Herman of Luxembourg | |
|---|---|
| Count of Salm | |
 King Herman, depiction at theEisleben town hall | |
| Born | c. 1035 Luxembourg |
| Died | 28 September 1088 (aged 52–53) Cochem Castle |
| Noble family | House of Salm |
| Spouse | Sophia of Formbach |
| Issue | Otto I, Count of Salm Hermann II of Salm |
| Father | Giselbert of Luxembourg |
| Mother | Unknown |
Herman(n) of Salm (c. 1035 – 28 September 1088), also known asHerman(n) of Luxembourg, the progenitor of theHouse of Salm, wasCount of Salm and electedGermananti-king from 1081 until his death.
Hermann was a son of CountGiselbert of Luxembourg (1007–1059). His elder brotherConrad inherited theCounty of Luxembourg and became a faithful supporter of theSalian kingHenry IV of Germany in theInvestiture Controversy and the civil war of theGreat Saxon Revolt.
The major issue betweenPope Gregory VII and Henry IV was the appointment of bishops. It was a custom that if a bishop was to die, the emperor would appoint a new bishop based on his ecclesiastical qualifications. Henry, on the other hand, was appointing bishops for political reasons which made Gregory furious and thus prohibited the appointments of investiture by any lay person, including the emperor.[1][2]
From the 10th century, the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire were electedKings of the Romans, who expected to be crowned by thePope asHoly Roman Emperor.[3]However, because Henry believed the papacy should submit to the crown, Pope Gregory had himexcommunicated and declared that he was unworthy of being Emperor.[1] Because of this, the church broke off from Henry and supported the election of German anti-kings.
Upon Henry's humiliatingWalk to Canossa, severalprinces met atForchheim and had theSwabian dukeRudolf of Rheinfelden elected anti-king in 1077. Henry's and Rudolf's forces met in the 1080Battle on the Elster, whereby Rudolf died from the wounds he received.
While Henry turned toItaly in order to enforce his coronation inRome, theSaxon andSwabian nobles led by the deposedBavarian DukeWelf I elected Hermann as the second anti-king opposed to the Salian monarch inOchsenfurt,Franconia on 6 August 1081. He immediately entered into an armed conflict with the loyalHohenstaufen dukeFrederick of Swabia and retired to the Saxon lands, where ArchbishopSiegfried of Mainz crowned him king inGoslar on 26 December.
Unfortunately for Pope Gregory, Hermann was nowhere near as strong a leader as Rudolph and this caused Henry's power to grow.[4] Henry was crowned Emperor byAntipope Clement III in 1084, leaving Hermann in a very awkward position. He gained broad support by the Saxon nobility, however, his plan to gather an army on the banks of theDanube and march across theAlps into Italy was dashed by the death of his main retainer, CountOtto of Nordheim. When Emperor Henry IV came into Saxony with a large army in 1085, Hermann fled toDenmark.
Little is known of what happened to Hermann after this other than he served as an anti-king under Gregory's rule. During the revolt of MargraveEgbert II of Meissen, Hermann was able to return toGermany. Once again in alliance with Duke Welf I, he defeated the emperor at the 1086Battle of Pleichfeld on the riverMain, takingWürzburg. Soon after his victory, however, he had to witness Egbert's reconciliation with Emperor Henry and the killing of his ally BishopBurchard II of Halberstadt. Tired of being a pawn in the hands of the grandees, he retired to his familial estates. KingConrad (III) began his rule after Hermann's death.[5] He died near theImperial castle ofCochem later that year of 1088 in a skirmish with his relative Count palatineHenry of Laach, ending the Great Saxon Revolt.
His wife, CountessSophia of Formbach, left him a son,Otto, who succeeded him in Salm.
According to a legend perpetuated by theBrothers Grimm, Hermann was mocked as "King Garlic" by his opponents. First celebrated by localKalands Brethren, an annual "Garlic Wednesday" is held after Pentecost in the region aroundHalle up to today.
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