Cultural depictions of Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor

Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor, also called miribilia mundi, despite his short life (he died in 1002, at age 21), is a historical figure who attracts considerable scholarly attention as well as inspires numerous artistic and popular depictions.

His nineteenth century critics, notably Wilhelm von Giesebrecht attacked him for failing in his duty towards his (German) nation and chasing after whimsical, unrealistic fantasies.

Otto's version of the renovatio imperii Romanorum strengthened the emperor as defensor ecclesiae, who would subdue and convert barbarians to Christianity.

Fried, K. Görich, will someone decide to rewrite the history of Otto III, not to question the ideas of the predecessors, but to calmly give an account of a great reign, the government of a brilliant young emperor, a very great moment in the history of the Germanic empire, always sketched in the biographies of the princes, never presented as a whole?Regarding English sources, in 2003, Gerd Althoff's Otto III was translated into English.

One Heribert, chancellor for Italy and future archbishop of Cologne, may have planted the idea of a coronation in Rome in the young emperor's mind.

Already on that occasion, he decided on a journey to Rome to obtain the imperial crown, to find a Byzantine bride and to forge an intertwining link with Italy.

With the tutelage of Bemward of Hildesheim and John Philagathos, the devoted servant of Otto II, Theophanu had raised a pious, artistic intellectual, Who appreciated spirituality and the beauty of the arts and Greco-Roman culture in particular.Otto's (and Sylvester's) work in spreading Christianity and coopting a new group of nations (Slavic) into the framework of Europe, with their empire functioning, as some remark, as a "Byzantine-like presidency over a family of nations, centred on pope and emperor in Rome", has proved a lasting achievement.

[25][26] Franke remarks that, during his short rule, he had not demonstrated a coherent military strategy, which allowed Boleslaw II of Bohemia and Lothair of France to launch campaigns into Meissen and Lotharingia.

The 998 expedition to Rome, after which Johannes Philagathos and Crescentius the Younger were treated brutally (contrary to the medieval ideal of a merciful monarch and clementia), also seemed to be for revenge.

[28] In Italy, he could rely upon the service of Count Hunerik or Unruoch (around 950–1010) of Teisterbant, an excellent commander who had received military education under the reign of Otto I.

Apparently in his earnest devotion, he thought that power had been bestowed on him for the purpose of expanding the Christian faith and preventing the world from imminent destruction.

[36] There is a modern theory (created by Heribert Illig, born 1947) that Otto III, Sylvester II and Constantine VII of Byzantine were the ones who invented the entire Carolingian period and thus Charlemagne, but it is generally rejected by scholars.

[39] The legend has received multiple depictions in literature and arts, including the 1866 five-act tragedy Stefania (written in verse) by Domenico Galati Fiorentini (1846–1901);[40] Sem Benelli's play Le nozze dei centauri ("The Marriage of the Centaurs", 1915 ), in which Otto (as a Christian) and Stefania (as a pagan woman) personify the Christian – pagan conflict;[41] the 1902 dramatic work Kaiser Otto III.

Meeting of St Nilus and Otto III (fresco by Domenichino ), between 1608 and 1610. Nilus interceded with Otto to save John XVI , who had been mutilated, defrocked and led through Rome sitting backwards on a donkey. [ 1 ]
The Essen Crown , on display at Essen Cathedral Treasury . Usually called the Childhood Crown of Otto III ( Kinderkrone Ottos III. ), it is now usually dated to have been created during the first half of the eleventh century. [ 10 ]
Otto III at the right side of the Karlsschrein , Aachen Cathedral
The Baptism of Vajk (later King Saint Stephen of Hungary) by Gyula Benczúr , 1875. Otto is shown standing.
Otto III in the grave of Charlemagne by Alfred Rethel (1847). akg-images.
Italia , Gallia, Germania and Slavia paying homage to Otto III. Gospels of Otto III , 990.
Otto's portrait in the Kaisersaal by Joseph Anton Settegast .
Visita dell'imperatore Ottone III in Venice, by Fumiani.
The Coronation of the First King of Poland by Jan Matejko . [ 79 ]
Depiction of Otto III (standing next to the portraits of Otto I, Otto II and Konrad II ), part of the so-called "Emperor windows" ( Links to the images on Wiki Commons ), that depicting nineteen Holy Roman Emperors and dating from the 12th century (restored during the 14th century). [ 90 ] [ 91 ]
Woodcut depicting the transfer of the corpse of Otto III from Italy to Germany, from the Illustrirte Zeitung (1863), based on the Ueberführung der Leiche Kaiser Otto's III. von Italien nach Deutschland ( Der Leichenzug Kaiser Ottos III ) by Heinrich von Rustige . [ 108 ]
Goch Kessel - Commemoration board for Otto III