OTTO
357
OTTO
border, and the Normans were with difficulty held in
check. She died in 999. The influence of these two
women upon the education of the young liing (who
assumed the government in 994) was not slight. But
two men exercised even greater influence on him:
Johannes Nonentula, a proteg6 of Theophano, and
Bernward of Hildesheim. The austere Bernward
awaliened in him inclinations to fanciful enthusiasm
which coloured his dreams of empire.
Supported by the spiritual princes of the Empire, he marched into Italy. Here he behaved as though the Roman see were a metropolitan bishopric under the Empire. He it was who presided at synods and dared to revoke papal decisions, and who selected the popes. Like Charlemagne, he wa.= convinced of the spiritual character of his imperial dignity, and deduced from this the necessity of setting the empire over the papacy. He raised a German, Bruno, to the Chair of Peter under the name of Gregory V. The new pope crowned Otto emperor 21 May, 996, but he did not act counter to the ancient claims of the Curia, and he emphasized the duties and rights of the popes.
Otto returned to Germany in 996. It was of the greatest consequence that in Bruno the papal throne contained a man who encouraged the ideas of the reform party for purihcation and spiritualization within the Church, and a consequent exaltation of the papacy. Harmonizing with this reform party was the ascetic movement within the Church, whose principal ex- ponent was a native of Southern Italy called Nilus. Among his pupils was the Bohemian, Adalbert, second Bishop of Prague, who was at that time in Rome de- voting himself entirely to mystical and ascetic en- thusiasm. In 996 Otto met this remarkable man whom he succeeded in sending back to his see. As he scrupled returning to Bohemia, he went as mis- sionary to the Prussian country, where he was put to death in 999. The emperor was affected by the gro- tesque piety of this man, and it had aroused ascetic inclinations in him also. Still another person obtained great influence over him: the learned Frenchman, Gerbert, who came to the Imperial court in 997.
In Rome, meanwhile, Crescentius had set up an an- tipope named John XVI and forced Gregory V to flee. In 998 Otto went to Rome, where he pronounced se- vere judgment upon those who had rebelled against his decisions. Gregory died in 999, and the emperor raised his friend Gerbert to the papacy as Sylvester II. He too, followed the ancient path of the Curia, and advocated papal supremacy over all Christendom. How was this consistent and energetic policy of the Curia to aff'ect the youthful emperor's dreams of a fusion of the ideal state with the ideal church in an Augustan Theocracy? The interference with Italian affairs was now to react bitterly upon Germany. In 1000 Otto made a pilgrimage to the tomb of his friend Adelbert at Gnesen, where he erected an archbishopric destined to promote the emancipation of the Eastern Slavonians. He practised mortifications at the tomb of an ascetic, and thrilled with the highest ideas of his imperial dignity, he afterwards caused the tomb of Charlemagne at Aix to be opened. Before long his dreams of empire faded away. Everywhere there was fermentation throughout Italy. Otto, lingering in Rome, found himself, with the pope, obliged to aban- don the city. In Germany the princes united in a national opposition to the imperialism of this capri- cious sovereign. He had few supporters in his plan to reconquer the Eternal City. Only by recourse to arms could his body be brought to Aix, where recently his tomb has been discovered in the cathedral.
WiLMANs, Jahrbilrhtr dc^ Drulxchen Reichea untrr Ottos TTI (Berlin, 1840); Bentzinceh. /;.i< Leben der Kaiserin Addheid, Gemahtin Oltos I., u;,lir,n<l ,lrr li,,}ieruna Olios 7// (Breslau Dis- sertation. 1SS3); Ott'i. P.ipsf (infjor V (Munster Dissertation, 1881): Lux, Papst Sih-fslrr II Binfluss au/ die Polilik Kaiser Olios ///(Breslau, 1808); Voigt, Adalbert I'ori Prag (Berlin, 1898); ScHULTTEsa, Papsl Silvester II als Lehrer und Slaatsmann (Ham-
burg, 1891) : Zharbki, Die Slavenkriege 2ur Zeit Ottos III und die
Pilgerfahrt nach Gnesen (Lemberg, 1882).
F. Kampers.
Otto IV, German king and Roman emperor, b. at Argentau (Dept. of Orne), c. 1182; d. 19 May, 1218; son of Henry the Lion and of his wife Mathilda, daugh- ter of King Henry II of England and sister of Richard Coeur de Lion. In the latter, by whom he was made Earl of March, Otto found a constant support. This connexion of the Guelphs with England encouraged Adolf of Cologne, upon the death of Henry VI and the election of Philip of Swabia by the Hohenstaufens, to proclaim Otto king, which took place in Cologne, on 9 June, 1198. The next aim of Otto was to obtain the confirmation of his position as head of the kingdom. The power of the Hohenstaufens was, however, too great. Otto and his followers hoped that Pope Inno- cent III, who was hostile to the Hohenstaufens, would espouse Otto's cause in the contest for the German throne. Innocent awaited developments. To him the individual was of little importance, his chief solicitude being for the recognition of his right to decide con- tested elections to the German throne, and, in conse- quence, his suzerainty over kingdom and empire. The year 1200 was favourable to Philip. He, however, made the mistake of taking possession of the episcopal See of Mainz in defiance of canonical regulations, whereupon Innocent declared for Otto. The year 1201 marked the beginning of energetic action on the part of the Curia in Otto's behalf. While the papal legate, Guido of Palestrina, constantly gained new friends to Otto's cause, the "sweet youth" {susse junge Mann), as Walther von der Vogelweide calls Philip, remained inactive, protesting the while at the attitude of the pope. When, in 1203, Thuringia and Bohemia also deserted him, Philip's affairs were nearly hopeless. Otto had made the broadest concessions to the Holy See, wishing "to become King of the Romans through the favour of God and the pope". He confirmed the papacy in its secular possessions, relinquished the property of Mathilda of Tuscany, and even guaran- teed to the pope the revenues of Sicily. He resigned all claims to dominion in Italy, promising to treat with the Romans and with the cities of Italy only in concur- rence with the pope. The purpose of Innocent to be- come the overlord of Italy was thus all but accom- plished. The moral results of this great contest for the throne were unfortunate. Princes and bishops shamelessly changed their party allegiance.
In 1204 the scale turned in Philip's favour. This was due to the fact that the whole north-western part of the kingdom became involved in the war for the suc- cession in Holland, and could therefore manifest but little interest in the affairs of the Guelphs. The year 120,5 saw a general desertion from Otto's cause, his do- minion being finally limited to the city of Cologne and his possessions in Brunswick, The Archbishop of Cologne, Adolf, had also gone over to Philip's stand- ard, upon which sentence of excommunication had been pronounced against him. The Diocese of Cologne was then subjected to all the confusion of a schism. In addition the city of Cologne finally fell into the hands of the Hohenstaufens. Without further delay, the pope withdrew his support from the apparently lost cause of the Guelphs, and began negotiations with the Hohenstaufens, in which he was joined by the other cities of Italy. After mutual concessions, the pope promised to acknowledge Philip and to crown him em- peror. When about to deal the last crushing blow to the Guelphs, Philip was murdered by the Count Pala- tine Otto von Wittelsbach at Bamberg, on 21 June, 1208. The princes now rallied round Otto, who had shown his recognition of their right of election by com- ing forward once more as a candidate for the crown. Otto's next step was to take as his wife the daughter of his murdered enemy, which was an added incentive to the Hohenstaufens to yield themselves to his sway.
