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The Ottonian dynasty was a dynasty of Germanic Kings (919-1024), named after its first emperor but also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin. The family itself is also sometimes known as the Liudolfings, after its earliest known member Liudolf
Liudolf, Duke of Saxony

Liudolf was a Duchy of Saxony count; later authors called him duke of the Eastern Saxons. He was also named as count of Eastphalia. Liudolf had possessions in eastern Saxony, and was involved in wars against Normans and Slavic peopless....
 and one of its primary leading-names. The Ottonian rulers are also regarded as the first dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early modern Europe under a Holy Roman Emperor....
, as successors of the Carolingian
Carolingian

File:Charlemagne denier Mayence 812 814.jpgThe Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with its origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century....
 dynasty and Charlemagne
Charlemagne

Charlemagne was List of Frankish kings from 768 to his death. He expanded the Franks kingdoms into a Carolingian Empire that incorporated much of Western Europe and Central Europe....
, who is commonly viewed as the original founder of a new (Frankish) Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. Although never Emperor, Henry I the Fowler, Duke of Saxony
Duchy of Saxony

The medi?val Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein....
, was arguably the founder of this imperial dynasty, since his election as German king made it possible for his son, Otto the Great to take on the imperium.






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The Ottonian dynasty was a dynasty of Germanic Kings (919-1024), named after its first emperor but also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin. The family itself is also sometimes known as the Liudolfings, after its earliest known member Liudolf
Liudolf, Duke of Saxony

Liudolf was a Duchy of Saxony count; later authors called him duke of the Eastern Saxons. He was also named as count of Eastphalia. Liudolf had possessions in eastern Saxony, and was involved in wars against Normans and Slavic peopless....
 and one of its primary leading-names. The Ottonian rulers are also regarded as the first dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early modern Europe under a Holy Roman Emperor....
, as successors of the Carolingian
Carolingian

File:Charlemagne denier Mayence 812 814.jpgThe Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with its origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century....
 dynasty and Charlemagne
Charlemagne

Charlemagne was List of Frankish kings from 768 to his death. He expanded the Franks kingdoms into a Carolingian Empire that incorporated much of Western Europe and Central Europe....
, who is commonly viewed as the original founder of a new (Frankish) Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. Although never Emperor, Henry I the Fowler, Duke of Saxony
Duchy of Saxony

The medi?val Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein....
, was arguably the founder of this imperial dynasty, since his election as German king made it possible for his son, Otto the Great to take on the imperium. Since Otto I most of the German kings were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor

Image:HRR 14Jh.jpgThe Roman of the Emperor's title was a reflection of the translatio imperii principle that regarded the Holy Roman Emperors as the inheritors of the title of Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, a title left unclaimed in the West after the death of Julius Nepos in 480....
. Under the reign of the Ottonian rulers, the kingdom of the Eastern Franks
Franks

The Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic ethnic group first identified in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River....
 finally became Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 with the conclusion of the unification of the duchies of Lorraine, Saxony
Duchy of Saxony

The medi?val Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein....
, Franconia
Franconia

Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria and a much smaller region in northeastern Baden-W?rttemberg called Heilbronn-Franken....
, Swabia
Swabia

Swabia, Suabia, or Svebia is both a historic and linguistics region in Germany. Swabia consists of much of the present-day state of Baden-W?rttemberg , as well as the Bavarian Swabia ....
, Thuringia
Thuringia

The Free State of Thuringia is located in central Germany. It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen States of Germany ....
 and Bavaria
Bavaria

Bavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is a region located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest States of Germany of Germany by area....
 into one empire. Also the union of Germany with the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early modern Europe under a Holy Roman Emperor....
, which dominated the German history until 1806, began with the coronation of Otto I the Great in Rome in 962. But the projected restoration of the Roman Empire failed already under Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor

Otto III was the fourth ruler of the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. He was elected king of Germany in 983 on the death of his father Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor....
.

After the extinction of the Ottonian dynasty with the death of Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor

Saint Henry II , called the Holy or the Saint, was the fifth and last Holy Roman Empire of the Ottonian dynasty from his coronation in Rome in 1014 until his death a decade later....
 in 1024 the crown passed to the Salian dynasty. Luitgard, a daughter of Emperor Otto I
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor

Otto I the Great , son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duchy of Saxony, King of Germany, King of Italy, and "the first of the Germans to be called the emperor of Italy" according to Arnulf of Milan....
 had married the Salian Duke Conrad the Red of Lorraine. His great-grandson was Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor

Conrad II was the son of a mid-level nobleman in Franconia, Henry of Speyer and Adelaide of Alsace, who inherited the titles of count of Speyer and of Worms, Germany as an infant when Henry died at age twenty....
.

