The other, larger part of the Hungarian army, however, which had remained in the east, in Thuringia, had in the meanwhile been informed that there was a castle in the neighbourhood where lived a sister of the king—she was born to Duke Otto out of wedlock and had married a Thuringian named Wido—in which there was much gold and silver. Consequently they at once set out and assaulted the castle. They would have taken it at the first attack if the fall of night had not put an end to the battle. Scarcely, however, were their arms at rest, when they heard of the defeat of their companions, of the victory of the Saxons, and of how King Henry was advancing against them with a powerful army. They lit great bonfires to collect their scattered troops and at once began their retreat.
Henry was camped that same night not far from the Hungarians in a place which was then called Riade, perhaps the present Rietheburg, in the golden meadow on the Unstrut, where many strongholds of the Luidolfings were scattered on all sides. When morning broke and it was learned how near the enemy was, the king determined to attack them at once and placed his army in battle array. He exhorted his followers to put all their trust in God, and declared that he would be with them to-day as in so many other battles; the Hungarians were enemies of the empire and of them all, they must fight to avenge their fatherland and their fathers; the enemy would soon give way if they would only charge bravely and strike boldly. Then the heart of each one in the army swelled with courage; they all saw with joy how their king hurried about on his horse, now in front, now in the middle, and now on the last ranks of the army, and how everywhere the flag of the archangel Michael, the chief banner of the empire, waved before him. The king was afraid that when the Hungarians saw the large numbers of armed horsemen of the Saxons they would not keep their stand but would break apart and thus frustrate a decisive battle. Consequently he sent on ahead a small force of one thousand Thuringian infantry with only a few armed knights. He thought that when this force appeared the Hungarians would at once give battle and then be led on, clear up to the battle ranks of his army. And so it happened. The Hungarians ventured close to the king’s army, but as soon as they caught sight of the troops of knights they turned and fled. And they fled so rapidly that, although they were pursued for two miles, only a few of them were captured or killed; the king, however, stormed their camp and freed all prisoners. It was the 15th of March, 933; after it, so long as Henry lived, no Hungarian was seen on German soil.
When this memorable victory had been fought, there was no end to the jubilee in the army and in the whole Saxon land. As father of the fatherland Henry greeted his army and his people; they extolled him as world-ruler and emperor almost as if they had had a premonition of the greatness and power which were reserved for his son Otto. He, however, gave God the glory for the victory; he attributed his success to divine aid alone, and the tribute which he had been accustomed to pay to the enemy he now gave to the church in order to give it to the poor. Far over the whole world spread the renown of the great Saxon king, who had been the first to conquer the much-feared Hungarians in a great battle and had driven them out of his land.
And Henry’s sword was to reach even the last enemy of the Saxons—the Danes. The latter had long since overstepped the bounds which the emperor Charles had once marked out for them. Not only the frontier district between the Eider, the Treene, and the Schlei had they taken in possession, but also, after the unfortunate battle in which Duke Bruno fell, they had seized all the land north of the Elbe, with the aid of the Wends, and had with fire and sword laid waste the fruitful districts of the Holsteins. The whole German population which had settled here was crowded over the Elbe, and they were hardly safe from the plundering of the enemy even on the hither side of the broad stream. It was only gradually that the Danes were driven back so that the Saxons could return to their old seats across the Elbe. But the Germans were also harassed by the Danes from a different quarter; bands of northern pirates landed continually on the coasts of Friesland and penetrated far into Saxony and Lorraine.
[934-936 A.D.]
The Danes seem often to have been overpowered, since we learn that in 931 Henry baptised the kings of the Abodriti and of the Danes. But the struggle was not ended. Therefore, the old hero rose once again at the end of his life and led his army across the boundaries of the Danes (934). Their king, Gorm the Old, although he was skilled in many battles as a successful fighter, and had first united the kingdom of the Danes on the islands in Skane and Jutland, yet did not dare to meet the conqueror of the Hungarians in an open battle. He sued for peace and promised to accept any conditions. Henry re-established the old boundaries of the empire, by giving the abandoned districts as a fief to Saxon warriors; he gave these northern districts a similar military organisation to the marks captured from the Wends. The districts between the Eider, the Treene, and the Schlei, called later the mark of Schleswig, remained in the German Empire until Conrad II, nearly a hundred years later, ceded to the Danes the land as far as the Eider. This cession seemed to be favoured by circumstances, but it was not a fortunate act, since it displaced the boundaries which Charlemagne had established and Henry had restored.b
The same year (934 A.D.) a friendly meeting took place between him and the kings of France and Burgundy on the Char, a tributary of the Maas. Henry afterwards planned a visit to Rome, but died without accomplishing that project (936 A.D.), when at the height of his splendour and renown. He was buried at Quedlinburg, his favourite residence.e
FOOTNOTES
[140] [The form “Louis” is very commonly met with, but we prefer the German.]
