The kings (later emperors) of the Franks now assumed complete control, placing Bavaria under the rule of non-hereditary governors and civil servants.
Emperor Louis the Pious divided control of the Empire among his sons, and the divisions became permanent in the decades following his death in 840.
Frankish power had waned in the region due to Hungarian attacks, allowing the local rulers greater independence.
Luitpold's son, Arnulf, claimed the title of duke (implying full autonomy) in 911 and was recognized as such by King Henry the Fowler of Germany in 920.
From 947 until the 11th century, the kings of Germany repeatedly transferred Bavaria into different hands (including their own), never allowing any one family to establish itself.
In 1070, Emperor Henry IV deposed Duke Otto, granting the duchy instead to Welf I, a member of the Italo-Bavarian family of Este.
Welf I subsequently quarreled with King Henry and was deprived of his duchy for nineteen years, during which it was directly administered by the German crown.
On Berthold's death, Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, gave the duchy to his own brother Henry (I), who was also Arnulf the Bad's son-in-law.
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor, then gave the duchy to Kuno, Count of Zütphen, in 1049.
From now on, Bavaria remained in the possession of various branches of the family for 738 years until the end of the First World War.
From this point until the beginning of the 16th century, the territories were frequently divided between brothers, making the dukes difficult to list.
Following the Landshut War (1503–1505), the Duke of Bavaria-Munich Albert IV the Wise became ruler of Bavaria.
In the chaos of the wars of the French Revolution, the old order of the Holy Roman Empire collapsed.
In 1805 under the Peace of Pressburg between Napoleonic France and the Holy Roman Empire several duchies were elevated to kingdoms.
[2] From a mathematical, calendrical point of view, his marked the longest "reign" amongst the Kings of Bavaria.
Declared King of Bavaria following a controversial change of the constitution, discharging his cousin Otto from "office".