empire in the north. It is probable that political instabil-
ity in Italy made Otto decide to stay closer, where he
could intervene effectively in affairs. Naturally enough,
this made him very unpopular with the Romans, who
revolted in early 1001, besieging Otto for a time in his
own palace. Otto sent for more troops and was preparing
an attack on Rome at the time of his death.
The earlier Ottonians had ruled almost entirely by
means of continual travel throughout their realm. The
decision to reside in a permanent capital thus marked
another new departure. It forced Otto to develop a larger
bureaucracy and enabled him to acquire a larger and
more glittering court. For a time Otto’s aunt, Abbess
Mathilda of Quedlinburg, acted as regent in Germany,
but after her death the emperor relied ever more on
bishops to perform the work of government, laying the
groundwork for the “imperial Church system” of the
late Ottonians and Salians. In Rome itself, Otto created
a hierarchy of court offi cials, elaborate by German stan-
dards, most of whom had Greek titles in emulation of the
Byzantine court. Otto also insisted on a higher degree
of ceremony than had been known to earlier German
rulers, modeled on Byzantine practice.
Otto clearly saw his role as emperor in terms of
leadership over the Christian world, assuming the titles
“servant of Jesus Christ,” and “servant of the apostles.”
This strong development of the imperial idea was
already visible in 996 with Otto’s appointment of the
fi rst German pope; after Gregory V’s death in 999, the
emperor continued his effort to control the papacy by
appointing his former tutor Gerbert of Aurillac, who
took the name Sylvester II. The two cooperated closely,
even declaring the Donation of Constantine to be invalid,
Otto appears to have been personally pious; he was close
to both St. Nilus and St. Romuald of Ravenna; Bruno of
Querfurt claims that the emperor even swore an oath to
abdicate and retire to the wilds of Poland as a hermit.
While this is unlikely, Otto did take very seriously his
duty toward the church. In 1000 he made a pilgrimage to
the tomb of the martyred Bishop Adalbert of Prague in
Gniezno, arranging at that time for Gniezno to become
the archbishopric of Poland. He went on from there to
Aachen, where he had Charlemagne’s grave opened,
taking the pectoral cross from the body. Certainly this
was in part the effort of an upstart Ottonian to associate
himself with the prestige of the Carolingian dynasty. It
is very likely that the tomb opening was also the fi rst
step in a project to canonize Charlemagne, perhaps the
best example of Otto III’s belief in the divine nature of
the empire (imperium). He also planned to continue the
family alliance with the Byzantine emperors, arranging
to marry the porphyrogenita (female successor) Theo-
dora, but she arrived in Italy only at about the time of
Otto’s death.
Otto III’s history, though, is one of largely unrealized
potential. He died unexpectedly on January 24, 1002,
at the age of twenty-one.
See also Charlemagne; Otto II;
Romuald of Ravenna, SaintFurther Reading
Althoff, Gerd. Otto III. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchge-
sellschaft, 1996.
Beumann, Helmut. Die Ottonen. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1987.
Leyser, Karl J. Medieval Germany and Its Neighbours 900–1250.
London: Hambledon, 1982.
Phyllis G. JesticeOTTO IV (1175/1182–May 19, 1218)
Emperor and sometime ally of Pope Innocent III
(1198–1216), Otto’s reign was a time of chaos after
the premature death of Henry VI. Leader of the Welf
house and son of Henry the Lion, Otto was involved
in a civil war for control of the empire with candidates
of the rival Hohenstaufen house, Philip of Swabia and
Frederick II. The struggle for control of the imperial
crown had international implications and involved the
princes of Germany, the kings of England and France,
and the pope. Otto would ultimately lose the struggle to
maintain control of the empire to Frederick.
The unexpected death of Henry in 1197 left the em-
pire in a diffi cult situation because his heir, Frederick,
was only three years old. It also offered the papacy the
opportunity to break free from encirclement by the
Hohenstaufen, an opportunity Innocent would exploit
by playing one side against the other in the civil strife in
Germany or by acting as referee between them. The situ-
ation was complicated by shifting alliances both inside
and outside the empire. Frederick was fi rst supported by
the Staufen, including his uncle, Philip of Swabia. But
Philip, motivated by the activities of forces opposed to
his family, presented himself as king and was crowned at
Mainz in September 1198. He also revived the alliance
between his family and the Capetian dynasty, headed
by Philip Augustus, to improve his position in Germany
and Europe. The anti-Staufen forces inside Germany,
supported by King Richard I of England, did not stand
idly by but promoted a Welf candidate. The eldest son
of Henry the Lion was still on crusade, and therefore the
younger son, Otto, became the anti-Staufen candidate.
Otto, who had been raised at the court of his uncle,
Richard I, and had been made count of Poitou and duke
of Aquitaine in 1190 and 1196, respectively, made the
most of his opportunity. He was crowned before Philip
by the proper ecclesiastic, the archbishop of Cologne,
and in the right place, Aachen. His election also carried
great weight because he was elected by those tradition-
ally empowered to choose the king. Indeed, the natureOTTO IV