ABSTRACT
Henry III, like Henry II, suffered from frequent illness. The son of the Church's great reformer was being brought up. Eastern Saxony was already the scene of conflict, then, before Henry became effective monarch. The arbitrary, mercurial element in his temper helps to explain why the rule of one who in many ways seems the most brilliant and attractive of the Salians should have been so disastrous. In Otto of Bavaria was driven to rebel, and deprived of his duchy. It had always been assumed hitherto that the German kingdom would pass by some sort of hereditary succession. As part of his plan for undoing his father, Henry V had been reconciled to the Church. Henry designated his nephew, Frederick of Swabia; the archbishop designated Lothar of Saxony. The dukes of Swabia were commonly known as the Hohenstaufen. Frederick Barbarossa did indeed attempt to restore German power in Italy.
