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Henry the Lion (face of statue on his tomb in Brunswick Cathedral)
Henry the Lion ( 1129/ 1131 - August 6 1195; in German, Heinrich der Löwe) was Duke of Saxony as Henry III since 1142, and Duke of Bavaria as Henry XII since 1156, both until 1180. He was the most powerful of the German princes of his time, until the rival Hohenstaufen dynasty succeeded in isolating him and eventually depriving him of his duchies of Bavaria and Saxony during the reign of his cousin Frederick I and of Frederick's son and successor Henry VI.
Henry achieved this great power in part by his political and military acumen, in part through the combined legacies of his four grandparents. He was the son of Henry the Proud, duke of Bavaria and Saxony, who was the son of duke Welf IV and an heiress of the BillungThe Billung Family were Saxon dukes and rulers, who can be traced back to AD 500. Magnus Billung, duke of Saxony and his wife Eilika were the parents of Otto the Rich,count of Ballenstedt who was the father of Albrecht der Baer Albert I of Brandenburg.s, former dukes of Saxony. Henry's mother was Gertude, only daughter of Emperor Lothar IIThe sole member of the house of Supplinburg to hold the titles, Lothar II (1075-1137) became duke of Saxony in 1106, king of Germany in 1125 and Holy Roman Emperor in 1133. Lothar faced opposition through most of his reign from Frederick II, the Hohenstau and his wife Richenza of Nordheim, heiress to the Saxon territories of Nordheim and Brunswick-Lüneburg.
Henry's father died in 1139 when Henry was still a child, and King Conrad III did not immediately give the two duchies to Henry. He acquired Saxony in 1142 and Bavaria in 1156.
He is the founder of MunichMunich ( German: Munchen ) is the state capital of the German Bundesland of Bavaria. Behind Berlin and Hamburg, Munich is Germany's third largest city with a population of about 1. 261 million ( as of 2003). It is located on the river Isar. History The se (1157/58; München) and LübeckLubeck (population ( 2001): 215,330) is the second largets city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany. It was a member of the Hanseatic League and is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites. Lubeck is situated at the Trave river. The old part of the (1159); he also founded and developed the cities of StadeStade is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, and is the capital of the district named after it. It was founded in 994. As of 2001, it had a population of 45152. In medieval times, Stade was a prominent member of the Hanseatic League, but was later eclipsed b, LüneburgMap of Germany showing Luneburg Luneburg is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, about 50km southeast of Hamburg. It is the capital of the district of Luneburg. Population: 70,614 (2003). In medieval times the town was remarkably rich due to the salt trade. and Braunschweig (city)Braunschweig may also refer to the administrative region of Germany. See Braunschweig (region). Brunswick may refer to several geographic locations, companies and products. See Brunswick (disambiguation). Braunschweig [ˈbraunʃvaik] (English: (Brunswick), where he had a bronze Lion, his heraldic animal, erected in the yard of his castle Dankwarderode, next to the Brunswick cathedral, in 1166 -- the first bronze statue north of the Alps still existing today (see "Brunswick cathedral" for a photo). He made Brunswick the capital of his principality.
In 1175, Henry refused to aid his cousin Emperor Frederick I in a renewed invasion of Lombardy, because he did not consider this Italian adventure worth the effort, even when Frederick offered him the rich city of Goslar as a reward. Barbarossa's war in Lombardy ended in failure and he bitterly resented Henry for failing to support him. Henry had to face a feudal lawsuit for insubordination and was condemned by the Empire's princes, who resented his enormous power and vast realm, in 1180, losing most of his principality. He was exiled from Germany in 1182 for three years and stayed with his father-in-law, Henry II.
During the last years of his life Henry tried to regain what he had lost, but he mostly failed.
The picture at the top right, taken from his tomb in Brunswick cathedral constructed between 1230 and 1240, shows an idealized image. When the Nazis exhumed his corpse, they were disappointed finding a comparatively small man with black hair.
In 1158 he married as his second wife Matilda (1156 -1189) the daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and sister of Richard Lionheart. Henry had the following issue: