Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor
Dynasty	Ottonian
Country	Germany
Title	Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire ( 973 - 7 December 983 )
Predecessor	Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Successor	Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor
Other functions	King of Germany
Biography
Birth	955
Deaths	7 December 983 Rome
Child	Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor and Adelaide of Burgundy
Spouse	Theophano Skleraina.

Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor .

Biography

Early life

Adelaide of Burgundy , his mother

His father, Otto ^I was impressed by the knowledge of Gerbert of Aurillac , which was presented by Count Borrell II , entrusted the education of his son Otto. It also receives lessons from her uncle Bruno , archbishop of Cologne , and his illegitimate half-brother, William , Archbishop of Mainz.

Elected king by the Diet of Worms , it is associated to the throne and received the crown of Germany May 26 961 in the cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle. Elected king of Italy in late 962 , he was crowned emperor Associate Saint Roman Empire to Rome by Pope John XIII on 25 December 967. May 26 973 Aix-la-Chapelle, he was crowned king of Germany, and succeeded his father, who died May 7

Her mother, Adelaide of Burgundy , took the reins of the empire that his youth and inexperience did not allow him to wield happily in critical circumstances where it is located .

A family feud

But he soon tired of dependence in which his mother holds him and forced him to abandon the German court. Adelaide of Burgundy is an enlightened and pious princess, that his virtues will place in the list of saints. She ruled with such wisdom that happiness. But Otto was barely there come of age to govern itself, that cowardly slanderers irritate him against the mother, they represent him as an ambitious woman, who, jealous to preserve the authority, just trying to keep him in perpetual tutelage.

Coronation of Otto II in 972 and Theophano

Adelaide, more touched to see his son listen to these accusations, qu'afflige losing a power she had never aspired, retired in Burgundy , near the King Conrad III says the Pacific , his brother. But it is hardly arrived, Otto recognizing the treachery of the advice we had given him, wrote to his mother shows him his repentance, and beg so earnestly to return to court. She agrees to go there. The emperor threw himself at her feet, shedding tears: their reconciliation is sincere, and they will invariably always united. It is true that only Adelaide of Burgundy missing, the civil war had turned on .

It is in his own family that Otto has problems. He faces first to the Wrangler Henry II , Duke of Bavaria , his cousin, he'll take five years to bring into line. The Wrangler hopes to add the Swabia in Bavaria , at the death of his brother- Bouchard III of Swabia. But Otto prevent this union, to prevent an increase in Bavaria, plus the Swabia , might dominate the whole of southern Germany.

Historically, the dukes of Bavaria enjoy in their field, a great political power, in that, among other things, they have the bishoprics in southern Germany for family members. In fact, the Bavarian suzerainty imposed in much of today's Austria and south to the sea Adriatic Sea and Lake Garda. Ally Boleslav II of Bohemia , to Mieszko ^I of Poland , the Danish and Slavic minorities, Henry II the Wrangler , then rises against his imperial cousin, but he is defeated.

In January 974 , Otto took over the fortress Boussoit to Lambert ^I of Leuven and Regnier IV of Mons who had invaded the county of Hainault. Shortly after he led an expedition against King Harald Blue tooth Denmark. It requires them to sue for peace .

Stripping of Bavaria

Otto II

Otto II has excellent qualities. It is fair, but tough: protecting the good citizens and faithful subjects, but it is merciless to the rebels . Henry II the Wrangler lost his duchy in 976 , is imprisoned, then exiled. Otto ended the privileged position of Bavaria. It separates the Walk East, the Ostarrichi it gives Leopold I of Babenberg. This is the origin of the reign of the House of Babenberg , Austria.

In the south of the empire, the emperor established in 976 the new Duchy of Carinthia , which includes the steps of former Carniola , of Verona and Istria. At the same time, the bishopric of Prague was established and placed under the control of the archbishop of Mainz , whereas previously, the Bohemia came under the diocese of Regensburg. Bavaria and also loses any religious authority on the Bohemian.

