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Ignatius of Loyola
Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Portrait by Peter Paul Rubens
Bornc. October 23, 1491 Loyola , Gipuzkoa , Basque Country , Kingdom of Castille (currently Spain )
DiedJuly 31, 1556 (aged 64) Rome , Papal States
Venerated inCatholic Church , Anglican Communion
Beatified July 27, 1609 by Paul V
Canonized March 12, 1622 by Gregory XV
Feast July 31
Attributes Eucharist , chasuble , book , cross
Patronage Dioceses of San Sebastián  and Bilbao , Biscay  and Gipuzkoa ; Basque Country ; Military Ordinariate of the Philippines ; Society of Jesus ; Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais , Brazil; Junín, Buenos Aires , Argentina, and Antwerp , Belgium.

Saint  Ignatius of Loyola  (Basque : Ignazio Loiolakoa , Spanish : Ignacio de Loyola ; c. October 23, 1491 [1]  – July 31, 1556) was a Spanish  Basque  priest  and theologian , who founded the religious order  called the Society of Jesus  (Jesuits) and became its first Superior General .[2]  The Jesuit order served the Pope as missionaries, and they were bound by a vow of special obedience to the sovereign pontiff in regard to the missions.[3]  They therefore emerged as an important force during the time of the Counter-Reformation .[4]

Ignatius is remembered as a talented spiritual director. He recorded his method in a celebrated treatise called the Spiritual Exercises , a simple set of meditations , prayers, and other mental exercises , first published in 1548.

Ignatius was beatified  in 1609, and then canonized , receiving the title of Saint on March 12, 1622. His feast day is celebrated on July 31. He is the patron saint  of the Basque provinces of Gipuzkoa  and Biscay  as well as the Society of Jesus, and was declared patron saint of all spiritual retreats by Pope Pius XI  in 1922. Ignatius is also a foremost patron saint of soldiers.[5]

    Early life [ edit ] Sanctuary of Loyola , in Azpeitia , built over Ignatius' birthplace

    Íñigo López de Loyola (sometimes erroneously called Íñigo López de Recalde)[6]  was born in the municipality of Azpeitia  at the castle of Loyola in today's Gipuzkoa, Basque Country , Spain. He was baptized Íñigo, after St. Enecus  (Innicus) (Basque : Eneko ; Spanish : Íñigo ) Abbot of Oña ,[6]  a medieval Basque name which perhaps means "My little one".[7]  It is not clear when he began using the Latin name "Ignatius" instead of his baptismal name "Íñigo".[8]  It seems he did not intend to change his name, but rather adopted a name which he believed was a simple variant of his own, for use in France and Italy where it was better understood.[9]

    Íñigo was the youngest of thirteen children. His mother died soon after his birth, and he was then brought up by María de Garín, the local blacksmith's wife.[10]  Íñigo adopted the surname "de Loyola" in reference to the Basque village of Loyola where he was born.

    Military Career [ edit ] Ignatius in armor Saint Ignatius of Loyola's Vision of Christ and God the Father at La Storta by Domenichino [11]

    As a boy Íñigo became a page  in the service of a relative, Juan Velázquez de Cuéllar, treasurer (contador mayor ) of the kingdom of Castile .

    As a young man Íñigo had a great love for military exercises as well as a tremendous desire for fame. He framed his life around the stories of El Cid , the knights of Camelot , and the Song of Roland .[12]  He joined the army at seventeen, and according to one biographer, he strutted about "with his cape slinging open to reveal his tight-fitting hose and boots; a sword and dagger at his waist".[13]  According to another he was "a fancy dresser, an expert dancer, a womanizer, sensitive to insult, and a rough punkish swordsman who used his privileged status to escape prosecution for violent crimes committed with his priest brother at carnival time."[14]  Upon encountering a Moor  who denied the divinity of Jesus, he challenged him to a duel to the death, and ran him through with his sword.[13]  He dueled many other men as well.[13]

    In 1509, at the age of 18, Íñigo took up arms for Antonio Manrique de Lara , Duke of Nájera . His diplomacy and leadership qualities earned him the title "servant of the court", which made him very useful to the Duke.[15]  Under the Duke's leadership, Íñigo participated in many battles without injury. But at the Battle of Pamplona  in 1521 he was gravely injured when a French-Navarrese expedition force  stormed the fortress of Pamplona on May 20, 1521. A cannonball  hit him in the legs, wounding his right leg and fracturing the left in multiple places.[16]  Íñigo was returned to his father's castle in Loyola, where, in an era that knew nothing of anesthetics , he underwent several surgical operations to repair his legs, having the bones set and then rebroken. In the end these operations left one leg shorter than the other: Íñigo would limp for the rest of his life, and his military career was over.[14]

    Religious conversion and visions [ edit ] Manresa , Chapel in the Cave of Saint Ignatius  where Ignatius practised ascetism and conceived his Spiritual Exercises

    While recovering from surgery, Íñigo underwent a spiritual conversion which led to his experiencing a call to religious life. Hospitals in those days were run by religious orders, and the reading material available to bedridden patient tended to be selected from scripture or devotional literature. This is how Íñigo came to read a series of religious texts on the life of Jesus  and on the lives of the saints , since the "romances of chivalry" he loved to read were not available to him in the castle.[6]

    The religious work which most particularly struck him was the De Vita Christi  of Ludolph of Saxony .[17]  This book would influence his whole life, inspiring him to devote himself to God and follow the example of Francis of Assisi  and other great monks. It also inspired his method of meditation, since Ludolph proposes that the reader place himself mentally at the scene of the Gospel story, visualising the crib at the Nativity, etc. This type of meditation, known as Simple Contemplation, was the basis for the method that St. Ignatius would promote in his Spiritual Exercises .[18] [19] [20]

    Aside from dreaming about imitating the saints in his readings, Íñigo was still wandering off in his mind about what "he would do in service to his king and in honor of the royal lady he was in love with". Cautiously he came to realize the after-effect of both kinds of his dreams. He experienced a desolation and dissatisfaction when the romantic heroism dream was over, but, the saintly dream ended with much joy and peace. It was the first time he learned about discernment .[14]

    After he had recovered sufficiently to walk again, Íñigo resolved to begin a pilgrimage to the Holy Land  to "kiss the earth where our Lord had walked",[14]  and to do stricter penances .[21]  He thought that his plan was confirmed by a vision of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus he experienced one night, which resulted much consolation to him.[21]  In March 1522, he visited the Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat . There, he carefully examined his past sins , confessed , gave his fine clothes to the poor he met, wore a "garment of sack-cloth", then hung his sword and dagger at the Virgin 's altar during an overnight vigil at the shrine.[6]

    From Montserrat he walked on to the nearby town of Manresa  (Catalonia ), where he lived for about a year, begging for his keep, and then eventually doing chores at a local hospital in exchange for food and lodging. For several months he spent much of his time praying in a cave nearby [22]  where he practiced rigorous asceticism , praying for seven hours a day, and formulating the fundamentals of his Spiritual Exercises .

    Íñigo also experienced a series of visions in full daylight while at the hospital. These repetitive visions appeared as "a form in the air near him and this form gave him much consolation because it was exceedingly beautiful ... it somehow seemed to have the shape of a serpent and had many things that shone like eyes, but were not eyes. He received much delight and consolation from gazing upon this object ... but when the object vanished he became disconsolate".[23]  He came to interpret this vision as diabolical in nature.[24]

    Period of study [ edit ]

    In September 1523, Íñigo made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land  with the goal of settling there. He remained there from September 3 to 23 but he was sent back to Europe  by the Franciscans .[25]

    He returned to Barcelona and at the age of thirty-three began to attend a free public grammar school to prepare himself for entrance to a university. When his preparation was complete, he then went on to the University of Alcalá,[26]  where he studied Theology and Latin from 1524 to 1534.

    There he encountered some women who had been called before the Inquisition . These women were considered alumbrados  (Illuminated, Illuminati, or Enlightened Ones) – a group that was linked in their zeal and spirituality to Franciscan reforms, but had incurred mounting suspicion on the part of the administrators of the Inquisition. At one point, Íñigo was preaching on the street when three of these devout women began to experience ecstatic states. "One fell senseless, another sometimes rolled about on the ground, another had been seen in the grip of convulsions or shuddering and sweating in anguish." This suspicious activity had taken place while Íñigo was preaching without a degree in theology. Íñigo was then singled out for interrogation by the Inquisition; however, he was later released.[27]

    After these adventurous activities, Íñigo (by now Ignatius) moved to Paris to study at the famous University . He studied at the ascetical Collège de Montaigu , where he remained for over seven years.

    He arrived during a period of anti-Protestant turmoil which forced John Calvin  to flee France. Very soon after his arrival Ignatius had gathered around him six key companions, all of whom he had met as fellow students at the University.[28] — Francis Xavier , Alfonso Salmeron , Diego Laynez , and Nicholas Bobadilla , all Spanish; Peter Faber , a Savoyard; and Simão Rodrigues  of Portugal. Peter Faber , a young man from Savoy in the south of France, and Francis Xavier , a nobleman from the eastern end of the Basque country, were his first roommates,[14]  and would become his closest associates in founding the Jesuit order.

