Page "Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor" Paragraph 64

Otto III, having never married, died without any child, leaving the Empire without a clear successor.

As the funeral procession moved through the Duchy of Bavaria in February 1002, Otto III's cousin Henry IV, son of Henry II and the new Duke of Bavaria, asked the bishops and nobles to elect him as the new king of Germany.

With the exception of the Bishop of Augsburg, Henry IV received no support for his claims.

At Otto III's funeral on Easter, 1002, in Aachen, the German nobles repeated their opposition to Henry IV.

Several rival candidates for the throne-Count Ezzo of Lotharingia, Margrave Eckard I of Meissen, and Duke Herman II of Swabia-strongly contested Henry IV's succession,