‘He governed the Roman empire for fifty years. Sometimes he dutifully took care of those Romans who were well-disposed towards him; sometimes he resisted, as was necessary, those ingrates who attempted to humble the royal power in Germany. He was vigorous and warlike, accustomed to give everyone his due, according to age and circumstances, and he could hardly bear to be ignorant of anything. Like his father, he wished to have clerks at his side, especially those who were learned. He treated them honourably and spent his time amicably among them, sometimes in singing psalms, sometimes in reading or conversation or in discussion of the scriptures or the liberal arts. We could also prove from the evidence of very many witnesses that no one in our times seemed more fitted for the office of emperor, by birth, intelligence, courage and boldness and also by stature and bodily grace.’ This is the obituary of Henry IV in the Bamberg chronicle dedicated to Henry V (1112/3). This work was subsequently used by Abbot Ekkehard of Aura as a source for his own chronicle.