    "On the morning of the 15th of August, 1534, in the chapel of church of Saint Peter , at Montmartre, Loyola and his six companions, of whom only one was a priest, met and took upon themselves the solemn vows of their lifelong work." [29]

    Later, they were joined by Saint Francis Borgia , a member of the House of Borgia , who was the main aide of Emperor Charles V , and other nobles.

    Ignatius obtained a master's degree from the University of Paris at the age of forty-three. In later life he was often called "Master Ignatius" because of this.[29]

    Foundation of the Jesuit order [ edit ]

    In 1539, with Saint Peter Faber  and Saint Francis Xavier , Ignatius formed the Society of Jesus, which was approved in 1540 by Pope Paul III . Ignatius was chosen as the first Superior General  of the order and invested with the title of Father General by the Jesuits.[30]

    Ignatius sent his companions as missionaries around Europe to create schools, colleges, and seminaries. Juan de Vega , the ambassador of Charles V  at Rome, met Ignatius there. Esteeming Ignatius and the Jesuits, when Vega was appointed Viceroy of Sicily, he brought Jesuits with him. A Jesuit college was opened at Messina , which proved a success, and its rules and methods were afterwards copied in other colleges.[31]

    In 1548 Ignatius was briefly brought before the Roman Inquisition  for examination of his book of Spiritual Exercises . But he was released and the book was finally given papal permission to be printed. It was published in a format such that the exercises were designed to be carried out over a period of 28–30 days.

    Ignatius, along with the help of his personal secretary Juan Alfonso de Polanco  wrote the Jesuit Constitutions, adopted in 1553. It created a centralised organization for the order,[32] [33]  and stressed absolute self-denial and obedience to the Pope and to superiors in the Church hierarchy, using the motto perinde ac cadaver  – "as if a dead body",[34]  i.e. that the good Jesuit should be as well-disciplined as a corpse.[35]  But his main principle became the Jesuit motto: Ad maiorem Dei gloriam  ("for the greater glory of God").

    During the years 1553–1555, Ignatius dictated his autobiography to his secretary, Father Gonçalves da Câmara. This autobiography ("Autobiografía de San Ignacio de Loyola" in Wikisource in Spanish) is a valuable key for understanding his Spiritual Exercises . It was kept in the archives of the Jesuit order for about 150 years, until the Bollandists  published the text in Acta Sanctorum .

    Death and canonization [ edit ]

    Ignatius died in Rome on July 31, 1556, as a result of the Roman Fever , a severe case of malaria  that recurred in Rome, Italy, at different points in history. At this time he was placed in a wooden shrine, his body was then covered with his priestly garments. On August 1 the shrine was then buried in the small Maria della Strada Church. In 1568 that church was pulled down and replaced with the Church of the Gesù. Saint Ignatius was put into a new coffin and reinterred in the Church of the Gesù in Rome, Italy.

    Ignatius was beatified by Pope Paul V  on July 27, 1609, and canonized  by Pope Gregory XV  on March 12, 1622.[36]  His feast day is celebrated annually on July 31, the day he died. Saint Ignatius is venerated as the patron saint of Catholic soldiers, the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines , the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore ,[37]  the Basque Country, and various towns and cities in his native region.

    Legacy [ edit ]

    Ignatius has to this day a powerful and respectable legacy. Of the institutions dedicated to Saint Ignatius, one of the most famous is the Basilica of St Ignatius Loyola , built next to the house where he was born in Azpeitia, the Basque Country, Spain. The house itself, now a museum, is incorporated into the basilica complex. In addition, he has had a global impact, having been the influence behind numerous Jesuit schools and educational institutions worldwide .

    In 1949 he was the subject of a Spanish biographical film The Captain from Loyola  in which he was played by Rafael Durán .

    In 2016, he was the subject of a Filipino film Ignacio de Loyola  in which he was played by Andreas Muñoz .[38]

    Genealogy [ edit ] Original shield of Oñaz-Loyola

    Shield of Oñaz-Loyola [ edit ]

    The Shield of Oñaz-Loyola is a symbol of Saint Ignatius family's Oñaz lineage, and is used by many Jesuit  institutions around the world. As the official colors of the Loyola family are maroon  and gold ,[39]  the Oñaz shield consists of seven maroon bars going diagonally from the upper left to the lower right on a gold field. The bands were granted by the King of Spain to each of the Oñaz brothers, in recognition of their bravery in battle. The Loyola shield features a pair of rampant gray wolves  flanking each side of a cooking pot. The wolf was a symbol of nobility, while the entire design represented the family's generosity towards their military followers. According to legend, wolves had enough to feast on after the soldiers had eaten. Both shields were combined as a result of the intermarriage of the two families in 1261.[40] [41]

    Lineage [ edit ]

    Villoslada established the following detailed genealogy of Saint Ignatius:[1]

    John the Apostle
    Saint John the Apostle[1]
    Apostle
    Bornc. AD 6 Bethsaida , Galilee , Roman Empire
    Diedc. AD 100 (aged 93 or 94) Patmos , Greece , Roman Empire
    Venerated inChristianity
    Canonized Pre-congregation
    Feast 27 December (Roman Catholic , Anglican ) 26 September (Orthodox )
    Attributes Book, a serpent in a chalice, cauldron, eagle
    Patronage Love, loyalty, friendships, authors, booksellers, burn-victims, poison-victims, art-dealers, editors, publishers, scribes, examinations, scholars, theologians

    John the Apostle  (Aramaic : ܝܘܚܢܢ ܫܠܝܚܐ ‎‎ Yohanan Shliha ; Hebrew : יוחנן בן זבדי ‎‎ Yohanan ben Zavdi ; Koine Greek : Ἰωάννης; Latin : Ioannes ; c. AD 6-100 ) was one of the Twelve Apostles  of Jesus  according to the New Testament , which refers to him as Ἰωάννης. He was the son of Zebedee  and Salome . His brother was James , who was another of the Twelve Apostles. Christian tradition holds that he outlived the remaining apostles and that he was the only one to die of natural causes: Judas Iscariot  died by suicide, while the other ten all are considered to have died a martyr's death. This is because the Church Fathers  considered him the same person as John the Evangelist , John of Patmos , John the Elder and the Beloved Disciple , although modern theologians and scholars have not formed a consensus on the relative identities of these men. The traditions of most Christian denominations have held that John the Apostle is the author of several books of the New Testament.

      New Testament author [ edit ] St. John at the Crucifixion of Jesus in a Stabat Mater  by Pietro Perugino Rome , c. 1482 Lamentation of the Virgin. John the Apostle trying to console Mary

      Church tradition has held that John is the author of the Gospel of John  and four other books of the New Testament — the three Epistles of John  and the Book of Revelation . In the Gospel, authorship is internally credited to the "disciple whom Jesus loved " (ὁ μαθητὴς ὃν ἠγάπα ὁ Ἰησοῦς , o mathētēs on ēgapa o Iēsous ) in John 20:2 . John 21:24  claims that the Gospel of John is based on the written testimony of the "Beloved Disciple". The authorship of some Johannine literature  has been debated since about the year 200.[2] [3]  Some[by whom? ] doubt that the "Gospel of John" was even written by an individual named "John" (Ἰωάννης or יוחנן). Nevertheless, the notion of "John the Evangelist" exists, and is still considered by some the same as the Apostle John.

      In his Ecclesiastical History , Eusebius  says that the First Epistle of John  and the Gospel of John  are widely agreed upon as his. However, Eusebius mentions that the consensus is that the second and third epistles of John are not his but were written by some other John. Eusebius also goes to some length to establish with the reader that there is no general consensus regarding the revelation of John. The revelation of John could only be what is now called the book of Revelation.[4]  The Gospel according to John differs considerably from the Synoptic Gospels , which were likely written decades earlier. The bishops of Asia Minor  supposedly requested him to write his gospel to deal with the heresy of the Ebionites , who asserted that Christ did not exist before Mary. John probably knew and undoubtedly approved of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but these gospels spoke of Jesus primarily in the year following the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist .[5]  Around 600, however, Sophronius of Jerusalem  noted that "two epistles bearing his name ... are considered by some to be the work of a certain John the Elder" and, while stating that Revelation was written by John of Patmos, it was "later translated by Justin Martyr and Irenaeus",[6]  presumably in an attempt to reconcile tradition with the obvious differences in Greek style.

