OTTO I

Otto I, known to history as Otto the Great, is traditionally counted as the first Holy Roman Emperor, even though that is a title that was first officially used centuries later. Born as the heir of the Duke of Saxony, Otto first became King of Germany then King of Italy before being crowned by the pope as emperor. His life’s work would set the foundations of an institution that would dominate central European politics for hundreds of years.

Otto was born several years before his father Henry the Fowler was elected king by the other German nobles. Little is known about Otto’s early years, but he probably received the usual training of a noble in warfare and may have accompanied his father into battle against foes like the Hevelli at Brandenburg.

Otto was destined for an international royal marriage to help establish his father’s dynasty. Widukind of Corvey, in his , records how “the king [Henry] gave the daughter of King Edmund, who also was the sister of Athelstan, to his son Otto as a wife”. This was Eadgyth of England, and she bore Otto a son named Liudolf who would not always bring joy to his father’s life.