Otto I, Duke of Carinthia
Encyclopedia
Otto called Otto of Worms, was Duke of Carinthia
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....

 and Margrave of Verona
March of Verona
The March of Verona and Aquileia was a vast march in northeastern Italy during the Middle Ages, centered on the cities of Verona and Aquileia. Except for Venice, it included the territories of the modern-day regions of Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia as well as Istria and Trentino up to the Adige...

 from 978 to 985 and again from 1002 until his death.

A scion of the Salian dynasty
Salian dynasty
The Salian dynasty was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages of four German Kings , also known as the Frankish dynasty after the family's origin and role as dukes of Franconia...

 from Rhenish Franconia
Rhenish Franconia
Rhenish Franconia or Western Franconia denotes the western half of the central German stem duchy of Franconia in the 10th and 11th century, with its residence at the city of Worms...

, Otto was the only son of Count Conrad the Red
Conrad, Duke of Lorraine
Conrad the Red was a Duke of Lorraine from the Salian dynasty.He was the son of Werner V, Count of the Nahegau, Speyergau, and Wormsgau. His mother was a sister of Conrad I of Germany. In 941, he succeeded his father in his counties and obtained an additional territory, the Niddagau...

, Duke of Lotharingia
Lotharingia
Lotharingia was a region in northwest Europe, comprising the Low Countries, the western Rhineland, the lands today on the border between France and Germany, and what is now western Switzerland. It was born of the tripartite division in 855, of the kingdom of Middle Francia, itself formed of the...

 from 944, and Liutgarde
Liutgarde
Liutgarde was the daughter of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor and his first wife Eadgyth. In 947 she married Conrad, Duke of Lorraine, also known as Conrad the Red. Otto's Empire did not pass to Liutgarde's brother, Liudolf, Duke of Swabia, but instead passed through his second wife Adelaide of Italy...

, daughter of Emperor Otto I
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I the Great , son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of Germany, King of Italy, and "the first of the Germans to be called the emperor of Italy" according to Arnulf of Milan...

 and Edith
Eadgyth
Edith of England , also spelt Eadgyth or Ædgyth, was the daughter of Edward the Elder, and the wife of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor.-Life:...

. He is first documented as a count in the Nahegau
Nahegau
The Nahegau was in the Middle Ages a county, which covered the environs of the Nahe and large parts of present-day Rhenish Hesse, after a successful expansion of the narrow territory, which did not reach the Rhine, to the disadvantage of the Wormsgau...

 about 956, he also held the Speyergau
Speyergau
Speyergau was a medieval county in the stem duchy of Franconia around the administrative centre of Speyer, Germany. It roughly covered the former Roman administrative area of Civitas Nemetum which is now the south-eastern portion of the Palatinate between Rhine and Palatinate Forest and some parts...

 and Wormsgau
Wormsgau
The Wormsgau or pago wormatiensi was in the Middle Ages a county, which extended itself not only in the surroundings of the city of Worms, Germany, but concurrently along the Rhine widely in northern direction until short of reaching Coblenz. The city of Mainz belonged likewise to it as to the...

, as well as several other counties in the area.

In 978 Emperor Otto II
Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto II , called the Red, was the third ruler of the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty, the son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy.-Early years and co-ruler with Otto I:...

 appointed Count Otto Carinthian duke, after his Luitpolding predecessor Henry I of Carinthia
Henry III, Duke of Bavaria
Henry III , called the Younger, only surviving son of Duke Berthold of Bavaria, was the first Duke of Carinthia from 976 to 978, Duke of Bavaria from 983 to 985 and again Duke of Carinthia from 985 to 989.-Life:...

 had unsuccessfully rebelled against the Imperial authority during the War of the Three Henries and was deposed. In 985 however, Emperor Otto's widow Theophanu
Theophanu
Theophanu , also spelled Theophania, Theophana or Theophano, was born in Constantinople, and was the wife of Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor.-Family:...

, in order to gain support for the succession of her minor son Otto III
Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto III , a King of Germany, was the fourth ruler of the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. He was elected King in 983 on the death of his father Otto II and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 996.-Early reign:...

, restored Carinthia to the Luitpoldings, and Otto again lost his duchy. He could at least retain the ducal title as "Duke of Worms", received the Kaiserpfalz
Kaiserpfalz
The term Kaiserpfalz or Königspfalz refers to a number of castles across the Holy Roman Empire which served as temporary, secondary seats of power for the Holy Roman Emperor in the Early and High Middle Ages...

of Lautern
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...

 and seized large estates of Wissembourg
Wissembourg
Wissembourg is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in northeastern France.It is situated on the little River Lauter close to the border between France and Germany approximately north of Strasbourg and west of Karlsruhe. Wissembourg is a sub-prefecture of the department...

 (Weißenburg) Abbey in compensation.

Upon the death of Duke Henry II of Bavaria
Henry II, Duke of Bavaria
Henry II , called the Wrangler or the Quarrelsome, in German Heinrich der Zänker, was the son of Henry I and Judith of Bavaria.- Biography :...

 in 995, Otto at first received the March of Verona back, while Carinthia passed to Henry's son Duke Henry III of Bavaria
Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry II , also referred to as Saint Henry, Obl.S.B., was the fifth and last Holy Roman Emperor of the Ottonian dynasty, from his coronation in Rome in 1014 until his death a decade later. He was crowned King of the Germans in 1002 and King of Italy in 1004...

. When Emperor Otto III had died in 1002, Otto of Worms and Henry III of Bavaria were candidates for the election as King of the Romans
King of the Romans
King of the Romans was the title used by the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire following his election to the office by the princes of the Kingdom of Germany...

; Otto withdrew and received the Duchy of Carinthia from the newly elected king Henry (then Henry II of Germany) in return. Nevertheless he was forced to cede his Rhenish possessions to his long-time rival Bishop Burchard of Worms
Burchard of Worms
Burchard of Worms was the Roman Catholic bishop of Worms in the Holy Roman Empire, and author of a Canon law collection in twenty books, the "Collectarium canonum" or "Decretum".-Life:...

.

Otto died two years later, he was succeeded as Carinthian duke by his son, Conrad
Conrad I, Duke of Carinthia
Conrad I , of the Salian Dynasty, was the duke of Carinthia from 1004. He was the third son Duke Otto I and thus brother of both Henry of Speyer, father of the Emperor Conrad II, and Bruno, who was pope as Gregory V. He outlived both those elder brothers and his father.Along with his father, he was...

.

Family

Otto married Judith (died 991), probably a granddaughter of Duke Arnulf the Bad of Bavaria. They had the following known children:
  • Henry of Speyer
    Henry of Speyer
    Henry of Speyer or Heinrich von Speyer, also called Graf im Wormsgau was the father of the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II....

     (died before 1000), Count in the Wormsgau
  • Brun (died 999), ruled as Pope Gregory V
    Pope Gregory V
    Pope Gregory V, né Bruno of Carinthia , Pope from May 3, 996 to February 18, 999, son of the Salian Otto I, Duke of Carinthia, who was a grandson of the Emperor Otto I the Great . Gregory V succeeded Pope John XV , when only twenty-four years of age...

     from 996
  • Conrad I, Duke of Carinthia
    Conrad I, Duke of Carinthia
    Conrad I , of the Salian Dynasty, was the duke of Carinthia from 1004. He was the third son Duke Otto I and thus brother of both Henry of Speyer, father of the Emperor Conrad II, and Bruno, who was pope as Gregory V. He outlived both those elder brothers and his father.Along with his father, he was...

      (1004-1011)
  • William, Bishop of Strasbourg (1028-1047)
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