Upon Emperor Otto's death in 973, Henry could rely on his ties to the South German duchies of Swabia and Bavaria as well as to the adjacent Kingdom of Burgundy.

Henry's actions in naming a bishop in a duchy not his own and without Imperial direction brought him into conflict with both Otto II and Burchard III.

Otto II was able to take Henry captive in Ingelheim[4] - though he also had to deal with rebellious nobles in the County of Hainaut and the Bishopric of Cambrai as well as with the raids of the Danish king Harald Bluetooth in Holstein.

[5] He created the Duchy of Carinthia[5] and the Margraviate of Austria from the Bavarian lands and enfeoffed them to his supporters Henry the Younger (who changed sides shortly afterwards) and Leopold of Babenberg.

Through the agency of Archbishop Willigis of Mainz, Henry in 985 finally submitted to Empress Theophanu and her mother-in-law Adelaide at an Hoftag assembly in Rohr.