(1854–1921) Henry became Duke of Saxony after his father's death in 912. An able ruler, he continued to strengthen the position of his duchy within the weakening kingdom of
East Francia, and was frequently in conflict with his neighbors to the South in the
Duchy of Franconia. On 23 December 918
Conrad I, king of East Francia and Franconian duke, died. Although Henry had rebelled against Conrad I between 912 and 915 over the lands in
Thuringia, Conrad recommended Henry as his successor. Kingship now changed from the Franks to the
Saxons, who had suffered greatly during the conquests of Charlemagne and were proud of their identity. Henry, as Saxon, was the first non-Frank on the throne. Conrad's choice was conveyed by his brother, duke
Eberhard III of Franconia at the
Imperial Diet of
Fritzlar in 919. The assembled Franconian and Saxon nobles elected Henry to be king with other regional dukes not participating in the election. Archbishop Heriger of
Mainz offered to
anoint Henry according to the usual ceremony, but he refused – the only king of his time not to undergo that rite – allegedly because he wished to be king not by the church's but by the people's acclaim. Henry, who was elected to kingship by only the Saxons and Franconians at Fritzlar, had to subdue the other dukes. Duke
Burchard II of Swabia soon swore fealty to the new king, but when he died, Henry appointed a noble from Franconia to be the new duke. Duke
Arnulf of Bavaria, lord over a realm of impressive extent, with
de facto powers of a king and at times even named so in documents, proved a much harder nut to crack. He would not submit until Henry defeated him in two campaigns in 921. , built around 1530 at the legendary place of the king's bird trapping In the short remnant of a more lengthy text, "
Fragmentum de Arnulfo duce Bavariae (
de)", the author gives a very lively impression of the disconcert Henry's claims caused in Bavaria: The piece abruptly starts with a clause. It relates that Henry I (
Saxo Heimricus), following the advice of an unnamed bishop, had invaded the Bavarian kingdom (
regnum Baioariae) in a hostile way. Decidedly, it hints at the unlawfulness of this encroachment, namely in that
Bavaria was a territory in which none of Henry's forefathers had ever possessed even a foot (gressum pedis) of land. This was also the reason – by God's will (Dei nutu) – for him having been defeated in this first campaign. This can be seen as proof that Henry did campaign against Bavaria, and Arnulf, more than once. In the second chapter, the unknown chronicler hints that Henry's predecessor on the throne,
Conrad I, had also invaded Bavaria in an equally unlawful and hostile (non regaliter, sed hostiliter) fashion. Conrad is said to have marauded through the land, murdering and pillaging, having made many children orphans (orphanos) and women widows (viduas).
Ratisbon, the duke's seat, was set to light and looted. After Conrad committed all these crimes (peccatis), it reports that divine providence (divino nutu) forced him to withdraw. The reason for this is not mentioned. The last section is a eulogy to Duke Arnulf who is described as a glorious leader (gloriosus dux), being blessed by heaven (ex alto) with all kinds of virtues, brave and dynamic. He alone had saved his people from the scourge of the Saxons (de sevienti gladio paganorum) and given them back their freedom. This panegyric to the Bavarian duke is unparalleled for its time and underlines his position of power in the southeast of the East Frankish realm, so endangered by disintegration, so that "Arnulf ... nearly [found] the same resonance in the scarce historiography of his time, as did King Henry". Henry besieged Arnulf's residence at Ratisbon and forced the duke into submission. Arnulf had crowned himself as king of Bavaria in 919, but in 921 renounced the crown and submitted to Henry while maintaining significant autonomy and the right to mint his own coins. In his time, the king was considered
primus inter pares (first among equals). The king and princes formulated policies together and the position of the monarchy could only be consolidated gradually. Even under Otto the Great and later monarchs, consensus building would remain important.
Wars over Lotharingia In 920, the king of
West Francia,
Charles the Simple, invaded and marched as far as
Pfeddersheim near
Worms, but retreated when he learned that Henry was organizing an army. On 7 November 921, Henry and Charles met and concluded the
Treaty of Bonn, in which Henry was recognized as the east Frankish king and Charles rule in Lotharingia was recognized. Henry then saw an opportunity to take
Lotharingia when a civil war over royal succession began in West Francia after the coronation of King
Robert I. In 923 Henry crossed the Rhine twice, capturing a large part of the duchy. The eastern part of Lotharingia was left in Henry's possession until October 924. In 925 Duke
Gilbert of Lotharingia rebelled. Henry invaded the duchy and besieged Gilbert at
Zülpich (Tolbiac), captured the town, and became master of a large portion of his lands. Allowing Gilbert to remain in power as duke, Henry arranged the marriage of his daughter Gerberga to his new vassal in 928. Thus he brought that realm, which had been lost in 910, back into the kingdom as the fifth stem duchy.
Wars with Magyars The threat of Magyar raiders improved his situation, as all the dukes and nobles realized that only a strong state could defend their lands against barbarian incursions. In 919 Henry was defeated by the Magyars in the
Battle of Püchen, hardly escaping from being killed in battle, managing to take refuge in the town of Püchen. In 921 the
Magyars once again invaded East Francia and Italy. Although a sizable Magyar force was defeated near
Bleiburg in the Bavarian
March of Carinthia by Eberhard and the Count of Meran and another group was routed by
Liutfried, count of Elsass (French reading:
Alsace), the Magyars continued raiding East Francia. Henry, having captured a Hungarian prince, managed to arrange a ten-year truce in 924, though he agreed to pay annual tribute. By doing so he and the dukes gained time to build new fortified towns and to train a new elite cavalry force. Henry built fortified settlements as a defense against Magyar and Slav invaders. In 932 Henry refused to pay the annual tribute to the Magyars. When they began raiding again, Henry, with his improved army in 933 at the
Battle of Riade, crushed the Magyars so completely that they never returned to the northern lands of Henry's kingdom.
Wars with Slavs During the truce with the Magyars, Henry subdued the
Polabian Slavs who lived on his eastern borders. In the winter of 928 he marched against the Slavic
Hevelli tribes and seized their capital,
Brandenburg. He then invaded the
Glomacze lands on the middle
Elbe river, conquering the capital Gana (Jahna) after a
siege, and had a fortress (the later
Albrechtsburg) built at
Meissen. In 929, with the help of Arnulf of Bavaria, Henry entered the
Duchy of Bohemia and forced Duke
Wenceslaus I to resume the annual payment of tribute to the king. Meanwhile, the Slavic
Redarii had driven away their chief, captured the town of
Walsleben and massacred its inhabitants. Counts Bernard and Thietmar marched against the fortress of
Lenzen beyond the Elbe, and, after fierce
fighting, completely routed the enemy on 4 September 929. The
Lusatians and the
Ukrani on the lower
Oder were subdued and made tributary in 932 and 934, respectively. In conquered lands Henry did not create
march administration, which was implemented by his successor Otto I.
Wars with Danes Henry also pacified territories to the north, where the
Danes had been harrying the
Frisians by sea. The monk and chronicler
Widukind of Corvey in his
Res gestae Saxonicae reports that the Danes were subjects of Henry the Fowler. Henry incorporated into his kingdom territories held by the
Wends, who together with the Danes had attacked Germany, and also conquered
Schleswig in 934. ==Family and children==