He was the second son of the German king
Henry the Fowler and his wife
Matilda of Ringelheim. After the death of his father, the royal title passed to Henry's elder brother
Otto I, who immediately had to face the indignation of several
Saxon nobles. Moreover, the late king's son from his first marriage,
Thankmar, revolted in alliance with Duke
Eberhard of Franconia and had young Henry captured and arrested. While Thankmar was killed by his own henchmen in 938, Henry, in custody, chose to join the insurgents. In alliance with Duke Eberhard and Duke
Gilbert of Lorraine he attempted a revolt against his elder brother King Otto in 938, believing he had a claim on the throne as firstborn son after King Henry's coronation in 919. , 1840 In 939 Henry's forces were
defeated at Birten (near
Xanten) and he himself was wounded. Both his allies Duke Eberhard and Duke Gilbert were killed at the
Battle of Andernach on 2 October. Henry fled, first to his sister
Gerberga, widow of Duke Gilbert of Lorraine, later to the court of King
Louis IV of France. When Otto's troops invaded
Lorraine (Lotharingia) and marched against
France, Henry returned and submitted to his elder brother. He and Otto were reconciled in 940, and Henry was awarded the Lotharingian duchy. However, he could not assert his authority in Lorraine against the local nobility tending to France, and as a result he was stripped of his position when the king appointed Count
Otto of Verdun duke. Embittered Henry again plotted to assassinate King Otto in Easter 941 at the
Imperial palace of
Quedlinburg, but was discovered and put in captivity in
Ingelheim, being released after doing penance at Christmas of that year. Over the years, the relationship between the brothers improved. After the death of the
Luitpolding duke
Berthold of Bavaria, Otto, at the instigation of his mother Matilda, enfeoffed Henry with the
Duchy of Bavaria in 948. Henry had ties to Bavaria through his marriage with
Judith, a daughter of late Duke
Arnulf. Though he was met with resistance by local nobles, he first defended, and then enlarged his duchy in wars with the
Hungarians. In 951 he accompanied King Otto on his
Italian campaign against King
Berengar II and acted as matchmaker for his brother, when he brought Queen
Adelaide to
Pavia. In turn he received the newly established
March of Verona with
Friuli,
Aquileia, and
Istria at the 952
Imperial Diet in
Augsburg. In 953–954 Henry, temporarily deserted by his Bavarian subjects, brutally suppressed a revolt by Otto's son, Duke
Liudolf of Swabia and Duke
Conrad of Lorraine. While his brother gained a victory over the Hungarians in the
Battle of Lechfeld, Henry fell ill in 955 and died on 1 November in
Pöhlde Abbey. His son and heir was
Henry II, Duke of Bavaria. He was laid to rest in the abbey of
Niedermünster in
Regensburg, Bavaria, where his wife Judith is also buried. ==Marriage and issue==