We are starting in the year 919 AD. Things are not going well. The mighty empire of Charlemagne has fallen apart. What we have instead are a multitude of puny kingdoms. Their feeble rulers are being pushed around by formidable barons. The frontiers are breached. In the north the Vikings and Danes are ransacking towns and villages along the coasts and even deep inland. In the east the Slavs are burning Hamburg. And in the south the most terrifying of them all, the Magyars, a steppe tribe like the Huns and the Mongols, are marauding all the way from Bavaria to Northern Spain.
One of those crumbling kingdoms was East Francia covering most of what is today West Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Its ruler, Konrad, was the last king who traced his claim back to Charlemagne himself, though it was by adoption only. After 8 years of fruitless civil and foreign wars, Conrad, exhausted and disillusioned, gave up and died. For six months the throne remained vacant.
By rights, the crown should have gone to the West Francian King Charles the Simple as the most senior member of the Carolingian family. However, the four German dukes of Franconia, Swabia, Bavaria, and Saxony agreed on one thing and one thing only, that Charles should not be king.
Ruling Charles out left only three credible contenders, Eberhard of Franconia, brother of the deceased king Konrad, Arnulf of Bavaria, and Henry of Saxony. Burkhard of Swabia was otherwise occupied in his own little civil war.
Eberhard held the greatest of the four duchies and was the closest blood relative of the last ruler, so by all accounts he ought to succeed him.
According to the chronicles, Konrad on his deathbed beseeched his brother Eberhard not to take the reign but to offer it to Henry, duke of Saxony. And it says that Eberhard dutifully travelled to Henry’s castle at Quedlinburg to present him with the crown. There he found Henry more interested in his favourite pastime, catching songbirds – hence his nickname “the Fowler”- rather than in pursuing power.
That story is in equal measure cute as it is made up. Note, there were six months between Konrad’s death and Eberhard’s visit. Even though roads in 10th century Germany were pretty awful he could have made that journey in a lot less than six months. It is more likely that used this time to think through the implications of taking up his brother’s mantle. Objectively the kingdom of East Francia was a hospital pass. The king was expected to use up all his resource
... keep reading on reddit ➡Jason Sehorn
- Triple Jump - 48' 01
- College - Shasta
Mark Bradley
- 300mH - 37.33
- High Jump - 7' 01
- 2000 Arkansas 5A State Champion in 300m Hurdles & High Jump
- 7ft+ Club
Derek Russell
- 110mH - 13.4
- Sub 13.5 Club (HS)
John Henderson
- 120ydH - 14.6
Mike Miller
- 100yd - 9.5
Carl Ward
- 100yd - 9.8
Robert Smith
- 200m - 21.38
- 400m - 46.41
- Triple Jump - 44' 06.75
Lawrence Johnson
- 60yd - 6.2
- 100m - 10.37
- 200m - 20.76
- 220yd - 20.9
- 1976 Big Ten Champion in 60yd
- 1976 Big Ten Champion in 100m & 200m
- 1977 Big Ten Champion in 100m
- College - Wisconsin
Bob Sherman
- 120ydH - 14.9
Leon Burton
- 100yd - 10.1
- 180ydH - 19.1
- 1953 Michigan Class A State Champion in 180yd Hurdles & 880yd Relay
- 1958 & 1957 Border Conference Champion in 100yd
- College - Arizona State
Tyrone Wheatley
- 200m - 21.63
Willmer Fowler
- High Jump - 5' 10.5
Bob Shaw
- Shot Put (HS) - 54' 0
Earl Putnam
- Shot Put (HS) - 54' 03.5
- 1952 Border Conference Champion in Shot Put & Discus
- 1951 Border Conference Champion in Shot Put
- College - Arizona State
John Henry Johnson
- 1953 Border Conference Champion in Shot Put & Discus
- College - Arizona State
Henry Carr
- 100yd - 9.4
- 440yd - 45.49
- 1964 WAC Champion in 100yd & 220yd
- 1963 WAC Champion in 110yd, 220yd, 440yd Relay & Mile Relay
Larry Hendershot
- Shot Put (College) - 54' 10.5
- 1963 WAC Champion in Shot Put
- College - Arizona State
Fair Hooker
- 120ydH - 13.8
- 1968 WAC Champion in 120yd Hurdles
- College - Arizona State
TJ Duckett
- Shot Put (HS) - 64' 0.5
- Michigan Class A State Champion in Shot Put in 1997, 1998 & 1999
- Michigan Class A State Champion in 4x100m in 1997
Its been a rough off season. Pray for me. It probably won’t help
https://history-of-the-germans.captivate.fm/episode/a-new-beginning/
Transcript:
We are starting in the year 919 AD. Things are not going well. The mighty empire of Charlemagne has fallen apart. What we have instead are a multitude of puny kingdoms. Their feeble rulers are being pushed around by formidable barons. The frontiers are breached. In the north the Vikings and Danes are ransacking towns and villages along the coasts and even deep inland. In the east the Slavs are burning Hamburg. And in the south the most terrifying of them all, the Magyars, a steppe tribe like the Huns and the Mongols, are marauding all the way from Bavaria to Northern Spain.
One of those crumbling kingdoms was East Francia covering most of what is today West Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Its ruler, Konrad, was the last king who traced his claim back to Charlemagne himself, though it was by adoption only. After 8 years of fruitless civil and foreign wars, Conrad, exhausted and disillusioned, gave up and died. For six months the throne remained vacant.
By rights, the crown should have gone to the West Francian King Charles the Simple as the most senior member of the Carolingian family. However, the four German dukes of Franconia, Swabia, Bavaria, and Saxony agreed on one thing and one thing only, that Charles should not be king.
Ruling Charles out left only three credible contenders, Eberhard of Franconia, brother of the deceased king Konrad, Arnulf of Bavaria, and Henry of Saxony. Burkhard of Swabia was otherwise occupied in his own little civil war.
Eberhard held the greatest of the four duchies and was the closest blood relative of the last ruler, so by all accounts he ought to succeed him.
According to the chronicles, Konrad on his deathbed beseeched his brother Eberhard not to take the reign but to offer it to Henry, duke of Saxony. And it says that Eberhard dutifully travelled to Henry’s castle at Quedlinburg to present him with the crown. There he found Henry more interested in his favourite pastime, catching songbirds – hence his nickname “the Fowler”- rather than in pursuing power.
That story is in equal measure cute as it is made up. Note, there were six months between Konrad’s death and Eberhard’s visit. Even though roads in 10th century Germany were pretty awful he could have made that journey in a lot less than six months. It is more likely that used this time to think through the im
... keep reading on reddit ➡