Otto VIII von Wittelsbach

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Otto VIII von Wittelsbach (* before 1180; † March 7, 1209 in Oberndorf ) was the Count Palatine of Bavaria from 1189 to 1208 . He is remembered primarily for the murder of Philip of Swabia - the first of a reigning Roman-German king .

origin

Otto VIII was the son of Otto VII (Count Palatine of Bavaria; † August 18, 1189). His brother was Otto I , who became the first Wittelsbach Duke of Bavaria in 1180 . Another brother of the old Count Palatinate was Konrad von Wittelsbach , who was Archbishop of Mainz as Konrad I from 1162 to 1165 and again from 1183 to 1200 and as Konrad III. was Archbishop of Salzburg from 1177 to 1183 . Otto VIII's cousin was the Bavarian Duke Ludwig I of Kelheim .

Otto VIII is mentioned for the first time in 1193 as the successor to his father in the Bavarian Palatinate. However, it rarely appears in the sources in the following years.

The regicide

Otto VIII von Wittelsbach achieved world political importance when he murdered the German King Philip of Swabia in Bamberg on June 21, 1208 . On this day, the wedding between Philip's niece Beatrix (the heir daughter of Otto I of Burgundy ) and Duke Otto VII of Andechs-Meranien took place. The couple was married by Bishop Ekbert von Bamberg , who was a brother of the groom. While Philip was taking his lunch break, Otto VIII sought an audience with him unannounced. The king granted the request, whereupon Otto drew his sword and slit Philip's carotid artery. After the murder , Otto fled.

On March 7, 1209, he was caught and killed as a bird-free in Oberndorf near Kelheim by Reichsmarschall Heinrich von Kalden . The dead man's head was thrown into the Danube , and the corpse was kept in a barrel for years. Monks from the Indersdorf monastery finally stole the barrel and buried the body on the monastery grounds.

motive

In 1203 Philipp had betrothed his daughter Kunigunde to Otto VIII von Wittelsbach. However, Philip did not keep to this agreement and in 1207 agreed with the Bohemian King Ottokar I about the engagement of the now five-year-old princess to his two-year-old son and successor Wenceslaus I. It is assumed that Otto murdered the king in retaliation. Perhaps on the day of the wedding between Philip's niece Beatrix and Duke Otto VII von Andechs-Meranien, the Wittelsbacher expected Philip to give in or to agree to an engagement with one of the other three daughters of the king ( Beatrix the elder , Maria and Beatrix the younger ) .

consequences

Philip's widow, the pregnant Queen Irene (* before 1180, daughter of the Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelus ), fled to Hohenstaufen Castle and suffered a miscarriage. She died as a result of the miscarriage on August 27, 1208. She left four daughters aged three to ten years. With the later Emperor Friedrich II , there was only one male Staufer.

The Hohenstaufen party turned to Otto IV , who was the sole ruler of the empire from 1208 to 1212. As the first supporter of the Staufer , the Bavarian Duke Ludwig I der Kelheimer moved to Otto IV's camp - he succeeded in convincing Otto IV that his cousin Otto VIII. Together with Bishop Ekbert von Bamberg from the Andechs family - Meranien planned and carried out the attack. Ludwig I confiscated the property of the Andechs-Meranien family in Bavaria. Ludwig I kept the goods even after his claim had clearly proven to be false. Furthermore, Otto IV. Ludwig confirmed the inheritance of his dignity as Duke of Bavaria. At Pentecost 1212, Ludwig's son Otto II the illustrious married the Welfin Agnes von der Pfalz (* 1201; † 1267, heir to the Guelph landed property in the Palatinate). In autumn 1212, Ludwig I moved back to the Hohenstaufen camp. In 1214 he became Count Palatine near the Rhine.

Names and memorial stone

In Oberndorf, Otto's place of death, a path and a small square were named after him. Since 2002 a memorial stone commemorates Otto's execution on the latter.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Stefan Weinfurter : Treaties and political action around 1200. In: Karl-Heinz Rueß (Hrsg.): Philipp von Schwaben. A Hohenstaufen in the fight for royal rule. Göppingen 2008, pp. 26–42, here: p. 30.
  2. ↑ Memorial stone for the famous murderer , Mittelbayerische Zeitung , May 28, 2002
predecessor Office successor
Otto VII. Count Palatine of Bavaria
1189–1208 		Rapoto II.
personal data
SURNAME Otto VIII von Wittelsbach
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Otto VIII, Count Palatine of Bavaria
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Count Palatine of Bavaria
DATE OF BIRTH before 1180
DATE OF DEATH March 7, 1209
Place of death Oberndorf