Otto III of Bavaria member of the
WittelsbachThe Wittelsbach family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria.Members of the family served as Dukes, Electors and Kings of Bavaria , Counts Palatine of the Rhine , Margraves of Brandenburg , Counts of Holland, Hainaut and Zeeland , Elector-Archbishops of Cologne , Dukes of...
dynasty, was Duke of
Lower BavariaLower Bavaria is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state.- Geography :Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two regions - Landshut and Donau-Wald. Recent election results mark it as the most conservative part of Germany, generally giving huge...
from 1290 to 1312 and disputably
King of HungaryThe King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918.The style of title "Apostolic King" was confirmed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 and used afterwards by all the Kings of Hungary, so after this date the kings are referred to as "Apostolic King of...
and Croatia between 1305 and 1307 as
Béla V.
Family
Otto was born in
BurghausenBurghausen may refer to several places in Germany:*Burghausen, Altötting, a town in southeastern Bavaria*Burghausen bei Münnerstadt, part of Münnerstadt in northern Bavaria*Burghausen bei Freising, part of Kirchdorf an der Amper in central Bavaria...
, the son of
Henry XIII, Duke of BavariaHenry XIII of Bavaria, member of the Wittelsbach dynasty was Duke of Lower Bavaria. As Duke of Lower Bavaria he is also called Henry I.- Family :...
, and Elizabeth of Hungary. His maternal grandparents were
Béla IV of HungaryBéla IV , King of Hungary and of Croatia , duke of Styria 1254–58. One of the most famous kings of Hungary, he distinguished himself through his policy of strengthening of the royal power following the example of his grandfather Bela III, and by the rebuilding Hungary after the catastrophe of the...
and
Maria LaskarinaMaria Laskarina was a daughter of Theodore I Laskaris and his first wife Anna Angelina.-Life:She was a younger sister of Irene Lascarina, first Empress consort of John III Doukas Vatatzes. Theodore married his eldest daughter to his designated heir in 1212...
.
Biography
Otto succeeded his father in 1290 as duke of Lower Bavaria, together with his younger brothers,
Louis IIILouis III. was duke of Lower Bavaria from 1290 until 1296 as co-regent with his brothers Otto III and Stephen I.-Biography:Louis was born in Landshut, the son of Henry XIII, Duke of Bavaria and Elizabeth of Hungary....
and
Stephen IStephen I. was duke of Lower Bavaria from 1290 until 1310 as co-regent of his older brothers Otto III and Louis III .-Biography:...
. He was in opposition to
HabsburgThe House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
and tried to regain Styria which Bavaria had lost in 1180. The Hungarian crown was offered to Otto who was a grandson of
Béla IV of HungaryBéla IV , King of Hungary and of Croatia , duke of Styria 1254–58. One of the most famous kings of Hungary, he distinguished himself through his policy of strengthening of the royal power following the example of his grandfather Bela III, and by the rebuilding Hungary after the catastrophe of the...
in 1301 but he did not accept before 1305.
In August 1305, his opponent,
Wenceslaus III of BohemiaWenceslaus III Premyslid was the King of Hungary , King of Bohemia and the king of Poland ....
, who had inherited Bohemia from his father, renounced his claim to Hungary on behalf of Otto III. Otto arrived to Hungary soon and he was crowned with the Holy Crown of Hungary in
SzékesfehérvárSzékesfehérvár is a city in central Hungary and is the 9th largest in the country. Located around southwest of Budapest. It is inhabited by 101,973 people , with 136,995 in the Székesfehérvár Subregion. The city is the centre of Fejér county and the regional centre of Central Transdanubia...
by the Bishops of Veszprém and Csanád on 6 December. He named himself
Béla V after his grandfather. However, Otto was not able to strengthen his rule. In the course of 1306, Otto's second opponent
Charles of AnjouCharles I , also known as Charles Robert , was the first King of Hungary and Croatia of the House of Anjou. He was also descended from the old Hungarian Árpád dynasty. His claim to the throne of Hungary was contested by several pretenders...
occupied
EsztergomEsztergom , is a city in northern Hungary, 46 km north-west of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom county, on the right bank of the river Danube, which forms the border with Slovakia there....
, Szepes/Spiš Castle, Zólyom/Zvolen and some other fortresses in the northern parts of the kingdom, and in the next year he also occupied
BudaFor detailed information see: History of Buda CastleBuda is the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest on the west bank of the Danube. The name Buda takes its name from the name of Bleda the Hun ruler, whose name is also Buda in Hungarian.Buda comprises about one-third of Budapest's...
