Otto spent most of his early life in England and France. He was a follower of his uncle Richard the Lionheart, who made him Count of Poitou in 1196. With Richard's support, he was elected King of Germany by one faction in a disputed election in 1198, sparking ten years of civil war. The death of his rival, Philip of Swabia, in 1208 left him sole king of Germany.
In 1209, Otto marched to Italy to be crowned emperor by Pope Innocent III. In 1210, he sought to unite the Kingdom of Sicily with the Empire, breaking with Innocent, who excommunicated him. He allied with England against France and participated in the alliance's defeat at Bouvines in 1214. He was abandoned by most of his supporters in 1215 and lived the rest of his life in retirement on his estates near Brunswick. He was the only German king of the Welf dynasty.
Career
Early life
Otto was the third son of Henry the Lion, Duke of Bavaria and Duke of Saxony, by his wife Matilda of England.[2] His exact birthplace is not given by any original source.[3][4] He grew up in England[5] in the care of his maternal grandfather, King Henry II of England. Otto was fluent in French as well as German.[6] He became the foster son of his maternal uncle King Richard I of England. In 1190, after he left England to join the Third Crusade, Richard appointed Otto as Earl of York. This grant's authenticity (or authority) was doubted by the vassals of Yorkshire, who prevented Otto from taking possession of his earldom.[7] Still, he probably visited Yorkshire in 1191,[6] and he continued to claim the revenues of the earldom after becoming king of Germany, although he never secured them.[8] Neither did he succeed in getting the 25,000 silver marks willed to him by his uncle in 1199.[9]
In 1195, Richard began negotiations to marry Otto to Margaret, daughter and heir presumptive of King William the Lion of Scotland.[10][9][11]Lothian, as Margaret's dowry, would be handed over to Richard for safekeeping and the counties of Northumberland and Cumberland (Carlisle) would be granted to Otto and turned over to the king of Scotland. The negotiations dragged on until August 1198, when the birth of a son and heir to William rendered them unnecessary. Having failed to secure Otto an English earldom or a Scottish kingdom in September 1196, Richard, as duke of Aquitaine, enfeoffed Otto with the county of Poitou.[10] There is some disagreement over whether Otto received Poitou in exchange for or in addition to the earldom of York.[6]
Otto was in Poitou from September 1196 until mid-1197, when he joined Richard in Normandy to confer over the appointment of bishops to the vacant sees of Poitiers, Limoges and Périgueux. He then participated in the war against Philip II of France on the side of Richard. In October, he returned to Poitou. The German historian Jens Ahlers, considering Otto's life before 1198, believes that he might have been the first foreign king of Germany.[6][12]
After the death of Emperor Henry VI, the majority of the princes of the Empire, situated in the south, elected Henry's brotherPhilip king in March 1198, after receiving money and promises from Philip in exchange for their support.[13] But those princes opposed to the Hohenstaufen dynasty decided, on the initiative of Richard of England, to elect instead a member of the House of Welf. Otto's elder brother, Henry, was participating in the Crusade of 1197 at the time, and so the choice fell to Otto. Otto, soon recognized throughout the northwest and the lower Rhine region,[5] was elected king by his partisans in Cologne on 9 June 1198.[5]
Otto took control of Aachen, the place of coronation, and was crowned by Archbishop Adolf of Cologne on 12 July 1198.[5] This was of great symbolic importance, since the archbishop of Cologne alone could crown the king of the Romans.[13] The coronation was done with fake imperial regalia, because the actual materials were in the hands of the Hohenstaufen.[14]
Otto's election pulled the empire into the conflict between England and France. Philip had allied himself with the French king, Philip II, while Otto was supported at first by Richard I, and after he died in 1199 by his brother John.[15]
The papacy meanwhile, under Innocent III, determined to prevent the continued unification of Sicily and the Holy Roman Empire under one monarch[16] seized the opportunity to extend its influence. Therefore, Innocent III favoured Otto, whose family had always opposed the house of Hohenstaufen.[2] Otto also seemed willing to grant any demands that Innocent would make. The confusion in the empire allowed Innocent to drive out the imperial feudal lords from Ancona, Spoleto, and Perugia, who had been installed by Emperor Henry VI.[17]
At the same time, Innocent encouraged the cities in Tuscany to form a league, called the League of San Genesio, against imperial interests in Italy. The cities placed themselves under Innocent's protection.[17] In 1201, Innocent announced that he recognized Otto as the only legitimate king. In return, Otto promised to support the pope's interests in Italy. Otto also had the support of Ottokar I of Bohemia, who, although at first siding with Philip of Swabia, eventually threw in his lot with Otto.[18] Otto's cause was further strengthened by the support of Valdemar II of Denmark. Philip achieved a great deal of success in the civil war that followed, allowing him in 1204 to be again crowned king, this time by the archbishop of Cologne.[18]
In the following years, Otto's situation worsened because, after England's defeat by France, he lost England's financial support. Many of his allies changed sides to Philip, including his brother Henry. Otto was defeated and wounded in battle by Philip on 27 July 1206, near Wassenberg, and as a consequence, he also lost the support of the pope, who began to favour the apparent winner in the conflict.[citation needed] Otto was forced to retire to his possessions near Brunswick, leaving Philip virtually uncontested as German king.[19]
Innocent III forced the two warring parties into negotiations at Cologne, and in exchange for renouncing his claim to the throne, Philip promised Otto the hand of his daughter Beatrix in marriage, together with the Duchy of Swabia and an enormous dowry.[15] Otto refused, and as the civil war was again about to recommence, Philip was murdered on 21 June 1208.
