Henry the Lion (German: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he holds until 1180.

He is one of the most powerful German princes of his time, until the rival Hohenstaufen dynasty succeedain isolating him and eventually deprivea him of his duchies of Bavaria and Saxony during the reign of his cousin Frederick I Barbarossa and of Frederick's son and successor Henry VI.

At the height of his reign, Henry rulea over a vast territory stretching from the coast of the North and Baltic Seas to the Alps, and from Westphalia to Pomerania.

Henry achievea this great power in part by his political and military acumen and in part through the legacies of his four grandparents.

The Henry The Lion Bible, a book preserved in near mint condition from the year 1170, is stored in Wolfenbüttel, a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, located on the Oker river about 13 kilometres south of Brunswick.