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 936-May 7, 973), was the first Holy Roman Emperor of the Saxony dynasty (reigned February 2, 962 – May 7, 973). The son of King Henry I of Germany, his 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 ascending the throne, Otto constantly engaged in expeditions to the east and 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 Kingdom of East Francia (the Kingdom of Germany) had formed several great duchies, including Saxony, Frankia, Bavaria, Swabian, Lorraine, Thuringia, etc. Among them, the Duchy of Saxony was the largest. In 919, Otto's father and Duke of Saxony, "Bird Catcher" Henry I, was elected as the King of Germany. He devoted his life to maintaining the alliance between the German duchies, resisting the invasion of the Magyars in Eastern Europe, and established a strong army. His efforts were fully prepared for the arrival of a great era.
In 936, Henry the Bird Catcher passed away, and Otto succeeded his father as the new Duke of Saxony, who was elected as the King of Germany in the same year. His lifelong achievements were integrated into his repeated campaigns to the south and north. His martial arts can be divided into three major parts: suppressing rebellions in various German principalities and consolidating the German state; Defeat the invasion of the Magyars in Eastern Europe and expand the empire eastward; Invasion of Italy, manipulation of the Pope, and coronation as Emperor.
In 933, Henry I defeated the Mazars near Riad in Thuringia, breaking the myth of their invincibility and temporarily preventing their invasion of the Eastern Kingdom.
In 955, the Saxon army of the Kingdom of Germany fought a decisive battle against the invasion of the Magyars near Augsburg on the banks of the L ä ssey River, also known as the Battle of L ä ssefeld. After the appearance of the Mazars on the eastern border of Bavaria in 862, they often plundered various parts of Germany.
In 955, more than ten thousand Mazar cavalry invaded Bavaria and Swabian, surrounding Augsburg. King Otto I of Germany led eight troops including the royal family, Bavaria, and Czech Republic, along with cavalry who broke out of Augsburg, to fight against the Mazars on August 10th and won. In order to cut off the retreat of the Mazars, Otto I deployed his troops on the right bank of the upper reaches of the Lesi River, about 6 kilometers from Augsburg. The next day, he crushed the Mazars' attempt to cross the river and repelled their circuitous forces. He then led his army to launch an attack and, after intense fighting, completely defeated the Mazars on the third day. This battle completely prevented the Magyars from advancing westward and defended the independence of the German Kingdom.

First ascended 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 challenge him first, and then the dukes of Frankia, Bavaria, Lorraine, and others responded in an attempt to get a share of the rebellion. At this moment, Ottos, who had just ascended to the throne, did not appear immature at all. He remained calm and used the middle class to oppose the high class, and soon disintegrated the Anti King Alliance. After his followers surrendered to Otto, Tang Kemar committed suicide. The Duke of Frankia was forced to make peace, and Otto calmly took control of Bavaria, drove away the Duke of Arnolf, and appointed his brother Bertholt to the throne. However, at the same time, he regained a considerable portion of the power of the Duke of Bavaria. After Bertholt's death in 944, Otto appointed his brother Henry as the Duke of Bavaria.
Consolidate the German state
Germany's expansion of Eastern Europe achieved a breakthrough during the Otto period, and in 950, the Duke of Bohemia surrendered and paid tribute to Otto. But Otto faced a long-standing problem for the Germans in Eastern Europe - the fierce barbarian Mazars.
In 954, the Magyars invaded, and in the Battle of Leysifeld in 955, Otto led the German and Bohemian coalition forces to almost completely annihilate the Magyar cavalry, thus relieving the threat posed by the Magyars. In the era of cold weapons, it was a great achievement for any army that had entered a civilized society to defeat the barbarian army. Otto's reputation mainly came from this victory, and he was revered as the "Great Otto" and the "Father of the Motherland".
suppress the rebellion
In 939, the Duke of Frankia 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 Swabian. Otto placed most of the Frankia 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 Swabian, he appointed his own son Rudolf as the Duke of Swabian. In this way, Otto controlled most of Germany within a few years of his reign: Saxony and Frankia were ruled by the king himself, while Bavaria, Swabian, and Lorraine were ruled by 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 used the fear of German nobles invading the Mazars to unite them under his own banner and quickly defeated the rebels. In 954, he convened an imperial conference to redistribute land and placed all duchies under the control of those he trusted. From then on, Otto's authority was never challenged within German territory.

