Editing Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor (section)

===Unrest in Italy===
[[File:Iron Crown.JPG|thumb|300px|Following his expedition into Italy in early 1026, Conrad II was crowned with the [[Iron Crown of Lombardy]] as the [[King of the Lombards]].]]

In Bavaria, Conrad came into contact with members of the Italian ruling elite for the first time. In June 1025, bishops from [[Northern Italy]], led by Archbishop [[Aribert (archbishop of Milan)|Aribert of Milan]], crossed the [[Alps]] in order to pay homage to Conrad. In exchange for certain administrative privileges, Aribert agreed to crown Conrad [[Iron Crown of Lombardy|King]]. However, the situation in Italy had become increasingly unstable after the death of Henry II. Amidst occasional riots, many Italian aristocrats demanded the secession of the [[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|Kingdom of Italy]] from the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. The local aristocrats and merchants increasingly considered the idea of Frankish [[Ultramontanism|ultramontan]] protection against [[Saracen]] and [[Byzantine]] threats to be obsolete. The Italian throne was now viewed as vacant and not Conrad's as a matter of right.  The Lombard cities wanted to elect a king from the ranks of their own magnates, and when this motion failed, they tried to invite a prince from [[Aquitaine]] or other French realms. They offered the Italian crown to the [[House of Capet|Capetian]] king [[Robert II of France]] and his son [[Hugh Magnus]]. After the offer was rejected, they approached Duke [[William V of Aquitaine]], who, initially intrigued by the offer, rejected it as well.{{sfn|Bury|1922|p=264}}{{sfn|Schutz|2010|p=117}}

When the news of Henry's death spread, the citizens of [[Pavia]] revolted and destroyed the local imperial palace of the [[Ostrogothic Kingdom|Ostrogothic king]] [[Theodoric the Great]], built during the 5th century.<ref name="Morgan-Owenson1821">{{Cite book |last=Sydney Morgan-Owenson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lupQAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA200 |title=Italy |publisher=H. Colburn |year=1821 |pages=200–}}</ref> Though Pavia was no longer the seat of imperial administration in Italy since the Ottonian dynasty, the palace had been perceived as a symbol of imperial authority in Italy and its mere presence within the city walls had been deemed intolerable. Pavia had—thanks to its strategic location on the trade routes from Italy to Burgundy and France—become an important commercial centre. The local merchants and aristocrats demanded the greatest possible autonomy from imperial control.<ref name="boni">{{Cite journal |title=Boniface of Canossa and the Emperor Conrad III |url=https://www.academia.edu/40250313 |last=Robert Houghton |journal=Storicamente |date=24 July 2017 |volume=13 |publisher=Academiaa |access-date=30 January 2020}}</ref> Schutz notes that Pavia disliked the financial burden they had to bear whenever the monarchs came to the citadel. The bishops protested the separatist movement though, as they fared better under imperial protection than under local princes.{{sfn|Schutz|2010|p=117}}

In the wake of the ecclesiastical mission, a party of noblemen from [[Pavia]] travelled north to meet Conrad and asked for severance from the Empire. The emissaries justified the actions of their fellow citizens by claiming that Pavia had always been loyal to the Italian king, as long as the king was alive and present, and that the revolt had taken place when the Italian throne was vacant. Conrad rejected the argument, that just as a ship remains devoted to its captain after his death, the Empire remains imperial property after the death of an emperor. The kingdom of Italy, according to Conrad, belonged to the empire as a matter of legal right. In his ''[[Constitutio de feudis]]'' ("Edict on the Benefices of the Italian Kingdom") of 1038 he would determine his regulations of the feudal contracts in Italy.<ref name="Stock1983">{{Cite book |last=Brian Stock |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Ves8Li9LH8C |title=The Implications of Literacy: Written Language and Models of Interpretation in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries |page=156 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |date=1983 |isbn=0-691-10227-9}}</ref> Conrad also declared that the Ostrogothic palace was property of the Empire and therefore the king had the right to punish those responsible for its destruction. The Pavian embassy returned to Italy in opposition to [[Salian dynasty|Salian]] rule.<ref name=boni/>

In February 1026, Conrad assembled a large army of armoured knights for an expedition into Italy, including troops commanded by both Archbishop [[Aribo (archbishop of Mainz)|Aribo of Mainz]] and Archbishop [[Pilgrim (archbishop of Cologne)|Pilgrim of Cologne]]. Conrad's army moved south and a contingent besieged Pavia and blocked all trade in the area, as he continued his campaign. By March 1026, Conrad arrived in [[Milan]] and was crowned with the [[Iron Crown of the Lombards]] by Archbishop [[Aribert (archbishop of Milan)|Aribert of Milan]] as [[King of the Lombards]]. From Milan, Conrad travelled to [[Vercelli]], where he celebrated [[Easter]] with the aged [[Leo of Vercelli|Bishop Leo of Vercelli]], who had been a chief advisor to the late [[Emperor Otto III]]. When Leo died a few days later, Archbishop Aribert became the chief supporter of the [[Salian dynasty]] in Italy. With Conrad's assistance, Aribert rose to the highest-ranking religious office in Italy and oversaw the expansion of the [[Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio]] in Milan. In June 1026, Conrad led his army to [[Ravenna]], but quartering his soldiers among the Ravennese population caused tensions in the city. Conrad then marched north to mitigate the risk the summer heat might pose to his army. In autumn Conrad left his summer camp in the [[Po Valley]] and marched to the Burgundian border. Conrad then celebrated [[Christmas]] at [[Ivrea]]. By the end of winter, the Italian aristocrats voluntarily ended their opposition to Conrad's reign. Pavia, however, remained in revolt until early 1027 when Abbot [[Odilo of Cluny]] brokered a peace deal between the city and Conrad.<ref name="Halfond2016">{{Cite book |last=Gregory I. Halfond |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yIC1CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA69 |title=The Medieval Way of War - Studies in Medieval Military History in Honor of Bernard S. Bachrach |date=2016 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-317-02419-4 |pages=69–}}</ref>