      Until the 19th century, the authorship of the Gospel of John had been attributed to the Apostle John. However, most modern critical scholars have their doubts.[7] [8]  Some scholars place the Gospel of John somewhere between AD 65 and 85;[9] [page needed ] John Robinson  proposes an initial edition by 50–55 and then a final edition by 65 due to narrative similarities with Paul.[10] :pp.284,307 Other scholars are of the opinion that the Gospel of John was composed in two or three stages.[11] :p.43 Most contemporary scholars consider that the Gospel was not written until the latter third of the first century AD, and with an earliest possible date of AD 75-80.[12]  "...a date of AD 75-80 as the earliest possible date of composition for this Gospel". Other scholars think that an even later date, perhaps even the last decade of the first century AD right up to the start of the 2nd century (i.e. 90 - 100), is applicable.[13]

      Nonetheless, today many theological scholars continue to accept the traditional authorship. Colin G. Kruse states that since John the Evangelist has been named consistently in the writings of early church fathers, "it is hard to pass by this conclusion, despite widespread reluctance to accept it by many, but by no means all, modern scholars."[14]

      The Gospel of John was written by an anonymous author.[15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23]  According to Paul N. Anderson, the gospel "contains more direct claims to eyewitness origins than any of the other Gospel traditions".[24]  F. F. Bruce  argues that 19:35 contains an "emphatic and explicit claim to eyewitness authority".[25]  Bart D. Ehrman , however, does not think the gospel claims to have been written by direct witnesses to the reported events.[17] [26] [27]

      Book of Revelation [ edit ]

      The author of the Book of Revelation  identifies himself as "Ἰωάννης" ("John" in standard English translation)[28]  The early 2nd century writer, Justin Martyr , was the first to equate the author of Revelation with John the Apostle .[29]  However, most biblical scholars now contend that these were separate individuals.[7] [30]

      John the Presbyter , an obscure figure in the early church, has also been identified with the seer of the Book of Revelation by such authors as Eusebius  in his Church History (Book III, 39)  [31]  and Jerome .[32]

      John is considered to have been exiled to Patmos , during the persecutions under Emperor Domitian . Revelation 1:9 says that the author wrote the book on Patmos: "I, John, both your brother and companion in tribulation... was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ." Adela Yarbro Collins , a biblical scholar at Yale Divinity School , writes:

      Early tradition says that John was banished to Patmos by the Roman authorities. This tradition is credible because banishment was a common punishment used during the Imperial period for a number of offenses. Among such offenses were the practices of magic and astrology. Prophecy was viewed by the Romans as belonging to the same category, whether Pagan, Jewish, or Christian. Prophecy with political implications, like that expressed by John in the book of Revelation, would have been perceived as a threat to Roman political power and order. Three of the islands in the Sporades  were places where political offenders were banished. (Pliny Natural History  4.69-70; Tacitus Annals  4.30)[33]

      Some modern higher critical scholars have raised the possibility that John the Apostle, John the Evangelist, and John of Patmos were three separate individuals.[34]  These scholars assert that John of Patmos wrote Revelation but neither the Gospel of John nor the Epistles of John. For one, the author of Revelation identifies himself as "John" several times, but the author of the Gospel of John never identifies himself directly. Some Catholic scholars state that "vocabulary, grammar, and style make it doubtful that the book could have been put into its present form by the same person(s) responsible for the fourth gospel".[35]

      References to John in the New Testament [ edit ] Russian Orthodox  icon of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, 18th century (Iconostasis  from the Church of the Transfiguration , Kizhi  Monastery.

      Sons of thunder [ edit ]

      John the Apostle was the son of Zebedee  and the younger brother of James, son of Zebedee  (James the Greater). According to Church tradition, their mother was Salome .[36]  Zebedee and his sons fished in the Sea of Galilee . The brothers were firstly disciples of John the Baptist . Jesus then called Peter , Andrew  and these two sons of Zebedee to follow him. James and John are listed among the Twelve Apostles. Jesus referred to the pair as "Boanerges" (translated "sons of thunder");[8]  although their nature was calm and gentle, when their patience was pushed to its limits their anger became wild and thunderous causing them to speak out like an untamed storm. A gospel story relates how the brothers wanted to call down heavenly fire on a Samaritan  town, but Jesus rebuked them. [Lk 9:51-6]  John lived more than half a century after the martyrdom of James, who was the first Apostle to die a martyr's death.

      Other references to John [ edit ] John the Evangelist and Peter by Albrecht Dürer

      Peter , James and John were the only witnesses of the raising of Daughter of Jairus .[37]  All three also witnessed the Transfiguration , and these same three witnessed the Agony in Gethsemane  more closely than the other Apostles did.[38]  John was the disciple who reported to Jesus that they had 'forbidden' a non-disciple from casting out demons  in Jesus' name, prompting Jesus to state that 'he who is not against us is on our side'.[39]

      Jesus sent only John and Peter into the city to make the preparation for the final Passover  meal (the Last Supper ).[Lk 22:8] [40]  At the meal itself, the "disciple whom Jesus loved" sat next to Jesus. It was customary to lie along upon couches at meals, and this disciple leaned on Jesus.[38]  Tradition identifies this disciple as Saint John[Jn 13:23-25] . After the arrest of Jesus, Peter and the "other disciple" (according to Sacred Tradition), John followed him into the palace of the high-priest .[38]

      John alone among the Apostles remained near Jesus at the foot of the cross on Calvary  alongside myrrhbearers  and numerous other women; following the instruction of Jesus from the Cross, John took Mary, the mother of Jesus , into his care as the last legacy of Jesus [Jn 19:25-27] . After Jesus' Ascension  and the descent of the Holy Spirit  at Pentecost , John, together with Peter, took a prominent part in the founding and guidance of the church. He was with Peter at the healing of the lame man at Solomon's Porch  in the Temple [Ac 3:1 et seq. ]  and he was also thrown into prison with Peter.[Acts 4:3]  He went with Peter to visit the newly converted believers in Samaria .[Acts 8:14]

      While he remained in Judea and the surrounding area, the other disciples returned to Jerusalem for the Apostolic Council  (about AD 51). Paul, in opposing his enemies in Galatia, recalls that John explicitly, along with Peter and James the Just , were referred to as "pillars of the church" and refers to the recognition that his Apostolic preaching of a gospel free from Jewish Law  received from these three, the most prominent men of the messianic community at Jerusalem .[37]

      According to the Book of Revelation , its author was on the island of Patmos  "for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus", when he was honoured with the vision  contained in Revelation.[Rev. 1:9]

      The disciple whom Jesus loved [ edit ] Jesus and the Beloved Disciple

      The phrase the disciple whom Jesus loved  (Greek : ὁ μαθητὴς ὃν ἠγάπα ὁ Ἰησοῦς , ho mathētēs hon ēgapā ho Iēsous ) or, in John 20:2 , the Beloved Disciple  (Greek : ὃν ἐφίλει ὁ Ἰησοῦς , hon ephilei ho Iēsous ) is used five times in the Gospel of John ,[41]  but in no other New Testament accounts of Jesus. John 21:24  claims that the Gospel of John is based on the written testimony of this disciple.

      The disciple whom Jesus loved is referred to, specifically, six times in John's gospel:

      • It is this disciple who, while reclining beside Jesus at the Last Supper , asks Jesus, after being requested by Peter  to do so, who it is that will betray him.[Jn 13:23-25]
      • Later at the crucifixion , Jesus tells his mother , "Woman, here is your son", and to the Beloved Disciple he says, "Here is your mother."[Jn 19:26-27]
      • When Mary Magdalene  discovers the empty tomb, she runs to tell the Beloved Disciple and Peter. The two men rush to the empty tomb and the Beloved Disciple is the first to reach the empty tomb. However, Peter is the first to enter.[Jn 20:1-10]
      • In John 21 , the last chapter of the Gospel of John , the Beloved Disciple is one of seven fishermen involved in the miraculous catch of 153 fish .[Jn 21:1-25]  [42]
      • Also in the book's final chapter, after Jesus hints to Peter how Peter will die, Peter sees the Beloved Disciple following them and asks, "What about him?" Jesus answers, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!"[John 21:20-23]
      • Again in the gospel's last chapter, it states that the very book itself is based on the written testimony of the disciple whom Jesus loved.[John 21:24]

      None of the other Gospels has anyone in the parallel scenes that could be directly understood as the Beloved Disciple. For example, in Luke 24:12 , Peter alone runs to the tomb. Mark, Matthew and Luke do not mention any one of the twelve disciples having witnessed the crucifixion.

      There are also two references to an unnamed "other disciple" in John 1:35-40  and John 18:15-16 , which may be to the same person based on the wording in John 20:2 .[43]

      Extrabiblical traditions [ edit ] Byzantine illumination  depicting John dictating to his disciple, Prochorus  (c.  1100). Tomb of St. John the Apostle, in St. John's Basilica , Ephesus , near modern-day Selçuk , Turkey.

      There is no information in the Bible concerning the duration of John's activity in Judea . According to tradition, John and the other Apostles remained some 12 years in this first field of labour. The persecution of Christians  under Herod Agrippa I  led to the scattering of the Apostles through the Roman Empire 's provinces .[cf. Ac 12:1-17]

      A messianic community existed at Ephesus  before Paul's  first labours there (cf. "the brethren"),[Acts 18:27]  in addition to Priscilla and Aquila . The original community was under the leadership of Apollos  (1 Corinthians 1:12). They were disciples of John the Baptist and were converted by Aquila and Priscilla.[44]  According to Church tradition, after the Assumption of Mary , John went to Ephesus. From there he wrote the three epistles attributed to him. John was allegedly banished by the Roman authorities to the Greek island of Patmos , where, according to tradition, he wrote the Book of Revelation . According to Tertullian  (in The Prescription of Heretics ) John was banished (presumably to Patmos) after being plunged into boiling oil in Rome and suffering nothing from it. It is said that all in the audience of Colosseum  were converted to Christianity upon witnessing this miracle. This event would have occurred in the late 1st century, during the reign of the Emperor Domitian , who was known for his persecution of Christians.

