55 Facts About Otto III

Otto III was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his early death in 1002.

Otto III was crowned as King of Germany in 983 at the age of three, shortly after his father's death in Southern Italy while campaigning against the Byzantine Empire and the Emirate of Sicily.

Otto III was then still a child, so his grandmother, Adelaide of Italy, served as regent until 994.

Otto III sought to reestablish Imperial control over the city of Rome, which had revolted under the leadership of Crescentius II, and through it the papacy.

Otto III returned to the city in 998, reinstalled Gregory V, and executed both Crescentius II and John XVI.

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Otto III fought to regain the Empire's lost territories throughout his reign with only limited success.

Otto III was a charismatic figure associated with several legends and notable figures of his time.

Otto III II had been campaigning in southern Italy with hopes of annexing the whole of Italy into the Holy Roman Empire.

Otto III II stayed behind to address military action against the Muslims.

Otto III was crowned as king on Christmas Day 983, three weeks after his father's death, by Willigis, the Archbishop of Mainz, and by John X, the Archbishop of Ravenna.

Otto III then campaigned openly for his claim to the German throne, with limited success.

Otto III's struggled throughout to reinstate the Diocese of Merseburg, which her husband Otto II had absorbed into the Archdiocese of Magdeburg in 981.

The next year, from the age of six onward, Otto III would receive education and training from Bernward of Hildesheim and Gerbert d'Aurillac.

In 989 Theophanu and Otto III made a royal expedition to Italy to visit the grave of Otto II in Rome.

Otto III's was buried in the Church of St Pantaleon in Cologne.

Otto III was still a child, his grandmother, the Dowager Empress Adelaide of Italy, became regent, together with Archbishop Willigis of Mainz, until he became old enough to rule on his own in 994.

Otto III followed in his grandfather Otto I's footsteps in the beginning of his reign, by appointing a new pope, Gregory V, and leaving Rome.

Gregory V was expelled and Otto III returned to Rome in 998 where he stayed permanently until his death.

In 994 and 995, Otto III led fruitless campaigns against the northern Slavs and the Vikings, but he did successfully re-conquer Brandenburg in 993, and in 995 he subdued the Obotrite Slavs.

When Otto III turned his attention to Italy, he not only intended to be crowned Emperor but to come to the aid of Pope John XV, who had been forced to flee Rome.

Otto III then pledged to support Otto Orseolo as the next Doge of Venice, leading to a period of good relations between the Holy Roman Empire and the Republic of Venice after years of conflict under Otto II.

In particular, while Crescentius II was pardoned by Otto III, he was deprived of his title of Patricius but was permitted to live out his life in retirement at Rome.

Otto III had nominated and successfully installed his own candidate.

In summer 997, Otto III campaigned against the Elbe Slavs in order to secure Saxony's eastern border.

When Otto III left Italy for Germany, the situation in Rome remained uncertain.

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At the intercession of Saint Nilus the Younger, one of his countrymen, Otto III spared John XVI's life and sent him to a monastery in Germany, where he would die in 1001.

Otto III made Rome the administrative capital of his Empire and revived elaborate Roman customs and Byzantine court ceremonies.

Otto III I had established the Diocese in 968 following his victory over the Hungarians in order to Christianize the Polabian Slavs but it had been effectively destroyed in 983 with the Great Slav Rising following the death of Otto III II that year.

Otto III arranged for his imperial palace to be built on the Palatine Hill and planned to restore the ancient Roman Senate to its position of prominence.

Otto III revived the city's ancient governmental system, including appointing a City Patrician, a City Prefect, and a body of judges whom he commanded to recognize only Roman law.

Otto III carried back parts of the body of Bishop Adalbert of Prague, which he placed in the church of San Bartolomeo all'Isola he had built on the Tiber Island in Rome.

Otto III added the skin of Saint Bartholomew to the relics housed there.

In return for submitting tribute to the newly crowned Emperor, Otto III I granted Mieszko I the title of amicus imperatoris and acknowledged his position as dux Poloniae .

Otto III strengthened his alliance with the Empire by marrying Oda, the daughter of the Saxon Margrave Dietrich of Haldensleben, in 978 and by marrying his son Boleslaw I to a daughter of Margrave Rikdag of Meissen.

In 973 Otto III I established the bishopric of Prague, subordinated to the archbishopric of Mainz, in order to Christianize the Czech territory.

Otto III died in 972 and was succeeded as Duke by his oldest son Boleslaus II.

Otto III I's defeat of the Hungarians at Lechfeld in 955 ended the decades-long Hungarian invasions of Europe.

Otto III was succeeded by his son Geza in 972, who sent envoys to Otto I in 973.

When Otto III traveled to Poland in 1000, he brought with him a crown from Pope Sylvester II.

Otto III was martyred by the Prussians for his efforts in 997.

Otto III's pilgrimage allowed the Emperor to extend the influence of Christianity in Eastern Europe and to strengthen relations with Poland and Hungary by naming them federati .

Otto III gave Boleslaw a replica of his Holy Lance and Boleslaw presented the Emperor with a relic, an arm of Saint Adalbert in exchange.

Otto III established three new subordinate dioceses under the Archbishop of Gniezno: the Bishopric of Krakow, the Bishopric of Wroclaw, and the Bishopric of Kolobrzeg in Pomerania .

Otto III besieged the city and put down the revolt with ease, sparing its inhabitants.

Previously, Otto III had revoked the Pope's rights as secular ruler by denying the Donation of Constantine and by amending the Diploma Ottonianum.

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Otto III's advisors urged the Emperor to wait outside the city until military reinforcements could arrive to ensure his safety.

Otto III, accompanied by Pope Sylvester II, traveled to Ravenna to do penance in the monastery of Sant'Apollinare in Classe and to summon his army.

Otto III strengthened relations with the Venetian Doge, Pietro II Orseolo.

Otto III was 21 years old and had reigned as an independent ruler for just under six years, having nominally reigned for nearly 19 years.

The Byzantine princess Zoe, second daughter of the Emperor Constantine VOtto III, had just disembarked in Apulia on her way to marry him.

Otto III was buried in Aachen Cathedral alongside the body of Charlemagne.

Otto III, having never married, died without issue, leaving the Empire without a clear successor.

Otto III was a member of the Ottonian dynasty of kings and emperors who ruled the Holy Roman Empire from 919 to 1024.

In relation to the other members of his dynasty, Otto III was the great-grandson of Henry the Fowler, grandson of Otto I, son of Otto II, and a second-cousin to Henry II.

Otto III never married and never fathered any children due to his early death.