In January 2025, a major programme of conservation and research began on the tomb of Otto the Great in Magdeburg Cathedral as serious deterioration had been discovered
Author: medieval .eu
Did Otto the Great Die from a Stroke?
Not only do we possess what is likely an eyewitness account from AD 973 of the death of Emperor Otto the Great, but recent studies of his remains might fit the description.
From meat and milk to sheep and grain
New research traces a millennium of changing animal husbandry and cereal production in medieval England
Pox on the Sheep…
Medieval parchment tells a story of how murrains among sheep must have been recurring scourges, threatening the livelihoods of peasants and lords alike.
Otto the Great
German historians of the 19th and early 20th centuries claimed that Otto the Great (912–973) was responsible for consolidating Germany as a nation. Modern historians tell a more nuanced story.
The Emperor’s Marble
Was the great antique marble slab covering Otto the Great’s tomb brought from Ravenna as imperial spolia – and chosen to evoke the world of Charlemagne?
Memleben – a Royal and Monastic Centre in 10thcentury Germany
Memleben, one of the royal centres in Ottonian Germany is located at the river Unstrut. Founded in the 8th century, its heyday fell in the late 10th century, when the last Ottonians briefly planned to turn the place into a memorial shrine for their dynasty