Editing Pope Alexander II (section)

== Holy Roman Empire==
In 1068, [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|German King Henry IV]] attempted to divorce [[Bertha of Savoy]]. The Papal legate [[Peter Damian]] hinted that any further attempt at a divorce would lead the Pope to refuse to perform his coronation. Henry obeyed, and his wife, who had retired to [[Lorsch Abbey]] returned to Court.<ref name=Loughlin/>

A series of disputes broke out between the bishop [[Jaromír, Bishop of Prague|Gerhard (Iaromirus, Jaromi) of Prague]] and the bishop John (Brewnow) of Olmouc in Bohemia. Duke [[Vratislaus II of Bohemia]] drew this to the attention of Pope Alexander II when he happened to be at the papal court in 1073. Alexander sent ''nuntii'' to Prague to sort the matter out, but they were captured, mutilated, and then murdered. Shocked at the enormity of the offence, Pope Alexander sent Cardinal Rudolph to Prague. When Gerhard refused to cooperate with the cardinal, he was deposed and Prague was laid under the interdict; when the situation quieted down, he restored the bishop and lifted the interdict, but ordered both bishops to present themselves before the papal court. When they appeared, Pope Alexander confirmed the deposition of the bishop of Prague, though he restored him once again at the pleading of Countess Mathilda of Tuscany.<ref>Dlugosh, pp. 272–273.</ref>