When the Carolingian line died out and no heirs
remained, the Franks and Saxons elected the first German king,
Conrad, Duke of Franconia. He reigned from 911 through to
918, but it was his successors, Henry I, Duke of Saxony, and
his son Otto I who began accomplishing significant feats for
the kingdom. Both competent soldiers, they gained ground in
holding off warring tribes and Otto was so able a ruler that
he came to be known as Otto the Great. He was determined to
establish a strong, centralized monarchy and began by giving
the duchies of the kingdom to his relatives. He also granted
fiefs to abbots and bishops as a means of securing their loyalty
and support.
Setting his
sights on Italy , a rich land, beset by unruly feudal disorder,
Otto managed to take the Italian title by invading the area,
helping the captured queen of the Lombards (who had been widowed),
and marrying her in 951. His assistance to the papacy in warding
off intruding nobles, the Byzantine Greeks and the Saracens,
hastened his crowning as Emperor in 962.
Although this coronation was glorious in the eyes of the German
monarchy, in the long term it was to cause problems for future
rulers. They would tend to focus largely on Italian affairs,
leaving German matters rather unheeded and unattended. This
provided opportunity for German nobles to regain strength.
So, while Otto and his successors managed to expand the land
they controlled, no headway was made regarding the unification
of Germany.
