Henry III (28 October 1017 – 5 October 1056), called the Black or the Pious, is a member of the Salian Dynasty of Holy Roman Emperors.
He is the eldest son of Conrad II of Germany and Gisela of Swabia.
His father makes him duke of Bavaria (as Henry VI) in 1026, after the death of Duke Henry V. On Easter Day 1028, after his father is crowned Holy Roman Emperor, Henry is elected and crowned King of Germany in the cathedral of Aachen by Pilgrim, Archbishop of Cologne.
After the death of Herman IV, Duke of Swabia in 1038, his father gives him that duchy (as Henry I), as well as the kingdom of Burgundy, which Conrad had inherited in 1033.
Upon the death of his father on June 4, 1039, he becomes sole ruler of the kingdom and is crowned emperor by Pope Clement II in Rome (1046).
