Hello and welcome to the history of the Germans, Episode 5, the father, the son and the

uncle.

Again, thanks a lot for joining me today and I finally make good on my promise of more shenanigans

and why Otto's brother Henry is an even bigger pain when he's with you than when he's against you.

Last time we left the ultimate fairy tale princess, Adelheide, widowed Queen of Italy,

languishing in a damp prison on the Rocca de la Garde.

The man who put her there, Berengar of Ivrea, had meanwhile crowned himself King of Italy and got ready for the things to come.

Adelaide's incarceration created political uproar across Europe. She was related to practically

anyone who was anyone in early medieval Europe. Not only that, she was extraordinarily rich due to the inheritances from her husband,

her father and her mother. And finally, and politically most importantly, as the former queen,

she could confer some legitimacy to whoever wanted to become king of Italy. Though she was not

able to name the future king, in 10th century tradition, a conquering duke

or king would typically marry the wife or daughter of the previous incumbent as some form

of compensation. That was a tried and tested model that drove the marriages of Henry of

Bavaria, Ludolph of Swabia and Louis IV of France.

In other words, anyone who could dislodge Berengar and marry the 19-year-old

and allegedly quite attractive Adelaide would become King of Italy.

That is the kind of offer that brings out the best in men.

The first suitor might have been our friend, Duke Henry of Bavaria, brother of Otto and

Great A Payne in the backside.

Henry controlled two out of the five routes into Italy, the Brenner Pass and the Tawain

pass.

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