Ancestral Trails 2016 » HEINRICH von SAXONY I (876-936)

Personal data HEINRICH von SAXONY I 

• He was born in the year 876 in Sachsen, Preussen, Germany.
• Title: Duke of Saxony
• Title: King of the Saxons, Germany and Lorraine
• (Nickname) : Henry The Fowler.
• He died on July 2, 936 in Membleben, Saxony, Germany, he was 60 years old.
• A child of OTTO von SAXONY and HEDWIGA von BABENBERG

Household of HEINRICH von SAXONY I

He is married to MECHTILDE von RINGELHEIM.

They got married in the year 909 at Nordhausen, Saxony, Germany, he was 33 years old.

Child(ren):

1. Heinrich von BAVARIA  916-955 
2. HEDWIGE von SAXONY  910-???? 
3. OTTO von SAXONY  912-973 
4. GERBERGA von SAXONY  913-984 
5. Bruno von SAXONY  925-965

Notes about HEINRICH von SAXONY I

Henry the Fowler (German: Heinrich der Finkler or Heinrich der Vogler; Latin: Henricius Auceps) (876 - 2 July 936) was the Duke of Saxony from 912 and the King of Germany from 919 until his death. First of the Ottonian Dynasty of German kings and emperors, he is generally considered to be the founder and first king of the medieval German state, known until then as East Francia. An avid hunter, he obtained the epithet "the Fowler" because he was allegedly fixing his birding nets when messengers arrived to inform him that he was to be king.

Born in Memleben, in what is now Saxony-Anhalt, Henry was the son of Otto the Illustrious, Duke of Saxony, and his wife Hedwiga, daughter of Henry of Franconia and Ingeltrude and a great-great-granddaughter of Charlemagne, or Charles I. In 906 he married Hatheburg von Merseburg, daughter of the Saxon count Erwin. She had previously been a nun. The marriage was annulled in 909 because her vows as a nun were deemed by the church to remain valid. She had already given birth to Henry's son Thankmar. The annulment placed a question mark over Thankmar's legitimacy. Later that year he married Matilda, daughter of Dietrich, Count in Westphalia. Matilda bore him three sons, one called Otto, and two daughters, Hedwig and Gerberga, and founded many religious institutions, including the abbey of Quedlinburg where Henry is buried. She was later canonized.

As the first Saxon ruler of Germany, Henry was the founder of the Ottonian dynasty of German rulers. He and his descendants ruled Germany, and later the Holy Roman Empire, from 919 until 1024. In relation to the other members of his dynasty, Henry I was the father of Otto I, grandfather of Otto II, great-grandfather of Otto III, and great-grandfather of Henry II. Henry had two wives and at least six children.

With Hatheburg:
Thankmar (908 - 938)
With Matilda:
Hedwig (910 - 965) - wife of the West Frankish Duke Hugh the Great, mother of King Hugh Capet of France
Otto I (912 - 973) - Duke of Saxony, King of Germany, and Holy Roman Emperor
Gerberga (913 - 984) - wife of (1) Duke Giselbert of Lorraine and (2) King Louis IV of France
Henry I (919 - 955) - Duke of Bavaria
Bruno (925 - 965) - Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lorraine

Henry died on 2 July 936 in his palatium in Memleben, one of his favourite places. By then all German peoples were united in a single kingdom. He was buried at Quedlinburg Abbey, established by his wife Matilda in his honor.

His son Otto succeeded him as king, and was crowned Emperor in 962. His second son, Henry, became Duke of Bavaria. A third son, Brun (or Bruno), became archbishop of Cologne. His son from his first marriage, Thankmar, rebelled against his half-brother Otto and was killed in battle in 936. After the death of her husband Duke Giselbert of Lotharingia, Henry's daughter Gerberga of Saxony married King Louis IV of France. His youngest daughter, Hedwige of Saxony, married Duke Hugh the Great of France and was the mother of Hugh Capet, the first Capetian king of France.
SOURCE: Wikipedia

Do you have supplementary information, corrections or questions with regards to HEINRICH von SAXONY I?
The author of this publication would love to hear from you!

Timeline HEINRICH von SAXONY I

Click on the names for more info. Symbols used:  grandparents    parents    brothers/sisters    children