Ottonian Kings and Emperors:
  • Henry I the Fowler, King of the Germans and Duke of Saxony, died 936
  • Otto I the Great, Holy Roman Emperor and Duke of Saxony, died 973
  • Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor
    Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor

    Otto II , called the Red, was the third ruler of the Saxony or Ottonian dynasty, the son of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor and Adelaide of Italy....
    , died 983
  • Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor
    Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor

    Otto III was the fourth ruler of the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. He was elected king of Germany in 983 on the death of his father Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor....
    , died 1002
  • Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
    Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor

    Saint Henry II , called the Holy or the Saint, was the fifth and last Holy Roman Empire of the Ottonian dynasty from his coronation in Rome in 1014 until his death a decade later....
    , died 1024


Some other famous members of the Liudolfing or Ottonian House:
  • Liudolf
    Liudolf, Duke of Saxony

    Liudolf was a Duchy of Saxony count; later authors called him duke of the Eastern Saxons. He was also named as count of Eastphalia. Liudolf had possessions in eastern Saxony, and was involved in wars against Normans and Slavic peopless....
    , Count of Saxony, died 864/866
  • Saint Altfrid, Bishop of Hildesheim, died 874
  • Brun, Duke of Saxony, died 880
  • Otto the Illustrious, Duke of Saxony, died 912
  • Gerberge of Saxony, died 954
  • Henry I, Duke of Bavaria
    Henry I, Duke of Bavaria

    Henry I was Duke of Bavaria.He was the second son of the Germany King Henry the Fowler and his wife Matilda of Ringelheim. He attempted a revolt against his older brother Otto I in 938 in alliance with Eberhard of Franconia and Giselbert of Lorraine, believing he had a claim on the throne....
    , died 955
  • Liudolf, Duke of Swabia
    Liudolf, Duke of Swabia

    Liudolf was the duke of Swabia from 950 until 954. He was the only son of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, king of Germany, from his wife Eadgyth, daughter of Edward the Elder, king of England....
    , died 957
  • Hedwige of Saxony
    Hedwige of Saxony

    Hedwige of Saxony was a daughter of Henry I the Fowler, and his wife Matilda of Ringelheim.She was a sister of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor; Henry I, Duke of Bavaria; Gerberga of Saxony; and Bruno I, Archbishop of Cologne....
    , died 965
  • Bruno I, Archbishop of Cologne
    Bruno I, Archbishop of Cologne

    Bruno the Great or Bruno I was Archbishopric of Cologne, Germany, from 953 until his death, and Duke of Lotharingia from 954. He was the brother of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, king of Germany and later Holy Roman Emperor....
     and Duke of Lotharingia, died 965
  • William, Archbishop of Mainz
    William, Archbishop of Mainz

    William was Archbishop of Mainz from 17 December 954 until his death. He was the son of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I the Great and a Slav mother....
    , died 968
  • Mathilda, Abbess of Quedlinburg
  • Otto, Duke of Swabia and Bavaria
    Otto I, Duke of Bavaria

    Otto I, Duke of Swabia and Duke of Bavaria , was the son of Liudolf, Duke of Swabia and his wife Ida, and thus a grandson of the Emperor Otto I and his anglo-saxon wife Eadgyth....
    , died 982
  • Henry II, Duke of Bavaria
    Henry II, Duke of Bavaria

    Henry II , called the Wrangler or the Quarrelsome, in German Heinrich der Z?nker, was the son of Henry I, Duke of Bavaria and Judith of Bavaria and a seventh generation descendant of Charlemagne....
    , the Wrangler, died 995
  • Bruno, Bishop of Augsburg, died 1029


See also

  • Kings of Germany family tree. The Ottonians were the 3rd dynasty to rule Germany and were related by marriage to all the others.
  • Ottonian Renaissance
    Ottonian Renaissance

    The Ottonian Renaissance was a limited renaissance that accompanied the reigns of the first three Holy Roman Emperors of the Saxon Dynasty, all named Otto: Otto I , Otto II , and Otto III , and which in large part depended upon their patronage....
  • Ottonian art
    Ottonian art

    In Pre-Romanesque art Germany, the prevailing style was what has come to be known as Ottonian art. With Ottonian architecture, it is a key component of the Ottonian Renaissance named for the emperors Otto I, Otto II, and Otto III....
  • Ottonian architecture
    Ottonian architecture

    Ottonian Architecture evolved during the reign of Emperor Otto the Great . The style was found in Germany and lasted from the mid 10th century until the mid 11th century....
  • Concordat of Worms
    Concordat of Worms

    The Concordat of Worms, sometimes called the Pactum Calixtinum by papal historians, was an agreement between Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor on September 23 1122 near the city of Worms, Germany....