Otto I (also ''Otho'' or ''Ottone''; died 991) was the second

Marquis of Montferrat The marquises and dukes of Montferrat were the rulers of a territory in Piedmont south of the Po River, Po and east of Turin. The March of Montferrat was created by Berengar II of Italy in 950 during a redistribution of power in the northwest o ...

briefly following his father Aleram on the throne.

Life

Otto was the son of Aleram and his first wife. Notably obscure, he did not appear with his parents and his younger brother Anselm at the foundation of the monastery of

Grazzano Grazzano Badoglio (Grazzano Monferrato until 1939) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about northeast of Asti. Grazzano, which developed round the abbey founded ...

in 961. On Aleram's death in 967, the large ''marca Aleramica'' was broken up:

Montferrat Montferrat ( , ; ; , ; ) is a historical region of Piedmont, in northern Italy. It comprises roughly (and its extent has varied over time) the modern provinces of Province of Alessandria, Alessandria and Province of Asti, Asti. Montferrat ...

went to Otto and

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

to Anselm. Their elder brother William II had already deceased. In his own lifetime, Otto does not appear in any document with the margravial title, but he appears in the documents of later generations cited as such. He appears in a confirmation of the possessions of the abbacy of Fruttuaria with the title in a patronymic. He probably never used the title in life, but his descendants retroactively applied it to him, as he held the same post as they. Otto died in 991, as known by the foundation act of his son for the monastery of Spigno, which Otto himself had planned on building. He arranged to have built a monastery ''in loco et fundo Spignni ad locum hubi monte Sancti Quintini dicitur in onore Domini Dei Salvatoris, Sanctique Thome apostoli et beati martiris Christi Quintini''. Spigno lies between

Acqui Acqui Terme (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Alessandria, Piedmont, northern Italy. It is about south-southwest of Alessandria. It is one of the principal winemaking communes of the Italian DOCG wine Brachetto d'Acqui. The c ...

and

Savona Savona (; ) is a seaport and (municipality) in the west part of the northern Italian region of Liguria, and the capital of the Province of Savona. Facing the Ligurian Sea, Savona is the main center of the Riviera di Ponente (the western se ...

, at the confluence of the Valla and the Bormida. Otto's family finished his project ''pro salute illius anime nostrorumque atque omnium fidelium'' ("for the health of his soul and ours with all faith"). The monastery also replaced that of Giusvalla, destroyed by the

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

. By his wife, whose name is lost, he left two sons: an eldest named

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily () * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg (1817–1890) N ...

, who succeeded him, and younger named Riprando. He also left two daughters, Otta and Waldrada (Gualderada).

References and Notes

991 deaths Marquesses of Montferrat Aleramici Year of birth unknown People from Grazzano Badoglio {{Europe-noble-stub