May 26, 961 King Otto I elects his six-year-old son Otto II as heir apparent and co-ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom.

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Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes, Byzantine Princess, Emperor Otto II, King of East Francia, King of Germany, King Rudolph II of Burgundy, Matilda of Ringelheim, Otto the Great, Phokas Family, Theophanu

May 26, 961 King Otto I elects his six-year-old son Otto II as heir apparent and co-ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom. He is crowned at Aachen, and placed under the tutelage of his grandmother Matilda of Ringelheim.

Otto II (955 – December 7, 983), called the Red, was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto I the Great and Adelaide of Italy (Burgundy) daughter of King Rudolf II of Burgundy, a member of the Elder House of Welf, and Bertha of Swabia.

Otto II was made joint-ruler of the Kingdom of East Francia ion May 26, 961 at an early age, and his father named him co-Emperor in 967 to secure his succession to the throne. His father also arranged for Otto II to marry the Byzantine Princess Theophanu, who would be his wife until his death.

Otto II had only one known wife. On April 14, 972, Otto II married Theophanu, a Byzantine Princess of the Phokas family who was the cousin of reigning Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes.

According to the marriage certificate issued on April 14, 972 Theophanu is identified as the neptis (niece or granddaughter) of Emperor John I Tzimiskes (925–976, reigned 969–976) who was of Armenian and Byzantine Greek descent. She was of distinguished noble heritage: the Vita Mahthildis identifies her as augusti de palatio and the Annales Magdeburgenses describe her as Grecam illustrem imperatoriae stirpi proximam, ingenio facundam.

Recent research tends to concur that she was most probably the daughter of Tzimiskes’ brother-in-law (from his first marriage) Constantine Skleros (c. 920–989) and cousin Sophia Phokas, the daughter of Kouropalatēs Leo Phokas, brother of Emperor Nikephoros II (c. 912–969).

When Otto the Great died, the smooth succession to the imperial throne of Otto II had long been guaranteed. Otto II had been king of East Francia for twelve years and Emperor for five at the time of Otto the Great’s death. Unlike his father, Otto II did not have any brothers to contest his claims to the throne.

On May 8, the nobles of the Empire assembled before Otto II and, according to the Saxon Chronicler Widukind of Corvey, “elected” Otto II as his father’s successor. One of Otto II’s first acts was to confirm the rights and possessions of the Archbishop of Magdeburg. Although Otto II had succeeded peacefully to the throne, internal divisions of power still remained unaddressed. During his first seven years as Emperor, he was constantly occupied with maintaining Imperial power against internal rivals and external enemies.

Otto II spent his reign continuing his father’s policy of strengthening Imperial rule in East Francia and extending the borders of the Empire deeper into Southern Italy. Otto II also continued the work of Otto I in subordinating the Catholic Church to Imperial control.

Otto II was a member of the Ottonian dynasty, which ruled the Kingdom of East Francia (and later the Holy Roman Empire) from 919 to 1024. In relation to the other members of his dynasty, Otto II was the grandson of Heinrich I, son of Otto I, father of Otto III, and a first-cousin once removed to Heinrich II.

May 26, 946: Death of King Edmund I of the English

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Alfred the Great, Glastonbury, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Empire, King Edmund I of England, King of the English, Louis IV of France, Otto the Great

Edmund I or Ædmund I (920/921 – May 26, 946) was King of the English from 27 October 939 until his death. He was the elder son of King Edward the Elder and his third wife, Queen Eadgifu, and a grandson of King Alfred the Great. After Edward died in 924, he was succeeded by his eldest son, Edmund’s half-brother, Æthelstan. Edmund was crowned after Æthelstan died childless in 939.

Marriages and children

Edmund probably married his first wife Ælfgifu around the time of his accession to the throne, as their second son was born in 943. Their sons Eadwig and Edgar both became kings of the English. Ælfgifu’s father is not known, but her mother is identified by a charter of Edgar which confirms a grant by his grandmother Wynflæd of land to Shaftesbury Abbey.

Ælfgifu was also a benefactor of Shaftesbury Abbey; when she died in 944 she was buried there and venerated as a saint. Edmund had no known children by his second wife, Æthelflæd, who died after 991. Her father Ælfgar became ealdorman of Essex in 946.

Edmund presented him with a sword lavishly decorated with gold and silver, which Ælfgar later presented to King Ædred. Æthelflæd’s second husband was Æthelstan Rota, a south-east Mercian ealdorman, and her will survives

Æthelstan had succeeded as the King of the English south of the Humber and he became the first king of all England when he conquered Viking-ruled York in 927, but after his death Anlaf Guthfrithson was accepted as king of York and extended Viking rule to the Five Boroughs of north-east Mercia.

King Æthelstan died at Gloucester on October 27, 939 and was succeeded by his half-brother who became King Edmund I of the English.

After Æthelstan’s death, the men of York immediately chose the Viking king of Dublin, Olaf Guthfrithson as their king, and Anglo-Saxon control of the north, seemingly made safe by the victory of Brunanburh, collapsed. The reigns of Æthelstan’s half-brothers Edmund (939–946) and Eadred (946–955) were largely devoted to regaining control.

Edmund was initially forced to accept the reverse, the first major setback for the West Saxon dynasty since Alfred’s reign, but he was able to recover his position following Anlaf’s death in 941.

In 942 Edmund took back control of the Five Boroughs and in 944 he regained control over the whole of England when he expelled the Viking kings of York. Eadred had to deal with further revolts when he became king, and York was not finally conquered until 954. Æthelstan had achieved a dominant position over other British kings and Edmund maintained this, perhaps apart from Scotland.

The north Welsh king Idwal Foel may have allied with the Vikings as he was killed by the English in 942. The British kingdom of Strathclyde may also have sided with the Vikings as Edmund ravaged it in 945 and then ceded it to Malcolm I of Scotland. Edmund also continued his brother’s friendly relations with Continental rulers, several of whom were married to his half-sisters.

Edmund inherited strong Continental contacts from Æthelstan’s cosmopolitan court, and these were enhanced by their sisters’ marriages to foreign kings and princes. Edmund carried on his brother’s Continental policies and maintained his alliances, especially with his nephew King Louis IV of West Francia and Otto I, King of East Francia and Emperor whose empire evolved into the Holy Roman Empire.