      When John was aged, he trained Polycarp  who later became Bishop of Smyrna . This was important because Polycarp was able to carry John's message to future generations. Polycarp taught Irenaeus , passing on to him stories about John. Similar goes with Ignatius of Antioch , who was a student of John and later appointed by Saint Peter  to be the Bishop of Antioch. In Against Heresies , Irenaeus relates how Polycarp told a story of

      John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus  within, rushed out of the bath-house  without bathing, exclaiming, "Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus , the enemy of the truth, is within."[45]

      It is traditionally believed that John was the youngest of the apostles and survived them. He is said to have lived to an old age, dying at Ephesus sometime after AD 98.[46]

      An alternative account of John's death, ascribed by later Christian writers to the early second-century bishop Papias of Hierapolis , claims that he was slain by the Jews.[47] [48]  Most Johannine scholars doubt the reliability of its ascription to Papias, but a minority, including B.W. Bacon, Martin Hengel  and Henry Barclay Swete , maintain that these references to Papias are credible.[49] [50]  Zahn argues that this reference is actually to John the Baptist .[46] John's traditional tomb is thought to be located at Selçuk , a small town in the vicinity of Ephesus.[51]  In art, John as the presumed author of the Gospel is often depicted with an eagle, which symbolizes the height he rose to in his gospel.[8]  In Orthodox icons , he is often depicted looking up into heaven and dictating his Gospel (or the Book of Revelation) e, from JPM LIbrary MS 748).

      Liturgical commemoration [ edit ]

      The feast day  of Saint John in the Roman Catholic Church , which calls him "Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist", and in the Anglican Communion  and Lutheran Calendars, which call him "Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist", is on 27 December.[52]  In the Tridentine Calendar  he was commemorated also on each of the following days up to and including 3 January, the Octave  of the 27 December feast. This Octave was abolished by Pope Pius XII  in 1955.[53]  The traditional liturgical color is white.

      Until 1960, another feast day which appeared in the General Roman Calendar is that of "Saint John Before the Latin Gate" on May 6, celebrating a tradition recounted by Jerome that St John was brought to Rome during the reign of the Emperor Domitian, and was thrown in a vat of boiling oil, from which he was miraculously preserved unharmed. A church (San Giovanni a Porta Latina ) dedicated to him was built near the Latin gate  of Rome, the traditional site of this event.[54]

      The Orthodox Church  and those Eastern Catholic Churches  which follow the Byzantine Rite  commemorate the "Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian" on September 26. On May 8 they celebrate the "Feast  of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian", on which date Christians used to draw forth from his grave fine ashes which were believed to be effective for healing the sick.

      Other Christians highly revere him but do not canonize or venerate saints.

      Other views [ edit ]

      Latter-day Saint view [ edit ]

      The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints  (LDS Church) teaches that John received the promise of immortality from Jesus Christ, as recorded in John 21:21–23 and the seventh chapter of the Doctrine and Covenants . It also teaches that in 1829, along with the resurrected Peter and the resurrected James, John visited Joseph Smith  and Oliver Cowdery  and restored the priesthood  authority with Apostolic succession  to earth.[55]  John, along with the Three Nephites , will live to see the Second Coming of Christ  as translated beings .[56]

      The LDS Church teaches that John the Apostle is the same person as John the Evangelist, John of Patmos, and the Beloved Disciple.[56]

      Islamic view [ edit ]

      The Quran  also speaks of Jesus's disciples but does not mention their names, instead referring to them as "helpers to the work of God".[57]  Muslim exegesis and Quran commentary, however, names them and includes John among the disciples.[58]  An old tradition, which involves the legend of Habib the Carpenter , mentions that John was one of the three disciples sent to Antioch  to preach to the people there.[59]

      Gallery of art [ edit ]

      Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
      Henry II
      Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
      Holy Roman Emperor
      ReignFebruary 14, 1014 – July 13, 1024
      Coronation February 14, 1014 Old St. Peter's Basilica , Rome
      PredecessorOtto III
      SuccessorConrad II
      King of Italy
      ReignMay 15, 1004 – July 13, 1024
      CoronationMay 15, 1004 Pavia , Kingdom of Italy
      PredecessorOtto III Arduin of Ivrea
      SuccessorConrad II
      King of Germany
      ReignJune 7, 1002 – July 13, 1024
      CoronationJune 7, 1002 Mainz , Kingdom of Germany
      PredecessorOtto III
      SuccessorConrad II
      Duke of Bavaria
      Reign995–1004
      PredecessorHenry II
      SuccessorHenry V
      BornMay 6, 973 Abbach ,[1]  Bavaria , Germany , Holy Roman Empire
      DiedJuly 13, 1024 (aged 51) near Göttingen , Germany , Holy Roman Empire
      BurialBamberg Cathedral
      SpouseCunigunde of Luxembourg
      House Ottonian
      FatherHenry II, Duke of Bavaria
      MotherGisela of Burgundy
      ReligionRoman Catholic

      Henry II  (German : Heinrich II ; Italian : Enrico II ) (6 May 973 – 13 July 1024), also known as Saint Henry , Obl. S. B. ,[a]  was Holy Roman Emperor  ("Romanorum Imperator") from 1014 until his death in 1024 and the last member of the Ottonian dynasty  of Emperors as he had no children. The Duke of Bavaria  from 995, Henry became King of Germany  ("Rex Romanorum") following the sudden death of his second cousin, Emperor Otto III  in 1002, was crowned King of Italy  ("Rex Italiae") in 1004, and was crowned by the Pope as Emperor in 1014.

      The son of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria  and his wife Gisela of Burgundy , Emperor Henry II was a great-grandson of German King  Henry I  and a member of the Bavarian branch of the Ottonian dynasty . Since his father had rebelled against two previous emperors, the younger Henry was often in exile. This led him to turn to the Church at an early age, first finding refuge with the Bishop of Freising  and later being educated at the cathedral school of Hildesheim . He succeeded his father as Duke of Bavaria  in 995 as "Henry IV". As Duke, he attempted to join his second-cousin, Holy Roman Emperor Otto III , in suppressing a revolt against imperial rule in Italy in 1002. Before Henry II could arrive, however, Otto III died of fever, leaving no heir. After defeating several other claimants to the throne, Henry II was crowned as King of Germany  ("Rex Romanorum") on July 9, 1002 and as King of Italy  ("Rex Italiae") on 15 May 1004. Henry II in 1004 aided Jaromír, Duke of Bohemia  against the Poles, definitively incorporating the Duchy of Bohemia  into the Holy Roman Empire .

      Unlike his predecessor, who had focused upon imperial attention in Italy , Henry spent most of his reign concerned with imperial territory north of the Alps . His main focus was on a series of wars  against the Polish Duke Bolesław I , who had already conquered a number of countries surrounding him. Henry did, however, lead three expeditions into Italy to ensure imperial dominion over the peninsula: twice to suppress secessionist revolts and once to challenge the Byzantine Empire  for dominance over southern Italy . On 14 February 1014, Pope Benedict VIII  crowned Henry as Holy Roman Emperor  ("Romanorum Imperator") in Rome .

      The rule of Henry II is seen as a period of centralized authority throughout the Empire . He consolidated his power by cultivating personal and political ties with the Catholic Church . He greatly expanded the Ottonian dynasty's custom of employing clergy as counter-weights against secular nobles. Through donations to the Church and the establishment of new dioceses, Henry strengthened imperial rule across the Empire and increased control over ecclesiastical affairs. He stressed service to the Church and promoted monastic reform. For his personal holiness and efforts to support the Church, Pope Bl. Eugene III  canonized  him in 1146, making Henry II the only German monarch to be a saint .

      Henry II married Cunigunde of Luxembourg , who later became his queen and empress. As the union produced no children, after Henry's death the German nobles elected Conrad II , a great-great-grandson of Emperor Otto I , to succeed him. Conrad was the first of the Salian dynasty  of Emperors.

      Contents   [hide ] 
      • 1 Early life and marriage
      • 2 Reign as king
        • 2.1 Disputed succession
        • 2.2 Consolidation of power
        • 2.3 First Italian expedition
      • 3 Conflict with Poland
        • 3.1 Polish relations
        • 3.2 First Polish War
        • 3.3 Second Polish War
      • 4 Reign as Emperor
        • 4.1 Imperial coronation
        • 4.2 Third Polish War
        • 4.3 Conflict with Byzantium
      • 5 Imperial Policies
        • 5.1 Ecclesiastical affairs
        • 5.2 Empire–Church relations
        • 5.3 Diocese of Bamberg
        • 5.4 Policy towards the nobility
      • 6 Death and successor
      • 7 Canonization and veneration
      • 8 Family and children
      • 9 Sources
      • 10 See also
      • 11 Notes
      • 12 References
      • 13 External links

      Early life and marriage [ edit ]

      Henry was born in May 973,[2]  the son of Duke Henry II, Duke of Bavaria , and Gisela of Burgundy . Through his father, he was the grandson of Henry I, Duke of Bavaria , and the great-grandson of King Henry I of Germany . By his mother, he was the grandson of King Conrad I of Burgundy , and the great-grandson of King Rudolf II of Burgundy .

