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Otto III.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 4, 2020
I got this book because Otto III has always interested me. The German Emperor, born from a Byzantine princess, whose rules is best know for his visionary, if rather romantic, attempt to restore the Roman Empire in Italy. Of course, he failed, not least because the Italians were having none of this renovatio Romani and, so died young, before he could get the mess he made under control. I like Otto III because he is so multi-sided- German king, Emperor, scholar, near-monk.
Altoff's book's concentrates more on the political aspect of Otto III, which makes sense, of course. He attempt to analyze what Otto thought he was doing. IN doing this, Altoff employs our understanding of how court ceremonial mediated power relationships, which has proven important to our understanding of the functioning of mediaeval kingship in the West. His findings is that Otto wasn't as quixotic as often accused\
He also analyzes earlier readings of Otto III from nineteenth and twentieth century scholars. THis is a valuable exercise because Otto, like a lot of Holy Roman Emperors, has become a bit like a tennis ball between the various national interests featured in the HOly Roman Empire, each driving their own nationalist agendas.
This is a a good study and is, unfortunately, one of the few translated into English.
Altoff's book's concentrates more on the political aspect of Otto III, which makes sense, of course. He attempt to analyze what Otto thought he was doing. IN doing this, Altoff employs our understanding of how court ceremonial mediated power relationships, which has proven important to our understanding of the functioning of mediaeval kingship in the West. His findings is that Otto wasn't as quixotic as often accused\
He also analyzes earlier readings of Otto III from nineteenth and twentieth century scholars. THis is a valuable exercise because Otto, like a lot of Holy Roman Emperors, has become a bit like a tennis ball between the various national interests featured in the HOly Roman Empire, each driving their own nationalist agendas.
This is a a good study and is, unfortunately, one of the few translated into English.
April 15, 2025
A great book which brought together all the latest scholarship regarding the Emperor. My favourite parts were the outline of the German historiographical view of Otto III and the revision of Otto III. "Roman renewal" ideal, which should not be seen as an attempt to revive or "renew" the ancient Roman Imperial age, but instead more towards a renewal of Rome as the Christian capital and the papacy in the 10th century, which after recent and unruly rebellion by the factions of the Roman nobility, notably by Crescentius I. an aristocrat who seized control of Rome, and appointed an antipope after Otto III had arranged his cousin Bruno (a German) for the papal election and who succeeded John XV as Gregory V.
June 12, 2019
Amazing book, which describes how tenth century kingship functioned in a society that depended upon personal alliances, kinship, and that utilized public ritual and ceremony to communicate decisions and displeasure. Althoff also provides a wonderful historiography that frames his study wonderfully amidst 19th and 20th century scholarship that misportrayed Otto III and his short rule. Highly readable, and also very digestible for non-specialists.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews