EFL - Enciclopedia delle Famiglie Lombarde

http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/GERMANY,%20Kings.htm OTTO (end 955-Ro me 7 Dec 983, bur Rome St Peter's [Thietmar 3.25, p. 147]). Regino rec ords the birth of "Otto filius regis" at the end of 955 [''Reginonis C hronicon'' 955, MGH SS I, p. 623]. "Ottone fratre [Machtild unica fili a… patre Otto imperatore et matre Athelheida imperiatrice]" was reco rded by Annalista Saxo [Annalista Saxo 966]. He was elected associat e King of Germany at Worms and crowned at Aachen 26 May 961. He was cr owned associate Emperor 25 Dec 967 at Rome [Thietmar 2.15, p. 102]. H e was elected OTTO II "Rufus" [Annalista Saxo 974] King of Germany a t Worms early May 973, crowned at Aachen 26 May 973. His rule was chal lenged by the rebellions of his cousin Heinrich II "der Zänker" Duk e of Bavaria in 974 and 976/78. On his accession, he claimed Byzantium 's possessions in Italy as part of his wife's dowry. He left for Ital y in Nov 980 to press his claims, conquered Tarento, but was defeate d in 982 by a Byzantine/Muslim alliance near Stilo in Calabria [Thietm ar 3.20, pp. 143-4]. His chancery adopted the title "imperator Romanor um augustus" in 982 [Reuter (1991), p. 177]. After holding court at Ve rona, where his son was elected associate king, Otto II left for Rom e where he died of malaria [Thietmar 3.24 and 3.25, pp. 146-7, and Reu ter (1991), p. 177]. The necrology of Fulda records the death "983 VI I Id Dec" of "Otto imperator" [''Annales Necrologici Fuldenses'', MG H SS XIII, p. 123]. m (Rome 14 Apr 972 [Annalista Saxo 972]) THEOFANO , niece of Emperor IOANNES Tzimiskes, daughter of --- ([955/60]-Nijmeg en 15 Jun 991 [''Annales Quedlinburgenses'' 972, MGH SS III, p. 68], b ur Köln St Pantaleon). A document entitled Luitprandi Legatio ad Nice phorum Phocam records Luitprand's mission on behalf of Emperor Ott o I to negotiate a marriage between "filiam Romani imperatoris et Theo phanæ imperatricis" and "domino meo filio suo Ottoni Imperatori Augus to" [''Luitprandi Legatio ad Nicephorum Phocam imperatorem Constantino politanum'' (after Leo Diaconus), p. 346]. Her name is not given in th e document. It is unlikely, given the date of the marriage of Empero r Nikeforos Fokas and Theofano (in 963) that any daughter of theirs wo uld have been considered marriageable in the late 960s by Emperor Otto . It is therefore likely that the document was prepared before Luitpra nd's visit, in ignorance of the details of the emperor's family member s. The identity of the proposed bride is therefore not certain. Prio r to Luitprand's arrival in Constantinople, Emperor Nikephoros was mur dered. According to Thietmar, his successor Emperor Ioannes Tzimiske s sent his niece Theofano back to Germany "not the desired maiden… a ccompanied by a splendid entourage and magnificent gifts" [Thietmar 2. 15, pp. 102-3]. Western sources consistently refer to Theofano as "nep tis" of Emperor Ioannes Tzimiskes, for example the charter dated 14 Ap r 972 under which "Otto… imperator augustus" granted property to "Th eophanu, Iohannis Constantinopolitani imperatoris neptim" [D O II 21 , p. 28]. Her exact relationship to Emperor Ioannes Tzimiskes is unkno wn. It is possible that she was a relative of the emperor's wife rathe r than of the emperor himself. Davids suggests that she was the daught er of Konstantinos Skleros and his wife Sofia [Davids, A. (1995) ''Th e Empress Theophano'', citing Wolf, F. (1991) ''Die Kaiserin Theophanu ''], who was probably the sister of the first wife of Emperor Ioannes . An indication that this may be correct is that Theofano's second dau ghter was named Sophie, normal Byzantine practice being to name the fi rst daughter after the paternal grandmother and the second after the m aternal grandmother [Morris Bierbrier, in a private e-mail to the auth or dated 27 Aug 2006]. It also appears to be chronologically sustainab le. However, too little is known about the families of Emperor Ioanne s and his wife to propose this as the only plausible hypothesis, espec ially as the word "neptis" could cover a wide variety of relationships . In addition, it cannot even be assumed that the wife of Konstantino s Skleros was the only individual named Sofia in these families at th e time. "Otto… imperator augustus" granted property to "Theophanu, I ohannis Constantinopolitani imperatoris neptim" dated 14 Apr 972 [ D O II 21, p. 28]. Lay Abbess of Nivelles. She was regent during the m inority of her son 984-991. Thietmar records the death of Empress Theo fano at Nijmegen on 15 Jun and her place of burial [Thietmar 4.15, p . 161]. The necrology of Merseburg records the death "15 Jun" of "Theo phanu imperatrix" [Althoff, G. (ed.) (1983) ''Die Totenbücher von Mer seburg, Magdeburg und Lüneburg'' (Hannover), Merseburg]. Emperor Ott o II & his wife had five children.