Otto I (English: Otto I, German: Otto der Gro ß e, Italian: Ottone il Grande; November 23, 912 May 7, 973), also translated as Otto I, King of Germany (reigned May 7, 936-973), the first Holy Roman Emperor of the Saxony dynasty (reigned February 2, 962 May 7, 973). The son of King Henry I of Germany, whose mother was Matilda of Lindheim.
He was first elected as the Duke of Saxony, and in 936 he was elected as the king by the Duke of the German tribe. In 936, he was crowned by Archbishop Hildbert of Mainz in Aachen. After his accession to the throne, Otto constantly engaged in expeditions from east to west, actively combating feudal separatist forces, maintaining the centralization of the royal family, and adopting a long-term policy of external expansion, becoming the most powerful monarch on the European continent at that time, known as the "Great Emperor".

historical background
At the beginning of the 10th century, the East Francia (the Kingdom of Germany) has formed a number of great principalities, including Saxony, Frankia, Bavaria, Swaben, Lorraine, Thuringia, etc. Among them, the Principality of Saxony is the largest. In 919, Henry I, Otto's father and Duke of Saxony's "bird catcher", was elected as the king of Germany. He devoted his whole life to maintaining the alliance between German principalities and resisting the invasion of Mazars in Eastern Europe, And he established a strong army, and his efforts made full preparations for the arrival of a great era.
In 936, Henry the "bird catcher" passed away, and Otto inherited his father to become the new Duke of Saxony. In the same year, he was elected as the King of Germany. His lifelong achievements were integrated into his repeated battles to the south and north. His martial arts skills can be divided into three major parts: calming the rebellions of various principalities within Germany and consolidating the German state; Defeat the invasion of the Mazar people in Eastern Europe and expand the empire eastward; Invade Italy, manipulate the Pope, and coronate as Emperor.
In 933, Henry I defeated the Mazar people near Riad in Thuringia, breaking the myth of the invincibility of the Mazar people and temporarily preventing their invasion of the Eastern Kingdoms.
In 955, the Saxon army of the German Kingdom fought a decisive battle against the invasion of the Mazars near Augsburg on the banks of the Lacy River, also known as the Battle of Lacefeld. After the Mazar people appeared on the eastern border of Bavaria in 862, they often plundered various parts of Germany.
In 955, over ten thousand Mazar cavalry invaded Bavaria and Swaben, besieging Augsburg. King Otto I of Germany led eight troops including the royal family, Bavaria, and Czech Republic, along with cavalry who broke through from Augsburg, to engage in a battle against the Mazars on August 10th and won. In order to cut off the Mazars' retreat, Otto I deployed his troops on the right bank of the upper reaches of the Lacy River, about 6 kilometers from Augsburg. The next day, he crushed the Mazars' attempt to cross the river and repelled the Mazars' circuitous forces. He then led his army to launch an attack and, after intense fighting, completely defeated the Mazars on the third day. This war completely prevented the Mazars from advancing westward and defended the independence of the German Kingdom.
Initial accession to the throne
When Otto first ascended the throne, he found himself surrounded by dangerous enemies. In 937, his half brother Don Kemal led a group of Saxon nobles to first challenge him, and then the dukes of Frank, Bavaria, Lorraine, and others responded in an attempt to gain a share of the rebellion. At this moment, Ottos, who had just entered the treasure, did not appear immature at all. He took his time and used the middle class to oppose the high class, quickly disintegrating the anti king alliance. Tang Kemar committed suicide after his followers surrendered to Otto, and the Duke of Frank was forced to seek peace. Otto calmly took control of Bavaria and drove out the Duke of Arnolf, appointing his younger brother Bertholt to the throne, but at the same time regaining a considerable portion of the power of the Duke of Bavaria. After Bertholt's death in 944, Otto appointed his younger brother Henry as the Duke of Bavaria.
Consolidate the German state
Germany's expansion of Eastern Europe achieved a breakthrough during the Otto period, with the Duke of Bohemia paying tribute to Otto in 950. But Otto faced a long-standing problem for the Germans in Eastern Europe - the fierce barbarian Mazars.
In 954, the Mazar people invaded, and in the Battle of Lessefeld in 955, Otto led the German and Bohemian coalition forces, almost completely annihilating the Mazar cavalry, thus relieving the threat of the Mazar people. In the era of cold weapons, it is a great event that any army that has entered the civilized society can defeat the barbarian army. Otto's prestige in his life mainly comes from this victory, and he is honored as "the great Otto" and "the father of the Pater Patriae".
suppress the rebellion
In 939, the Duke of Frank and the Duke of Lorraine joined forces to launch a war against the king, and Otto defeated them with the support of the Duke of Swaben. Otto placed most of the Frankish and Lorraine territories under his direct control and appointed his son-in-law as the Duke of Lorraine. After the death of the Duke of Swaben, he appointed his own son Rudolf as the Duke of Swaben. In this way, within a few years of his accession to the throne, Otto controlled most of Germany: Saxony and Frankia were under the king's own rule, while Bavaria, Swaben, and Lorraine were under the king's brother, son, and son-in-law respectively.
In 953, Otto's son and son-in-law were dissatisfied with the distribution of power in Italy and joined forces with the Archbishop of Mainz to oppose the king. Otto made use of the fear of the German nobility for the invasion of the Mazar people to make them unite under their own banner and soon defeated the rebel. In 954, an imperial conference was held to redistribute land and put the principalities under the control of people he trusted. Since then, Otto's authority has never been challenged in Germany.
Marching into Italy
Another action that had a significant impact on history by Otto was his attack on Italy, which established a tradition: every successful German king would march to Italy and be crowned emperor there. Otto's Italian policy stems more from his thirst for power, reputation, and wealth. In 961, in order to break free from the control of Italian urban aristocracy, Pope John XII sought help from Otto. Otto led his army across the Alps and quickly quelled the rebellion in Rome, annexed the Lombard state, and restored the papal position.
On February 2, 962, Pope John XII crowned Otto at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, and Otto became the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Eleven days after being crowned emperor, Pope John XII was abolished and Leo VIII was established as the Pope. The Otto Privileges Agreement was signed with the Pope, which established absolute loyalty of the Pope to the emperor and the Pope. The succession of the church was determined by the emperor (which gradually became invalid in later times), and the monarchy and theocracy were closely intertwined. The emperor's rights were highly superior to theocracy. This agreement also set a precedent for the monarch to determine the successor to the Pope, To maintain his control over the Pope, he twice marched into Rome. Otto also marched into southern Italy, challenging Byzantium unsuccessfully, but gaining recognition of his status from Byzantium.
At that time, many people believed that Italy belonged to a portion of the property that the German king, who also served as the Holy Roman Emperor, deserved.

