King Konrad And The Saxon Rulers Henry I And Otto The Great

(912--973.)



Growth of Small Principalities in Germany. --Changes in the Lehen, or

Royal Estates. --Diet at Forchheim. --The Frank Duke, Konrad,

chosen King. --Events of his Reign. --The Saxon, Henry the Fowler,

succeeds him. --Henry's Policy towards Bavaria, Lorraine and

France. --His Truce with the Hungarians. --His Military

Preparations. --Defeat of the Hungarians. --Henry's Achievem nts.

--His Death. --Coronation of Otto. --His first War. --Revolt of

Duke Eberhard and Prince Henry. --War with Louis IV. of France.

--Otto's Victories. --Henry pardoned. --Conquest of Jutland.

--Otto's Empire. --His March to Italy. --Marriage with Adelheid of

Burgundy. --Revolt of Ludolf and Konrad. --The Hungarian Army

destroyed. --The Pope calls for Otto's Aid. --Otto crowned Roman

Emperor. --Quarrel with the Pope. --Third Visit to Italy. --His Son

married to an Eastern Princess. --His Triumph and Death.





[Sidenote: 912.]



When Ludwig the Child died, the state of affairs in Germany had greatly

changed. The direct dependence of the nobility and clergy upon the

Emperor, established by the political system of Charlemagne, was almost

at an end; the country was covered with petty sovereignties, which stood

between the chief ruler and the people. The estates which were formerly

given to the bishops, abbots, nobles, and others who had rendered

special service to the Empire, were called Lehen, or "liens" of the

monarch (as explained in Chapter X.); they were granted for a term of

years, or for life, and afterwards reverted to the royal hands. In

return for such grants, the endowed lords were obliged to secure the

loyalty of their retainers, the people dwelling upon their lands, and,

in case of war, to follow the Emperor's banner with their proportion of

fighting men.



So long as the wars were with external foes, with opportunities for both

glory and plunder, the service was willingly performed; but when they

came as a consequence of family quarrels, and every portion of the

empire was liable to be wasted in its turn, the Emperor's "vassals,"

both spiritual and temporal, began to grow restive. Their military

service subjected them to the chance of losing their Lehen, and they

therefore demanded to have absolute possession of the lands. The next

and natural step was to have the possession, and the privileges

connected with it, made hereditary in their families; and these claims

were very generally secured, throughout Germany, during the reign of

Karl the Fat. Only in Saxony and Friesland, and among the Alps, were the

common people proprietors of the soil.



[Sidenote: 912. THE WARS OF KING KONRAD.]



The nobles, or large land-owners, for their common defence against the

exercise of the Imperial power, united under the rule of Counts or

Dukes, by whom the former division of the population into separate

tribes or nations was continued. The Emperors, also, found this division

convenient, but they always claimed the right to set aside the smaller

rulers, or to change the boundaries of their states for reasons of

policy.



Charles the Silly, of the Carolingian line, reigned in France in 911,

and was therefore, according to the family compact, the heir to Ludwig

the Child. Moreover, the Pope, Stephen IV., had threatened with the

curse of the Church all those who should give allegiance to an Emperor

who was not of Carolingian blood. Nevertheless, the German princes and

nobles were now independent enough to defy both tradition and Papal

authority. They held a Diet at Forchheim, and decided to elect their own

king. They would have chosen Otto, Duke of the Saxons,--a man of great

valor, prudence and nobility of character--but he felt himself to be too

old for the duties of the royal office, and he asked the Diet to confer

it on Konrad, Duke of the Franks. The latter was then almost unanimously

chosen, and immediately crowned by Archbishop Hatto of Mayence.



Konrad was a brave, gay, generous monarch, who soon rose into high favor

with the people. His difficulty lay in the jealousy of other princes,

who tried to strengthen themselves by restricting his authority. He

first lost the greater part of Lorraine, and then, on attempting to

divide Thuringia and Saxony, which were united under Henry, the son of

Duke Otto, his army was literally cut to pieces. A Saxon song of

victory, written at the time, says, "The lower world was too small to

receive the throngs of the enemies slain."



