Otto (c. 830/851 – 30 November 912), called the Illustrious (German: Otto der Erlauchte) by later authors, was a notable member of the Ottonian dynasty and Duke of Saxony from 880 until his death in 912. He played an important role in early medieval history of Germany during the 9th and 10th centuries, noted for his military campaigns and diplomatic efforts.
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Family
Otto was the younger son of the Saxon count Liudolf (d. 866), the progenitor of the dynasty, and his wife Oda of Gandersheim (d. 913), daughter of the Saxon princeps Billung. Among his siblings were his eldest brother Bruno, heir to their father's estates, and Liutgard, who in 876 became Queen of East Francia as consort of the Carolingian king Louis the Younger. The marriage expressed Liudolf's dominant position in the Saxon lands.
Around 873 Otto himself married Hathui (d. 903), probably daughter of the Frankish princeps militiae Henry of Franconia, a member of the noble house of the Popponids (Elder House of Babenberg). By her he had two sons, Thankmar and Liudolf, who predeceased him, but his third son Henry the Fowler succeeded him as duke of Saxony and was later elected king of East Francia. Otto's daughter Oda married the Carolingian King Zwentibold of Lotharingia, son of Emperor Arnulf.
His family came to be known as the Liudolfinger after his father Liudolf. Upon the accession of his grandson, Emperor Otto the Great, the dynasty came to be referred to as the Ottonian dynasty.
