Otto III (11 February 1261 – 9 November 1312), a member of the
Wittelsbach
The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate o ...
dynasty, was the
Duke of Lower Bavaria
The following is a list of rulers during the history of Bavaria. Bavaria was ruled by several dukes and kings, partitioned and reunited, under several dynasties. Since 1949, Bavaria has been a democratic state in the Federal Republic of Germa ...
from 1290 to 1312 and the
King of Hungary
The King of Hungary ( hu, magyar király) was the ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Apostoli Magyar Király'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 ...
and
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
between 1305 and 1307. His reign in Hungary was disputed by
Charles Robert
Charles I, also known as Charles Robert ( hu, Károly Róbert; hr, Karlo Robert; sk, Karol Róbert; 128816 July 1342) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1308 to his death. He was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou and the only son of ...
of the
Angevin
Angevin or House of Anjou may refer to:
*County of Anjou or Duchy of Anjou, a historical county, and later Duchy, in France
**Angevin (language), the traditional langue d'oïl spoken in Anjou
**Counts and Dukes of Anjou
* House of Ingelger, a Frank ...
dynasty.
Family
Otto was born in
Burghausen, the son of
Henry XIII, Duke of Bavaria
Henry XIII (19 November 1235 – 3 February 1290 in Burghausen), member of the Wittelsbach dynasty, was Duke of Lower Bavaria.
Family
He was the younger son of Otto II and Agnes of Brunswick.
Biography
In 1254, he succeeded his father toge ...
, and
Elizabeth of Hungary
Elizabeth of Hungary (german: Heilige Elisabeth von Thüringen, hu, Árpád-házi Szent Erzsébet, sk, Svätá Alžbeta Uhorská; 7 July 1207 – 17 November 1231), also known as Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, or Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia, ...
.
Biography
Otto succeeded his father in 1290 as duke of Lower Bavaria, together with his younger brothers,
Louis III Louis III may refer to:
* Louis the Younger, sometimes III of Germany (835–882)
* Louis III of France (865–882)
* Louis the Blind, Louis III, Holy Roman Emperor, (c. 880–928)
* Louis the Child, sometimes III of Germany (893–911)
* Louis I ...
and
Stephen I. He was in opposition to
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
and tried to regain
Styria
Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...
which Bavaria had lost in 1180. Otto supported
Adolf, King of Germany
Adolf (c. 1255 – 2 July 1298) was the count of Nassau from about 1276 and the elected king of Germany from 1292 until his deposition by the prince-electors in 1298. He was never crowned by the pope, which would have secured him the imperial ...
against Habsburg and fought on his side in the
Battle of Göllheim
The Battle of Göllheim was fought on 2 July 1298 between the forces of duke Albert I of Habsburg (German: Albrecht) and king Adolf of Nassau over the prince electors' decision, without electoral act, to dethrone Adolf and proclaim Albert the ...
. The Hungarian crown was offered to Otto, a grandson of
Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1235 and 1270, and Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. As the oldest son of King Andrew II, he was crowned upon the initiative of a group of influential noblemen in his father ...
, in 1301 but he did not accept before 1305.
In August 1305, his opponent,
Wenceslaus III of Bohemia
Wenceslaus III ( cz, Václav III., hu, Vencel, pl, Wacław, hr, Vjenceslav, sk, Václav; 6 October 12894 August 1306) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia between 1301 and 1305, and King of Bohemia and King of Poland, Poland from ...
, who had inherited Bohemia from his father, renounced his claim to Hungary on behalf of Otto III. Since the Habsburg
Albert I of Germany
Albert I of Habsburg (german: Albrecht I.) (July 12551 May 1308) was a Duke of Austria and Styria from 1282 and King of Germany from 1298 until his assassination. He was the eldest son of King Rudolf I of Germany and his first wife Gertrude o ...
was blocking the way through Austria, Otto disguised himself as a merchant, and reached
Buda
Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...
in November 1305.
He was then crowned with the
Holy Crown of Hungary
The Holy Crown of Hungary ( hu, Szent Korona; sh, Kruna svetoga Stjepana; la, Sacra Corona; sk, Svätoštefanská koruna , la, Sacra Corona), also known as the Crown of Saint Stephen, named in honour of Saint Stephen I of Hungary, was the ...
in
Székesfehérvár
Székesfehérvár (; german: Stuhlweißenburg ), known colloquially as Fehérvár ("white castle"), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the regional capital of Central Transdanubia, and the centre of Fejér ...
by the Bishops of Veszprém and Csanád on 6 December. However, Otto was not able to strengthen his rule. In the course of 1306, Otto's second opponent
Charles of Anjou
Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier (1246–48, 1256–85) i ...
occupied
Esztergom
Esztergom ( ; german: Gran; la, Solva or ; sk, Ostrihom, known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the right bank of the river Danu ...
