Edith of England, also spelt Eadgyth or Ædgyth, a member of the House of Wessex, was a German queen from 936, by her marriage to King Otto I.
Henry the Fowler was the Duke of Saxony from 912 and the King of East Francia from 919 until his death in 936. As the first non-Frankish king of East Francia, he established the Ottonian dynasty of kings and emperors, and he is generally considered to be the founder of the medieval German state, known until then as East Francia. An avid hunter, he obtained the epithet "the Fowler" because he was allegedly fixing his birding nets when messengers arrived to inform him that he was to be king.
The Ottonian dynasty was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman Emperors named Otto, especially its first Emperor Otto I. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin in the German stem duchy of Saxony. The family itself is also sometimes known as the Liudolfings, after its earliest known member Count Liudolf and one of its most common given names. The Ottonian rulers were successors of the Germanic king Conrad I, who was the only Germanic king to rule in East Francia after the Carolingian dynasty and before this dynasty.
Year 938 (CMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.
Hugh the Great was the duke of the Franks and count of Paris. He was the most powerful magnate in France.
The Duchy of Saxony was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and incorporated into the Carolingian Empire (Francia) by 804. Upon the 843 Treaty of Verdun, Saxony was one of the five German stem duchies of East Francia; Duke Henry the Fowler was elected German king in 919.
Conrad I, called the Younger, was the king of East Francia from 911 to 918. He was the first king not of the Carolingian dynasty, the first to be elected by the nobility and the first to be anointed. He was chosen as the king by the rulers of the East Frankish stem duchies after the death of young King Louis the Child. Ethnically Frankish, prior to this election he had ruled the Duchy of Franconia from 906.
Eberhard III, a member of the Conradine dynasty, was Duke of Franconia, succeeding his elder brother, King Conrad I, in December 918. From 926 to 928, he also acted as ruler of Lotharingia.
Conrad, called the Red, was Duke of Lorraine from 944 until 953. He became the progenitor of the Imperial Salian dynasty.
Otto, called the Illustrious by later authors, was a notable member of the Ottonian dynasty and Duke of Saxony from 880 until his death in 912. He played an important role in early medieval history of Germany during the 9th and 10th centuries, known for his military campaigns and diplomatic efforts.
Henry I, a member of the German royal Ottonian dynasty, was Duke of Bavaria from 948 until his death.
Gero I, sometimes called the Great, was a German nobleman who ruled an initially modest march centred on Merseburg in the south of the present German state of Saxony-Anhalt, which he expanded into a vast territory named after him: the marca Geronis. During the mid-10th century, he was the leader of the Saxon Ostsiedlung.
Liutgard of Saxony was Queen of East Francia from 876 until 882 by her marriage with King Louis the Younger.
Wichmann I the Elder was a member of the Saxon House of Billung. He was a brother of Amelung, Bishop of Verden, and Herman, Duke of Saxony.
Thankmar was the eldest son of Henry I of Germany by his first wife, Hatheburg of Merseburg. His mother had been previously married and widowed, after which she entered a convent. Because she left the convent to marry Henry, her second marriage was considered invalid and the couple split. Thankmar's legitimacy was, therefore, in question.
The Battle of Andernach, between the followers and the opponents of King Otto I of Germany, took place on 2 October 939 in Andernach on the Rhine river and ended with a decisive defeat of the rebels and the death of their leaders.
Otto I, known as Otto the Great or Otto of Saxony, was East Frankish (German) king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the eldest son of Henry the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim.
Odo of Wetterau was a prominent German nobleman of the 10th century.
The Battle of Wels was fought between a joint Bavarian–Carantanian army and a Hungarian force near Wels in the Traungau, on the plain of the Welser Heide, nowadays a part of Austria. The battle took place at the height of the Hungarian invasions of Europe. The Bavarians and Carantanians were victorious under the command of the Bavarian leader Berthold. The victory is mentioned widely in contemporary histories, in Widukind of Corvey's Deeds of the Saxons, in Hermann of Reichenau's Chronicon and by Adalbert of Weissenburg in his continuation of the Chronicon of Regino of Prüm. It is also mentioned in the Annals of Saint Gall, the Annals of Salzburg and the Annals of Magdeburg, and in the necrology of Freising Cathedral.
Ansfried or Ansfrid, was a 10th-century count, who held 15 counties in Lotharingia, a former kingdom which contained the low countries and Lorraine, and which was coming under the control of the new Holy Roman Empire during his lifetime. He is sometimes referred to as "the elder" in order to distinguish him from his nephew, and apparent heir, Bishop Ansfried of Utrecht, who was also a powerful count until he became a bishop.
