Germany, 920-1075: The Saxon Empire to the Investiture
Controversy
When later Carolingians had not been able to exert royal power
or defend Eastern Francia against Magyars and Vikings, political units
began to collapse on to pre-Charlemagne lines--Saxony, Franconia, Lorraine,
Swabia, and Bavaria. Their leaders took the title of count and then duke,
following the western custom. From the 870s, they usurped the royal demesne,
patronized churches, made the king's officials dependent on them, and tried to
appoint bishops. When the weak Louis the Child (899-911) died, they tried to
leave the throne vacant, as he was the last Carolingian ruler in the East. The
Church, however, wanted a strong monarchy that would guarantee order and their
privileges, as opposed to five warring dukes. Also, Magyar incursions required
some coordinated response. Desiring a weak sovereign, the Dukes elected Conrad
of Franconia (911-918). He wastoo weak though, not stopping the
Magyars, and allowing Lorraine to fall to the French King, Charles the Simple.
Henry I of Saxony, also known as Henry the Fowler (r. 919-936)
was next. He was the first non-Frankish king of Germany. Henry the Fowler
founded the Saxon dynasty and allowed dukes leeway in their own regions, as
long as they recognized his status as king. He did insist, however, on three
monarchical prerogatives: 1) as the king's generals, dukes were to recruit
forces and bring an army to wherever the king was campaigning; 2) Henry
gradually brought the nomination of counts, and especially bishops--the bases
of local government--back into the king's hands; 3) he slowed or even turned
back the alienation of the royal demesne from the king to the nobles. Lorraine,
Swabia, and Bavaria proved recalcitrant. He annexed the latter and appointed an
allied Franconian as duke in Swabia, yet Bavaria remained elusive. By 924,
Magyar invasions had recommenced. Initially defending mostly Saxony, by 933
Henry felt ready to refuse further Magyar tribute demands. In the ensuing 933
Battle of Unstrut, Henry's forces utterly defeated a large Hungarian
expedition, increasing the crown's prestige. Building up a cavalry, Henry also
inflicted damage on the Danes before his 936 death.
Henry the Fowler's son, Otto I (r. 936-973), insisted on
maintaining a strong monarchy, wanting to effect his will in all regions. A
revolt immediately broke out on the parts of dukes wary of growing central
power. When the duke of Franconia died in the hostilities, Otto annexed it
directly to his own Saxony. In the latter area, he granted much land to his
ally Magnus Billung, but kept the ducal title, thus maintaining control of two
of the fundamental German duchies. He was able to bring other dukes to heel by 938.
Throughout, he relied on the Church to increase his power. He chose all the
bishops and abbots, increasing their powers and lands, thereby gaining allies
whose allegiance he required. They were also given count's rights over
neighboring lands. Monarchy-oriented in any event, the clerics became a basis
of Ottonian power, supporting him with troops when necessary. In other areas,
Otto relied on family members. In 947, he gave Bavaria's duchy to his brother,
while Lorraine went to Conrad the Red, a brother in law. Continuing a German
monarchical tradition, in the late 940s, Otto led conquest-conversion efforts
among the Wends (Slavs) beyond the Elbe, establishing new bishoprics in all
areas.
The German king was often unable to trust even his dukes.
Thus, Otto, as Charlemagne before him, was drawn into Italy. When Rudolph II of
Burgundy died in 937, the Italian king Hugh of Arles had tried to occupy it,
and was fought off by Otto. In 949, the Duke of Bavaria seized Aquileia, and
began to rival Otto's power. The next year, unexpected deaths resulted in the
North-Central Italian Kingdom falling to Adelaide, a woman other dukes thought
it possible to conquer. Thus in 950, Italian notable Berengar was elected King
of the Lombards and captured Adelaide and her lands. At this point, Liudolf,
Duke of Swabia, and Otto's own son crossed into Italy as her savior,
challenging Otto's rule. To prevent further conflict and claims of dukes to
prominence, in 951 Otto established direct authority over Lombardy, placing
bishops in control of secular affairs in their dioceses, expanding the German
model. He was not able to assume the crown himself, as a German revolt led by
Swabian and Bavarian dukes required his attention. His son in particular felt
snubbed. As well, Otto faced renewed Magyar troubles and resoundingly defeated
them in 955 at Lechfeld. The pope did not look unkindly at the Magyar
incursions into Germany; he wanted to avoid too close a German embrace.
Yet in 962, as part of a power-play against a rival Roman noble
ecclesiastical faction (the same Baerengar of Friuli who had made off with
Adelaide), Pope John XII crowned Otto Holy Roman Emperor. Though the German
king had sent forces to aid the Pope in 961, he rebelled against Otto when the
new Emperor indicated he meant to rule as well as reign. Upon hearing news of
the revolt--including John's appeal to Berengar and the Magyars, Otto held a
synod which deposed the Pope and appointed a new one, Leo VIII. While Otto
swore to uphold Papal authority in the Papal Sates, Leo in turn undertook that
no Pope would be consecrated in the future before the Emperor's approval. As
for the people and nobles of Rome, they refused Leo, requiring a further
Ottonian intervention in 964-965. Around the same time, the German Emperor was able
to come to terms with Constantinople regarding the imperial title, ending years
of desultory combat in central-southern Italy. Having married the Byzantine
Princess Theophano, Otto's son Otto II succeeded to the throne in 973.
Otto II was not exceedingly successful, though he did maintain
his predecessors' internal policies. While attempting to supercede Byzantine
power in southern Italy, he met Muslim opposition from Sicily and was defeated
resoundingly by them in 982. Inspired, the Slavs beyond the Elbe were able to
re-conquer all lands to the Oder, reinstituting paganism in the area and
destroying the ecclesiastical administration by 983. When Otto II died that
year, his son Otto III was elected, with two female regents. Not feeling
threatened, and bound to the monarchy by familial or personal ties, the duchies
did not revolt. Otto III died in 1002 at the age of twenty-two, thus ruling for
only a short while as an adult. He was intensely spiritual, stewarding over
monastic reform, and engaging the brightest clerics of the West as tutors. One,
Gerbert of Aurillac, he nominated to be Pope Sylvester II (999-1003). Finally,
when granted the title servus apostolorum, servant of the
apostles, the German monarchy gained influence over the Christianizing populations
of Poland and Hungary, who had accepted Papal authority. Having no son, Otto
was succeeded by Henry II (r. 1002-1024), the head of a younger branch of the
Saxon dynasty. With his lands and authority centered in Bavaria, Henry II was
never able to assert total control over the Saxons, and continually dealt with
mini-revolts during his time as king, in addition to Italian campaigns.
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