The Ottonians, the tenth-century dynasty that ruled East Francia, had strong women supporting their kings and emperors, their dukes and bishops. These women commanded the support of the great lords of the realm, governed abbeys, ruled as regents, and were largely responsible for dynastic continuity, often outliving their husbands, brothers, and sons by decades. This article will explore some of the dynamics of communications and power with respect to Ottonian women – both the means of political communication that Ottonian women had at their disposal and were able to exploit for their own goals and purposes, and the elements of their culture that communicated to others that they had been vested with power and authority. Some means were part of the official personae and functions of the royal women, such as diplomata that were produced by the royal chancery and might include transactions such as the conferral of immunities, foundations, and benefices. However there were also other ways by which they influenced events in their tumultuous political world. These women demonstrated the ability to intelligently use the resources at their disposal to exert pressure on specific people, to accomplish political goals, and to manipulate events to their advantage. It is the ability to engage in this kind of manoeuvring that is perhaps implied when contemporary writers such as Widukind of Corvey describe ‘the strength of the singularly prudent queen’ Adelheid, wife of Otto I, and speak of Henry of Bavaria's wife Judith as ‘a woman distinguished by her beauty, and exceptional for her intelligence’. Adalbert of Magdeburg credits Adelheid with escaping captivity ‘by her own cleverness’. Thietmar of Merseburg qualifies his observation that Theophanu, wife of Otto II, was ‘of the fragile sex’ by clarifying that she ‘terrified and conquered rebels’ during her regency of Otto III, which she oversaw with ‘manly watchfulness’. These words of admiration about women in the Ottonian orbit reflect the respect that they commanded, and hint at their capabilities and talents in engaging in the complex political landscape they inhabited. The title of this piece, ‘Communications and Power’, is borrowed from the title of a two-volume collection of essays by Karl Leyser, one of which deals with the Carolingians and Ottonians.