German Empire of Otto I

Otto I's German Empire is not deserving of the moniker "The Great." On November 23, 912, Otto was born in Westphalia to Mathilda of Ringelheim and Henry I (the Fowler), Duke of Saxony. Henry, Bruno, Hedwig, and Gerberga were his four brothers. Since he was their family's eldest child and Henry I passed away in 936, he was given the title of Duke of Saxony. After his father's passing, Otto kept working to unite the German people and establish the monarchy. Otto was able to extend his authority beyond the aristocracy by uniting the German tribes into a single kingdom. Otto, being the head of the family and the unifying factor in the German community, applied personal appointments and strategic marriages recruit new members into his kingdom. His unifying strategy enabled him to rule over the dukes who previously had equal powers as the king. Otto was a staunch believer of Christianity and he transformed the Roman Catholic Church in Germany and manipulated the clergy to be at his own personal control. This paper seeks to evaluate the reign of Otto, analyze his achievements and failures and ascertain why he does not deserve the title "The Great".

The Reign of Otto I

At his young age during the reign of his father, Otto gained military experience as a commander during the German kingdom fight with the Slavic tribes. With Otto's father domination of the entire German kingdom, he began nurturing Otto I for the purposes of succession incase of his death. During his reign, Otto's father did not write a will as to who shall succeed him after death. Otto was automatically named king as outlined in the document drafted by the Abbey of Reichenau. Henry, Otto's father found a bride for Otto in efforts to enhance the alliance with Anglo-Saxon England. This association gave Henry a strong legitimacy and strengthened the bonds of unity between the two kingdoms. In order to seal the alliance between the two kingdoms, King Ethelstan of England sent his daughters to be married to Otto's brothers. Otto got married to one of the daughters of King of England in 930. Upon the death of Otto's father, Otto took over as king of the German kingdom and automatically become the apparent heir without any prior elections or debates by several dukes in the kingdom.

Otto had four other dukes in his kingdom that acted as his personal advisors and attendants. These dukes primarily performed duties such assigning cooperation with Otto and being in submission to his reign as the king. Otto's family was not in full harmony with him during his reign despite his peaceful transition to power. Local aristocrats and in the German kingdom also disagreed wit Otto on various occasions making him to face both internal and external conflicts. His younger brother tried to clinch the throne of kingship contrary to the directions of their deceased father. Otto appointed as Margrave, Hermann Billung in 936 to enable him to expand his reign and authority in other territories.

During his reign, Otto experienced conflicts and constant rebellions from the dukes. After the death of the duke of Bavaria, the new duke opposed the King's rule over Bavaria under the peace treaty that was signed between king Arnulf and Henry. The Bavarian duke refused to recognize the supremacy of Otto I and rebelled against him. However, Otto exiled the rebellious duke and stripped off his titles. Otto exercised his power in the appointment of bishops to run the chaplaincy. He resolved conflicts between dukes in the kingdom. This was a means to bring unity in the kingdom and divisions between the dukes were considered sources of problems in the kingdom. Otto took away the titles and privileges of the dukes who could not comply with his rule and sovereignty as their king.

Achievements and Failures of Otto I

Chosen as the German king in 1936, Hildebert, Archbishop of Mainz, crowned Otto the throne of kingship. Otto's career of firm governance in a tumultuous time enabled him to consolidate German power and the imperial crown. The German empire was less universal under the leadership of Otto as compared to when it was being managed by Charlemagne. Otto's main objective was to make the German empire religious, but the church political. The clergy were his first officials and second to the spreading of Christianity. Otto welcomed scholars and strangers to his court and supported the effort of Bruno his brother in encouraging learning and activities that would help the empire grow and move forward.

One of the main achievements of Otto rests on his consolidation of the Reich. He exercised deliberate moves to dominate the bishops in order to strengthen his rule. Otto's domination of the church led to the establishment of "Ottonian church systems of the Reich" that provided a long lasting and stable framework for the German empire. The constant campaigns of Otto gave the German empire peace and security from attacks by foreign enemies. Otto's preeminent position as powerful leader gave him hegemony in Europe and was highly respected. Otto's Italian policies and the imperial crown acquisition linked him with the old traditions of Carolingian and this proved to be a huge responsibility for the people of Germany in the future.

Otto's domestic reign between 941 and 951 was undisputed. Approximately all the dukes were submissive to Otto's reign and this enabled Otto to effectively assert his powers in action and decision-making without undue oppression from the dukes as earlier experienced. Otto freely appointed individuals in his kingdom and ignored those who wanted to claim authority and dynastic succession.

In 955 during the battle of Lenchfeld, Magyaras were defeated by Otto after he placed a civil war among the dutches who were rebellious. Otto's victory during this war brought to an end the Hungarian invasion of the Western parts of Europe. This victory earned him respect that enabled him to rule his kingdom. Otto was seen as a savior of Christendom. Otto managed to conquer the kingdom of Italy by 961 due to his power and prominence. He also managed to extend is territories and borders to the eastern, northern and southern parts of Italy. The powers of Otto enabled him to facilitate the Ottonian renaissance of architecture and advancement of art. He was crowned as the Emperor of the Romans in 800 and in 962 as the Holy Roman Emperor in Rome by Pope John XII.