[Sidenote: 917.]



Arnulf of Bavaria and the Counts Berthold and Erchanger of Suabia

defeated the Hungarians in a great battle near the river Inn, in 913,

and felt themselves strong enough to defy Konrad. He succeeded in

defeating and deposing them; but Arnulf fled to the Hungarians and

incited them to a new invasion of Germany. They came in two bodies, one

of which marched through Bavaria and Suabia to the Rhine, the other

through Thuringia and Saxony to Bremen, plundering, burning and slaying

on their way. The condition of the Empire became so desperate that

Konrad appealed for assistance to the Pope, who ordered an Episcopal

Synod to be held in 917, but not much was done by the Bishops except to

insist upon the payment of tithes to the Church. Then Konrad, wounded in

repelling a new invasion of the Hungarians, looked forward to death as a

release from his trouble. Feeling his end approaching, he summoned his

brother Eberhard, gave him the royal crown and sceptre, and bade him

carry them to Duke Henry of Saxony, the enemy of his throne, declaring

that the latter was the only man with power and intelligence enough to

rule Germany.



Henry was already popular as the son of Otto, and it was probably quite

as much their respect for his character as for Konrad's last request,

which led many of the German nobles to accompany Eberhard and join him

in offering the crown. They found Henry in a pleasant valley near the

Hartz, engaged in catching finches, and he was thenceforth generally

called "Henry the Fowler" by the people. He at once accepted the trust

confided to his hands: a Diet of the Franks and Saxons was held at

Fritzlar the next year, 919, and he was there lifted upon the shield and

hailed as King. But when Archbishop Hatto proposed to anoint him king

with the usual religious ceremonies, he declined, asserting that he did

not consider himself worthy to be more than a king of the people. Both

he and his wife Mathilde were descendants of Wittekind, the foe and

almost the conqueror of Charlemagne.



Neither Suabia nor Bavaria were represented at the Diet of Fritzlar.

This meant resistance to Henry's authority, and he accordingly marched

at once into Southern Germany. Burkhard, Duke of Suabia, gave in his

submission without delay; but Arnulf of Bavaria made preparations for

resistance. The two armies came together near Ratisbon: all was ready

for battle, when king Henry summoned Arnulf to meet him alone, between

their camps. At this interview he spoke with so much wisdom and

persuasion that Arnulf finally yielded, and Henry's rights were

established without the shedding of blood.



[Sidenote: 921. TREATY WITH FRANCE.]



In the meantime Lorraine, under its Duke, Giselbert, had revolted, and

Charles the Silly, by unexpectedly crossing the frontier, gained

possession of Alsatia, as far as the Rhine. Henry marched against him,

but, as in the case of Arnulf, asked for a personal interview before

engaging in battle. The two kings met on an island in the Rhine, near

Bonn: the French army was encamped on the western, and the German army

on the eastern bank of the river, awaiting the result. Charles the Silly

was soon brought to terms by his shrewd, intelligent rival: on the 7th

of November, 921, a treaty was signed by which the former boundary

between France and Germany was reaffirmed. Soon afterwards, Giselbert of

Lorraine was sent as a prisoner to Henry, but the latter, pleased with

his character, set him free, gave him his daughter in marriage, and thus

secured his allegiance to the German throne.



In this manner, within five or six years after he was chosen king, Henry

had accomplished his difficult task. Chiefly by peaceful means, by a

combination of energy, patience and forbearance, he had subdued the

elements of disorder in Germany, and united both princes and people

under his rule. He was now called upon to encounter the Hungarians, who,

in 924, again invaded both Northern and Southern Germany. The walled and

fortified cities, such as Ratisbon, Augsburg and Constance, were safe

from their attacks, but in the open field they were so powerful that

Henry found himself unable to cope with them. His troops only dared to

engage in skirmishes with the smaller roving bands, in one of which, by

great good fortune, they captured one of the Hungarian chiefs, or

princes. A large amount of treasure was offered for his ransom, but

Henry refused it, and asked for a truce of nine years, instead. The

Hungarians finally agreed to this, on condition that an annual tribute

should be paid to them during the time.



