Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/390

 OTTOBEUREN

358

OTTO

On 11 Novcmlior, I'JOS, lie was once more elcctpd, this time at Frankfort, which event was followed by a pe- riod of mutual understanding and a short term of peace for the kingdom. To ensure the support of the pope, Otto drew up a charter at Speyer on 22 March, 1209, in which he renewed the concessions previo\isly made, and added others. He now promised not to pre\ent appeals regarding ecclesiastical affairs being made to the Holy See. Of the greatest significance was his act acknowledging the exclusive right of election of the cathedral chapter. In 1209 Otto journeyed to Rome to receive the imperial crown. On this occasion he did not come as a humble petitioner, but iis German king to order the affairs of Italy and to bring about the re-es- tablishment of its relations with his kingdom. As soon as the coronation was an accomplished fact (4 Oct., 1209), it was apparent that he intended to make the policy of the Hohenstaufens his own. His first step was to lay claim to Sicily. The pope, who must have feared a re-establishment of the dominion of Henry \1 in lower Italy, excommunicated Otto on 18 October, 1210, and determined to place the young Hohenstau- fen, Frederick II, upon the throne. The latter secured the support of France, and thus succeeded once more in winning the Cierman princes to his cause. On the death of Otto's wife, a Hohenstaufen princess, the Hohenstaufen party completely abandoned his stand- ard for that of Frederick. The renewed conflict be- tween the Guelphs and the Hohenstaufens was not de- cided in Germany, but abroad. Conditions in the kingdom were so changed that foreign arms were des- tined to decide the contest for the German crown. So crushing was the defeat inflicted upon the Guelph and English forces by Philip Augustus at Bouvines (27 July, 1214), that Otto's cause was lost. Although he endeavoured in 1217 and 1218 to make a further effort to secure the throne, he met with no great success. Absolved from his excommunication, he died on 19 May, 1218, and was buried at St. Blasien in Bruns- wick.

Langerfeldt, Kaiser Otto IV der Wetfe (Hanover, 1872); WiNKELMANN, PhUipp voH Schwabsn und Otto IV von Braun- schweig (2 vols., Leipzig, 1873-78); Hohter. Geschichte Papst Innocem III und seiner Zeitgenossen (4 vol8., Hamburg, 1834-72) ; Grotefend, Zur Charakteristik Philipps von tichwaben und Ottos IV von Braunschweig (Jena, 1886); ScHWEMER, Innocem III und die deulsche Kirche wdhrend des Thronstreites von 1198-1208 (Strasburg, 1882); Ldchaire, Innocent ///(1904).

f. Kampers.

Ottobeuren (Ottobura, Monasterium Otto- bubantm), formerly a Benedictine abbey, now a priory, near Memmingen in the Bavarian Allgau. It was founded in 764 by Blessed Toto, and dedicated to St. Alexander, the martyr. Of its early history little is known beyond the fact that Toto, its first abbot, died about 815 and that St. Ulric was its abbot in 972. In the eleventh century its discipline was on the decline, till Abbot Adalhalm (1082-94) introduced the reform of Hirsau. The same abbot began to restore the de- caying buildings, which were completed, with the ad- dition of a convent for noble ladies, by his successor, Abbot Rupert I (1102-4.5). Under the rule of the lat- ter the newly founded abbey of Marienberg was re- cruited with monks from Ottobeuren. His successor, Abbot Isengrira (114.5-80), wrote "Annales minores" (Mon. Germ. Hist.: Script., XVII, .315 .sq.) and "An- nales majores" (ibid., 312 sq.). In 11.5.'5, and again in 1217, it was consumed by fire. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it declined so completely that at the accession of Abbot Johann Schedler (1416-43) only six or eight monks were left, and its annual revenues did nr)t exceed 46 silver marks. Under Abbot Leonard Wiedemann (1.508-46) it again began to flourish: he erected a printing establishment and a common house of studies for the Suabian Benedictines. The latter, however, was soon closed, owing to the ravages of the Thirty Years' War.