. In June 1307, Duke Otto III visited the powerful Voivode of Transylvania,
Ladislaus Kán, but the latter arrested him. On 10 October 1307, the magnates presented at the assembly in
RákosRákoš is a village and municipality in Revúca District in the Banská Bystrica Region of Slovakia.-External links:*http://www.statistics.sk/mosmis/eng/run.html...
proclaimed Charles king, but the most powerful aristocrats (Máté Csák,
Amadé AbaAmade Aba, sometimes Amadeus Aba was a Hungarian oligarch in the Kingdom of Hungary who ruled de facto independently the northern and north-eastern counties of the kingdom...
and Ladislaus Kán) ignored him as well. At the end of the year, Ladislaus Kán set Otto free who then left the country, but the Voivode of Transylvania still denied to hand over the Holy Crown of Hungary to Charles, whose legitimacy could be questioned without the coronation with the Holy Crown.
Otto abdicated the Hungarian throne in 1308. Otto's involvement in Austrian and Hungarian affairs weakened his position in Bavaria and finally led to failure due to financial problems. In Hungarian historiography he is noted as an anti-king during the
interregnumAn interregnum is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order...
of 1301–1310.
During his presence in Hungary 1305–1308 Lower Bavaria was ruled by his brother Stephen I.
Otto was succeeded in Lower Bavaria by his son
Henry XVHenry XV, duke of Bavaria, as duke of Lower Bavaria also called Henry III, .- Biography :...
, who shared power with his cousins,
Henry XIVHenry XIV, duke of Bavaria, as duke of Lower Bavaria also called Henry II., .- Family :He was a son of Stephen I, Duke of Bavaria and Jutta of Schweidnitz....
and
Otto IVOtto IV was a Duke of Lower Bavaria.-Family:He was a son of Stephen I, Duke of Bavaria and Jutta of Schweidnitz....
, both sons of Stephen I.
John IJohn I of Bavaria , , he was the Duke of Lower Bavaria since 1339.John I was the son of Henry XIV, Duke of Lower Bavaria, and Margaret of Bohemia...
, a son of Henry XIV, was the last duke of Lower Bavaria before
Louis IV, Holy Roman EmperorLouis IV , called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the King of Germany from 1314, the King of Italy from 1327 and the Holy Roman Emperor from 1328....
inherited the country and reunited the duchy in 1340.
Marriages and children
In January, 1279, Otto married
Katharine of HabsburgKatharine of Habsburg was the daughter of Rudolph I of Germany and his first wife Gertrude of Hohenburg.- Life :She was born in Rheinfelden and was the fifth of nine children....
. She was a daughter of
Rudolph I of GermanyRudolph I was King of the Romans from 1273 until his death. He played a vital role in raising the Habsburg dynasty to a leading position among the Imperial feudal dynasties...
and
Gertrude of HohenburgGertrude of Hohenzollern was the first Queen consort of Rudolph I of Germany.-Family:She was born to Burckhard III of Hohenzollern, Count of Hohenberg and his wife Mechtild of Tübingen....
. They would have two children:
- Henry of Wittelsbach (1280). Twin brother of Rudolph. Died within the year of his birth.
- Rudolph of Wittelsbach (1280). Twin brother of Henry. Died within the year of his birth.
Katharina died on 4 April 1282. Otto remained a widower for twenty-three years. On 18 May 1309, Otto married his second wife Agnes of Glogau. She was a daughter of
Henry III, Duke of Silesia-GlogauHenry III of Głogów was a Duke of Głogów from 1274 to his death and also Duke of parts of Greater Poland during 1306–1309....
, and Matilda of
Brunswick-LüneburgThe Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , or more properly Duchy of Brunswick and Lüneburg, was an historical ducal state from the late Middle Ages until the late Early Modern era within the North-Western domains of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, in what is now northern Germany...
. They had two children:
- Agnes of Wittelsbach (1310–1360).
- Henry XV, Duke of Bavaria
Henry XV, duke of Bavaria, as duke of Lower Bavaria also called Henry III, .- Biography :...
(28 August 1312 – 18 June 1333).
Otto died in
LandshutLandshut is a city in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany, belonging to both Eastern and Southern Bavaria. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also the seat of the...
.
Ancestors
External links