Louis IV was both nephew and brother-in-law of Otto, while Otto and Edmund were brothers-in-law. There were almost certainly extensive diplomatic contacts between Edmund and Continental rulers which have not been recorded, but it is known that Otto sent delegations to Edmund’s court. In the early 940s some Norman lords sought the help of the Danish prince Harald against Louis, and in 945 Harald captured Louis and handed him to Hugh the Great, Duke of the Franks, who kept him prisoner. Edmund and Otto both protested and demanded his immediate release, but this only took place in exchange for the surrender of the town of Laon to Hugh.

Death and succession

On May 26, 946 Edmund was killed in a brawl at Pucklechurch in Gloucestershire. According to the post-Conquest chronicler, John of Worcester:

“While the glorious Edmund, king of the English, was at the royal township called Pucklechurch in English, in seeking to rescue his steward from Leofa, a most wicked thief, lest he be killed, was himself killed by the same man on the feast of St Augustine, teacher of the English, on Tuesday, 26 May, in the fourth indiction, having completed five years and seven months of his reign. He was borne to Glastonbury, and buried by the abbot, St Dunstan.”

The historians Clare Downham and Kevin Halloran dismiss John of Worcester’s account and suggest that the king was the victim of a political assassination, but this view has not been accepted by other historians.

Like his son Edgar thirty years later, Edmund was buried at Glastonbury Abbey. The location may have reflected its spiritual prestige and royal endorsement of the monastic reform movement, but as his death was unexpected it is more likely that Dunstan was successful in claiming the body. His sons were still young children, so he was succeeded as king by his brother Eadred, who was in turn succeeded by Edmund’s elder son Eadwig in 955.

History of the Kingdom of East Francia: King of Germany

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Conrad of Franconia, Emperor of the Romans, Henry the Fowler, Holy Roman Emperor, King of the Romans, Kingdom of East Francia, Kingdom of Germany, Otto the Great

With Otto I, King of East Francia crowned as Emperor of the Romans by Pope John XII on February 2, 962 thus begins what many historians (such as myself) site as the actual start of the Holy Roman Empire.

Also, many historians also count Otto I the Great as the last King of East Francia. Since Conrad of Franconia took the throne of East Francia and with his successors Heinrich I the Fowler and Otto the Great the Kingdom of East Francia transformed from a Frankish Kingdom to that of a Germanic Kingdom.

Any firm distinction between the kingdoms of Eastern Francia and the Kingdom of Germany is to some extent the product of later retrospection. It is impossible to base this distinction on primary sources, as the name Eastern Francia for the kingdom remains in use long after the name Kingdom of Germany comes into use.

Under Arnulf of Carinthia the terminology Rex Francorum Orientalium was largely dropped and the kingdom, when it was referred to by name, was simply Francia. When it was necessary, as in the Treaty of Bonn (921) with the West Franks, the “eastern” qualifier appeared once more. Heinrich I refers to himself as rex Francorum orientalium, “King of the East Franks”, in the treaty.

With Otto the Great marking the end of the Kingdom of East Francia, his son and successor Otto II as Emperor and King is often cited by historians as the start of the Kingdom of Germany or German Kingdom. In Latin: Regnum Teutonicorum “kingdom of the Germans”, Regnum Teutonicum “German kingdom”, regnum Alamanie “kingdom of Germany”.

By the 12th century, the historian Otto of Freising, in using the Carolingian terminology, had to explain that the “eastern kingdom of the Franks” (orientale Francorum regnum) was “now called the kingdom of the Germans” (regnum Teutonicorum).

Therefore, the Kingdom of East Francia didn’t cease to exist the way the Kingdom was described had changed.

Like medieval England and medieval France, (Western Francia which evolved into the Kingdom of France) medieval Germany consolidated from a conglomerate of smaller tribes, nations or polities by the High Middle Ages.

The term rex teutonicorum (“king of the Germans”) first came into use in Italy around the year 1000. It was popularized by the chancery of Pope Gregory VII during the Investiture Controversy (late 11th century), perhaps as a polemical tool against Emperor Heinrich IV.

In the twelfth century, in order to stress the imperial and transnational character of their office, the Emperors began to employ the title rex Romanorum (king of the Romans) on their election.

In the next section I will discuss in more detail the transformation of the usage of the title King of Germany to that of King of the Romans.

July 12, 927: King Constantine II of Scotland Submits to Æthelstan, King of the English.

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Alfred the Great, Æthelstan, Charles III the Simple, Constantine II of Scotland, Count of Paris, Duke of Franks, Ealdred of Bamburgh, Edward the Elder, Holy Roman Emperor, House of Wessex, Hugh the Great, King Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, King of the Anglo-Saxons, King of the English, King of West Francia, King Owain of the Cumbrians, Otto the Great

Æthelstan or Athelstan (c. 894 – October 27, 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first wife, Ecgwynn. Modern historians regard him as the first King of England and one of the “greatest Anglo-Saxon kings”. He never married and had no children; he was succeeded by his half-brother, Edmund I.

When Edward died in July 924, Æthelstan was accepted by the Mercians as king. His half-brother Ælfweard may have been recognised as king in Wessex, but died within three weeks of their father’s death. Æthelstan encountered resistance in Wessex for several months, and was not crowned until September 925. In 927 he conquered the last remaining Viking kingdom, York, making him the first Anglo-Saxon ruler of the whole of England.

On July 12, 927, King Constantine II of Scotland, King Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, Ealdred of Bamburgh and King Owain of the Cumbrians accepted the overlordship of King Æthelstan of England, leading to seven years of peace in the north.

In 934 Æthelstan invaded Scotland. His reasons are unclear, and historians give alternative explanations. The death of his half-brother Edwin in 933 might have finally removed factions in Wessex opposed to his rule. Guthfrith, the Norse king of Dublin who had briefly ruled Northumbria, died in 934; any resulting insecurity among the Danes would have given Æthelstan an opportunity to stamp his authority on the north.

Æthelstan’s rule was resented by the Scots and Vikings, and in 937 they invaded England. Æthelstan defeated them at the Battle of Brunanburh, a victory that gave him great prestige both in the British Isles and on the Continent. After his death in 939, the Vikings seized back control of York, and it was not finally reconquered until 954.

