[2] A key element of Emperor Otto I's domestic policy was to strengthen ecclesiastical authorities at the expense of the nobility who threatened his power.

As protector of the Church he invested them with the symbols of their offices, both spiritual and secular, so the clerics were appointed as his vassals through a commendation ceremony.

Historian Norman Cantor concludes: "Under these conditions clerical election became a mere formality in the Ottonian empire ..."[3] The Bishop of Verdun, appointed by Otto, was totally faithful to the emperor.

[4] In 990 Bishop Haimont ordered the construction of a new cathedral[4] on the Romano-Rhenish plan: a nave, two transepts, two opposing apses, each one flanked by two bell towers.

[2] With the marriage of Philip IV with Joan I of Navarre, the daughter of the Count of Champagne, Lorraine and particularly Verdun become a primary focus for the crown of France.