Battle of Langensalza (1075)

Battle of Langensalza
Part of the Saxon Rebellion
Date 9 June 1075 Location Homburg an der Unstrut, Langensalza, Thuringia Result Imperial victory
Belligerents
Holy Roman Empire	Duchy of Saxony
Commanders and leaders
Henry IV of Germany Rudolf of Rheinfelden Vratislaus II of Bohemia Ernst of Austria † Theodoric II of Lorraine Godfrey IV of Lower Lorraine	Otto of Nordheim Burchard II of Halberstadt Magnus of Saxony Lothair Udo II of the Nordmark
Strength
25000	7000
Casualties and losses
2765	5860

The First Battle of Langensalza was fought on 9 June 1075 between forces of King Henry IV of Germany and several rebellious Saxon noblemen on the River Unstrut near Langensalza in Thuringia. The battle was a complete success for Henry, resulting in the subjugation of the Saxons shortly before the Investiture Controversy commenced. In Germany the battle is known as the Schlacht bei Homburg an der Unstrut, after a nearby Kaiserpfalz and monastery.

The Salian king Henry IV had inherited the quarrels with the Saxons from his father Emperor Henry III, whose long and costly sojournments at the Imperial Palace of Goslar had annoyed the local nobles. From the start of his reign in 1065, 15-year-old Henry IV suffered numerous setbacks enforcing his Imperial authority in Saxony after the regency of his mother Agnes of Poitou. Attempts to restore the rights over the Harz forests were not received well by the Saxon freedmen, and efforts to extend the crownlands in general as well as the increased demands laid upon the fisc were opposed. A policy of building castles and supplying them with loyal, mainly Swabian officials, continued from the time of his father, fostered resentment among multiple groups. In particular, the large Harzburg became a symbol of Imperial tyranny and was seen as impeding on traditional Saxon rights. Like his father, Henry desired to set Goslar as the fixed capital of the German Kingdom.

In 1070/71 Henry had already picked a quarrel with the Saxon count Otto of Nordheim, then Duke of Bavaria, and Magnus Billung, son of Duke Ordulf of Saxony. The king seized Otto's title and property and kept Magnus prisoner at Harzburg Castle, even after the latter succeeded his father to the Saxon duchy in 1072. This heightened tensions between the Imperial court and the Saxons; Magnus' subsequent release in exchange for seventy Swabians captured in Lüneburg did little to encourage a thaw in relations. In anger, the king rejected several Saxon petitions for redress.

...
Wikipedia