[141] [i.e. Emperor Ludwig II; Louis le Débonnaire being the emperor Ludwig I.]
[142] Bertha, the wife of Adalbert (who was blindly guided by her), a woman of an intriguing disposition, was the daughter of Lothair II and of Waldrada. Her first husband was Theobald, count of Arles, by whom she had Hugo, afterwards king of Italy. Sigonius relates the manner in which all the intrigues of those times in Italy and Burgundy were conducted by this woman.
[143] He took the latter prisoner in a stable, and said to him, “Your wife would have made of you either a king or an ass, now you have become the latter.”
[144] [Known to Germans as Heinrich der Vogler.]
CHAPTER VIII
OTTO THE GREAT AND HIS SUCCESSORS
[936-1024 A.D.]
THE CORONATION OF OTTO (936 A.D.)
[936-938 A.D.]
In the summer of 936 the leading men of the secular and clerical ranks assembled at Aachen to elect a king. Times had changed decidedly since the year 619, when Henry I received the crown. At his election only the Frankish duke Eberhard with his vassals and the archbishop Heriger of Mainz had appeared, besides the Saxon nobility. The whole kingdom took part in Otto’s election; all the German dukes, the archbishops, and probably a great many other high clerical and secular dignitaries proceeded to Aachen. The Saxon lords who had already decided in favour of Otto accompanied him thither; as he approached, those who had already gathered in the city went out to meet him and brought him back in a triumphal procession. The election took place in the celebrated palace of Charlemagne. Between the castle and the court chapel (the beautiful church of the Virgin) was an open colonnade through which the great emperor had often passed on his way to church. In this place the secular lords chose Otto for their king; he seated himself here and at once caused them to bring him their homage; they placed their hands in his and swore to support him against the enemy. Otto then, in company with the princes, proceeded to the church of the Virgin, the much admired chapel of Charlemagne, which was built in the form of an octagon, in part from antique marble columns. Since the ground space would accommodate only a limited number of persons, a great many had mounted to the circular gallery-like passages above, in order to view the festive proceedings from there. There had been a quarrel among the archbishops at first as to which of them should crown the new ruler; finally it was agreed that this honour should fall to Hildebert of Mainz on account of the peculiar dignity of his person. The archbishop conducted Otto into the middle of the chapel and then turned to the audience: “See,” he said, “I lead before you the new king, who has been selected by God, appointed by King Henry, and now chosen by all the princes, if this choice pleases you, so manifest it by raising the right hand.” Thereupon the congregation raised their right hands and showed their assent by a loud cry of acclamation. The archbishop then led the new king to the altar upon which were the insignia of kingly office—the sword with the girdle, the purple robe, the bracelets, the staff, the sceptre, and the crown. He then turned to Otto and presented him with the insignia of power, together with many pious admonitions. “Receive this sword,” said he, “in order with it to drive out all the enemies of Christ, the heathen, and all bad Christians, since God has given thee dominion over the Frankish realm in order to make of it a sure refuge for Christendom.” After Otto had received the other royal insignia, accompanied with similar pious expressions, the archbishop of Mainz anointed him, being assisted by the archbishop Wikfried of Cologne, put the crown on his head, and conducted him to the throne, which was placed between the marble columns of the church of the Virgin. When the service was concluded the new king proceeded with the secular and clerical lords to the banquet which had been prepared in the palace of Charles the Great. The four dukes of the kingdom, Giselbert of Lorraine, Eberhard of Franconia, Hermann of Swabia, and Arnulf of Bavaria, had charge of the coronation festivities; they also waited on the king personally at the banquet as vassals were accustomed to wait on their feudal lord on especially ceremonious occasions.b