Ottonian dynasty facts for kids

Depiction of the Ottonian family tree in a 13th-century manuscript of the Chronica sancti Pantaleonis.

Gandersheim Abbey Church

Ottonian dynasty was a dynasty of kings of Germany, named after its first emperor Otto I the Great. But it is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the origin of this family of noblemen. The family itself is also sometimes known as the Liudolfings, after its earliest known member Liudolf and one of its most common names. The Ottonian rulers are also regarded as the first dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire, as successors of the Carolingian dynasty and Charlemagne, who is commonly viewed as the original founder of a new (Frankish) Roman Empire.

Although he was never Emperor, Henry I the Fowler, Duke of Saxony, was 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. Under the reign of the Ottonian rulers, the kingdom of the Eastern Franks finally became Germany as the duchies of Lorraine, Saxony, Franconia, Swabia, Thuringia and Bavaria joined in one empire.

After the end of the Ottonian dynasty (with the death of Henry II in 1024) the crown passed to the Salian dynasty. Luitgard, a daughter of Emperor Otto I had married the Salian Duke Conrad the Red of Lorraine. His great-grandson was Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor.

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, died 983
• Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor, died 1002
• Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, died 1024

Some other famous members of the Liudolfing or Ottonian House:

• Liudolf, Count of Saxony, died 864/866
• Saint Altfrid, Bishop of Hildesheim, died 874
• Brun, Duke of Saxony, died 880
• Otto I the Illustrious, Duke of Saxony, died 912
• Gerberge of Saxony, died 954
• Henry I, Duke of Bavaria, died 955
• Liudolf, Duke of Swabia, died 957
• Hedwige of Saxony, died 965
• Bruno I, Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia, died 965
• William, Archbishop of Mainz, died 968
• Otto, Duke of Swabia and Bavaria, died 982
• Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, the Wrangler, died 995
• Bruno, Bishop of Augsburg, died 1029

Images for kids

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  Former collegiate church of St. Servatius in Quedlinburg, founded in 936 by King Otto I, at the request of his mother Queen Matilda, in honor of her late husband, Otto's father, King Henry the Fowler, and as his memorial

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  Ottonian family tree

See also

In Spanish: Dinastía sajona para niños