"Elected me king? I cannot believe it. I am a Saxon, and King Conrad was a Frank and a bitter enemy to me."
| THE CROWN OF GERMANY IS OFFERED TO HENRY THE FOWLER |
"It is true," replied the messenger. "Conrad, when dying, advised that the nobles should choose you as his successor."
Henry was silent for while and then he said, "King Conrad was a good man. I know it now; and I am sorry that I did not understand him better when he was alive. I accept the position offered to me and I pray that I may be guided by Heaven in ruling his people."
So Henry the Fowler left the chase to take up his duties as king of the Germans.
II
In proper time Henry was proclaimed king of Germany; but he was hardly seated on the throne when the country was invaded by thousands of Magyars, from the land which we now know as Hungary.
As soon as possible Henry gathered an army and marched to meet the barbarians. He came upon a small force under the command of the son of the Magyar king. The Germans easily routed the Magyars and took the king's son prisoner.
This proved to be a very fortunate thing, because it stopped the war for a long term of years. When the Magyar king learned that his son was a prisoner in the hands of King Henry he was overwhelmed with grief. He mourned for his son day and night and at last sent to the German camp a Magyar chief with a flag of truce, to beg that the prince might be given up.
"Our king says that he will give whatever you demand for the release of his son," said the chief to the German monarch.