Otto I the Great 539women were found in the boat, once believed to be
Queen Asa, grandmother of King Harald I Fairhair
(r. 880–930), and her maidservant. However, the ship is
too old for that. The Oseberg find and ship are sometimes
called the grandmother of the Norwegian nation.
See also GOKSTAD SHIP; SHIPS AND SHIPBUILDING;
SUTTONHOO.
Further reading: Anton W. Brögger and Haakon
Shetelig, The Viking Ships: Their Ancestry and Evolution,
trans. Katherine John (1953; reprint, London: C. Hurst,
1971); Else Roesdahl, The Vikings,2d ed., trans. Susan M.
Margeson and Kirsten Williams (1987; reprint, London:
Penguin Books, 1998).
Osman I (Uthman, Othman, Osman Gazi)(ca. 1254–
ca. 1326)Ottoman sultan, considered the founder of the
Turkish state
Osman I was a Turkish chieftain, born in ANATOLIAas the
son of a certain Ertugrul or Ertoghrïl. He inherited a small
principality founded by the SELJUKsultans of Konya in
Anatolia. Osman was a member of the Gazis, frontier Turk-
ish fighters. One of their duties was to ravage countries of
the infidels who resisted them. After succeeding his father
about 1283 as emir, he built a powerful army and consoli-
dated his principality during the disintegration of the
Seljuk power in Anatolia. He attacked his Byzantine neigh-
bors, gradually extending his control over several CASTLES
in the area. In 1290 he started calling himself sultan of the
TURKS. In 1304 he attempted to conquer Gallipoli but was
decisively defeated by the Catalan Company.
Back in Anatolia and avoiding battle, he continued to
increase his territories at the expense of the BYZANTINE
EMPIRE. The strategic city of Bursa was captured around
the time of his death in 1326. It became the stepping
stone for the OTTOMANS’ crossing into Europe. His suc-
cesses drew more Turkish immigrants to his territory. The
Turkish state, adopting his name, became known as the
Osman or Ottoman realm.
Further reading: Halil Inalcik, An Economic and
Social History of the Ottoman Empire, 1300–1914(Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994); Norman
Itzkowitz, Ottoman Empire and Islamic Tradition(1972;
reprint, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980);
Rudi Paul Lindner, Nomads and Ottomans in Medieval
Anatolia(Bloomington: Research Institute for Inner Asian
Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, 1983); Paul
Wittek, The Rise of the Ottoman Empire(1938; reprint,
New York: Burt Franklin, 1971).
Ostrogoths(East Goth, Goths of the rising sun,
Greutungs) In the third and the fourth centuries, the
Ostrogoths, the eastern branch of the GOTHS, seemed to
have detach themselves from the VISIGOTHS. As a confed-
eration they lived in the region between the Don and
Dneister Rivers along the BLACKSEA. They were a people
well experienced in arms and in combat on horseback.
The HUNSsubjugated them in 375–376 and forced them
to accompany their raids as far west as Gaul. On the
death of ATTILAin 451 the Ostrogoths were settled by the
Romans as federates or allies in PANNONIAand Noricum,
just north of the Balkans.
After 473, they moved south into the Balkans, and
under the leadership of THEODORICthey settled in Moesia.
The Byzantine emperor Zeno (r. 474–491) adopted
Theodoric and appointed him military commander for
ITA LY. He was supposed to destroy the power of ODOACER.
Between 489 and 493, Theodoric conquered Italy and
killed Odoacer. His Ostrogoths settled and helped them-
selves to a third of Italian lands and the agrarian yields.
The main cities of their kingdom were RAVENNA, Pavia,
and VERONA. The basis of Theodoric’s state was full Ostro-
goth jurisdiction over their subjects and full responsibility
for their defense. The Romans or Italians maintained
the civil administration and its structures. There was a
difference in religion: The Ostrogoths were Arians but
were initially tolerant of religious difference. There was a
considerable growth in tension near the end of the reign
of Theodoric, mostly due to Byzantine intrigue.
On Theodoric’s death in 526, the emperor JUSTINIAN
decided to restore Byzantine control. This led to the long
and devastating Gothic Wars between 535 and 553. The
Ostrogoths, despite their strong resistance, especially
under TOTILA, were ultimately completely defeated.
Under Ostrogoth rule, Italy had enjoyed a period of peace
and prosperity despite religious and political tensions
between the Ostrogoths and their Roman subjects. It had
a sound COINAGEand was well administered and blessed
with impressive building projects.
See also ARIANISM;BELISARIUS;BOETHIUS,ANICIUS
MANLISTORQUATUS SEVERINUS; CASSIODORUS, SENATOR;
CLOVIS;PROCOPIUS OFCAESAREA;TOTILA,KING OF THE
OSTROGOTHS.
Further reading:Cassiodorus, The Variae of Magnus
Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator,trans. S. J. B. Barnish (Liver-
pool: Liverpool University Press, 1992); Jordanes, The
Gothic History of Jordanes, ed. Charles Christopher
Mierow (Cambridge: Speculum Historiale, 1960); Peter
Amory, People and Identity in Ostrogothic Italy, 489–554
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997); Thomas
S. Burns, A History of the Ostrogoths(Bloomington: Indi-
ana University Press, 1984); Walter A. Goffart, Barbarians
and Romans, A.D. 418–584: The Techniques of Accommoda-
tion(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1980).Othman Ibn Affan SeeUTHMAN IBNAFFAN.Otto I the Great (912–973)founder of the first Reich
and the kingdom of Germany
Born November 23, 912, Otto was the eldest son of
the duke of SAXONYand future emperor, Henry I the