Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion (1129–1195), a German nobleman. He was duke of Saxony, 1142–80, and duke of Bavaria, 1156–80. Henry was a member of the Guelph (Welf) family and a cousin of Frederick I (Barbarossa), the Holy Roman emperor. He conquered Mecklenburg, the Baltic region east of the Elbe River, from Slavic pagans and brought settlers from the west to colonize the region.
Henry fell out of favor with Frederick in 1179 after Henry had failed to help the emperor in his Italian wars. Other nobles were jealous of Henry's great wealth. In 1180 he was stripped of most of his lands, and the duchies of Saxony and Bavaria were split up into smaller states. After an unsuccessful revolt, Henry went into exile.