peace
and happiness of his people.
Soon after his accession to the throne he resigned the dukedom of
Bavaria, which he bestowed on his brother-in-law Henry, surnamed
Senior. He procured a national council of the bishops of all his
dominions, which was assembled at Dortmund, in Westphalia, in 1005,
in order to regulate many points of discipline; and to enforce a
strict observance of the holy canons. It was owing to his zeal that
many provincial synods were also held for the same purpose in several
parts of the empire. He was himself present at that of Frankfort
in 1006, and at another of Bamberg in 1011. The protection he owed
his subjects engaged him sometimes in wars, in all which he was
successful. By his prudence, courage, and clemency, he stifled a
rebellion at home in the beginning of his reign, and without striking
a stroke compelled the malecontents to lay down their arms at his
feet, which when they had done he received them into favor. Two
years after he quelled another rebellion in Italy, when Ardovinus
or Hardwic, a Lombard lord, had caused himself to be crowned king
at Milan. This nobleman, after his defeat, made his submission, and
obtained his pardon. When he had afterward revolted a second time,
the emperor marched again into Italy, vanquished him in battle, and
deprived him of his territories, but did not take away his life,
and Ardovinus became a monk. After this second victory, St. Henry
went in triumph to Rome, where, in 1014, he was crowned emperor
with great solemnity by pope Benedict VIII. On that occasion, to
give a proof of his devotion to the holy see, he confirmed to it,
by an ample diploma, the donation made by several former emperors,
of the sovereignty of Rome and the exarchate of Ravenna:[161] and
after a short stay at Rome, took leave of the pope, and in his
return to Germany kept the Easter holydays at Pavia; then he visited
the monastery of Cluni, on which he bestowed the imperial globe of
gold which the pope had given him, and a gold crown enriched with
precious stones. He paid his devotions in other monasteries on the
road, leaving in every one of them some rich monument of his piety
and liberality. But the most acceptable offering which he made to
God was the fervor and purity of affection with which he renewed
the consecration of his soul to God in all places where he came,
especially at the foot of the altars. Travelling through Liege and
Tries he arrived at Bamberg, in which city he had lately founded a
rich episcopal see, and had built a most stately cathedral in honor
of St. Peter, which pope John XVIII. took a journey into Germany
to consecrate in 1019. The emperor obtained of this pope, by an
honorable embassy, the confirmation of this and all his other pious
foundations. For he built and endowed other churches with the two
monasteries at Bamberg, and made the like foundations in several
other places; thus extending his zealous views to promote the divine
honor and the relief of the poor to the end of time. Bruno, bishop
of Ausburg, the emperor’s brother, Henry, duke of Bavaria, and
other relations of the saint complained loudly that he employed his
patrimony on such religious foundations, and the duke of Bavaria and
some others took up arms against him in 1010; but he defeated them
in the field; then pardoned the princes engaged in the revolt, and
restored to them Bavaria and their other territories which he had
seized.
The idolatrous inhabitants of Poland and Sclavonia had some time
before laid waste the diocess of Meersburg, and destroyed that and
several other churches. St. Henry marched against those barbarous
nations, and having put his army under the protection of the holy
martyrs St. Laurence, St. George, and St. Adrian, who are said to
have been seen in the battle fighting before him, he defeated the
infidels. He had made a vow to re-establish the see of Meersburg
in case he obtained the victory, and he caused all his army to
communicate the day before the battle which was fought near that
city. The barbarians were seized with a panic fear in the beginning
of the action, and submitted at discretion. The princes of Bohemia
rebelled, but were easily brought back to their duty. The victorious
emperor munificently repaired and restored the episcopal sees of
Hildesheim, Magdeburg, Strasburg, Misnia, and Meersburg, and made all
Poland, Bohemia, and Moravia tributary to the empire. He procured
holy preachers to be sent to instruct the Bohemians and Polanders
in the faith. Those have been mistaken who pretend that St. Henry
converted St. Stephen, king of Hungary; for that prince was born of
Christian parents. But our saint promoted his zealous endeavors, and
had a great share in his apostolic undertakings for the conversion of
his people.
The protection of Christendom, and especially of the holy see,
obliged St. Henry to lead an army to the extremity of Italy,[162]
where he vanquished the conquering Saracens, with their allies
the Greeks, and drove them out of Italy, left a governor in the
provinces which he had recovered, and suffered the Normans to enjoy
the territories which they had then wrested from the infidels, but
restrained them from turning their arms towards Naples or Benevento.
He came back by Mount Cassino, and was honorably received at Rome;
but during his stay in that city, by a painful contraction of the
sinews in his thigh, became lame and continued so till his death.
He passed by Cluni, and in the duchy of Luxemburg had an interview
with Robert, king of France, son and successor of Hugh Capet.[163]
It had been agreed that, to avoid all disputes of pre-eminence,
the two princes should hold their conference in boats on the river
Meuse, which as Glaber writes, was at that time the boundary that
parted their dominions. But Henry, impatient to embrace and cement
a friendship with that great and virtuous king, paid the first
visit to Robert in his tent, and afterward received him in his
own. A war had broken out between these two princes in 1006, and
Henry gave the French a great overthrow; but being desirous only to
govern his dominions in peace, he entered into negotiations which
produced a lasting peace. In this interview, which was held in 1023,
the conference of the two princes turned on the most important
affairs of Church and State, and on the best means of advancing
piety, religion, and the welfare of their subjects. After the most
cordial demonstrations of sincere friendship they took leave of each
other, and St. Henry proceeded to Verdun and Metz. He made frequent
progresses through his dominions only to promote piety, enrich all
the churches, relieve the poor, make a strict inquiry into all public
disorders and abuses, and prevent unjust usurpations and oppressions.