Æthelstan centralised government; he increased control over the production of charters and summoned leading figures from distant areas to his councils. These meetings were also attended by rulers from outside his territory, especially Welsh kings, who thus acknowledged his overlordship. More legal texts survive from his reign than from any other 10th-century English king.

They show his concern about widespread robberies, and the threat they posed to social order. His legal reforms built on those of his grandfather, Alfred the Great. Æthelstan was one of the most pious West Saxon kings, and was known for collecting relics and founding churches. His household was the centre of English learning during his reign, and it laid the foundation for the Benedictine monastic reform later in the century.

No other West Saxon king played as important a role in European politics as Æthelstan, and he arranged the marriages of several of his sisters to continental rulers.

Eadgifu was Queen of the West Francia as the second wife of King Charles III the Simple. She married Charles between 917 and 919 after the death of his first wife. Eadgifu was mother to King Louis IV of West Francia.

The others were Eadgyth, who married Otto I the Great, Holy Roman Emperor and Eadhild, who married Hugh the Great who was the Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris.

Hugh was a potential rival for the Frankish throne, and Eadhild may have promoted the marriage of her sister, Eadgifu, to Charles III the Simple in order to sever a dangerous link between Hugh and Count Herbert of Vermandois.

Æthelstan died at Gloucester on October 27, 939. His grandfather Alfred the Great, his father Edward the Elder, and his half-brother Ælfweard had been buried at Winchester, but Æthelstan chose not to honour the city associated with opposition to his rule. By his own wish, he was buried at Malmesbury Abbey, where he had buried his cousins who died at Brunanburh.

No other member of the West Saxon royal family was buried there, and, according to William of Malmesbury, Æthelstan’s choice reflected his devotion to the abbey and to the memory of its seventh-century abbot Saint Aldhelm. William described Æthelstan as fair-haired “as I have seen for myself in his remains, beautifully intertwined with gold threads”. His bones were lost during the Reformation, but he is commemorated by an empty fifteenth-century tomb.

Aftermath

After Æthelstan’s death, the men of York immediately chose the Viking king of Dublin, Olaf Guthfrithson as their king, and Anglo-Saxon control of the north, seemingly made safe by the victory of Brunanburh, collapsed. The reigns of Æthelstan’s half-brothers Edmund (939–946) and Eadred (946–955) were largely devoted to regaining control of the Kingdom.

Following Edmund’s death York again switched back to Viking control, and it was only when the Northumbrians finally drove out their Norwegian Viking king Eric Bloodaxe in 954 and submitted to Eadred that Anglo-Saxon control of the whole of England was finally restored.

Origins of the Holy Roman Empire: Part IV.

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Berengar I of Italy, Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor Otto I, King Lothair II of Italy. , King of the Lombards, Kingdom of Italy, Otto I of East Francia, Otto the Great, Pope John XII

Otto, the Kingdom of Italy and Becoming Emperor

Under Charlemagne, who deposed the Italian king, took up the title “king of the Lombards”. After the death of Charles the Fat in 887, Italy fell into instability and a number of kings attempted to establish themselves as independent Italian monarchs. During this period, known as the Feudal Anarchy (888–962) the title Rex Italicorum (“King of the Italians”) was introduced replacing the title King of the Lombards.

Berengar I of Italy (the last of the Carolingians to claim the Imperial title) fought against Rudolf II of Burgundy, a member of the Elder House of Welf, to control northern Italy and this conflict ended with Berengar’s death, and Rudolf could claim the Italian throne. However, the inhabitants of Lombardy weren’t happy with this decision and called for the help of another ally, Hugh of Provence, who considered Rudolf an enemy for a long time.

Although Hugh challenged Rudolf for the Burgundian throne, he only succeeded when Rudolf II died in 937, and in order to be able to control Upper Burgundy Hugh decided to marry his son Lothair with Adelaide, the daughter of Rudolf II of Burgundy, and Bertha of Swabia who was 15 years old. The marriage produced a daughter, Emma of Italy, born about 948. Emma became Queen of West Francia by marrying King Lothair II of West Francia, the eldest son of King Louis IV of West Francia and Gerberga of Saxony.

The next threat to the Italian throne came from Berengar of Ivrea who was a son of Margrave Adalbert I of Ivrea and his wife Gisela of Friuli, daughter of Berengar I of Italy, his grandfather who he was named after. Berengar succeeded his father as margrave about 923 and married Willa, daughter of the Bosonid, margrave of Tuscany and niece of Hugh of Provence, King of Italy. In 940 Berengar led a revolt of Italian nobles against the rule of his uncle by marriage, Hugh of Provence.

To evade an assault by Hugh’s liensmen, Berengar, forewarned by the king’s young son Lothair, had to flee to the court of King Otto I of East Francia. Otto avoided taking sides; nevertheless, in 945 Berengar was able to return to Italy with hired troops, welcomed by the local nobility.

Hugh was defeated and retired to Arles, and he was nominally succeeded by his son who briefly became King Lothair II of Italy. From the time of Berengar’s successful uprising, all real power and patronage in the Kingdom of Italy was concentrated in his hands, with Hugh’s son Lothair as titular king only. Lothair’s brief reign ended upon his early death in 950, presumably poisoned.

Berengar of Ivrea now assumed the royal title and became Berengar II of Italy with his son Adalbert as co-ruler. He attempted to legitimize his kingship by forcing Lothair’s widow Adelaide, into marriage with Adalbert. Adelaide fiercely refused, whereafter Berengar had her imprisoned at Garda Castle, allegedly mistreated by Berengar’s wife Willa. With the help of Count Adalbert Atto of Canossa, Adelaide managed to flee and entreated the protection of King Otto of East Francia. Otto, himself a widower since 946, married Adelaide himself, and assumed the title of King of the Lombards, and received the homage of the Italian nobility.

In 960, the former King Berengar II of Italy once again invaded the Papal States under the rule of Pope John XII, who appealed to King Otto to battle against Berengar II. It wasn’t until after the Pope agreed to crown him as Emperor, did Otto assemble his army to march upon Italy. In preparation for his second Italian campaign and the imperial coronation, Otto planned his kingdom’s future. At the Imperial Diet at Worms in May 961, Otto named his six-year-old son Otto II as heir apparent and co-ruler, and had him crowned at Aachen Cathedral on May 26, 961.

