 Unlike the other stem duchies, Franconia became the homeland and power base of East Frankish and German kings after the Ottonians died out in 1024.As a result, in the High Middle Ages, the region did not become a strong regional force such as those which formed in Saxony, Bavaria and Swabia.In 1007, the later canonized Henry II founded the Bishopric of Bamberg and endowed it with rich estates.