Henry the Lion

Henry the Lion (c. 1129-1195), Duke of Saxony (1142-1180) and Duke of Bavaria (1156-1180), a powerful German prince, who became a rival of the Holy Roman emperor Frederick I Barbarossa.

The only son of Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, Henry was probably born in Ravensburg. At the age of ten he succeeded his father to the duchy of Saxony, which his mother and grandmother administered for him until 1146. In 1147 Henry demanded that the Diet of Frankfort restore to him the duchy of Bavaria, which had been taken from his father. When refused, Henry began an unsuccessful war against Holy Roman Emperor Conrad III. After Conrad's death, however, Henry's duchy was restored to him by the imperial successor, Frederick Barbarossa. Henry subsequently aided Frederick in wars in Poland and Italy between 1157 and 1159.

Possessing both German and Italian territories, Henry was a formidable figure within the Holy Roman Empire. To curb him, a league of nobles and prelates was formed in 1166; after two years of war, Henry was triumphant. In 1168 he took as his second wife Matilda, the daughter of Henry II, king of England. In 1172-1173 he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

By refusing to aid Frederick I in an Italian expedition, Henry instigated a quarrel (1175-1176) between himself and the emperor. As a result, he was placed under the ban of the empire. He was deprived of most of his possessions in 1180 and twice forced into exile, in 1182 and 1189, spending most of his time in England. When he returned to Germany shortly after the second exile, Henry took part in a rebellion of German nobles against Frederick's successor, Emperor Henry VI. He made peace with the emperor, however, at Fulda in 1190. Henry was a capable ruler, one of his greatest accomplishments being the colonization of previously Slavic territories east of the River Elbe. He died at Brunswick on August 6, 1195.