Individual

Go to List of Family Names Go to List of People    < Previous Next >

Birth:          ABT 1020 
Death:          11 Jan 1083 

Notes
advocate of the Abbey of Cowey
made Duke of Bavaraia in 1061 by Empress Agnes, removed in 1070, went with 
Emperor Henry II to Italy, fought the Hungarians, revolted and deprived of Bavaria, led 
the Saxon revolt against Henry IV and supported the anti-kings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thimo_the_Brave,_Count_of_Wettin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_of_Nordheim
Otto of Nordheim (c. 1020 – 11 January 1083) was Duke of Bavaria (as Otto II) from 
1061 until 1070. He was one of the leaders of the Saxon Rebellion in 1073-75 and the 
Great Saxon Revolt of 1077-88 against King Henry IV of Germany.
Life[edit]

Family[edit]

Otto was born about 1020 belonged, the son of Count Bernard of Nordheim (d. about 
1040) and his wife Eilika.[1] The rich and influential Saxon comital dynasty of 
Nordheim was first mentioned about 950, its descendance has not been conclusively 
established: there is possibly a relationship with the Immedinger family of legendary 
Duke Widukind, while according to the Magdeburg archbishop Eric of Brandenburg, 
Otto's grandfather Siegfried I of Nordheim was a son of Count Siegfried of 
Luxembourg.

The Nordheim counts held large Saxon estates on the upper Leine and Werra rivers as 
well as on the Weser and its Diemel and Nethe tributaries and on the lower Elbe river. 
They also acted as Vogts (reeves) of the Corvey, Gandersheim, Helmarshausen, 
Bursfelde, and Amelungsborn. Otto succeeded his father as count of Northeim about 
1049, then one of the most influential Saxon nobles along with the Billung duke 
Bernard II and the Udonid counts of Stade.

Role during the regency of Henry IV[edit]

After the death of the Salian emperor Henry III in 1056, his widow, Dowager Empress 
Agnes, appointed Otto duke of Bavaria in 1061[2] in order to gain his support as the 
mother of, and regent for, the young king Henry IV. The following year (1062), 
however, when Agnes handed power to her confidant Bishop Henry II of Augsburg, 
Duke Otto was among those princes who assisted Archbishop Anno II of Cologne in 
seizing control of Henry IV and the regency, in the so-called Coup of Kaiserswerth.[3]

Otto took a prominent part in the government of the kingdom during Henry's minority. 
He led a successful expedition into Hungary in 1063 to reinstall King Solomon 
(betrothed to Henry's sister, Judith of Swabia), who had been driven out by his uncle 
Béla I. The next year Otto went to Italy to settle a papal schism caused by the 
appointment of Antipope Honorius II. Otto was also instrumental in securing the 
banishment from court of the overly powerful Archbishop Adalbert of Hamburg-Bremen. 
He crossed the Alps in the royal interests on two other occasions and in 1069 shared 
in two expeditions into the lands of the Polabian Slavs (Wends) east of Germany.[3]

Conflict with Henry IV[edit]

So far, Otto was on good terms with the young king. However, he neglected his 
Bavarian duchy and instead added to his Saxon allodial possessions in the southern 
Harz range, which ultimately led into conflict with Henry IV, who aimed at the 
consolidation of his royal domains in this region.[3] In 1070 dubious accusations were 
brought against him by one Egeno I of Konradsburg of being privy to a plot to murder 
the king, and it was decided Otto should submit to trial by combat with his accuser at 
Goslar.

Fearing for his safety, Otto asked for a safe-conduct to and from the place of meeting. 
When this was refused he declined to appear and was consequently placed under the 
imperial ban and deprived of Bavaria, while his Saxon estates were plundered.[4] He 
obtained no support in Bavaria, but raised an army among the Saxons and carried out 
a campaign of plunder against Henry until at Pentecost 1071, when he submitted. In 
the following year he was released from custody and received back his private 
estates,[3] though not the Bavarian ducal title, which had been granted to his former 
son-in-law Welf I, the divorced husband of Otto's daughter Ethelinde.[5]

Rebellion[edit]

According to Bruno, author of De bello Saxonico (On the Saxon War), when the Saxon 
Rebellion broke out in summer 1073, Otto delivered an inspiring speech to the 
assembled nobles at Wormsleben, after which he took command of the insurgents. By 
the Peace of Gerstungen on 2 February 1074, the Duchy of Bavaria was formally 
restored to him,[3] which however met strong opposition by the local nobility, with the 
result that Otto's former son-in-law Welf I remained de facto Duke of Bavaria.[citation 
needed] He also participated in the second rising of 1075[3] following the demolition 
of Harzburg Castle.[citation needed] Defeated in the Battle of Langensalza on June 9, 
he surrendered and was again pardoned by King Henry who made him administrator of 
the Saxon duchy.[3]

When the Investiture Controversy between Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII culminated 
in the excommunication of the king in 1076, Otto attempted to mediate between Henry 
and the Saxon nobles convened at Trebur,[3] but when these efforts failed he again 
joined the insurgents. Otto was not the leader of the Great Saxon Revolt, however. 
Once he was assured that the duchy of Bavaria would be returned to him, Otto 
accepted the election of Rudolf of Rheinfelden as antiking of Germany. Through his 
skill and bravery, Otto still inflicted defeats on Henry's forces at the battles of 
Mellrichstadt, Flarchheim and Hohenmölsen.[3]

Death[edit]

Otto remained in arms against the king until his death on 11 January 1083.[3] He is 
buried in the Nicolai Chapel in Northeim.[6] His personal estates in Saxony later 
passed to Lothair of Supplinburg, who about 1100 married Otto's granddaughter 
Richenza of Northeim. After Richenza, German queen from 1125 and Holy Roman 
Empress from 1133, died in 1141, the allodial lands were inherited by her daughter 
Gertrude and her husband, the Welf duke Henry the Proud.

Character[edit]

Otto is described as a noble, prudent and warlike man, and he possessed great 
abilities. His repeated pardons showed that Henry could not afford to neglect such a 
powerful personality, and his military talents were repeatedly displayed.

Marriage and children[edit]

About 1055 Otto married Richenza, formerly reckoned as a daughter of Duke Otto II of 
Swabia, but probably a descendant of the Billung dynasty. The couple had four sons 
and three daughters.[3]
Henry the Fat (1055–1101), Margrave of Frisia (1055–1101)[citation needed]
Otto II, Count of Nordheim[citation needed]
Siegfried III (1050–1107), Count of Boyneburg[citation needed]
Kuno (1050/60–1103), Count of Beichlingen[citation needed]
Ida, married Count Thimo of Wettin, mother of Margrave Conrad of Meissen[citation 
needed]
Ethelinde (born 1050/60, date of death unknown), married Duke Welf I of Bavaria in 
1062, divorced 1070; secondly married Herman I, Count of Calvelage in 1070[7]
Matilda, married Count Konrad II of Werl-Arnsberg[citation needed]

Parents
VON NORTHEIM Benno (Bernard) (ABT  990 - ABT 1048)
____ Eilika (ABT  990 - )

Siblings
VON NORTHEIM Otto I (ABT 1020 - 11 Jan 1083)

Marriage To OF SWABIA Richenza (ABT 1025 - BEF 1083)
    m. AFT 1050 

Notes

Parents
----- ----- ()
____ ----- dtr of Ekbert OneEyed (ABT  980 - )

Children by OF SWABIA Richenza ABT 1025 - BEF 1083
____ Henry ("the Fat") (ABT 1055 - 1101)
VON NORTHEIM Ida (ABT 1057 - )

Produced by Fzip 1.7 6/20/2017