Henry V crowned Holy Roman Emperor

April 13, 1111

After kidnapping Pope Paschal II and extracting an agreement at swordpoint in St. Peter's, Henry received the imperial crown from a pope whose fingers still trembled. The coerced settlement collapsed within weeks and plunged Germany back into civil war. The spectacle of a pope held hostage in his own basilica horrified Christendom and hardened the reformist clergy's determination to free the church from imperial interference once and for all.