      The elder Henry came into conflict with his cousin Holy Roman Emperor Otto II , in 974. The elder Henry and Otto II disputed each other's claims to authority over the Duchy of Swabia : Henry claimed the duchy as his birthright while Otto II maintained his right to name a duke of his choosing. After an initial failed revolt, Otto II imprisoned the elder Henry in Ingelheim . After escaping, Henry again revolted against Otto II . When this second revolt failed, Otto II deposed Henry as Duke of Bavaria and sent him into exile under the custody of the Bishop of Utrecht  in April 978. As a consequence of his revolt, the Emperor stripped the Duchy of Bavaria  of its southeastern territories bordering Italy and formed the Duchy of Carinthia .

      During his father's exile, the younger Henry lived in Hildesheim . As a child he was educated in the Christian faith by Saint Wolfgang , bishop of Regensburg ,[3]  and then studied at the Hildesheim Cathedral . The Emperor himself ensured the younger Henry received an ecclesiastical education in order that by becoming a religious official he would be prevented from participating in the Imperial government.

      The death of Otto II in 983 allowed the elder Henry to be released from custody and to return from exile. The elder Henry claimed regency  over Otto III , the three-year-old child of Otto II. After a failed attempt to claim the German throne for himself in 985, the elder Henry relinquished the regency to the child's mother Theophanu . In return for his submission to the child king, Henry was restored as Duke of Bavaria . The younger Henry, now thirteen years old, was named his regent over Bavaria. When the elder Henry died in 995, the younger Henry was elected by the Bavarian nobles as the new Duke to succeed his father as "Henry IV."[4]

      In 999 Henry married Cunigunde of Luxembourg ,[5] [6]  a daughter of Siegfried , Count of Luxembourg . This marriage granted him an extensive network of contacts in Germany's western territories.

      Reign as king [ edit ]

      Disputed succession [ edit ] Main article: German royal election, 1002

      In 1001, Emperor Otto III  experienced a revolt against his reign in Italy . The Emperor sent word for Henry II to join him with reinforcements from Germany , but then died unexpectedly in January 1002. Otto was only 21 at the time of death and had left no children and no instructions for the Imperial succession. In the Ottonian dynasty , succession to the throne had belonged to the Saxon branch, not the Bavarian line of which Henry was a member. Rival candidates for the throne, including Ezzo of Lotharingia , Margrave Eckard I of Meissen , and Duke Herman II of Swabia , strongly contested Henry's right to succeed Otto III.

      As the funeral procession  moved through the Duchy of Bavaria  in February 1002, Henry met the procession in Polling , just north of the Alps. To legitimize his claims, Henry demanded Archbishop Heribert of Cologne  give him the Imperial Regalia , chief among them being the Holy Lance . Heribert, however, had sent these ahead of the procession, possibly out of distrust of Henry and possibly because he favored the succession of his relative Duke Herman II of Swabia  as the next king. In order to force Herman II to relinquish the Holy Lance to him, Henry imprisoned the Archbishop and his brother the Bishop of Würzburg . With neither the symbols of imperial authority, the crown jewels, nor the cooperation of Heriberto, Henry was unable to convince the nobles attending Otto III's funeral procession to elect him as king. A few weeks later, at Otto III's funeral in Aachen Cathedral , Henry again attempted to gain the support of the Kingdom's nobles and was again rejected.

      So it was without the support of the Kingdom's nobility that Henry took the radical action of having himself anointed and crowned King of Germany  ("Rex Romanorum") by Willigis , Archbishop of Mainz  on 9 July 1002 at Mainz , in present-day Germany . Henry's action marked the first time a German king was not crowned in Aachen Cathedral  since Emperor Otto I  began the tradition in 936 and the first time a German king assumed the throne without election by the German nobility. Under the regal name of "King Henry II", he appeared before the Saxons  in mid-July in full regal apparel. There, Henry convinced Bernard I, Duke of Saxony  to support his claims to the throne. In return for his support, Henry guaranteed Bernard's right to rule the Saxons and to represent their interests before him.

      Shortly after gaining the support of the Saxons, Henry arranged for Archbishop Willigis  to crown his wife, Cunigunde of Luxembourg  as Queen of Germany on 10 August[7]  1002[8]  in Paderborn , in present-day Germany .

      Consolidation of power [ edit ]

      Henry II spent the next several years consolidating his political power within his borders. Herman II, Duke of Swabia , in particular fiercely contested Henry II's right to the throne. The Swabian Duke believed he was Otto III's true successor, as he had married a daughter of Liudof , eldest son of Emperor Otto I . Armed conflicts between Henry II and Herman II broke out but proved to be inconclusive. This forced the two men to fight each other politically for the support of the Swabian  nobles.

      Unable to decisively defeat Herman in Swabia, Henry II attempted to legitimize his seizing the throne by traveling throughout the various duchies of his kingdom – Saxony , Bavaria , Swabia , Upper Lorraine , Lower Lorraine , Franconia . This was done in order to obtain the general consent of his subjects as opposed to traditional election. Henry II's familial ties to the Ottonian dynasty  eventually caused the kingdom's nobles to accept him as king. After being defeated at a battle near Strasburg , Herman II submitted to Henry II's authority on October 1, 1002. In exchange for this surrender, Henry II allowed Herman II to remain Duke of Swabia until his death the following year, after which, although recognizing the minor Hermann III  as his father's titular successor, Henry II effectively assumed all power over the Duchy himself.

      In 1003, Margrave of Nordgau  Henry of Schweinfurt  in Bavaria  revolted against Henry II's rule. Henry II had promised to install the Margrave as his successor to the Duchy of Bavaria  in exchange for supporting his claim to the German crown. Upon assuming the throne, however, Henry II refused to honour his promise and instead supported the rights of the Bavarians to elect their own duke. With Henry II's support, Count  Henry I of Luxembourg  became the Duke of Bavaria  as Henry V. Betrayed by the King, Margrave Henry allied with Duke Bolesław I of Poland  against him. However, his rebellion was soon quashed and the Nordgauian Margrave was deposed in 1004. Henry II then abolished the March of Nordgau, established the Diocese of Bamberg  in 1007, and transferred secular authority over the March's former territory to the Diocese in order to prevent further uprisings.

      First Italian expedition [ edit ]

      The death of Otto III in 1002 and the resulting political turmoil over his successor allowed Italy  to fall from German control. Margrave  Arduin of Ivrea  proclaimed himself King of Italy  at Pavia  soon after the Emperor's death.[9]  Accompanied by Archbishop Arnulf II of Milan , Arduin won the support of the Italian territorial magnates. Arduin, however, had been excommunicated  in 997 for the murder of the Bishop of Vercelli . This allowed Arduin's enemies in the Church, led by Archbishop Frederick of Ravenna , to side with the German King Henry II as the rightful ruler of Italy . Henry II sent Duke Otto I of Carinthia , over the March of Verona  to face Arduin, but Arduin successfully defeated Otto's troopsat the Battle of Fabrica in 1003.

      In 1004 Henry II responded to calls for aid from Italian bishops and led an invasion into Italy  against Arduin. Henry II gathered his troops at Augsburg  and marched through the Brenner Pass  to Trento , Italy. After initial military successes, much of the Italian clergy and some noble families swore allegiance to Henry II, including Archbishop Arnulf II . Joining Henry II in Bergamo , Arnulf II crowned him as King of Italy  ("Rex Italiae") on May 14, 1004 in Pavia .[2]  Unlike his predecessors, after gaining the Kingdom of Italy  Henry II wore two crowns, one for Germany and one for Italy, instead of a common crown representing both realms. The following night, the inhabitants of Pavia revolted against Henry's rule. Henry ordered his troops to massacre the population in response.[citation needed ]

      After receiving the homage of the remaining Italian nobles, Henry returned to Germany in the early summer of 1004 without first traveling to Rome  to claim the Imperial crown. This is most likely due to opposition from Pope John XVIII . Henry would not return to Italy for a decade, leaving the Kingdom to govern itself. Henry returned to Germany to take military action against the rebellious Duke Boleslaw I of Poland .

      Conflict with Poland [ edit ] Main article: German-Polish War (1002–1018)

      Polish relations [ edit ]

      The untimely death of Emperor Otto III at age 21 in 1002 upset the young Emperor's ambitious renovatio  plans, which were never fully implemented. Henry II, opposed to Otto III's eastern policies, reversed Imperial policy towards the east,[10]  resulting in the deterioration of the excellent relations Germany and Poland had enjoyed during Otto III's reign, particularly its relationship with Duke Bolesław I of Poland . Bolesław I had been a loyal supporter of Otto III, but Henry II's actions caused Bolesław I to seek new German allies. Of the major candidates seeking to succeed to the German throne, Bolesław I supported Margrave Eckard I of Meissen  over Henry. Only after Eckard was assassinated by Saxon nobles in April 1002 did Bolesław I lend his support to Henry II.

      Bolesław I traveled to Merseburg  on July 25, 1002 and paid homage to the new German king. Bolesław I had taken advantage of Germany's internal strife following Otto III's death, occupying important German territories west of the Oder River : the March of Meissen  and the March of Lusatia . Bolesław I took control of these territories following the assassination of Margrave Eckard I. Henry II accepted Bolesław I's gains, allowing the Polish Duke to keep Lusatia as a fief , with Bolesław I recognizing Henry II as his overlord. Henry II refused to allow Bolesław I to keep possession of Meissen, however. Shortly after Bolesław I's departure from Merseburg, an assassination attempt was made against him. Though the attempt failed, Bolesław I was seriously injured. The Polish Duke accused Henry II of instituting the attack, and relations between the two countries were severed.[11]  Bolesław I also refused to pay tribute to Germany.