After Philip's death, Otto made amends with the Staufen party and became engaged to Philip's daughter Beatrix.[20] In the 1208 imperial election in Frankfurt on 11 November 1208, he gained the support of all the electoral princes, as he promised he would not make hereditary claims to the imperial crown on behalf of any children he might father.[18] Now fully reconciled with Innocent, Otto made preparations to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor. To secure Innocent's support, he promised to restore to the Papal States all territory that it had possessed under Louis the Pious, including the March of Ancona, the Duchy of Spoleto, the former Exarchate of Ravenna, and the Pentapolis.[20]
Travelling down via Verona, Modena, and Bologna, he eventually arrived at Milan, where he received the Iron Crown of Lombardy and the title of King of Italy in 1208. He was met at Viterbo by Pope Innocent and was taken to St. Peter's Basilica, where he was crowned emperor by Pope Innocent on 4 October 1209,[21] before rioting broke out in Rome, forcing Otto to abandon the city.[22]
Conflict with Innocent III
Not content with his successes so far, Innocent also obtained from Otto further written concessions to the Papal See,[citation needed] including allowing all elections of German bishops to be conducted according to Church ordinances and not to prevent any appeals to Rome.[20] He also promised to hand over to the church all income from any vacant sees that had been flowing into the imperial treasury.[20]
After abandoning Rome, Otto marched north, reaching Pisa by 20 November. Here, probably advised by Peter of Celano and Dipold, Count of Acerra,[23] he was convinced to abandon his earlier promises. Otto immediately worked to restore imperial power in Italy.[24] After his consecration by the pope, he promised to restore the lands bequeathed to the church by the countess Matilda of Tuscany nearly a century before and not to move against Frederick, King of Sicily.[25] He quickly broke all his promises.
He threw out the papal troops from Ancona and Spoleto, reclaiming the territory as imperial fiefs. He then demanded that Frederick of Sicily do homage for the duchies of Calabria and Apulia, and when Frederick refused to appear, Otto declared those fiefs forfeited.[25] Otto then marched on Rome. He commanded Innocent to annul the Concordat of Worms and to recognise the imperial crown's right to make nominations to all vacant benefices.[25]
Such actions infuriated Innocent, who promptly excommunicated Otto on 18 November 1210.[26][27] Subsequently, he tried to conquer Sicily,[28] which was held by the Staufen king Frederick, under the guardianship of Innocent III. Parallel to this, the German nobility grew increasingly frustrated with Otto. They felt that instead of wasting his time in Italy and playing power politics with the pope, it was his first duty to defend the northern provinces of the empire against Valdemar II of Denmark, who had taken advantage of Otto's distractions by invading the northern provinces of the empire and possessing the whole Baltic coast from Holstein to Livonia.[25] So while Otto was in southern Italy, several princes of the empire, including the archbishops of Mainz and Magdeburg,[29] at the instigation of King Philip II of France and with the consent of the pope, elected Frederick King of the Romans at the Diet of Nuremberg in 1211.[30]
Otto's ambassadors from Milan appeared before the Fourth Lateran Council, pleading the case for his excommunication to be lifted.[27] Although he claimed he had repented for his offences and declared his willingness to be obedient to the Pope in all things, Innocent III had already recognised Frederick as emperor-elect.[27]
Otto returned to Germany to deal with the situation, hopeful of salvaging something from the looming disaster.[29] He found most of the German princes and bishops had turned against him and that Frederick, who had made his way up the Italian peninsula, had avoided Otto's men who were guarding the passes through the Alps and had arrived at Constance.[29] Otto soon discovered that after Beatrix died in the summer of 1212 and Frederick arrived in Germany with his army in September 1212, most of his former Staufen supporters deserted him for Frederick, forcing Otto to withdraw to Cologne.[29] On 5 December 1212, Frederick was elected king for a second time by a majority of the princes.[31]
The support that Philip II of France gave to Frederick forced King John of England to throw his weight behind his nephew, Otto. The destruction of the French fleet in 1213 by the English saw John begin preparations for an invasion of France; in this, Otto saw a way of both destroying Frederick's French support and bolstering his prestige.[31] He agreed to join John in the invasion, and in February 1214, as John advanced from the Loire, Otto, together with the Count of Flanders, was supposed to make a simultaneous attack from Flanders. Unfortunately, the three armies could not coordinate their efforts effectively. It was not until John, who had been disappointed in his hope for an easy victory after being driven from Roche-au-Moine, had retreated to his transports that the Imperial Army, with Otto at its head, assembled in the Low Countries.[32]
