Key Figures in Medieval Europe. An Encyclopedia

in 1133 and on his way home joined the Cistercian
abbey at Morimond. He was later elected bishop of
Freising, before the canonical age and as the result of
family infl uence. He participated in the Second Crusade
(1147—1148) and, while en route to a Cistercian general
chapter, died in Morimond in 1158.
Otto is best known for two historical works, The Two
Cities and The Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa. The fi rst
of the two, is the more pessimistic but also the more
philosophical work. Written between 1143 and 1146,
The Two Cities is a world chronicle that tells the tale
of salvation history that was heavily infl uenced by the
work of St. Augustine. The fi rst seven books outline the
history of the world from creation to 1146. Otto’s history
describes the struggles of good and evil and praises the
monks, the true representatives of the City of God on
earth. The Two Cities also is a history of the translatio
imperii, describing the transfer of universal power from
the Greeks to the Romans to the Franks and ultimately
to the Germans. It was in the Christian empire of the
Germans that Otto saw the possibility of the existence of
the City of God on earth, but the troubled times facing
the empire from the time of Henry IV to Conrad III left
him with little hope. The eighth, and fi nal, book of The
Two Cities is thoroughly eschatological and describes
the coming of Antichrist, the Final judgment, and es-
tablishment of the heavenly Jerusalem. Otto’s somber
perspective is not continued, however, in his other great
work, The Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa. Completing

the fi rst two books before his death in 1158, Otto fol-

lowed the plan outlined in a letter requested by Otto from

his sponsor, Barbarossa himself. The fi rst book details

the events of the tumultuous reigns of Barbarossa’s pre-

decessors, and the second describes the fi rst four years of

the reign of Barbarossa, a time of peace and glory for the

empire. Although Deeds overlooks matters unfavorable

to the Staufen line, misrepresents the state of the realm

at Barbarossa’s ascension, and overstates his successes

in Italy, it remains the most important source for events

in the early years of Barabarossa’s reign.

See also Frederick I Barbarossa;

Henry IV Emperor

Further Reading

Otto of Freising. Chronica sive Historia de Duabus Civitatibus,

ed. A. Hofmeister. Monumenta Germaniae Historica Scrip-

tores Rerum Germanicarum 40. Hannover: Hahn, 1912.

Otto of Freising and Rahewin. Gesta Friderici Imperatoris, ed.

G. Waitz. Monumenta Germaniae Historica Scriptores Rerum

Germanicarum 46. Hannover: Hahn, 1912.

Otto of Freising. The Two Cities, by Otto, Bishop of Freising,

trans. Charles Christopher Mierow. New York: Columbia

University Press, 1928.

Otto of Freising and his continuator, Rahewin. The Deeds of

Frederick Barbarossa, trans. Charles Christopher Mierow

with Richard Emery, 1953; rpt. Toronto: University of Toronto

Press, 1994.

Michael Frassetto

OTTO OF FREISING