But on the other hand, the Dukes Boleslav II of Bohemia , Bohemia, and Mieszko ^I of Poland , in Poland recover their independence. It is true that his expedition against the Bohemians in 975 was a partial failure. In 977 , Emperor organizing another expedition into Bohemia, where the Duke Boleslav II of Bohemia , allegiance. In 979 , Mieszko ^I of Poland rejects a military expedition to the Holy Roman Empire and Lusatia against Poland. A peace treaty ending the war and Mieszko married Oda , daughter of Dietrich Haldensleben , Margrave of the North march.

Lotharingia

Lotharingia Inferior Lower Lorraine and Upper Lorraine Lotharingia superior to the year 1000

In 973 , the Germanic influence exerted in Gaul by Otto ^I, Holy Roman Emperor , Lothair and uncle of Hugh Capet and which he had entrusted the guardianship of the death of their fathers to his brother Bruno to majority stops abruptly. The dreaded power of the Emperor had guaranteed Lothario business of his vassals, ceases completely with the death of the emperor. His son Otto II who excluded from their paternal inheritance of the Counts of Mons Regnier IV and ^I. Lambert , Lothar sends in 976 , his brother Charles , in which the poverty of the royal house had failed to assign a domain, join with an army that which Hugh Capet and Otto of Vermandois had marched to the aid of the counts. A great battle, which remains undecided, is delivered to Mons in 976 .

In 977 , Otto II welcomes her first cousin, Charles , who has been exiled by his brother Lothair , king of Western Francia , for having accused Queen Emma of Italy , of infidelity with the Bishop of Laon Adalberon. Charles pays tribute to the then emperor, who, while promising to crown him as soon as Lothario would be removed from the throne, gave him the duchy of Lower Lorraine remained vacant since the death of Godfrey of Metz in 964.

The appointment of Charles at the head of the duchy, now changing fief of the Empire, causing unrest broke out during the summer of 978. This expedient does not satisfy the king Lothair who hopes to take advantage of a confused situation. It penetrates in August 978 in the duchy of Lorraine in revolt, and swears by States to the Duchy Moselle Metz. With 20,000 warriors, he led a raid against Aix-la-Chapelle is where the imperial family who narrowly escaped capture. Lothario turns on the side of France eagles placed on the palace of Charlemagne, to mark, says Bishop Dithmar of Merseburg later in his column that the Lorraine depends on the monarchy. Then Lothario folds in France, carrying the insignia of the Empire.

Hugh Capet

Diploma of Emperor Otto II in Saint-Denis confirming her property in the empire.

In retaliation for the attack on Lothario Aix-la-Chapelle, Otto II brings together an army of 60,000 men, "army," wrote a columnist, as no man of that time still had not seen before and has since seen similar. At the head of this army, he invaded northern France in October 978 , and will lay siege to Paris , defended by Hugh Capet. During this journey, he loots the Reims, Laon on the Soissons, the palace and the future Abbaye Saint-Corneille of Compiegne. Lothario took refuge in Etampes. In December, the Emperor, because of outbreaks among its troops, however, must resolve to order a retreat. Pursued by the French, he loses his rear, his luggage, and especially her booty while crossing a ford at Soissons on the Aisne , due to flooding of the river .

Lothario saw that Hugh Capet , by exciting the fight against the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire , for no other reason than to deprive the king of the rescue of these princes against his plans of usurpation. Accordingly, he decided to move closer to Otto II. The king in 980 at Margut , on the Meuse, is abandoning his claim on Lorraine. Hugues Capet , dissatisfied with the peace concluded without his cooperation, and fearing that the two princes to unite against him, seeking to turn to get on a good footing with the imperial court. He will spend the Easter holidays in Rome with Otto, which makes it the best reception, and he managed to make it fully supports the Empress Theophano Skleraina. It will also have the support of Adelaide of Burgundy , the mother of the emperor to become king of France.

The Churches of Cologne, Trier, Lige and Metz and the counts palatine, benefit from these disorders, to seize land dependent quantity of Lorraine .

