General Notes

Otto III, b. July 980, succeeded his father, Otto II, as German king in 983
and was crowned emperor in 996. Not yet 4 years old when his father died, Otto
faced only minor opposition to his succession. Until 995, guardians ruled for
him: his Byzantine mother, Theophano, his grandmother Adelheid, and Archbishop
Willigis of Mainz. After coming of age he was strongly influenced by the
churchmen Adalbert of Prague and Gerbert of Aurillac.
Highly educated and emotionally receptive to exotic influences, Otto gave more
attention to imperial and Italian affairs than to Germany. Proclaiming the
restoration of the ancient Roman Empire, he settled in Rome in 998 and
surrounded himself with antique artifacts and Byzantine ceremony.
Confusion in the papacy and Rome embroiled Otto in controversy. In 996 he
appointed the first German pope, Gregory V; in 999 he made Gerbert pope as
Sylvester II. Otto visited Poland in AD 1000; he had good relations with
Boleslaw I and gave Poland a native church organization by creating the
archbishopric of Gniezno. While facing a rebellion in Rome, he died on Jan.
23, 1002. Otto left no descendants and was succeeded by his third cousin Henry
II.