Otto II was anointed by the Archbishops Bruno I of Cologne, William of Mainz, and Henry I of Trier. The King instituted a separate chancery to issue diplomas in his heir’s name, and appointed his brother Bruno and illegitimate son Wilhelm as Otto II’s co-regents in Germany.

Otto’s army descended into northern Italy in August of 961 through the Brenner Pass at Trento. The German king moved towards Pavia, the former Lombard capital of Italy, where he celebrated Christmas and now assumed the title King of Italy for himself. Berengar II’s armies retreated to their strongholds in order to avoid battle with Otto, allowing him to advance southward unopposed.

Otto reached Rome on January 31, 962; three days later, February 2, Otto was crowned Emperor by Pope John XII at Old St. Peter’s Basilica. The Pope also anointed Otto’s wife Adelaide who had accompanied him on his Italian campaign, as empress. With Otto’s coronation as emperor, the Kingdom of Germany and the Kingdom of Italy were unified into a common realm, later called the Holy Roman Empire.

Origins of the Holy Roman Empire: Part III

Tags

Alfred the Great, Conrad I of Saxony, Duchy of Saxony, Henry the Fowler, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of East Francia, Magyars, Otto the Great

Now let us examine the rise of Otto the Great.

The Medieval Kingdom of Germany started out as the eastern section of the Frankish kingdom. The rulers of the eastern area thus called themselves Rex Francorum, King of the Franks. The term rex teutonicorum (“King of the Germans”) first came into use in Italy around the year 1000.

After the death of the last Carolingian, Louis the Child, in 911, dukes of the stem duchies (another topic all together) of Saxony, Swabia and Bavaria, acknowledged the unity of the kingdom and elected Conrad I, Duke of Franconia to be their king on November 10, 911 at Forchheim. Conrad was the son of Duke Conrad of Thuringia (called the Elder) and his wife Glismoda, probably related to Ota, wife of the Carolingian emperor Arnulf of Carinthia and mother of Louis the Child.

The dukes of the stem duchies prevented the succession to the throne of Louis’ Carolingian relative, Charles III the Simple, King of West Francia. They chose the Conradine scion, who was maternally related to the late king. Only Conrad’s rival, Reginar, duke of Lotharingia, refused to give him his allegiance and joined West Francia.

Exactly because Conrad I was one of the dukes, he found it very hard to establish his authority over them. Duke Heinrich the Fowler of Saxony was in rebellion against Conrad until 915 and the struggle against Arnulf, Duke of Bavaria, cost Conrad his life. Conrad died on December 23, 918 at his residence in Weilburg Castle. He was buried in Fulda Cathedral.

According to the Res gestae saxonicae by the chronicler Widukind of Corvey, Conrad, on his deathbed, persuaded his younger brother Eberhard of Franconia to offer the royal crown to Heinrich the Fowler, the duke of Saxony and one of his principal opponents, since he considered Heinrich to be the only duke capable of holding the kingdom together in the face of internal rivalries among the dukes and the continuous Magyar raids.

It was not until May 919 when Eberhard and the other Frankish nobles accepted Conrad’s advice, and Heinrich was elected king as Heinrich I, King of East Francia at the Reichstag of Fritzlar. Kingship now changed from Franks to Saxons, who had suffered greatly during the conquests of Charlemagne and were proud of their identity.

Heinrich planned an expedition to Rome to be crowned emperor by the pope, but the design was thwarted by his death. Heinrich died from the effects of a cerebral stroke on July 2, 936 at his palace, the Kaiserpfalz in Memleben, and was buried at Quedlinburg Abbey, established by his wife Matilda of Ringelheim in his honor. Heinrich prevented a collapse of royal power, as had happened in West Francia, and left a much stronger kingdom to his son and successor Otto I. Heinrich is also counted as Heinrich I within the panonopoly of Holy Roman Emperors even though he never held the imperial title.

Otto I had inherited the Duchy of Saxony and the kingship of East Francia upon his father’s death. I want to briefly mention Otto’s mother, Mathilde, daughter of Reinhild and the Saxon Count Dietrich (himself a descendant of the Saxon duke Widukind who fought against Charlemagne). Mathilde founded several spiritual institutions and women’s convents. She was considered to be extremely pious, righteous and charitable.

Otto the Great continued his father’s work of unifying all German tribes into a single kingdom and greatly expanded the king’s powers at the expense of the aristocracy. Through strategic marriages and personal appointments, Otto installed members of his family in the kingdom’s most important duchies. This reduced the various dukes, who had previously been co-equals with the king, to royal subjects under his authority. Otto transformed the Roman Catholic Church in Germany to strengthen royal authority and subjected its clergy to his personal control.

Otto defeated the Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955, thus ending the Hungarian invasions of Western Europe. The victory against the pagan Magyars earned Otto a reputation as a savior of Christendom and secured his hold over the kingdom. The patronage of Otto and his immediate successors facilitated a so-called “Ottonian Renaissance” of arts and architecture.

Otto’s first wife was Eadgyth of England. Eadgyth was born to the reigning English king Edward the Elder by his second wife, Ælfflæd, and hence was a granddaughter of King Alfred the Great. She had an older sister, Eadgifu.

At the request of the East Frankish king Heinrich I the Fowler, who wished to stake a claim to equality and to seal the alliance between the two Saxon kingdoms, her half-brother King Æthelstan sent his sisters Eadgyth and Eadgifu to Germany. Heinrich’s eldest son and heir to the throne Otto was instructed to choose whichever one pleased him best. Otto chose Eadgyth according to Hrotsvitha a woman “of pure noble countenance, graceful character and truly royal appearance”, and married her in 930. Eadgyth’s death in 946 at a relatively young age, in her thirties, was unexpected. Otto apparently mourned the loss of a beloved spouse.

Origins of the Holy Roman Empire. Part I.

Tags

Charlemagne, Charles the Great, Confederation of the Rhine, Emperor of the French, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Empire, Napoleon, Origins of the Holy Roman Empire, Otto the Great

From the Emperor’s Desk: I have deleted my original blog entry for the origins of the Holy Roman Empire and will expand on it as a series.