Rome and the Pope

To the right of this photo of the ciborium Basilica of Saint Ambrose in Milan, St. Ambrose between Ottonian, maybe Otto II and his father.

Otto is then free to start dealing with Italian affairs. He transferred power to the Archbishop Willigis , arch-chancellor, and Duke Bernard ^I of Saxony and went to Italy to perform his functions Patricius Romanorum. The rivalries of parties had in fact picked up again since the death of Otto I, Holy Roman Empire , and is now the family after the young Theodora , the Creszenzi , claiming the power and who dishonors the Church by its intrigues and violence.

On the death of John XXIII Crescentius imprisoned and strangled in his cell his successor Benedict VI . It installs Boniface VII, but the latter is driven by the representative of the emperor and replace him by the Count of Tusculum and Bishop of Sutri Benedict VII.

In 980 , accompanied by his wife, Theophano Skleraina Otto seems to restore order. He reconciled with his mother, Adelaide of Burgundy , at Pavia and celebrates Christmas 980 to Ravenna. He entered Rome on Easter Day 981. The city submits to Pope Benedict VII , who had to flee to Constantinople , was restored to his dignity. The latter wants to set up the reform of the church, which this time is the synergistic control of the Emperor against his vassals. In fact they account for the functions of bishops and abbots and the fight against simony is a great way to recover church property into the hands of laymen. In this spirit, it brings together a great council reformer 27 March 981 to St. Peter's. He decides that the collation or receipt of orders became free: if a metropolitan refused to give a free episcopate to a cleric it would only come to Rome to receive it. This measure, which prevents the trade of ecclesiastical or abbey is communicated by letter to all kings, princes, earls, archbishops, bishops and abbots of the West .

To release the stranglehold of Italian monasteries of the aristocracy, the emperor is close to appoint their heads. And Jean Philagathos , near the Empress Theophano was named Abbot of Nonantola in 982 and Gerbert d'Aurillac Abbot of Bobbio in the same year shortly after the "hassle of Ravenna" .

The "Bloody"

During his stay he had prepared a great meal at the Vatican, where he invited the lords of the most suspect of infidelity, with the magistrates and the deputies of the Italian cities that are in his court. But no sooner did they come to the table a band of armed men suddenly enters into the banquet hall, and falls on those whose names are marked in a list is read aloud. They are dragged out of the room, and killed with daggers. We learned with horror the news of the massacre: it is odious to Otto's nickname of "Bloody", which stuck.

Southern Italy

Otto continues even larger goals. He wants to ensure domination over the whole of Italy. Otto II has no rights in southern Italy, even the fact of her marriage. But the princes of Capua and Benevento excite to attempt the conquest of Apulia and Calabria , the emperors of Constantinople had been reserved by the treaty of 972, and are used by the connivance of the Greeks, door to Saracens to ravage the borders of the Empire and the countryside around Rome .

The Emperor some problems of succession rule and seized, after several battles happy, car Naples , in Salerno and Taranto , but the Greeks seek relief for Saracens. At the Battle of Cape Colonna in Calabria , on 13 July 982 , his army was defeated and he escaped being captured by the Saracens : the Italians present in his troops abandoned him to avenge the massacre of Rome . Otto must escape and to swim to a Greek ship, which gives him shelter. Refugee Rossano , where he hides his real identity and did not return to Rome that the November 12 982.

This defeat greatly weakens the imperial power. The Greeks had tied the game with Saracens. They give a hand on the Puglia and Calabria.

The consequences of defeat

The empire in the year one thousand. Kingdom of Germany Kingdom of Italy Papal States Kingdom of Burgundy (independent) steps are depicted as hatched

The consequences are not Italian. He is facing a revolt General Obotrites and Wends. The Slavs took the opportunity to attack the stairs and even the fortresses of the Elbe.

