Lost Castle V1 94-DOGE
Henry endeavoured to recover the royal estates that had been lost during his minority. He employed low-ranking officials to carry out his new policies, causing discontent in Saxony and Thuringia. Henry crushed a riot in Saxony in 1069 and overcame the rebellion of the Saxon aristocrat Otto of Nordheim in 1071. The appointment of commoners to high office offended German aristocrats, and many of them withdrew from Henry's court. He insisted on his royal prerogative to appoint bishops and abbots, although the reformist clerics condemned this practice as simony (a forbidden sale of church offices). Pope Alexander II blamed Henry's advisors for his acts and excommunicated them in early 1073. Henry's conflicts with the Holy See and the German dukes weakened his position and the Saxons rose up in open rebellion in the summer of 1074. Taking advantage of a quarrel between the Saxon aristocrats and peasantry, he forced the rebels into submission in October 1075.
Lost Castle v1 94-DOGE
Large parcels of the royal demesne were distributed during Henry's minority, and he decided to recover them around 1069.[104] The bulk of the royal estates had been in Saxony.[104] Henry sent Swabian ministeriales to the duchy to investigate property rights. The appointment of non-native unfree officials offended the Saxons, especially because the new officials ignored their traditional civil procedures.[104][105] New castles were built in Saxony and Henry manned them with Swabian soldiers.[104][106] Like his father, Henry spent more time in Saxony than in other parts of Germany and the accommodation of his retinue was the Saxons' irksome duty.[107] The Thuringians were also outraged that Henry supported Archbishop Siegfried of Mainz's claim to collect tithes from them, although most Thuringians had been exempted from the church tax for centuries.[108] The Margrave of Lower Lusatia, Dedi I, was the first Saxon lord to rebel.[108] He claimed benefices that his wife's former husband, Otto I, Margrave of Meissen, had held, but Henry refused him in 1069.[108][109] Dedi approached the Thuringians for help, but after Henry's promise to confirm their exemption from tithes the Thuringians joined the royal army. Henry invaded Dedi's domains and forced him to surrender.[108]
Bolesław II, Duke of Poland, invaded Bohemia in early 1073, and Henry decided to launch a punitive action against him.[115] He ordered the Saxon aristocrats to assemble at Goslar, where on 29 June they asked Henry to redress their grievances. Henry made no concessions and withdrew from Goslar to Harzburg.[130][18] Otto of Nordheim soon convinced the assembled Saxons to take up arms for their liberties.[105][131] The Saxons marched to Harzburg, but Henry had fled to Eschwege.[131] The Thuringians and the Saxons concluded an alliance and captured Lüneburg.[132] To save the life of the commander of Lüneburg, Henry released Magnus of Saxony, whom the rebels acknowledged as their lawful duke without seeking royal confirmation.[133] The German dukes and bishops did not come to Henry's rescue, and the rebels began attacking the royal castles.[134] To prevent the rebellious Saxon bishops from securing the Pope's support, Henry addressed a letter of penance to the Pope, admitting he had been involved in simony.[135] He claimed his youthful arrogance had been responsible for his sins and blamed his advisors for his acts.[136]
Liemar, Archbishop of Bremen, Udo, Archbishop of Trier, and eight bishops came to visit Henry in Worms in early 1074.[137] Their retainers and the Worms militia joined Henry in a new military campaign against the Saxons and Thuringians, but he soon realised the rebels outnumbered his army and entered into negotiations with them.[140] Henry accepted the rebels' principal demands in the Treaty of Gerstungen on 2 February.[140] He agreed to destroy his castles and appoint only natives to offices in Saxony in return for the Saxon aristocrats' promise to raze their newly built fortresses.[141][142] On hearing the agreement, the Saxon peasants captured and destroyed Harzburg and desecrated the graves of Henry's younger brother and first-born son.[141][143] The destruction of the royal graves aroused public indignation, and Henry regarded it as a violation of the treaty.[109][144]
Henry's brother-in-law, Solomon of Hungary, sent envoys to Henry seeking his assistance against his cousin Géza (who was Béla I's eldest son).[147] Géza had defeated Solomon on 14 March 1074, forcing him to take refuge in the fortresses of Moson and Pressburg (now Mosonmagyaróvár in Hungary and Bratislava in Slovakia, respectively).[148] Solomon promised to cede six castles to Henry and acknowledge his suzerainty in return for Henry's support to recover his country.[148][149] Henry invaded Hungary and marched as far as Vác, but he could not force Géza to surrender.[150] Pope Gregory sharply criticised Solomon for his willingness to accept Henry's suzerainty, because the Pope regarded Hungary as a fief of the Holy See.[151]
