Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto II, called the Red, was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy.
Otto II was made joint-ruler of Germany in 961, at an early age, and his father named him co-Emperor in 967 to secure his succession to the throne. His father also arranged for Otto II to marry the Byzantine Princess Theophanu, who would be his wife until his death. When his father died after a 37-year reign, the eighteen-year-old Otto II became absolute ruler of the Holy Roman Empire in a peaceful succession. Otto II spent his reign continuing his father's policy of strengthening Imperial rule in Germany and extending the borders of the Empire deeper into Southern Italy. Otto II also continued the work of Otto I in subordinating the Catholic Church to Imperial control.
Early in his reign, Otto II defeated a major revolt against his rule from other members of the Ottonian dynasty who claimed the throne for themselves. His victory allowed him to exclude the Bavarian line of the Ottonians from the line of Imperial succession. This strengthened his authority as Emperor and secured the succession of his own son to the Imperial throne.
With domestic affairs settled, Otto II would focus his attention from 980 onward to annexing the whole of Italy into the Empire. His conquests brought him into conflict with the Byzantine Empire and with the Muslims of the Fatimid Caliphate, who both held territories in southern Italy. After initial successes in unifying the southern Lombard principalities under his authority and in conquering Byzantine-controlled territory, Otto II's campaigns in southern Italy ended in 982 following a disastrous defeat by the Muslims. While he was preparing to counterattack Muslim forces, a major uprising by the Slavs broke out in 983, forcing the Empire to abandon its major territorial holdings east of the Elbe river.
Otto II died suddenly in 983 at the age of 28 after a ten-year reign. He was succeeded as Emperor by his three-year-old son Otto III, plunging the Empire into a political crisis.
Early years
Birth and youth
Otto II was born in 955, the third son of King Otto the Great of Germany and his second wife, Adelaide of Italy. By 957, Otto II's older brothers, Henry and Bruno, had died, as well as Liudolf, Otto I's son from his first wife, Eadgyth. With his older brothers dead, the two-year-old Otto became Otto I's heir apparent. Otto I entrusted his illegitimate son, Archbishop William of Mainz, with Otto II's literary and cultural education. Odo, margrave of the Eastern March, taught the young Otto the art of war and the kingdom's legal customs.Needing to put his affairs in order prior to his descent into Italy, Otto I summoned a Diet at Worms and had Otto II elected, at the age of six, co-regent in May 961. Otto II was later crowned by his uncle Bruno the Great, archbishop of Cologne, at Aachen Cathedral, probably on Pentecost. While Otto I had secured the succession of the throne, he had violated the kingdom's unwritten law that succession rights could only be granted to a child who has reached the age of majority. He was likely motivated by the high risk associated with his expedition into Italy to claim the imperial title from the pope. Otto I crossed the Alps into Italy, while Otto II remained in Germany, and the two archbishops, Bruno and William, were appointed as his regents. After three-and-a-half years in Italy, Otto I returned to Germany early in 965 as Holy Roman emperor. In order to give the hope of dynastic continuity after his death, Otto I again confirmed Otto II as his heir on 2 February 965, the third anniversary of Otto I's coronation as emperor.
Heir apparent
Though Otto I was crowned emperor in 962 and returned to Germany in 965, the political situation in Italy remained unstable. After almost two years in Germany, Otto I made a third expedition to Italy in 966. Bruno was again appointed regent over the eleven-year-old Otto II during Otto I's absence.With his power over northern and central Italy secured, Otto I sought to clarify his relationship with the Byzantine Empire in the East. The Byzantine Emperor objected to Otto's use of the title "emperor". The situation between East and West was finally resolved to share sovereignty over southern Italy. Otto I sought a marriage alliance between his house and the Eastern Macedonian dynasty. A prerequisite for the marriage alliance was the coronation of Otto II as co-emperor. Otto I then sent word for Otto II to join him in Italy. In October 967, father and son met in Verona and together marched through Ravenna to Rome. On 25 December 967, Otto II was crowned co-emperor by Pope John XIII, securing Otto II's succession to the Imperial crown following his father's death.