This was the bravest and wisest act of king Henry's life. He took upon

himself the disgrace of the tribute, and then at once set about

organizing his people and developing their strength. The truce of nine

years was not too long for the work upon which he entered. He began by

forcing the people to observe a stricter military discipline, by

teaching his Saxon foot-soldiers to fight on horseback, and by

strengthening the defences along his eastern frontier. Hamburg,

Magdeburg and Halle were at this time the most eastern German towns, and

beyond or between them, especially towards the south, there were no

strong points which could resist invasion. Henry carefully surveyed the

ground and began the erection of a series of fortified enclosures. Every

ninth man of the district was called upon to serve as garrison-soldier,

while the remaining eight cultivated the land. One-third of the harvests

was stored in these fortresses, wherein, also, the people were required

to hold their markets and their festivals. Thus Quedlinburg, Merseburg,

Meissen and other towns soon arose within the fortified limits. From

these achievements Henry is often called in German History, "the Founder

of Cities."



[Sidenote: 928.]



Having somewhat accustomed the people to this new form of military

service, and constantly exercised the nobles and their men-at-arms in

sham fights and tournaments (which he is said to have first instituted),

Henry now tested them in actual war. The Slavonic tribes east of the

Elbe had become the natural and hereditary enemies of the Germans, and

an attack upon them hardly required a pretext. The present province of

Brandenburg, the basis of the Prussian kingdom, was conquered by Henry

in 928; and then, after a successful invasion of Bohemia, he gradually

extended his annexation to the Oder. The most of the Slavonic population

were slaughtered without mercy, and the Saxons and Thuringians,

spreading eastward, took possession of their vacant lands. Finally, in

932, Henry conquered Lusatia (now Eastern Saxony); Bohemia was already

tributary, and his whole eastern frontier was thereby advanced from the

Baltic at Stettin to the Danube at Vienna.



[Sidenote: 933. VICTORY OVER THE HUNGARIANS.]



By this time the nine years of truce with the Hungarians were at an end,

and when the ambassadors of the latter came to the German Court to

receive their tribute, they were sent back with empty hands. A tradition

states that Henry ordered an old, mangy dog to be given to them, instead

of the usual gold and silver. A declaration of war followed, as he had

anticipated; but the Hungarians seem to have surprised him by the

rapidity of their movements. Contrary to their previous custom, they

undertook a winter campaign, overrunning Thuringia and Saxony in such

immense numbers that the king did not immediately venture to oppose

them. He waited until their forces were divided in the search for

plunder, then fell upon a part and defeated them. Shortly afterwards he

moved against their main army, and on the 15th of March, 933, after a

bloody battle (which is believed to have been fought in the vicinity of

Merseburg), was again conqueror. The Hungarians fled, leaving their

camp, treasures and accumulated plunder in Henry's hands. They were

never again dangerous to Northern Germany.



After this came a war with the Danish king, Gorm, who had crossed the

Eider and taken Holstein. Henry brought it to an end, and added

Schleswig to his dominion rather by diplomacy than by arms. After his

long and indefatigable exertions, the Empire enjoyed peace; its

boundaries were extended and secured; all the minor rulers submitted to

his sway, and his influence over the people was unbounded. But he was

not destined to enjoy the fruits of his achievements. A stroke of

apoplexy warned him to set his house in order; so, in the spring of 936,

he called together a Diet at Erfurt, which accepted his second son,

Otto, as his successor. Although he left two other sons, no proposition

was made to divide Germany among them. The civil wars of the Merovingian

and Carolingian dynasties, during nearly 400 years, compelled the

adoption of a different system of succession; and the reigning Dukes and

Counts were now so strong that they bowed reluctantly even to the

authority of a single monarch.



