Home > Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Grave of Otto I in MagdeburgOtto I the Great ( 912 - May 7, 973), son of Henry I the Fowler, king of the Germans, and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of Germany and arguably the first Holy Roman Emperor. (While Charlemagne had been crowned emperor in 800, his empire fell apart amidst succession disputes among his descendents, and following the assassination of Berengar of Friuli in 924, the imperial title lay vacant for nearly forty years.)
1 Early reign
Otto succeeded his father as king of the Germans in 936. He arranged for his coronation to be held in Charlemagne's former capital, Aachen. According to the Saxon historian Widukind of Corvey, at his coronation banquet, he compelled his four most powerful dukes to act as his personal servants, Arnulf of Bavaria as a stablehand, Herman of Swabia as his cupbearer, Eberhard III of Franconia as a steward, and Gilbert of Lorraine as chamberlain.
In 938, a rich vein of silverThis page is about Silver the element. For the color, see Silver Silver is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Ag ( L. Argentum and atomic number 47. A soft white lustrous transition metal, silver has the highest electrical and th was discovered at the Rammelsberg in Saxony. This ore body would provide much of Europe's silver, copperCopper is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. Notable characteristics Copper is a reddish-coloured metal, with a high electrical and thermal conductivity (among pure metals at room temperature, only silver, and leadFor the "lead" in news writing, see news style. Lead is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Pb ( L. Plumbum and atomic number 82. A soft, heavy, toxic and malleable poor metal, lead has a dull gray appearance and is bluish white w for the next two hundred years, and this mineral wealth helped fund Otto's exploits throughout his reign.
Otto's early reign was marked by a series of ducal revolts. In 938, Eberhard , the new duke of Bavaria, refused to pay Otto homage. When Otto deposed him in favor of his uncle Berthold , Eberhard of Franconia revolted, together with several of the Saxon nobility, who tried to depose Otto in favor of his illegitimate half-brother Thankmar. While Otto was able to defeat and kill Thankmar, the revolt continued the next year when Gilbert duke of Lorraine swore fealty to King Louis IV of FranceLouis IV d'Outremer: King of France 936 to 954 member of the Carolingian dynasty. Born September 10, 920 at Laon, Aisne, France, the son of King Charles III and Princess Eadgifu of England. He was only three years old when his mother took him "over the se. Meanwhile, Otto's younger brother Henry conspired with the Archbishop of Mainz to assassinate him. The rebellion ended in 939Events Vietnam became a tributary kingdom to China. Edmund I of England succeeds to the throne of England Pope Stephen IX becomes pope. Births Deaths July 13 Pope Leo VII October 27 King Athelstan of England 939. with Otto's victory at the Battle of Andernach , where the dukes of Franconia and Lorraine both perished. Henry fled to France, and Otto responded by supporting Hugh the GreatOther people named "Hugh the Great" are Hugh of Cluny (1024 1109), abbot of Cluny, later canonized, and Hugh of Vermandois, brother of Philip I of France. Hugh, The Great (d. 956), duke of the Franks and count of Paris, son of King Robert I of France and in his campaign against the French crown, but in 941Events Oda the Severe becomes Archbishop of Canterbury Births Charles d'Outremer son of Louis IV of France Deaths 941. Otto and Henry were reconciled through the efforts of their mother, and the next year, Otto withdrew from France after Louis recognized his authority over Lorraine.
To prevent further revolts, Otto arranged for all the important duchies in the German kingdom to be held by close family members. He kept the now-vacant duchy of Franconia as a personal possession, while in 944Events City of Algiers founded by the Zirid king Buluggin ibn Ziri Births Deaths 944. he bestowed the duchy of Lorraine upon Conrad the Red , who later married his daughter Liutgard. Meanwhile, he arranged for his son Liutdolf to marry Ida, the daughter of Duke Herman of Swabia, and to inherit that duchy when Herman died in 947. A similar arrangement led to Henry becoming duke of Bavaria in 949.