Shortly after the Battle of Austerlitz where the French Army of Emperor Napoleon defeated Austria and Russia, 16 German states joined together in a confederation on July 26, 1806, with the signing the Treaty of the Confederation of the Rhine. The founding members of the confederation were German princes of the Holy Roman Empire. They were later joined by 19 others states, altogether ruling a total of over 15 million subjects.

This Confederation granted a significant strategic advantage to the French Empire on its eastern frontier by providing a separation between France and the two largest German states, Prussia and Austria (which also controlled substantial amounts of non-German lands).

The “Protector of the Confederation” was a hereditary office held by Napoleon, the Emperor of the French. On August 1, the members of the confederation formally seceded from the Holy Roman Empire, and on August 6, following an ultimatum by Napoleon, Holy Roman Emperor Franz II declared the Holy Roman Empire dissolved and he abdicated his Imperial title and released all imperial states and officials from their oaths and obligations to the empire.

Franz II, who had proclaimed himself Emperor of Austria in 1804 by consolidating the hereditary lands of the Habsburg dynasty, continued as Emperor of Austria. The Confederation of the Rhine lasted from 1806 to 1813.

Thus ended this noble Empire. But it leads me to a question.

I have written about the ending of the Holy Roman Empire before, and instead of rehashing this topic I would like to touch upon another interesting and related topic, and it is one that is debated by historians, namely, when did the Holy Roman Empire actually begin?

Generally two events in history are where historians pinpoint the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire.

The first event occrred on December 25, 800, when Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne (Charles I the Great) as Roman Emperor, reviving the Imperial title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the ancient Western Roman Empire in 476.

The Imperial title continued in the Carolingian family until 888 and from 896 to 899, after which it was contested by the rulers of Italy in a series of civil wars until the death of the last Italian claimant, Berengar I, in 924.The Carolingian Empire is considered the first phase in the history of the Holy Roman Empire.

The second event that historians mark as the possible starting point for the Holy Roman Empire is when the Imperial title was revived yet again when Otto I, the Great, Duke of Saxony and King of East Francia was crowned Roman Emperor on February 2, 962 by Pope John XII in Rome. Otto considered himself as the successor of Charlemagne and beginning a continuous existence of the empire for over eight centuries.

Which event created the Holy Roman Empire, the coronation of Charlemagne or Otto? That is the topic of this blog series.

History of Germany. Part VIII: The Imperial Title and the Holy Roman Empire.

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Charlemagne, Charles the Great, Conrad I of Germany, Golden Bull, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Empire, House of Habsburg, Imperial Title, Otto the Great, Pope John XII, Pope Leo III, Voltaire

In this final post on the history of the development of the Holy Roman Empire, I will summarize what I’ve previously written along with an examination of the imperial title itself. Very often Royal titles give an indication and history of the country at certain points in History.

The Kingdom of Germany started out as the eastern section of the Frankish kingdom, which was split by the Treaty of Verdun in 843. The rulers of the eastern area thus called themselves rex Francorum, king of the Franks, and later just rex. A reference to the “Germans”, indicating the emergence of a German nation of some sort, did not appear until the eleventh century, when the pope referred to his enemy Henry IV as rex teutonicorum, king of the Germans, in order to brand him as a foreigner. The kings reacted by consistently using the title rex Romanorum, King of the Romans, to emphasize their universal rule even before becoming emperor. This title remained until the end of the Empire in 1806, though after 1508 Emperors-elect added “king in Germany” to their titles. ote: in this and related entries, the kings are called kings of Germany, for clarity’s sake)

Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire

On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne (Charles I the Great) as Emperor, reviving the Imperial title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the earlier ancient Western Roman Empire in 476. The title continued in the Carolingian family until 888 and from 896 to 899, after which it was contested by the rulers of Italy in a series of civil wars until the death of the last Italian claimant, Berengar I, in 924.

The title was revived again in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne and beginning a continuous existence of the empire for over eight centuries. Some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while other historians, myself included, prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, describing a gradual assumption of the imperial title and role.

The exact term “Holy Roman Empire” was not used until the 13th century, but the concept of translatio imperii, the notion that the sovereign ruler held supreme power inherited from the ancient emperors of Rome, was fundamental to the prestige of the title of emperor. The office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. The mostly German prince-electors, the highest-ranking noblemen of the empire, usually elected one of their peers as “King of the Romans”, and he would later be crowned emperor by the Pope; the tradition of papal coronations was discontinued in the 16th century.

Imperial Title

Coronation Chair of Charlemagne at Achen.

It is important to distinguish between the universalist and localist conceptions of the empire, which remain controversial among historians. According to the former, the empire was a universal monarchy, a “commonwealth of the whole world, whose sublime unity transcended every minor distinction”; and the emperor “was entitled to the obedience of Christendom”. According to the latter, the emperor had no ambition for universal dominion; his realm was limited in the same way as that of every other ruler, and when he made more far-reaching claims his object was normally to ward off the attacks either of the Pope or of the Byzantine emperor. According to this view, also, the origin of the empire is to be explained by specific local circumstances rather than by overarching theories.

According to Ohnsorge, for a long time, it had been the custom of Byzantium to designate the German princes as spiritual “sons” of the Romans. What might have been acceptable in the fifth century had become provoking and insulting to the Franks in the eighth century. Charles came to believe that the Roman emperor, who claimed to head the world hierarchy of states, was, in reality, no greater than Charles himself, a king as other kings, since beginning in 629 he had entitled himself “Basileus” (translated literally as “king”).

Historian Onhsorge finds it significant that the chief wax seal of Charles, which bore only the inscription: “Christe, protege Carolum regem Francorum [Christ, protect Charles, king of the Franks], was used from 772 to 813, even during the imperial period and was not replaced by a special imperial seal; indicating that Charles himself felt to be just the king of the Franks. Finally, Ohnsorge points out that in the spring of 813 at Aachen Charles crowned his only surviving son, Louis, as the emperor without recourse to Rome with only the acclamation of his Franks. The form in which this acclamation was offered was Frankish-Christian rather than Roman. This implies both independence from Rome and a Frankish (non-Roman) understanding of empire.

