 Henry I "The Fowler, " Emperor Of German, son of Otto "The Illustrious, " Duke Of Saxony and Hedwig Von Bayern.Born 876 at Germany, died Jul 2, 936 at Memleben, Saxony, Germany, 59 or 60 years Name Suffix: Henry I, also called HENRY THE FOWLER, German HEINRICH DER VOGLER (b. c. 876--d. July 2, 936, Memleben, Saxony [now in Germany]), German king and founder of the Saxon dynasty (918-1024) who strengthened the East Frankish, or German, army, encouraged the growth of towns, brought Lotharingia (Lorraine) back under German control (925), and secured German borders against pagan incursions. The son of Otto the Illustrious, the Liudolfing duke of Saxony, Henry became duke at his father's death (912). His first marriage, to Hatheburg, daughter of Erwin, count of Merseburg, was declared invalid because she had become a nun after her first husband's death. He married Matilda, daughter of Dietrich, count of Westphalia, in 909; their eldest son would rule as the Holy Roman emperor Otto I the Great (936-973). Although at war (912-915) with Conrad I of Franconia (German king, 903-918) over title to lands in Thuringia, Henry received Conrad's deathbed designation as heir to the throne. He was elected king of Germany (May 919) by nobles of Saxony and Franconia, two of the four most influential duchies; the other two important duchies, Swabia and Bavaria, did not recognize him as king. Henry considered Germany a confederation of duchies rather than a nation. Having complete authority in Saxony and nominal sovereignty in Franconia, he sought to bring the duchies of Swabia and Bavaria into the confederation. After forcing the submission of Burchard, duke of Swabia (919), he allowed the duke to retain control over the civil administration of the duchy. On the basis of an election by Bavarian and East Frankish nobles (919), Arnulf, duke of Bavaria, also claimed the German throne. In 921, after two military campaigns, the king forced Arnulf to submit and relinquish his claim to the throne, though the duke retained complete internal control of Bavaria. Henry defeated Giselbert, king of Lotharingia, in 925, and that region, which had become independent of Germany in 910, was brought back under German control. Giselbert, who was recognized as duke of Lotharingia, married the king's daughter Gerberga in 928. When the Magyars, barbarian warriors from Hungary, invaded Germany in 924, Henry agreed to pay tribute to them and return a captured Magyar chief in exchange for a nine-year (924-933) cession of raids on German territory. During these years the king built fortified towns and trained the cavalry force he used to defeat various Slavic tribes; he conquered the Havelli at Brandenburg and the Daleminzi at Meissen in 928 and suppressed a rebellion in Bohemia in 929. The king refused to pay more tribute when the nine-year truce ended in 933. He used his seasoned cavalry to destroy the Magyars, who had resumed their raids, at Riade on March 15, 933, and ended their threat to the German countryside. The king's last campaign, an invasion of Denmark (934), added the territory of Schleswig to the German state. The story that Henry received the surname Fowler because he was laying bird snares when informed of his election as king is probably a myth. Married/ Related to:  Mathilda Von Ringleheim, daughter of Count Of The Saxon Hamalant Dietrich and Reginhilde Von Friesland.Born 890 at Memleben, Saxony, Germany, died Mar 14, 966-967 at Memleben, Saxony, Germany, -1858 or -1857 years CHAN17 May 2004 Children: 2. Archbishop Of Cologne Saint BrunoStill Living. 3. Otto I "The Great, " Holy Roman EmperorBorn Nov 23, 912, died May 27, 973 at Memleben, 60 years Name Suffix: Otto I, byname OTTO THE GREAT, German OTTO DER GROSSE (b. Nov. 23, 912--d. May 7, 973, Memleben, Thuringia), duke of Saxony (as Otto II, 936-961), German king (from 936), and Holy Roman emperor (962-973), who consolidated the German Reich by his suppression of rebellious vassals and his decisive victory over the Hungarians. His use of the church as a stabilizing influence created a secure empire and stimulated a cultural renaissance. Early years. Otto was the son of the future king Henry I, of the Liudolfing, or Saxon, dynasty, and his second wife, Matilda. Little is known of his early years, but he probably shared in some of his father's campaigns. He married Edith, daughter of the English king Edward the Elder, in 930; she obtained as her dowry the flourishing town of Magdeburg. Nominated by Henry as his successor, Otto was elected king by the German dukes at Aachen on Aug. 7, 936, a month after Henry's death, and crowned by the archbishops of Mainz and Cologne. While Henry I had controlled his vassal dukes only with difficulty, the new king firmly asserted his suzerainty over them. This led immediately to war, especially with Eberhard of Franconia and his namesake, Eberhard of Bavaria, who were joined by discontented Saxon nobles under the leadership of Otto's half-brother Thankmar. Thankmar was defeated and killed, the Franconian Eberhard submitted to the King, and Eberhard of Bavaria was deposed and outlawed. In 939, however, Otto's younger brother Henry revolted; he was joined by Eberhard of Franconia and by Giselbert of Lotharingia and supported by the French king Louis IV. Otto was again victorious: Eberhard fell in battle, Giselbert was drowned in flight, and Henry submitted to his brother. Nevertheless, in 941 Henry joined a conspiracy to murder the King. This was discovered in time, and, whereas the other conspirators were punished, Henry was again forgiven. Thenceforward he remained faithful to his brother and, in 947, was given the dukedom of Bavaria. The other German dukedoms were likewise bestowed on relatives of Otto. Foreign conquests. Despite these internal difficulties, Otto found time to strengthen and to extend the frontiers of the kingdom. In the east the margraves Gero and Hermann Billung were successful against the Slavs, and their gains were consolidated by the founding of the Monastery of St. Maurice in Magdeburg, in 937, and of two bishoprics, in 948. In the north, three bishoprics (followed in 968 by a fourth) were founded to extend the Christian mission in Denmark. Otto's first campaign in Bohemia was, however, a failure, and it was not until 950 that the Bohemian prince Boleslav I was forced to submit and to pay tribute. Having thus strengthened his own position, Otto could not only resist France's claims to Lorraine (Lotharingia) but also act as mediator in France's internal troubles. Similarly, he extended his influence into Burgundy. Moreover, when the Burgundian princess Adelaide, the widowed queen of Italy whom the margrave Berengar of Ivrea had taken prisoner, appealed to him for help, Otto marched into Italy in 951, assumed the title of king of the Lombards, and married Adelaide himself, his first wife having died in 946. In 952 Berengar did homage to him as his vassal for the kingdom of Italy. Otto had to break off his first Italian campaign because of a revolt in Germany, where Liudolf, his son by Edith, had risen against him with the aid of several magnates. Otto found himself compelled to withdraw to Saxony; but the position of the rebels began to deteriorate when the Magyars invaded Germany in 954, for the rebels could now be accused of complicity with the enemies of the Reich. After prolonged fighting, Liudolf had to submit in 955. This made it possible for Otto to defeat the Magyars decisively in the Battle of the Lechfeld, near Augsburg, in August 955; they never invaded Germany again. In the same year Otto and the margrave Gero also 4. Gerberge Of SaxonyBorn ± 913 at Nordhausen, Saxony, Germany, died May 5, 984 at Rheims, Marne, France, approximately 71 years | |||