Henry (died 28 August 886) was the leading military commander of the last years of the Carolingian Empire. He was commander-in-chief under Kings Louis the Younger and Charles the Fat. His early career was mostly restricted to East Francia, his homeland, but after Charles inherited West Francia in 884 he was increasingly active there. During his time, raids by the Vikings (mainly Danes) peaked in Francia. The sources describe at least eight separate campaigns waged by Henry against the Vikings, most of them successful.
Henry is described in the sources as a Saxon, Frank or Thuringian. His title is given variously as count (Latin comes), margrave (marchensis) or duke (dux). The territory he governed is described variously in the sources as Francia, Neustria or Austrasia, perhaps indicating that his military command covered most of the north of the empire from the Breton March in the west to Frisia and Saxony in the east.
Family
Henry's family has been called the Popponids (German Popponen) because the name Poppo was particularly common among them. It is speculated that he was a son of Count Poppo of Grapfeld, or perhaps of Poppo's son, Christian I of Grapfeld, and his wife, Heilwig. His brother was Poppo, Duke of Thuringia. The Popponids were probably related to the Hattonids, and Henry may have "inherited" his positions in Saxony (from Banzleib) and in Austrasia (from Banzleib's brother Adalbert).
Henry's wife was possibly Ingeltrude, the daughter of Eberhard of Friuli: a memorial book of the abbey of Reichenau names a Henry (Heimirich) and an Ingeltrude (Engildrud) side by side.
Henry had three sons, and probably at least one daughter. His sons all died during the so-called Babenberg feud with the rival Conradine family: Adalbert (c. 854 – 9 September 906), captured and executed Adalhard (died 903), captured and executed Henry (died 902), killed in battle
Widukind of Corvey calls Adalbert a "close relative through his sister" of King Henry I of Germany, which led Emil Kimpen to conclude that Henry I's mother, Hathui (Hedwig, Hadewig), was Adalbert's sister and Duke Henry's daughter. This suggestion has been widely accepted, not least because it explains the adoption of the name Henry by Henry I's family, the Liudolfings. In this case, it is through Duke Henry that the name ultimately entered the East Frankish (German) and West Frankish (French) royal families, the Ottonians and Capetians. Hathui married Duke Otto of Saxony. Their son, Henry I, had a daughter, Hedwig, named after her grandmother, who married Hugh the Great and became the mother of Henry I, Duke of Burgundy, and great-grandmother of King Henry I of France.
The House of Babenberg, which governed the March of Austria from 976 until 1246, is generally regarded as descending from the Popponids, possibly through an unnamed daughter of Henry. The names of the children—Henry, Ernest, Poppo, Adalbert and Leopold—of the first known Babenberger, Margrave Leopold I, are strongly suggestive of a link with Henry.
Life
Henry is described by Abbo Cernuus in his Bella Parisiacae urbis as a Saxon. It is more likely he was a Thuringian.
Reign of Louis the Younger
Henry is described by the Annals of Fulda as the "leader of the army" (princeps militiae) of Louis the Younger when the latter rebelled against his father, King Louis the German, in 866. Louis was joined in his revolt by his younger brother, Charles the Fat. The brothers may have been upset by the grant of Bavaria to their older brother, Carloman, as a sub-kingdom in 864. During the short revolt, Louis sent Henry on a mission to Duke Rastislav of Moravia. The rebellion was soon patched up, however, and Louis received Saxony as a sub-kingdom, while Charles got Alemannia.
In 871, a Saxon vassal of Henry's was blinded on the orders of Louis the German, which prompted Louis the Younger and Charles to temporarily cut off relations with their father in solidarity with Henry. Nothing is known of Henry's reaction to this incident. It has been suggested that Louis the German took advantage of his sons' insubordination to remove Henry from power in Saxony and replace him with Duke Bruno (brother of the aforementioned Otto, who probably married Henry's daughter).