Otto von Botenlauben or Botenlouben (1177, Henneberg – before 1245, near

Bad Kissingen Bad Kissingen is a German spa town in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia and seat of the district Bad Kissingen. Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale river, it is one of the health resorts, which be ...

), the Count of Henneberg from 1206, was a German

minnesinger (; "love song") was a tradition of lyric- and song-writing in Germany and Austria that flourished in the Middle High German period. This period of medieval German literature began in the 12th century and continued into the 14th. People who wr ...

, Crusader and monastic founder. Otto von Botenlauben was the fourth son of Count Poppo VI von Henneberg and his wife Sophia, countess of

Andechs Andechs is a municipality in the district of Starnberg in Bavaria in Germany. It is renowned in Germany and beyond for Andechs Abbey, a Benedictine monastery that has brewed beer since 1455. The monastery brewery offers tours to visitors. The ...

and margravine of

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...

. In the oldest records (from 1196 and 1197), he still called himself Count von Henneberg. In 1206, he pronounced himself Count von Botenlauben, after

Botenlauben Castle Botenlauben Castle is a ruined castle in Reiterswiesen, a district of the Bavarian spa town of Bad Kissingen. History of the castle The castle was home of the minnesinger and crusader Otto von Botenlauben and his wife Beatrix de Courtenay ( ...

near Bad Kissingen, the ruins of which remain to this day. Otto’s existence is first recorded at the court of

Emperor Henry VI Henry VI (German: ''Heinrich VI.''; November 1165 – 28 September 1197), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Germany (King of the Romans) from 1169 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 until his death. From 1194 he was also King of Sic ...

in 1197, when he took part in the Emperors' campaign to Italy. After that, Otto travelled to the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

and made a career in the

kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establishe ...

, where he gained good standing, prosperity and married

Beatrix de Courtenay Beatrix de Courtenay (died after 1245) was a Titular Countess of Edessa and Countess consort of Henneberg as the wife of Otto von Botenlauben. She was the eldest daughter of Agnes of Milly ( de) and Joscelin III, Count of Edessa, who sold Chastel ...

, the daughter of the royal

seneschal The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

Joscelin III, Count of Edessa Joscelin III of Edessa (1139 – after 1190) was the titular Count of Edessa, who during his lifetime managed to amass enough land to establish the '' Seigneurie of Joscelin.'' Early life He was the son of Joscelin II and his wife Beatrice ...

, in 1205. In 1220, he sold his hereditary lands (

iure uxoris ''Jure uxoris'' (a Latin phrase meaning "by right of (his) wife"), citing . describes a title of nobility used by a man because his wife holds the office or title ''suo jure'' ("in her own right"). Similarly, the husband of an heiress could becom ...

), the ''seigneurie de Joscelin'', to the

Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

and returned to Germany, where he would attend the royal court often in the years that followed. His sons, Otto and Henry, as well as his grandson Albert, joined the clergy and so Otto’s line ended without an heir. Otto and his wife founded the

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

cloister of Frauenroth in 1231, where both are buried. The cloister was destroyed in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

, but their headstone remains to this day. Otto was one of the minnesingers collated in the ''

Codex Manesse The Codex Manesse (also Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift or Pariser Handschrift) is a ''Liederhandschrift'' (manuscript containing songs), the single most comprehensive source of Middle High German ''Minnesang'' poetry, written and illustrat ...

.'' His works are limited: twelve love songs have survived and one Leich. A few

strophe A strophe () is a poetic term originally referring to the first part of the ode in Ancient Greek tragedy, followed by the antistrophe and epode. The term has been extended to also mean a structural division of a poem containing stanzas of varying ...

s are collected in the

Weingarten Manuscript The Weingarten Manuscript (German ''Weingartner Liederhandschrift'') is a 14th-century illuminated manuscript containing a collection of Minnesang lyrics. It is currently in the Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart, with the shelf-mark HB ...

and the

Kleine Heidelberger Liederhandschrift The Kleine Heidelberger Liederhandschift ("Small Heidelberg Song-manuscript") is a collection of Middle High German Minnesang texts. In Minnesang scholarship it is referred to as MS. A. It is held by the Heidelberg University Library with the sign ...

, the latter under the name of ''Niune''.Bernd Ulrich Hucker: Das Grafenpaar Beatrix und Otto von Botenlauben und die deutsche Kreuzzugsbewegung. In: Hans-Jürgan Kotzur (Ed.): Die Kreuzüge. Mainz 2004. P.23-47.

References

External links

Count Otto von Botenlauben in the Codex Manesse
House of Henneberg Christians of the Crusades People from Schmalkalden-Meiningen Minnesingers People from Bad Kissingen 1177 births 13th-century deaths 13th-century German poets {{Germany-hist-stub