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What happened to Henry IV during the kidnapping at Kaiserswerth in 1062?
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Henry IV
Henry IV, illumination from the manuscript Ekkehardi historia, c. 1113; in possession of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
During a court assembly at Kaiserswerth in April 1062, the young King Henry IV was kidnapped by a group of princes led by Anno, the archbishop of Cologne. Following the abduction, the conspirators had the king transported to Cologne by ship. During this journey, Henry attempted to escape his captors by jumping into the Rhine, but the effort failed.12
This traumatic event forced Henry's mother, Agnes of Poitou, to resign as regent, allowing Anno to seize control of the government. The kidnapping had a lasting impact on the young monarch, contributing to a lack of moral stability during his formative years and leaving him poorly prepared for his eventual rule.12