In 936, Otto, the son of bird catcher Henry, was elected as king and actively fought against the power of local dukes during his reign. Under his iron fist tactics, all rebellions in the principalities of Bavaria, Frankia, Lorraine, and others were suppressed. Otto appointed the dukes of each duchy in the form of appointing confidants, and all dukes were required to swear allegiance to him. In addition, Otto also supported the church against local nobles and adopted the imperial church system to strengthen his rule. In 951, Otto was crowned as King of Lombardy, officially obtaining the Lombardy Iron Crown. At the same time, Burgundy and France were also included in the sphere of influence, and even Louis IV, a direct descendant of Caroline, had to rely on Otto to confront the powerful Cappe family within the country. Otto defeated the Mazar army in the Battle of Lechfeld in 955, earning him the title of "Father of Germany" and "Otto the Great". In 962, Otto sent troops to Rome and was officially crowned as "Emperor" and "Augustus". After the coronation, Otto and the Pope signed the Otto Privileges Agreement, whose core content was: without the emperor's permission, the Pope was not allowed to ascend to the throne of St. Peter, the Pope swore to defend the emperor, and the Emperor swore to defend the Pope. In addition, Otto further granted the Pope real estate, indicating that he was the Pope's lord and protector. Externally, Otto also intermarried with Byzantine Emperor John I, and Byzantine Princess Theophano married Otto II, further winning the legitimacy of the Roman Empire for the empire

