Editing Salian dynasty (section)

==Salian monarchy==
After the death of the last Saxon Emperor [[Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry II]], the first Salian regent, Conrad II, was elected by the majority of the [[Prince-elector]]s and was crowned German king in [[Mainz]] on 8 September 1024. Early in 1026 Conrad went to [[Milan]], where [[Archbishop Aribert of Milan|Ariberto]], [[archbishop of Milan]], crowned him [[king of Italy]]. When [[Rudolph III, King of Burgundy]] died in 1032, Conrad II also claimed this kingship on the basis of an inheritance Henry II had extorted from the former in 1006. Despite some opposition, the Burgundian and Provençal nobles paid homage to Conrad in [[Zürich]] in 1034. This [[Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles|Kingdom of Burgundy]] would become known as the [[Kingdom of Arles]] from the 12th century.

Already in 1028 Conrad II had his son [[Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry III]] elected and anointed king of Germany. Henry's tenure led to an overstatement of previously unknown sacral kingship. So during this reign [[Speyer Cathedral]] was expanded to be the largest church in Western Christendom. Henry's conception of a legitimate power of royal disposition in the duchies was successful against the dukes, and thus secured royal control. However, in [[Lorraine (duchy)|Lorraine]], this led to years of conflict, from which Henry emerged as the winner. However, in southern Germany a powerful opposition group was formed in the years 1052–1055. In 1046 Henry ended the [[Schism (religion)|papal schism]], freed the Papacy from dependence on the Roman nobility, and laid the basis for its universal applicability. His early death in 1056 was long regarded as a disaster for the Empire.

[[File:SpeyererDom vonSuedWesten.JPG|thumb|[[Speyer Cathedral]], the burial place of all Salian Emperors]]
The early Salians owed much of their success to their alliance with the [[Catholic Church|Church]], a policy begun by Otto I, which gave them the material support they needed to subdue rebellious dukes.<ref name=":0" /> In time, however, the Church came to regret this close relationship.<ref name=":0" /> The alliance broke down in 1075 during what came to be known as the [[Investiture Controversy]] (or ''Investiture Dispute''), a struggle in which the reformist Pope, [[Pope Gregory VII|Gregory VII]], demanded that Emperor [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry IV]] renounce his rights over the Church in Germany.<ref name=":0" /> The pope also attacked the concept of monarchy by divine right and gained the support of significant elements of the German nobility interested in limiting imperial absolutism.<ref name=":0" /> 

More importantly, the pope forbade ecclesiastical officials under pain of excommunication from supporting Henry as they had so freely done in the past.<ref name=":0" /> In the end, Henry IV journeyed to [[Canossa]] in northern [[Italy]] in 1077 to do penance and to receive absolution from the pope.<ref name=":0" /> However, he resumed the practice of lay investiture (appointment of religious officials by civil authorities) and arranged the election of an [[antipope]] ([[Antipope Clement III]]) in 1080.<ref name=":0" />

The monarch's struggle with the papacy resulted in a war that ravaged through the Holy Roman Empire from 1077 until the [[Concordat of Worms]] in 1122.<ref name=":0" /> The reign of the last ruler of the Salian dynasty [[Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry V]] coincided with the final phase of the great [[Investiture Controversy]], which had pitted pope against emperor.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}} By the settlement of the Concordat of Worms, Henry V surrendered to the demands of the second generation of [[Gregorian reform]]ers.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}} This agreement stipulated that the pope would appoint high church officials but gave the German king the right to veto the papal choices.<ref name=":0" /> 

Imperial control of Italy was lost for a time, and the imperial crown became dependent on the political support of competing aristocratic factions.<ref name=":0" /> Feudalism became more widespread as freemen sought protection by swearing allegiance to a lord.<ref name=":0" /> These powerful local rulers, having thereby acquired extensive territories and large military retinues, took over administration within their territories and organized it around an increasing number of castles.<ref name=":0" /> The most powerful of these local rulers came to be called princes rather than dukes.<ref name=":0" />

According to the laws of the feudal system of the Holy Roman Empire, the king had no claims on the vassals of other princes, only on those living within his family's territory.<ref name=":0" /> Lacking the support of the formerly independent vassals and weakened by the increasing hostility of the Church, the monarchy lost its pre-eminence.<ref name=":0" /> Thus the Investiture Contest strengthened local power in the Holy Roman Empire – in contrast to the trend in France and England, where centralized royal power grew.<ref name=":0" /> The Investiture Contest had an additional effect.<ref name=":0" /> The long struggle between emperor and pope hurt the Holy Roman Empire's intellectual life, in this period largely confined to monasteries, and the empire no longer led or even kept pace with developments occurring in [[France]] and [[Italy]].<ref name=":0" /> For instance, no universities were founded in the Holy Roman Empire until the fourteenth century.<ref name=":0" />

The first [[House of Hohenstaufen|Hohenstaufen]] king [[Conrad III of Germany|Conrad III]] was a grandson of the Salian [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor]]. ([[Agnes of Waiblingen|Agnes]], Henry IV's daughter and Henry V's sister, was the heiress to the Salian dynasty's lands: her first marriage produced the royal and imperial [[Hohenstaufen]] dynasty and her second marriage the ducal [[Babenberg]] potentates of the [[Duchy of Austria]], which was elevated much due to these connections via the [[Privilegium Minus]].){{clarify|date=April 2017}}