St-Henry II.

st. Henry II.

Henricus II.

BIOGRAPHY

He came from Bavaria and was a prince from the age of two. At the age of 22, he became Duke of Bavaria. At the age of 26, he married Kunigunda (czech Kunhuta), with whom he took a celibate vow. At the age of 29 he became the German king, at the age of 31 he also became the Italian king, at the age of 41 he became the emperor, which he was until his death at the age of 51. And he received his highest title in 1146 – he was declared a saint.

As monarch, Henry II had a tendency towards spiritual values, felt responsible for the faith of his subjects, supported missions and reform movements in the church, gave large gifts to monasteries and for the construction of temples. At the same time, he had to endure misunderstanding and perfidy in his relatives and among the princes of office, even among some bishops.

BIOGRAPHY FOR MEDITATION

HOLY MONARCH AND HUSBAND WITH SUPERNATURAL LOVE

He was born on the 6th. 5. 972 in Bavaria. Abbach, Hildesheim is given as the place. Gisela’s mother was the daughter of a Burgundian prince, and Henry’s father, called Krátký or Svárlivec, was a Bavarian prince. Henry and his sister Gisela (blah., with monument 7. 5.) were raised in Regensburg (Reznu) by Bishop Wolfgang (saint with monument 31. 10.) and Abbot Romuald.

Henry II became Duke of Bavaria after his father’s death in 995. At the beginning of 997, his sister Gisela married Stephen, King of Hungary and later saint (s by monument 16. 8.). Two years after this, the 26-year-old Henry married Kunigunda (Kunhutu), daughter of Count Sigfrid, and at her suggestion that they promise themselves to God, they made a vow of permanent restraint. After the wedding ceremony, Jindřich dedicated a precious cross to her, in memory of the commitment to a celibate life, to which they both managed to be faithful all their lives and showed, that even such an ascetic path is possible out of love for God. Their special marriage was a manifestation of God’s grace and took place in holy supernatural love.

Such a life was not easy, although Kunigunda was a faithful and great Christian helper to the ruling man. Due to his childlessness, he had to fight with relatives and brothers Bruno and Arnulf. He came to a victorious peace with them thanks to his sister Gisela.

Later, for the elevation to the imperial throne, malicious people took care to stir up false rumors about Kunigunde’s infidelity, and in order to put an end to them and prevent general outrage, Henry’s wife graduated from the so-called. “God’s judgment” and barefoot walked over the red-hot plowshares unscathed.

Kunigunda helped her husband at every suitable opportunity during the marriage. To God’s honor and glory, she wanted to be as generous as possible, so she humbled herself as much as possible and lived in considerable humility. With its large share, both built temples, monasteries, houses of Christian mercy in Germany.

Henry did not forget his beloved teacher, Bishop Wolfgang, who died in 994, and went to his tomb in the Regensburg Church of St. Emerana to pray. After about two years, he had an unusual vision. He thought he saw Wolfgang pointing to a wall with the words mysterious: “Six each”. At first he came up with a warning that he was going to die in six days. With that thought, he prepared for six days for an important day with prayers. But nothing happened. The second option was six months. And even after that time, when he was full of health, he decided on the possibility of a third. After six years of pious life, it was clear what the vision meant, he became an important German king.

After the death of Emperor Otto III. Henry II, the last descendant of the Saxon royal family, was crowned in Mainz and then according to custom 3. 9. 1002 installed in Aachen on the throne of Charlemagne. King Henry’s wife was then proclaimed queen in the Paderborn Temple. Some influential princes were dissatisfied with the new government, but Henry won them all over the course of eight months with his balance, purposeful behavior and determination. He ruled wisely and justly.

Soon after ascending the throne, the Polish prince Boleslav the Brave began to cause him great difficulties for a long time. The fight with him dragged on with alternating successes for 6 years. Some reproached Jindřich for using the help of the pagan Lutics and Redars.

