Death of Emperor Henry III

October 5, 1056

The Salian ruler who had tamed Italy, deposed three popes, and launched the church reform that would soon challenge his dynasty died suddenly at Bodfeld. He left a six-year-old heir, Henry IV. A minority regency always invites disaster; this one would set the stage for the Investiture Controversy, the defining conflict between papal and imperial authority that would convulse Western Christendom for half a century.