Around the year 982 , the steps extend to the Neisse River to the east and to the Ore Mountains to the south. In 983 , after the defeat of Emperor Otto II in Cape Colonna, the Slavic tribes along the eastern Saxony lift. Havelberg and Brandenburg were destroyed, the March of Zeitz is devastated. The Margrave of Meissen, of Lausitz and the Walking North have joined the troops of the Bishop of Halberstadt and the archbishop of Magdeburg to crush the Slavs . Nevertheless, the Germans had to retreat to the west of the Elbe. The Danes are taking advantage of circumstances to invade the Margrave of Schleswig and Bohemians led by Thierry Buzici , noble Thuringian and strain of the House of Saxony , ravaging the march of Zeitz , who falls into the hands of the Sorbs.

Marriage and children

Theophano Skleraina.

To seal a peace treaty concluded in 971 with the Byzantine Emperor John ^I Tzimiskes, her father, Otto ^I, had the idea of bringing the empires of East and West in wanting to marry a niece Emperor John Tzimiskes.

In early 972 , a German delegation, headed by the Archbishop of Cologne Gero , arrived in Constantinople to seek Theophano Skleraina. This daughter of Constantine and Sophie Sklerose Phokaina, niece of the Eastern Emperor John ^I Tzimiskes and Bardas Sklerose is married to Otto, the 14 April 972 , by Pope John XIII in the Church of St. Peter's and crowned the same day. Otto was 17 years.

The Empress will accompany her husband on most of its military campaigns and diplomatic actions performed in his name as an empress.
They have five children, four of whom survive their father:

• Adelaide , Abbess of Quedlinburg ( nine hundred and seventy-seven - 1043 )
• Sophia , Abbess of Gandersheim and Essen ( nine hundred seventy-eight - 1039 ) .
• Mathilde of Germany (de) (978-1025), married to Ezzo , Count Palatine of Lorraine.
• Otto III ( 980 - in 1002 )
• and a twin sister of Otto III died young.

The death of Otto II

In 983 , as he was preparing to repair this failure, he fell ill in his palace in Rome and died there on Dec. 7 , aged just 28 years. It accuses the empress Theophano Skleraina , his wife of having poisoned. His body is deposited in a Roman sarcophagus and buried under the porch of St. Peter's Basilica , the 8th of that month.

His early death is for the young empire, a severe test. His 3 year old son was elected king and he is crowned, three weeks later, on December 25. Therefore, the work of Otto I seem to question. Northern Empire, no more than the south, are safe and the heir to the throne was a small child. The first to revolt was Henry II the Wrangler , who returned from exile. He captured the royal child and requires that it be given the regency and then he tries to take the crown by convening barons and bishops at two banns. Agitated throughout Germany and even France, whose ambitious king Lothair sheds new eyes on the Lorraine. But ultimately, the young Otto III, retains the crown, thanks to the loyalty of most of the vassals, including the bishop of Mainz Willigis : it is placed under the guardianship of his mother and his grandmother Adelaide Burgundy. The building was built by Otto the Great and shows how it is solid.

References

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One Thousand
Articles frames	Motte Feudalism Peace of God Ottonian Renaissance
Sovereigns	Hugh Capet Robert the Pious Otto I Otto II Otto III Borrell II
Popes	Gregory V Sylvester II
Literati	Abbo of Fleury Adalberon Rheims Gerbert d'Aurillac Helgaud Fleury Richer of Reims
Historiography	Terrors of the year one thousand

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Background	Ottonian Otto I Otto II Otto III Borrell II Hugh Capet Adalberon Rheims An mil
Literati	Adson Montier-en-Der Hriger Lobbes Ekkehard II Abbo of Fleury Gerbert d'Aurillac Richer of Rheims German Notker Aimoin Fleury lfric of Eynsham Fulbert of Chartres Adelman of Lige Jean de Fecamp Guido d'Arezzo
Main locations	St. Gallen Reichenau Regensburg Hildesheim Liege Lobbes Fleury Reims Chartres Bobbio Cluny
Ottonian art	Registrum Gregorii Codex Egberti Gospel of Otto III Gospel Liuthar pericope of Henry II Bernward Doors
Architecture	Magdeburg Cathedral Church of St Cyriac Gernrode Church of St Michael's Hildesheim Chapel of St. Bartholomew Paderborn Romanesque Architecture

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