Otto VIII, Count of Bavaria (before 1180 – 7 March 1209) was

Count Palatine A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an or ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

from 1189 to 1209.

Origin

Otto VIII was the son of Otto VII, and thereby the grandson of

Otto IV, Count of Scheyern Otto V, Count of Wittelsbach ( – 4 August 1156), also called Otto IV, Count of Scheyern, was the second son of Eckhard I, Count of Scheyern and Richardis of Carniola and Istria. Otto named himself ''Otto of Wittelsbach'', after Burg Wittelsbach ...

Regicide

On 21 June 1208 Otto VIII murdered German King

Philip of Swabia Philip of Swabia (February/March 1177 – 21 June 1208), styled Philip II in his charters, was a member of the House of Hohenstaufen and King of Germany from 1198 until his assassination. The death of Philip's older brother Henry VI, Holy Roman E ...

in Bamberg, during the wedding of Philip's niece Countess Beatrice II of Burgundy with Duke Otto of Merania.

Motive

The motives for the murder have not been conclusively established. Allegedly the Wittelsbach scion, already known for his unstable character, had fallen into a rage when he learned of the dissolution of his betrothal to Gertrude of Silesia by her father, the

Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of King Casimir III the Great. Branches of ...

duke

Henry I the Bearded Henry the Bearded (, ; c. 1165/70 – 19 March 1238) was a Polish duke from the Piast dynasty. He was Dukes of Silesia, Duke of Silesia at Wrocław from 1201, Seniorate Province, Duke of Kraków and List of Polish monarchs, High Duke of all Kin ...

. Duke Henry was apparently informed of the Wittelsbach's cruel tendencies and in an act of concern for his young daughter decided to terminate the marriage agreement. Otto proceeded to blame Philip for another spurned marriage alliance (the first being to one of Philip's own daughters, Beatrice or Kunigunde, who was betrothed to

Wenceslaus I of Bohemia Wenceslaus I (; c. 1205 – 23 September 1253), called One-Eyed, was King of Bohemia from 1230 to 1253. Wenceslaus was a son of Ottokar I of Bohemia and his second wife Constance of Hungary. Marriage and children In 1224, Wenceslaus married ...

in 1207) and swore revenge on the German King.

Consequences

Death

He was subsequently put under ''imperial ban'' (outlawed). Henry of Kalden was trusted with the task to hunt him down, found him at Oberndorf by

Kelheim Kelheim () is a town and municipality in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the Kelheim (district), district Kelheim and is situated at the confluence of the rivers Altmühl and Danube. Kelheim has a population of around 16,750 (2020). His ...

and decapitated him on the spot on 7 March 1209 . His head was thrown in the Danube, while the corpse was kept in a barrel for years. Monks from Indersdorf Abbey eventually stole the barrel and buried the corpse on monastery grounds.

Bibliography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otto 08, Count of Wittelsbach Counts Palatine of the Holy Roman Empire House of Wittelsbach 1209 deaths Regicides Assassins of heads of state Executed regicides Medieval assassins 13th-century murderers Year of birth uncertain