Otto I the Great

GermanyOttonian936-973

RealmGermany

Reign936-973

HouseOttonian

LegacyVictor of Lechfeld, first Holy Roman Emperor

Biography

Saxon duke Otto defeated the Magyars at Lechfeld 955, ending their raids, founding German power. Crowned Emperor 962 by the pope, the Reich that Voltaire mocked as neither holy nor Roman nor empire began with him. Church lands under royal appointment, the Ottonian church system. His dynasty, his empire idea, lasted a thousand years until 1806.

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