After the coronation of Charlemagne, his Successors in the Carolingian family retained the title of Emperor for years to come, but divisions of territory and in-fighting over supremacy of the Frankish state weakened its importance. This why, after the death of Berengar I of Italy (Lombards) in 924, the last Carolingian to hold the Imperial title; who ruled over a small territor, the Imperial title fell by the wayside during a comparatively brief interregnum between 924 and the coronation of Otto the Great in 962.

The papacy itself never forgot the title nor abandoned the right to bestow it. With the resurgence of the Imperial title with the coronation of Otto the Great in 962 is taken as marking the transition from the Frankish Empire to the Holy Roman Empire. Under the Ottonians, much of the former Carolingian kingdom of Eastern Francia fell within the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire.

Imperial Crown of Emperor Rudolf II.

The standard designation of the Holy Roman Emperor was “August Emperor of the Romans” (Romanorum Imperator Augustus). When Charlemagne was crowned in 800, he was styled as “most serene Augustus, crowned by God, great and pacific emperor, governing the Roman Empire,” thus constituting the elements of “Holy” and “Roman” in the imperial title. The word Holy had never been used as part of that title in official documents.

The word Roman was a reflection of the principle of translatio imperii (or in this case restauratio imperii) that regarded the (Germanic) Holy Roman Emperors as the inheritors of the title of Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, despite the continued existence of the Eastern Roman Empire. In German-language historiography, the term Römisch-deutscher Kaiser (“Roman-German emperor”) is used to distinguish the title from that of Roman Emperor on one hand, and that of German Emperor (Deutscher Kaiser) on the other. The English term “Holy Roman Emperor” is a modern shorthand for “emperor of the Holy Roman Empire” not corresponding to the historical style or title. 

The term sacrum (i.e., “holy”) in connection with the German Roman Empire was first used in 1157 under Frederick I Barbarossa. The standard designation of the Holy Roman Emperor was “August Emperor of the Romans” (Romanorum Imperator Augustus). When Charlemagne was crowned in 800, he was styled as “most serene Augustus, crowned by God, great and pacific emperor, governing the Roman Empire,” thus constituting the elements of “Holy” and “Roman” in the imperial title.

King of the Romans

The title originally referred to any elected king who had not yet been granted the Imperial Regalia and title of “Emperor” at the hands of the Pope. Later it came to be used solely for the heir apparent to the Imperial throne between his election (during the lifetime of a sitting Emperor) and his succession upon the death of the Emperor.

The territory of East Francia was not referred to as the Kingdom of Germany or Regnum Teutonicum (Latinised from Old High German diutisc) by contemporary sources until the 11th century. During this time, the king’s claim to coronation was increasingly contested by the papacy culminating in the fierce Investiture Controversy. After the Salian heir apparent Henry IV, a six-year-old minor, had been elected to rule the Empire in 1056 he adopted Romanorum Rex as a title to emphasize his sacred entitlement to be crowned Emperor by the Pope. Pope Gregory VII insisted on using the derogatory term Teutonicorum Rex (“King of the Germans”) in order to imply that Henry’s authority was merely local and did not extend over the whole Empire. Henry continued to regularly use the title Romanorum Rex until he finally was crowned Emperor by Antipope Clement III in 1084. Henry’s successors imitated this practice, and were also called Romanorum Rex before and Romanorum Imperator after their Roman coronations.

Medieval practice

Candidates for the kingship were at first the heads of the Germanic stem duchies. As these units broke up, rulers of smaller principalities and even non-Germanic rulers were considered for the position. The only requirements generally observed were that the candidate be an adult male, a Catholic Christian, and not in holy orders. The kings were elected by several Imperial Estates (secular princes as well as Prince-Bishops), often in the imperial city of Frankfurt after 1147, a custom recorded in the Schwabenspiegel code in about 1275.

Originally all noblemen present could vote by unanimous acclamation, but later a franchise was granted to only the most eminent bishops and noblemen, and according to the Golden Bull of 1356 issued by Emperor Charles IV only the seven Prince-electors had the right to participate in a majority voting as determined by the 1338 Declaration of Rhense. They were the Prince-Archbishops of Mainz, Trier and Cologne as well as the King of Bohemia, the Count Palatine of the Rhine, the Saxon duke, and the Margrave of Brandenburg. After the Investiture Controversy, Charles intended to strengthen the legal status of the Rex Romanorum beyond Papal approbation. Consequently, among his successors only Sigismund and Frederick III were still crowned Emperors in Rome and in 1530 Charles V was the last king to receive the Imperial Crown at the hands of the Pope (in Bologna). Gradually the election became the privilege of a group of princes called electors, and the Golden Bull of 1356 formally defined election proceedings. The Golden Bull remained effective as constitutional law until the Empire’s dissolution in 1806.

After his election, the new king would be crowned as King of the Romans (Romanorum Rex), usually at Charlemagne’s throne in Aachen Cathedral by the Archbishop of Cologne. Though the ceremony was no more than a symbolic validation of the election result, it was solemnly celebrated. The details of Otto’s coronation in 936 are described by the medieval chronicler Widukind of Corvey in his Res gestae saxonicae. The kings received the Imperial Crown from at least 1024, at the coronation of Conrad II. In 1198 the Hohenstaufen candidate Philip of Swabia was crowned Rex Romanorum at Mainz Cathedral (as was King Rupert centuries later), but he had another coronation in Aachen after he had prevailed against his Welf rival Otto IV.

Not all Kings of the Romans made this step, sometimes because of hostile relations with the Pope, or because either the pressure of business at home or warfare in Germany or Italy made it impossible for the King to make the journey. In such cases, the king might retain the title “King of the Romans” for his entire reign.

Later developments

The title Romanorum Rex became functionally obsolete after 1508, when the Pope permitted King Maximilian I to use the title of Electus Romanorum Imperator (“elected Emperor of the Romans”) after he failed in a good-faith attempt to journey to Rome. At this time Maximilian also took the new title “King of the Germans” or “King in Germany” (Germaniae rex, König in Germanien), but the latter was never used as a primary title.

The rulers of the Empire thereafter called themselves “Emperors” without going to Rome or soliciting Papal approval, taking the title as soon as they were crowned in Germany or upon the death of a sitting Emperor if they were elected as heir to the throne.