In order to adequately dominate his kingdom, Otto started using the Catholic Church in the late 940s. Otto improved his relationship with the clergy of the Catholic Church. Otto's prominence with the church gave him an opportunity to capitalize on his divine right to rule the kingdom. By doing so, Otto seemed to be the protector of the church. He promoted the position of the church authorities in order to protect his selfish interests and desist anyone from threatening his powers as the king. Everyone in Germany was affiliated to the Catholic Church. Otto's close association with the church would give him an opportunity to effectively exercise his powers as king.

Otto dominated and exercised control of the church. Otto presented the bishops and abbots with symbols of office in both secular and spiritual context during his reign. The clergy were appointed as Otto's vassals during a commendation ceremony. Through such appointment, the selection and recruitment of clerics became merely a formality in the Ottonian Empire. The king filled all the ranks of the church with his own family members and friends who were loyal to him. Otto endowed the bishops and the clergy with enormous gifts and favors and even levied taxes and gave the clergy legal jurisdictions to an extent that they became powerful and untouchable. The clergy's commitment was to primarily serve the king and support the interests of the king in the church. In order to sufficiently support the Catholic Church King Otto made tithing a compulsory act for all the people in Germany. He also granted the abbots and various bishops' ranks in the kingdom and special rights within their areas of jurisdiction. Otto's ability to single handedly appoint the clergy strengthened his authority in the German Catholic church throughout his kingdom. The chaplains were given authority to perform government duties and the king would later reward their services by promotion to various dioceses. Otto did all these in order to adequately dominate his kingdom and fully take charge in order to minimize opposition from his enemies within the kingdom. All of Otto's actions were aimed at fulfilling his selfish interests and to prolong his dominance in ruling the German kingdom and its inhabitants.

Later years of Otto's reign were characterized by series of conflicts with the church, especially the papacy. Sturmer and Michael give reports of struggles to stabilize Otto's authority to rule the conquered Italy. Otto improved relations with Byzantine Empire and this later led to the opposition of his territory expansion to the southern parts of Italy. He managed to solve his conflicts with the Italian authorities by allowing his son to marry Byzantine princess Teophanu in April 972. After the continuous multiple conflicts for power, Otto returned to Germany and later died in May 973 at Memleben. His son Otto II succeeded him as the Holy Roman Emperor after his death

Otto's Leadership Style

The authoritarian rule of Otto was contrary to that of his late father. He defied the traditional norms that dictated that all the sons of the former king were to inherit a potion of the kingdom. Otto placed his interests above those of his brothers and dominated the entire kingdom hence defying the traditional norms. Otto did not consider himself among equals as his father did, but rather confined to his own authoritarian form of ruler and governance. Loyalty to the king was the principle used by Otto and not lineage in the advancement of power during his reign.

Otto accepted the church to appoint leaders in the kingdom, but only considered himself as having a divine right to rule the kingdom despite the appointments by the church. Otto did not put into consideration the internal hierarchy of the noble families in the kingdom but rather left every authoritative decision under his ultimate control. His position was undisputed, as he became the master of the kingdom. This made him receive outmost rebellion from his family members and the people he governed. Otto became so powerful and anyone who rebelled against him was forced to confess in public and was to surrender to him unconditionally in order to receive the king's pardon. Otto was a harsh king but subjected his close family and associate to mild punishments as compared to other oppressors. When Otto's brother rebelled against him twice, he was just given mild punishment and restored his original position. He was appointed as a Duke of Lorraine and later that of Bavaria. Rebellious comers were given harsh punishment and the king often had most of them executed.

Otto rewarded his loyal servants throughout his entire tenure as King of Germany. In as much as appointments were made at Otto's own discretion, they were highly influenced by dynastic politics. Otto did not rely on "friendly pacts" as his father did during his reign, but rather placed into consideration only family ties in making appointments. He did not accept to be considered among equals as his father did, but rather rendered all the kingdom power to himself.

Conclusion

Otto was a ferocious and shrewd politician who crushed any opposition that came his way. He did not tolerate any opposition even from his family members. Otto exiled his mother for sometime and even planned to execute his brother who wanted to murder him. He convicted dukes who were against his governance and those that did not appreciate loyalty to the king. He managed to defeat Magyars of Hungary during battle. Otto made allies with German bishops and became powerful contributor to the Catholic Church in Germany. Otto was recognized as a Holy Roman Emperor considering his constant affiliations with the Roman Catholic Church. He received many favors and titles from the church including being called 'holy' in as much as he did not merit the title. His actions were centered on selfish gains and he did not recognize the exercise of power equality as his father did. In as much as King Otto managed to unite the Germans immediately after the death of his father, Otto did not live the good legacy his father had expressed while still alive. Otto was more brutal and less concerned of the interests of the people he governed. He did not practice impartiality in his ruling, as he wanted everything for himself. Otto appointed people to power not based on quality as his father did but according to how much loyalty he received from the people he wanted to appoint. Because of the illegitimate actions of Otto, he received opposition from dukes, close family members and the people he exercised power over. Otto did not respect the traditional norms of the kingdom as far as recruitment of members was concerned, but rather imposed his personal directives to conform to his actions. Otto I therefore did not deserve the title "The Great" considering his failures during his reign and his leadership style.

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