HENRY VII. (c. 1269-1313), Roman emperor, son of Henry III., count of Luxemburg, passed his early days under French in fluences. In 1288 he succeeded his father, and four years later married Margaret (d. 1311 ), daughter of John I., duke of Brabant. After the death of the German king, Albert I., he was elected to the vacant throne on Nov. 27, 1308. The Rhenish archbishops were pacified by the restoration of the Rhine tolls, negotiations were begun with Philip IV., king of France, and with Robert, king of Naples, and the Habsburgs were confirmed in their pos sessions. At this time Bohemia was ruled by Henry V., duke of Carinthia, but the prevailing disorder induced some of the Bohemians to offer the crown, together with the hand of Elizabeth, daughter of the late king Wenceslas II., to John, the son of the German king. Henry accepted the offer, and in Aug. 1310 John was invested with Bohemia and his marriage was celebrated.
Meanwhile Henry had crossed the Alps, with the hope of re uniting Germany and Italy, and of restoring the empire of the Hohenstaufen. Having entered Milan he placed the Lombard crown upon his head on Jan. 6, 1311. But trouble soon showed itself. His poverty compelled him to exact money from the citi zens; the peaceful professions of the Guelphs were insincere, and Robert, king of Naples, watched his progress with suspicion. Risings took place and, after the capture of Brescia, Henry marched to Rome only to find the city in the hands of the Guelphs and the troops of King Robert. The king, unable to obtain possession of St. Peter's, was crowned emperor on June 29, 1312, in the church of St. John Lateran by some cardinals who declared they acted under compulsion. Failing to subdue Florence, the emperor allied himself with Frederick III., king of Sicily, and, with the Venetians, set out to attack Robert of Naples. On the march he was taken ill, and died at Buonconvento near Siena on Aug. 24, 1313. Henry was hailed by Dante as the deliverer of Italy, and in the Paradiso the poet reserved for him a place marked by a crown.
Many of the contemporary documents for the life of Henry VII, are found in the Rerum Italicarum scriptores, ed. L. A. Muratori (Milan, 1723-51), in Fontes rerum Germanicarum, ed. J. F. Balmer (Stuttgart, 5843-68), and in Die Geschichtsschreiber der deutschen Vorzeit, Bde. 79 and 8o (Leipzig, 1884) . See also Acta Henrici VII. imperatoris Romanorum, ed. G. Donniges (1839) ; F. Bonaini, Acta Henrici VII. Romanorum imperatoris (Florence, 1877) ; T. Lindner, Deutsche Geschichte enter den Habsburgern and Luxemburgern (Stuttgart, 1888-93) ; J. Heidemann, "Die Konigswahl Heinrichs von Luxemburg," in the Forschungen zur deutschen Geschichte, Bd. xi. (Gottingen, 1862 86) ; B. Thomas, Zur Konieswahl des Grafen Heinrich von Luxemburg (Strasbourg, 1875) ; D. Konig, Kritische Erorterungen zu einigen italienischen Quellen fur die Geschichte des Romerzuges Konigs Heinrich VII. (Gottingen, 1874) ; K. Wenck, Clemens V. and Heinrich VII. (Halle, 1882) ; F. W. Barthold, Der Romerzug Konig Heinrichs von Lutzelburg (Konigsberg, 183o-31) ; R. Pohlmann, Der Romerzug Konig Heinrichs VII. and die Politik der Kurie (Nuremberg, 1875) ; W. Donniges, Kritik der Quellen fur die Geschichte Heinrichs VII. des Luxemburgers (1841) , G. Sommerfeldt, Die Rom f ahrt Kaiser Heinrichs VII. (Konigsberg, 1888), C. Graefe, Die Personlichkeit Kaiser HeinVii. (Konigsberg, 1888), C. Graefe, Die Personlichkeit Kaiser Hein- richs VII. (191I) ; and F. Schneider, Kaiser Heinrichs VII. (1924) .