King Henry GERMANY, I

   Other names for Henry were Heinrich, "The Fowler", GERMANY King, GERMANY Emperor and SAXONY Duke.

   Ancestral File Number: 9HMB-5J. User ID: 484089052/9681791384.

   General Notes:

"The Fowler", Duke of SAXONY Reigned 911/912-918, King of GERMANY Reigned
918/919-936, Founder of Saxon Dynasty (918-1024), Emperor of GERMANY.

BOOKS
Barber Grandparents: 125 Kings, 143 Generations, Ted Butler Bernard and Gertrude Barber Bernard, 1978, McKinney TX, p81: "331L Henry `The Fowler', Emperor of Germany, (S of 319, F of 346); defeated Hungarians in Battle of Keuchesberg; defeated Danes under Gorm; married Matilda, daughter of Theiderich, a Saxon Count."

Wall Chart of World History, Edward Hull, 1988, Studio Editions, Germany Saxon Dynasty 919: "Henry I The Fowler, King of Germany 919-936, Son of Otho Duke of Saxony..."

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1981, Micropaedia, Vol IV, p1022, Henry I the Fowler: "Born Abt 876, Died 2 Jul 936 Memleben Germany, German King and founder of the Saxon dynasty (918-1024) who strengthened the East Frankish, or German, army, encouraged the growth of towns, brought Lotharingia (Lorraine) back under German control (925), and secured German borders against pagan incursions.
"The son of Otto the Illustrious, the Luidolfing Duke of Saxony, Henry became Duke at his father's death (912). His first marriage to Hatheburg, daughter of Erwin, Count of Merseburg, was declared invalid because she had become a nun after her first husband's death. He married matilda, daughter of Dietrich, Count of Westphalia, in 909; their eldest son ruled as the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I the Great (936-973).
"Although at war (912-915) withConrad I of Franconia (German King 903- 918) over the title to lands in Thuringia, Henry received Conrad's deathbed desgnation as heir to the throne. He was elected King of Germany (May 919) by nobles of Saxony and Franconia, two of the four most influential duchies; the other two important duchies, Swabia and Bavaria, did not recognize him as king.
"Henry considered Germany a confederation of duchies rather than a nation. Having complete authority in Saxony and nominal sovereignity in Franconia, he sought to bring Swabia and Bavaria into the confederation. Forcing the submis- sion of Burchard, Duke of Swabia (919), he allowed the Duke to retain control over the civil administration of the duchy. On the basis of an election by Bav- arian and East Frankish nobles (919), Arnulf, Duke of Bavaria, also claimed the throne. In 921, after two military campaigns, the King forced Arnulf to submit and relinquish his claim to the throne, though the Duke retained complete internal control of Bavaria.
"Henry defeated Giselbert, King of Lotharingia, in 925, and that region, which had become independent of Germany in 910, was brought back under German control. Giselbert, who was recognized as Duke of Lotharingia, married the King's daughter Gerberga in 928.
"When the Magyars, barbarian warriors from Hungary, invaded Germany in 924, Henry agreed to pay tribute to them and return a captured Magyar chief in exchange for a nine-year (924-933) cession of raids on German territory. During these years the King built fortified towns and trained the cavalry force he used to defeat various Slavic tribes; he conquered the Hevelli at Brandenburg and the Daleminzi at Meissen in 928 and suppressed a rebellion in Bohemia in 929. The King refused to pay more tribute when the nine-year truce ended in 933. He used his seasoned cavalry to destroy the Magyars, who had resumed their raids, at Riade on 15 Mar 933, and ended their threat tothe German countryside. The King's last campaign, an invasion of Denmark (934), added the territory of Schleswig to the German state.
"The story that Henry received the surname Fowler because he was laying bird snares when informed of hiselection as King is probably a myth."

Vol VIII, p936, Saxon Dynasty: "One of the great ruling houses of Medieval Germany. It came to power when the Liudolfing Duke of Saxony was elected German King as Henry I (later called the Fowler) in 919;and it became extinct when its last male member, Henry II the Saint , died childless in 1024."

The New Columbia Encylopedia, 1975, p1223, Henry I the Fowler: "Born Abt 876, Died 936, German King (919-936), first of the Saxon line; precursor ofthe Holy Roman Emperors. He succeeded his father as Duke of Saxony in 912. A foe of King Conrad I, who futilely tried to subdue the rebellious Henry, he was nevertheless named (918) by Conrad as his successor. Designated King by Saxon and Franconian nobles in 919, Henry refused to be crowned by the bishops, thus maintaining his independence of the church. During his reign he changed his attitude toward the church, probably because of a growing awareness of its political importance.As King he immediately turned to restoring monarchical authority, which had been whittled away by the dukes...Saxon soldiers were trained for mounted combat, and the new efficiency of his army enabled him to take Brandenburg from the Wends. Inthe marches, or frontier regions, Henry built large fortresses, primarily for military purposes; however, he attracted some permanent settlers in these regions...Before his death Henry secured from the nobles the succession of his son as Otto I. The restorer of imperial tradition, Henry was recognized even in his lifetime as founder of a new realm, Germany. His wife, Matilda, founded many monasteries, including Quedlinburg where she lies buried with her husband. She is a saint of theRoman Catholic Church; her feast is March 14."

The Story of Civilization, Will Durant, Vol IV, The Age of Faith, Bk IV, The Dark Ages, Ch XX, The Rise of the North, Sec VI, Germany, p511: "...Conrad I, Duke of Franconis (911-918) spent himself in strife with Duke Henry of Saxony, but had the wit to recommend Henry as his successor. Henry I, called `the Fowler' because of his love of hunting, drove back the Slavic Wends to the Oder, fortified Germany against the Magyars, defeated them in 933, and prepared, by his patient labors, for the achievements of his son."

ANCESTRAL FILE
Ancestral File Ver 4.11 9HMB-5J Henry I GERMANY Emperor Born Abt 884 Mar Maude, 9GW5-ZQ Heinrich I King of GERMANY Born Abt ?1881<881, 9G82-GR Henry GERMANY King Born Abt 873, FLH2-5C Heinrich I Emperor of GERMANY Born Abt 875 Mar Abt ?740 Died 2 Jul 936.

   Marriage Information:

Henry married Hatheburg MERSEBURG before 909.

   Marriage Information:

Henry also married Queen Saint Matilda Westphalia GERMANY, daughter of Count Theodoric RINGLEHEIM and Countess Ludmilla Ragnhildis RINGLEHEIM, about 909. (Queen Saint Matilda Westphalia GERMANY was born about 878-886 in Mensleben, Westphalia, Saxony, Germany, died on 14 May 968 and was buried in Monastery, Quedlinburg, Germany.)