      Prior to open rebellion in 1004, Boleslaus III, Duke of Bohemia , was ousted in a revolt in 1002. Bolesław I intervened in the Bohemian affair and reinstalled Boleslaus III upon the Bohemian throne in 1003. Boleslaus III soon undermined his own position, however, by ordering a massacre of his leading nobles. Bohemian nobles secretly sent a messenger to Bolesław I, requesting his direct intervention in the crisis. The Polish duke willingly agreed and invited the Bohemian duke to Poland. There, Boleslaus III was captured, blinded, and imprisoned, where he would remain until his death some thirty years later. Claiming dominion over Bohemia for himself, Bolesław I invaded Bohemia in 1003 and conquered the duchy without any serious opposition. Bohemia had previously been under the influence and protection of Germany, with the Polish invasion further increasing tension between Germany and Poland.

      Bolesław I openly rebelled against Henry II's rule in 1004, burning down the castle in Meissen  in an act of war. Returning from Italy after reclaiming the Italian throne, Henry II launch a military campaign against Poland in 1004 that would last until 1018, spanning three wars and several smaller campaigns.

      First Polish War [ edit ]

      Returning from his first expedition to Italy, Henry II gathered an army to march against Poland. The previous year in 1003, Henry II had formed an alliance with the pagan  Slavic  Lutici  tribe. As a consequence of their military alliance, Henry II halted Christianization  efforts among the Slavic peoples. The new alliance with the Western Slavs against Poland was controversial, however. Many German nobles had hoped for continued missionary work and the direct submission of the Elbe Slavs . In addition, many German nobles opposed the war because they had developed family ties with Poland during Otto III's reign. Similarly, members of the clergy, including Bishop Bruno of Querfurt , saw future tithe  payments and Polish support for missionary work in Prussia  evaporating due to the war.[citation needed ]

      In preparation for Henry II's coming military invasion, Bolesław I developed a similar alliance with other Slavic peoples. With his conquest west of the Oder River in 1002, his domain stretched from the Baltic Sea  to the Carpathian Mountains . Furthermore, the Polish Duke was connected by kinship to numerous princes of Scandinavia .

      Henry II answered Bolesław I's rebellion with a military invasion in the summer of 1004, reaching the Ore Mountains  in northern Bohemia. He then conquered the castle at Žatec  and killed the Polish army left there. Simultaneous to Henry II's invasion, Jaromir  (the younger brother of the deposed Bohemian Duke Boleslaus III) invaded Bohemia with German military support. At Merseburg, Jaromír promised to hold Bohemia as a vassal under Henry II, definitively incorporating Bohemia into the Holy Roman Empire . Forcing Bolesław I to flee, Jaromír occupied Prague  with a German army and proclaimed himself Duke. The state he regained was a small one, however, as Polish forces would hold Moravia , Silesia , and Lusatia  until 1018.

      During the next part of the offensive, Henry II retook Meissen and, in summer 1005, his army advanced deep into Poland, suffering significant losses along the way. At the Polish city of Poznań , the German forces were ambushed by the Polish army and suffered significant losses. Meeting in Poznań, Henry II and Bolesław I signed a peace treaty .[12]  According to its terms, Bolesław I lost Lusatia and Meissen and was forced to give up his claim to the Bohemian throne. The peace lasted only two years as neither party recognized the claims of the other.

      Second Polish War [ edit ]

      In 1007, Henry II denounced the Peace of Poznań, resulting in Bolesław I's attack on the Archbishopric of Magdeburg  as well as his re-occupation of marches of Lusatia and Meissen including the city of Bautzen . The German counter-offensive  began three years later in 1010. It was of no significant consequence, beyond some pillaging in Silesia. In 1012, a second peace treaty between Germany and Poland was signed. Bolesław I quickly broke the peace, however, and once again invaded Lusatia. Bolesław I's forces pillaged and burned the city of Lubusz .[12]  In 1013, a third peace treaty was signed at Merseburg, requiring in part that Bolesław I recognize Henry II as his overlord in exchange for receiving the March of Lusatia  and the March of Meissen  as fiefs . To seal their peace, Bolesław I's son Mieszko II  married Richeza of Lotharingia , daughter of the Count Palatine  Ezzo  of Lotharingia , granddaughter of Emperor Otto II .

      Reign as Emperor [ edit ]

      Imperial coronation [ edit ] Henry II crowned as Emperor  by Pope Benedict VIII  in 1014.

      John XVIII  reigned as Pope from 1003 until 1009. He was succeeded by Pope Sergius IV  from 1009 to 1012. Both John XVIII and Sergius IV, though the nominal Pope, were subservient to the power John Crescentius . As leader of the Crescentii  clan and Patrician of Rome , John Crescentius was the effective ruler of the city. John Crescentius' influence prevented Henry II from meeting the Pope on numerous occasions, preventing him from claiming the imperial title. Following Sergius IV's death in 1012, Benedict VIII  was elected to succeed him. Upon assuming the chair of St. Peter , however, Benedict VIII was forced to flee Rome by Gregory VI , an antipope , whom John Crescentius installed as the new head of the Catholic Church. Fleeing across the Alps to Germany, Benedict VIII appealed to Henry II for protection. Henry II agreed to restore Benedict VIII to his papal throne in return for his coronation as Emperor.

      Near the end of 1013, Henry II gathered his army at Augsburg  to march into Italy . Earlier in 1013, Henry signed a peace treaty with Duke Bolesław I of Poland  at Merseburg . The peace with Poland  gave Henry opportunity to address affairs in Italy. On the march across the Alps, Henry was accompanied by his wife, Queen Cunigunde  and a number of clerics. Upon reaching Pavia  other bishops and abbots joined him. Margrave Arduin of Ivrea , who still ruled important parts of northern Italy, offered to submit to Henry as his overlord and offered his sons as hostages if Henry would recognize Arduin as King of Italy . Henry refused. Henry's forces trapped Arduin in his capital of Ivrea , where he remained until 1015.

      Henry II arrived in Rome  in early 1014, restoring Benedict VIII as Pope. On February 14, 1014, the Pope crowned Henry II as Holy Roman Emperor  ("Romanorum Imperator") in St. Peter's Basilica .[2]  Then, under the presidency of the Emperor and Pope, the two held a synod  in Rome, appointed five bishops, issued decrees against simony and promoting chastity within the clergy, and ordered the restitution of Church property. Shortly afterwards, the Emperor moved north again where he established the Diocese of Bobbio . Celebrating Easter  in Pavia , Italy , Henry then returned to Germany  in mid-May 1014. He left the rule of Rome to the Pope and thereafter rarely intervened in the politics of Italy or the Papal States .

      In 1015 the conflict with Arduin came to a close when Arduin became ill and sought peace with Henry II. He resigned the office of Margrave of Ivrea  to become a monk  in a monastery at Fruttuaria . He died on December 14, 1015. His brief "reign" as King of Italy  would be the last time a native Italian would reign over Italy until its unification under Victor Emmanuel II  in 1861. After Arduin's death Henry ordered the Margraviate of Ivrea, which had given the Ottonian Emperors so much trouble, dissolved.

      Third Polish War [ edit ] Main articles: German-Polish War (1002–1018)  and Peace of Bautzen

      The peace agreement of 1013 between Henry II and Duke Bolesław I of Poland  quickly deteriorated. In 1014, with Henry II absent from Germany, Bolesław I sent his son Mieszko II Lambert  to the Duchy of Bohemia  in order to persuade the new Bohemian Duke Oldřich into an alliance against Henry II. The mission failed and Oldřich imprisoned Mieszko II. He was released only after the intervention of the Emperor, who, despite the planned invasion of Poland, loyally acted on behalf of his nominal vassal Bolesław I. As a result, Mieszko II was sent to Henry II's imperial court in Merseburg as a hostage. Henry II probably wanted to force the presence of Bolesław I in Merseburg and make him explain his actions. The plan failed, however, because, under pressure from his relatives, the Emperor soon agreed to release Mieszko II.

      At the same time, Henry II entertained Yaroslav , the pretender  to the throne of the Kievan Rus' . A son of Kievan Grand Duke Vladimir the Great , he was vice-regent of the Principality of Novgorod  at the time of his father's death in 1015. Yaroslav's eldest surviving brother, Sviatopolk I of Kiev , killed three of his other brothers and seized power in Kiev. Henry II's support of Yaroslav was in direct opposition to not only Sviatopolk but to Bolesław I as well. Years before, Bolesław I had married one of his daughters to Sviatopolk, making the new Kievan Grand Duke a son-in-law to the Polish Duke.

      Henry II returned to Germany in 1015 after being crowned Emperor by Pope Benedict VIII  and prepared for a third invasion of Poland. With three armies at his command, the largest contingent since the beginning of the conflict in 1004, the Imperial army simultaneously marched in a pincer movement  from the German north, south, and center. Henry II himself commanded the center army, supported by allied Slavic tribes, and moved from Magdeburg  to cross the Oder river  into Poland. Henry II was soon joined from the south by Bohemian Duke Oldřich and from the north by Duke Bernard II of Saxony .