Henry died on the 20th of July, 936, not sixty years old. His son and

successor, Otto, was twenty-four,--a stern, proud man, but brave, firm,

generous and intelligent. He was married to Editha, the daughter of

Athelstan, the Saxon king of England. A few weeks after his father's

death, he was crowned with great splendor in the cathedral of

Charlemagne, at Aix-la-Chapelle. All the Dukes and Bishops of the realm

were present, and the new Emperor was received with universal

acclamation. At the banquet which followed, the Dukes of Lorraine,

Franconia, Suabia, and Bavaria, served as Chamberlain, Steward,

Cupbearer and Marshal. It was the first national event of a spontaneous

character, which took place in Germany, and now, for the first time, a

German Empire seemed to be a reality.



The history of Otto's reign fulfilled, at least to the people of his

day, the promise of his coronation. Like his father, his inheritance

was to include wars with internal and external foes; he met and carried

them to an end, with an energy equal to that of Henry I., but without

the same prudence and patience. He made Germany the first power of the

civilized world, yet he failed to unite the discordant elements of which

it was composed, and therefore was not able to lay the foundation of a

distinct nation, such as was even then slowly growing up in France.



[Sidenote: 937.]



He was first called upon to repel invasions of the Bohemians and the

Wends, in Prussia. He entrusted the subjection of the latter to a Saxon

Count, Hermann Billung, and marched himself against the former. Both

wars lasted for some time, but they were finally successful. The

Hungarians, also, whose new inroad reached even to the banks of the

Loire, were twice defeated, and so discouraged that they never

afterwards attempted to invade either Thuringia or Saxony.



Worse troubles, however, were brewing within the realm. Eberhard, Duke

of the Franks (the same who had carried his brother Konrad's crown to

Otto's father), had taken into his own hands the punishment of a Saxon

noble, instead of referring the case to the king. The latter compelled

Eberhard to pay a fine of a hundred pounds of silver, and ordered that

the Frank freemen who assisted him should carry dogs in their arms to

the royal castle,--a form of punishment which was then considered very

disgraceful. After the order had been carried into effect, Otto received

the culprits kindly and gave them rich presents; but they went home

brooding revenge.



Eberhard allied himself with Thankmar, Otto's own half-brother by a

mother from whom Henry I. had been divorced before marrying Mathilde.

Giselbert, Duke of Lorraine, Otto's brother-in-law, joined the

conspiracy, and even many of the Saxon nobles, who were offended because

the command of the army sent against the Wends had been given to Count

Hermann, followed his example. Otto's position was very critical, and if

there had been more harmony of action among the conspirators, he might

have lost his throne. In the struggle which ensued, Thankmar was slain

and Duke Eberhard forced to surrender. But the latter was not yet

subdued. During the rebellion he had taken Otto's younger brother,

Henry, prisoner; he secured the latter's confidence, tempted him with

the prospect of being chosen king in case Otto was overthrown, and then

sent him as his intercessor to the conqueror.



[Sidenote: 939. REVOLT OF OTTO'S BROTHER, HENRY.]



Thus, while Otto supposed the movement had been crushed, Eberhard,

Giselbert of Lorraine and Henry, who had meantime joined the latter,

were secretly preparing a new rebellion. As soon as Otto discovered the

fact, he collected an army and hastened to the Rhine. He had crossed the

river with only a small part of his troops, the remainder being still

encamped upon the eastern bank, when Giselbert and Henry suddenly

appeared with a great force. Otto at first gave himself up for lost, but

determined at least to fall gallantly, he and his followers fought with

such desperation that they won a signal victory. Giselbert retreated to

Lorraine, whither Otto was prevented from following him by new troubles

among the Saxons and the subject Wends between the Elbe and Oder.



The rebellious princes now sought the help of the king of France, Louis

IV. (called d'Outre-mer, or "from beyond sea," because he had been an

exile in England). He marched into Alsatia with a French army, while

Duke Eberhard and the Archbishop of Mayence added their forces to those

of Giselbert and Henry. All the territory west of the Rhine fell into

their hands, and the danger seemed so great that many of the smaller

German princes began to waver in their fidelity to Otto. He, however,

hastened to Alsatia, defeated the French, and laid siege to the fortress

of Breisach (half-way between Strasburg and Basel), although Giselbert

was then advancing into Westphalia. A small band who remained true to

him met the latter and forced him back upon the Rhine; and there, in a

battle fought near Andernach, Eberhard was slain and Giselbert drowned

in attempting to fly.



