A Short History of the Middle Ages Fourth Edition

Genealogy 4.2: The Ottonians

Bishops and archbishops constituted the backbone of Ottonian rule. Once he had

chosen the bishop (usually with the consent of the clergy of the cathedral over which

the bishop was to preside), the king usually received a gift—a token of episcopal

support—in return. Then the king “invested” the new prelate in his post by

participating in the ceremony that installed him into office. Archbishop Bruno of

Cologne is a good—if extreme—example of the symbiotic relations between church