,
Szepes Castle,
Zólyom and some other fortresses in the northern parts of the kingdom, and in the next year he also occupied Buda. In June 1307, Duke Otto III visited the powerful
Voivode of Transylvania
The Voivode of Transylvania (german: Vojwode von Siebenbürgen;Fallenbüchl 1988, p. 77. hu, erdélyi vajda;Zsoldos 2011, p. 36. la, voivoda Transsylvaniae; ro, voievodul Transilvaniei) was the highest-ranking official in Transylvania wit ...
,
Ladislaus Kán
Ladislaus ( or according to the case) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin.
It may refer to:
* Ladislaus of Hungary (disambiguation)
* Ladislaus I (disambiguation)
* Ladislaus II (disambiguation)
* Ladislaus III (disambiguation)
* Ladi ...
, but the latter imprisoned him. On 10 October 1307, the magnates presented at the
assembly in Rákos proclaimed Charles king, but the most powerful aristocrats (
Matthew III Csák
Máté Csák or Matthew III Csák (between 1260 and 1265 – 18 March 1321; hu, Csák (III.) Máté, sk, Matúš Čák III), also Máté Csák of Trencsén ( hu, trencséni Csák (III.) Máté, sk, Matúš Čák III Trenčiansky), was a Hungar ...
,
Amadé Aba
Amadeus Aba or Amade Aba ( hu, Aba Amadé; sk, Omodej Aba; ? – 5 September 1311) was a Hungarian oligarch in the Kingdom of Hungary who ruled ''de facto'' independently the northern and north-eastern counties of the kingdom (today parts of ...
and Ladislaus Kán) ignored him as well. At the end of the year, Ladislaus Kán set Otto free who then left the country, but the Voivode of Transylvania still denied to hand over the Holy Crown of Hungary to Charles, whose legitimacy could be questioned without the coronation with the Holy Crown.
Otto abdicated the Hungarian throne in 1308. Otto's involvement in Austrian and Hungarian affairs weakened his position in Bavaria and finally led to failure due to financial problems. In Hungarian historiography he is noted as an
anti-king
An anti-king, anti king or antiking (german: Gegenkönig; french: antiroi; cs, protikrál) is a would-be king who, due to succession disputes or simple political opposition, declares himself king in opposition to a reigning monarch.OED "Anti-, 2 ...
during the
interregnum
An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin '' ...
of 1301–1310.
During his presence in Hungary 1305–1308 Lower Bavaria was ruled by his brother Stephen I. In 1310 a new war against Habsburg devastated
Burghausen. Otto died in 1312 and was succeeded in Lower Bavaria by his son
Henry XV, who shared power with his cousins,
Henry XIV and
Otto IV
Otto IV (1175 – 19 May 1218) was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until his death in 1218.
Otto spent most of his early life in England and France. He was a follower of his uncle Richard the Lionheart, who made him Count of Poitou in 1196 ...
, both sons of Stephen I.
John I John I may refer to:
People
* John I (bishop of Jerusalem)
* John Chrysostom (349 – c. 407), Patriarch of Constantinople
* John of Antioch (died 441)
* Pope John I, Pope from 523 to 526
* John I (exarch) (died 615), Exarch of Ravenna
* John I o ...
, a son of Henry XIV, was the last duke of Lower Bavaria before
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Louis IV (german: Ludwig; 1 April 1282 – 11 October 1347), called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328.
Louis' election as king of Germany in ...
inherited the country and reunited the duchy in 1340.
Marriages and children
In January, 1279, Otto married Catherine, a daughter of
Rudolf I of Germany
Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death.
Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum which h ...
and
Gertrude of Hohenberg
Gertrude Anne of Hohenberg ( – 16 February 1281) was German queen from 1273 until her death, by her marriage with King Rudolf I of Germany. As queen consort, she became progenitor of the Austrian House of Habsburg.
Biography
Gertrude was b ...
.
[Theresa Earenfight, ''Queenship in Medieval Europe'', (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), 173.] Their twins, Henry and Rudolph, were born in 1280 and died the same year.
Catharine died on 4 April 1282. Otto remained a widower for twenty-three years. On 18 May 1309, Otto married his second wife Agnes of Glogau. She was a daughter of
Henry III, Duke of Silesia-Glogau
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
*Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
, and Matilda of
Brunswick-Lüneburg. They had two children:
*Agnes of Wittelsbach (1310–1360).
*
Henry XV, Duke of Bavaria (28 August 1312 – 18 June 1333).
Otto died in
Landshut
Landshut (; bar, Landshuad) is a town in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also t ...
.
Ancestors
References
External links
Historisches Lexikon Bayerns: Ungarisches Königtum Ottos III. von Niederbayern, 1305–1307 (Sarah Hadry)*
*Life Synopsis of
ttps://www.queen-of-france.com/2022/07/ottokar-iii-king-of-hungary-his-short.html Ottokar III Duke of Bavariaand his short rule as King of Hungary
, -
{{Authority control
1261 births
1312 deaths
13th-century dukes of Bavaria
14th-century dukes of Bavaria
Kings of Hungary
House of Wittelsbach