War of the Three Henries (977-978)

The War of the Three Henries was a brief rebellion of three German princes, all called Henry, against Emperor Otto II in 977–978.

In 973 Otto II had succeeded his father Emperor Otto I without disturbances. However, like his father he had to cope with a restless Saxon nobility, hostile towards his "foreign" consort Theophanu, and the unstable conditions in Italy culminating in the murder of Pope Benedict VI in 974. He attempted at a conciliation with his Ottonian cousin Duke Henry II of Bavaria, however Henry—not for nothing called "the Wrangler"—challenged the Emperor by enthroning his Luitpolding relative Henry I as Bishop of Augsburg in 973 with the aid of Duke Burchard III of Swabia. Otto had to approve the installation; when Duke Burchard III died in the same year, he denied the Burcharding heritage claims vesting his nephew Otto I with the Duchy of Swabia. This enfeoffment in turn was considered as an affront by Henry the Wrangler. He forged an alliance with Duke Boleslaus II of Bohemia and Mieszko I of Poland but chose to submit before armed conflicts occurred.

Temporarily imprisoned in Ingelheim, Duke Henry returned to Bavaria in 976 and continued to plot against Otto, even scheming with Saxon nobles like Margrave Gunther of Merseburg, Egbert the One-Eyed or Dedo I of Wettin. Otto marched against Bavaria and occupied Henry's residence in Regensburg; the duke had to flee to the court of his ally Boleslaus II of Bohemia. In Regenburg, Otto declared Henry deposed and decreed the separation of the Carinthian lands from Bavaria, about a third of the duchy's territory. He enfeoffed his nephew Otto I, Duke of Swabia since 973, with remaining Bavaria and vested the Luitpolding scion Henry the Younger with the newly established Duchy of Carinthia.

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