Otto's reign is usually divided into three periods: • The years of
Regency Council: 1832–1835 • The years of
absolute monarchy: 1835–1843 • The years of
constitutional monarchy: 1843–1862 The
Bavarian advisors were arrayed in a Regency Council, headed by Count
Josef Ludwig von Armansperg, who, in Bavaria as minister of finance, had recently succeeded in restoring Bavarian credit, at the cost of his popularity. Von Armansperg was the President of the Privy Council and the first representative (or Prime Minister) of the new Greek government. The other members of the Regency Council were
Karl von Abel and
Georg Ludwig von Maurer, with whom von Armansperg often clashed. After the king reached his majority in 1835, von Armansperg was made Arch-Secretary, but was called Arch-Chancellor by the Greek press. , as laid down in the treaty of 1832 (in dark blue) Britain and the
Rothschild bank, who were underwriting the Greek loans, insisted on financial stringency from Armansperg. The Greeks were soon more heavily taxed than under Ottoman rule; as the people saw it, they had exchanged a hated
Ottoman rule for government by a foreign
bureaucracy, the "Bavarocracy" (Βαυαροκρατία). In addition, the regency showed little respect for local customs. As a
Catholic, Otto himself was viewed as a heretic by many pious Greeks; however, his
heirs would have to be
Orthodox, according to the terms of the 1843 Constitution.King Otto brought his personal brewmaster with him, Herr Fuchs, a Bavarian who stayed in Greece after Otto's departure and introduced Greece to beer, under the label "
Fix". Popular heroes and leaders of the Greek Revolution, such as generals
Theodoros Kolokotronis and
Yannis Makriyannis, who opposed the Bavarian-dominated regency, were charged with treason, put in jail and sentenced to death. They were later pardoned under popular pressure, while Greek judges who resisted Bavarian pressure and refused to sign the death warrants (
Anastasios Polyzoidis and
Georgios Tertsetis, for instance), were praised as heroes. Otto's early reign was also notable for his moving the capital of Greece from
Nafplio to
Athens. His first task as king was to make a detailed archaeological and topographic survey of Athens. He assigned
Gustav Eduard Schaubert and
Stamatios Kleanthis to complete this task. At that time, Athens had a population of roughly 4,000–5,000 people, located mainly in what today covers the district of
Plaka in
Athens. which was established after the enthronement of Otto in 1833 Athens was chosen as the Greek capital for historical and sentimental reasons, not because it was a large city. At the time, it was a town consisting of only 400 houses at the foot of the
Acropolis. A modern city plan was laid out, and public buildings erected. The finest legacy of this period are the buildings of the
University of Athens (1837, under the name Othonian University), the
Athens Polytechnic University (1837, under the name Royal School of Arts), the
National Gardens of Athens (1840), the
National Library of Greece (1842), the
Old Royal Palace (now the Greek Parliament Building, 1843), the
National Observatory of Athens (1846) and the
Old Parliament Building (1858). Schools and hospitals were established all over the (still small) Greek dominion. Due to the negative feelings of the Greek people toward non-Greek rule, historical attention to this aspect of his reign has been neglected. During 1836–37, Otto visited Germany, marrying the 17-year-old
Duchess Amalia (Amelie) of Oldenburg (21 December 1818 to 20 May 1875). The wedding took place not in Greece but in
Oldenburg, on 22 November 1836; the marriage did not produce an heir, and the new queen made herself unpopular by interfering in the government and maintaining her
Lutheran faith. Otto was unfaithful to his wife, and had an affair with
Jane Digby, a notorious woman his father had previously taken as a lover. Due to his having overtly undermined the king, Armansperg was dismissed from his duties by King Otto immediately upon his return from Germany. However, despite high hopes on the part of the Greeks, the Bavarian
Rudhart was appointed chief minister, and the granting of a
constitution was again postponed. Otto's attempts to conciliate Greek sentiment through efforts to enlarge the frontiers of his kingdom, for example by the suggested acquisition of
Crete in 1841, failed in their objective and only succeeded in embroiling him in conflict with the Great Powers. ==Parties, finances and the church==