OTTO
354
OTTO
berg. His wish to consocnitc a bisliop for Pi)mor;ini:i
was not fulfilled, as the Arehbishops of Ma^ili'l'iirR
anil Gncsen claimed the metropolitan riglils. ( )uly in
1140 was his former companion Adalhi'it confirnu'd
as Bishop of Julin. In IISS the bishoijric was re-
moved to Hammin and made directly subject to the
Holy See. In Bamberg he once more gave himself up
to his duties as bishop and prince and performed them
with great zeal. He kept out of all political turmoil.
In the papal schism of ll.'5()-.'U he tried to remain
neutral. The active, pious, clever bishop was greatly
esteemed by tlie other princes and by Kiiipcror Lutli-
air. He was buried in the monastery of St. Michael in
Bamberg. Bishop Kmbrice of W'iirzburg delivered
the funeral oration and applied to Otto the words of
Jeremias: "The Lord called thy name, a plentifid
olive tree, fair, fruitful, and beautiful." On his mis-
sion journey he is rei)orted to have worked many mira-
cles. Many happened also at his tomb. In 1189 Otto
was canonized by Clement III. His feast is kept on
30 September, partly also on 30 June; in Pomerania
on 1 October.
LoosHORN, Geschichle des Bistums Bambertj. TI (\liniii ],, Isss), 1-368; Jdritsch, Geschichte des Bischofs t>t I ■':■■<,, ri/
(Gotha, 1889); Wiesenkr. Geschichle der rh, /> '- ui
Pommern {Berlin, 1S80); Hauck, Kirchenge.-^rfi , ' ' ■ h r '^ '.'.mis, III (Leipzig, 1903), S71-S7.
Klemens Loffler.
Otto I, THE Gre.\t, Roman emperor and German king, b. in 912; d. at Memleben, 7 May, 973; son of Henry I and his consort Mathilda. In 929 he mar- ried Edith, ihiuglitiT of King Athelstan of England. He succeeiUd llrnry as king in 936. His coronation at Aachen showed that the Carlovin- gian traditions of empire were still in force. Otto pro- jected a strong c e n t r a 1 p o w e r, whii'h was oi)p<ise(l \)\ the derm an spirit of individual- ism. Otto's brother Henryheadedtho.se great insurrection- ary movements which Otto was first obliged to bui>- Otto I, THE Great press. The new
From a print in the British Museum Duke of Bavaria Eberhard, refused to pay homage to the king. Otto subdued Bavaria and bestowed the ducal throne upon Amulf's brother Berthold. This attitude to- wards the ducal, by the royal, power, now for the first time openly assumed, roused strong opposition. The Franks, ancient rivals of the Saxf)ns, resented this absorption of power. The Prankish Duke Eber- hard formed an alliance with Otto's half-brother, Thankmar, and with other disaffected nobles. Otto's younger brother Henry and the unruly Duke Eiselbert of Lorraine raised the banner of insurrection. Agita- tion was stirred up on the Rhine and in the royal Pal- atinate on the Saale. The affair first took a decisive turn when Dukes Eberhard and Giselbert fell in the battle of Andernach. The victory did not, however, result in absolute power. An internecine agitation in Franconia between the lesser nobles and the duchy favoured the king. Henry now became reconciled with his royal brother, but his insincerity was mani- fest when, shortly after, he conspired with the Arch- bishop of Mainz and the seditious border nobles to assassinate Otto. The plot was discovered. In 941 there was a final reconciliation. The monarchic principle had triumphed over the particularism of the nobles, and the way was paved for a reorganization of the constitution. Otto made good use of his success.
The hereditary duchies were filled by men closely con-
nected with the royal house, p'ranconia was held by
Otto in his own possession; Lorraine fell to Conrad the
Red, his son-in-law; his brother Henry received
Bavaria, having meanwhile married .Judith, daughter
of the Bavarian duke; while Swabia was bestowed
upon his son Ludolph. The iiowcr of these dukes
was substantially reduced. Otto was maiiifi'stly en-
deavouring to restore their aiici<'iit ollicial cliaracter
to the duchies. This belittling of their politic;d posi-
tion suited his design to lu.-ike his kingdom more and
more the sole ex]>oneiit of the imjierial idea. It would
ha\(' been a significant, step in the right direction could
he have made it an hereditary monarchy, and he
worked energetically towards this object.
The apparently united realm now reverted to Charlemagne's policies in the regions where he had paved the way. The Southern nices iiromolcd the work of Germanizing and Christianizing in the adja- cent Slav states, and by degrees German infiuence spread to the Oder and throughout Bohemia. The ancient idea of universal empire now possessetl Otto's mind. He endeavoured to extend his suzerainty over France, Burgundy, and Italy, and welcomed the quarrel between Hugo of France and Ludwig IV, each of whom hail married one of his sisters. King and dukes in France balanced the scales of power which Otto could grasp at any time as supreme arbitrator. With similar intent he turned the private quarrels of the reigning house of Burgundy to account. Conrad of Burgundy now appeared as Otto's prot(5g6. More significant was the attitude he was about to assume towards the complicated situation in Italy. The spiritual and moral debasement in the Italian Penin- sula was shocking, even in Rome. The names of Theodora and Marozia recall an unutterably sad chapter of church history. The disorder in the capi- tal of Christendom was only a symi)tom of the con- ditions throughout Italy. Upper Italy witnessed the wars of Berengarius of Friuli, crowned eni])eror by Marozia's son, John X, against Rudolph II of Upper Burgundy. After the assassination of Berengarius in 924, the strife was renewed between this Rudolph and Hugo of Lower Burgundy. Hugo finally became sole ruler in Italy and assumed the imperial throne. But his supremacy was shortly after overthrown by Berengarius of Ivrea, against whom, also, there ap- peared a growing opposition in favour of Adelaide, the daughter of Rudolph II of Upper Burgundy, to sup- press which Berengarius obtained forcible possession of the princess. All these disorders had been studied by Otto. Convinced of the significance of the an- cient ideas of empire, he wished to subject Italy to his authority, basing his right upon his royal rank. In 951 he came to Italy, released Adelaide and married her, whilst Berengarius swore allegiance to him. Un- der the influence of the Roman .\lberich, the son of Marozia, Pope .Vgapetus refused the imperial crown to the German king. But even without the coronation, the universality of his rule was apparent. He stood de facto at the head of the West. The royal power was now in need of the strongest support. New and dangerous insurrections demonstrated the lack of in- ternal solidarity. Particularism once more raised its head. Otto's son Ludolph was the spirit of the new uprising. He demanded a share in the government and was especially irritated by the influence of Otto's Burgunilian consort. The particularist element aa- sembleil in Ludolph's camp. It fermented through- out almost the entire duchy and broke out openly in many ijarts. The danger was more threateinng than it had been in the first insurrection. In 9.54 the Mag- yars once more thronged into the empire. Owing to this crisis, the necessity for a strong, central power was generally recognized, and the insurrection died out. It was definitively terminated at the Imperial Diet of Auerstadt, where it was announced that Conrad and
