A brief introduction to Otto I's life, a historical evaluation of Otto I, and how did Otto I die?

A brief introduction to Otto I's life, a historical evaluation of Otto I, and how did Otto I die?

Otto I (Otto I, 9 12-973), the second king of Saxony, the Italian king (or Lombardy king), the founder and the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Otto I was a versatile king, the most powerful ruler before German unification at the end of19th century, and was called Otto the Great.

At the beginning of the founding of Germany, the territory governed the area between the Rhine, Elbe and Danube, which was called Teutonic Land in ancient times. At that time, the imperial power was weak, and the local duke evolved from the tribal leader was powerful. At the beginning of the tenth century, there were four famous dukes in Germany, namely, Herzogtum Von Sachsen, Duke Frank, Duke of Bavaria and Duke of Svalbard. The powerful duke doesn't care about the king at all and often makes trouble. During the reign of Otto's father Henry I (9 19-936), many nobles were militarists, and the Duke of Bavaria and the Duke of Schwaben in the south publicly disobeyed orders. Henry was forced to fight again and again, but he still couldn't calm down.

Although Germany has the separatist tendency of local dukes, there are also forces demanding the strengthening of kingship. First of all, many small and medium-sized landowners need the support of kingship in order to avoid the annexation of local dukes and the desire to occupy public land; Secondly, in order to expand its own land, the church also hopes to get the help of kingship. In addition, foreign wars and foreign invasions also promoted Germany's political unity. Germany and France fought a long war for Lorraine. In 920, when the French army arrived at the gates of Vorms, Henry had to take Lorraine to France. What's more, since 907, it has been looted by Hungarian cavalry almost every year. Hungarians not only swept the four principalities, but also reached Lorraine, Alsace and France. Germany is in danger of extinction. Henry was forced to pay tribute to Hungary for his living. Later, Henry carried out military reform, established cavalry, and built many military fortresses on the Saxony border, such as quedlinburg, Metzburg, Bremen and Fort Madre. It was all newly built or rebuilt at this time. Henry's measures created conditions for resisting foreign aggression, suppressing civil strife and consolidating kingship. In 934, the Hungarians launched a new attack because Henry stopped paying tribute, and were defeated by Henry, but the Hungarians did not give up the invasion.

The threat of foreign invasion and further feudalism at home both need strong kingship. It is under such historical conditions that Otto stepped onto the historical stage and began to display his political talents.

At the beginning of 936, Henry was critically ill after a stroke, and a noble meeting was held in erfurt to decide the succession of Prince Otto. After Henry's death, "all Franks and Saxons elected Prince Otto as their leader according to the wishes of the former king" and "they made Otto king according to their own customs". This is the legacy of ancient Germanic democracy, which is legal only after the decision of the first king and must be re-elected by all the people. After the election, Archbishop Mainz will give him a sword (expelling all enemies and barbarians of Christ), bracelets and cloaks (kindly and widely covered) and a scepter (admonishing subjects), and Archbishops Mainz and Koren will also anoint him with holy oil and wear a golden crown.

After Otto ascended the throne, he devoted himself to cracking down on separatist forces and resisting Hungarian invasion. In 937, the year after Otto ascended the throne, the Duke of Bavaria rebelled. He sent troops to conquer twice, then ordered the younger brother of the former duke to continue to be a duke, and at the same time took various measures to limit his power. Otto directly appointed the bishop of Bavaria and granted him the judicial power originally belonging to the duke, which was called "Otto privilege". He also appointed a powerful Count Balladin to handle judicial affairs and collect taxes in Bavaria on behalf of the Central Committee. Otto also asked his brother to marry the daughter of the Duke of Bavaria. In 947, Qi Huangong died and his son-in-law succeeded him. In this way, Otto finally got Bavaria through conquest and marriage. He did the same thing to Schwaben and Lorraine. In 944, Herzog von Lothringen (the German recaptured Lorraine in 928) died, and Otto sent his later son-in-law Conrad, Duke of Frankia, to inherit and seize Lorraine. In 949, the Duke of Swaben died, and he ordered the son-in-law of the former Duke and his own son to inherit. Otto was the first powerful German king to completely control five principalities. At that time, the kingship of Germany was much stronger than that of Britain and France at the same time. When German monks came to France, they were surprised by the chaos there. In the Middle Ages, powerful kingship was undoubtedly of progressive significance. Only in this way can we defend national independence and develop economy and culture independently. In 955, the Hungarian cavalry was finally defeated by 10000 people on the banks of the Lech River south of augsburg. Since then, the Hungarian invasion has been stopped. Germany's international influence is growing. Envoys from Greece, Rome and Kiev Ross came to Korea one after another. In 959, Ross in Kiev invited Otto to send priests to preach.

