Otto was ready now to give his attention to Italian affairs. Adelaide, the beautiful young widow of the son of King Hugh of Provence, had refused to marry Adalbert, the son of Berengar II., King of Lombardy, hence was cast into prison and cruelly treated. She escaped with the aid of the Bishop of Reggio and appealed to the mighty German sovereign for deliverance.[393:1] Otto, touched with chivalrous sympathy, and seeing an opening for the realisation of imperial ambitions, marched with a great force into Lombardy (951). Berengar was forced to hold his kingdom as a vassal of the German crown. Otto, a widower at this time, then married his fair protégée. Civil war in Germany compelled him to give up his journey to Rome, however, and instead to return home. Otto's son, Ludolph, who feared that his father's recent marriage with the fair widow might deprive him of the German crown, plotted with the old Archbishop of Mainz and discontented German nobles, to secure the throne. The resulting war involved the whole kingdom and shook Otto's power and ability to the roots. The approach of a common foe, however, the terrible Magyars, led the nation to rally around Otto. In the decisive battle of Lechfeld (955) the Huns were effectively checked and began to settle the lands which they still occupy.[393:2] Otto was now unquestionably the most powerful monarch in Europe. Such rulers as Louis IV. of France and the King of Burgundy sought his friendship and aid. His own people began to call him "The Great." The way seemed to be open at last for the realisation of Otto's imperial dreams. He was a descendant of Charles the Great in the female line. He was the complete master of a large part of the Empire with the northern capital in it. He had already taken the crown of Lombardy. On the battlefield of Lechfeld (955) his victorious troops saluted him as "Imperator Augustus, Pater Patræ."[394:1] He had likewise proved himself a most worthy champion of the Church by allowing the Church to crown him; by enriching the German Church, giving it a better organisation, and subjecting it to his will; and by labouring zealously to convert the heathen on his borders.[394:2] Italian affairs called him thither a second time. Berengar after recovering his throne was ruling as a tyrant in the north and had violated a portion of the patrimony of St. Peter. Mohammedan corsairs were devastating the south. The rest of Italy was full of anarchy and desolated by the feuds of a crowd of petty nobles most of whom were scrambling for the imperial crown. A row of inferior Popes had brought the Papacy itself into disrepute. Thus the solicitations of his family, the approval of his people and nobles, the cry of the oppressed Italians, the expectation of the nobility, and the request of Pope John XII. and influential churchmen, all impelled him to realise his own wish.