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- BIOGRAPHY
Arnulf was the son of Luitpold, Markgraf von Bayern, and Kunigunde, daughter of Berthold I, the count palatine of Swabia. After the death of his father at the Battle of Brezalauspurc in 907, he followed him as ruler of the Bavarian estates around Regensburg.
About 910 Arnuld married Judith, who may have been Judith von Sülichgau (born about 888), daughter of Eberhard, Graf im Sülichgau. They had at least five children of whom Arnulf and Judith would have progeny. She married Heinrich I, Herzog von Bayern, brother of Holy Roman Emperor Otto I.
Besieged by frequent raids by the Hungarians and desperate to raise funds to finance a defence, Arnulf strengthened his power through confiscation of Church lands and property, which earned him the epithet 'der Schlimme' (the Bad). He re-established the stem duchy of Bavaria and eventually negotiated a truce with the Hungarians who thereafter largely passed through Bavaria on their raids into other German territories.
Arnulf vigorously resisted Konrad I, king of the Germans, whom he had supported in the course of his election and who in 913 had married Arnulf's mother Kunigunde, In Konrad's conflict with Erchanger and Burchard II of Swabia he backed his Swabian cousins and later challenged Konrad's successor, Heinrich 'the Fowler' of Saxony. According to the _Annales luvavenses,_ in 920, 'Baiuarii sponte se reddiderunt Arnolfo duci et regnare ei fecerunt in regno teutonicorum': the Bavarians, with some other East Franks, elected Arnulf king in opposition to Heinrich (actually in 919). Arnulf's 'reign' was short-lived. Heinrich defeated him in two campaigns in 921, but confirmed his sovereignty over Bavaria in return for Arnulf's renunciation of his royal claim.
Arnulf died in Regensburg on 14 July 937 and was buried at the Abbey of St. Emmeram. He was succeeded as duke of Bavaria by his younger brother Berthold.
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