He desired to have no other heir on earth but Christ in his members,
and wherever he went he spread the odor of his piety, and his
liberalities on the poor.
It is incredible how attentive he was to the smallest affairs amidst
the multiplicity of business which attends the government of the
state; nothing seemed to escape him; and whilst he was most active
and vigilant in every duty which he owed to the public, he did not
forget that the care of his own soul and the regulation of his
interior was his first and most essential obligation. He was sensible
that pride and vain-glory are the most dangerous of all vices, and
that they are the most difficult to be discovered, and the last that
are vanquished in the spiritual warfare; that humility is the very
foundation of all true virtue, and our progress in it the measure of
our advancement in Christian perfection. Therefore the higher he was
exalted in worldly honors the more did he study to humble himself,
and it is said of him, that never was greater humility seen under a
diadem. He loved those persons best who most freely put him in mind
of his mistakes, and these he was always most ready to confess, and
to make for them the most ample reparation. Through misinformations,
he for some time harbored coldness toward Saint Herebert archbishop
of Cologne; but discovering the innocence and sanctity of that
prelate, he fell at his feet, and would not rise till he had received
his absolution and pardon. He banished flatterers from his presence,
calling them the greatest pests of courts; for none can put such
as affront on a man’s judgment and modesty, as to praise him to
his face, but the base and most wicked of interested and designing
men, who make use of this artifice to insinuate themselves into the
favor of a prince, to abuse his weakness and credulity, and to make
him the dupe of their injustices. He who listens to them exposes
himself to many misfortunes and crimes, to the danger of the most
foolish pride and vain-glory, and to the ridicule and scorn of his
flatterers themselves; for a vanity that can publicly hear its
own praises, openly unmasks itself to its confusion. The emperor
Sigismund giving a flatterer a blow on the face, called his fulsome
praise the greatest insult that had ever been offered him. St. Henry
was raised by religion and humility above this abjectness of soul
which reason itself teaches us to abhor and despise. By the assiduous
mortification of the senses he kept his passions in subjection. For
pleasure, unless we are guarded against its assaults, steals upon us
by insensible degrees, smooths its passage to the heart by a gentle
and insinuating address, and softens and disarms the soul of all its
strength. Nor is it possible for us to triumph over unlawful sensual
delights, unless we moderate and practise frequent self-denials with
regard to lawful gratifications. The love of the world is a no less
dangerous enemy, especially amidst honors and affluence; and created
objects have this quality that they first seduce the heart, and then
blind the understanding. By conversing always in heaven, St. Henry
raised his affections so much above the earth as to escape this snare.
Prayer seemed the chief delight and support of his soul; especially
the public office of the Church. Assisting one day at this holy
function at Strasburg, he so earnestly desired to remain always there
to sing the divine praises among the devout canons of that Church,
that, finding this impossible, he founded there a new canonry for
one who should always perform that sacred duty in his name. In this
spirit of devotion it has been established that the kings of France
are canons of Strasburg, Lyons, and some other places; as in the
former place the emperors, in the latter the dukes of Burgundy,
were before them. The holy sacrament of the altar and sacrifice of
the mass were the object of St. Henry’s most tender devotion. The
blessed Mother of God he honored as his chief patroness, and among
other exercises by which he recommended himself to her intercession,
it was his custom, upon coming to any town, to spend a great part of
the first night in watching and prayer in some church dedicated to
God under her name, as at Rome in St. Mary Major. He had a singular
devotion to the good angels and to all the saints. Though he lived
in the world so as to be perfectly disengaged from it in heart
and affection, it was his earnest desire entirely to renounce it
long before his death, and he intended to pitch upon the abbey of
St. Vanne, at Verdun, for the place of his retirement. But he was
diverted from carrying this project into execution, by the advice
of Richard the holy abbot of that house.[164] He had married St.
Cunegonda, but lived with her in perpetual chastity, to which they
had mutually bound themselves by vow. It happened that the empress
was falsely accused of incontinency, and St. Henry was somewhat
moved by the slander; but she cleared herself by her oath, and by
the ordeal trials, walking over twelve red hot plough-shares without
hurt. Her husband severely condemned himself for his credulity,
and made her the most ample satisfaction. In his last illness he
recommended her to her relations and friends, declaring that he left
her an untouched virgin. His health decayed some years before his
death, which happened at the castle of Grone, near Halberstadt, in
1024, on the 14th of July, toward the end of the fifty-second year of
his life; he having reigned twenty-two years from his election, and
ten years and five months from his coronation at Rome. His body was
interred in the cathedral at Bamberg with the greatest pomp, and with
the unfeigned tears of all his subjects. The great number of miracles
by which God was pleased to declare his glory in heaven, procured
his canonization, which was performed by Eugenius III., in 1152. His
festival is kept on the day following that of his death.[165]
* * * * *
Those who by honors, dignities, riches, or talents are raised by
God in the world above the level of their fellow-creatures, have a
great stewardship, and a most rigorous account to give at the bar of
divine justice, their very example having a most powerful influence
over others. This St. Fulgentius observed, writing to Theodorus, a
pious Roman senator,[166]--“Though,” said he, “Christ died for all
men, yet the perfect conversion of the great ones of the world brings
great acquisitions to the kingdom of Christ. And they who are placed
in high stations must necessarily be to very many an occasion of
eternal perdition or of salvation. And as they cannot go alone, so
either a high degree of glory or an extraordinary punishment will be
their everlasting portion.”