It is interesting to note that not all monarchs listed as Holy Roman Emperors held the imperial title, holding only the title King of Germany. Several rulers were crowned King of the Romans (King of Germany) but not emperor, although they styled themselves thus, among whom were: Conrad I of Germany and Henry I the Fowler in the 10th century, and Conrad IV, Rudolf I, Adolf and Albert I (all from the house of Habsburg) during the interregnum of the late 13th century.

Also, depending on the source one uses that lists the the emperors, there is disagreement to who was or was not a Holy Roman Emperor. For example, both Conrad I and Henry I the Fowler are included on some lists despite never holding the Imperial title, while other lists do not include them. Some lists do not include Berengar I of Italy, the last to hold the Imperial title.

Sorry to belabor the point but, Traditional historiography assumes a continuity between the Carolingian Empire and the Holy Roman Empire, while a modern convention takes the coronation of Otto I in 962 as the starting point of the Holy Roman Empire.

In conclusion The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in Western and Central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. The largest territory of the empire after 962 was the Kingdom of Germany, though it also included the neighboring Kingdom of Bohemia and Kingdom of Italy, plus numerous other territories, and soon after the Kingdom of Burgundy was added. Its size gradually diminished over time, particularly from 1648 onward, and by the time of its dissolution, it largely contained only German-speaking territories plus the Kingdom of Bohemia which was bordered by the German lands on three sides.

In a famous assessment of the Empire, the political philosopher Voltaire (1694–1778) remarked sardonically: “This body which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.”

History of Germany Part VII: Otto the Great and the founding of the Holy Roman Empire.

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Berengar of Fruili, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of Germany, Kingdom of Italy, Otto I the Great, Otto the Great, Pope John XII

After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, the briefly reunited Carolingian Empire broke apart, and was never restored. According to Regino of Prüm, the parts of the realm “spewed forth kinglets”, and each part elected a kinglet “from its own bowels”. After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in Italy. The last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924.

Berengar I (c. 845 – April 7, 924) was the king of Italy from 887. He was the Roman Emperor between 915 and his death in 924. He is usually known as Berengar of Friuli, since he ruled the March of Friuli from 874 until at least 890, but he had lost control of the region by 896.

Berengar rose to become one of the most influential laymen in the empire of Charles the Fat, and he was elected to replace Charles in Italy after the latter’s deposition in November 887. His long reign of 36 years saw him opposed by no less than seven other claimants to the Italian throne. His reign is usually characterised as “troubled” because of the many competitors for the crown and because of the arrival of Magyar raiders in Western Europe. He was the last emperor before Otto the Great was crowned in 962, after a 38-year interregnum.

Otto I (November 23, 912 – May 7, 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great, was German king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of Heinric I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, the daughter of the local count Dietrich and his wife Reinhild, a noblewoman of Danish and Frisian descent.

Otto inherited the Duchy of Saxony and the kingship of the Germans upon his father’s death in 936. He continued his father’s work of unifying all German tribes into a single kingdom and greatly expanded the king’s powers at the expense of the aristocracy. Through strategic marriages and personal appointments, Otto installed members of his family in the kingdom’s most important duchies. This reduced the various dukes, who had previously been co-equals with the king, to royal subjects under his authority. Otto transformed the Roman Catholic Church in Germany to strengthen royal authority and subjected its clergy to his personal control.

The Hungarians (Magyars) invaded Otto’s domain as part of the larger Hungarian invasions of Europe and ravaged much of Southern Germany. Though Otto had installed the Margraves Hermann Billung and Gero on his kingdom’s northern and northeastern borders, the Principality of Hungary to the southeast was a permanent threat to German security. The Hungarians took advantage of the kingdom’s civil war and invaded the Duchy of Bavaria in spring 954. Though Liudolf, Duke of Swabia, and Conrad, Duke of Lorraine, had successfully prevented the Hungarians from invading their own territories in the west, the invaders managed to reach the Rhine River, sacking much of Bavaria and Franconia in the process.

The Hungarians, encouraged by their successful raids, began another invasion into Germany in the spring of 955. Otto’s army, now unhindered by civil war, was able to defeat the invasion, and soon the Hungarians sent an ambassador to seek peace with Otto. The ambassador proved to be a decoy: Otto’s brother Henry I, Duke of Bavaria, sent word to Otto that the Hungarians had crossed into his territory from the southeast. The main Hungarian army had camped along the Lech River and besieged Augsburg. While the city was defended by Bishop Ulrich of Augsburg, Otto assembled his army and marched south to face the Hungarians.

Otto and his army fought the Hungarian force on August 10, 955 at the Battle of Lechfeld. Under Otto’s command were Burchard III, Duke of Swabia and Bohemian troops of Duke Boleslaus I. Though outnumbered nearly two to one, Otto was determined to push the Hungarian forces out of his territory. According to Widukind of Corvey, Otto “pitched his camp in the territory of the city of Augsburg and joined there the forces of Henry I, Duke of Bavaria, who was himself lying mortally ill nearby, and by Duke Conrad with a large following of Franconian knights. Conrad’s unexpected arrival encouraged the warriors so much that they wished to attack the enemy immediately.”

While Otto was fighting the Hungarians with his main army deployed in Southern Germany, the Obotrite Slavs in the north were in a state of insurrection. Count Wichmann the Younger, still Otto’s opponent over the King’s refusal to grant Wichmann the title of Margrave in 936, marauded through the lands of the Obotrites in the Billung March, causing the followers of Slavic Prince Nako to revolt. The Obotrites invaded Saxony in the fall of 955, killing the men of arms-bearing age and carrying off the women and children into slavery. In the aftermath of the Battle of Lechfeld, Otto rushed to the north and pressed far into their territory. A Slav embassy offered to pay annual tribute in return for being allowed self-government under German overlordship instead of direct German rule.[80]Otto refused, and the two sides met on October 16, at the Battle of Recknitz. Otto’s forces gained a decisive victory; after the battle, hundreds of captured Slavs were executed.

