crown lands, and on Adalbert's fall many of those of the see of Bremen as well. When Henry came of age he faced an insuperable problem; any attempt to recover what had been lost could only succeed with the support of men who had themselves made great gains at his expense, men who might well fear that the treatment handed out to others would next be applied to themselves. His attempt to recover royal lands in Saxony and to garrison them provoked revolt, and when that revolt was crushed in 1075 the harsh penalties which the king imposed on the leaders may well have made his own supporters think again. Pope Gregory VII's excommunication of the king in 1076 gave them their opportunity, but did not cause the civil war which ensued; Rudolf of Rheinfelden's election as king in Henry's place came directly after the news of Henry's reconciliation with Gregory at Canossa.
The war which resulted went initially in Henry's favour; by 1080 Rudolf had died of wounds and Henry was free to launch a series of campaigns in Italy against Gregory VII. His success was transitory, however, partly because grants made to his supporters such as that of Swabia to Frederick of Staufen hardened the resistance of alternative claimants and progressively created an almost insoluble complex of rivalries. Each success thus paved the way for further revolts, skilfully encouraged by Popes Urban II and Paschal II who for a time held Duke Welf of Bavaria in the opposition by marrying his son to Matilda of Tuscany, then encouraged the revolts of Henry's sons Conrad (from 1092) and Henry (from 1104). As Henry IV aged it became increasingly obvious to his supporters that they would need to reach some accommodation with his successor, and his unhappy reign ended with the defection of the dukes of Austria and Bohemia, both previously loyal, capture by his son Henry, the confiscation of the royal insignia, and an unconsecrated grave at Liège where he died still excommunicate in 1106.
The accession of Henry V ( 1106-25) did not mark an end to Germany's problems for these lay largely outside his control. In the circumstances it was impolitic to provoke the opposition of Paschal II by going so far as to kidnap him during the
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