It is well over a century since the second and last Italian expedition of Emperor Henry IV was the subject of a dedicated study. The gap is notable since the Italian policy of Henry IV was once studied intensively under the rubric of the Investiture Controversy. The neglect of the military aspects of that policy is even more striking since Henry IV was known to be “tireless in war” and “quick to resort to arms” in a generation that did not lack aggressive military leaders. William of Malmesbury's estimate that Henry IV undertook some sixty-two military actions could as easily be an underestimate as an exaggeration.

Henry IV's first recorded military action is an expedition to Hungary undertaken on behalf of his brother-in-law Salomon in 1063, when he was thirteen years old. Assuming that the young king's presence was symbolic and that this was a learning experience, there was plenty of opportunity to put such learning to use in later years. Once he was old enough to be allowed to rule independently, Henry IV, like Charlemagne, campaigned almost every year.

Despite this record of sustained bellicosity, Henry IV's military career remains largely unstudied. The Saxon wars of 1073–75 and 1077–80 have been briefly and selectively discussed, but until the end of the twentieth century the Italian expeditions merited only a single brief mention in a survey of medieval warfare. Although neglected, Henry IV's Italian expeditions are not unknown or obscure and are treated in the standard compendia of Gerold Meyer von Knonau and Alfred Overmann.