Celebrations for Otto’s victory over the pagan Hungarians and Slavs were held in churches across the kingdom, with bishops attributing the victory to divine intervention and as proof of Otto’s “divine right” to rule. The battles of Lechfeld and Recknitz mark a turning point in Otto’s reign. The victories over Hungarians and Slavs sealed his hold on power over Germany, with the duchies firmly under royal authority. From 955 on, Otto would not experience another rebellion against his rule and as a result was able to further consolidate his position throughout Central Europe.

Liudolf’s death in the fall of 957 deprived Otto of both an heir and a commander of his expedition against King Berengar II of Italy. Beginning with the unfavorable peace treaty signed in 952 in which he became Otto’s vassal, Berengar II had always been a rebellious subordinate. With the death of Liudolf and Henry I, Duke of Bavaria, and with Otto campaigning in northern Germany, Berengar II attacked the March of Verona in 958, which Otto had stripped from his control under the 952 treaty, and besieged Count Adalbert Atto of Canossa there. Berengar II’s forces also attacked the Papal States and the city of Rome under Pope John XII. In autumn 960, with Italy in political turmoil, the Pope sent word to Otto seeking his aid against Berengar II. Several other influential Italian leaders arrived at Otto’s court with similar appeals, including the Archbishop of Milan, the bishops of Como and Novara, and Margrave Otbert of Milan.

After the Pope agreed to crown him as Emperor, Otto assembled his army to march upon Italy. In preparation for his second Italian campaign and the imperial coronation, Otto planned his kingdom’s future. At the Imperial Diet at Worms in May 961, Otto named his six-year-old son Otto II as heir apparent and co-ruler, and had him crowned at Aachen Cathedral on 26 May 961. Otto II was anointed by the Archbishops Bruno I of Cologne, William of Mainz, and Henry I of Trier. The King instituted a separate chancery to issue diplomas in his heir’s name, and appointed his brother Bruno and illegitimate son William as Otto II’s co-regents in Germany.

Otto’s army descended into northern Italy in August 961 through the Brenner Pass at Trento. The German king moved towards Pavia, the former Lombard capital of Italy, where he celebrated Christmas and assumed the title King of Italy for himself. Berengar II’s armies retreated to their strongholds in order to avoid battle with Otto, allowing him to advance southward unopposed. Otto reached Rome on January 31, 962; three days later, he was crowned Emperor by Pope John XII at Old St. Peter’s Basilica. The Pope also anointed Otto’s wife Adelaide of Italy, who had accompanied Otto on his Italian campaign, as empress. With Otto’s coronation as emperor, the Kingdom of Germany and the Kingdom of Italy were unified into a common realm, later called the Holy Roman Empire.

The kingdom/Empire had no permanent capital city. Kings traveled between residences (called Kaiserpfalz) to discharge affairs. However, each king preferred certain places; in Otto’s case, this was the city of Magdeburg. Kingship continued to be transferred by election, but Kings often ensured their own sons were elected during their lifetimes, enabling them to keep the crown for their families. This only changed after the end of the Salian dynasty in the 12th century.

The Holy Roman Empire became eventually composed of four kingdoms. The kingdoms were:
* Kingdom of Germany (part of the empire since 962),
* Kingdom of Italy (from 962 until 1648),
* Kingdom of Bohemia (since 1002 as the Duchy of Bohemia and raised to a kingdom in 1198),
* Kingdom of Burgundy (from 1032 to 1378).

On this date in History: July 2, 936. Death of Heinrich The Fowler, King of East Francia and German History Part I.

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Duke of Saxony, Henry the Fowler, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of East Francia, Kingdom of Germany, Kingdom of Lothringia, Kingdom of West Francia, Otto the Great, Treaty of Verdun

Heinrich The Fowler (876 – July 2, 936) was the duke of Saxony from 912 and the elected king of East Francia (Germany) from 919 until his death in 936. As the first non-Frankish king, he established the Ottonian Dynasty of kings and emperors, and he is generally considered to be the founder and first king of the medieval German state, known until then as East Francia. An avid hunter, he obtained the epithet “the Fowler” because he was allegedly fixing his birding nets when messengers arrived to inform him that he was to be king.

Born in Memleben, in what is now Saxony-Anhalt, Heinrich was the son of Otto the Illustrious, Duke of Saxony, and his wife Hedwiga, daughter of Heinrich of Franconia and Ingeltrude and a great-great-granddaughter of Charlemagne. In 906 Heinrich married Hatheburg of Merseburg, daughter of the Saxon count Erwin. She had previously been a nun.

Heinrich I The Fowler King of East Francia

The marriage was annulled in 909 because her vows as a nun were deemed by the church to remain valid. She had already given birth to Henry’s son Thankmar. The annulment placed a question mark over Thankmar’s legitimacy. Later that year he married Matilda, daughter of Dietrich of Ringelheim, Count in Westphalia. Matilda bore him three sons, one called Otto, and two daughters, Hedwigand Gerberga, and founded many religious institutions, including the Quedlinburg Abbey where Henry is buried. She was later canonized.

Heinrich’s father, Otto I, Duke of Saxony died in 912 and was succeeded by Heinrich. The new duke launched a rebellion against the king of East Francia, Conrad I of Germany, over the rights to lands in the Duchy of Thuringia. They reconciled in 915 and on his deathbed in 918, Conrad recommended Henry as the next king, considering the duke the only one who could hold the kingdom together in the face of internal revolts and external Magyar raids.

Kingdoms of West Francia, Lothringia and East Francia

Henry was elected and crowned king in 919. He went on to defeat the rebellious dukes of Bavaria and Swabia, consolidating his rule. In 935 Heinrich planned an expedition to Rome to be crowned as Holy Roman Emperorby the Pope, but the design was thwarted by a hunting accident near the royal palace of Bodfeld in the autumn of 935 that severely injured him.

Heinrich prevented a collapse of royal power, as had happened in West Francia, and left a much stronger kingdom to his successor Otto I. Henry died of a stroke on July 2, 936 in his royal palace in Memleben, one of his favourite places. He was buried at Quedlinburg Abbey, established by his wife Matilda in his honor.

Flag of The Holy Roman Empire of German Nation.

German History can be confusing. Terms such as Kingdom of the Franks, Kingdoms of East and West Francia, Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Germany and King of the Romans are often bantered about as if there is no difference between them. In the next coming weeks I will begin a series on German history to sort out all this confusion!