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
Category: Medieval Biographies
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.
The Bamberg Shrine – A Royal Gift from Denmark?
Could the Bamberg Shrine have been a diplomatic gift presented to Otto the Great by the emissaries of the Danish king at Quedlinburg in AD 973?
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?
Praise Poem to Aonghas of Islay – Angus Mór of Islay
When Angus’s father died c. 1250, an Irish bard composed a praise poem petitioning the son to pay his father’s debt. The poem offers a vivid account of the cultural inventory of one of the Sea Kings.
Thietmar of Merseburg 975-1018
Thietmar of Merseburg was bishop of the diocese of Merseburg from 1009 to 1018. Famous for his Chronicle, he was one of the most important historians of the Ottonian period
Heinrich II, German King and Holy Roman Emperor 1002 – 1024
Heinrich II (973 (978)-1024) – famous for his foundation of Bamberg – was the last Ottonian to rule Germany and the Holy Roman Empire.
Kunigunde – Ottonian Queen 1002-1024
The 10th-century German queens set their mark on politics in different ways. The last queen, Kunigunde, primarily played the role of dynastic bridgebuilder.
How to Become a King at the Turn of the First Millenium
In 1002, Otto III died at Paterno near Civita in Italy. With no direct descendants, the succession was fraught with tensions. Duke Henry of Bavaria caught the upstream.
Henry II of Germany – an autobiographical text
Following nearly a year of negotiations and wrangling, Henry II finally secured his position as King of Germany in the autumn of 1002. The following text is believed to have been personally dictatated by the King in January 1003 arguing his case
Gilles le Bouvier – French Chronicler from the 15th century
Charles Gilles le Bouvier (1355 - 1456) served as herald to the French King, Charles VII. In this role, he kept up the Grandes Chroniques while authoring several other important historical works.
Isidore of Seville
Isidore of Seville was a renowned scholar, theologian, and archbishop who lived in Visigothic Iberia from around AD 560 to 636. He had a profound influence on education and scholarship in Medieval Europe.
Archbishop Wulfstan of York (c. 946/66 – 1023)
Wulfstan played a significant political role in Anglo-Saxon England at the turn of the first millennium and the events surrounding the political and personal demise of King Æthelred, and the conquest of Sweyn Forkbeard and Cnut the Great
Eric IV – Murdered Danish King c. 1216-1241
August 1250, Eric IV – also known as Eric Ploughpenny – was murdered on a boat and dumped in the firth of Schlei. His death was the culmination of ten years of civil war and the harbinger of a tumultuous period in the medieval history of Denmark.
Theoderic II, Euric, and Vectius – as seen by Sidonius Appolinaris
Theoderic II and Euric were kings of the Visigoths in Toulouse in the second half of the 5th-century. From the letters of Sidonius Appolinaris we possess precious biographical glimpses of these Goths and their counterpoise, Vectius