German royal election, 1002

The German royal election of 1002 was the decision on the succession which was held after the death of Emperor Otto III without heirs. It was won by Duke Henry IV of Bavaria among accusations of uncustomary practices (bribery and electoral manipulation).

On the 23/24 January 1002, the 21-year-old Emperor Otto III unexpectedly dropped dead from malaria at the Castel Paterno in Italy, without heirs, childless and without any will regulating the succession. As the last male line descendant of Emperor Otto I, the older line of the Liudolfings came to an end with him.

On account of this situation, the election of a new king was no longer a formality controlled by the incumbent king, but became a central political question.

The chief candidates to succeed Otto were the Dukes of the Empire, but Eckard I of Meissen (Eckardine) also actively competed though he was only a Margrave. According to Thietmar of Merseburg he is meant to have been promoted to the duchy of Thuringia by the Thuringians in a popular election and he had been particularly valued by the deceased Emperor.

Initially, the Conradine Herman II of Swabia appeared the strongest candidate and shortly after the majority of the princes spoke in his favour at Otto III's funeral in Aachen at Easter 1002.

But there was a further candidate among the Dukes: Henry IV of Bavaria, the son of Henry the Wrangler, the only remaining Liudolfing (apart from Henry IV's brother Bruno). The Emperor Otto II had attempted to exclude Henry from any involvement in the government of the Empire and, according to Thietmar of Merseburg, no one close to the dead emperor considered Henry a possible successor except for Siegfried I, Bishop of Augsburg. In fact, Henry had further supporters among the Saxon Greats, who put great value on retaining a ruler from the Saxon house. Henry had a clear claim to the succession and emphasised this by a substantial donation for the funeral, an act which was generally carried out by the legitimate successor. In addition, he made contact with the Salian Otto of Worms, titular Duke of Carinthia, who was a grandson of Otto I. He waived his rights in favour of Henry, although he had put forward his candidature (whether sincerely or tactically is unclear). After this, Henry was the highest-ranking candidate and also the most closely related to Otto III in the male line. Nevertheless, his candidature remained uncertain, since there was no codified rule or even custom which gave remote relatives a right to succeed to the kingship.

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