General Notes

WHWC ruled Germany beg. 936, after father Henry I the Fowler died.Assum
ed Italy from Berenger II in about 962.  Makes Rome his capital.  Shows He
nry I as son of OTHO.  However, ema pp 331-2 states Otto's grandfather (fa
ther of Henry I) was Conrad I instead of Otho:  "Threatened by imminent fo
reign attacks, these dukes had submitted to the lordship of OTTO's grandfa
ther, Conrad I, and then to the rule of his father, HENRY.  . . ." (I ha
ve kept Otho as the ancestor instead of Conrad I, who was King of Germany)
.
FIMA p 17 "The alliance between king and bishops was an uneasy one, b
ut it proved to be a trump card and the most valuable remnant of the Carol
ingian political inheritance and the system whereby in each city the sover
eign's delegate, the bishop, would keep watch on the count.  Unlike the
ir Teutonic counterparts in Eastern Francia, the kings of Western Franc
ia were not tempted to develop this system in the tenth century and cede c
omital rights to the bishops in their cities.  This practice appeared on
ly briefly in Western Francia, during the reign of OTTO I, Emperor-ki
ng of Germany, in the second half of the tenth century.  He filled the cat
hedrals with household clerks and granted comital powers to the archbish
op of Rheims and his suffragans at Laon, Chalons, Beauvais and Noyon a
nd to the bishop of Langres.  These prelates did not relinquish these righ
ts and the successors became the six ecclesiastical peers of the French cr
own.  But there was no further appropriation of lay powers by the episcopa
te.  As a result, the investiture contest of the twelfth century had a le
ss devastating effect on Francia than the German empire.  . . ."
p 19 "When LOUIS IV died in 954 . . . the Emperor OTTO I and Bruno . . . a
dvised their sister GERBERGA, Louis IV's widow, to request 'aid and counse
l' from HUGH, then 'duke of the Gauls' and vice-regent of Francia."
p 20 "When HUGH the Great died in 956, his three sons were all minors; t
he same maternal uncles (the Emperor OTTO and Archbishop Bruno) who had be
en guardians of LOUIS IV's children two years before now protected these t
hree orphaned nephews.  . . ."
ohme pp 125, 211
p 127 "OTTO I of Germany's Italian expedition of 962 was marked by a ve
ry considerable transfer of relics"
131, 138-42 "Upon HENRY's foundations Otto was able to raise the German mo
narchy to one of its greatest peaks.  In this he was aided by a happy comb
ination of circumstances.  To the east he unleashed a series of campaig
ns against the pagan Slavs between the Elbe and the Oder, who were also be
ing menaced from the nascent duchy of Poland under Mieszko I; that help
ed to provide territory and manpower with which he might bind men to hi
m.  To the west he was favoured by the intermittent conflicts between t
he Carolingians and Robertians which made it unappealing for the duk
es of Lotharingia to throw off his rule for they could expect little he
lp from France if they did so.  Within Germany marriages of his relativ
es into the ducal families secured their accession to Swabia and Bavari
a, while Lotharingia was bestowed on a son-in-law.  To the south ther turb
ulent politics of Italy provided a fruitful sphere in which to interven
e, bringing Otto the crown of Italy in 951, the imperial crown in 961, a
nd a rich harvest of relics with which he could endow the great eastern bi
shoprics and monasteries.  By appointing bishops to sees well distant fr
om their native parts he helped to create alternative sources of support s
hould their neighbours prove restive and was at the same time able to impo
se military obligations on the Church to defend the eastern frontier and p
rovide troops for more distant expeditions.  Despite these opportunities a
nd achievements he also faced periods of very great danger.  His stepbroth
er and younger brother regarded themselves as alternative candidates for t
he throne and in turn revolted; so too did