Empress Adelheid

Since the Langobards had conquered most of Italy, the accolade of Emperor of Rome had become linked directly to the Iron Crown of the Langobard kings. Usually, kings who had a secure enough grip on Italy would apply to the Pope for the honour. Their application took two forms; either they marched on Rome with their army during a vacancy on the See and installed one of their henchmen as Pope, or they marched their army on Rome and blackmailed the Pope in office.

Adelheid’s marriage to Otto had made Otto King of Italy while making her Queen of Germany. With their realm now stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean, they were obviously in a position to get the imperial crown. Before they could travel to Rome, though, they had to overcome a few minor problems in Germany.

Duke Liudolf of Swabia, the son of Otto and his first Queen Edith of Wessex had tried and failed to reach Italy before his father in a bid to secure the Langobard crown for himself. As heir apparent, the marriage of Otto and Adelheid was a direct threat to his succession, as a son of that union would have much better claims on Italy than he himself had. He staged a rebellion against Otto, but lost while being pardoned. He was stripped of his duchy of Swabia in favour of Adelheid’s half-brother and was sent to cool his heels on the estates he and his wife had inherited from their mothers.

Otto now tackled the Magyars to the east to secure the border against their constant incursions. He met finally handed them a crushing defeat on the Lechfeld. But while his eyes were turned east, Adelheid’s and his good friend Margrave Berengar, regent in Italy, staged a revolt there. Liudolf was recalled, installed as regent in Italy, and started to clear up the mess. But after a few months he fell ill and died.

Otto and Adelheid took things now into their own capable hands and went into Italy with a vast army. They apprehended Berengar and his family. Berengar and his sons were exiled to Germany while his wife Willa was sent into a convent. Having the army handy anyhow, they proceeded on Rome to have a friendly chat with the Pope while rattling their swords. They were crowned as Emperor and Empress and thereby founded what was to become known as the Holy Roman Empire of German Nations.

The coronation might sound quite commonplace, but in fact it was an extraordinary event. No empress before her had been crowned; they had been empress by dint of their marriages to emperors. The coronation of Adelheid was the acknowledgement of the enormous political power she held and wielded.