Henry X, Duke of Bavaria
| Henry X the Proud | |
|---|---|
| Duke of Bavaria | |
Henry X in a much later engraving
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| Spouse(s) | Gertrude of Süpplingenburg |
| Issue | |
| Noble family | House of Welf |
| Father | Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria |
| Mother | Wulfhilde of Saxony |
| Born | c. 1108 |
| Died | 20 October 1139 Quedlinburg |
| Buried | Imperial Cathedral of Königslutter |
Henry the Proud (German: Heinrich der Stolze) (c. 1108 – 20 October 1139), a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Bavaria (as Henry X) from 1126 to 1138 and Duke of Saxony (as Henry II) as well as Margrave of Tuscany and Duke of Spoleto from 1137 until his death. In 1138 he was a candidate for the election as King of the Romans but was defeated by Conrad of Hohenstaufen.
He was the second son of Duke Henry IX of Bavaria and Wulfhilde, daughter of Duke Magnus of Saxony; thus not only a member of the Welf family, but, what was quite important, also senior heir of the Saxon House of Billung. Henry came of age in 1123, in 1126 his father retired to Weingarten Abbey where he and his wife died shortly afterwards. As his elder brother Conrad had entered the Cistercian Order, Henry was enefeoffed with the Duchy of Bavaria. He shared the family possessions in Saxony, Bavaria and Swabia with his younger brother Welf VI.
In 1127 he married Gertrude, the only child of King Lothair III of Germany. Henry's father had been promised her marriage and inheritance as reward for his changing to support Lothair in the royal election of 1125 against the Hohenstaufen rival Duke Frederick II of Swabia. Gertrude was heir of the properties of three Saxon dynasties: the House of Supplinburg, the Brunonids, and the Counts of Northeim. The marriage marked the expansion of power of the Welf dynasty, Bavarian dukes since 1070, to the northern parts of Germany. The couple had only one son, Henry the Lion.
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