Otto I, like many other German kings, arrogantly claimed that he was the legal heir of the Roman Empire and its imperial system, and was obsessed with the policy of conquering Italy in order to rebuild the Roman Empire and further dominate the world. Shortly after the establishment of the Saxon dynasty, before it gained a foothold, it launched a war of aggression against the Western Slavs living east of the Elbe River. In 928, Henry I set out to conquer Ruziz Serbs, Lutes and Aberg, occupied Fort Branny (meaning "Forest Defender", later Brandenburg), established monasteries, fortresses and immigrant areas there, imposed heavy taxes on Slavs and imposed colonial rule. Otto I established Haverburg Patriarchate in Slavic region in 946, Brandenburg Patriarchate, Archdiocese of magdeburg and North Marquez in 948, and took Christianity as the ruling tool. A large number of Slavs were slaughtered or sold as slaves, and Jewish merchants sold Slavs' slaves to all parts of Western Europe. In the tenth century, the word Slavic became synonymous with slavery.

In 19951year, when the domestic situation was stable, Otto I invaded Italy for the first time and put on the iron crown of the Italian king (it is said that the edge of the crown was made of nails to crucify Jesus). In 955, after the victory of Leahy River, Otto was called the "Grand Marshal" and actually became the emperor. (1) 961year, the Pope and Italian feudalism infighting. Otto took advantage of the Pope's begging for soldiers to calm down the chaos and marched into Italy again. 1962 In February, Otto held a mass in St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, and Pope John XII crowned him, calling him "the Holy Roman Emperor" and his empire "the Holy Roman Empire". It means that the empire should include all Christian kingdoms like the Catholic Church, and it is the true successor of the ancient Christian Roman Empire. In this way, a "Roman Empire" appeared hundreds of years after the fall of the Roman Empire. From then on, every German king wanted to repeat the coronation ceremony to Rome after taking office, which was a great honor. This holy Roman empire existed until 1806.

The purpose of rebuilding the Roman Empire and dominating the world is to plunder more land and wealth. Italy, bordering on the Mediterranean, is the hub of East-West trade and is rich in Europe. Nature is the first object coveted by German feudal lords. Although the Alps stand between Germany and Italy, there are many mountain passes and trade routes, so it is not too difficult to travel. After Otto I invaded Italy, Italy was looted, including gold and silver, leaving only dead livestock, barren fields and frequent famines for the local people. Marx clearly pointed out that the purpose of Otto I's invasion of Italy was to control Italian commerce and restore "commercial exchanges between Greeks and Germans". This policy not only brought pain and disaster to the invaded people, but also brought unfortunate consequences to the German nation. In his later years, Otto I concentrated on invading Italy. He seldom returned to China, and spent all his effective strength on the war of aggression. Domestic separatist forces often take the opportunity to make trouble. Otto was caught in a dilemma between internal and external attack and was exhausted. In this way, the cause of national reunification, which was already in sight, finally came to nothing. Engels said: "Although there is a lack of economic ties within Germany, its centralization (for example, during the Otto dynasty) will be earlier." However, "the title of Roman emperor and the resulting ambition to dominate the world made it impossible to form a nation-state, and its power was exhausted in previous invasions of Italy." ②

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