      As the Imperial army crossed the Oder river and marched across Poland, Henry II's forces killed or captured several thousand Poles, including women and children. But the Imperial army suffered heavy losses throughout the campaign. Bolesław I sent a detachment of Moravian  knights  under the command of Mieszko II in a diversionary attack against the Empire's Eastern March . The Imperial army retreated from Poland to Merseburg  in order to address the assault without making any permanent territorial gains east of the Oder River. During the retreat to Germany, Gero II , margrave of the Eastern March, was ambushed by Polish forces and killed late in 1015. Following the attack on the Eastern March, Bolesław I's forces took the offensive. Bolesław I sent Mieszko II to besiege Meissen  in 1017, then under the command of Mieszko II's brother-in-law Margrave Herman I . His attempt at conquering the city failed, however, and he was forced to retreat back to Poland.

      Henry II and Bolesław I then opened peace negotiations and a ceasefire  was declared in summer 1017. As negotiations failed by autumn 1017, Henry II again marched his army into Poland. His army reached Głogów , where Bolesław I was entrenched, but it was unable to take the city. Henry II then besieged Niemcza , but was likewise unable to capture the city. As his army besieged Niemcza, disease brought about from the winter cold devastated the Imperial forces. His attacks unsuccessful, Henry II was forced to retreat back to Merseburg in Germany. With this defeat, Henry II was ready to end the war and begin serious peace negotiations with Bolesław I.

      On January 30, 1018, Henry II and Bolesław I signed a fourth peace treaty, known as the Peace of Bautzen .[13]  The Polish duke was able to keep the contested marches of Lusatia and Meissen on purely nominal terms of vassalage , with Bolesław I recognizing Henry II as his feudal lord.[14]  Henry II also promised to support Bolesław I in the Polish ruler's expedition to Kiev  to ensure his son-in-law, Sviatopolk, claimed the Kievan throne.[15]  To seal the peace, Bolesław I, then a widower, reinforced his dynastic bonds with the German nobility by marrying Oda of Meissen , daughter of the Saxon Margrave Eckard I of Meissen.

      Conflict with Byzantium [ edit ]

      Henry II's involvement in Italian politics and his coronation as Emperor inevitably brought him into conflict with the Byzantine Empire . In 969, Emperor Otto I entered into an alliance with Byzantine Emperor  John I Tzimiskes  in which both Eastern and Western Empires would jointly-govern southern Italy . Otto I's death in 973 and John I's death in 976 caused this alliance to deteriorate. Otto I's successor in the West, his son Emperor Otto II, and John I's successor in the East, his nephew Emperor Basil II , brought the two Empires once again into conflict over control of southern Italy.

      Under Otto I and Otto II, the Lombard  leader Pandulf Ironhead  expanded Western imperial control over central and souther Italy. Originally appointed by Otto I as Prince of Benevento  and Capua  in 961, Pandulf waged war against the Byzantines as a loyal lieutenant of Otto II. By 978, Pandulf had incorporated all three of the southern Lombard principalities – Benevento, Capua, and Salerno – into the Holy Roman Empire.[16]  Pandulf's death in 981, however, weakened Western dominance over the Byzantine Empire in southern Italy.[17] By 982, the entire area once ruled by Pandulf had collapsed. The Byzantines still claimed sovereignty over the Lombard principalities, and the lack of single leader to prevent their advances into Lombard territory allowed the Byzantines to make inroads further north. Facing a joint Byzantine-Muslim force, Otto II was soundly defeated at the battle of Stilo  on July 14, 982. The defeat shifted the balance of power in southern Italy into Byzantine favor. While preparing to counterattack the Byzantine advance, Otto II suddenly died while in Rome, with his infant son Otto III succeeding him. With an infant as ruler and a political crisis to address, the Western Empire was unable to challenge Byzantine dominance. This allowed Basil II to build of his defense forces in preparation for a future Western counterattack.

      In 1017, aided by Norman  mercenaries , the Lombard noble Melus of Bari  led a successful rebellion against Byzantine control of Apulia . The Byzantine Empire struck back in 1018 under Catepan of Italy  Basil Boioannes , delivering a devastating defeat to the joint Lombard-Norman force at the Battle of Cannae . Melus fled to the Papal States  following the defeat. With the Byzantine successes in southern Italy, Pope Benedict VIII took an unusual step in 1020, traveling north across the Alps into Germany to discusses the state of affairs in southern Italy with the Emperor. Meeting Henry II in Bamberg , the Pope was accompanied by a large number of Italian secular and ecclesiastical leaders, including Melus. Henry II granted Melus the empty title Duke of Apulia  for his actions against the Byzantines. But Melus died just a few days later, on April 23, 1020. After settling some controversies with the bishops of Mainz  and Würzburg , the Pope convinced Henry II to return to Italy for a third campaign to counter the growing power of the Byzantine Empire.

      In 1022, Henry II set out down the Adriatic  coast for southern Italy commanding a large force. He sent Archbishop Pilgrim of Cologne  ahead with a slightly smaller army along the Tyrrhenian  littoral with the objective of subjugating the Principality of Capua . A third army, smaller still, under the command of Patriarch Poppo of Aquileia  went through the Apennines  to join Henry II in besieging the Byzantine fortress of Troia . Though Patriarch Pilgrim captured Pandulf IV of Capua  and extracted oaths of allegiance from both Capua and the Principality of Salerno , all three of Henry II's armies failed to take Troia. The Byzantine troops could not be forced into a pitched battle, and Henry II was forced to turn back, his army weakened by diseases and suffering heavy losses. Henry II almost executed the treacherous prince of Capua, but he relented at the last moment at Pilgrim's pleading. Instead, Henry II sent him off to Germany in chains and appointed Pandulf V  to replace him as prince of Capua. Though he failed to achieve his main objective, Henry II left southern Italy in the knowledge that Western Imperial authority still extended deep into that territory.

      Imperial Policies [ edit ]

      Upon assuming the German throne, Henry II revised many policies of his predecessor, Emperor Otto III . Whereas Otto III had promoted a policy of "Restoration of the Roman Empire" (Renovatio imperii Romanorum ), Henry II sought a policy of "Restoration of the Frankish Kingdom" (Renovatio regni Francorum ). Compared to the other members of the Ottonian dynasty , Henry II spent relatively little time in Italy, only traveling south of the Alps three times during his twenty-two year reign. He was absent from the Italian peninsula for over a decade between his expulsion of Margrave  Arduin of Ivrea  in 1004 and his return in 1014 to claim the imperial title, allowing the kingdom to mostly govern itself.

      Henry II's absence from Italy was primarily due to his continued conflict with Duke Bolesław I of Poland . During the reign of Otto III, Bolesław I had been a loyal ally of the Empire. However, the protracted German-Polish wars brought the two nations into open warfare for over sixteen years.

      Ecclesiastical affairs [ edit ]

      Henry II inherited from Otto III several unresolved disputes within the Catholic Church . At particular issue were the resettlement of the Diocese of Merseburg  and the Gandersheim Conflict .

      • The Diocese of Merseburg, which had been established by Emperor Otto I  in 968 to commemorate his victory against the pagan  Hungarians  at the Battle of Lechfeld  in 955. Established to conduct missionary  work among the pagan Slavs , the Diocese was all but abandoned in 983 following a major Slavic revolt  against Imperial rule. In 1004, Henry II ordered the reestablishment of the Diocese to resume missionary work among the Slavs and appointed the German chronicler Thietmar of Merseburg  to serve as its bishop .
      • In 989, when Otto III was still a child and under the regency of his mother Theophanu , the Gandersheim Conflict  broke out. The conflict centered over control of Gandersheim Abbey  and its estates. Both the Archbishop of Mainz  and the Bishop of Hildesheim  claimed authority over the Abbey, including the authority to anoint the Abbey's nuns. Otto III and Theophanu's intervention eased the tensions between the parties, but did not permanently settle the issue. Henry II resolved conflict in 1006, ruling that the Bishop of Hildensheim held authority over the Abbey and its nuns.

      In May 1017, the Empress Cunigunde of Luxembourg , while staying at the imperial estates in Kaufungen , became seriously ill. Henry II vowed to found a monastery  on the site if she recovered. Following her recovery in 1018, Henry ordered construction of the Kaufungen Abbey . Following Henry II's death in 1024, Cunigunde retired to the Abbey, where she remained until her own death in 1040.

