of his election was of great importance to Innocent, who
would involve himself in the succession crisis because
of the close ties of empire and papacy and because of
papal claims to superior jurisdiction. Innocent, suspi-
cious of the Hohenstaufen family and fearful of their
territorial gains in northern and southern Italy, came
to support Otto. This was critical to the king’s success
because his situation in Germany was weak despite
having been elected by the right people and crowned
in the right place, and because his greatest international
ally, Richard, died in early 1199. To maintain papal
support, Otto made important territorial concessions to
the pope in Italy.
Otto’s diffi culties did not end, however, even though
he had papal support, which was reinforced by Otto’s
concessions. Despite his excommunication, Philip man-
aged to increase his power in Germany in the opening
decade of the thirteenth century. He managed to increase
support among the bishops of the empire, including the
very important archbishop of Cologne, Adolf. Perhaps
motivated by hostility to Rome, many princes also came
to support Philip. By 1207 the papal curia had come to
support Philip’s claim to the imperial dignity and king-
ship in Germany, and in the following year the pope
himself recognized Philip as king. Negotiations over
territory in Italy and the imperial coronation were held
between Philip and the pope, but they made little head-
way before Philip was murdered by Otto of Wittelsbach
over Philip’s broken engagement to Otto’s daughter.
In 1208, fortunes once again turned for Otto, and he
now received widespread support in Germany. He was
elected king by the German princes a second time in
November in Frankfurt and was victorious over French
attempts to establish a rival king. To further strengthen
his position in Germany, Otto was betrothed to Philip’s
daughter Beatrix. He was then crowned emperor by
Innocent in Rome in October 1209, after renewing his
promises to respect papal territory in Italy and also to
refrain from intervening in Sicilian affairs.
Otto’s success, however, seems to have gotten the
better of him and, following the advice of his minis-
terials, he decided to extend his authority in Italy. He
sought to expand his rights into papal lands, and thus
alienated an important ally and created a dangerous op-
ponent, Innocent. He further raised the ire of the pope
by occupying Tuscany and invading the Hohenstaufen
kingdom of Sicily. His invasion and conquest of Sicily
in November 1210 led to the very encirclement by a
German ruler that Innocent had struggled to prevent.
Otto’s actions also led Innocent to excommunicate the
emperor in the autumn of 1210, and in the spring of
1211 Innocent released Otto’s vassals from their oaths
to the emperor.
Otto’s diffi culties were not limited to the opposition
from the pope. To secure his position in Germany, Otto
married Beatrix in 1212, but she died shortly after their
marriage. He faced revolts in northern Italy, where op-
position to German domination had existed for more
than a generation, and in Germany, where the nobility
had been released from their obligation of loyalty by
the pope. He faced a rival king because Frederick fol-
lowed him to Germany, where the princely opposition
to Otto, with papal support, crowned Frederick king at
Mainz. Frederick was able to gain a solid foothold in
southern Germany, thus undermining Otto’s authority
and blocking his access to Italy. And both Frederick
and Otto benefi ted from their alliances with the kings
of France and England.
Otto’s alliance with King John, however, would
prove his undoing. Fearing that Philip Augustus would
take English territory in France, John invaded with his
nephew and ally Otto, who hoped to weaken French
support for his Hohenstaufen rival. First John was
defeated on the Loire and then, on July 27, 1214, Otto
was disastrously defeated at the Battle of Bouvines. His
supporters melted away after the defeat, and Frederick
went on the offensive in the empire, imposing himself
on Otto’s remaining allies. Otto was formally deposed
the following July and was confi ned to his personal lands
in Brunswick until his death on May 19, 1218.
See also Frederick II; Henry the Lion; Innocent
III, PopeFurther Reading
Abulafi a, David. Frederick II: A Medieval Emperor. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1988.
Duby, Georges. The Legend of Bouvines: Wa r, Religion and Cul-
ture in the Middle Ages, trans. Catherine Tihanyi. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1990.
Haverkamp, Alfred. Medieval Germany, 1056–1273. 2d ed.,
trans. Helga Braun and Richard Mortimer. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1992.
Michael FrassettoOTTO OF FREISING (ca. 1112–1158)
The most important historian of the twelfth century,
Otto of Freising was well placed to write his works of
history. He was born into the most prominent families
in the empire and was related to the imperial Salian and
Staufen lines. His father was Leopold III of Austria and
his mother was Agnes, daughter of Henry IV and whose
fi rst husband was Frederick I, duke of Swabia. Otto was
thus half brother of Conrad III and uncle of Frederick
I Barbarossa. His ecclesiastical career began while he
was still a child, when he became provost of the house
of canons at Klosterneuburg (near Vienna). In 1127 or
1128, Otto journeyed to France to study with the great
masters at Paris, including Hugo of St. Victor, Gilbert
de la Porrée, and, probably, Peter Abelard. He left ParisOTTO IV