Saint Henry

[CyrilSebastian]

                       Henry II (973-1024) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1014 to 1024.   
                         He was known as Saint Henry.   
                         He was the son of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria and Gisela of Burgundy.   
                         He succeeded his father as Duke of Bavaria in 995 as "Henry IV".

[CyrilSebastian]

                 Upon the demise of his cousin, Otto III, Henry was elected Emperor.   
                  Once he wished to abdicate and retire to a monastery. However, he   
                  yielded to the advice of the Abbot of Verdun and remained Emperor.

[CyrilSebastian]

                                   Unlike his predecessor, who had focused upon imperial attention in Italy,   
                                    Henry II spent most of his reign concerned with imperial territory north of the Alps.

[CyrilSebastian]

Henry was the last member of the Ottonian dynasty of Emperors because he had no children.

[CyrilSebastian]

Henry II attempted to legitimize his seizing the throne by traveling throughout the various   
duchies of his kingdom. These were Saxony, Bavaria, Swabia, Upper Lorraine, Lower Lorraine, Franconia.   
This was done in order to obtain the general consent of Henry's subjects as opposed to traditional election.

[CyrilSebastian]

Henry did lead three expeditions into Italy to enforce his feudal claim (Honor Imperii).