Marching into Italy
Another action that had a significant impact on history was Otto's 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 country, and restored the papal position.
On February 2, 962, Pope John XII crowned Otto at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, making him the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Eleven days after his coronation as 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. The succession of the Church was determined by the emperor (which later became invalid), and the monarchy and theocracy were closely intertwined. The emperor's rights were extremely higher than theocracy. This agreement also set a precedent for the monarch to establish the successor to the Pope. In order to maintain his control over the Pope, he twice marched into Rome. Otto also marched into southern Italy, challenging Byzantium. Although he was not successful, he gained recognition of his status from Byzantium.
At that time, many people believed that Italy was a part of the property that the German king, who also served as the Holy Roman Emperor, deserved.

In 936, Otto, son of bird catcher Henry, was elected as king and actively fought against the power of local dukes during his reign. Under his iron fisted means, all rebellions in duchies such as Bavaria, Frankia, and Lorraine were suppressed. Otto appointed dukes of each duchy in the form of appointing confidants, and all dukes were required to swear allegiance to him. In addition, Otto supported the church to fight against local nobles and adopted the imperial church system to strengthen his rule. In 951, Otto was crowned as the 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 Carolingia, had to rely on Otto to resist the powerful Capetian family. Otto defeated the Magyar 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 coronation, Otto and the Pope signed the Otto Privileges Agreement, which core content was: without the emperor's permission, the Pope was not allowed to ascend the throne of St. Peter without authorization, 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 suzerain and protector. Externally, Otto also formed an alliance with Byzantine Emperor John I, and Byzantine Princess Theophano married Otto II, further gaining the legal authority of the Roman Empire.

His father, Henry I, has been known as the "Bird Catcher" since he learned that he was hunting birds when he was elected Duke. Henry often rebelled during the reign of Duke Conrad I of Frankia as King of East Francia.
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 have complete autonomy after becoming king, in order to obtain 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 a Handle".
The characteristic of the reign of Henry I was that the power of some tribal principalities rose, and they obtained various privileges on the condition of recognizing Henry I, especially the Duchy of Bavaria and Swabian. Henry I mainly relied on his own territory for governance. To resist the invasion of the Magyars, Henry built many castles and formed cavalry in eastern Saxony. But Henry I did not always win the battles with the Magyars, and even in 924 he had to seek peace and pay tribute to the Magyars.
In 925, Henry incorporated Lorraine into the Eastern Kingdom.
Henry I was the earliest Germanic monarch to invade the Slavs. He crossed the Elbe River in 928 and captured the Slavic fortress of Brandenberg. This place 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 lords, making them a solid pillar that supported Otto's vast empire. In the process of the empire's eastward expansion, the church also made significant contributions in ideological activities. In order to maintain long-term rule over the newly conquered Slavic settlements, Otto established new dioceses in these areas such as Magdeburg Archdiocese, Quedrinburg, Mezeburg, and Mason. This period was of great significance in the Christianization process of the Slavs.

Italy is located at a hub of east-west trade, with cities such as Venice, Genoa, Milan, Florence, and others known as Europe. German feudal lords have long coveted them. The chaos of the Italian political situation gave aggressors an opportunity to take advantage of it: the northern lords such as Evrea and Spoleto clashed with each other over the crown, while the southern region was the sphere of influence of Byzantium and Arabs. The Pope of Rome is very corrupt. The manipulation of Pope Apocalypse by the Roman nobleman Theophiles and his wife and daughter for half a century has caused widespread dissatisfaction among various social classes.
In 955, Pope John XII (955-964) ascended to the throne. He lived a dissolute and extravagant life, openly committing sins. Some officials in the Roman Catholic Church 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 Basilica 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 authority to govern all Christian kingdoms and was the true successor of the ancient Roman Empire, which 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.
During Otto's last decade in power, he focused on attacking Italy, repeatedly manipulating the deposal of the Pope, and attempting to influence Italy, leading to conflicts with the Byzantine and Arab forces entrenched there. In 970, Otto and the Byzantine Empire reached a peace treaty and were forced to give up their ambitions for southern Italy, allowing his son, later Otto II, to marry Theofino, the daughter of Byzantine Emperor Romulus II. Otto II (reigned 973-983) inherited his father's legacy and briefly captured Naples and Taranto, but was defeated by the Arabs in 982. In 983, he proclaimed himself as a 3-year-old Crown Prince (regent of his grandmother and empress), determined to break through all obstacles and march towards Italy, but was unsuccessful. He himself died in Rome, and Otto III (reigned 983-1002) went on several expeditions to Italy, also losing his life in Rome; When his body was transported to the north of Verona, 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 aspect and being exhausted. In this way, the already promising cause of national reunification was finally dashed. Engels said, "Although there was a lack of economic connections within Germany, centralization could have been achieved and may have even been achieved earlier (for example, during the Ottoman dynasty)." However, "the title of Roman emperor and the resulting ambition to dominate Europe made it impossible for a nation-state to form, and their power was exhausted in the successive conquests of Italy."