Otto the Great
912 – 973 · 61 years · Magdeburg · Europe
Reign: 936 – 973 (Holy Roman Empire & Austria)
King of East Francia from 936, he routed the Magyars on the Lech in 955 and was crowned emperor in Rome by Pope John XII in 962 — the coronation usually taken as the birth of the Holy Roman Empire.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 10th century
Portrait: Artwork: Creators of the Chronicle of Bishop Otto of Freising… · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Hugh Capet — founder of the Capetian dynasty, 28 years younger
- Æthelstan — first king of all England, victor at Brunanburh, 18 years older
- Edgar the Peaceful — king of a peaceful united England and patron of monastic reform, 31 years younger
- Otto II — emperor wed to the Byzantine Theophanu, defeated by the Arabs in Calabria, 43 years younger
- Edward the Elder — Alfred's son who won back East Anglia and Mercia from the Danes, 38 years older
Eastern Europe & Russia
- Vladimir the Great — Grand Prince of Kiev, 48 years younger
- Olga of Kiev — grand princess of Kiev, 8 years younger
- Igor of Kiev — prince of Kiev killed by the Drevlians over a second tribute, 34 years older
- Sviatoslav I — Grand Prince of Kiev, warrior, 30 years younger
- Yaropolk I — prince of Kiev who fell in a civil war with his brother Vladimir, 43 years younger
Middle East
- Ferdowsi — Persian poet, 28 years younger
The world in their lifetime
- c. 939 Eldgjá eruption — aged 27, Europe
- 946 Millennium Eruption of Mount Paektu — aged 34, Asia
- c. 950–1250 Medieval Warm Period — aged 38, Americas
- 960 Founding of the Song dynasty — aged 48, Asia
- 962 Coronation of Otto I — aged 50, Europe
- 966 Baptism of Poland — aged 54, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 969 Founding of Cairo — aged 57, Africa
- 972 Al-Azhar Mosque opens — aged 60, Africa