Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor

Uncommon card · No. 113394

Henry II (German: Heinrich II.; Italian: Enrico II; Latin: Henricus; 6 May 973 – 13 July 1024), also known as Saint Henry, Obl. S. B., was Holy Roman Emperor (Latin: Romanorum Imperator) from 1014. He died without an heir in 1024 and was the last ruler of the Ottonian line. As Duke of Bavaria, appointed in 995, Henry became King of the Romans (Latin: Rex Romanorum) following the sudden death of his second cousin, Emperor Otto III in 1002, was made King of Italy (Latin: Rex Italiae) in 1004, and crowned emperor by Pope Benedict VIII in 1014. The son of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, and his wife Gisela of Burgundy, Henry was a great-grandson of German king Henry the Fowler and a member of the Bavarian branch of the Ottonian dynasty. Since his father had rebelled against two previous emperors, the younger Henry spent long periods of time in exile, where he turned to Christianity at an early age, first finding refuge with Bishop Abraham of Freising and later during his education at the cathedral...

Read on Wikipedia · Image anonymous, Public domain