HENRY (1108?-1139), surnamed the "Proud," duke of Saxony and Bavaria, second son of Henry the Black, duke of Bavaria, and Wulfhild, daughter of Magnus Billung, duke of Saxony, was a member of the Welf family. His father and mother both died in 1126, and as his elder brother Conrad had entered the church, Henry became duke of Bavaria and shared the family possessions in Saxony, Bavaria and Swabia with his younger brother, Welf. In 1127 he married Gertrude, the only child of the German king, Lothair the Saxon, and at once took part in the warfare between the king and the Hohenstaufen brothers, Fred erick II., duke of Swabia, and Conrad, afterwards the German king Conrad III. Simultaneously he suppressed a rising in Bava ria, led by Frederick, count of Bogen, during which both duke and count sought to establish their own candidates in the bishopric of Regensburg. Frederick submitted in 1133, and two years later the Hohenstaufen brothers made their peace with Lothair. In 1136 Henry accompanied Lothair to Italy, and taking command of one division of the German army marched into southern Italy, devastating the land as he went. It was probably about this time that he was invested with the margraviate of Tuscany and the lands of Matilda, the late margravine. After the Italian campaign Henry was appointed by the emperor as his successor in the dukedom of Saxony. When Lothair died in 1137 Henry's wealth and position made him a formidable candidate for the German throne; but his ambition aroused the jealousy of the princes, and prevented his election. The new king, Conrad III., demanded the imperial insignia which were in Henry's possession, and the duke in return asked for his investiture with the Saxon duchy. Conrad refused to assent on the pretext that it was unlawful for two duchies to be in one hand. Attempts at a settlement failed, and in July 1138 the duke was placed under the ban, and Saxony was given to Albert the Bear, afterwards margrave of Brandenburg. War broke out in Saxony and Bavaria, but was cut short by Hen ry's sudden death, whether by poison or not cannot be ascertained, at Quedlinburg on Oct. 20, 1139. Henry was a man of great ability, and his early death alone prevented him from playing an impor tant part in German history.
See S. Riezler, Geschichte Bayerns, Band i. (Gotha, 1878) ; W. Bernhardi, Lothar von Supplinburg (Leipzig, 1879) ; W. von brecht, Geschichte der deutschen Kaiserzeit, Band iv. (Brunswick, 1877) ; and A. L. Poole in Cambridge Mediaeval History, vol. v.