The first of three expeditions to Italy occurred in 1004 against Arduino of Ivrea, who claimed the royal crown of Lombardy. At Pavia, Henry defeated him and then became king of Italy. After the coronation with an iron crown, the local people attacked the palace in which Henry was located at night, and he then made his way to the camp of his army in an unusual way. The next day it set out for retaliation, and as a result of both experiences the Christian king was averse to staying again.

On the advice of the Archbishop of Cologne, he hurried back to Němec. The Polabian Slavs, mainly Bodrci, rose with Mečislav and Mstivoj II. against the Germans, they declared obedience to the king and suppressed Christianity in the country. Boleslav the Brave also started to fight again. King Henry was forced to forcefully repel the attacks of enemies and more than once intervene in the political affairs of neighboring countries. Especially when in his court the wrongly affected party begged for help. There were problems with the discordant Přemyslovs in Bohemia after the death of Boleslav II. during the rampage of Boleslav III. Ryšavý, who ordered the mutilation of his brother Jaromír and almost killed his second brother Oldřich. The two pleaded for help in achieving their rights. So far, things have changed rapidly on the Czech princely throne due to other circumstances.

In 1004, Henry was able to restore the activities of the Magdeburg bishopric and later in 1007 also in Bamberg. At the same time, he led an active spiritual life and also tried to reform in some monasteries.

During the second expedition to Italy in 1014, he helped Pope Benedict VIII. organize affairs and received the imperial crown from him and his wife Kunigunda. He made his third and final expedition to Italy at the request of the Pope in 1022 to suppress the rebellion of the Greeks living there against papal fiefdoms. On the way, he also visited the monastery of Monte Cassino, where he probably interceded with St. Benedikta achieved recovery from kidney disease.

To explain Henry’s interventions in church matters (, which in his case used to be only for the benefit of the Church) –, at that time the German emperors used to have the title “Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire”, therefore, their wider scope. Henry II also prevented the sale of slaves not only in the empire, but also in the surrounding Slavic lands.

In 1023, he met for the second time with King Robert of France, son of Hugo, to consult on important secular and spiritual matters, including reasons for the Ecclesiastical Assembly. Even more significant was their earlier meeting over the Moselle River, especially when remembering Otto I’s prediction that France would belong to Germany. At that time, although the troops prepared for battle, on the right side of the German river, on the left French, met against each other and the emperor was to exercise his right over the kingdom of France, the expected violence did not occur. On the fourth day, Henry II swam across the river with a small entourage and renounced his claims against the vassal. There was then talk of a “visit to the Carthusian emperor”. The next day, the 11th. 7., Robert retaliated against Henry’s friendly visit, and so the war between Germany and France ended before it began, because this emperor really lived Christianity.

His death occurred quite suddenly and prematurely, at the age of 52, at his own estate Gróna near Halberštad (Göttingenu) in lower Saxony. Nevertheless, he managed to penitently prepare for death even with a request for forgiveness of an already abandoned suspicion, and after receiving the sacraments, he peacefully fell asleep on the way to eternity.

According to his wishes, he was taken to the bishop’s cathedral in Bamberg for burial, which he had built in. 1002. Later, Kunigunda was buried next to him, who died on 3. 3. 1033 (or 1039) in Kaufunga, Hesse, near Kasel. The ceremonial transfer of her remains to the imperial husband took place on the 9th. 9. 1201.

Emperor Henry II, to whom history gave the epithet Pious, was canonized in 1146 by Pope Eugene III. and his wife’s canonization took place on the 29th. 3. 1200.

In 1372, the church of St. Víta in Prague and our ancestors of Henry II. included among the provincial patrons due to his merits in maintaining the Přemyslov family and returning peace in the country.

In 1513, a sarcophagus was created by Tilmann Riemenschneider in Bamberg Cathedral over the remains of the imperial couple and decorated with their larger-than-life figures.