Herman of Salm

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Herman (German: Hermann von Luxemburg; died 28 September 1088), Count of Salm, was a son of Count Giselbert, who, on 6 August 1081, was elected King of Germany by the noblity of Saxony and Swabia in Ochsenfurt while the Emperor Henry IV was campaigning in Italy. Siegfried I, Archbishop of Mainz, crowned him in Goslar on 26 December.

His plan, to gather an army on the banks of the Danube and march into Italy, was dashed by the death of his main retainer, Otto of Nordheim. When Henry came into Saxony with an army in 1085, Herman fled to the Danes. He returned, however, in alliance with Welf I, Duke of Bavaria, and defeated the emperor at the Battle of Bleichfeld on the River Main, taking Würzburg. Fast on his victory, however, he tired of being a pawn in the hands of the grandees and retired to his familial estates. He lost died near Cochem later that same year.

His wife, Sophia of Formbach, left him a son, Otto, who succeeded him in Salm.


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