a formidable dowager before she died in March 968.
Their eldest son Otto was born on November 23, 912,
seven days before the death of the grandfather whose
name he bore. There were four more children; Gerberga
(919–968), Henry (922–955), Hadwig (923–958), and
Brun (925–965).
Upon the death of his father in 912, Henry became
duke of Saxony; there was immediate trouble with Con-
rad I (Konrad I), king of East Francia since 911. Conrad
distrusted Henry’s power in Saxony. In addition, a long-
standing feud existed between them over the execution
in 906 of the Babenberger Adalbert, Henry’s maternal
uncle. Conrad’s success in consolidating control over
Saxony was minimal, however. When he died in late De-
cember 918, he requested his brother Eberhard to offer
the crown to his former rival. Following several months
of negotiations, Henry was chosen king at Fritzlar on
May 5, 919. He was forty-three years old.
Henry declined to be crowned by the Church, as
was the Carolingian custom, for reasons that ate not
altogether clear and have been debated by historians
ever since. His fi rst actions were designed to extend
his rule beyond the Carolingian kingdom of the Saxons
and the Franks into the southern areas of East Francia.
In Bavaria Duke Arnulf had declared himself king but
eventually abandoned his ambitions. Henry wisely
left Arnulf in control of Bavaria, demanding only that
Arnulf acknowledge Henry’s status as king. In Swabia
the situation was more complicated. Burchard II, who
had only recently become duke, acknowledged Henry as
king in 919 and promptly defeated his Burgundian rival
Rudolph II in battle. In 922 the two made peace, and
Rudolph married Burchard’s daughter, persuading his
father-in-law to help him gain the crown of Italy. This
adventure ended in Burchard’s death in 926. Henry was
now in a position to impose a settlement in Swabia, and
he appointed Hermann (a Conradiner) as duke. Henry
also made a pact of friendship with Rudolph II. In return
for the Holy Lance, a valuable relic which the German
king coveted, Rudolph was allowed to keep the area of
Basel which he already controlled.
Diplomacy, military pressure, and waiting patiently
for the right moment to put his plans into action char-
acterized Henry’s dealings with the West Frankish king
Charles the Simple (d. 929) and his opponents, Robert
(d. 923) and Raoul (d. 936). Henry also secured the
submission of the volatile area of Lotharingia and its
duke Gilbert (Giselbert), who married Henry’s daughter
Gerberga in 928.
Now in his fi fties, Henry issued a charter in 929 de-
tailing the dower rights of his wife, the clerical education
of his youngest son, Brun, and the marriage of his son
Otto. The chosen bride was an Anglo-Saxon princess
called Edith (ca. 912–946), a daughter of Edward the
Elder, who arrived in Saxony with a younger sister,
Adiva. The marriage between Otto and Edith took place
sometime early in 930, when Henry undertook a lengthy
circuit of his kingdom.
Henry’s greatest accomplishment, however, was his
decisive action against the Magyars who had been at-
tacking East and West Francia since about 900. In 924
Henry’s soldiers captured a Magyar chief, and, for his
safe return, Henry demanded a nine-year truce, also
securing a yearly tribute. During this truce, Henry cre-
ated a mounted troop of soldiers to fi ght the Magyars
and tested his new model army against the Slavs. He
may also have built fortifi cations (Burgen) on the Elbe
frontier. In March 933 Henry met with the invading
Magyar forces at the battle of Riade, which ended in
victory for Henry’s new cavalry. There was to be peace
on the Elbe frontier for a number of years.
By 935 Henry had achieved many of his goals: his
relations with the dukes were based on contracts of
friendship; he had defeated the Magyars, and his diplo-
macy had secured a modicum of peace on his Western
frontier. After a long illness, Henry held a diet at Erfurt
where he designated his eldest son by Mathilde as his
successor. The future Otto I was then 24, married with
two children, and a well-trained soldier. Henry I died
on July 2, 936, at Memleben. He was buried in the Ab-
bey Church of Quedlinburg where his tomb can still
be found.
Modern historians have given Henry an important
place in the history of early medieval Germany, credit-
ing him with laying the foundations upon which his son
Otto the Great created his empire. Tenth century writers
noted his prowess as a warrior and his physical beauty
and charm. In the twelfth century, Henry and Mathilde
were perceived as the ancestors of the kings of Europe.
Henry was also surrounded by legends and stories.
Perhaps the most enduring of these is the tale about his
receiving the crown while hunting birds. Thus, Henry
I would enter the popular imagination under the name
“the Fowler” (der Vogler).
See also Otto IFurther Reading
Althoff, Gerd and Hagen Keller. Heinrich I. und Otto der Grosse.
Neubeginn auf karolingischem Erbe. Göttingen: Muster-
schmidt, 1985.
Büttner, Heinrich. Heinrichs I. Südwest- und Westpolitik. Con-
stance: Thorbecke, 1964.
Diwalt, Helmut. Heinrich der Erste. Bergisch Gladbach: Lübbe,
1987.
Leyser, Karl. Medieval Germany and its Neighbours, 900–1250.
London: Hambledon, 1982.
Reuter, Timothy. Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056.
London: Longman, 1991.
Madelyn Bergen DickHENRY I OF SAXONY