His father, Henry, has been known for generations as a "bird catcher" since he learned that he was hunting birds when he was elected Duke. Henry often rebelled during the reign of Conrad I, Duke of Frankia, as King of Eastern Franks.
In 915, Henry defeated Conrad I. However, Conrad I generously recommended Henry as the heir to the throne. As a compromise, Henry I allowed Conrad's brother, Duke of Frankia Eberhard, to fully govern after becoming king, in order to ensure that he did not have any demands on the new king. Henry I refused to hold any religious ceremonies such as the anointing ceremony during his coronation. Therefore, in a religious sense, Henry was not a legitimate king. So another nickname of Henry I is' Sword Without Handle '.
The characteristic of the reign of Henry I was the rise of power in some tribal principalities, which obtained various privileges on the condition of recognizing Henry I, especially in the principalities of Bavaria and Swaben. Henry I mainly relied on his own territory for governance. To resist the invasion of the Mazars, Henry built many castles and formed cavalry in eastern Saxony. But the battles between Henry I and the Mazars were not always victorious, and as early as 924, he had to seek peace and pay tribute to the Mazars.
In 925, Henry incorporated Lorraine into the Eastern Kingdoms.
Henry I was the earliest Germanic monarch to invade the Slavs. He crossed the Elbe River in 928 and captured the Slavic stronghold of Brownibel. This area later developed into Brandenburg.
Mother Saint Matilda is a descendant of the famous Saxon hero Widodgen.

The most influential measure in Otto's internal affairs was to make the diocese a fiefdom, and the bishops enjoyed all the secular rights of the lord, making them a solid pillar to support Otto's vast empire. In the process of the empire's eastward expansion, the church's ideological activities also made significant contributions. In order to maintain long-term rule over the newly conquered Slavic settlements, Otto established new dioceses such as Magdeburg Archdiocese, Quedrinburg, Metzelburg, and Mason in these areas. This period was of great significance in the Christianization process of the Slavs.

Italy is located at the center of east-west trade, with cities such as Venice, Genoa, Milan, Florence, and others known as Europe. German feudal lords had long coveted it. The chaos of the Italian political situation provided an opportunity for the aggressors: the northern lords such as Evrea and Spoleto clashed with each other over the crown, while the southern region was dominated by Byzantine and Arab spheres of influence. The Pope is very corrupt. The manipulation of the Pope's Abolition by the Roman nobleman Theophiles and his wife and daughter for half a century has caused widespread dissatisfaction among all classes.
In 955, Pope John XII (955-964) ascended to the throne. He lived a dissolute and extravagant life, openly committing sins, and some officials in the Holy See were determined to take him down and hand over power to the King of Saxony. They sent envoys to see Otto and invited him to Italy and Rome. In 961, Otto led a large army into Italy and was crowned Augustus in February of the following year at St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. In this way, nearly 500 years after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, another "Roman Empire" emerged, later even known as the "Holy Roman Empire", meaning that it had the power to govern all Christian kingdoms and was the true successor of the ancient Roman Empire that believed in Christianity. From then on, every German king who came to power wanted to repeat the coronation ceremony in Rome as a supreme honor.
In the last decade of Otto's reign, he focused on attacking Italy, repeatedly manipulating the abolition of the Pope, and attempting to influence Italy, resulting in conflicts with the Byzantine and Arab forces that were entrenched there. In 970, Otto and Byzantine made peace and was forced to give up his ambitions for southern Italy, and his son, later Otto II, married Theofino, the daughter of Byzantine Emperor Romenus II. Otto II (reigned from 973 to 983) inherited his father's legacy and once captured Naples and Taranto, but was defeated by the Arabs in 982. In 983, he pre established a 3-year-old Crown Prince (regent by his grandmother and empress mother), determined to break through his bridges and march to Italy, but failed. He himself died in Rome, and Otto III (reigned from 983-1002) made several expeditions to Italy, also losing his life in Rome; When his body was transported to Verona North, it was attacked by local residents.
Otto I and his successors' conquest of Italy not only brought pain and disaster to the Italian people, but also brought misfortune to the German nation. They spend all their living energy on war, often neglecting one thing and losing the other, exhausted. In this way, the already promising cause of national reunification was finally dashed. Engels said: "Although Germany lacks economic ties within itself, it would have achieved and even could have achieved centralization earlier (for example, during the Otto Dynasty)", but "the title of Roman emperor and the resulting ambition to dominate Europe make it impossible to form a national state, and make the power consumed in the previous conquest of Italy."