In 1002, following the death of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, a battle broke out between his potential successors. When Bishop Werner I supported the winning candidate, Henry II of Germany, one of his Henry's rivals, Hermann of Germany, raided Strasbourg and burned down the cathedral. The Bishop appealed to the new Emperor, who granted one eighth of his revenues in the province toward the construction of a new Cathedral. In 1015, bishop Werner laid the first stone of a new cathedral on the foundations of the Carolingian church.