Bernhard had actually been regent over the Carinthian duchy since his elder brother Duke Ulrich II had fallen seriously ill, possibly with leprosy, after he had joined the Crusade of 1197. In the conflict between the rivaling House of Hohenstaufen and the Welfs around the German throne upon the death of Emperor Henry VI, he originally continued his brother's support for their Hohenstaufen relative Philip of Swabia but turned to the Welf Otto IV after Philipp's assassination in 1208 and attended his coronation in Rome. Bernhard again switched sides to Philip's nephew Frederick II, who had been elected King of the Romans in 1212 and finally prevailed.