Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Early life[edit]

Otto was the third son of Henry the Lion, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, and Matilda Plantagenet.[2] His exact birthplace is not given by any original source.[3][4]

He grew up in England[5] in the care of his grandfather King Henry II. Otto became the foster son of his maternal uncle Richard I of England, who attempted to make him Earl of York in 1190, and, through marriage with Margaret, king of Scotland.[6] Both attempts failed, and so in 1196, he was made Count of Poitou. He participated in the war against France on the side of Richard.

Conflict with Philip of Swabia[edit]

After the death of Emperor Henry VI, the majority of the princes of the Empire, situated in the south, elected Henry’s brother, Philip, Duke of Swabia, king in March 1198, after receiving money and promises from Philip in exchange for their support.[7] Those princes opposed to the Staufen dynasty also decided, on the initiative of Richard of England, to elect instead a member of the House of Welf. Otto's elder brother, Henry, was on a crusade at the time, and so the choice fell to Otto. Otto, soon recognized over the north-west and the lower Rhine region,[5] was elected king by his partisans in Cologne on June 9, 1198.[5] Otto took control of Aachen, the place of coronation, and was crowned by Adolf, Archbishop of Cologne, on July 12, 1198.[5] This was of great symbolic importance, since the Archbishop of Cologne alone could crown the King of the Romans.[7] Nevertheless, the coronation was done with fake regalia, because the actual materials were in the hands of the Staufen.