With the death of Louis the Child (911), Germany
was confronted by a serious problem.[390:1] Would the powerful German dukes set up independent kingdoms? Or would they invite Charles the Simple, the genuine Carolingian sovereign of France, to include Germany in a reunited Frankish empire? Or would they create a German monarchy on an independent basis? The German nobles met at Forchheim to consider the situation. Charles the Simple was not even thought of—a significant fact, because it showed that the imperial idea was at a low ebb in Germany. The instinct of nationality was beginning to be felt. The nobles urged the beloved and honoured old Duke of Saxony, Otto, to accept the crown of a feudal monarchy, but he declined and urged the election of Conrad of Franconia. Conrad accepted the responsible honour and was crowned and anointed by the Archbishop of Mainz without reference to the papal power. His reign (911-918) was filled with wars against the powerful dukes who objected to the rigid enforcement of his royal rights and the consequent curtailment of their prerogatives. The clergy, on the contrary, upheld the king because they clearly saw that their interests would be best cared for by a simple, strong government. When Conrad died (918) he had made little headway toward the creation of a powerful centralised monarchy.[390:2]
The nobles of Saxony and Franconia met in 919 and chose Henry, the son of Conrad, Duke of Saxony, as king (919-936).[390:3] To the Archbishop of Mainz, who wanted to crown him, Henry said: "Enough for me that I am raised so far above my sires as to be chosen
and called king through the grace of God and your devotion; let the sacred unction and crown be for better men than I." Had he seen too much of kings crowned and ruled by priests? At least his action pleased the whole assembly. By wise concessions he forced Swabia and Bavaria to accept him as king and rewon Lorraine as a part of the German kingdom. He thrust back the terrible Magyars, conquered the Danes, and humbled the Bohemians. He reformed and reorganised the military system and protected the kingdom by building fortified towns along the northern and eastern frontiers. When he died all the German people were under one rule, peace reigned throughout the kingdom, feudalism had received a check, trade was flourishing, the position of the freemen was improved, and the German kingdom had been established on a firm basis independent of the Empire. But death alone, perhaps, prevented him from claiming the imperial crown.[391:1]
Under Otto the Great, however, the old Empire was to revive and become very active, but on a German foundation. The traditions of the Carolingian house, the Italian puppet Emperors, the Papacy, and the law, philosophy, theology, and education of the day all helped to keep the idea of Empire alive.[391:2] Otto, born in 912, was the son of the Saxon king Henry I. and Matilda, who traced her descent to Charles the Great. He spent his youth at the court and in the wars of his father, and was regarded as haughty, overbearing, and ambitious. He married Edith, the daughter of the King of the Anglo-Saxons (929).
When Henry I. died in 936 the nobles and bishops met at Aachen in the old cathedral and formally
elected Otto I. as King of Germany. As Otto entered the cathedral a few weeks later to be coronated the Archbishop of Mainz cried out: "The man chosen by God, nominated by our master Henry, and declared king by all the princes." He was then crowned, anointed, and girded with the royal sword by the Archbishop. In the coronation festival that followed the German dukes for the first time acted as the king's servants. The coronation was very significant because it showed Otto's attitude toward the Church, indicated the lofty position of the royal crown and the subjection of the dukes, revealed the possibility of a strong, united German kingdom under right management, and proved the popularity and opportunity of Otto I. as King of the Germans.[392:1]
Otto took Charles the Great as his model and sought to transform the loose federal state of his father into a strong, compact monarchy by reducing the power of his vassals. By quelling the various rebellious dukes Otto made them his own appointees, and was recognised as the master of the German nation. The name "Deutsch" began to be applied to his subjects and their tongue. He manifested no less activity in foreign affairs as is shown in his invasion of France to compel homage from Hugh the Great, his son-in-law; in his conquest of the Slavs between the Elbe and the Oder; and in his reduction of the unstable Danes to submission.
Otto was ready now to give his attention to Italian affairs. Adelaide, the beautiful young widow of the son of King Hugh of Provence, had refused to marry Adalbert, the son of Berengar II., King of Lombardy,
hence was cast into prison and cruelly treated. She escaped with the aid of the Bishop of Reggio and appealed to the mighty German sovereign for deliverance.[393:1] Otto, touched with chivalrous sympathy, and seeing an opening for the realisation of imperial ambitions, marched with a great force into Lombardy (951). Berengar was forced to hold his kingdom as a vassal of the German crown. Otto, a widower at this time, then married his fair protégée. Civil war in Germany compelled him to give up his journey to Rome, however, and instead to return home. Otto's son, Ludolph, who feared that his father's recent marriage with the fair widow might deprive him of the German crown, plotted with the old Archbishop of Mainz and discontented German nobles, to secure the throne. The resulting war involved the whole kingdom and shook Otto's power and ability to the roots. The approach of a common foe, however, the terrible Magyars, led the nation to rally around Otto. In the decisive battle of Lechfeld (955) the Huns were effectively checked and began to settle the lands which they still occupy.[393:2] Otto was now unquestionably the most powerful monarch in Europe. Such rulers as Louis IV. of France and the King of Burgundy sought his friendship and aid. His own people began to call him "The Great."