Otto II's coronation allowed marriage negotiations to begin with the East. Only in 972, six years later, under the new Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes, was a marriage and peace agreement concluded, however. Though Otto I preferred Anna Porphyrogenita, daughter of former Byzantine Emperor Romanos II, as she was born in the purple, her age prevented serious consideration by the East. The choice of Emperor John I Tzimisces was his niece Theophanu, who was the soldier-emperor's niece by marriage. On 14 April 972, the sixteen-year-old Otto II was married to the fourteen-year-old Eastern princess, and Theophanu was crowned empress by the pope.
Even after his coronation, Otto II remained in the shadow of his overbearing father. Though the nominal co-ruler of the Empire, he was denied any role in its administration. Unlike his earlier son Liudolf, whom Otto I named duke of Swabia in 950, Otto II was granted no area of responsibility. Otto II was confined primarily to northern Italy during his father's time south of the Alps. After five years away, the imperial family returned to Saxony in August 972.
On 7 May 973, Otto died of fever, and Otto II succeeded his father as sole emperor without meeting any opposition. Otto II spent his reign continuing his father's policy of strengthening Imperial rule in Germany and extending it deeper into Italy.
Reign as emperor
Coronation and domestic strife
When Otto the Great died, the smooth succession to the imperial throne of Otto II had long been guaranteed. Otto II had been king of Germany for twelve years and emperor for five at the time of Otto the Great's death. Unlike his father, Otto II did not have any brothers to contest his claims to the throne. On May 8, the nobles of the Empire assembled before Otto II and, according to the Saxon Chronicler Widukind of Corvey, "elected" Otto II as his father's successor. One of Otto II's first acts was to confirm the rights and possessions of the archbishop of Magdeburg. Although Otto II had succeeded peacefully to the throne, internal divisions of power still remained unaddressed. During his first seven years as emperor, he was constantly occupied with maintaining Imperial power against internal rivals and external enemies.The domestic problems Otto the Great faced between 963 and 972 had not been resolved by his death. The Saxon nobility continued to resist the Archdiocese of Magdeburg located along the Empire's eastern border. Though established by Otto I, the exact details of the diocese's boundaries were left to Otto II and his aides. Otto II's marriage Theophanu proved to be to his disadvantage because the Saxon nobles felt it distanced the emperor from their interests. Among Otto II's chief advisors, only the Saxon Bishop Dietrich I of Metz had close connections with the old Saxon nobility. His other advisers lacked support from the Empire's various dukes. The archbishop of Mainz, Willigis, appointed in 975, who had been Otto II's advisor since Otto the Great's second expedition into Italy in the 960s, had not been born into a noble family. Hildebald of Worms, who had been appointed as Otto II's chancellor in 977 and then as bishop of Worms in 979, was also not from a noble family.
Otto the Great also failed to clarify affairs in Italy prior to his death. Otto died soon after the appointment of Pope Benedict VI in 973. In 974 Benedict was imprisoned in the Castel Sant'Angelo, the stronghold of the Crescentii family. When Otto II sent an imperial representative, Count Sicco, to secure his release, Crescentius I and Cardinal-Deacon Franco Ferrucci, who would subsequently become Boniface VII, an antipope, had Benedict murdered while still in prison.
Following his coronation, a rift developed between Otto II and his mother, Empress Adelaide. From the death of Otto the Great until Easter 974, the dowager empress accompanied the emperor at all times, traveling throughout the Empire with him. However, Adelaide and Theophanu each mistrusted the influence the other held over Otto, causing friction within the household. A final meeting between Otto II and Adelaide was arranged shortly before Pentecost in 978, but a peaceful outcome was not achieved, forcing Adelaide to retire to Burgundy and to the protection of her brother King Conrad of Burgundy.
