Henry of Franconia

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Henry (died 886), a son of Count Poppo of Grapfeld, one of the first Babenbergs, was variously known as Count or Margrave of Saxony and Duke of Franconia.

Henry was the ancestral lord of a castle, Babenberg, on the River Main, around which the later city of Bamberg was built. He enjoyed the favour of Charles the Fat and was his right-hand man in Germany during his reign. He led a surprise strike on a force of Vikings prior to the Siege of Asselt, but it was unsuccessful. When, in 885, Charles summoned Hugh, Duke of Alsace, and Godfrey, Duke of Frisia, to a court at Lobith, it was Henry who arrested them and had Godfrey executed and Hugh imprisoned on Charles' orders.

In 884, when Charles succeeded to the throne of West Francia, he sent Henry there to hold the March of Neustria against the Vikings. In 886, he was sent to aid the besieged of Paris. He did not stay long but returned later that year with Charles. However, he died in a skirmish with the Vikings while en route.

[edit] Family

Henry was probably married to Ingeltrude, daughter of Eberhard of Friuli and Gisela, daughter of Louis the Pious. A daughter of Berengar I of Neustria, himself possibly a Conradine, has been suggested as another possible wife. Marriage with the latter would have been made possible and perhaps advisable by Henry's new position in Neustria and his dealings with the Vikings. Henry had one known daughter:

• Hedwige, married Otto I, Duke of Saxony

It has also been suggested that Henry had a son, named either Henry or, on the basis of onomastics, Berengar after his grandfather. This Berengar had a daughter named Poppa, perhaps in honour of her great-grandfather, and married Rollo of Normandy, thus continuing the Neustrian practice of buying peace with the Vikings (or alliance against them) through marriage (and its consequent exchanges of land).

[edit] Sources

• Keats-Rohan, Katharine S. B. "Poppa de Bayeux et sa famille." in Christian Settipani and Katharine S. B. Keats-Rohan, Onomastique et Parenté dans l'Occident médiéval. 2000.
• Guillotel, Hubert. "Une autre marche de Neustrie." in Christian Settipani and Katharine S. B. Keats-Rohan, Onomastique et Parenté dans l'Occident médiéval. 2000.