On 27 July 1214, the opposing armies suddenly discovered they were close to each other, on the banks of the little river Marque (a tributary of the river Deûle), near the Bridge of Bouvines. Philip's army numbered some 15,000, while the allied forces possessed around 25,000 troops; the armies clashed at the Battle of Bouvines. It was a tight battle, but it was lost when Otto was carried off the field by his wounded and terrified horse, causing his forces to abandon the field.[33] It is said that Philip II had sent to Frederick the Imperial Eagle, which Otto had left lying on the battlefield.[31]
Because Otto was forced again to withdraw to his private possessions around Brunswick,[34] this defeat allowed Frederick to take Aachen and Cologne,[31] and so Otto was deposed in 1215.[35] His cause of death is disputed, with some claims that he died of disease at Harzburg castle on 19 May 1218, requesting that he be mortally expiated in the atonement of his sins. However, Historian Kantorowicz described the death as gruesome: "deposed, dethroned, he was flung full length on the ground by the Abbot, confessing his sins, while the reluctant priests beat him bloodily to death with rods. Such was the end of the first and last Welf Emperor."[36]
↑ Although Frederick II was crowned King of the Romans, King of Sicily, King of Jerusalem and Holy Roman Emperor, he was never crowned King of Italy at Pavia, Monza or Milan during his lifetime – see Sismondi's History of the Italian Republics in the Middle Ages, (1906), pp. 143, 147; and Kington-Oliphant's, History of Frederick the Second, Emperor of the Romans, Vol I, (1862), p. 195, which specifically state that the Milanese refused to crown Frederick with the Iron Crown. Neither is his coronation as King of Italy mentioned in any modern source, such as Abulafia's, The New Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. V: c. 1198 – c. 1300, (1999)
↑ The Catholic Encyclopedia Kampers, Franz (1911). "Otto IV". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.11. New York: Robert Appleton Company. gives his birthplace as Argentan in Normandy, which was one of the royal courts of Matilda's father, Henry II of England. This is based upon Otto's birthdate being circa 1182, and placing it during his father's exile from Germany at the court of his father-in-law.
↑ Alexander, Michael (1998). Three crises in early English history: personalities and politics during the Norman Conquest, the reign of King John, and the Wars of the Roses. Lanham, Md: University Press of America. p.123. ISBN9780761811886.
The Hohenstaufen dynasty, also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynasty's most prominent rulers – Frederick I (1155), Henry VI (1191) and Frederick II (1220) – ascended the imperial throne and also reigned over Italy and Burgundy. The non-contemporary name of 'Hohenstaufen' is derived from the family's Hohenstaufen Castle on Hohenstaufen mountain at the northern fringes of the Swabian Jura, near the town of Göppingen. Under Hohenstaufen rule, the Holy Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent from 1155 to 1268.
Pope Innocent III, born Lotario dei Conti di Segni, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 until his death on 16 July 1216.
Frederick Barbarossa, also known as Frederick I, was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 1152. He was crowned King of Italy on 24 April 1155 in Pavia and emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155 in Rome. Two years later, the term sacrum ("holy") first appeared in a document in connection with his empire. He was later formally crowned King of Burgundy, at Arles on 30 June 1178. He was named Barbarossa by the northern Italian cities which he attempted to rule: Barbarossa means "red beard" in Italian; in German, he was known as Kaiser Rotbart, which in English means "Emperor Redbeard." The prevalence of the Italian nickname, even in later German usage, reflects the centrality of the Italian campaigns under his reign.
Year 1198 (MCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.
Lothair III, sometimes numbered Lothair II and also known as Lothair of Supplinburg, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 until his death. He was appointed Duke of Saxony in 1106 and elected King of Germany in 1125 before being crowned emperor in Rome. The son of the Saxon count Gebhard of Supplinburg, his reign was troubled by the constant intriguing of the Hohenstaufens, Duke Frederick II of Swabia and Duke Conrad of Franconia. He died while returning from a successful campaign against the Norman Kingdom of Sicily.