Henry moved to Speyer and lived there as a penitent.[183][184] He decided to depart for Italy to achieve his absolution, because he wanted to prevent the Pope from hearing his case at an assembly dominated by his enemies.[183] Although the winter was unexpectedly severe, Henry, his wife and their retainers crossed the Mont Cenis pass in December.[185] On 25 January, they reached Canossa Castle where the Pope had sought refuge, fearing that Henry came to Italy to capture him.[186] Henry remained barefoot and wearing sackcloth at the castle for three days.[186] Matilda of Tuscany (who held the castle), Adelaide of Turin and Hugh of Cluny convinced the Pope he had no choice but to absolve the remorseful King.[186][187] Before receiving absolution, Henry had to pledge to accept the Pope's judgement in his conflict with his subjects.[188]
Henry's second excommunication was less harmful to his position than the previous ban.[185] He held a council in Mainz on 31 May 1080.[221] The nineteen German prelates and aristocrats who attended the council deposed Pope Gregory, labelling him as "the accused disturber of divine and human laws".[221] Henry held a second synod in Brixen. Nineteen Italian, seven German and a lone Burgundian prelate confirmed the Pope's deposition 25 June, accusing him of simony, heresy and other sins.[210][222] The synod elected Archbishop Wibert of Ravenna pope.[223][224] Wibert assumed the name Clement III in reference to Pope Clement II who had been the first reformist pope to be elected through the intervention of Henry's father.[224] Henry returned to Germany and assembled his troops for a new invasion of Saxony.[225] Henry and Rudolf's armies met at Hohenmölsen on 14 October 1080.[225][226] Henry's forces were defeated but it was a Pyrrhic victory for Rudolf, who lost his right hand and died.[226][227] Henry took full advantage of the circumstances of Rudolf's death, describing it as a punishment for oath breaking.[223][228] He began negotiations with the Saxons, offering to appoint his son, Conrad, king of Saxony, but Otto of Nordheim persuaded his fellows to refuse the offer.[229]
Henry moved from Mainz to Hammerstein and then to Cologne. He decided to return to Mainz, because he wanted to defend himself at the German princes' assembly his son had convoked.[347] The younger Henry met with his father at Koblenz on 21 December. Henry dismissed his retinue, because his son promised a safe conduct to Mainz.[348] Instead, he was captured and brought to the castle of Böckelheim,[349][350] where he was forced to cede the royal insignia to his son.[348] The burghers of Mainz remained loyal to Henry, so his son summoned the German princes instead to an assembly at Ingelheim.[349] Henry was allowed to attend the meeting, but it was dominated by his enemies.[349] Having no other choice, he abdicated in his son's favour on 31 December.[351] Later, he said he resigned only because of his "fears of imminent murder or execution".[352]
Henry was not a successful military commander, primarily because he did not avoid pitched battles, in contrast with most 11th-century military leaders. He could likely adopt this high-risk strategy because he often mustered his troops from among merchants and peasants who were regarded as expendable. He lost most of his major battles; his sole victory at Homburg was primarily attributed to Rudolf of Rheinfelden by their contemporaries.[366] On the other hand, Henry's adaptability and openness to compromise and his preference for dilatory tactics enabled him to survive most crises of his reign.[367]
Yet at the heart of this nightmare, something bright glimmers and fills the hearts of the mighty with the courage needed to invade the castle. The Lost Castle is filled with the treasure of the defeated Earl and it is the promise of riches that calls you. And maybe you can do some good, too.
[Quest completed and talk to Order (Law)-->] "Great, now that those annoying bunch of pirates had been taken care of, let's head on to our next crisis." [Click to continue] "You eliminating a bunch of threats coming our way surely sets my mind at ease, at least until recently where my snail phone had just contacted me, stating that there are more armies heading our way, how troublesome." [Click to continue] "We are yet to know their objective, but if by any chance, they are attempting to get in our way, things could get really messy." [Click to continue] "I need you to eliminate some of those arctic warriors beneath the ice castle, but keep in mind that they are all highly trained under the Ice Admiral, so don't get your guards down." [Click "Alright" to accept and "Nevermind" to decline]
[Quest completed and talk to Order (Law)-->] "Great job, we were finally able to get back a fragment of what we had lost, but as expected, the damages we suffered were even more severe than what they could compensate." [Click to continue] "Then as per our deal, it'll be B$5,000,000 for me to teach you how to fully maximize your usage on swords. The money you give me will surely benefit our troops' and armories' recovery." [Click "Alright" to accept and "No thank you" to decline] 041b061a72