Hello and welcome to the history of the Germans, Episode 9, A Matter of Habit.

Last episode, we buried Otto the Great under a simple stone slab in the cathedral of Markdeburg.

In his last waking moments, Otto the Great could look at his succession plan and feel

confident that his son would not have to face as much uncertainty as he did in the first

ten years of his reign.

Otto II had been crowned German king as long ago as 961 and was made co-emperor in

967.

The people spontaneously hailed him emperor again at the funeral of his father.

And crucially, there were no contesting claims for many full or half-brothers.

Otto II only had a sister.

The frontiers in all directions were calm. In the south, the Byzantine Empire had

made peace with the two Ottos and had sent an imperial bride. In the west, the king of France was Otto's

cousin, married to his step-sister, and had sworn fealty to his father. In the north, the king of Denmark had been defeated

ten years ago, and had accepted both Christianity and the Otonians as his overlord. The rulers

of Bohemia and Poland in the east had sworn allegiance to the emperor as recently as the previous

year. But as we will see, even the best laid plans of mice and men

often go awry. Within the next 10 years, Otto will manage to make and lose war on all

frontiers, not I believe because of incompetence, but mainly because he was simply unlucky.

If you are one of those people that believe the universe is in some sort of balance, that makes sense. Otto the Great had

consumed all the luck ever allocated to his family, leaving none at all for his unfortunate son

and grandson. Before we wait through all the misfortune that befalls our new

emperor, it may be time to take stock of the state of his empire in 973. Let's start with a very

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