Henry IV., Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, son of preceding; his reign is memorable as witnessing the first open claim on the part of the Papal power to have dominion over the crowned heads of Europe; Henry's attempt to depose Gregory VII. was boldly met by a declaration of excommunication; Henry was forced to do penance and to receive his crown afresh from the Pope; but the struggle broke out anew; Clement III. was put up in opposition, and the contest raged with varying success till the deposition of Henry by his ungrateful son (1050‒1106).
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Henry III. * Henry IV.