OTTO AND THE MAGYARS
Otto continued Henry's work of defending Germany from the foes which threatened to overrun that country. He won his most conspicuous success against the Magyars, who suffered a crushing defeat on the banks of the river Lech in Bavaria (955 A.D.). These barbarians now ceased their raids and retired to the lands on the middle Danube which they had seized from the Slavs. Here they settled down, accepted Christianity from the Roman Church, and laid the foundations of the kingdom of Hungary. [21] As a protection against future Magyar inroads Otto established the East Mark. This region afterwards rose to great importance under the name of Austria.
OTTO AND THE STEM-DUKES
Otto was an excellent ruler of Germany. He made it his business to strengthen the royal authority by weakening that of the stem-dukes. He had to fight against them on more than one occasion, for they regarded themselves almost as independent kings. Otto was able to keep them in check, but the rulers who followed him were less successful in this respect. The struggle between the kings and their powerful nobles formed a constant feature of the medieval history of Germany.
110. OTTO THE GREAT AND THE RESTORATION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, 962 A.D.
CONDITION OF ITALY
Otto the Great is not to be remembered only as a German king. His reign was also noteworthy in the history of Italy. The country at this time was hopelessly divided between rival and contending peoples. The emperor at Constantinople controlled the southern extremity of the peninsula. The Mohammedans held Sicily and some cities on the mainland. The pope ruled at Rome and in the States of the Church. A so-called king of Italy still reigned in Lombardy, but he could not manage the powerful counts, dukes, and marquises, who were virtually independent within their own domains. Even the imperial title died out, and now there was no longer a Roman emperor in the West.
CORONATION OF OTTO THE GREAT, 962 A.D.
The deplorable condition of Italy invited interference from abroad. Following in the footsteps of Charlemagne, Otto the Great led two expeditions across the Alps, assumed the "Iron Crown" [22] of Lombardy, and then proceeded to Rome, where he secured the pope (John XII) against the latter's enemies in that city. Otto's reward was the same as Charlemagne's. On Candlemas Day, (February 2d) 962 A.D., the grateful pope crowned him Roman emperor.