Otto IV of Brunswick (1175 or 1176 – May 19, 1218) was one of two rival kings of the
Holy Roman Empire from 1198 on, sole king from 1208 on, and emperor from 1209 on. The only king of the
Welf dynasty, he was deposed in 1215.
Biography
Otto was the son of
Henry the Lion,
Duke of Bavaria and
Saxony, and
Matilda Plantagenet. His exact birthplace is not given by any original source
He grew up in England in the care of his grandfather King
Henry II. Otto became a friend of
Richard I of England, who attempted to make him
Earl of York, and, through marriage,
king of Scotland. Both attempts failed, and so in 1196, he was made
count of Poitou. He participated in the war against
France on the side of Richard.
After the death of
Emperor Henry VI, some of the princes of the Empire elected his brother,
Philip, Duke of Swabia, king in March 1198. The papacy, under Innocent III, seized the opportunity to extend its sway at the expense of the vulnerable empire and proceeded to move heaven and earth on behalf of Otto, whose family had always been opposed to the house of
Hohenstaufen. Otto himself also seemed willing to grant any demands that Innocent would make. Those princes opposed to the
Staufen dynasty also decided, on the initiative of Richard of England, to elect instead a member of the House of Welf. Otto's elder brother,
Henry, was on a crusade at the time, and so the choice fell to Otto. The papal favorite, soon recognized over the whole empire, was elected king by the princes of northern Germany in
Cologne on June 9, 1198. Otto took control of
Aachen, the place of coronation, and was crowned by
Adolf, Archbishop of Cologne, on July 12, 1198. The coronation was done with fake
regalia, because the actual materials were in the hands of the Staufen.
Otto's election pulled the empire into the conflict between England and France, since Philip allied himself with France, and Otto was being supported by England. In 1200-01, Innocent announced that he recognized Otto as the only legitimate king. In return, Otto promised to support the pope's interests in Italy. In the following years, Otto's situation worsened because after England's defeat by France he lost England's financial support. Many of his allies changed sides to Philip, including his brother Henry. Otto was defeated and wounded in battle by Philip on July 27, 1206, near
Wassenberg, and as a consequence also lost the support of the pope. Otto was forced to retire to his possessions near Braunschweig.
However, Philip was murdered two years later, on June 8, 1208. After Philip's death, Otto made amends with the Staufen party and became engaged to Philip's daughter Beatrix. In an election in
Frankfurt on November 11, 1208, he gained the support of all the electoral princes. He was crowned emperor by Pope Innocent on October 4, 1209.
Contradicting his earlier promises, Otto worked to restore imperial power in Italy and was excommunicated by the pope for this in 1210. In 1211, he tried to conquer
Sicily, which was held by the Staufen king
Frederick Roger. While Otto was in southern Italy, several princes of the empire, at the instigation of King
Philip II of France and with the consent of the pope, elected Frederick Roger king at the
Diet of Nuremberg. Otto returned to Germany to deal with the situation. After Beatrix died in the summer of 1212, and Frederick arrived in Germany with his army in September 1212, most of the former Staufen supporters deserted Otto for Frederick. On December 5, 1212, Frederick was elected king for a second time by a majority of the princes. However, Frederick did not manage to defeat Otto until 1214, when Otto, who was allied with King
John of England, decisively lost the
Battle of Bouvines (July 27, 1214) to the forces
of Philip II of France.
Otto was forced again to withdraw to his private possessions around Brunswick. His death, at
Harzburg castle on May 19, 1218, was described by historian
Kantorowicz as
gruesome: "deposed, dethroned, he was flung full length on the ground by the Abbot, confessing his sins, while the reluctant priests beat him bloodily to death. Such was the end of the first and last Welf Emperor."
He is entombed in the
Brunswick Cathedral.
Ancestors
Family
Otto married twice:
He had no children from neither Beatrix, nor Marie.
See also