This was the turning-point in Otto's fortunes. The French retreated, all

the supports of the rebellion fell away from it, and in a short time the

king's authority was restored throughout the whole of Germany. These

events occurred during the year 939. The following year Otto marched to

Paris, which, however, was too strongly fortified to be taken. An

irregular war between the two kingdoms lasted for some time longer, and

was finally terminated by a personal interview between Otto and Louis

IV., at which the ancient boundaries were reaffirmed, Lorraine remaining

German.



[Sidenote: 940.]



Henry, pardoned for the second time, was unable to maintain himself as

Duke of Lorraine, to which position Otto had appointed him. Enraged at

being set aside, he united with the Archbishop of Mayence in a

conspiracy against his brother's life. It was arranged that the murder

should be committed during the Easter services, in Quedlinburg. The plot

was discovered, the accomplices tried and executed, and Henry thrown

into prison. During the celebration of the Christmas mass, in the

cathedral at Frankfort, the same year, he suddenly appeared before Otto,

and, throwing himself upon his knees before him, prayed for pardon. Otto

was magnanimous enough to grant it, and afterwards to forget as well as

forgive. He bestowed new favors upon Henry, who never again became

unfaithful.



During this time the Saxon Counts, Gero and Hermann, had held the Wends

and other Slavonic tribes at bay, and gradually filled the conquered

territory beyond the Elbe with fortified posts, around which German

colonists rapidly clustered. Following the example of Charlemagne, the

people were forcibly converted to Christianity, and new churches and

monasteries were founded. The Bohemians were made tributary, the

Hungarians repelled, and in driving back an invasion of the king of

Denmark, Harold Blue-tooth, Otto marched to the extremity of the

peninsula of Jutland, and there hurled his spear into the sea, as a sign

that he had taken possession of the land.



He now ruled a wider, and apparently a more united realm, than his

father. The power of the independent Dukes was so weakened, that they

felt themselves subjected to his favor; he was everywhere respected and

feared, although he never became popular with the masses of the people.

He lacked the easy, familiar ways with them which distinguished his

father and Charlemagne; his manner was cold and haughty, and he

surrounded himself with pomp and ceremony. He married his eldest son,

Ludolf, to the daughter of the Duke of Suabia, whom the former soon

succeeded in his rule; he gave Lorraine to his son-in-law, Konrad, and

Bavaria to his brother Henry, while he retained the Franks, Thuringians

and Saxons under his own personal rule. Germany might have grown into a

united nation, if the good qualities of his line could have been

transmitted without its inordinate ambition.



While thus laying, as he supposed, the permanent basis of his power,

Otto was called upon by the king of France, who, having married the

widow of Giselbert of Lorraine, was now his brother-in-law, for help

against Duke Hugo, a powerful pretender to the French throne. In 946 he

marched at the head of an army of 32,000 men, to assist king Louis; but,

although he reached Normandy, he did not succeed in his object, and

several years elapsed before Hugo was brought to submission.



[Sidenote: 951. OTTO'S VISIT TO ITALY.]



In the year 951, Otto's attention was directed to Italy, which, since

the fall of the Carolingian Empire, had been ravaged in turn by

Saracens, Greeks, Normans and even Hungarians. The Papal power had

become almost a shadow, and the title of Roman Emperor was practically

extinct. Berengar of Friuli, a rough, brutal prince, called himself king

of Italy, and demanded for his son the hand of Adelheid, the widow of

his predecessor. On her refusal to accept Berengar's offer, she was

imprisoned and treated with great indignity, but finally she succeeded

in sending a messenger to Germany, imploring Otto's intervention. His

wife, Editha of England, was dead: he saw, in Adelheid's appeal, an

opportunity to acquire an ascendency in Italy, and resolved to claim her

hand for himself.



