Henry succeeds in expelling his enemies from Saxony in 1139 and is preparing to attack Bavaria when he suddenly dies in Quedlinburg Abbey.

Henry is buried in the Collegiate Church of Königslutter next to his parents-in-law.

His ten-year-old son, later called Henry the Lion, inherits his claim to the Duchy of Saxony; his mother and grandmother rule as regents.

A Henry is underage, is father’s Bavarian duchy is given to Leopold IV, Margrave of Austria, a half-brother of the new king Conrad.

Saxony, which he had attempted to hold but was not officially invested with, is given to Albert the Bear, son of the younger daughter of Magnus, the last Billung duke.