Part II - King and his Kingdom
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2020
Summary
‘It was Henry I, in my opinion, the star of the purest light in the vast firmament of our past’
‘Long Live Emperor Henry!
Saxony's star’
Now I will discuss the way in which Liudprand depicted the civil wars. Liudprand created an elaborate construction: a comparison between the good German kings, who avoid bloodshed, and others, who pursue it.
Even though there is a difference in how the fights look like – Henry fought no single battle against Christians, while Otto had to wage war – it is not the motif, but the execution that matters. Liudprand used the first rebellion against Otto to show him as a king who never fights. This is followed with the concept that Otto is a God's chosen ruler. He almost constantly either prays for victory, or thanks God for it. The war is thus depicted as a struggle between the rebels and Otto's faith. This element sets Antapodosis apart from other sources about the Ottonian period. Liudprand's story addresses different elements of the perception of the past than Widukind’s, which was more closely connected to the description of campaigns and politics. I will show how these differences play out and how they are accountable by the difference in the concept of each chronicle.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Construction of Ottonian KingshipNarratives and Myth in Tenth-Century Germany, pp. 107 - 108Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2018