      Sincerely religious, Henry II supported service to the Church (he was celibate ) and promoted various monastic reforms. He also strongly enforced clerical celibacy , perhaps partly in order that the public land and offices he granted to clerics would not be devised to heirs. He encouraged the reform of the Church, fostered missionary activity, and made several charitable foundations for the poor.[3]

      Henry II wished to become a monk, and in virtue of his imperial power he ordered the Abbot of Verdun  to accept him in his monastery. Whereupon, the Abbot ordered him, in virtue of the vows he had professed, to continue the administration of the empire. Henry II fulfilled his duties in the spirit of humility and service, being convinced that temporal power was given by God for the good of the people.[3]

      Henry II succeeded in persuading Pope Benedict VIII  to include the word "Filioque " in the Nicene Creed . This word provided that the Holy Spirit  emanated from both God the Father  and God the Son . Together with Papal primacy , differences over this doctrine were among the primary causes of the Great Schism of the Church  in 1054.[18] [19]

      Empire–Church relations [ edit ] Gospel Book of Henry II

      The Ottonian dynasty had long used the Church as an integral part of the secular government of the Empire. This "Imperial–Church System" reached its climax under Henry II. Beginning with Emperor Otto I, the Ottonians used the Church as a major counter-force to the powerful German Stem duchies . The dukes had long been strong and powerful figures, looking to the interests of their respective duchies above the interests of the Empire as a whole. In an effort to unify the Empire under their leadership, the Ottonians increasingly associated themselves with the Church, claiming "divine right" to rule the Empire and presenting themselves as the protector of Christendom . As a key element of this policy, the Ottonians sought to strengthen ecclesiastical authorities, chiefly bishops and abbots, at the expense of the secular nobility. Unlike the dukes, such ecclesiastical figures could not pass their title and lands to any descendants. Instead, the Emperors reserved the appointment and investiture  of bishops of the Empire's proprietary churches  for themselves. This ensured the bishops remained loyal to the reigning Emperor, despite the fact that canon law  demanded such officials remain loyal to the transnational Church.

      Under Henry II, an increased number of counties were assigned to the secular rulership of bishops. He made large donations from imperial land to the monasteries and dioceses of the Empire. With these extensive donations and the expanded powers of the Emperor, the Church gradually lost its autonomy. The imperial monasteries and other Church institutions were so numerous, donations and the secular privileges granted them so broad, that they essentially developed into an imperial bureaucracy. The German chronicler Thietmar of Merseburg  describes the special relationship between Henry II and the bishops of the Empire as more intense than any other ruler in the early Middle Ages . Under Henry II, the division between secular and ecclesiastical affairs was blurred beyond distinction. This caused the clergy to look to the Henry II as their feudal lord , especially in the area of military service. The ecclesiastical rulers came to make up a large part of Henry II's imperial army. For most of Henry II's campaigns against Poland and the Byzantine Empire, the spiritual princes constituted the largest contingent. Henry II thus strengthened his control over the Empire through the clergy, while gaining a greater control over the Church's spiritual policy.

      Diocese of Bamberg [ edit ] Main articles: Diocese of Bamberg  and Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg

      In 1003, Henry of Schweinfurt , Margrave of the Nordgau  in Bavaria, revolted against Henry II's rule. Henry II had promised to install the margrave as his successor to the Duchy of Bavaria in exchange for supporting his claim to the German crown. Upon assuming the throne, however, Henry II refused to honour his promise. Instead, Henry II deposed the Margrave Henry in 1004 and abolished the March outright. To assume secular authority over the March's former territory, in 1007, Henry II announced his desire to establish a new diocese in Germany: the Diocese of Bamberg . Growing up in the Duchy of Bavaria , Henry II was fond of Bamberg , even giving his estates there to his wife Cunigunde of Luxembourg  as her dower  upon their marriage. Mission work among the Slavs of the region had previously been conducted by the Imperial Abbey at Fulda  as part of the Diocese of Würzburg . To establish his diocese, Henry II needed to overcome the consideration resistance of the Bishop of Würzburg , as the new diocese would comprise about one-fourth of the former's territory. Henry II desired the new Diocese to aid in the final conquest of the pagan Slavs in the area around Bamberg.

      Henry II held a synod  in Frankfurt  on November 1, 1007, to build consensus among the bishops of the Empire on the establishment of the Diocese of Bamberg. The Bishop of Würzburg, who hoped that the loss of territory from the formation of the new Diocese would result in his elevation to the rank of Archbishop, was not in attendance. Henry II also assigned a portion of the territory from the Diocese of Eichstätt  to his planned Diocese. At the synod, Henry II obtained permission for the foundation of the Diocese. It was also decided that Eberhard, Henry II's Imperial Chancellor, would be ordained by Willigis , the Archbishop of Mainz  and Primate of Germany , to head the new Diocese. Henry II made many wide-ranging gifts to the new Diocese to ensure its solid foundation. Henry II assigned many counties in the Duchy of Franconia , the Duchy of Saxony , the Duchy of Carinthia , and the Duchy of Swabia .

      Policy towards the nobility [ edit ]

      As under his predecessors Emperor Otto II and Emperor Otto III, the various German dukes of the Empire grew increasingly independent from the Emperor. A "German" identity had begun to develop. South of the Alps in Italy also saw the various regional lords grow in independent power. Increasingly, the Empire's duchies were becoming personal possessions of their respective ducal family as opposed to component parts of the Empire.

      Henry II's policy towards the nobles was focused on overcoming these family structures within the duchies in order to restore imperial dominance and control. Henry II, as well as the other Ottonians, relied upon his connection with the Church to justify his power and higher status over the dukes. However, unlike under Emperor Otto I and Otto II, the various German dukes were no longer bound to the Emperor by close family ties. While the Duchy of Franconia  and the Duchy of Saxony  formed the core imperial support, the Duchy of Swabia  and the Duchy of Bavaria  had grown increasingly rebellious.

      Unlike his predecessors, Henry II was unwilling to show clemency to those dukes who had rebelled against his authority. This caused a sharp raise in conflict with the secular nobility, which forced Henry II to reinforce the position the clergy enjoyed in the governance of the Empire. It was only through the support of the clergy that Henry II survived the numerous noble revolts against his rule during the first decade of his reign. Even his relatives, such as his brothers-in-law Duke Henry V of Bavaria , and Count Frederick of Moselle , revolted against his reign. As a result, Henry II systematically reduced the internal power structures of the Bavarian and Swabia dukes. Henry II's lack of sensitivity to the secular nobility also resulted in the series of wars against Poland . Under Otto III, Polish Duke Bolesław I Chrobry  was viewed a valued ally. Henry II, however, only saw him as a subject.

      In 1019, the once loyal Duke Bernard II of Saxony , grandson of Emperor Otto I's trust lieutenant Hermann Billung , rebelled against Henry II's reign. Though an early supporter of Henry II, Bernard II grew frustrated at Henry II's lack of respect for the secular nobility.

      Death and successor [ edit ] Emperor Henry II and Empress Cunigunde's tomb by Tilman Riemenschneider

      Returning to Magdeburg , Germany  from southern Italy  to celebrate Easter , Henry II fell ill in Bamberg , Bavaria . After celebrating Easter, Henry retired to his imperial palace in Göttingen . He died there on 13 July 1024 at the age of 51, after suffering from a chronic, painful urinary infection. Henry had been working with the Pope to convene a Church council  to confirm his new system of imperial-ecclesiastical relations before he died, leaving this effort unfinished.

      Empress Cunigunde  arranged for Henry to be interred at Bamberg Cathedral . Though he left the Empire without significant problems, Henry II also left the Empire without an heir. Some speculate that both he and Cunigunde had taken mutual vows of chastity , because of their piety and the fact that they had no royal issue, but this is disputed. Their marriage being childless, the Saxon dynasty of the Ottonians died with Henry.[20]

      In early September 1024 the German nobles gathered in Kamba  and began negotiations for selecting a new king. The nobles elected the Franconian  noble Conrad II  as Henry II's successor, who became the first member of the Salian dynasty .

      Canonization and veneration [ edit ]

      St. Henry II was canonized  in July 1147 by Pope Bl. Eugenius III ; his spouse, Cunigunde  was canonized on 29 March 1200 by Pope Innocent III . His relics were carried on campaigns against heretics in the 1160s. He is the patron saint  of the city of Basel , Switzerland , and of St Henry's Marist Brothers' College  in Durban , South Africa .

      St. Henry's name, which does not appear in the Tridentine Calendar , was inserted in 1631 in the Roman Calendar as a commemoration  within the celebration of Saint Anacletus  on 13 July, the day of his death and the traditional day for his celebration on a local level. In 1668, it was moved to 15 July for celebration as a Semidouble . This rank was changed by Pope Pius XII  in 1955 to that of Simple , and by Pope John XXIII  in 1960 to that of Third-Class Feast . In 1969, it was returned to its original date of 13 July as an optional Memorial .[21]

      During his lifetime, Henry II became an oblate  of the Benedictine Order , and today is venerated within the Order as the patron saint of all oblates, along with St. Frances of Rome .

      Family and children [ edit ] Main article: Ottonian dynasty

      Henry II was a member of the Ottonian dynasty  of kings and emperors who ruled the Holy Roman Empire (previously Germany) from 919 to 1024. In relation to the other members of his dynasty, Henry II was the great-grandson of Henry I , great-nephew of Otto I , first-cousin once removed of Otto II , and a second-cousin to Otto III .

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      • Condition: Used
      • Condition: GOOD CONDITIONS BUT NOT NEW !!! LOOK AT PICTURES GALLERY....DIMENSIONS.35mm X 25mm X 5mm .!!! 4 RELICS : DNJC + HENRY II + JOHN THE APOSTLE + ST IGNACIUS LOYOLA - FRANCE - RELIQUARY STERLING SILVER CROSS ..
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