Accompanied by his brother Henry of Bavaria, his son Ludolf of Suabia,

and his son-in-law Konrad of Lorraine, with their troops, Otto crossed

the Alps, defeated Berengar, took possession of Verona, Pavia, Milan and

other cities of Northern Italy, and assumed the title of king of

Lombardy. He then applied for Adelheid's hand, which was not refused,

and the two were married with great pomp at Pavia. Ludolf, incensed at

his father for having taken a second wife, returned immediately to

Germany, and there stirred up such disorder that Otto relinquished his

intention of visiting Rome, and followed him. After much negotiation,

Berengar was allowed to remain king of Lombardy, on condition of giving

up all the Adriatic shore, from near Venice to Istria, which was then

annexed to Bavaria.



[Sidenote: 954.]



Duke Henry, therefore, profited most by the Italian campaign, and this

excited the jealousy of Ludolf and Konrad, who began to conspire both

against him, and against Otto's authority. The trouble increased until

it became an open rebellion, which convulsed Germany for nearly four

years. If Otto had been personally popular, it might have been soon

suppressed; but the petty princes and the people inclined to one side or

the other, according to the prospects of success, and the Empire,

finally, seemed on the point of falling to pieces. In this crisis, there

came what appeared to be a new misfortune, but which, most unexpectedly,

put an end to the wasting strife. The Hungarians again broke into

Germany, and Ludolf and Konrad granted them permission to pass through

their territory to reach and ravage their father's lands. This alliance

with an hereditary and barbarous enemy turned the whole people to Otto's

side; the long rebellion came rapidly to an end, and all troubles were

settled by a Diet held at the close of 954.



The next year the Hungarians came again in greater numbers than ever,

and, crossing Bavaria, laid siege to Augsburg. But Otto now marched

against them with all the military strength of Germany, and on the 10th

of August, 955, met them in battle. Konrad of Lorraine led the attack

and decided the fate of the day, but, in the moment of victory, having

lifted his visor to breathe more freely, a Hungarian arrow pierced his

neck and he fell dead. Nearly all the enemy were slaughtered or drowned

in the river Lech. Only a few scattered fugitives returned to Hungary to

tell the tale, and from that day no new invasion was ever undertaken

against Germany. On the contrary, the Bavarians pressed eastward and

spread themselves along the Danube and among the Styrian Alps, while the

Bohemians took possession of Moravia, so that the boundary lines between

the three races then became very nearly what they are at the present

day.



Soon afterwards, Otto lost his brother Henry of Bavaria, and, two years

later, his son Ludolf, who died in Italy, while endeavoring to make

himself king of the Lombards. A new disturbance in Saxony was

suppressed, and with it there was an end of civil war in Germany, during

Otto's reign. We have already stated that he was proud and ambitious:

the crown of a "Roman Emperor," which still seemed the highest title on

earth, had probably always hovered before his mind, and now the

opportunity of attaining it came. The Pope, John XII., a boy of

seventeen, who found himself in danger of being driven from Rome by

Berengar, the Lombard, sent a pressing call for help to Otto, who

entered upon his second journey to Italy in 961.



[Sidenote: 962. OTTO'S CORONATION IN ROME.]



He first called a Diet together at Worms, and procured the acceptance of

his son Otto, then only 6 years old, as his successor. The child was

solemnly crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle; the Archbishop Bruno of Cologne

was appointed his guardian and vicegerent of the realm during Otto's

absence, and the latter was left free to carry out his designs beyond

the Alps. He was received with rejoicing by the Lombards, and the iron

crown of the kingdom was placed on his head by the Archbishop of Milan.

He then advanced to Rome and was crowned Emperor in St. Peter's by the

boy-pope, on the 2d of February, 962. Nearly a generation had elapsed

since the title had been held or claimed by any one, and its renewal at

this time was the source of centuries of loss and suffering to Germany.

It was a sham and a delusion,--a will-o'-the wisp which led rulers and

people aside from the true path of civilization, and left them

floundering in quagmires of war.



