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210 monastery of Bobbio, but disgusted at the lack of discipline of the monks, he had just returned to resume his former work of Scholasticus at the cathedral school of Rheims. From his correspondence for these years we can gather how indefatigably he laboured in the interests of the young Otto.

The situation was rendered more complex by the unexpected appearance of Lothair as a candidate for the regency. Perhaps his real motive was to induce Henry to give up Lorraine in return for the abandonment of his claim, which, being upheld by the Lotharingian aristocracy, by his brother Charles, and by Hugh Capet, was sufficiently formidable to cause alarm. Soon he actually made this proposal to Henry and entered into a secret compact with him, by which he agreed to support the duke's claim to the throne in return for the duchy. The Lotharingian nobles, alienated by the altered circumstances, at once prepared to resist Lothair's attempt to occupy the duchy. Verdun fell before the French attack (March 984) and Godfrey, who bravely defended it, was captured. The stout resistance of Godfrey's sons, Herman and Adalbero, prevented Lothair from making further progress, and the hostility of Hugh Capet made it necessary for him to turn his attention to his own kingdom. With the departure of the King of France, the centre of action shifted to the east. In Saxony Henry's efforts met with no success. Though he had himself proclaimed king by his supporters at the Easter festival at Quedlinburg, where he received oaths of fealty from the princes of the Bohemians, Poles and Obotrites, he was formally renounced by an assembly of Saxon princes. Loyal to the representative of the Saxon dynasty, they even prepared to resist the usurper with arms. Failing to reconcile them, though succeeding in staving off a war by a truce, Henry withdrew to his old duchy of Bavaria, where he found himself firmly withstood by his cousin Henry the Younger.

Lothair had made no headway in Lorraine. The loyalty of the Saxons and the energy of Conrad of Swabia and Willigis of Mayence, the leaders of Otto's party, prevented Henry from gaining ground in the other duchies; he was in no position to attempt to win the crown by force of arms. Driven by pressure of circumstances he submitted his claim to a diet of German princes. The assembly which met at Bürstadt near Worms decided unanimously in favour of the young Otto. Henry engaged to deliver the boy to the care of his mother and grandmother at a diet to be held at Rara (perhaps Rohr, near Meiningen) on 29 June. In the interval Henry, supported by Boleslav, prince of the Bohemians, tried his fortunes in Thuringia but with similar lack of success. At the diet of Rara, on the guarantee that he would be compensated with Bavaria, Henry handed over the young king to the charge of Theophano and Adelaide, who had been summoned from Italy. Henry the Younger made some show of resistance at being ousted from his duchy of Bavaria, but a final pacification took place early in the year