Under Otto the Great, however, the old Empire was to revive and become very active, but on a German foundation. The traditions of the Carolingian house, the Italian puppet Emperors, the Papacy, and the law, philosophy, theology, and education of the day all helped to keep the idea of Empire alive.[391:2] Otto, born in 912, was the son of the Saxon king Henry I. and Matilda, who traced her descent to Charles the Great. He spent his youth at the court and in the wars of his father, and was regarded as haughty, overbearing, and ambitious. He married Edith, the daughter of the King of the Anglo-Saxons (929). When Henry I. died in 936 the nobles and bishops met at Aachen in the old cathedral and formally elected Otto I. as King of Germany. As Otto entered the cathedral a few weeks later to be coronated the Archbishop of Mainz cried out: "The man chosen by God, nominated by our master Henry, and declared king by all the princes." He was then crowned, anointed, and girded with the royal sword by the Archbishop. In the coronation festival that followed the German dukes for the first time acted as the king's servants. The coronation was very significant because it showed Otto's attitude toward the Church, indicated the lofty position of the royal crown and the subjection of the dukes, revealed the possibility of a strong, united German kingdom under right management, and proved the popularity and opportunity of Otto I. as King of the Germans.[392:1] Otto took Charles the Great as his model and sought to transform the loose federal state of his father into a strong, compact monarchy by reducing the power of his vassals. By quelling the various rebellious dukes Otto made them his own appointees, and was recognised as the master of the German nation. The name "Deutsch" began to be applied to his subjects and their tongue. He manifested no less activity in foreign affairs as is shown in his invasion of France to compel homage from Hugh the Great, his son-in-law; in his conquest of the Slavs between the Elbe and the Oder; and in his reduction of the unstable Danes to submission.