Frederick II was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jerusalem from 1225. He was the son of Emperor Henry VI of the Hohenstaufen dynasty and Queen Constance of Sicily of the Hauteville dynasty.
Philip of Swabia, styled Philip II in his charters, was a member of the House of Hohenstaufen and King of Germany from 1198 until his assassination.
Conrad, a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was the only son of Emperor Frederick II from his second marriage with Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem. He inherited the title of King of Jerusalem upon the death of his mother in childbed. Appointed Duke of Swabia in 1235, his father had him elected King of Germany and crowned King of Italy in 1237. After the emperor was deposed and died in 1250, he ruled as King of Sicily until his death.
Constance was Holy Roman Empress from 1191 to 1197 as the wife of Emperor Henry VI and Queen of Sicily from 1194 until her death in 1198. As queen regnant of Sicily, she reigned jointly with her spouse and later with her infant son, the future Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. She is particularly notable for her actions against her own family, the Norman kings of Sicily; she played an important role in the end of the Hauteville presence in Sicily.
Ottokar I was Duke of Bohemia periodically beginning in 1192, then acquired the title of King of Bohemia, first in 1198 from Philip of Swabia, later in 1203 from Otto IV of Brunswick and in 1212 from Frederick II. He was an eminent member of the Přemyslid dynasty.
The Golden Bull of Sicily was a decree issued by the King of Sicily and future Emperor Frederick II in Basel on 26 September 1212 that confirmed the royal title obtained by Ottokar I of Bohemia in 1198, declaring him and his heirs kings of Bohemia. The kingship signified the exceptional status of Bohemia within the Holy Roman Empire.
Henry (VII) (1211 – 12 February 1242), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Sicily from 1212 until 1217 and King of Germany (formally Rex Romanorum) from 1222 until 1235, as son and king, co-ruler of Emperor Frederick II. He was the seventh Henry to rule Germany, but in order to avoid confusion with the Luxembourg emperor Henry VII, he is usually numbered Henry (VII).
Adolf of Altena, Adolf of Berg or Adolf of Cologne, was Archbishop of Cologne from 1193 to 1205.
Albert I of Käfernburg was Archbishop of Magdeburg from 1205 until his death.
Beatrice or Beatrix of Swabia, a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was Holy Roman Empress and German Queen in 1212 as the first wife of the Welf emperor Otto IV. She was also the shortest-serving Holy Roman Empress, dying three weeks into her marriage.
Maria of Brabant, a member of the House of Reginar, was Holy Roman Empress from 1214 until 1215 as the second and last wife of the Welf emperor Otto IV.
Conrad of Scharfenberg was a German cleric who became bishop of Speyer and later, simultaneously, bishop of Metz (1212–1224). He came from a family of knights who served the Holy Roman Empire from the area around Trifels Castle. His family castle was Scharfenburg.
The Crusade of 1197, also known as the Crusade of Henry VI or the German Crusade, was a crusade launched by the Hohenstaufen emperor Henry VI in response to the aborted attempt of his father, Emperor Frederick I, during the Third Crusade in 1189–90. Thus the military campaign is also known as the "Emperor's Crusade".
Henry VI, a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Germany from 1169 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 until his death. From 1194 he was also King of Sicily.
The German throne dispute or German throne controversy was a political conflict in the Holy Roman Empire from 1198 to 1215. This dispute, between the House of Hohenstaufen and the House of Welf, was over the successor to Emperor Henry VI, who had just died. After a conflict lasting 17 years, the Hohenstaufen Frederick II prevailed.
References
Abulafia, David, The New Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. V: c. 1198 – c. 1300, Cambridge University Press, 1999
Bryce, James, The Holy Roman Empire, 1913
Comyn, Robert. History of the Western Empire, from its Restoration by Charlemagne to the Accession of Charles V, Vol. I. 1851
Dunham, S. A., A History of the Germanic Empire, Vol. I, 1835
Huffman, Joseph Patrick (2000). "Richard the Lionheart and Otto IV: Itinerant Kingship and the City of Cologne". The Social Politics of Medieval Diplomacy: Anglo-German Relations (1066–1307). University of Michigan Press. pp.133–77.
Murray, Alan (1994). "Richard the Lionheart, Otto of Brunswick and the Earldom of York: Northern England and the Angevin Succession, 1190–91". Medieval Yorkshire. 23: 5–12.
Deed by Otto IV for Salem Abbey, 14 July 1209, "digitalised image". Photograph Archive of Old Original Documents (Lichtbildarchiv älterer Originalurkunden). University of Marburg.
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