Conflict with Henry II
Otto II sought continued peace between himself and the descendants of his uncle Henry I, Duke of Bavaria. To ensure domestic tranquillity, Otto II, on 27 June 973, granted control over the imperial castles in Bamberg and Stegaurach to his cousin Duke Henry II of Bavaria. This was not enough for the young Bavarian duke, who wished to extend his influence in the Duchy of Swabia as his father had under Otto the Great. The death of Bishop Ulrich of Augsburg on 4 July, brought the conflict between the cousins to a head. Without consulting Otto, Henry named his cousin Henry as the new bishop of Augsburg. Augsburg was located on the western side of the Swabian-Bavarian border, the territory of Henry's brother-in-law Duke Burchard III of Swabia. Henry's actions in naming a bishop in a duchy not his own and without Imperial direction brought him into conflict with both Otto and Burchard. Not desiring civil war, Otto, on 22 September 973, invested Henry as bishop.On 12 November 973, Burchard died with no heir: his union to Hedwig, sister of Henry, had produced no children. With no clear successor, Henry demanded that Otto name him as the new duke of Swabia. The emperor sensed the far-reaching ambitions of his cousin and denied his request. Instead, Otto named as duke his nephew Otto, son of his half-brother, Liudolf, who had once been duke of Swabia. Prior to this appointment, Otto had been a long-time opponent of Henry's expanding influence in Swabia. By naming the son of his half-brother instead of his cousin, Otto reinforced his father's policy of appointing close family members to key posts throughout the Empire. This appointment elevated the descendants of Otto the Great above other kin in the selection process, further dividing Otto II and Henry II.
The appointment of the young Otto as duke of Swabia was taken by Henry as an assault on his claim to the Imperial throne and a slight to his honor. He and his advisor, Bishop Abraham of Freising, conspired with the duke of Poland, Mieszko I, and the duke of Bohemia, Boleslaus II, against Otto II in 974. While the historical sources do not describe the goals of the conspirators, Henry II likely intended to restore his honor and to ensure his position as the second most influential man in the Empire. Upon hearing of the conspiracy, Poppo, the bishop of Würzburg, demanded that Henry and his followers submit to Otto II or face excommunication. Otto the Great's efforts to consolidate the Church under Imperial control had made this type of action normal. Henry and his followers complied and submitted to Otto II before armed conflict broke out. Otto II, however, severely punished the conspirators: Henry was imprisoned at Ingelheim and Bishop Abraham at Corvey.
By 976, Henry had returned to Bavaria. Whether Otto released him from prison or he escaped is not known for certain. Upon his return, Henry openly rebelled against Otto, claiming rulership over the Empire for himself. Henry mobilized the Saxon nobility against Otto. In particular, Henry had strong connections to Margrave Gunther of Merseburg, Count Egbert the One-Eyed, and Dietrich I of Wettin, who were all displeased with Otto's lack of adherence to Saxon tradition. In response to the rebellion, Otto stripped Henry of his duchy and had him excommunicated. Otto then marched his army south to Bavaria and laid siege to Regensburg, Henry's stronghold. Otto's army eventually broke through the city's defenses, forcing Henry to flee to Bohemia.
With Henry deposed, in July 976 Otto issued far-reaching edicts on the reorganization of the southern German duchies. He reduced the size of Duchy of Bavaria by almost a third. From the excised Bavarian territory, Otto established the Duchy of Carinthia in southern Germany. By depriving Bavaria of the March of Verona, Otto considerably reduced the influence of the Bavarian dukes in northern Italy and in general Imperial policy regarding Italy. Otto gave the diminished Duchy of Bavaria to his nephew Otto, the duke of Swabia, and appointed Henry III, son of the former Bavarian Duke Berthold, as duke of Carinthia. These appointments continued his policy of appointing individuals who had no political links to Otto the Great, including those who had even rebelled against him.
With matters in southern Germany settled, Otto II turned his attention to defeating and capturing Henry. After a failed first invasion into Bohemia, Otto marched to Bohemia a second time in August 977. While in Bohemia, a revolt broke out in Bavaria. The bishop of Augsburg and the newly appointed Carinthian duke joined Henry in rebellion, forcing Otto to return from Bohemia. The emperor, aided by the duke of Swabia and Bavaria, met the rebels at Passau and, after a long siege, forced them into submission. Otto then brought the rebels before the Imperial Diet in Quedlinburg on March 31, 978. Boleslaus was treated with honors and swore loyalty to Otto. Mieszko recognized Otto's royal authority. Otto imprisoned Henry under the custody of the bishop of Utrecht where he remained until Otto's death in 983.
While Otto the Great had pardoned rebellious family members for their crimes, Otto followed a different policy. Instead, Otto hoped to subordinate the Bavarian line of Ottonians to his authority. Henry's four-year-old son, also named Henry, was sent to Hildesheim to study for an ecclesiastical career. It appears Otto intended to end the Bavarian Ottonians' secular control of Bavaria. Under a new duke, Bavaria remained a remote area of the Empire. Otto only visited the duchy three times during his reign, in all cases accompanied by the military.