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Henry VII c.1274-1313
King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor

Born in Valenciennes, Hainault, he was originally Count of Luxembourg, a French-speaking minor prince from the extreme west of the empire. He was elected emperor (1308) as an alternative candidate to Charles of Valois, mainly due to the skilful diplomacy of his brother Baldwin, Archbishop of Trier. His family soon rose to great power with the marriage in 1310 of his son John to Elizabeth, heiress of Bohemia. In the same year Henry led an army to Italy, where he remained with the aim of restoring imperial authority, but made little progress against the opposition of King Robert of Naples and the Guelf cities, and the imperialist cause collapsed when he died near Siena, probably of malaria.