Background
He was the son of Duke Henry I of Bavaria, younger brother of King Otto I of Germany (Emperor from 962), and his wife Judith. Henry succeeded his father at the age of four, under the guardianship of his mother.
He was the son of Duke Henry I of Bavaria, younger brother of King Otto I of Germany (Emperor from 962), and his wife Judith. Henry succeeded his father at the age of four, under the guardianship of his mother.
Upon Emperor Otto"s death in 973, Henry could rely on his ties to the South German duchies of Swabia and Bavaria as well as to the adjacent Kingdom of Burgundy. In 974 Duke Henry resolved to oust Otto II from the throne. Otto II was able to take Henry captive in Ingelheim - though he also had to deal with rebellious nobles in the County of Hainaut and the Bishopric of Cambrai as well as with the raids of the Danish king Harald Bluetooth in Holstein.
In 976 Henry managed to escape and instigated a revolt in Bavaria, but was defeated when Otto II occupied Regensburg and stripped Henry of his duchy.
He severed the Duchy of Carinthia and the Margraviate of Austria from the Bavarian lands and enfeoffed them to his supporters Henry the Younger (who changed sides shortly afterwards) and Leopold of Babenberg. Following the War of the Three Henries in 977/78, the deposed duke was placed under the custody of Bishop Folcmar of Utrecht.
When in 983 Otto II suddenly died from malaria in Rome, Henry was released from captivity. He once again tried to usurp the German throne, when he abducted the infant Otto III and, according to the medieval chronicler Thietmar of Merseburg, had himself proclaimed King of the Romans at the graves of Emperor Otto I and King Henry the Fowler in Magdeburg and Quedlinburg.
However, it turned out that he had lost the support of the German dukes and also was not able to oust Duke Henry the Younger from Bavaria.
Through the agency of Archbishop Willigis of Mainz, Henry in 985 finally submitted to Empress Theophanu and her mother-in-law Adelaide at an Hoftag assembly in Rohr. Although he failed in his attempt to gain control of Germany, he did regain Bavaria and in 989 also received the Carinthian duchy.
