Saxon hero. Father of Otto I, defeated Magyars, added Schleswig to German Reich. Seems a sympathetic character, but did not try to change Germany from a confederation to a nation.
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Not ostensibly, at least. But his refusal to be anointed & crowned was a deliberate move to placate the Princes and make them believe he wasnt going to try what Conrad I did. He then promptly invaded Swabia & Bavaria & forced their submission.
But unlike later kings, including his son, he didnt spend alot of time in the other Duchies, and again, I think this was to humor the Princes.And that "he did not try to change Germany from a confederation to a nation" was maybe true only on the surface. He certainly laid the groundwork for his son to do exactly that, and when he summoned the Princes to elect Otto, it was another deliberate move to make them think that they had a choice. But despite the electoral principle, his house ruled Germany for over a century.
So I think Otto's coronation, during which the great Dukes were made to serve as his household officers, put the cap on Henry's achievement. He had indeed changed Germany from a loose tribal confederation to the strongest kingdom in the West.
Although I admit that circumstances favored both Henry & Otto. In many ways, the Hungarian invasions played right into their hands and united the Duchies in a way that may have been impossible otherwise.