Why did Archbishop Anno of Cologne take control of Henry IV’s government?

Archbishop Anno of Cologne took control of the government in April 1062 due to growing discontent with the regency of Agnes of Poitou, the mother of the young Henry IV.1

Following the death of Emperor Henry III, Agnes’s regency was marked by a series of political missteps that weakened the crown's authority. She lacked a consistent group of advisors, made unwise decisions regarding the distribution of duchies, and imprudently alienated the reform-minded papacy by supporting an antipope against Alexander II. Furthermore, her submissive domestic policy involved the unwarranted cession of crown lands, which depleted the material foundations of royal power and encouraged the rapacity of the nobility.1

These failures culminated in a conspiracy led by Anno, who kidnapped the young king at a court assembly in Kaiserswerth to seize the regency. Once in power, Anno sought to stabilize the empire by settling the conflict with the church and recognizing Alexander II as the legitimate pope.12