Otto (Taranto)

Otto the Tarentiner (* 1319 or 1320 ; † 1399 in Foggia ) from the family of the Welfen was Duke of Braunschweig-Grubenhagen and after his marriage to Johanna I of Naples in 1376 Prince of Tarent and Count of Acerra .

Life

Otto was the eldest son of Heinrich II. Von Braunschweig-Grubenhagen , called Heinrich von Greece, and his first wife Jutta, born Margravine of Brandenburg. Heinrich II. Was the third son of Heinrich the Wonderful , the founder of the Principality of Braunschweig-Grubenhagen . Due to the numerous inheritance divisions of the Welfenhaus, Otto himself did not receive a sufficient inheritance that would have sufficed for his thirst for action and so he, like his father, was drawn to a foreign country. He is described as the type of brave, daring condottiere who fought for various masters from an early age.

In 1339 he took part in the battles for Asti in the service of Margrave Johann von Montferrat . In 1352 resigned from the Teutonic Order and entered the service of King John II of France . Around this time he married Jolanthe, the daughter of Berengar of Villaragut and widow of Jacob III , probably through the mediation of the king . from Mallorca . As a result, Otto acquired a considerable fortune and was considered the wealthiest member of the otherwise very poor Grubenhagen family. Shortly afterwards he returned to Italy. There he became guardian of the three sons of Johann von Montferrat. In 1354 he took part in Charles IV's coronation as emperor in Rome.

After the death of his first wife, Otto, who was meanwhile held in high esteem as a general in various campaigns in Italy, was taken over by Pope Gregory XI. recommended as husband to the widowed Queen Marie of Armenia . However, this plan did not materialize. Instead, Otto married Queen Johanna I of Naples in 1376 , whose fourth husband he was to become. As a result, Otto did not receive the title of king, but received the county of Acerra and some castles in Provence in addition to the Principality of Taranto .

After the death of Pope Gregory XI, the Principality of Naples came under control. in the disputes between his successor Urban VI. and the antipope Clemens VII. Otto and Johanna became partisans of Clemens and initially accepted him in Naples. Later on, Clemens, who was mainly supported by France, had to escape to Avignon. Because of her support for Clemens, Johanna von Urban was threatened with deposition and a crusade. Urban transferred the Kingdom of Naples to Charles of Durazzo and crowned him in Rome in 1380. In 1381 Karl succeeded in occupying Naples and enclosing Johanna. Otto tried to free them together with his brother Balthasar , but failed and was also imprisoned with his brother. Johanna, who did not want to renounce her rights, was strangled in 1382 before Ludwig von Anjou , to whom she had transferred her inheritance, could rush to her aid with his army.

Otto were held in mild prison and was released again in 1384. After a stay in Sicily, he went to Avignon, where, after Ludwig's death , he took over command of the army from his heir, Ludwig II . With this army he won back the Kingdom of Naples for Ludwig II of Anjou in the summer of 1387. However, since, contrary to his expectations, he was not appointed captain general of the kingdom by Pope Clement VII, out of indignation he entered the service of the opponents and declared himself the heir of Charles, Ladislaus von Durazzo . He tried in vain to recapture Naples for this party. In 1392 he was repeatedly imprisoned and had to relocate County Accera to buy himself free. He spent the last years of his life in seclusion in the Principality of Taranto and died in Foggia in early 1399, where he is also buried. He hardly saw his home in Grubenhagen after he left it at a young age.

See also

• History of Taranto

literature

• Peter Aufgebauer :  Otto the Tarentiner. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-00200-8 , pp. 681 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Ingeborg Walter :  Brunswick, Ottone di. In: Alberto M. Ghisalberti (Ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 14:  Branchi-Buffetti. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1972.
• Paul Zimmermann : The house of Braunschweig-Grubenhagen , Wolfenbüttel 1911
• Paul Zimmermann:  Otto the Tarentiner . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 24, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1887, pp. 682-685.
• Julius Waschow: Duke Otto of Braunschweig, Prince of Taranto. A contribution to the history of the 14th century , Breslau: Aderholz, 1874

predecessor	Office	successor
Jacques des Baux	Prince of Taranto 1383–1399	Raimondo Orsini del Balzo