The Salian Eberhard III became duke of Franconia following the death of his brother, King Conrad I (or Konrad) in December 918. On his deathbed, Conrad persuaded Eberhard to forego the German crown for himself and to urge the electors of the Empire to choose Henry the Fowler (Henry I, duke of Saxony), as his successor at the Reichstag, which was held in 919 in Fritzlar. With Henry preferring to allow the five original stem duchies that made up the Holy Roman Empire (Franconia, Swabia, Bavaria, Saxony, and later Lorraine) to rule rather independently, Eberhard was able to exercise power in Franconia almost as an independent ruler. Opposing Henry's son, King Otto I in 938, Eberhard was killed in 939 at the Battle of Andernach, and his duchy became a direct Imperial possession from 939 to 1024.