Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- 1 Authority and Legitimation of Royal Policy and Action: The Case of Henry II
- 2 King Henry II of Germany: Royal Self-Representation and Historical Memory
- 3 The Variability of Rituals in the Middle Ages
- 4 Rebels and Rituals: From Demonstrations of Enmity to Criminal Justice
- 5 Oblivion Between Orality and Textuality in the Tenth Century
- 6 Text and Ritual in Ninth-Century Political Culture: Rome, 864
- 7 The Concept of Time in the Historiography of the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries
- 8 Constructing the Past by Means of the Present: Historiographical Foundations of Medieval Institutions, Dynasties, Peoples, and Communities
- 9 Topographies of Memory: Center and Periphery in High Medieval France
- 10 Challenging the Culture of Memoria: Dead Men, Oblivion, and the “Faithless Widow” in the Middle Ages
- 11 Artistic and Literary Representations of Family Consciousness
- 12 The Strange Pilgrimage of Odo of Deuil
- 13 The Rhineland Massacres of Jews in the First Crusade: Memories Medieval and Modern
- 14 The Martyr, the Tomb, and the Matron: Constructing the (Masculine) “Past” as a Female Power Base
- Index
2 - King Henry II of Germany: Royal Self-Representation and Historical Memory
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 January 2013
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- 1 Authority and Legitimation of Royal Policy and Action: The Case of Henry II
- 2 King Henry II of Germany: Royal Self-Representation and Historical Memory
- 3 The Variability of Rituals in the Middle Ages
- 4 Rebels and Rituals: From Demonstrations of Enmity to Criminal Justice
- 5 Oblivion Between Orality and Textuality in the Tenth Century
- 6 Text and Ritual in Ninth-Century Political Culture: Rome, 864
- 7 The Concept of Time in the Historiography of the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries
- 8 Constructing the Past by Means of the Present: Historiographical Foundations of Medieval Institutions, Dynasties, Peoples, and Communities
- 9 Topographies of Memory: Center and Periphery in High Medieval France
- 10 Challenging the Culture of Memoria: Dead Men, Oblivion, and the “Faithless Widow” in the Middle Ages
- 11 Artistic and Literary Representations of Family Consciousness
- 12 The Strange Pilgrimage of Odo of Deuil
- 13 The Rhineland Massacres of Jews in the First Crusade: Memories Medieval and Modern
- 14 The Martyr, the Tomb, and the Matron: Constructing the (Masculine) “Past” as a Female Power Base
- Index
Summary
Introduction
I would like to examine a few examples taken from the reign of Henry II of Germany that illustrate the interaction of royal self-representation, or imagination, if you will, and historical memory, especially as it came to be recorded. Throughout, one will see that rituals of various sorts played an important role in these examples as it did throughout the early Middle Ages. In particular, I address three topics: aspects of how Henry imagined and represented his claims to rulership, aspects of how Henry imagined and represented himself to be the master of the church, and one manuscript portrait of Henry II that provides a visual example of the intersection of royal self-representation and historical memory.
Self-Representation and Ritual in the Legitimization of Henry II's rulership
In January 1002 Otto III died suddenly in Italy without an heir and without having made arrangements for succession. This event caused much discussion among the powerful about the succession, and three main candidates emerged for the German throne: Duke Henry of Bavaria, Count Ekkehard of Meissen, and Duke Hermann of Swabia. Of these three, Duke Henry of Bavaria succeeded in making the strongest claim to succeed Otto III on the basis of heredity and his closeness (Königsnähe) to the previous ruler.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Medieval Concepts of the PastRitual, Memory, Historiography, pp. 39 - 70Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2002