The most flourishing period in the history of Otto-

beuren began with the accession of Abbot Rupert Ness (1710-40) and lasted until its secularization in 1S02. From 1711-1725 Abbot Rupert erected the present monastery, the architectural grandeur of which has merited for it the name of "the Suabian Escorial". In 1737 he also began the building of the present church, completed by his successor, Anselm Erb, in 1766. In the zenith of its glory Ottobeuren fell a prey to the greediness of the Bavarian Govern- ment (see Schleglmann, "Geschichte der Siikularisa- tion im rechtsrheinischen Baj'crn", III, Ratisbon, 1906, 611-54). In 1834 King Louis I of Bavaria re- stored it as a Benedictine priory, dependent on the abbey of St. Stephen at Augsburg. At present (1910) the community consists of five fathers, sixteen lay brothers, and one lay novice, who have under their charge t he jiarish of Ottobeuren, a district school, and an indust ri:U school for poor boys. Noteworthy among monks of ttbeuren are: Nicolas Ellenbog, humanist, d. 1543; Jacob Molitor, the learned and saintly prior, d. 1675; Albert Krey, the hagiographer, d. 1713; Fr. Schmier, canonist, d. 1728; Augustine Bayrhamer, d. 1782, and Maurus Feyerabend, d. 1818, historians; the learned Abbot Honoratus Goehl (1767-1802), who was a promoter of true church music, and founded two schools; Ulric Schiegg, the mathematician and astronomer, d. 1810.

Lindner, Album Ottoburanum in Zeitschrift des hist. Vereins fiir Schwaben und Neuburg, XXXI (Augsburg. 1905); Idem, Die Schri/tsteller des Benediktiner-Ordens in Bayern, II (Ratisbon, 1880), 69-113; Feyerabend, Des ehemaligen Reichsstiftes Otten- beuren Benediktinerordens in Schwaben sdmmtliche JahrbUcher (Ottobeuren, 1813-6); Behnhard, Beschreibung des Klosters und der Kirche zu Ottobeuren (Ottobeuren. 1883); Aufleger, Die Klosterkirche in Ottobeuren (Munich. 1892-4); Baumann, Ge- schichte des Allgdus (Kempten. 1880-95).

Michael Ott.

Ottoboni, Pietro. See Alexander VIII.

Otto of Freising, bishop ;ind historian, b. between 1111 and 1114, d. at Moriniond, Champagne, France, 22 September, 115s. He was the .son of St. Leopold of Austria, and Agnes, daughter of Henry IV. Through his mother's first marriage with the Hohenstaufen Frederick I, Duke of Swabia, he was half-brother of Conrad III and uncle of Emperor Frederick Barba- rossa. Like his younger brothers, he was early des- tined for the priesthood, and when scarcely more than a child he was made provost of the chapter of canons aft Klostemeuburg, near Vienna, founded in 1 1 14. For his education he was sent to the University of Paris, the centre of learning, philosophical, theological, and classical. On his journey home he and fifteen other noblemen entered the Cistercian Order at Morimond. It is not known what led him to take this sudden step. Within three years he was elected abbot of the monas- tery, but shortly afterwards, probably in the same year (1137 or 1138), was called to Freising as bishop, though he did not lay aside the habit of his order. As bishop he displayed a highly beneficent acrivity by founding and reforming monasteries, and zealously furthering scientific studies by introducing Aristote- lean philosophy and scholastic disputations on the model of the University of Paris. As a result the school at Freising flourished anew. He removed many of the abuses that had crept in, in consequence of the investiture strife, and demanded back the properties of which the Church had been robbed. In every way he raised the prestige of the Church in Freising as against the nobility, and after bitter struggles freed it from the burdensome bailiwick of the Wittelsbach counts palatine. As prince of the German Empire and closely connected with the Hohenstaufen family, he possessed great influence, and used his high standing to adjust differences within the empire. He was es- pecially active in bringing about a reconciliation be- tween Frederick and Hi'nry the Lion, and in restoring peace between the einiKTor and the pope. In 1147 he accompanied Conrad III on his unsuccessful crusade