The Duchy of Bavaria was a medieval German state that existed under the Holy Roman Empire from 555 to 1623, when it became the Electorate of Bavaria. Bavaria was established as a duchy by the Franks in approximately 555 as a frontier region of the Frankish Empire; the Franks fought against the Bavarii and other frontier tribes to retain control of the region. From 1070 to 1180, the House of Welf of Bavaria opposed the Holy Roman Emperors, especially the Hohenstaufen dynasty. Frederick Barbarossa resolved the conflict by taking away Henry the Lion's lands in 1180, and the Duchy of Bavaria became a subservient possession of the Holy Roman Empire. The House of Wittelsbach took over after the fall of the Welfs, and Bavaria would become an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire in 1623 at the time of the Hundred Years' War.
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