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Otto had a most definite view on kingship. He saw himself as a successor to Charlemagne and the Caesars. Before Otto, his father has regarded himself as a German king, who was only first among equals. His son had a very different concept of his role and he did not see himself as a king but as an Emperor. He had a most definite view of feudalism and the Emperor saw the nobility as his vassals who owed him absolute obedience. Otto had close contact with the court of Byzantium and he was influenced by the political theory of this Empire. Like the Byzantine Emperor, he saw himself as an absolute monarch and only answerable to God. This also had important repercussions for his relationship with the Papacy.  He saw himself like the Byzantine Emperor as head of the Church, who had the power to direct and guide the Church and even to appoint bishops, establish Synods and even depose Popes. The Imperial concept of monarchy that was espoused by Otto influenced later Emperors' conception of their role<ref>Boyd, p. 117</ref>. Because of Otto they did not see themselves as German monarchs but as Emperors who had a special role. This was not a view shared by many nobles and it led to endemic tensions between the Emperors and the aristocracy for centuries. Otto was crucial in the development of the institution and ideology of the Holy Roman Emperor. As a result, he is the first Holy Roman Emperor.