Otto I “the Great”, Holy Roman Emperor

King of Germany

King of Italy

Holy Roman Emperor

Events

Date of Birth: 23 November 912.

Place of Birth: unknown.

The date is given by Baldwin and by Glocker (p. 270). Althoff gives 22 November.

Date of Death: 7 May 973.

Place of Death: Memleben.

The date and place are given by Althoff, by Schneidmüller (p. 60), and by Baldwin.

Place of Burial: Magdeburg, Dom.

The place is given by Althoff.

Relationships

Father: Heinrich I, king of Germany.

This relationship is given by Althoff, by Hlawitschka, by Glocker (p. 270), by Bouchard (p. 109), and by Baldwin.

Mother: Mathilde.

This relationship is given by Althoff, by Hlawitschka, by Glocker (p. 270), by Bouchard (p. 109), and by Baldwin.

Spouse: Eadgyth, daughter of Edward “the Elder”, king of England. Married 930.

This relationship is given by Althoff, by Hlawitschka, by Glocker (pp. 18-20), by Bouchard (p. 109), and by Baldwin.

Spouse: Adélaïde, daughter of Rudolf II, king of Burgundy. Married 951.

This relationship is given by Althoff, by Hlawitschka, by Glocker (pp. 85-88), by Bouchard (p. 109), and by Baldwin.

Children (by Eadgyth):

(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project. Most information below comes from Baldwin.)

Liudolf (about 930 - 6 September 957), duke of Swabia, married Ida von Schwaben.

Liutgard (about 931 - 18 November 953) married Konrad “der Rote”, duke in Lotharingia.

Children (by Adélaïde):

Heinrich (died 7 April, about 954).

Bruno (died 8 September 957).

Otto II (end 955 - 7 December 983), Holy Roman Emperor, married Theofanu.

Mathilde (perhaps 956 - 7 February 999), Abbess of Quedlinburg.

Children (illegitimate):

Wilhelm (about 928 - 2 March 968), archbishop of Mainz.

References

Althoff, Gerd. “Otto I. der Große”, in Neue Deutsche Biographie 19 (1998), S. 656-660 [Onlinefassung].

Baldwin, Stewart. “Otto I the Great” in The Henry Project. (2011)

Bouchard, Constance Brittain. “Those of My Blood”: Constructing Noble Families in Medieval Francia (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001).

Bretscher-Gisiger, Ch. Ottonen genealogical table in volume 9 of Lexikon des Mittelalters. Munich: LexMA-Verlag, 1980-1998.

Cawley, Charles. “OTTO” in Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families.

Glocker, Winfrid. Die Verwandten der Ottonen und ihre Bedeutung in der Politik: Studien zur Familienpolitik und zur Genealogie des Sächsischen Kaiserhauses (Böhlau Verlag: Köln, 1989).

Hlawitschka, Eduard. Vom Frankenreich zur Formierung der europäishen Staaten- und Völkergemeinschaft 840-1046: Ein Studienbuch. (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft: Darmstadt, 1986).

MacLean, Simon. Ottonian Queenship. (Oxford University Press, 2017).

Schneidmüller, Bernd. “Otto I. der Große (936-973)” in Die Deutschen Herrscher des Mittelalters: Historische Portraits von Heinrich I. bis Maximillian I. (919-1519). (Beck: München, 2003)