Otto had hardly returned to Lombardy before the Pope, who began to see

that he had crowned his own master, conspired against him. The Pope

called on the Byzantine Emperor for aid, incited the Hungarians, and

even entered into correspondence with the Saracens in Corsica. All Italy

became so turbulent that three years elapsed before the Emperor Otto

succeeded in restoring order. He took Rome by force of arms, deposed the

Pope and set up another of his own appointment, banished Berengar, and

compelled the universal recognition of his own sovereignty. Then, with

the remnants of an army which had almost been destroyed by war and

pestilence, he returned to Germany in 965.



A grand festival was held at Cologne, to celebrate his new honors and

victories. His mother, the aged queen Mathilde, Lothar, reigning king of

France, and all the Dukes and Princes of Germany, were present, and the

people came in multitudes from far and wide. The internal peace of the

Empire had not been disturbed during Otto's absence, and his journey of

inspection was a series of peaceful and splendid pageants. An

insurrection having broken out among the Lombards the following year, he

sent Duke Burkhard of Suabia to suppress it in his name; but it soon

became evident that his own presence was necessary. He thereupon took a

last farewell of his old mother, and returned to Italy in the autumn of

966.



Lombardy was soon brought to order, and the rebellious nobles banished

to Germany. As Otto approached Rome, the people restored the Pope he had

appointed, whom they had in the meantime deposed: they were also

compelled to give up the leaders of the revolt, who were tried and

executed. Otto claimed the right of appointing the Civil Governor of

Rome, who should rule in his name. He gave back to the Pope the

territory which the latter had received from Pippin the Short, two

hundred years before, but nearly all of which had been taken from the

Church by the Lombards. In return, the Pope agreed to govern this

territory as a part, or province, of the Empire, and to crown Otto's son

as Emperor, in advance of his accession to the throne.



[Sidenote: 966.]



These new successes seem to have quite turned Otto's mind from the duty

he owed to the German people; henceforth he only strove to increase the

power and splendor of his house. His next step was to demand the hand of

the Princess Theophania, a daughter of one of the Byzantine Emperors,

for his son Otto. The Eastern Court neither consented nor refused;

ambassadors were sent back and forth until the Emperor became weary of

the delay. Following the suggestion of his offended pride, he undertook

a campaign against Southern Italy, parts of which still acknowledged the

Byzantine rule. The war lasted for several years, without any positive

result; but the hand of Theophania was finally promised to young Otto,

and she reached Rome in the beginning of the year 972. Her beauty, grace

and intelligence at once won the hearts of Otto's followers, who had

been up to that time opposed to the marriage. Although her betrothed

husband was only seventeen, and she was a year younger, the nuptials

were celebrated in April, and the Emperor then immediately returned to

Germany with his Court and army.



[Sidenote: 973. DEATH OF OTTO THE GREAT.]



All that Otto could show, to balance his six years' neglect of his own

land and people, was the title of "the Great," which the Italians

bestowed upon him, and a Princess of Constantinople, who spoke Greek and

looked upon the Germans as barbarians, for his daughter-in-law. His

return was celebrated by a grand festival held at Quedlinburg, at

Easter, 973. All the Dukes and reigning Counts of the Empire were

present, the kings of Bohemia and Poland, ambassadors from

Constantinople, from the Caliph of Cordova, in Spain, from Bulgaria,

Russia, Denmark and Hungary. Even Charlemagne never enjoyed such a

triumph; but in the midst of the festivities, Otto's first friend and

supporter, Hermann Billung, whom he had made Duke of Saxony, suddenly

died. The Emperor became impressed with the idea that his own end was

near: he retired to Memleben in Thuringia, where his father died, and on

the 6th of May was stricken with apoplexy, at the age of sixty-one. He

died, seated in his chair and surrounded by his princely guests, and was

buried in Magdeburg, by the side of his first wife, Editha of England.



Otto completed the work which Henry commenced, and left Germany the

first power in Europe. Had his mind been as clear and impartial, his

plans as broad and intelligent, as Charlemagne's, he might have laid the

basis of a permanent Empire; but, in an evil hour, he called the phantom

of the sceptre of the world from the grave of Roman power, and,

believing that he held it, turned the ages that were to follow him into

the path of war, disunion and misery.