Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria

Henry IX
Duke of Bavaria
Henry IX and his wife Wulfhilde
Spouse(s)	Wulfhilde of Saxony
Noble family	House of Welf
Father	Welf I, Duke of Bavaria
Mother	Judith of Flanders
Born	1075
Died	13 December 1126 (aged 50–51) Ravensburg

Henry IX (1075 – 13 December 1126), called the Black, a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Bavaria from 1120 to 1126.

Life and reign

Henry was the second son of Welf I, Duke of Bavaria and Judith of Flanders. As a young man, he administered the family's property south of the Alps. Through his marriage to Wulfhilde, daughter of Magnus, Duke of Saxony, he acquired part of the Billung property in Saxony.

In 1116, he joined Emperor Henry V's Italian campaign. He succeeded his brother Welf II, Duke of Bavaria, when the latter died childless in 1120.

In the royal election of 1125, he supported his son-in-law Frederick II, Duke of Swabia, but switched his allegiance to Lothair, Duke of Saxony, after Lothair promised that Gertrud, his only daughter and heir, would marry Henry's son Henry.

After Lothair won the election and banned Frederick, in 1126 Henry abdicated as duke of Bavaria and retired to the family foundation of Weingarten Abbey so that he did not have to take part in the prosecution of his son-in-law. Henry died shortly thereafter and was buried in Weingarten.

Henry and Wulfhilde had the following children:

• Judith, married Frederick II, Duke of Swabia^[1]
• Conrad, died 17 March 1126
• Henry X the Proud
• Welf
• Sophia, married Berthold III, Duke of Zähringen and Leopold I, Duke of Styria
• Wulfhild, married Rudolf I, Count of Bregenz
• Mathilde, married Diepold IV, Margrave of Vohburg and Count Gebhard III of Sulzbach
• Adalbert, Abbot of Corvey

References

1. Malcolm Barber, The Two Cities: Medieval Europe 1050–1320, 2nd edition, (Routledge, 2004), 193.